morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-09-01
From: Madison Hut Stealth Camp

To: My House
Miles today: 185.0

Okay, I'm really sorry that I've had a long absence from journaling. Other things just seem to take precedence when I'm home. Here's the basic scoop on what I'm currently doing.My new group name is officially "Team Dolphin." That's because we flip and leap and go everywhere. Here's the deal.Mt. Dew and I left from Salisbury, CT the middle of last week. We did part of the Whites, and we will finish the rest this weekend. We will then keep hiking in New Hampshire until the weather clears. Then, we will flip to Katahdin. We will summit, then hike south to the Whites. We'll skip the White (since we've already done'em) and continue hiking south to Salisbury, CT. Then, we will go to Virginia and complete the 270 miles we have left there in some random order. Phew. I'm tired just thinking about it. I'm currently expecting to finish the whole trail sometime between November 1 and November 15. I'm just going to play it by ear until then.So tomorrow I'm heading out with Mt. Dew and Chocolate Bandito (who is currently hiking with us) to hike the Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire. It is both Labor Day weekend and the remnants of a tropical storm are coming through tomorrow night and beyond. It should be fun.....yeah....fun.....Speaking of fun, I'm still having a great time. Perhaps even more so that I'm doing my new wacky schedule and I no longer have a schedule. My mileage has slowed to about 7-10 miles per day in the Whites, but they've been gorgeous so it hasn't mattered. It's been really nice to be in and out of my house all week, and my parents have been FABULOUS about putting us up and shuttling us places. That being said, I'm really excited also to get back on the trail at Katahdin and play long-distance hiker for a few weeks! I'll update my journal again when I can, and as soon as my photo company develops more recent pictures, I'll try to get those up too. Hope everyone reading this is safe and happy! Happy trails!
Date: 2006-09-02
From: My House

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Whew, tough day today! We headed back to do the Franconia and Garfield ridges since we'd skipped them to get nice weather in the Presidentials. Got a late start, so we didn't start up the trail until about 11am. Couldn't find the trailhead at Interstate 93, so we had to walk .9 from the Liberty Springs parking lot to the actual AT. Then, began our yucky 2 1/2 mile up, which really wasn't as bad as it looked on the map. Had lunch at Liberty Springs Tentsite on a tent platform, then continued up the ridge. It was a gorgeous hike along the Franconia Ridge, especially once we got above treeline. The views were incredible and the trail was fun, although the winds left a lot to be desired. They were so bad on top of Lafayette, in fact, that we could barely stand up, and we felt like we were literally being blown off the mountain.The climb down off the ridge was tiring and really hard on my knees. They were screaming by the time we got down a good ways. In this area the trail was really much more rough and rugged then we're used to, but I suppose we are in a wilderness after all. The climb up Garfield was challenging, especially as it was beginning to get dark. Just before we got to Garfield we saw about 20 people, maybe even more, camped at unofficial sites near Garfield Pond. Later, I read in my book that camping is prohibited within a quarter mile of the pond.We got to the shelter, praying that there would be space on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, just before dark. The caretaker said there was plenty of space, and he registered us. Chocolate Bandito decided to go stealth camp down the mountain, so Mt. Dew and I said we'd see her in the morning. We then cooked some ramen and went to bed. It was windy and freezing. It was a long, cold night.
Date: 2006-09-03
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: light rain

So yup, it was a really short day, but I have an explanation, I promise! Mt. Dew and I didn't get up until about 8:30am. He's very good at procrastinating about getting up in the morning, and I will admit that it didn't take much encouragement for me not to either. It was cold, wet and windy, and I had no desire to get up. Finally, since we knew Chocolate Bandito was waiting for us at the hut, we managed to drag our butts out of bed. We headed off to Galehead Hut, and while the weather and terrain weren't that bad, they weren't that great either.We got to the hut for an early lunch of hut soup (potato dill today) and sat around warming up and just hanging out. There were about 8 other thru-hikers there, who all decided that they were going to head for Zealand Hut. Now, I know that Zealand Hut is the smallest hut, and that's where we wanted to head too; however, we knew we wouldn't be the first ones there, and they certainly weren't going to take 11 work-for-stay thru-hikers. We thought about pushing to the Guyot Campsite, 2 miles past Galehead Hut, but it's also .6 off the trail and we would've had to pay $8 to stay there. We decided to stay at Galehead and do work-for-stay. It was very nice. We played the Appalachian Trail game (Trail Magic) with two kids and their dad who were staying there, then we played Scrabble, then we read books and hung out with the two Southbounders who were staying there. While reading the books, Mt. Dew was enjoying a book from the early 70's about Medical Rescue in the mountains. The book said that doctors at John Hopkins had once brought back a person after over 100 minutes of CPR, so you should never stop doing CPR in the wilderness until you know that there is no posible hope. Our question about this is, wouldn't the person be a vegetable anyway? I mean over an hour and a half? If anyone knows the answer to this, please feel free to put it in my guest book, we're all highly intrigued. Dinner was tasty stuffed shells and peas, and I went to bed happy and warm. I love being warm when I sleep!
Date: 2006-09-04
From: Galehead Hut

To: My House
Miles today: 14.7

I did a 14.7 mile day in the Whites!!!!! I was so excited about that. Granted, much of the trail was some of the easiest trail in the Whites, but you know, it still counts! Left Galehead after doing morning work-for-stay about 10am. It was drizzling and cold, although not too windy. I was glad we'd stayed where we did yesterday. The climb to the top of South Twin wasn't too bad, although there were absolutely NO VIEWS at the top. Sad. Leaving South Twin, the trail wasn't too bad. It wasn't fabulous, but it's been much worse. We (Chocolate Bandito, Mt. Dew and I) made pretty good time, and got to Zealand Hut in about 4 1/2 hours. Along the way, we ran into a guy who had only a long sleeve shirt and some water. He was just coming off a viewpoint, so I asked if he was going our way. He said "No, but do you need some help finding your way or anything." I explained that I just wanted to know if he was going in front of us or not, and then asked how far away the hut was. He replied 1.3 miles down a steep hill. Steep my butt. It was not that steep. Given all of his comments to us, I totally suspect that he thought we were weekenders, which I think is really funny.Anyways, back to reality after my tangent. We got the last three bowls of tasty soup at Zealand Hut, where I ran into two people I had known working at Pinkham for the AMC this winter. We then hiked out to Crawford Notch. A good portion of the trail was on an old railroad bed and passed by the Zeacliffs, otherwise known in our long-running joke of the day as "Ze Cliffs" (say it in a French accent as in "Ze cliffs are very steep.") It may not be quite as funny now, but it was hilarious while we were on the trail. We had several miles of bog walking around Ethan Pond. It grew super tedious, and I was really glad to be done with it. Chocolate Bandito and Mt. Dew hiked down faster then I did (nothing unusual there), but they didn't get too far ahead, and we all met near the car.I should also introduce all my readers to two fun thru-hiker games which both Bandito and Mt. Dew enjoy, but which I have not tried yet. The first is the rock-hopping game, where you see how long you can go down the trail by only stepping on rocks. This is Mt. Dew's game. The second is seeing if you can step in all the puddles and mud-piles in a bog. This is Chocolate Bandito's game. I'm sure at one point I'll participate in both, but today I wanted to keep my boots off the slippery rocks and dry and out of the yucky mud puddles.Getting to my house, my mom had made my favorite tortollini, spinach and bean soup for us, and we were super thankful. It was a long, wet day!
Date: 2006-09-05
From: My House

To: My House
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I'm having a zero day before my drive up to Katahdin to flip-flop. Mt. Dew and I decided to leave tomorrow instead of today because the weather for Thursday at Katahdin looked much better then the weather for Wednesday. However, looking at the weather forecast today, it is clear it is the other way around. Thursday is now supposed to have scattered thunderstorms over the region. *Sigh* I guess we'll still head up tomorrow and then play it by ear. If we can't go up, we'll just wait there an extra day.I managed to get a last minute teeth cleaning this morning, so that took up most of my morning. Then, on my way back home from Gorham, I stopped to get gas and decided to buy a $2 scratch ticket, even though I normally don't have very good luck. When I started scratching, nothing was matching up, but then two from the bottom I struck gold! I got the little symbol that means you win all 8 prizes on the ticket. They added up to $50!!!! So, after getting my two dollars back, I made a tidy profit of $48. I was very excited! Going to do some more resupply stuff today and try to get some of my trail journals updated. Mt. Dew is making me watch Fifth Element (the movie) because I've never seen it, so I'll have to do that at some point too.Oh, and I've officially decided that while I'm going to be technically hiking Southbound for the next part of my journey, I'm really a northbounder at heart, so I'm not going to change my designation from northbounder to southbounder. Katahdin here I come!Update on the Katahdin picture. I called to see if they had space at Katahdin Stream Campground Wednesday and Thursday night, and they're booked Thursday night. That's the night we really need, as my mom will be gone with the car and we can't stay at The Birches. We could get a cabin 2.6 miles further for $75, but that seems a bit extreme. We're going to call in the morning about availability early next week, and if they have it, we'll continue to hike in New Hampshire until then. If not, we'll suck it up and pay the $75. Flip-flopping is beginning to be a pain in the butt!
Date: 2006-09-06
From: My House

To: Abol Campground
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

So I officially know what's happening now! Mt. Dew and I will be driving to Katahdin next Tuesday and summitting on Wednesday, September 13. I have already checked campground availability, and it's wide open, so we're making a reservation soon. Today, we are going to drive down to West Hartford, VT and start hiking north. This will have us complete from West Hartford, VT through Pinkham Notch, NH before we head to Katahdin. It seems like a good plan, and I'm looking forward to being on the trail for a few days straight, although I'll miss the luxuries of home. Anyways, I'll update this page with what happened today and where we hiked to when I get back. Until then, hope everyone has a great week!So an hour or so after I wrote this, plans changed. We didn't go to West Harfotd, VT, we headed to Katahdin instead. Check out my updates to see where I am and what happened. =)
Date: 2006-09-09
From: Abol Bridge Campground

To: Hurd Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: scattered clouds

It's wonderful to start out the morning at a car campground. We started out with a tasty breakfast from the campstore and a nice hot shower (with shampoo)!! Such a nice treat. We met a former thru-hiker named Strider, who asked us to pass a message to his friends Bad Moon, Happy and Phantom. We then hiked the 3.5 miles to Hurd Brook Lean-to, where we ate our lunch. While there we met Mountain Goat, Kenny and Julia (who I met for the first and only other time at Gooch Gap shelter on my 2nd night) and Spitball (who I summitted Springer with on my first day). As we were eating lunch, it started to rain. Now, I'm not the bravest of hikers when it comes to hiking in the rain, and when Mt. Dew and I thought about the fact that we would start out our 100-mile wilderness experience soaking wet - we decided to stay for the night. I felt really silly doing a 3.5 mile day, but hey, it beat getting really wet. We played cards and met Sticks and Johnny Appleseed as they passed through on their way to Katahdin. We had a cold dinner, and a weekender (very underprepared) with his dog was our companion in the shelter for the night.
Date: 2006-09-10
From: Hurd Brook Lean-To

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-To
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

I've officially decided that I really dislike baseball bat shelters. They are very uncomfortable to sleep in. Even with my therm-a-rest I had a hard time getting comfortable. With that said, it was a cold, lazy morning. Our walk through the 100-mile wilderness was gorgeous! Blue sky, a few clouds and cool temperatures. No bugs!!!!The climb up to Rainbow Ledges was decent with nice views. There were gorgeous, plentiful campsites at the north end of Rainbow Lake, and I wish we could've stayed at one. Rainbow Lake itself was beautiful, and I would've liked to spend all day there. We had lunch at Rainbow Springs Campsite, with a wonderfully cold spring.Just past the lake, we got to a place with a note that said to watch for the white faced hornets. Kenny and Julia had warned us about them yesterday, so we knew they were still active. Mt. Dew went through first, and he managed to make it without getting stung. I wasn't so lucky - I got stung twice in the leg. They really itched and burned! We left a note for northbounders, since they'd been nice enough to leave one for us.A little further on, Rainbow Lake Dam had in my opininon the best campsite on the Appalachian Trail. I'm typing this out of my journal after I've finished the trail, so I can honestly say I thought it was the best there was. It's not officially marked in our books, but if you follow the sign for the Rainbow Lake Dam, you will be infinitely rewareded. The campsite is on a beach at the end of the lake, with a picture-perfect view to Mt. Katahdin. There's enough space for a few tents, and it's just absolutely ideal!Just past there, Mt. Dew and I saw our first moose! She was right on the trail, and while she was a little skittish of us, she didn't seem too afraid. WE finally made it to Rainbow Stream Lean-To. It was a decent shelter, but more baseball bats. Yuck. We met Irish and The Sandman at the shelter, and we've been convinced to go stay at White House Landing. Mt. Dew and I made a nice fire for dinner, and we roasted marshmallows that we brought from the campground yesterday.
Date: 2006-09-11
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-To

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-To
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: few clouds

Got up late today - what else is new? Our stove pump was broken, so Mt. Dew had to fix it before we could eat breakfast. THe hike wasn't too bad and it had decent views. We met several hikers, including Wildcat. We got to the shelter around 2:15pm. We ate lunch, then decided just to stay, as we'd still be staying at White House Landing tomorrow. Spend the afternoon trying to keep warm, eventually wishing we'd kept hiking, but it was a little late for that.We met Chardonnay, a northbounder who had come from before White House Landing that day. I was excited to meet her because she was from Keene, NH - another hiker from my state! By the light of tea candles that someone else had left, we all chatted and read the night away. Looking forward to cheeseburgers, pizza and a shower tomorrow!
Date: 2006-09-12
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-To

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 7.7

Tried to get up early today. We actually managed to do so (what a shock), but as it was really fun talking to Chardonnay as we were getting ready, we didn't leave until after 8am. We hiked a very easy hike - essentially 8.9 miles (7.7 on the AT and 1.2 off the AT) to the White House Landing dock. We got to ring the air horn (I made Mt. Dew do it) and the boat came right over to get us. Once there, we met up with Yellow Belly (formerly Dubbs) and some of her friends.The 1 lb. cheeseburgers were amazing!! I had double tomatoes on mine, as Mt. Dew didn't want his. They had cans of coca-cola (yay!) and free cherry tomatoes that were absolutely heavenly. Yellow Belly became the first female hiker to ever eat two cheeseburgers in one sitting. I wanted to go for a tied record, but I really didn't want to spend the money. I think I could've done it, but I guess now we'll never know.After lunch, Yellow Belly and her friends left, and Mt. Dew and I checked into our bunkhouse, met the VERY fat chocolate lab and took hot showers. Then, I tried to do our laundry on an old fashioned scrub board and wringer. That was interesting, but at least the clothes are cleaner then they were. At this point, we also discovered that there were 7 Canadian section hikers sleeping in the bunk house with us.Dinner came very soon, and we headed over to have pizza. I had pepperoni and mushroom, and I saved half of it for lunch the next day. There was one VERY unfortunate incident at dinner. The owner of the place literally blew up (speech-wise) at another thru-hiker. He did this because he said the other thru-hiker cost him two dinners. The thru-hiker was just trying to help the other people out, and it was all a big, bad misunderstanding. The room was very uncomfortable, and there was complete silence at that point. Because of the incident, the guy not only lost the two dinners in revenue, but he lost the overnight stay of about three or four thru-hikers that night. I know that personally I will not stay there again, however the food is awesome.Before dinner, Mt. Dew had bought a bottle of wine, and the two of us took it out in the canoe with us. We were looking for moose, but all we got was a nice sunset. The lake was really nice. Later on that night, I read my book and Aaron played chess and poker with the Canadians. Good times were had by all, but the incident at dinner definitely spoiled the evening for me.
Date: 2006-09-13
From: White House Landing

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Breakfast this morning was really tasty, but only the pancakes were AYCE. Kinda a disapointment, but good nonetheless. My bill for the night came to almost $70, including a $6 fee to use my credit card. Ouch!!!!! On the way back across the lake in the boat, we saw two female moose grazing. Very cool. Our second and third moose of the trail. Some people never see any, so I felt very lucky. Passed two places with awesome privies today, Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to and Antlers Campsite. The privy at Antler campsite was named "Fort Relief" and even had a wash basin and a newspaper. The campsite also boasted some pepsi trail magic! Mt. Dew and I really wanted to stay, but we also really wanted to set miles in. The campsite was one of the most beautiful on the trail though, and it was very hard to leave it.On the way to the next shelter we saw two snakes, including a really cool lime green one. I've never seen anything like it. Our hike didn't take us to long today, only 7 1/2 hours to do 13.8 miles. It was really nice to get the shelter before we expected to. The Jo Mary road was also nice because it had a trash drop. We didn't have much, but we left every last bit of what we had. We shared the shelter with several section hikers - Mailman, Owl & Goodheart. We're looking forward to either a short day or a long day tomorrow, but nothing in the middle.
Date: 2006-09-14
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To

To: Logan Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

Rain today - yuck! I really wanted to go home. I spent the whole morning planning it out: what I was going to do when I got home, how I was going to get home, what kind of job I was going to get, etc. It was just miserable. I really hate gray days!Lunch helped get me out of my funk a little though. It was pretty funny. There were at least 12 of us at the East Branch Lean-to for lunch. I've never been at a shelter with that many people for lunch before. Anywhere, on the whole trail! We met up with Uphill again. Apparantly he decided to finish the whole trail after all. He was really happy to see Mt. Dew.After lunch, the day just kinda dragged on again - it was pretty draining. We met Parkay - she seemed really nice. We tented at the shelter, as we felt like being by ourselves a little bit. Six SOBO section hikers shared the shelter. Looking forward to fording a river tomorrow!
Date: 2006-09-15
From: Logan Brook Lean-To

To: Logan Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Um....so yeah....had an official zero day at a shelter. I've always wanted to do that on the trail, and today I got my wish. We're feeling really pressed to get to the Virginia section before winter sets in, but I really needed a day off. I was moody, depressed, wanting to go home - and so Mt. Dew let me sit there and read my book all day. I'm not sure if it helped or not mentally, but it sure did physically. We literally spent almost all but about an hour of the day in the tent. It was very relaxing. Later in the evening, Pipe Dreams and Cornbread showed up. It was nice to chat with them, and I was glad to have had the opportunity to see them again.
Date: 2006-09-16
From: Logan Brook Lean-To

To: West Branch Pleasant River Campsite
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: broken clouds

Well, we had hoped to do almost a 17-miler today, but the days just end to early now. With the terrain the way it is, we didn't want to chance having to do some of it in the dark. We got the river forded by 4pm, but we camped there because we had heard the ascent up Chairback was difficult.Met lots of people today, including Indiana, Bama, Jesse and Rush Hour. I forded my first river today too. It wasn't to hard, but oh my goodness was it cold! Mt. Dew and I are almost out of food too. We have enough to make it to Monson, but just barely, and not comfortably. Tomorrow morning we'll be having Ramen for breakfast because that's just about all that's left. I want tasty food!
Date: 2006-09-17
From: West Branch Pleasant River Campsite

To: Barren Mountain Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 12.0

Sucky, long day today. I hate the Barren-Chairback range with a passion! It was so hard, doing it on little food and hard terrain. It was torture to sit and watch other hikers eat their tasty food, since they had just come from Monson, and have none of our own. Not even tasty food do I want at this point, just enough food. Sigh. We'll manage.Other then the lack of food, not really much to write about. Really crappy ups and downs were the order of the day. Extremely exhausting, especially without adequate food. We met tons of other hikers though. There are a few advantages to being a SOBO hiker, you get to meet way more hikers all day!We stealth camped about a mile past Cloud Pond Lean-To, as the lean-to was .4 off the trail and we had heard it was already full. The campsite was "interesting" in a word. Really not a campsite, just a spot between the trees that was just big enough to fit our tent. It was mossy, which we thought was a plus, but really it just meant lots of BIG roots and rocks underneath the moss that we couldn't move. Honestly, this was one of the worst places we slept on the whole trail. But we managed.