morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-06-29
From: Hwy 140

To: Hwy 4
Miles today: 25.0

29 June.  25 miles to Hwy 4.                        6/29/12    "Today rained. It was easy but it was VERY unpleasant. We are sleepy. We hurried and talked all day. We went to camp and ate.  Then I watched Annika play on the swing set. Then we took a shower. We are now sleepy and going to bed."                                        ¢Sunshine:-)  We rose at 5:00 am ate breakfast, packed for the day, and jumped in the car by 6:00am.  Yah, it takes longer with the whole family together.  We still need to work out our system to improve our timing.  As soon as we hoped in the car, it began to rain.  We arrived to the trail just before 7:00 and stared at the steady rain on the windows.  It looked as though an anti hiking cue was brewing so I made a command decision to get out of the car and "ruck-up".  Biscuits and Sunshine reluctantly followed.  We are all tired of the rain and it has not been kind to our feet. Today I could feel the wrinkles of my pruned feet rubbing together trying to start hot spots.  We did stop for a 45 minute lunch to set our socks and shoes in the sun which helped considerably.  That's right, your eyes deceive you not. The rain stopped by 10:00 and the sun made it's appearance soon after.  We have been on Vermont's "Long Trail" for the past 100 miles (the AT shares it's track), but leave it almost immediately tomorrow morning.  We have met many LT hikers  the past few days and are passing 2 or 3 AT hikers each day with our 25ish mile days.  We saw our second Sobo Thru today.  David started the 29th of May.  Miles Davis who I mentioned 2 days ago actually started the 24th, I mistakenly said the 22nd earlier.   The tread alternated between rocky and muddy.  It has also become increasingly hilly and steep.  It's good training for the infamous White Mountains which we are about to encounter in a matter of days. We are in fact in the "green tunnel", so views are few and far between.  We are excited to rise above the tree line soon and enjoy views while we walk.    We only have 487 miles left!  For those who are more familiar with our PCT hike, that is 13 miles less than Washington state, which we hiked in 21 days last year.
Date: 2012-06-30
From: Hwy 4

To: Pomfret Rd
Miles today: 26.0

June 30.  26 miles to some road.6/30/12  "Today was horrid. Last night we got a 3:00am wake up call from a man and his dumb dog. We could not get back to sleep. We are grochie and tired. We got dizzy a few times. Our eyes are struggling to stay open. We are going to bed VERY early"                ¢Sunshine:-|Still more elevation gains and losses.  It was dry all day.  This has been the most poorly marked section of trail.  It crosses a road or giant hay field with no indication of where the trail resumes.    We were exhausted from public camp ground riff raff (I know, that's how it is.  I don't need a lecture.  This is the only way to include my family without buying motels each night).  Butterfly joined us for the last 4 hilly miles of the day.  Mother Teresa had dinner waiting when we arrived at 6:00pm.
Date: 2012-07-01
From: Pomfret Rd

To: Etna, New Hampshire
Miles today: 25.0

01 July. 25 miles to Etna New Hampshire.7/1/12 "Today we hiked 25 miles! The morning wasn't great, but the afternoon and evening was AWESOME!!!! I felt realy badly for Dad. We had:        Cookies(thank you!!),              Watermelon(thank you!!),Sandwiches(thank you!!),Snickers bar(thank you!!),And Pizza(thank you!!)!! Dan and Whit's grocery in West Hanford gives Thru's free sandwiches and their prices are reasonable. There were two houses with goddies by the road including Short and Sweet's. Mountian Goat outfitters offered us snickers instead of an AT discount (we thought that was better) and the Pizza shop gives Thru's a free slice.  We met new people who signed my cast. Tomorrow it is(FINALLY) off!!!!"                               ¢Sunshine:-)   Today was one of our best hiking days on the trail, but I had one of the worst experiences of my life all in one day. We met many great thru's, really felt a part of the hiking comunity, had a great swim, the first magic since the Mason/Dixon line (as Sunshine outlines), and the last easy trail for the next 2 weeks. We saw a local man jumping off a 30' bridge and the water looked glorious on a day that was increasingly becoming warmer. We (Red Man, Stinger, Motown, Biscuits, and I) could not resist. The Jump and subsequent swim was one of the most exciting events out here to date. Sunshine just took pictures for us. I however lost my wedding ring (16 years) on my third jump. It felt like someone just pulled it right off my finger. I still feel horrible, and don't want to talk about it.
Date: 2012-07-02
From: Etna, New Hampshire

To: Hwy 25 A
Miles today: 28.0

7/2/12"Today we hiked 28 miles. I am going to take off my cast!!! It is all wet and goopie inside. We arrived late at camp and met a section hiker who has a tent like we want to use on the CDT. She showed us how to set it up. We are going to take off my cast as soon as dad is available!"                                       ¢Sunshine:-)
Date: 2012-07-03
From: Hwy 25 A

To: Beaver Brook Trail
Miles today: 20.0

3/12   "Today we hiked 20 miles. We slept in till 6:00am. We hurried and got done early. We climbed Mt moosilauke. There were SO many stairs!! Don't want to do THAT again. We are now in the car waching movies with Biscuits".                                      ¢Sunshine:-)   We are now in the infamous White Mountains. We've been hearing horror stories about their treacherous difficulty for the past 1,700 miles. We hope they live up to the legends. We only did 20 today so we had plenty of time to dilly dally up and down Mt Moosilauke. This was the first time we've risen above tree line (4,200 feet here) on the AT. We were treated to some nice views which wet our apitites for more of the up comming 4,000 footers (I know, but that's big out here). We ate two lunche breaks, did some sight seeing through an abandoned 1800's cemetery, took several photo ops on top and made it back to camp early. It was quite steep up the south side of the mountain, but the north descent was crazy steep! We slowly worked our way down stairs and rock slabs beside the most beautiful mountain stream. Beaver Brook often cascaded down into picturesque water falls.   We are zeroing tomorrow on the 4th of July, because rain is in the forecast. Plus some family time is much needed.
Date: 2012-07-05
From: Zero!

To: Lonesome Lake Hut
Miles today: 13.3

5 July.  13.3 miles to Lonesome Lake Hut.                        7/5/12  "Today was harsh. It was our first day in the whites. It was ROCKY and STEAP! I am surprised there was no bone-breaking today. It was A LOT worse than what I broke my arm on.         We stayed at Lonesome Lake Hut. It is pretty cool! We saw a moose and had a DELICIOUS HOT MEAL!!!!! We did quite a bit of work(well dad did... I did a little bit). Honestly it was a kinda fun(I think I am going nuts). We also have a roof over our head that is FULLY enclosed!!"                                    ¢Sunshine:-) I know, I usually round my milage down, but that was a very worthy 0.3 mile.  We started very late today.  We intentionally planed to sleep in since we had no reasonable hope of getting to bed early on the 4th of July.  The White Mountains are certainly proving to be a worthy challenge.  We climbed 3 small peaks today, but what they lacked in elevation, they made up in steepness.  Everything was still very wet and the rocks were extremely slippery.  We defiantly are making some serious adjustments to our attitudes about pace and daily miles.  I will say this... Even though the views over the mountains were completely fogged in, the foreground  directly around us was amazing!  This did not resemble anything we've seen out here so far.  Every draw coming down the mountain was rushing with beautiful orange/brown streams cascading so often down the steep rocks that it was almost like continuous water falls for miles.  It seemed more like a rain forest than a eastern forest.      We had no intention of staying at the Huts in the Whites, but our lack of progress landed us here at 7:30 pm.  We were spent.  The staff welcomed us in, fed us left overs, gave us floor space to sleep on, and Sunshine and I scrubbed down the kitchen in exchange.  Nice group of collage students.  The food was great.  Huts out here are remote back country lodges with full amenities.  Regular guests pay $80 per bed.  Sunshine saw her first moose, but I was busy cleaning my leg wounds and missed it.
Date: 2012-07-06
From: Lonesome Lake Hut

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

6July.  16 miles to Galehead Hut.             7/6/12 "Today we hiked...(that's too depressing, I don't want to know how far). We summited manny mountains. It was hard, so we took it easy and choose to NOT look at our miles or MPH.     We are week when it comes to food so of course we are spending as much time as possible eating at the huts!"                   ¢Sunshine:-)  Well, we did better.  In fact, we could have easily made 20ish, but we are week when it comes to great (free) food.  We started the White Mountains thinking we would just burn them up, but quickly felt the agony of defeat.  We have now decided to slow down and enjoy the views, Huts, and the experience they offer.  This way we can enjoy the mountains, not resent them.  That's the beauty of Thru-hiking... You get to make up your own rules as you go and even change them mid game!   As I mentioned last night, we stay in these Huts free by working for stay.  Last night we scrubbed down the stove, griddle, and kitchen.  Tonight we were the evening entertainment for the paying guests. They might just be hiking to this hut of from hut to hut.  There are many families here.  We gave a verbal presentation of our hikes, then opened it up to Q and A.  Everyone was very interested and particularly interested in Sunshine's story.  What a great experience. We'll call that her speech class unit.  Since she began Thru-hiking, She has become so much more comfortable talking to adults and children a like, and even in front of groups.    The food was great and Anna and Megan have a talent for creating a particularly fun atmosphere at this hut.  Thanks for your hospitality ladies.  We successfully brought the fun back into this hike.   We throughly enjoyed our 2 mile ridge walk above the tree line across Mt Lincoln and Lafayette.  We could see for miles and many of the surrounding mountains.  Today was by far our best views.  We are still in very steep rocky areas.  Today I did my first ever on trail summersault, landing in the rocky stream for a grand finally.  I really believed that I broke several bones at first, but now my left hand is the only thing I still suspect.  It is quite swollen and I it hurts like the Dickens to move.  You may remember, I broke the pinky on my other hand last week.
Date: 2012-07-07
From: Galehead Hut

To: ??
Miles today: 22.0

7 July.  22 miles to ??             7/7/12 "Today was hard. We stayed up late because we were turned away from work to stay, we were forced to camp in a hard place to set up. It was hard to find one below tree line.  We shared one poncho tent, amazingly, it worked!              ¢Sunshine:-)We can not deny or confirm our camp location tonight.  The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) has exclusive rights to the forest lands in this area.  They have set up back country camp sites, shelters and exclusively control the huts and lodges out here.  They turn the back country huts over to collage students for the summer.  These students have the sovereign authority to except Thru- hikers into the hut or not.  Tonight, the Mizpah Hut kids turned us away at 8:00pm, with no where to go. They said they already had 2 thru's there.  That was not true, there were no Thru-hikers there at all (we later verified this)  The dinning room floor which is where Thru's sleep could have slept 30 people.  The next hut is 5 miles away.  He said to go to the AMC fee camp site, but they only have wooden platforms for free standing tents.  I told him we did not have free standing tents, and he become irritated and said "others have done it... figure out a way".  The SoBo's that stayed last night, said the staff kept them up till almost 12:00 am drinking and being loud.  We suspect the hikers called them out and we are now reaping the results. It is supposed to rain tonight, so things could get interesting.    We had a good hiking day. There was 6 miles of nice trail where we really made some great time.  The afternoon was filled with the regular rock/bolder climbing at a steady 1mph.  I had to pull Sunshine up the rocks many times.  We came out to several rocky areas with some terrific winds.  I love hiking in the wind.  It keeps me cool and it seems more hard core to push against it, ha, ha. We should have a beautiful view of Mt Washington as the sun comes up in the morning if the weather holds.
Date: 2012-07-08
From: ??

To: Hwy 16
Miles today: 19.0

7/8/12 "Today we hiked 19 miles. We hurried to Lake of the Clouds for breakfast. Then we went to mt. Washington. I almost was thrown off my two feet. It was hard. Then we went to Madison Springs Hut for lunch.   Then we talked with Shannon, and Andrea the rest of the day.  We hurried to the road and they gave us a ride!!!! We arrived in town late, so we checked in to a motel, and went to McDonalds!!!!!  Then we read Barracuda's(7 years old), and Sierra's(8 years old) PCT journal! "                    ¢Sunshine:-)  It was a great day! We certainly worked hard, and it was worth it! I loved walking above tree line all day. The 2 hours to Lake of the Clouds (we call it Lake of The Crowds, because so many people stay at that hut) was completely socked in with clouds. We had no views and some "heavy" winds. That wind we later learned was nothing. The wind only intensified as we climbed higher up Mt Washington. Once we reached the platu just before the summit area, we could hardly stand. Sunshine was particulary being blown around and had to hold on to me. People were running for shelter, but being blown off course and would correct and run for it again between gusts. They looked like soda cans pushed around by the wind beside the road. The visitors center posted conditions every 15 minutes. The average gusts recorded that hour were 73mph! The rest of the day was all about working through the huge bolder fields in these high winds. Off Washington, they we'nt as bad. More like 45-50 mph, but that's plenty big. Sunshine had to brace herself many times against bolders between gusts.   We stopped at a hut mid day for lunch! It was sereal to see people comming and going from the wind. They were all bundled up and on a mission. One minute we were being pushed around by the strong, cold, howling winds, the next in this beautiful serene warm log lodge. It seemed like a wild west movie from the dust bowl days. What an adventure! We met two wonderful young ladies late afternoon and Sunshine loved their company. They were out for the day. We all came out to the road where their car was parked after dark and they gave us a ride to town. Thanks Andrea and Shannon! We decided to get a room and rest a bit. We've realy been working hard these last several days.
Date: 2012-07-10
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Trident Col camp
Miles today: 22.0

miles to Trident Col Camp.  We slept in till 5:30 this morning and were on trail by 6:00am.  Our first mile was straight up out of the other side of the hole we climbed down last night.  Most of the morning was either steep bolder climbing up and then down again.  By lunch, we had walked a whopping 7 miles.  Luckily by mid afternoon, the trail eased up on us a bit and we began to make better time.  In fact, we are out of the White Mountain National Forest and the elevation profiles are starting to look better.  It's still no Virginia trail, but I think we should be able to pick up our pace some now.  We cross into Maine, our last state, tomorrow in just 10 short miles!  We're in the tents tonight, so I had to come up with a replacement pillow, ha, ha.    We have seen many Sobo Thrus the last few days.  We must be in the middle of their herd.  We are noticing some of the same attitudes and clique behavior with the new hikers up here as we did in GA. They tried to discourage us from camping here.  We have also met some very friendly SoBos as well, Especially the ones we saw early on.  The further north we move the less experience I guess many of them will have.  Oh, we have also seen a lot of moose droppings today, so perhaps my first moose sighting is neigh!
Date: 2012-07-11
From: Trident Col camp

To: South Arm mountain
Miles today: 21.0

7/11/12"Today was AWESOME!!! We went over Mahoosuc Noch! It was like a jungle gym for Adults!!! We were going bolder to bolder!!! Over, under, and through! We also did The Mahoosuc 'Arm' (big mountain) That was painful, we did a 21 mile day!"                       ¢Sunshine:-)
Date: 2012-07-12
From: South Arm mountain

To: South Arm Rd
Miles today: 24.0

12 July, 24 miles to South Arm Rd, Maine.   When Mother Teresa and Butterfly pulled up tonight for the first time in a week, our friend Turbo (PCT 2010, 2011) hoped out of the car.  Turns out, he's cycling cross the country and happened to run into Mother Teresa in the Andover, Maine general store!  I think there is like 5 people who live there, ha, ha, jk.  What a surprise!  He camped with us tonight and it was great catching up.  You may remember him as one of the 5 hikers I worked with in 2010 on a rescue mission.  He and another hiker, hiked the HAPE victim down in elevation to slow the affects, while I climbed the mountain above Forester Pass to place the 911 call.  Search and rescue was able to life flight him out in time thanks to everyone's team work, despite the complacency of the local sheriff who messed up relaying the accurate location info I gave him.  It was great seeing you Turbo, hope to hike with you again on the CDT.  We pulled off a classic Balls and Sunshine move today!  We hiked 14 hard miles, went into town for 2 hours, ate a pizza, drank cold sodas, hitched back to the trail, and knocked out 10 more miles just seconds before complete darkness.  It was a long day, we are beat.  The weather has been beautiful with lots of direct sunlight. As a result we've been guzzling water.  I drank 2.5 gallons today alone.
Date: 2012-07-13
From: South Arm Rd

To: Hwy 17 Maine
Miles today: 13.0

13 July, 13 miles to Hwy 17.            7/13/12   "Today we hiked 13 miles!!! It was pretty easy. We got a late start and were done by 6!! It was a dry day. We almost ran out of water. We hiked a mile with Walking Home. I cant wait for tonight's family night!!!!! Thank you Anut Karen for the Brownies and cookies!!!!!!!!!"              ~Sunshine:-)  We've been rising at 4:00 am the past several days and were exhausted last night when Mother Teresa and Butterfly re joined us.  We deliberately slept in till 8:00am this morning.  It was glorious! We didn't hit the trail till 11:00am so the 13 mile section, instead of the 27, made the most sense.  We had plenty of time because of this and took our time and "smelled the roses".  It was a beautiful day and the trail was kind to us.  We are still climbing peaks each day, but the trail is less steep and has stairs or ladders in the stone faces.  Our pace is picking back up, but not like it was down south.  The water sources are becoming less reliable so we have to stop when we can for fear that the next one may be dry or stagnate.  The sun has been marvelous, which means we have to stay on top of the sunscreen and chap stick.  It's wonderful to rise several times a day out of the tree line.  The views are great also!  I still haven't seen that moose however.  The MATC is maintaining this section of trail and doing a great job!  Thsnk you Main AT Club!  You could immediately see a huge difference as soon as we crossed that magic line yesterday morning.  Amazing, the AMC charges $8 per person ($16 for us) per night to tent camp in OUR national forest land, but have the least maintained section on the whole trail.  They set up pay sites in the only camp able locations for miles and prohibit camping elsewhere. There are 29 other AT clubs that build, maintain, and care for the trail, camps, shelters, and privies that don't charge a dime.  If they did, it would have cost us $2,400 just to camp on the ground in the forest this entire trip. This would add 50% more cost to thru-hike for the average hiker.  Someday thru-hiking will be another luxury only available to the wealthy.     PS this picture is a couple days late, but still a beautiful sight!
Date: 2012-07-14
From: Hwy 17 Maine

To: Poplar Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 25.0

14 July, 25 miles to Poplar Ridge Shelter.  210 miles left!7/14/12  "So far I do not see what people in the Whites said about Maine.  It is better maintained and is flatter. I enjoy it a lot. I hope we can complete a 44 mile day soon (that will beat both of our hiking records. Mine is 36 and dads is 43!). We had lunch with Mom and Annika. We did a 25 mile day."                ~Sunshine:-DThis should be a rough night's sleep.  This shelter was built in the 60's under the assumption that visitors would cut fresh pine bows each night for comfort.  Therefore, they made the deck out of knobby little 3" diameter poles.  Great leave no trace ethic huh?  Yeh, it wasn't spelled out so specifically back then, but they still must have wondered what would happen to all the near by trees if everyone practiced this.  Kind of like the old timers that tell us they didn't know the dangers of smoking cigarettes, but we know now and shouldn't do it.  Isn't it common sense not to inhale toxic smoke particles into your lungs?  We had great day.  We rolled out 15 miles before lunch, where Teresa and Butterfly were waiting with sandwiches and blueberries!  We drove into town, sent out our journals to you wonderful folks, ate some Ice cream, and hit the trail.  We wanted to do a 30 into the next shelter, but a freak electrical storm blew in from nowhere.  Just as we approached the summit of Saddleback (not Brokeback, ha, ha) mountain the winds picked up and within a minute, huge rain drops began to pelt us.  It soon began to thundering, which concerned us on top of the tallest peak for miles.  All we could do was push forward as hard as we could to get off the mountain ASAP.  The trail turned to a turbulent river just minutes after the rain began. All the water from the mountain top was directed down the trail and over our feet.  It hadn't rained for days here, so the 6" of water puddles we were walking in, had accumulated in just a half hour. Which is about how long this entire storm lasted.  That was long enough though to make all the rocks on the 3 steep peaks we had to ascend and then descend, extremely slippery. That's the long story/excuse of why we didn't meet our goal of 30 miles today.  Aren't you glad you asked?  Ha,ha.