morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-08-26
From: Carlo Col shelter

To: Old Speck summit
Miles today: 10.6

I and Jude set off up Goose eye mtn this morning anticipating the infamous Mahoosuc notch. We decided we would go through it together so if we had to take our packs off on certain sections we could help each other. We took our first few steps into the notch and it felt like there was A/C down there. The rocks were cold and I saw some ice under a few boulders. The cold felt good, so we took a few short breaks to enjoy it. This truly was the slowest mile on the A.T. We had fun finding our way through the jumble of huge car sized boulders however If it had of gone on for much longer I would of become fed up. Early on, Jude had a bad fall which led him to slow down and take his time. Luckily when he fell, his pack took most of the impact but he still had some cuts and bruises to show for. On two occasions we had to take our backpacks off and slide them through the gap first. I was glad I went through with Jude as we had a good laugh talking pictures of the madness. We took another break at the end of the notch and I spilt some water onto a rock. I looked at Jude and for the good of black humour I said ¢I hope someone slips on that¢. After we finished our break I got up and slipped over on that very rock, Jude told me it deserved me right and I have to agree. The climb up Mahoosuc arm was not as bad as I had been led to believe and we soon found ourselves at Speck pond campsite. We didn¢t want to pay the fee to stay here so we pressed on planning to camp at a stealth site on top of Old Speck mountain. I got a chuckle on the way up when two girls passed us and one of them said to us ¢Its like a rock wall up there, are you ready for that?¢ How little she knows about us. Jude is from Florida and thus the topic of conversation naturally came around to hurricanes. He shared some amusing stories of past hurricanes and hurricane parties! Dandylion
Date: 2005-08-27
From: Old Speck summit

To: Andover
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: clear sky

I set off down the mtn before Jude had waked up. I got down to Grafton notch which is the boundary of the AMC, now under the care of the MATC. I took a break at Baldplate lean to and then the rain started. The rain delayed my leaving but I eventually mustered the courage to climb baldplate mtn in the rain. Just before I went above tree line I met some guys heading south and they hinted that I was in for a rough time. It indeed was rough up there but I am sure it¢s a beautiful mtn with great views. Unfortunately I saw none of it. The wind was pelting me around with a dash of cold rain, it was exciting at first, fighting the elements. Sometimes the danger just gets your blood pumping however the novelty of being cold soon wore off. I lost the trail a couple of times since i was having a constant battle with my rain cover for my backpack, which resulted in me just pulling it off. The descent was hairy, water was just gushing down the trail making it more likely that I would fall to my peril. I got to Fyre Notch lean-to and found Shags sitting there. He said he got knocked over at one point on the top. The other boys soon rolled in and the discussion turned to town. I had not intended to go to town but i was in need. The road into Andover was not a highway to say the least but we still managed to get a road in. The road was so small that it made the hitching very personal. You could stare the driver right in the eyes. We lost one ride because bear and Jude were shouting 'come on, come on'. They were well intentioned but must have scared the hell out of the drivers. However it worked as they came back 5 minutes later. We stayed at the Andover guest house run by the oddest pair in Maine. She flashed her breasts at me at one point because she had a tattoo on it! I didn¢t realise my $20 included that perk! I honestly could not turn my head away in time.The food in town was good and prices here were like they were back down south. There were some SOBO'S staying here also which made for an crowded bunkroom.Dandylion
Date: 2005-08-28
From: Andover

To: Bemis mtn lean-to
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

Backpack was extremely wet from last night¢s rain. I had to put it under the porch as instructed but the rain was blown in and soaked everything. One of the SOBO¢s had a miniature bagpipe set and we encouraged him to play some Black watch tunes and Amazing grace. I wish I could play the bagpipes, I wish I could play an instrument full stop. I landed on the trail at about 11am with Livestrong and Whitewater. We found ourselves climbing straight away meanwhile Kaboos and his gang had got a yellow blaze and missed the next 10 miles. This was the first yellow blaze Bear had done and I tried to guilt trip him but it failed. Moody Mountain was the hardest thing I¢ve done in Maine. At one point I was trying to climb up a rock face and fell down twice. I took a few minutes to recompose myself and then finally got up it. Moody really kicked my ass; infact Maine has been really hard on me so far. After my dramatic or should I say traumatic climb over Moody, I was thinking of stopping at South Arm road to camp but I decided to push on with Livestrong to Bemis mtn lean-to. There was a 2200ft ascent involved to reach the top of old blue mtn but for some reason I cruised up it. I and Livestong hiked the final miles in the dark over the Bemis range. Poor Livestrong had to put up with me all night. We felt victorious when we rolled into the shelter. Can¢t believe we pulled such big miles after the late start. They boys were impressed that we made it in. Dandylion
Date: 2005-08-29
From: Bemis mtn lean-to

To: Piazza Rock lean-to
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: light rain

Another wet day awaited me this morning. It was nice to find soda stashed in the river this morning. After my lunch break at Sabbath day pond lean-to my day just got progressively worse. My feet were wet all day and really sore. You know how your feet get went you come out of the bath; well they were like that all day. I developed a rash on my back from my wet pack which was irritating. I had chapping in all the wrong places. It was turning out to be a miserable day. When I got to ME4 which goes into Rangeley, I had some decisions to make. I really didn¢t want to go into town and spend anymore money but I needed to resupply. I was feeling foul and unreasonable, nothing could cheer me up. The 3 guys went into town and Livestrong went on to the next shelter. I decided to ration out my food and make it to Stratton in 2 days. I met a Dutchman who had cycled here from Virginia. He would cycle around for a few months, going where he pleased. He said to me ¢I love the space in this country¢. I walked the couple of easy miles up to the shelter. Livestrong and Whitewater were resident in the shelter and hooked me up with a few extra meals. I felt good that I had managed to miss out one of these towns in Maine but the sensible thing would have been to of gone in. Later on we were joined by Rabbit. He also contributed my ¢feed the dandylion¢ campaign. He was talking to us all night as he drank down his ¢clear water¢ or vodka as we call it. He was a really nice guy but told me some bad news. Tomorrow the rain from Katrina is due to hit! It started raining not long after he told us about it and didn¢t look like it would be stopping anytime soon.Dandylion
Date: 2005-08-30
From: Piazza Rock lean-to

To: Poplar Ridge lean-to
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: light rain

It was nice to start the day with an amusing story. Rabbit overindulged last night on his clear water and ended up falling over and sleeping in the dirt. Whitewater got up in the night and woke Rabbit up and he proceeded into his sleeping bag. He didn¢t appear to have a hangover to me. The caretaker for this shelter came to talk with us this morning. Her name was Sarah and I learned that her father was originally from England. She was a super sweet girl and fun to talk to, however it was important to take those first few bold steps into the pouring rain if I was to get anywhere today. Rabbit decided to zero here today and let the rain pass. The climb up Saddleback was not as bad as I expected but the 2ft of water gushing down the trail made it a little more challenging. I fell down countless times but I just had to pick myself back up and keep going. That¢s one of the qualities you must have to thru-hike. A will to finish that will push you through the tough times. The last few days have felt like a test of my worth and resolve. I don¢t know who the examiner is but with this in mind I was determined to keep going. Up on the peaks the weather was particularly wild. I wondered how the poor folks in New Orleans had it when I was just experiencing the residual effects of Katrina. I was pleased to reach Poplar ridge lean-to where I met patches. He¢s a section hiker from Georgia and decided to take a zero in this shelter today. I had planned to go on but the rain was still heavy, I had some river crossings coming up so I took refuge here. Lightening rod came along and joined us soon after, like me he had no desire to hike on any further. The shelter was old school with Baseball bat decking which is very uncomfortable. The Maintainer had left a handbook that answered most the questions he had encountered from hikers in the past. It was a very informative read. I learned that the logs that span the entrance and which I often curse for making it hard to enter and exit the shelter are infact porcupine traps!!!Still the rain pours, and tomorrow I will have to pull a 22 mile day as I am nearly out of food.Dandyion
Date: 2005-08-31
From: Poplar Ridge lean-to

To: Stratton
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: light rain

Oh the joy of tearing myself away from my warm sleeping bag and pulling on those wet garments while grinding my teeth. I was so glad to be hiking, just so I could get warm. It never really occurred to me this morning that after a period of heavy rain, my 2 river crossing may offer some challenge. They did. Orberton stream was roaring. The next 40 minutes were possibly the most demoralizing minutes of the trip. I failed to cross 4 times, one resulting in me falling in and banging my knee hard. For a while I was just saying to myself ¢I can¢t do this, I can¢t do this¢. Then Patches came along and went across first time, though I must admit it was in an uncomfortable fashion. I psyched myself up and extending my pole further and went for it. The middle of the river was the problem; it was waist deep and the current strong. I was not going to let the old boy show me up and I made it across. I really don¢t care for river crossing that high. I felt exhausted after the episode, mainly because I was coming off a major adrenalin high. Once again, I found Maine trying to beat me down into the ground. On the flip side of the coin, I am finding the climbs up easier and before I knew it I was at Spaulding mtn lean-to. I took a lunch break and continued on with lightening rod. He is up to his old tricks and trying to pull a 58 mile section in one go. He planned to hike till 1pm the next day so he could meet a friend at US201.We soon started descending down from Sugarloaf mtn to the Carabassett River. I was a little anxious to get it done. The river was again waist deep but I was far more confident and went across first time and quickly. The last part of the day involved climbing over South and North Crocker mtn. I took my time, trying to pace out the last few miles. When I got up the first peak I became terribly hungry. I pulled out my last item of food, Dry ramen noodles and ate them up. All that was on my mind at this point was getting to Stratton and spoiling myself. I got to the road and stuck out my thumb and Bang, first car stopped. I must have looked like a man who wanted to go to town.I ended up at Don¢s Stratton hotel/hostel. There I found Livestrong and Whitewater and they were surprised to see me. Apparently the Carabassett was impassable this morning and they had to hike back up Sugarloaf and take an alternative route. It sounded like they had a tougher day than me. This hostel is great. It has high speed internet and free calls within the U.S. There were only 3 of us here tonight thus I actually had a room to myself. It felt like our own little house. I spent a lot of time watching the news on Katrina. I was surprised at the state of chaos; I thought that everyone was prepared for the disaster. I had the impression that America would handle something like this relatively well but from the media coverage I've seen, New Orleans looks like a third world city. I tucked a 16 inch pizza away and ate some ice cream after a hard day and went to bed.Dandylion
Date: 2005-09-01
From: Stratton

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up in my double bed this morning feeling grand. I felt like taking the day off, so I did. Livestrong got a ride back to the river he could not cross yesterday from Don so he didn¢t miss any of the trail ¢ good man! There are very few people at this stage that have not yellow blazed at some point and even less purists. I was surprised this morning when Mayfly walked in. She brought in a maildrop she didn¢t need and she gave me some top notch dehydrated meals. I was very excited to get on the trail to eat them. Me and Mayfly went over to the diner to grab lunch leaving Whitewater contemplating whether or not to go home.The diner ticked us off as when Mayfly ordered a Pepsi, they gave her this tiny glass; it was almost the size of a shot glass. When an establishment pulls a stunt like that you wonder if they are just trying to help their profit margins or punish you for dining there. All me and Mayfly did all day was eat and then wait till we were ready to eat some more. Whitewater decided it was time to go home and was lucky enough to find a ride from a section hiker to a bus station in Portland. He was a good guy and it be sad to see him go. Later on, we went for a Wolfburger which is a 12 pound burger with a side of fries. It was very good but so greasy I could barely hold onto it. I had an enjoyable day off after my toughest week on the trail. Me and Mayfly had the whole hostel to ourselves tonight, it was nice to have space and privacy.Just before I nodded off to sleep I was getting excited about home, I really hope that this experience and the ideas I have spawned will affect my life back home in an active capacity. I can¢t believe I am so near the end. I remember being back down south, it was too much to comprehend that I would be one day in Maine closing in on my 2000th mile. I am pumped up for hitting the Bigelow¢s tomorrow and hope to get the views of Maine that the weather thus far has denied me.Dandylion
Date: 2005-09-02
From: Stratton

To: Little Bigelow lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Me and Mayfly grabbed breakfast before Don took us back to the trail head. Don loves his dogs and they came for the ride with us. They were irritating me a little as they bounded up and down the length of the van. They then started fighting over something. I said to Mayfly ¢there fighting over a bear¢. On my second looking I realised that the bear looked all too familiar, it was in fact my bear. I had to ply one of the dogs mouth open to remove him in one piece. That was a close call for my travelling companion. It was a beautiful day and going over the Bigelows was wonderful. I had a great views throughout the day and did some reading up on Avery peak. I had been unaware that there was a memorial plaque up on Avery peak to the great Myron Avery. He may not of been the one who dreamed the trail but he was the one who made that dream a reality. I had been concerned that I had finally lost the will to hike the trail but today was awesome. Today also held a big milestone. I have now walked over 2000 miles. Even now its hard to comprehend travelling that far on foot but I just did a little everyday and here I am. I rolled into Little Bigelow and had the place to myself. I finished off my Shakesphere book and did some writing. It was nice to relax after a superb day. Dandylion
Date: 2005-09-03
From: Little Bigelow lean-to

To: Pierce pond lean-to
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: few clouds

I took a lay in as today was meant to be flat and indeed it was. We had one gradual climb over Round top mtn and the rest was cake walk. I met Waist deep today who I recall briefly meeting in Vermont before. When I use the term ¢we¢ as I sometimes do, I am referring to myself and my collective thoughts. The terrain was easy but I was blessed with a headache which I believe I got from too much sun up on top of Avery yesterday. I arrived at my destination at around 4pm. It had been a strange days hiking, felt like a vague dream. In the shelter there were two interesting older guys who were very friendly if not amusing. There was also a group of 4 camping nearby and they spent most the night socialising with us. One of the older guys had a GPS even though he didn¢t have maps with grid references on and the other had a saw which he used to cut up wood for a fire. Where do these people com from?I took a walk down to Harrison camps. I heard they do a 12 pancake soaked in maple syrup so I went to inquire. I also heard they had a teenage daughter, so I brushed my teeth before setting off. I had no luck on the girl but signed up for a breakfast. On my return I discovered that these older guys were ¢doctor who¢ fans and I told them about the new series.Dandylion
Date: 2005-09-04
From: Pierce pond lean-to

To: Bald mtn Brook lean-to
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I set off down to the camp this morning looking forward to my breakfast. I got a side order of eggs with mine. It was well worth the walk but my hunger still was not completely satisfied. At Harrison camps they had a propane generator and bounced a phone signal off a dish on the nearest PO, so they didn¢t have any wires running to their house.I got back on the trail and saw my second moose of the trail. A few miles beyond, I came to the Kennebec River. This river was about 75 yards wide and probably got about 15ft deep. A ferry takes hikers across at schedule times because back in 1985 a hiker drowned in this river. There is a dam about 200 miles upstream and when this releases the water level rises rapidly. Warren Doyle in the register before the river wrote the equivalent of saying ¢you have not hiked the entire trail unless you ford the river on foot¢. I am not out here to walk in rivers and if there is a service provided for my safety then I¢ll take it. No trail is worth drowning for. Warren Doyle has no place to dictate how you should hike when he has a van support the entire way and is more or less day hiking the trail. At the river crossing itself I made an ass of myself. I was waving the signal flag for a couple of minutes when I could clearly see they had spotted me. I can¢t explain why I kept waving that flag but I did. The ferryman asked me if the sun was in my eyes and I just said ¢yes¢. We had to sign a disclaimer at the other side which seemed a little late considering we had already crossed the river. I took a break at Holly Brook shelter and was wondering where all the thru hikers were and if I was going to hike the 100 mile wilderness alone. As I was in deep thought, Livestrong came around the corner telling how these guys had taken him to the pub and bought all his drinks and then let him stay with them. We then hiked onto Pleasant pond lean-to where we encountered a box of cookies. I left the shelter wishing I had not eaten so many.We had an unexpected tough climb up pleasant pond mtn but had superb views across Maine. Looks like we should be in for some flat terrain soon and apparently Katahdin was visible from here but I was not convinced. We cruised down to Bald mtn lean-to and Livestrong decided to take a short day and stop at the shelter with me. We are considering shooting for Monson tomorrow but we shall see how it goes, I am low on food again!Dandylion
Date: 2005-09-05
From: Bald mtn Brook lean-to

To: East Branch of Piscataquis River
Miles today: 15.3

I left before Livestrong this morning eager to get the only climb of the day done early. Once I was on top of Moxie Bald I swear I could see Katahdin but I cannot be sure. Livestrong caught up quickly and we passed a section hiker we named Santa Claus due to his white beard, we were not sure of his actual trailname. I was feeling a little tired but we still had the intention of making Monson. We had a couple of river fording's but nothing above the knee. We were very pleased to come across glorious trail magic left by Strider which consisted of fruit and soda. Livestrongs resolve started to fade as we drank the soda¢s and mine soon followed. I felt bad that we fell short of our goal today but if I want to stop I should be able to. We could not believe that tomorrow we would hit the last town on the trail and enter the 100 mile wilderness, the climax of the trip. Dandylion
Date: 2005-09-06
From: East Branch of Piscataquis River

To: Monson
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: few clouds

We set off this time knowing we would make Shaw¢s in Monson. The hike was pretty easy and we got a ride into town in good time. The town was small but managed to accommodate our needs. We grabbed burgers and hideously greasy fries at the snack bar in the general store. The lady running it should probably consider expanding her menu as she served a mere 5 meals. In fact she should actually have some menus on display. When I asked for one, she replied ¢someone stole it¢. We went to check out Shaw¢s place and it was nice but they didn¢t have laundry, phone or internet. However I have been told the breakfast makes it all worth it. One good thing was they lent us bikes to ride around town with. I went everywhere on that little bike. I checked out the BBQ house and it had a sign out front stating ¢closed, run out of food¢, this is a ¢happening¢ town. I do find a lot of rustic charm in these Maine villages.At Shaw¢s in the bunkroom I met this kid called Kanip. He was a blast; he entertained me for hours with all these crazy ideas. He was trying to hike the trail using nature to provide his food. He was carrying all these edible plant books but had not had enough time to read them. He told me his had spent most his budget already despite this being his first trail town! Then I found he only had $200. I told him he probably won¢t make it on that amount. The funniest thing we said to me the whole evening occurred when I was buying some toothpaste. He turned to me and said ¢no, dude, you don¢t need that¢ I replied ¢I have to keep up my hygiene¢Kanip then went on to tell me how he uses his hair to brush his teeth and gave me a demonstration. I just told him he was crazy and bought my toothpaste.Me and Livestrong discussed sending our tents away for the wilderness and just hiking from shelter to shelter so that we had more room for food. We later all went down and hung out at the Mobil station where they served calzones, pizza etc. I had a good time relaxing and cycling around town. I bought a few t-shirts so I had something clean to wear. Tomorrow I will start the last 114 miles without my tent to Katahdin.Dandylion