morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-07-05
From: Wadleigh Stream

To: Whitehouse Landing
Miles today: 7.7

New Page 1Staying at Whitehouse Landing tonight. It's beautiful here! Just 2 miles north of Potaywadjo shelter. Met up with some northbounders, pretty cool. I had a burger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and 1lb of beef. I'm still hungry!!!Went swimming twice, awesome weather. Left with 3L of water, 7 days of food, 35lb pack!(Side Note) Theme of this trip: "at least its not katahdin"Use when: hiking with blisters, fording a stream, setting up camp in rain, getting eaten by a bear, etc(Pretty flat terrain today, from what I remember. I was very excited to go to Whitehouse landing, but not everyone was sure about going. In the end, Popeye and Grizzly bear hiked on and Doc, Macgyver, Godzilla, Bookworm and Mousetrap took the boat to whitehouse landing. First thing I went swimming to cool off and get the stink gone. Then I did some laundry old school with a washtub and wringer. I took a shower, my second one on the trail! Next we got dinner, but not before we saw the food store they maintained there. I was lucky we stopped here, I would have run out of breakfast and lunch otherwise. I stocked up, got a hamburger, and talked with the NOBOS (Crazy Legs and Marathon) and the owners of the place. One of the Nobo's was from Houghton, MI and knew my friend Scott! He and the mikes got back on trail while the rest of us stayed the night. They had nice privys too, but they had a wall for the guys to pee behind (so privy wouldn't fill up). It was wierd, I didn't really know where I was supposed to go. Was I standing in the wrong spot? It was full of moose poop too. I found a trail and went in the woods instead.Later as it got dark, we turned on the lights and I showed the others how to play Euchre. I had a great stay and slept good!)
Date: 2008-07-06
From: Whitehouse Landing

To: Cooper Brook
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: few clouds

New Page 1Hiked to cooper brook falls lean too. nice swimming hole and lots of people. slept in lean to with 4 others. at 2 am one of the mikes started yelling 'oh no!', I thought there was a critter in the shelter, then I felt it on my face and freaked out! turns out mike talks in his sleep and I was being attacked by my fleece sweater. I don't like staying in shelters anymore!Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to   Waypoint: CooperBrCounty/State: Piscataquis MEElevation: 910'2114.3 miles from Springer and 59.7 miles to Katahdinnext shelter south ? 8.1 miles. nextshelter north ? 11.4 miles. all shelterspopup list ofnearby shelters (mileage, bearing) (as the crow flies) weather near shelter (This was kind of a crazy night at a beautiful shelter. The place was jam packed full of people and I got stuffed into the shelter. There where SOBO's, NOBO's and a bunch of kids groups. The shelter had a gigantic 5 lb or so container of Peanut Butter that was somewhat infamous on the trail. I wouldnt touch it but the NOBO's devoured it.There was a beautiful stream and swimming hole out front, but it was full of leeches. That didn't stop the nobos from enjoying it, I wish I would have dived in too! There was some lady camping there who washed all her laundry (including her underwar! Yuck) up stream of where everyone else was getting there water. I bushwacked upstream of her to get my water, i thought it was rude but didn't say anything. This place was so packed it was uncomfortable, it would be cool to go back when it wasn't so crowded and enjoy it a little more.)
Date: 2008-07-07
From: Cooper Brook

To: Logan Brook
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

New Page 1Tough hike to Logan Brook lean to. no room to tent so i had to sleep in the lean to. no killer fleece that night. talked to friendly ridge runner and a couple from indy with 10 lb packs hiking 27 miles a day!Logan Brook Lean-to   Waypoint: LoganBrkCounty/State: Piscataquis MEElevation: 2530'2102.6 miles from Springer and 71.4 miles to Katahdinnext shelter south ? 7.2 miles. nextshelter north ? 3.6 miles. all shelterspopup list ofnearby shelters (mileage, bearing) (as the crow flies) weather near shelter You can use the link/URL below to link to a great site that will show you the trail and the shelters along my journey! ClickHere!
Date: 2008-07-08
From: Logan Brook

To: Carl A. Newhall
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: few clouds

New Page 1tough hike over white cap, hay mtn, etc. it never seemed to end, but good views. stayed at carl newhall, slept in shelter, rained good after dinner but still dont sleep good in sheltersCarl A. Newhall Lean-to   Waypoint: CarlANewCounty/State: Piscataquis MEElevation: 1840'2095.4 miles from Springer and 78.6 miles to Katahdinnext shelter south ? 9.9 miles. nextshelter north ? 7.2 miles. all shelterspopup list ofnearby shelters (mileage, bearing) (as the crow flies) weather near shelter You can use the link/URL below to link to a great site that will show you the trail and the shelters along my journey! Click Here! (I remember getting to the shelter just as it started to downpour. The Vermont Mafia caught up with us and I felt bad we took all the shelter space. They had to set up in the their tent in the rain. It was downpouring so bad Popeye got caught out in it in his hammock and we tried to talk through the lightning and thunder.   I think this is the last day I tried washing my clothes and washing myself down everynight, just wasnt worth it. Bring on the filth!)
Date: 2008-07-09
From: Carl A. Newhall

To: Chairback Gap
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: scattered clouds

New Page 1nice walk down to pleasent river. i skipped gulf hagas because i was tired. nice ford over river, went swimming and got clean. very tough climb up chairback, boulder scramble last part of it. got caught in storm on top, lightning went off all around me! made it to a full shelter soaking wet, but got a place to sleep there anyway. heard redd hat was stuck out on the mountian so godzilla and went to get her. still raining but we found her soon, she was doing good. had to make ridiculous climb to shelter for the 3rd time and went to sleep. i really hate sleeping in sheltersChairback Gap Lean-to   Waypoint: ChairbackCounty/State: Piscataquis MEElevation: 2000'2085.5 miles from Springer and 88.5 miles to Katahdinnext shelter south ? 7.2 miles. nextshelter north ? 9.9 miles. all shelterspopup list ofnearby shelters (mileage, bearing) (as the crow flies) weather near shelter You can use the link/URL below to link to a great site that will show you the trail and the shelters along my journey! Click Here! (this day started out real nice. I really wanted to do Gulf Hagas, but I was too tired. Doc and I rested while Macgyver and Godzilla did a short loop, then we went swimming. Half of the Mafia stopped to do Gulf Hagas full loop, I was impressed. At the river crossing we ran into a teenage group of hikers. Macgyver actually convinced some of them to trader her bannana chips for snickers bars. Nice trade! I let the others go ahead as I was slow. Stretch caught and passed me quickly, he's a machine! It was slow going and tough going up, I thought I was lost a lot and was alone for hours. The sky grew very dark and I was pretty worried. But then it flattend out and I was at the top! Only, I turned and a saw a chair shaped mountain and realized I still had a way to go. I ran into a NOBO sectioner and had some good short conversation. The last part of the climb up chairback was very tough, hand over hand on rock ledges. As soon as I got to the top it started to pour and lightning, I thought for sure I would get struck. I ran with a full pack on the slippery rocks to the shelter. At one point I stopped and huddled right before a 20 ft ledge. A moment later lightning burst out on that ledge and exploded with a roar. I thought my eardrums would blow out, but I made it ok. I finally got to the shelter and had a ridiculous climb up. There where lots and lots of people there. The shelter was full, but I got a place in there thanks to Grizzly Bear.)
Date: 2008-07-10
From: Chairback Gap

To: Long Pond Stream
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

New Page 1hiked to long pond stream. very tough day over 3rd 4th and barren mnts but cool views. red hat hiked with us but decided to leave trail, i will miss her. finally slept in my temt and it was great! Long Pond Stream Lean-to   Waypoint: LongPondCounty/State: Piscataquis MEElevation: 930'2074.6 miles from Springer and 99.4 miles to Katahdinnext shelter south ? 5.1 miles. nextshelter north ? 4.3 miles. all shelterspopup list ofnearby shelters (mileage, bearing) (as the crow flies) weather near shelter  You can use the link/URL below to link to a great site that will show you the trail and the shelters along my journey! Click Here!
Date: 2008-07-11
From: Long Pond Stream

To: Leeman Brook
Miles today: 12.1

New Page 1Hiked to Leeman Brook, very tired but town was very close.Leeman Brook Lean-to   Waypoint: LeemanBrkCounty/State: Piscataquis MEElevation: 1070'2062.5 miles from Springer and 111.5 miles to Katahdinnext shelter south ? 12.0 miles. nextshelter north ? 7.4 miles. all shelterspopup list ofnearby shelters (mileage, bearing) (as the crow flies) weather near shelter   You can use the link/URL below to link to a great site that will show you the trail and the shelters along my journey! Click Here!
Date: 2008-07-12
From: Leeman Brook

To: Monson
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: scattered clouds

New Page 1hiked 3 miles to monson, left at 4:30 so we could get breakfast at shaws, spent the rest of the day being a lazy bum. went to outfitter and got a better rain jacket, bag liner, wallet and lots of snickers. ate dinner by the lake, awesome!And I ate a LOT too! 4 by 4 breakfast: 4 bacon, 4 sausage, 4 eggs, 4 french toast and potatoes!In Monson for some R&R!  You can use the link/URL below to link to a great site that will show you the trail and the shelters along my journey! Click Here!
Date: 2008-07-13
From: Monson

To: Monson
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

New Page 1Still In Monson for some R&R! Still being a lazy bum, hit trail tomorrow! watched bootstrap and landfill build experimental stoves, surprised nothing blew up!You can use the link/URL below to link to a great site that will show you the trail and the shelters along my journey! ClickHeree!
Date: 2008-07-14
From: Monson

To: Monson
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

The plan was take a Nero (near zero hiking miles) on Saturday, take a zero (zero hiking miles) on Sunday, and then head back out on the trail today. It rained real bad yesterday, continued through the night, and stayed wet through today. I could hike out and get wet, cold and muddy or take another zero and wait until tommorow for a week of perfect weather we will be getting. Since clothes won't dry on the trail, we wimped out and decided another zero would be order. I'm anxoius to get back on the trail, but I can wait out this patch of weather.I would like to give a big thanks to Matt for keeping my journal up to date, I really appreciate it. Right now I'm at the library in Monson uploading pic's, be sure to go back and check for updates!
Date: 2008-07-15
From: Monson

To: Horshoe Canyon Lean to
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

Finally made it out of Monson!Doc and I ended up hiking together for the day. It was a nice easy 10 miles to the shelter. A little muddy but not too bad. We got in around 2:30 and met Grizzly Bear and Popeye. Later we had a whole group there, including Jonathon, Eileen, Ed, Jason and Kelly. I found a nice place to pitch my tent, cooked dinner, and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. It was quite a change from my normal routine of getting to the shelter at 6 or 7. The rest of the night we hung out and talked, and I even got a little reading in. Shaws let me take a paperback (House of Sand and Fog) to read on the trail. i cut it in half and shared it with other hikers. Hopefully I'll get into the habit and start reading my bible again.
Date: 2008-07-16
From: Horshoe Canyon Lean to

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean to
Miles today: 13.0

Not too bad a hike today, at least until we got to Moxie Bald lean to. Doc, popeye, grizzly, the mikes and I hiked to the shelter. They continued on and I took a nap. I took a quick swim in Bald mountian pond, but it wasn't that great. Jason, Kelly, Jonathon, Eileen and Ed stopped by and had lunch too.I finally got my act together and hiked up Moxie Bald mountain. Not too bad a climb and the views were awesome. I tried sending a text message for my journal, but the signal was pretty bad. So much for verizon having the best signal, everyone else could get through. It was getting late, so I headed down to the shelter. I passed through some cool rock overhangs and managed to crawl down the backside of the mountian, would have hated to come up that way.I pulled into Bald Mtn Brook lean to, nice place. They had excellent tent sites (flat!) too. Doc and Grizzly came up with a bold plan to hike into Caratunk tommorow. It would be 15 miles, and a tough climb over pleasant pond mountian, but there would be cheeseburgers and toilets in town! Plus, we could catch up to Mcgyver and Godzilla. So we decided to get up early and hike in.
Date: 2008-07-17
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean to

To: Carratunk(Northern Outdoors Resort)
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: few clouds

Made it into Caratunk today. The day started out with a nice downhill walk followed a ford of Baxter Stream. The trail alternates between a nice walk down a wide trail to slogfest through a bog. Lots of rockhopping, but we manage OK. Pleasant pond mountian was a tough climb up but the views were outstanding. We could see forever, but popeye made the comment that we walked farther than what we could see. Moxie Bald was visible and it was pretty cool to see how far and how much altitude we had gained since the last day; quite a sense of accomplishment. The descent off the mountain was crazy, it looked like it was straight down. The map said 1000 feet in about a mile, but it took forever and was brutal on my toes and knees. We finally made it to Pleasant pond leant to for a lunch break and the trail leveled off.Every shelter has a register, you are free to write in whatever you want. It's nice to read what our friends ahead of us write down and helps keep track of where everyone is at too. Bootstrap made some funny comments about cubby, something about sharpening his axe in anticipation of their meeting! Cubby is some jerk who carved his name in HUGE letters into every shelter we've been to; everyone hates him for the vandalism. Should be a about a month ahead of us if anyone feels like smacking him around.We continued on past the shelter 6 miles into Caratunk. Grizzly Bear told us stories of northern outdoors resort, a rafting place that had showers, hot tubs and cheeseburgers! It would make for a 15 mile day, but that didn't phase us. We finally made it to the road around 5:30 and I decided to hitch a ride for the first time ever. The first vehicle stopped instantly, turned out to be a shuttle for the resort - lucky me!THe resort was everything we thought it would be. 5 of us got a room and slept in beds, ate too much food, drank only a little beer, and stayed in the hot tub way too long. Life is good.Tommorow is a short day (about 4 miles), but we get to cross the Kennebec River via canoe. How exciting!
Date: 2008-07-18
From: Carratunk(Northern Outdoors Resort)

To: Pierce Pond Lean To
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Had a nice lazy morning at the Northern Outdoors Resort. Lots more hiker friends showed up for a shower and a burger. After sorting my gear and mail drop, cleaning laundry, re-organizing my pack and getting ready to leave, we made our way out around 1:30. We hitched a ride with a river guide and found our way down the trail to the Kennebec river. Had a fun ride across the river and a short ~4 mile hike to the Pierce Pond shelter. I managed to get a nice tent site right on the lake and had a nice sleep.
Date: 2008-07-19
From: Pierce Pond Lean To

To: West Carry Pond Lean To
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hiked 10 miles to West Carry Pond. No big elevation gains, but lots of swamps, rocks and roots to keep me occupied. Thats my least favorite part of maine, I end up looking at my feet all day long and can't take in any of the scenery. Went swimming at east carry pond and got out just in time for it to rain on us. The lean to was nice, but had some loud northbounders come in late at night. I'm glad we're going in different directions and never have to see them again.
Date: 2008-07-20
From: West Carry Pond Lean To

To: Safford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Started out early and loud, made sure to wake up the jerks that woke us up last night. Stupid, but I felt better. The day wasn't too bad. Little bigelow was a climb, but the toughest part was getting to the top and seeing what we had to climb the next day. The Bigelows are supposed to be our introduction to the pain that is Southern Maine, it was a little intimidating. Made our way down to Safford Notch Campsite. Got rained on pretty good all night, I learned the hard way that I need to get better at setting up my tarp. A little rain got in, but nothing major got wet.
Date: 2008-07-21
From: Safford Notch Campsite

To: Stratton
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

Tried to get an early start, but the rain kept us in our tents. Still, we got out by 7:30am and started our climb. I rocketed up Avery Peak at a staggering 1 mph pace, and 2 hours later I made the 2000 foot ascent. Too bad the view was clouded in. The climb down Avery peak was a tough boulder crawl, then we went up West Peak. This time we had a nice view. We could see forever but even better was the fact that I felt great. Even though the climbs were killer I finally felt like I was in hiker shape, or at least closer to it.The climb down the Bigelows was brutal (always is). Stopped at Horns pond lean to and talked to the caretaker, Gina. Seems like a cool place to work, but I don't know if I could deal with the solitude. Crawled down the rest of the trail and managed to hitch a ride into Stratton in less than 1 minute of reaching the road. Nice! Staying at the Stratton Hotel and taking a zero on the 22nd.Just want to thank everyone for the guestbook entries, I really appreciate them!
Date: 2008-07-22
From: Stratton

To: Stratton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Zero day in Stratton. Always busier than I think possible, but it's good to give my body rest. Bought some groceries, picked up my bounce box at the post office, cleaned out all my gear, and spend some time just relaxing.Doc mentioned so far we have done 180-something miles, pretty cool.
Date: 2008-07-23
From: Stratton

To: Carrabasset River
Miles today: 8.4

Finally left Stratton and hiked up Crocker Mountain. It was a 3000 foot elevation gain followed over about 5 miles. There was no view from the top, but it was rainy and fogged in anyways. Why did we climb this mountain? Because thats where the AT goes! North Peak of Crocker was followed by South peak, followed by a horribly steep decent. Got down to the Carrabassett river and set up camp. Ate dinner and in bed by 7pm.
Date: 2008-07-24
From: Carrabasset River

To: Stratton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

I got up this morning and the first thing I saw was my shoes floating by my tent. My sandals had already floated off somewhere. It took me a few minutes to realize my tent was sitting in a few inches of water! Panic ensued, but all that got wet was my shirt and shorts. I managed to gather up my gear and load it onto my (now floating) sleeping pad.I got out of tent to look around. The Carrabasset river looked like a tough ford the previous night. We probably could have made it without getting wet, but it looked unlikely. This morning the river was much more menacing looking. We could see the water level was still rising. There was a 2x8 bridge across some rocks, the previous day the water was 2 feet below the bridge. Now the water was cresting the bridge, and it didn't take long for the bridge to be completely washed out. In the picture you can see the bridge sitting perpendicular to its previous location. What now?Doc called a friend of hers who lives near Rangely, next town down the trail. He aggreed to pick us up if we could make it to Stratton. We called Sue from the Stratton Motel and she picked us up near our campsite. Also ran into a group of girl hikers who where following us out. Sue told us the next couple days are going to get several inches of rain a night, so it looks like we might have to skip this part of the trail. In addition to the Carrabasset, there is also the Oberton stream. Neither will be passable for several days. We are currently safe at the motel figuring out our next move, probably blue blaze up Saddleback mountains and down to rangely. Our only concern is all our friends who are now mostly likely stuck between the two rivers. Hopefully they can get out somehow, I think they can hike down Sugarloaf.
Date: 2008-07-25
From: Stratton

To: Rangely
Miles today: 7.2

New Page 1Yesterday docs friends hot pursuit and Twix (2007 sobos) picked us up in Stratton and took us to hot pursuits grandparents place. We got to shower, do laundry, and then they fed us. All the food was extra delicious, especially the homemade baked beans! This morning they made us breakfast too! Life is good! The weather was good today, so we decided to hike up to saddleback mtn. we took an extremely steep ski trail up to the top and renamed ourselves black diamond blazers. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the top, but the view was awesome. We hung out at the top hoping to run into Godzilla and MacGyver, but we never saw them. The hike down at first was nice, amazing views. Then the trail turned into a river and things got nasty. Very rough trail normally, but with all the rain it was even worse. Made it to piazzo rock shelter and heard about friends that went through. Then we made it to the road and Twix and hot pursuit where there to pick us up again! We only did 7 miles of the AT today and we slack packed (left heavy stuff behind, only bought lunch and water). The trail still kicked our butts though, mostly because of the rain. We made the right decision to skip the trail we did, all the rivers here are crazy overflowing from the 8+ inches of rain over the past 2 days. Hope Godzilla and MacGyver are ok and catch up
Date: 2008-07-26
From: Rangely

To: Little Swift Pond Campsite
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: scattered clouds

stayed at little swift pond campsite. started out the day in rangely. got grocieries at iga, then hitched a ride into town and watched a parade. they had all the emergency vehicles there and logging trucks...it was different but cool. went to a hot dog stand and got a "flaming wiily": 1/4 lb dog, bacon, cheese, mayo, baked beans, and a pepper. good, but i would pay for it later. rangely was a cool resort kind of town, we had perfect weather too. met an older couple, they offered to drive us to the trail. the guy took all their golf stuff and wife and dumped them on the road, then loaded his new lincold suv with 6 smelly hikers! how cool. met up with godzilla and macguyver at trailhead, walked 4 miles to campsite. trail is rough from all the rain, flat but more river than trail. got to camp, took out a canoe. browntoe and muffin man went for a ride too, fun. after dinner godzilla and macgyver suprised us with box wine. awesome day, but trail condotions getting me down (but tommorow afternnon things got better!)
Date: 2008-07-27
From: Little Swift Pond Campsite

To: Bemis Mountain
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

stayed at bemis mtn lean to. today was a mentally tough day, i wanted to quit but held out. trail was muddy and nasty, looked at my feet all day. i was very grumpy. got to a major road, doc decided to take a zero in rangely. i pushed on and the trail improved. not as much water, but only because it was all straight up! uphills dont bother me anymore, downhills wear me out more, and waterlog trails drive me crazy! had a nice dinner of lipton side with spam, olive oil, and stuffing. yum!