morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-09-14
From: Rainbow Lake Campsite

To: Abol Bridge
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: overcast clouds

It was still raining when I woke up. Again, with short miles planned I opted to stay dry and wait for awhile to see if the sun would make an appearance. I tend to fall back to my fairweather hiking habits often. The day was super easy and I made it to the restraunt at Abol Bridge in time for dinner! Service was slow because they were down a waitress and a cook but at some point they messed up and cooked extra food- Turtle yelled out that he would eat it and scored a whole steak sandwich. He shared it with me while waiting for my burger. After plenty of food I turned in for the night.
Date: 2014-09-15
From: Abol Bridge

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Today we zero'd since DoubleR had told everyone he was summiting on the 17th. It lucked out because the 16th and 18th would be bad weather days to summit. It was hard to sit around on such a beautiful day. DoubleR had hitched into town earlier and got together with his nephew and a friend. He was gone most of the day so he brought back a pizza for Turtle and I as a sorry for being gone all day. Totally unexpected but definitely appreciated it!
Date: 2014-09-16
From: Abol Bridge

To: The Birches
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: broken clouds

My day started out early so I could wait for the kennel to come and pick Champ up. For those who do not know, Baxter State Park does not allow dogs, just like the Smokies. Sitting around gave me plently of time to charge up more of my phones and talk with the other hikers who I haven't seem in a LONG time, including Silverstg! Silverstag showed up yesterday. I haven't seen him since the middle of the Smokies! Weather most of the morning was cold, wet, and actively raining and misting. I waited it out until 2 and the sun started to come out to burn off the clouds! It ended up being a great day. There were two fords which I could have rock hopped but didn't want to take any chances.When I got to the Birches I signed in with the ranger and he gave me a ride to the lean to. I met up with the others and then found out I had missed seeing a huge bull moose directly behind the Birches.. what luck!
Date: 2014-09-17
From: The Birches

To: Mount Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: light rain

Today was an incredible day. The entire climb up Katahdin was the most fun I have had on trail. I still couldn't believe I was going to climb Katahdin when I woke up. I may only be flip flopping but I have still waited 6 months to see Katahdin as the NOBOs have. The mountain still stands in front of me in all of its wonder. It is an incredibly powerful mountain regardless of what anyone says. Even for a flip flopper this mountain made me incredibly emotional and grateful throughout the day. The day started easy with a gradual climb. Toward the middle of the climb it became steeper and just before treeline thr climbing began. It started out with climbing up simple boulders but once I got above treeline that changed. I passed some day hikers going the opposite direction who had seen the metal rebar climb just ahead and called it quits. I giggled as they cursed the climb and said something along the lines of of rebar being for mountaineering and that was completely above their skill level. I am glad they called it quits and stayed eithin their skill level- but their reaction was great either way. Going up Katahdin was slow going ans strenuous, not to mention all of the stops I took to take in the views. Weather was wonderful until I got to the tableland to, pretty much a flat mile before the summit. It was windy and the only thing you could see of Katahdin was clouds. It was unreal. As I was climbing the last .3 or so I passed multiple people I knew, including Silverstag. I congratulated them and started becoming emotional again. And there I was- touching the Baxter Peak sign marking the Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail..what a feeling. It was then that I realized that if I dont complete this thru-hike in this year I would still be happy with what I have accomplished. I am still going to try to finish the trail- but I am happy with myself regardless. I was happy to be blessed with amazing weather on Katahdin. After snapping my shots on the summit it was time to tackle Knife's Edge. Not going to lie- the look of it definitely scared me but DoubleR and his ride would be waiting at Roaring brook for me (if I was quick enough) and I really wanted to continue the adventure. All together the day totalled to about 10 miles. The way the day ended is a long story.. so I will include that in the next entry.
Date: 2014-09-20
From: Monson

To: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To
Miles today: 5.7

After a double zero you tend to get lazy. I didn't leave Shaw's until early afternoon. Thankfully terrain wasn't bad and I was able to make some time to make up for it. I stopped to talk to the NOBOs and it was nice to see people I have met in the past. Got awesome hotdog, soda, and cookie trail magic by Turtle Tracks at Shirley-Blanchard Road. That was exciting. I haven't gotten trail magic like that since Virginia! I miss it! I made it to the shelter with an hour of daylight left and decided to call it a day. I met two other SOBOs named Fireball and B+. I also got to see Skippy, who j haven't seen since sunrise on McAffee knob! What a good start South.
Date: 2014-09-21
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 13.0

I started out late and was surprised to run into Nora V within a mile of the shelter. Super awesome! So of course I start my day out with a long conversation and hugs before finally pushing on. NOBO encounters happened throughout the day- while they slowed me down I loved seeing everyone.My second real ford was today, fording the west branch of the Piscataquis River. My giudebook says it is normally knee deep but when I arrived I thought it looked like an easy rock hop. Well, I rock hopped with my shoes on and got to land.. only to find out that it was a small piece of land in between the river and the water on the second half of the small island was three feet deep. I back tracked and my foot slipped into the water. I finally had to give I and take my shoes off. Once I donned my crocs I finally noticed some rope across the river- while the rope is useless to hold on because of how stretchy it is, it did show where the lowest water to cross was. The river was shin deep on me but still fun to cross. I saw Bengus as I was drying my feet off.Most of the day was good and I made it to Moxie Bald Mountain Lean To just as it started to rain. I still had plently of daylight and wanted to push on. There was a summit bypass trail thay I should have taken when I got to the top but didn't. I ended up falling once near the summit of Moxie Bald and had several other near falls. Moxie Bald is like a rock face maze.. I almost got lost several times due to poort blazing/cairns and the fact it was raining, foggy, and pretty windy. Got to the shelter just as it was getting dark. The shelter was close to full. One of the hikers was Yeti-Legs!! I said hi quickly but I was wet, tired, and wanted to set up my tent and eat.
Date: 2014-09-22
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-To

To: Pleasant Pond Mountain
Miles today: 7.3

Woke up and it was cold and raining. When I motivated myself to get out of my bag, make breakfast and eat I got a migraine so I ended up going back to sleep. When I finally felt better I left camp around 2pm. I figured I would have enough time to push to the next shelter as long as I didn't stop. That didn't happen. I passed several northbound hikers today which included Happy Hiker, Rock Sloth, Sassafas, and Engineer. That hurt my time for the day. I decided to try night hiking in Maine, the thought of it scared me. I have a funny fear that a moose is going to attack me unsuspectingly in the middle of the night. As it was getting dark the pine needles that make up the forest floor made finding the trail really difficult. There were sections of the trail barely impacted so it blended it with the rest of the forest. Blazes were spread out further than I could see so I was moving even slower than I wanted to. About a quarter mile from the summit of Pleasant Pond Mountain I saw a headlight and found out it was Chip. He said there weren't any other camping sites south until the shelter and that the trail had been rerouted as well. Taking that into consideration I asked if I could share his small camping space on the trail. He was awesome and even offered to give me some of his water for the night since I was unprepared to stop short. It ended up being one of the first colder nights of the season around 38 degrees.
Date: 2014-09-23
From: Pleasant Pond Mountain

To: Pierce Pond Lean-To 
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: few clouds

Made my way up to the summit and down to the shelter in the morning. I met up Southbound, Sloth, and Marathon at the shelter and talked with them for awhile. Today I was going to be crossing the Kennebec River. The official route of the Appalachian Trail is to use the canoe ferry they have provided since fording the Kennebec can be very dangerous. There is a an upstream dam that controls the flow of the river which makes depth and current strength a gamble. This time of the year the ferry is provided in the morning and then mid afternoon. I raced to make it to the ferry by the afternoon crossing so I wouldn't miss it. If you miss it you have to wait until the next day. When I ran down the bank I saw the ferry making its way to the Northern side. There was another dog and hiker on board. It ended up being Nemo and Rogue the Hound who I met in Virginia! The ferry was a cool experience. When you get to the riverbank you are given a life jacket and asked to sign a waiver. Once that is done they help you get your pack into the canoe and help you load up. Normally you can help them row but I had to hold Champ. This would be his first boat experience! The current was definitely strong and I was certainly glad I wouldn't be fording it. Even the ferryman appeared to have a hard time keeping the boat on course with the south river bank. It was pretty impressive to watch him. Champ was a champ too! At first he freaked out, but as soon as he realized he would be dry he calmed down and enjoyed the ride! After saying thanks and making my way south again I ran into Blueberry Bear! What a treat! He is another hiker I haven't seen in a long time. I don't think I have seen him since we watched the sunset together near Big Bald Mountain! We ended up talking for so long that he missed the ferry. I felt bad but he didn't camp alone that night which made me feel a little better. After leaving I was bummed out to push on and leave Blueberry Bear behind but I am super glad I got to see him once more!My destination for the night was the Piece Pond Lean-to right near Harrison's Pierce Pond sports camp. The camp offers a 12 pancake breakfast to hikers if you put your order in the night before. There was a blue blaze before the shelter that would bypass a flooded dam to get there, so I took the blue blaze and went to the sports camp. After filling up on some water, since hikers love water they don't have to filter, and putting my order in I took the bypass trail to the shelter and met with Aroo and Cactus. Again, more hikers I haven't seen in a long time. It was a good night. The sounds of loons echoed off the lake for the rest of the evening and we went to sleep with dreams of berry pancakes!
Date: 2014-09-24
From: Pierce Pond Lean-To 

To: East Flagstaff Lake Tentsites
Miles today: 15.1

Aroo, Cactus, and I all woke up early and made our way to Harrison's. He would be serving breakfast at 7am! I got eggs and sausage on top of my 12 pancakes. They were loaded with berries. So delicious and I ate all of it! With several cups of coffee, too. Also being seated right beside the wood burning stove was such a treat! Aroo and Cactus left early to make sure they would make the ferry but I sat for a few hours and talked with Tim and said hi to the dogs. He was watching a friend's Sheltie named Bravo. The only other Sheltie I have seen on the trail so far other than Champ.Feeling full and much happier we hit the trail. For the first time since the 100 mile wilderness I was able to hit patches of trail where I was consistently able to hit 2, sometimes even 3 miles per hour. That was exciting. One of the most frustrating things in Maine was flipping from PA/NJ where I was consistently averaging 3mph to Maine and it's mountains where I have been kicked down to 1mph for most of the day. Today I was able to do a double digit day also and did 15.1 miles. Wooo! In the middle of the day I ran into Hob and his wife Chickadee. Hob gave me two thin mint cookies and I immediately remembered him! I had met him in Virginia and also gotten some thin mint cookies. I caught up with them and we both exchanged a lot of information. I also saw Sea biscuit, Scout, and yogi today. When I got to East Flagstaff there were several other northbound hikers here. Too many to name. It ended up being a really cool night. They had a fire going and later that night we went down to the shore of East Flagstaff lake and looked up at the stars. It was the best view of the stars I have ever seen. Thousands of stars were visible. You could actually see the Milky Way perfectly too. Something I have never done. We also listened to loons most of the night and heard an interesting drawn out howl from across the lake. Sounded eerie, but we are assuming coyotes.
Date: 2014-09-25
From: East Flagstaff Lake Tentsites

To: Safford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a short day. I overestimated my ability to hike up the Bigelow's, being fooled into thinking I was back to faster miles after yesterday. Climbing up Little Bigelow had slowed me down to a mile per hour, if not under that. I met a few northbounders who told me the Avery Memorial Campsite on top of the bigger Bigelow peeks didn't have any water so I figured I would stop at Safford Notch Campsite. When I made it to the Safford Notch campsite later in the day I figured that I would barely have time to make it to the Avery campsite before dark, especially after hiking .4 miles off the trail to get the water. My decision on whether or not to stay at Safford Notch was made immediately when I saw Schweppes and he told me that Powerhouse and DESO were here. Possibly even Lazermeow, The Mayor, and the Catfox. Haven't seen any of them since Catawba in Virginia. After catching up with them I went to set up my tent when someone else comes down the trail and stops and looks at me. After a minute he finally says "I know you! We camped together on day 1!". It was Doug, who is now MacGyver. I really did meet him on my first day and never saw him again- so I had no idea his trail name was MacGyver. I had met him about a quarter of a mile from the shelter and we ended up tenting within 10 feet of each other. What a small world. Glad I got to sign his tent!! Well, Lazermeow showed up but The Mayor had pushed on. Either way, it was nice to spend the night with old friends.
Date: 2014-09-26
From: Safford Notch Campsite

To: Horn's Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 5.3

I got a late start after talking with everyone and saying our final goodbyes. I had wanted to make it to Cranberry Pond campsites so I would be camped just out of town to get my maildrop before 11am, but the Bigelow's had other plans...Avery peak was the first peak of the Bigelow's I hiked up and over and it is officially my favorite on the trail so far. The views were 360 degrees and just breathtaking. I sat up on Avery peak for over and hour. Such an amazing mountain.. The Bigelow's were also my first above treeline experience too, other than Katahdin. Such an incredible mountain. I highly recommend going and hiking up it if you are ever near. You will NOT be disappointed. So the rest of the day was slow going and down to a mile per hour moving between each peak. After Avery there was Bigelow Mountain West peak which had a pretty cool view of the ridgeline that I had walked and of Avery Peak. You could also see South Horn peak from there. Again, I spent almost an hour on West peak. By the time I made it to Horn's Pond Lean-to it was starting to get dark. I found an extra dinner in the bottom of my food bag (Yes!!) and didn't feel like night hiking so I called it a night. I met Ian the Caretaker who was involved in a MAJOR clean up of the mountain in 2013. I am very impressed with the work he put into the trail. The M.A.T.C. truly has an awesome caretaker!
Date: 2013-08-07
To: Planning
Miles today: 0.0

In May, I went on a weeklong hike with three of my sisters in Shenandoah State Park. Tracy McG is thru hiking this year and has completed more than 1500 miles. Breezy is a section hiker and has completed 900 miles in 2012 and 600 miles in 2013. Blondie and I are novices. We had such a great time together. We had every kind of weather, foggy, rainy, hot, humid, thunderstorms. At the end of the week the temperatures dipped below freezing at night. I saw bears for the first time, and walked a 13 mile day for the first time. I thought that at the end of the 54 miles, I would be ready to relax, but instead I found that I really wanted to go on. It was on the way home from that fun week with my sisters that I began thinking about doing a thru hike of my own. Last month we got together again, joined by my daughter, Sheryl for a weekend hike in PA ending at the Delaware Water Gap. It was this hike that convinced me that I don't hike very well in summer heat, so I revised my planned thru hike to start in Harper's Ferry and head north to Katahdin in March. That way I will be well north by the time things start to really heat up. I will return to Harper's Ferry in late August to head south to Springer. I am looking forward to this new adventure and have been getting my things together. Sheryl and I did a lot of training throughout last winter and spring, and we will start again soon.
Date: 2013-08-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

New Jersey was hit hard by Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy. For my family, Irene caused the most damage. We lost two maple trees and a double oak tree that was over 100 years old. The trees knocked down power lines which caused massive power outages in the area. A public works truck and worker were trapped under one of the giant oak trees for four hours. The flooding was tremendous. We had two feet of water in our basement and garage. Many of our neighbors had even more water.Hurricane Sandy, a year later, caused even more damage in our state. We were without power for 5 days. Many people lost power for more than two weeks. Food and gasoline were hard to obtain. The trails also suffered great damage. Trees were uprooted all over. In places a whole grove of trees were down. Volunteers worked hard to get the trails open. Sheryl and I took a hike last spring in Jenny Jump State Park. We walked down the Ghost Lake Trail where we had to climb over, under or around 40 downed trees. At the end of the trail we found a 'Trail Closed" sign. Of course, we had to go back past those same 40 downed trees to get back. We are very grateful for all who maintain the trails so that we can get out and enjoy nature.
Date: 2013-08-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I started training last year in preparation for the weeklong hike I took with my sisters in Shenandoah National Park. My youngest daughter, Sheryl, trained with me. One of our first hikes was in South Mountain Reservation in Millburn, NJ. We hiked through slushy snow and mud for most of the hike. We passed a beautiful, partially frozen waterfall. It was on this hike that we did our first river ford. The Rahway River was running higher than usual and very fast from the snowmelt. We could have walked up a short distance to the road and crossed on the bridge, but we decided to stay on the trail and attempt to cross on the rocks. It was very treacherous, the rocks were slippery, and both of us nearly landed in the water. Those first hikes seemed so hard. We gradually moved up to longer and harder hikes throughout NJ and in Harriman State Park in NY. We climbed the Stowe Pinnacle in Vermont, which has a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains. Eventually we went on our very first backpacking overnight in Harriman. It went well and we learned a lot. Last month we even ran into and scared off a black bear trying to break into the trail magic water bottles left by The Hikerman. It¢s been so much fun learning how to backpack, breaking in new muscles, and being immersed from time to time in nature. It¢s something we don¢t get too much of here in our urban neighborhood in NJ. I am looking forward to getting out on the trail in March. Until then, I will be out every chance I can get, hiking and walking. I¢ve met quite a few of the 2013 hikers, and am looking forward to meeting next year¢s hikers.
Date: 2013-09-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I spent Labor Day weekend at my mother's house in Ohio. It was a great weekend. I had plenty of time to talk with my mom, who I haven't seen since January. My brother and sister-in-law and their five children returned from their vacation in time for me to spend an evening with them. My sisters Peggy (Blondie) and Kathy (Breezy) were there and an added treat, my oldest sister, Dianne (Tracy McG.) Dianne has been hiking north since February, and I have seen her twice when we met up in Virginia and Pennsylvania. She has gotten off the trail for this year after hiking 1855 miles. What an inspiration! Her husband, Foodwalker, was there too. He has been a trail angel, doing support for her and many other hikers along the way. I was so glad to see both of them. My nephew Kevin, who started the whole AT obsession in our family, and his girlfriend, Becky were there too, visiting from their new home in Maryland where they are both first time high school teachers. It was great to see both of them.Labor Day weekend is the time for the Canfield Fair in Mahoning County, Ohio. I have gone a few times before and it is always fun. It is an agricultural county fair, with all the farm animals, 4-H, Boy and Girl Scouts, produce competitions, quilting, art, crafts and baking competitions. We watched some of the horse and pony events and saw a little of the tractor pull competition. Everyone winds up eating some of the exceedingly unhealthy fried food. Yum!Of course, there was plenty of trail talk and good advice. Tracy McG and Foodwalker are considering going back to Wisconsin to continue hiking the Ice Age Trail. They did a good portion of it before starting on the AT. We discussed various options for my own hike, including when and where to start, and what direction to head. I still want to avoid hiking in the mid summer heat to avoid the inevitable heat related problems I always have when out in the summer sun.   Thank you to my husband Bruce, for making dinner for us after the long drive back home from Ohio. Bruce and I rarely travel together, as we have been taking care of his elderly parents for many years. His mother passed away in July. His father is still living with us. He is 94 years old and going strong, but of course, someone needs to be with him most of the time. It will be hard on Bruce to have me gone for so long, and I don't think he is looking forward to it nearly as much as I am. However, he is still encouraging and has not tried to dissuade me from it. In many ways, I think this hike will be harder for him than it will be for me. So, now it's September and time to get back out there. This will be the week I start back to training. I'm looking forward to being outside more, and in the air conditioning less.