morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-08-13
From: Carrabassett River 

To: Sulice Brook
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Well last night was intresting to say the least. A bit after 9 it poured rain well until after 6 this morning. When we set up camp last night it was on a perfectly flat spot. However, after a long night of nonstop rain Gray abruptly woke up and we. realized that water was seeping under our tent. You could push down the tent floor down about and inch. Luckly it didnt seep through. In order to keep our sleeping bag dry our sleeping pad had to become a safe zone. All other floor was lava. If we were to get up and move the tent it would have instantly soaked us and gotten our stuff wet. It was a safe call to just stay put. When we woke up again the bottom of the tent floor was wet but not drenched. It was raining again so we had to pack up in the rain which is no fun. We had to ford a river that was simple yesterday but quickly turned into raging rapids. There was a board between 2 rocks and the water was about an inch below it. Gray replaced some boulders in the water so it was easier to cross. The whole time in my mind I was saying a silent prayer that I didnt loose my balance or trip in this area. I took a deep breath once safely across. At the other bank it was a straight up mudd climb. About a half mile up we ran into the college kids from last night they were working away on building more stairs. They were awesome and made it so much easier. It was a hard climb but we made it to the top of sugar loaf Mtn. We had a treat of a fat juicy orange I had carried from town. We soon passed a bronze plaque and it symbolized the last section completed on the trail. The next was the crest of Spaulding Mtn. Then came the Mt. Abraham trail followed by lone mountain. We hiked nearly till dark we crossed a few roads & a ton of streams. We found a huge patch of Chantrel mushrooms. We went back into the woods and found a nice flat spot to camo for the night. Gray made a fire and we had a nice dinner. This area was where the women Inchworm (trail name) went missing. Makes me super happy I have Gray with me.
Date: 2016-08-14
From: Sulice Brook

To: 1 mile before Eddy Pond
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: few clouds

Today felt like a very long day which rained on and off all day. So I played tje rain jacket game all day. Got to a late start but made good progress today. Right off we went down hill for a bit then crossed Orbeton stream. Very muddy and you had to make sure you knew exactly where you were stepping at all times. A long climb up to Poplar ridge. We stopped at the shelter and had some juice. We talked to 2 local section hikers. Thought it was odd with gun fire and machine guns going off this morning. A Navy base is really close to here. At the top of Saddleback Jr. you could look over and see the Horn. Which was the next mountain we were coming to. A huge storm was coming in the distance. We ran into Scarfoot. Haven't seen him since after woody gap in Ga. The climb down jr. was slow and very sketchy. The wind and rain made it worse. I tend to slip more on wer roots then rocks. Long way up to the Horn Mtn. on our way up we ran into Blood Man. Havent seen him since Damascus, Va. I think he has taken maybe 2 days off this whole trip. On top of the Horn it was very clear you could see all the way down then up to Saddleback Mtn. All open Alpine ridge walking. While on our way to the Saddle we put our rain jackets back on and picked some blueberrys. The path was clear but the rain made it slippery. In 2 spots there was rebarb placed to help people climb down or up. It was starting to get late and you could see the sun setting over Rangley Lake. As the sun faded the next mile and a half was dangerous slip & slide. I fell 3 times then finally sild a long ways down some sheet rock. Picture a flat rock angled just right and you slide 100 feet down. All you can do is slide a hope you dont land too hard at the bottom. I tore the seat of my pants from sliding so much. The first flat spot we came to we made camp. By then it was totally dark. For dinner we had peanut butter and honey sandwhiches with blueberrys on it and a cup of hot coco.
Date: 2016-08-15
From: 1 mile before Eddy Pond

To: Farm House Hostel
Miles today: 3.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up early like at 6 to start hiking into town. Our hike was all down hill into the town. This part of the trail was super nice and well maintained. The first switch back we have ever had in Maine. Once at Hwy four we walked .3 to the Hiker Hut. We were greeted by Catherine & Steven. What a magical place. A huge garden with every kind of flower, herb, and veggies you could imagine. We sat and talked with Catherine for a good hour. Come to find out Catherine's daughter was a Marine who served in Afghanistan the same time as I did at Leatherneck when all it had was a berm and tents. What a small world it is. We had a new water fliter delivered and I got some actual real hiking socks with toes. I have to wear toe socks when hiking because my toes like to fight over space. For the first 1240 miles all I wore was toe sock liners which are super thin. They took us to the Farm Hostel where we met Damian, Carrie, and Jamie. We caught up then got a quick tour of the place. We then walked to get some groceries. I asked Gray if the rip in my pants was noticeable and I got the its not bad reply. What I didnt realize until it was far too late was it was really bad. I had gotten a coffee at the store and it was glass. I ended up dropping it in the middle of the isle. Everyone stoped and stared plus gave the who let this bum in here look. I got an employee and helped pick up the glass bending over mind you with a huge rip in my britches. An older lady cleared her throat as she passed me as if to say you shoukd be ashamed of yourself. I didnt know it was that bad till I had put them in the laundry. Its offical all the towns people of Rangley has seen my britches. Back at rhe farm house we ate, showered, and started laundry. By then the sun was out bright in the sky. I took everything out of my pack and let the air dry it out. The girls and Damian came back from town and we all chatted and soaked up the sun. Later in the evening we all gathered together and made dinner. There was sausage, steak, wild rice, salad, grilled mushrooms. We all ate around the table family style. We even asked a German couple to join us. The converstaion was lively and our bellies were soon full. We cleaned uo then had dessert which was smores ice cream. To top off la lovely day across the lake the sky was colorful with bright orange and pink.
Date: 2016-08-16
From: Farm House Hostel

To: Hiker Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

A busy morning our bed was nice and had a curtain around it. Only down side was it was right next to the bathroom. So all night we had people walk by to use the bathroom. Then the chatter from the kitchen forced us up at 730. We got ready and went to resupply at the store. Once back and all packed Steven picked us up and took us back to the Hiker Hut. The area here is very lovely and just being here is very calming. We got a little studio room then received a grand tour. All proceeds made here go to children in India that have facial tumors. Steven was a pro athelete and even went to the world cup. However, for years he longed for some purpose. Then 19 years ago he met a brother and sister with facial tumors. He knew what he had to do. He cordinated with surgions and raised money to pay for both kids to get their tumors removed. Ever since then he lives in India for 6 months and 6 months in Maine. He had beautiful AT jewlery for salep plus hand made leather journals. I knew a perfect someone who could use one of these. The books are leather and all paper is handmade from India locals. There is a stream that follows along the whole property. This whole place is off the grid, no cell towers or electricty. There is a bunk house, a studio room, a fort by the stream and a triangle hut. They cook outside as well. They had fresh lentel soup made mostly from the garden. We sat relaxed and took a ton of pictures. They have 7 humming birds that buzzed us a ton. It sounded like Star Wars was going on around us. A few hours later we went into downtown Rangley. Gray and I window shopped at the stores. I got a mini hand carved Loon. We had a coffee at the local coffee shop. Then had great converstaion with a shop owner. I found a perfect pair of slipper socks to replace my fuzzy socks I left in Millinocket. They are whie and navy blue with moose on them. We had a pizza then headed back to our little sancuary. Another hiker had arrived his name is Daypack. We all talked and shared a lot of laughs. I got to hand feed their chipmunk. She even came and sat in my lap. Too cute. I then got to experience the outside shower. It was down by the stream. It had a heating unit and a water pump hook up. It was a really cool experience just me showering in the great outdoors. Soon after it started to rain. So we all huddled and talked on the front porch till after dark. Steven made homemade popcorn on the stove and Catherine made us tea and honey. It was really great to sit down and really get to know Carrie and Jamie. We went to bed shortly after. We had a candle on the night stand a fell asleep to rain on the tin roof.
Date: 2016-08-17
From: Hiker Hut

To: Beach Sabbath day pond
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: scattered clouds

We were the last ones up and about this morning and we were up by 730. We were welcomed to a steamy hot cup of coffee and a hot plate of food. It was scrambled eggs, black beans, a homemade wild rice and hot corn bread. I put salsa and sour cream on mine so filling. We got our things ready to go but some how accidently locked the door to the studio. So we helped Catherine get into the studio by removing one of the hinge windows. All too quickly we said our goodbyes and exchanged information. We hit the trail around 10 and was greeted by an uphill climb. We ran into 2 little girls and their parents. They were hiking with stuffed mooses. Plus a couple hiking with a baby in one of those cool back packs. It even had a rain umbrella over it. About 4 miles in we all stopped and had a break. We talked to Carrie about RV living. We continued on with many ups and downs. There was a ton of mudd on the trail but we made it to the shelter early. We hung out for a bit then went a bit further. We were going to do 5.2 more miles but changed our minds when we saw a perfect beach with a little table. We set up relaxed and even watched the sun set over the lake. There was also a full moon we could see over the lake.
Date: 2016-08-18
From: Beach Sabbath day pond

To: Unnamed Gap
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

What a great night sleep we had. There is something so diffrent falling asleep to waves crashing on the laje shore and just sleeping over soft sand. Only downside is we got sand inside the tent. Its always super hard to get it all out. Everyone caught up to us super easily. We hike by ourselves all day. I like that better then leap frogging people all day. It was down to a highway over look where you could see the next few miles we would be hiking. We continued down until we were on flat terrain for a bit. Gray spotted a huge Chaga on a birtch tree so we stopped to harvest some. Chaga is a wild mushroom that grows on trees. Best chaga comes from Birtch trees. You let it dry out and then grind it for tea. Its super good for you and its a natual drink some people use to prevent or cure tumor growth. We then came to the Bemis stream. While crossing it I saw a can floating in the water mad that someone would throw trash out I poked it with my hiking stick. It was full trail magic. So when retrieving the mountain dew I feel into the stream. It was worth it to have a fresh pop. We climbed up 3 peaks then finally reached the Bemis shelter. We stopped and talked with Carrie and Jamie for a bit. They were in for the night but we continued on. We made it in time to the unnamed gap to score the last flat stelth spot before dark. Blueberry, peanut butter, honey sandwhich for dinner again!
Date: 2016-08-19
From: Unnamed Gap

To: pine Ellis Hostel
Miles today: 4.4
Weather: clear sky

aug 19 pine ellis hostel 4.4We woke up super early to make a short day into town. It was hard leaving the warm sleeping bag for the chilly forest. We climbed Old Blue Mountain. .3 miles from the top we ran into Damian he was camping in the bushes. Gray was in front of me and it looked like he was talking to himself. You couldnt even ser where he was camping. At the top we called to double check our pick up at the next road. I yelled your my boy blue at the top just for humors sake. Took about 2 hrs to get down. It was a sharp decline with a lot of rebarb climbing and slick rocks. Once down we waited for our ride but they never came. A nice family from Boston picked us up and took us to the hostel. We got a room and went to the post office to send off Grays Chaga. We then had lunch at the Red Hen. It was super early so we took a midday nap. Carrie and Jamie caught up and later that evening we went to dinner together. Always room for ice cream!
Date: 2016-08-20
From: pine Ellis Hostel

To: Between Baldplate Mtns.
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: few clouds

Good day today. Lots of people out for weekend hikes. The climb up to Baldplate was really tough. Alot of walking up cliff side of a mountain. In the end it makes the calfs hurt. At the top of Baldplate we ran into Sidewinder. Havent seen him since Damascus, Va we camped with him first when we crossed the Ga Nc boarder. Hes good ready to be done. Gasket his hiking partner is 300 miles back. We camped between the west and east peak. For dinner we had sandwhiches that we packed out. We cooked some Lobster mushrooms. To top off a good day we saw the sunset before the clouds rolled in.
Date: 2016-08-21
From: Between Baldplate Mtns.

To: Gafton Notch
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We hiked down to the notch today. It was a short hike but we were in need of a break and more snacks for Gray. He now eats a ton and its hard to caculate how many bars he will go through in a day. A lovely couple gave us a ride to the Stony Brook campground. We got a tent site for 25 dollars. This place is a nice private rv park with tons of privacy and things to do. They are open year round and they even have work for stay for long term residents. Thats cool! We set up camp then had some lunch. We relaxed and swam in there pool for a bit. We retired early but had a restful night.
Date: 2016-08-22
From: Gafton Notch

To: Stony Brook Campground
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Had a relaxing day. Rained a ton last night decided to stay so we are not hiking the mahoosuc notch in the rain. We went to the camp store for breakfast and the clerk gave us 4 breakfast sandwhiches that she was going to toss out. Sweet free food. We then mostly hung out in the rec room playing board games and pool. We even got some mini golf in. Simple and fun day!
Date: 2016-08-23
From: Stony Brook Campground

To: Fulling Mill Mountain
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Were were up super early then our normal wake up time. Had to pack our stuff up and meet at the front office by 8 to get a ride back to the trail. We really wanted to start early because today was going to be a long hard day. We did the Mahoosuc notch today. We were dropped off at the parking lot and quickly started our up hill climb. It was 3.5 miles up. We did pass by a few water falls that were just pouring down the rock face. There was no big sumit once we reached the top of the first mountain just a sign to say follow the trail to the east. The view from Speck Pond was a really nice one. Sadly I did not see any moose. Just some droopings on the trail. At the top of the Mahoosuc Arm you could see for miles. There were alot of rocky mountains and the valley we would soon be walking through. Im glad we went down the arm because going up would have been one long hard nasty mile straight up on wet slick rock faces. It took me forever to make it down to the bottom. We started the Notch around 430. They say the Notch is the hardest 1 mile on the trail because it is a non stop boulder scramble. If your blessed with long legs no worries. However, if your part hobbit it takes some time and a full body workout. What Gray could just walk over I had to climb under or crawl up. It was fun going. I packed my poles away and had fun going into caves and over deep drops. I would say this is not a mile to do alone (Unless your part monkey or Gray). There was one rock that was super smooth and it was 7 feet up the next boulder. There was no way to find grip anywhere. Gray strattled the top boulder and left one leg hanging down. I had to shimmy up his leg until I could reach the boulder he was on to pull myself up next to him. We finally came to the spot where we thought we were done. I took out my poles and we climbed up on the normal non boulder trail. Surpize! We still had 1/4th of a mile boulder scramble. I will admit that did grumble when I saw more boulders to go over. A that point I was sore, beat up, and tired but I knew the faster we went the faster we could be done for the day. It felt like going to the ice cream store excited about getting a huge double scoop fudge waffle cone only to discover the ice cream store is closed. The good news is we surived and can say we have completed it. However, its one of those things that Im positive I would only do once. Theres no point in Climbing Mt. Everest twice. We had to climb up to Fulling Mill Mountain. At the top Gray found us a nice spot to camp off the trail. We had a little moss bed for the night and got to watch and amazing sunset.
Date: 2016-08-24
From: Fulling Mill Mountain

To: Stream after Mt. Sucess
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: clear sky

The first four miles took what seemed like forever today. A giant double roller coster with mutiple mountains. We did stop and have a few nice long breaks. Right before we hit the New Hampshire boarder we had to do another rock scramble. It felt great to finally have our 6th state under our belt. I will really miss Maines lakes but I dont think I will miss their choice in slip and slide career ending terrain. There was a few points this morning where the trail just randomly drops off and its like good luck getting to the bottom. Along the rock faces there were a ton of rebarb and ladders. We quickly ran out of daylight but we spent our first night in New Hamoshire. The stars tonight were some of the brightest ones I have seen. Very cool to experience.
Date: 2016-08-25
From: Stream after Mt. Sucess

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

Up super early so we had more time to make it into town. I was super bumed because as we were climbing down a mountain a north bound thru hiker told us there was a moose at the lake by the shelter. When we arrived no moose. We did refill our water. The lake was very clear and we could see the reflection of the mountain in the water. It seems when you have a full water blatter all is well and there is water everywhere. However, as soon as your out there is no water to be found. I refilled in a stream that wasnt moving much. Filtered it and hoped that .1 microns wouldnt hurt me. After Gentian Pond the hike was very smooth sailing. We made it to the main rd by 4 and hitched into town. We checked into our room and found Damian. We cleaned up and went to dinner. I had a nice big plate to chicken parm. It was super good. I ate it all to include the garlic bread. I went into a food coma after and turned to very early.
Date: 2016-08-26
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We are taking 6 days off to see the coast of Maine and eat lobster till we are silly. The main goal of our AT hike is to spend time together and see places we may want to live someday. We tell all of our friends on the trail not to stress the miles and enjoy the time you have to do the trail. So the coast it is to celebrate my birthday and take Gray sailing for his birthday gift from me. We picked up the rental and took everyone to walmart. I normally am anti wakmart until the last time you have seen everything you need in one store. I got a pair of jeans for the trip im happy to report that before the hike I was a 14 jeans now Im in a size 8 yay! We then just hung out in the room until we all were hungry again. We had our final family style meal. Tomarrow we will all be going our seperate ways. It was lovely and great conversation. I will really miss the companionship of Jamie and Carrie hopefully we catch them again. To end a perfect evening we had a great soak in the hot tub.
Date: 2016-08-31
From: Gorham, NH

To: Acadia National Park
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I am so rested and excited to get back onto the trail. We arrived the afternoon of the 27th to Acadia National Park. Our first stop was to get lobster. A sweet family from Boston recommended a tiny place before you enter Mt. Desert Island. We arrived and quickly were shown a huge cooler of live lobsters. Gray made it easy and said 3 large ones. We saw them squirm on the scale and then they were placed into a net. They went outside into the water. It was a wood barrel over a wood store. The cook would turn the flute to change the temperature of the fire. The water was a salt water mix. Since our lobster were large it took 30 minutes to cook. When the cook took our lobster out they were bright red. We sat down outside and started our treat. It was super tender and amazing. At the, end of things my favorite part was the claws and I felt super stuffed. We didnt do anything after until sunset we went to the lighthouse and got to see it in the last lights of the day. The 28th was our huge tour of Acadia. I got a National park stamp book so I can start collecting stamps. We saw the sandy beach. Then thunder hole which booms like thnder the waves coming into the rocks. We hiked to the Otter cliffs and sat and watched the waves. Toured the stone bridges of the island and much more. This place is so beautiful. The 29th we watch the sun rise ontop of Cadllic Mountain it was really windy but super beautiful. We then drove to Portland Maine. For my birthday we went to Cabela's so I got a new pair of hiking pants. Saw a moose lol in the middle of the Cabelas. We then had crepes at IHOP. I love crepes! Later on we had a Starbucks coffee and went to see a movie. Hell or High water was a great movie. Such a perfect day. Now traveling back to the trail.