morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-10-10
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-To

To: Piazza Rock Lean-To
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: few clouds

This morning around 6:15 I caught glimpses of a blood red sunrise through the trees as I traipsed off to the privy. Soon after leaving the lean-to I saw two moose browsing together next to the trail. Both were medium sized but one was noticeably larger, perhaps a mother and a year old offspring? Neither was skittish and stayed near the trails edge, as I got closer. The ¢mother¢ seemed disinterested in me as she continued to browse on small trees and only occasionally looked in my direction. The ¢kid¢ was either curious or annoyed with me. It stayed on the trail and watched me carefully, only browsing occasionally. I decided to make a detour around them, about 10 feet off trail with some blow downs between us. When I rejoined the trail beyond them the ¢kid¢ began waling towards me. It didn¢t seem aggressive but I took the safe road and continued on my way. The whole encounter lasted nearly ten minutes. I hope my pictures come out good. No problems crossing Orbeton Stream, I heard it was thigh deep earlier in the week. I met True North and Little Red Sparrow Shorts, father and daughter thru hiking partners from New Brunswick. The flow of north bound thru hikers has turned into a trickle. I¢ve seen 226 so far, which is about 50% of the typical total finishing north bounders each of the last few years.        I had another tough climb today up Poplar Ridge and The Saddleback Range. My legs seem extra fatigued and slow to get going on the ups. Today should be my last day over 14 miles. It was a beautiful day to be on The Saddleback alpine zone. Seemed less hazy around the mountain but I saw lots of cumulous clouds off to the west and north. Even some that looked like they would like to be thunderstorms. Finished this nearly 17-mile day alone in Piazza Rock Lean-To. I was surprised to find it empty because it¢s the Friday of Columbus Day Weekend and Piazza is popular with hikers climbing Saddleback. In New Hampshire I bet the shelters are busy on this beautiful weekend. Today the temperatures were warm again, 68 degrees on top of Saddleback. I¢m less than two miles from the road to Rangeley and my last resupply of the hike
Date: 2013-08-02
From: Church Hostel, Cheshire, MA

To: Sherman Brook Campsite
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: scattered clouds

I didn't find the outfitter. Got up late enough to visit the hardware store down the street. It's a quaint, old-fashioned style store, with some hardware, some food, candy, greeting cards, misc. gift items. I asked about rechargeable batteries, but not about fuel canisters. On the way back, I noticed a building that looked like a house, with a sign above it saying it had been the post office till the 1980s. Later in the day someone told me THAT was the outfitter!Most of the day was spent going up & over Mt Greylock, our first 3000-footer in a while. Each end of today involved considerable walking on city streets in Cheshire & North Adams. Greylock has a couple of mtns on each side of it that we had to go over too. Kodiak slept in, so I didn't see him hiking today. The rest of the people I've been hiking with+Sparky & Orange Peel, were all slack-packing the same segment I was. I felt challenged to stay ahead of them all the way up Greylock, but after that they easily got ahead of me. As we went along, Sparky was trying to think up a name for the group of 7 hiking together. I thought it a little presumptuous, since he & his daughter hadn't been with the other 4 all that long. Then I thought it was nice for him to include me in the count of 7, till I figured out that the 7th was the dog, not me!I had a salad at the restaurant at the summit [& was able to charge up my phone somewhat], but the tower was closed for repairs. Still some good views of parts of NY, VT, & MA. I met 7 or 8 SOBO thru-hikers & lots of day-hikers. When I got to Route 2, which connects N. Adams & Williamstown, I walked a half mile to the supermarket I remembered there. I bought a few items for supper & breakfast, couldn't find the Mexican restaurant that gives food to thru-hikers, & decided not to go to the all-you-can-eat oriental restaurant in the other direction. By the time I got up the next Mtn to the North, 1.8 miles to the campground, it was pretty dark. I almost stepped on a porcupine on the Trail; it got up a tree before I could get my camera ready. I met a camper coming down the hill looking for a debit card he might have lost along the way -- sounded rather hopeless at night! (He found it later ¢ in his shoe for safe-keeping!)They have tent platforms, which don't work very well for my tarp tent -- I ended up finding the only suitable flat ground & then stringing my ropes to trees about 75 feet apart to get the right alignment. It works! (at least on a dry night)
Date: 2003-10-11
From: Piazza Rock Lean-To

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

There was no Red Sox baseball last night so I tuned around on the radio and found the National League Championship Series game 3 between the Cubs and Marlins on an AM station transmitting from Washington D.C. Too bad I started dozing off in the third inning. Tonight I hope to listen to The ALCS game 3. It should be on soon.        Oh yes, long distance hiking¢¦ I got to Rangeley around 9:30 this morning. I told the guy who gave me a ride I¢d be finished in six days, and in a down beat tone he said, ¢Back to reality¢. In an upbeat tone I said, back to sleeping on a mattress, getting water from a tap, food from a cupboard and watching baseball on a television while lying on a couch. Actually I really enjoy baseball on the radio. I think there are too many graphics, sound effects and other distractions on television baseball, national networks in particular. I also enjoy long distance hiking. In Rangeley I made an effort to relax as I got some things done. I knew I only had nine miles of easy trail to get to the lean-to so I took my time in town. I organized my food bag as my clothes washed and dried. I made sure all my dirty clothes got washed, unlike in Stratton. I bought a hat with a brim at the outfitters-hiking south puts the sun in your eyes late in the day. I especially noticed this on Saddleback yesterday. I had a big lunch at The Red Onion- Buffalo wings, pizza and a beer. (It was nearly too much. My stomach felt overloaded for four or five miles of hiking but after a rest I felt better and my energy really picked up). The grocery store that used to be in downtown Rangeley is now about a mile east of town. I walked there for some items like iodine for my left foot- the tape vs. skin wound. It looks much better, especially after I cleaned it. Here at Sabbath Day Pond with three hikers out for the long Columbus Day Weekend. I got in just before dark.
Date: 2013-08-03
From: Sherman Brook Campsite

To: Congdon shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: broken clouds

"Welcome to Vermont". It felt like a change to some very nice trailWith Vermont, you also get MUD. Some prefer it to rocks. It seems that there are enough springs & streams along the Trail to keep it wet, even at the higher elevations. I also saw more POISON IVY than I had for a while.I stopped to eat by a stream called "Roaring Branch" -- it's just a short thing that connects 2 beaver ponds (in process of becoming beaver meadows). It does have enough rocks that it could roar at high water times. While I was eating, the group of 6+dog passed, slack-packing again. Oatmeal & Thunderfoot too. Actually, there were a lot of hikers out today ¢SOBO: Terducken & Sprout. Long Trail hikers : Chicken Man (almost done) + a couple other AT SOBOs: Radar, Aquaman, Neon, Buckeye, Atreyoo, Promise, & several others Many of them ended up at or near Congdon shelter with me. This shelter is a little more enclosed than most, with windows in the sides. I got to bed a little earlier than usual.
Date: 2003-10-14
From: Dunn Notch

To: Speck Pond Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

I was up with the sunrise today. It rose between the mountains seen down the notch and waterfalls. I felt strong today. A week of big mountains has strengthened my legs. The climb over Bald Pate was great. It is one of my favorite mountains: bear ledgy summits with a view in all directions, including my first sighting of The Presidential Range in New Hampshire! Ended the day with a tough 2500 vertical foot climb up Old Speck. By this time I could see bad weather coming in. It is going to start raining tonight and will be very nasty tomorrow, heavy rains and strong winds. I got to Speck Pond Shelter around 4:00. I¢m sharing the shelter with six people from a college in Philadelphia on fall break. They had a fire going and had baseball news for me: The Red Sox won. I missed the game last night because of poor radio reception. We have Yankees and Sox fans here tonight and I listened to the game and kept everyone up on the score. Unfortunately the Sox lost 4-2.
Date: 2003-02-26
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

My good friends Tommy And Jack dropped me off about 10:30 at Big Stamp Gap,said their goodbyes, and I was off to begin my journey. The air smelled great. Soon I was on top of Springer and had my picture taken by two thru-hikers from last year, Bearkat and Pipewrench. By the time I got started from the top, it started raining and rained the rest of the day. By the time I reached the shelter at 3:00 I was soaked. My poor old rainjacket is definitely not waterproof anymore. At the shelter are two guys from Pennsylvania, Adam and Tim, and Martin, from Austria. A cold wet beginning.
Date: 2013-08-26
From: Madison Spring hut

To: Pinckham Notch
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: scattered clouds

The croo also had plenty of work for us in the morning: setting tables, plus some sweeping after the guests left. With only 8 miles to go to the notch, I wasn't worried about time.Even tho visibility was good around the hut, I didn't get far up the Mtn before the clouds made it difficult to see from one cairn to another. They did have blazes here as well as cairns, but it wasn't easy to follow the path. When I got to the top [about a half mile], the wind was blowing me off some of the rocks. I was happy to see Jabberwocky overtake me at that point, & since he thought the Trail went over the leeward side of the peak, I was happy to join him & get out of the wind. Coming up from the North, hikers experience 6 false summits before reaching the real one. That means we had to go down all of those, sometimes climbing down big rocks, sometimes over smaller ones, helping each other find the cairns. I'm sure he could have gone faster, but I appreciated his staying with me till we got below tree-line. It was still rocky there ¢ I broke one of my poles at this point ¢ but out of the wind with less & less mist. I stopped for lunch at Osgood campsite, then made my way the rest of the way down the Mtn. There are many side trails in this area, many ways to get to Mt. Washington or Mt. Adams, & several miles of moderate ups & downs, with a major rise to cross the Auto Road to the top. Then it's a level but sometimes rough trail to Pinckham notch, where Susan was waiting. I wasn't much later than I'd said I'd be.We weighted my pack [about 37 lb. ¢ on the low side for me] & got a lecture from a by-stander on lightweight backpacking. Then we found Jabberwocky & gave him a ride to White Mtn Lodge outside Gorham. That was the only hostel recommended by the 2 girls we'd worked with at Madison Hut ¢ they'd tried 3 places in Gorham! Susan & I went back to Colonial Fort Inn [which they didn't recommend & we don't either]. Time to get cleaned up & reorganized. Since I didn't get Sunday off, I plan to take a zero day on Tuesday this week.
Date: 2003-02-27
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: moderate rain

It rained hard all night long and was still going strong when I got up at 7:30. I left the shelter at 10:30 thinking the rain had stopped for the day. About a mile out, it started again and never let up until I reached Gooch Gap Shelter. The raincoat is definitely not doing its job. Looks like Walasi-Yi will be in store for some of my hard-earned retirement money. I dried myself off, put on all the dry clothes I had left and got settled in for the evening. All the guys from last night are here plus Phillip and his dog, and Jeremy.
Date: 2013-08-27
From: Pinckham Notch

To: Zero day in Gorham
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a nice enough day to dry some things out, have an all-you-can-eat oriental lunch, & an Italian dinner. Someone across from the motel advertised sewing, so I thought maybe she could do some repairs on my pack. Sorry . . . she was out of town for a few days. I decided the way I had tied things together would last.Mostly it was a day for resting & enjoying each others company, tho we did walk all the way down to the library for a half hour on the computer.
Date: 2003-02-28
From: Gooch Gap Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Got out of the shelter about 9:00 and about an hour later the sun came out. It was a welcome sight. Lunch was at Woody Gap. Most of the hikers from the last shelter came through and also stopped. It was a long day and I finally got to the shelter about 5:00. Supper was made and eaten in a hurry and I was in my bag by 7:00, dead tired.
Date: 2003-03-01
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 4.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Heavy Fog last night and windy so now my sleeping bag is also damp. The walk across Blood Mountain was in a white cloud of fog so no view today. By 11:00 I reached Neels Gap and checked into the hostel at Walasi-Yi. There's a full house tonight but its warm and I'm in a real bed. The first section is complete, I'm tired and sore, but ready to move on.
Date: 2013-08-29
From: Zeta Pass

To: Rattle River Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

I am definitely going slower with my sore ankle. Yesterday I had thought I could at least get to Imp Campsite, & I came up 4.6 mi. short [dawdling too long at Carter hut was part of it]. Today, I hoped to get to U.S. 2, & I came up 2 miles short.Zeta Pass looked different in the daylight. The nearby creek-bed was dry again ¢ all the water that had been running thru last night was long gone. I could now see several more likely campsites down a side trail from where I had camped. Oh well! I did have to carry a bunch of wet stuff, & it turned out to be misty & cloudy all day, so no chance to dry things out.I went up & over 3 more Carter Mtns, with no visibility on the tops, then down to Imp campsite for lunch. My ankle wasn't too bad going uphill, but still made it slow going down. I have pretty flexible ankles, & they usually recover pretty quickly from various twists. This feels more serious. I had met several SOBOs going over the Carters. I spoke a while with the attendant at Imp campsite; then as I was leaving, the group from Carter Hut arrived. I went on, & they passed me, along with some other NOBOs, going over Mt. Moriah. I seem to have lost my notes with their names. NO visibility on this Mtn either. Lots of swampy areas with boardwalks between the rock outcroppings. Then came a long, fairly gradual, downslope. After a gloomy day, it finally started getting dark, so I was doing a large part of this by headlamp or flashlight [I used both because the batteries were getting low]. There were some rocky parts, with smoother parts between, & several stream crossings in the dark ¢ that always makes it more interesting! It was after 10:30 when I got to Rattle River shelter. There were only two people in the shelter, a SOBO & a NOBO I hadn't met before. They had set up their tents in the shelter ¢ allegedly because of bugs, tho I hadn't noticed any. That irritated me because I don't understand how setting up inside the shelter provides more bug protection than setting up outside ¢ & it sure cuts down on space available for others who need the shelter.   In this case, there was enough space between them for me to fit in. I tried to be quiet, but it's really hard when I want to cook supper too,
Date: 2003-03-02
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The morning started out foggy but by the time I left the sun was out. We had lunch at Cowrock Mountain and clouds started rolling in. As the day moved on, it became more and more cloudy. About 4 miles from the shelter a thick and wet fog rolled in. We got to the shelter about 5:00 and decided to pitch our tents. In bed by 7:00. Its really getting cold and the wind is howling. Still traveling with Adam and Tim from Pa.
Date: 2013-08-30
From: Rattle River Shelter

To: Dream Lake
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light rain

By the time I got back from the privy, those in the shelter were up [I'm used to being pretty much alone till I'm almost ready to leave]: a SOBO named Bubblehead & a NOBO named Sleepwalker [who had passed me on the Trail yesterday for the first time]. Nearby was a group of freshmen from Brown University, under a big, low tarp. Everybody seems to agree that this shelter is just about the 300-mile point from Mt Katahdin; what they can't agree on is its distance from US 2 ¢ given variously from 1.6 to 2.4 miles. It must be closer to the lower number because I was able to arrive close to the 8:00 time I had told Susan. We met for re-supply & talked about the next few days. We drove up around to some possible pick-up sites, in case I needed more rest. My legs were feeling a little worse today, but I had pushed them pretty hard last night. I started out. After the road walk across the river, it seemed like much better Trail almost immediately. Going up the first Mtn proceeded thru beech-maple forest again. Some sugar maple leaves had changed to bright colors & fallen to the ground already, not decorating the trees. As I hiked along thru the day, I noticed more signs of a change of season. There were a few blackberries, but they looked like the dregs of the crop. There were both red & black berries on the viburnum (Do they all turn black eventually?) & lots of red from bunchberries too. In the South, I saw a lot of maple-leaf viburnum; in New England, the analog would be basswood-leaf viburnum ¢ I don't know what the name really is [Hobblebush, I learned later].I spent the afternoon going up & over Mt Hayes & Cascade Mtn. I dried some more gear on the rocks while eating lunch & was passed by Balto. My slow pace lately means I'm continually meeting new people & losing touch with others [tho on the Trail you never know who will turn up where].Even with the noticeable change to softer trail, there were still stone steps, then some major rocks & rock faces. I guess doing the Whites takes something out of you -- I think back 10 days or so to the excitement of going up those rocks & ledges on South Kinsman & Webster Cliffs. After the past few days, even the lesser amounts of rocks on these mtns isn't much fun, especially going up Wocket Ledge after sunset. With my ankle bothering me, I took some more Advil. I could see I wasn't going to make it to Gentian Pond any earlier than 11:00, & I just didn't want to come in so late again.   Dream Lake looked attainable, so I started imagining soaking my feet in the cool lake water.That didn't really work either. I was able to find a suitable tent spot in the dark, but I couldn't see the lake at all by flashlight. Only if I turned my light off could I see the lake [Why is this one not a pond like the others?] by some kind of residual night light. Strange & "dreamy"!One advantage of stopping here is that it provides the shortest trail out, & I had decided I needed a couple of days off.
Date: 2003-03-04
From: Helen, Ga.

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

My two good hiking buddies were suffering from too many blisters and aching achilles tendons this morning and decided they needed a day to heal so I left the Inn without them about 9:00. After walking to the end of town, it took about 5 minutes to get a ride back to Unicoi Gap. Back on the Trail and climbing about 9:30. I made it to Tray Mountain Shelter for lunch at 12:15. Rain was predicted for tonight so I pushed on to Deep Gap Shelter and got there at 5:00. Kelly Knob is still just as hard to climb as I remember. In the shelter are four thru-hikers, three section hikers and two dogs. Still pretty tired after a day's hike so another early night. Goodnight Carleen.
Date: 2013-09-02
From: Dream Lake

To: Not Quite to Maine
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: haze

I got a fairly early start yet didn't succeed in going very far today.Coming down from Dream Lake, 2 days ago, I had lost a sandal. So I was on the lookout for it on the way back up the Peabody Creek Trail. Even checking very carefully at the 2-3 spots I had fallen down, I had no luck on that. The sandals were a little heavy, but it's nice to have something to change into at night, especially when hiking shoes are soaking wet.   When I got up to Dream Lake, Atreyu, Buckeye, & Simba were camped at essentially the same spot I had used. I wasn't on the Trail long before they passed me. Later I was passsed by K9 (met him at the motel in Gorham) & 3 section-hikers from Prince Edward Island [I asked which Prince Edward that was, but they couldn't tell me]. I stopped for lunch at Gentian Pond shelter & met Big Spoon & Brain Damage, who seemed kind of stalled there because he wasn't feeling well. I tried soaking my ankle in the pond, but the water was too warm to give the effect of icing.The next major obstacle was Mt. Success, which is only abut 3500 feet but took me a long time. I guess the name refers to success in getting to Maine. There had been flash flood warnings ¢ the Trail was flooded in places, but no FLASH about it. Even with my ankle brace, my progress was pretty slowThere seemed to be a LOT of rocks in this area, more than I remembered, but they really got CRAZY after dark. I kept on, hoping to get to Carlo Col shelter, but after going over some very difficult rock faces & boulder climbs (where it was hard to tell whether the trail even went that way) by flashlight, I decided to stop at the next place I could set up my tent. That turned out to be not quite to the Maine border! A rather disappointing day, in all kinds of ways. Nevertheless, I had enjoyed the gift of another day on the AT & had made SOME progress.
Date: 2003-03-05
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I finally got out and moving at a fairly decent time today, 8:30. I only need to knock an hour off this time, maybe in another month. By 10:00 I was at Deep Creek Gap and it was time for a decision; continue hiking, go to The Blueberry Patch, or go to Hiawassee to a motel. Hiawassee won out and I soon had myself a ride to the Holiday Inn Express. I feel pretty tired and have a few aches and pains so I'll probably take a zero day tomorrow. Goodnight Sharon.