morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-07-24
From: Shaw's Hostel, Monson, ME

To: Zero Day, Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Next morning we were up earlier than I would have liked, but breakfast at Shaw's is served at 7:00 AM. We'd heard about the AYCE breakfast and didn't want to miss it. Turned out to be excellent. I couldn't believe I ate that much.Then it was time for business; we loaded into the car to head to Greenville. First to the outfitters to regroup gear. I've decided for the remainder of Maine and New Hampshire I really need to reduce any weight that we can. I bought an eggshell sleeping pad and sent my nice inflatable home with Greg. I put my Keens (which I love) in the bounce box and bought a pair of Crocks. We replaced a few items that are worn out or torn.. or burned. I roasted one of my Smartwool socks over the fire one night.From there to the laundry. My clothes could have used two washings they were so stinky, but they just got one. Then we did a little tourist wandering around the shops. Owl has been in search of a thimble from each place we visit and she hoped to find a moosehead thimble, but no luck. She bought a wooden Owl instead...and some fudge. Then lunch, of course more food and a stop at the grocery store for food resupply for the next leg.Our next stop will be at Stratton, but about half way there is a post office at Caratunk. We've mailed a food drop to there in order to cut our food weight. So all that had to be figured out while we shopped.It had been raining light and steady all day and about that time the skies opened up in a downpour. Once more we are amazed at how God keeps taking care of us. It would have been miserable to be hiking through this.That night we were back at Monson and having all you can eat tacos at the Lakeshore Landing. Nick wanted to beat the record of 24 tacos, but decided instead just to out eat Mike, one of the other thru hikers. They tied at 12 and Nic threw his up on the way home later. Live and learn.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-07-25
From: Zero Day, Monson, ME

To: Zero Day #2, Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a zero day. It felt great.First though, Greg and Nick got up early and headed back to Maryland. It was so much fun having Greg along for awhile. And very hard saying goodbye. I can see why hikers who go home have a difficult time returning to the trail. It wouldn't have taken much for me to pack up and go with him. But, we have a mission here and I'm staying focused.This morning I finished a few details in packing my pack. Then I sorted through our bounce box. I chickened out on sending all our cold weather gear home with Greg and kept a couple things until we get closer to The Whites. It means the bounce box is a bit heavy, but it's worth my peace of mind knowing I've got warmer clothes available.Then I took a nap. In the middle of the day. It felt wonderful!For lunch Owl and I checked out the local BBQ place and had a great pork BBQ sandwich and a fresh squeezed lemonade. THAT was good. From there we planned to go to the library to work on the internet, but heard the computer was down so we went back to the room. And rested some more. All we need to do at this point is put together our sandwiches for lunch tomorrow and fill up our water and we'll be set to head out again.Before that though we plan to go over to the Friday night jam session at the local store. We hear they have fiddles, mandolins, banjos, guitars and other instruments show up each week and have a great time playing together. Sounds like fun. We'll let you know tomorrow.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-07-27
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean To

To: Bald Mountain Lean To
Miles today: 13.0

We slept in. Owl would debate that. We slept in until 6:30. The sun is up at 4:30 here so I call 6:30 sleeping in, but Owl just rolls her eyes when I say that.I was dreading this next ford. It sounded complicated and difficult. When we arrived at it the outdoor leadership group was already there preparing to head across. They had ropes and were guiding each other through. They invited us to go through with them and we jumped on the opportunity. It was tricky, but we all got across fine. There was a second ford later in the day but it was much easier.The rest of the day was spent picking our way through bogs and swatting at bugs. We stopped briefly at Moxie Bald shelter for a rest. Low Clearance and Shadow were stopping there for the night. We'd spent a lot of time with them throughout the day as we leap frogged each other on the trail. So we stopped in for a last little visit before we left them to head on over the mountain. We planned to make it four more miles over Moxie Bald to Bald Mountain Lean-to for the night.We made pretty decent time over the mountain and got into camp around 5:00. Roo got bit on the nose by one of the nasty deer flies. Her snout is all swollen. She seems to be breathing through it okay. It just looks so sad. Other than that we made it through another day safe and sound. We were more than ready for the day to end.We'll have one more full day of hiking and then a short break at Caratunk. That's such an improvement over the 100 mile wilderness when I felt like we were never getting out of there. It's good to touch base with civilization.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-07-28
From: Bald Mountain Lean To

To: Pleasant Pond Lean To
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

Trying to remember back on the day I think what a tough day this was. I guess the truth is, that it was a tough end of the day. Going up Pleasant Mountain wasn't so difficult as Maine mountains go. Coming down was really steep.We had one more ford today. It was only about knee deep, but filled with large rocks that were difficult to walk around. We crossed several blueberry patches and stopped for a snack. Owl says that blueberries are nature's trail magic. Roo is learning how to pick them off of the bushes for herself, though she prefers I pick them for her.Coming down the steep side of the mountain I snapped one of my hiking sticks in half, caught my Crock on a tree and tore off the strap and slipped several times. It was a rough afternoon.We got into the shelter by mid-afternoon and headed down to the pond for a swim. Just as we got there the sun went behind a cloud and it suddenly felt cool...after being so hot all day! It was still a nice chance to wash off some sweat and mud.So far we are the only ones in the shelter for the night. Pounder and Crumbs are also here but they are tenting. We've had a nice opportunity to chat with them and get some scoop on the trail ahead.Tomorrow we plan to head out early. We have a five mile hike into Caratunk. We'll pick up a food box there and spend the night at Northern Outdoor Resort. It will be nice to shower, do laundry and regroup.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-07-29
From: Pleasant Pond Lean To

To: Northern Outdoor Resort, Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 6.0

We rose with the sun this morning looking forward to the coming showers and clean laundry. Simple things excite us. The remaining six miles out were simple and a fairly good trail. Nevertheless, the last few miles into any town seem to stretch on forever.Finally breaking out of the woods onto the highway our first priority was to locate the post office. From what we had heard about the town we thought it was so small it would be the only building and be right on the trail. No such luck. There are actually several homes in Caratunk and we had to walk past them all before finding the post office.The postmistress (is that right?) was a very nice lady. She had all of our boxes and she disposed of our trash for us and kept a hiker box for us to drop extra food in. Or take from if we needed it, but as usually we were over supplied. There was also a payphone to send out my pocketmail. The only thing we could not get was a ride to the Northern Outdoor Resort. The NOR only did pickups at the trail at 4:00. It was only 11:30 and we figured if we waited around that long we would miss valuable cleaning up time. So we started walking the two mile road walk. You would think two miles would be no big deal as far as we've walked, but there is a huge difference in walking on the side of the road on a hot July day. And no one offered to pick us up. So we walked...all the way.I kept thinking this really had better be worth it. When we got there and checked in we found out our room wouldn't be ready until 3:00. Meanwhile we ordered burgers at the pub, took showers and parked ourselves at the laundry to wash up our very stinky clothes. After that our 'cozy' cabin was ready. I had my doubts, but was very plesantly surprised. The cabin has a kitchenette and a full bath. It's very nice...even cozy.We've been able to wash up all our dishes (what few we have) and our water containers. We've sorted our packs, food and clothes. I think we are all set for a fresh start tomorrow. They will give us a ride back to the trail in the morning, but not until 9:00. Since the ferry across the Kennebeck River doesn't start running until 9:00 anyway that works for us. We'll be able to get another shower and breakfast before we head out.While waiting for our lunch this afternoon I was sitting on the front porch with Roo when another hiker walked up. He immediately looked at me and said 'I know you!' One glance and I saw the really nice camera he was carrying and I remembered meeting him at Mountain Harbor back at Roan Mountain. His name is Iggy. I was curious what he planned to do with the pictures and he gave me his calling card with a website where I could look at them. www.JIMarx.com if you are interested. We also had a great conversation with Whimsy and Dutch while hanging out in the laundry. They gave us some really good scoop on the trail ahead.All in all this turned out to be a very good and refreshing day. Tomorrow, back out on the trail.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-07-30
From: Northern Outdoor Resort, Caratunk, ME

To: West Carry Pond Lean To
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Northern Outdoors Resort, Caratunk, ME to West Carry Pond lean-to 7/30 14 miles.This is Owl writing, Mom/Rabbit has hurt her ankle and is taking a few days off with Roo so she can go to the clinic to get it checked out.Anyway, at about 6:30 this morning we all started to crawl out of bed (or fall in my case) and head for the breakfast buffet. After breakfast we came back to our 'Cozy Cabin' to pack.We packed quickly and had about a half hour until the shuttle was leaving to take us back to the trail. About this time I realized I should reclaim the five or six paper airplanes made out of pages of Sherlock Holmes from the loft. Though its fun throwing my paper airplanes around the cabin, they are not fun to pick up. Especially since River would very much like to eat them.Oh yeah, back to journaling. We left NOR about 9 and headed for the ferry. The ferry was cool, although Roo would rather swim instead. We hiked as far as Harrison's camp, where Mom/Rabbit called someone to shuttle her to the clinic. We divided our gear so that I could take off on my own with Soaring and we started walking.I didn't think the hike was too bad, well, its ok if you don't mind the mud. At times the trail was not marked well enough at places and we walked in the wrong direction more than once. But eventually over the rocks and mud and wrong turns we made it to the shelter. We passed Thud while hiking and Snidely Whiplash at the shelter, we had met both of them on the southern half. I don't have much else to report except that I found another Northern Pitcher Plant in one of the bogs today.So, Rabbit should be in Stratton by now so I will be doing the writing.Owl<In that four miles the rockiness and rootiness was the typical Maine trail. I concluded that if I continued without giving my foot time to rest and heal I was going to end up doing serious damage. So at Harrison's I called Sue at Stratton Motel and set up a shuttle to Stratton. It took some regrouping of gear with Owl and Soaring to make sure Owl had everything she needed. And they were off.I hung out at Harrison's until Tim was ready to go to work. He drove me to a nearby town where he left me at an ice cream place where Sue would pick me up. She arrived a few minutes later. I had thought about going to a clinic to have my ankle checked out but decided to try ibuprofen and ice packs first, so we drove on to Stratton.I called my friend Dr. Pam (thanks Pam!!) and asked her advice. She was a huge help and advised me on what to do. She was great. Now the tough part... sit still. I'm not sure who had a tougher time with it, me or Roo. But we did it.>>Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-07-31
From: West Carry Pond Lean To

To: Safford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

It was raining this morning when I crawled out of the tent. It didn't take too long before we were all packed up and heading out on the trail. Today was very wet and there was lots of mud. But its okay because I had my Ipod to get me through the mud and rain. There was lots of that.Soaring and I stopped for lunch at the Little Bigelow Lean To and had lunch with Sparticus who was waiting for his hiking partner Rip Van Winkle, who as it turns out was about two miles back with a broken ankle. We had been hearing people mentioning a guy with a broken ankle all the next few miles, but no one knew his name.Sure enough we came upon Rip Van Winkle with several people around him waiting for the rescue people. We had walked for about another 30 minutes when the really torrential rain started, which added a bit to the mud and rain we already had. I did feel like it was missing something. Completely soaked we trudged into Safford campsite and attempted to quickly set up the tent and jump in. Although, it didn't quite work and the tent got pretty wet too, we were able to dry it out a bit and are now fairly dry ourselves.The rain has not stopped yet, but I am hoping by tomorrow it might.I have talked to Rabbit on the phone and she is resting her foot and hopefully it will get better soon.Owl'We've got a blind date with destiny and it looks like she's ordered the lobster.' -The Shovler, Mystery Men.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-08-01
From: Safford Notch Campsite

To: Stratton, ME
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: moderate rain

Rain was still pounding on the roof of the tent this morning, but after spending an hour staring at the roof of the tent it was time to go. The rain let up soon and I packed up my half of the sopping wet tent and I started up Avery. It was honestly not as hard as I expected, there were stairs for the most part of the climb and my music, of course helped me to the top. It was completely fogged over but I¢m sure it is a beautiful view if there was no fog.The rest of the Bigelow mountains were not as hard as I expected either, it was just a lot of steep ups and downs. On the downhill towards the road it started to rain, nice drizzle at first. Then torrential rain. We stood at the road for awhile trying to hitch a ride towards Stratton, another hiker named Chipmunk had joined us at this point. Sue (from the Stratton Motel) then drove up just as another car had stopped to offer us a ride. We all jumped into her car and were soon at the Stratton Motel. River ran out to greet us, making her 'Wookie' noise in excitement. I walked into the building and Rabbit handed me a can of Pringles and a soda.I got my shower and we ate dinner and cake! Rabbit had cake here for us! Anyway, Tigger and Mustang Sally are spending the night here too. I'm hoping by 9 someone will let me watch the new episodes of Monk and Psych. Yay! OCD detectives and fake psychics!OwlRabbit's entry...I've sat here for two days with my foot up. I feel like a slug. Well, I did take a trip down the street to the laundry earlier today. And I decided to cook dinner. I knew Owl and Soaring would be coming in this afternoon in the rain. I thought some home cooked comfort food would be nice. I made a chicken casserole, one of Owl's favorites and bought a chocolate cake. And I bought her favorite chips and soda and met her at the door with them.In my 'confinement' I had the chance to meet several other hikers, Knuckles and her husband, Furniture, Apostle, the Four Sisters and others. It was nice to finally meet the Four Sisters, we've heard about them the whole hike. I also got to see and visit again with Iggie. Nice guy. Tigger came in this morning with Mustang Sally. Tigger had hiked out of Monson ahead of us, looking to push some bigger mile days. Soaring and Owl made it in by 4:00, in the rain.We'll take a zero tomorrow. I'd love to get back out for more hiking, though I'm not confident in my ankle yet. The rest of the gang needs a break. Unfortunately our drop boxes have not arrived here yet. The PO closes tomorrow at 11:00, hopefully our boxes arrive before then. Otherwise we'll have some regrouping to do. For tonight, it's time to relax.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-08-02
From: Stratton, ME

To: Zero Day, Stratton, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

It's a zero day here in Stratton for Owl and the gang. Roo and I of course have been here forever and are starting to climb the walls. She is especially ready to get back out on the trail. (Tigger and Owl are trying to have a Star Wars Marathon, but Roo keeps standing in front of the TV to get their attention.) I'm not completely confident in my ankle, but my spirit is ready to hike.Unfortunately the weather once more is against us. I'm not sure what this isabout. :0/ Everytime we are ready to head out of a zero a big storm comes upmaking our upcoming river fords dangerous, if not impossible. So tonight it'ssupposed to storm once more. There is a severe flood watch through tomorrow.We talked with Sue about the posibility of slackpacking tomorrow. That way wecould still make the miles but not carry the heavy pack over Crocker Mountainin the rain and we could cut the hike just short of the first ford. But we'llwait until morning to see how the weather really goes. It is nice to haveoptions.For now, off to watch Han and Luke save Leia.Rabbit, Owl, and Roo
Date: 2008-08-03
From: Carabou Road

To: Stratton
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: moderate rain

It was a slackpack day, a very good day to slackpack. My ankle appreciated the opportunity to ease back onto the trail. Sue dropped us near the trail head and we started immediately straight uphill. She had advised this route to do the steep part uphill in the morning before the storms moved in in the afternoon. It was good plan, except for my ankle complaining loudly for the first uphill mile. After three miles we changed to a more gradual downhill and I became more comfortable walking on it.In that first mile I was brainstorming all my options if I just couldn't continue. Owl must have been praying hard. She didn't like any of the options since they would all effect her hike. At the end of the day, though, I was feeling pretty confident in going on...slowly, but still forward.We've met several hikers while here. Last night we shared the house with Mustang Sally and Cricket. Today Mustang Sally shared the slackpack with us. She is from Charleston, WV and has the same accent as my aunts who live in WV. That made it interesting walking today and talking with her. When we returned to the hostel tonight there were several new hikers. One was Sweet Sixteen. She joined us for dinner at The White Wolf and we had a great conversation. Also there were several northbound guys, all very hungery. =o) Michael and Holcome showed up. We had spent time with them at Shaw's in Monson. I think Roo was more excited to see Holcome than he was to see her. He's ready for a zero day and she's ready to get back out and get some exercise.So tomorrow we'll head back out on the trail. We'll have two river crossings. I'm not looking forward to either. But I am looking forward to getting out of Maine and those rivers stand between us and the border, so it must be done...or blue blazed around. That works too.For now, off to bed. Thanks for all the prayers for the ankle. Please keep it up!Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9
Date: 2008-08-05
From: Mt. Spaulding Lean To

To: Poplar Ridge Lean To
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Mud, Mud, Mud, a river ford and still more mud. I'm tired of mud, but there is still more of Maine left to hike. Once again we only hiked from one shelter to the next. It was either eight miles or sixteen miles and we knew we couldn't handle sixteen miles. In the south we could have wild camped somewhere along the trail, but here everything is a bog. We're not confident of finding a camping site along the way.We did cross another flooded river today. It was pretty easy...compared to others we've done. Roo getting carried away with the current was only real concern. We put her harness on her and held her by the handle as we crossed. We all got through safely.We met a large group of NOBOs at the shelter and had a chat. They moved on to the next shelter. A little while later Lee from Indiana joined us. He started his hike last year and broke his leg somewhere in New England and is finishing this year. That's a story we have heard from a lot of hikers. A few minutes ago Sweet Sixteen came into camp. We had dinner together back in Stratton. It's good to see her again.Tomorrow we will go over Saddleback mountain. We plan to stay in a shelter and head in to Rangley the next day. It's nice to have small towns to stop in for showers. Especially when it's this muddy.I should add that we did have sunshine today. That was new. Unfortunately the ground is so saturated from all the rain that we'll be walking in mud for awhile yet. But mud with sunshine is better than mud in a downpour. So we are thankful for that.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9