morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-09-04
From: Hanover, NH

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain that started falling last ngiht was still coming down. It was quite a storm, complete with thunder and lightning. I caught a weather channel on the radio and according to the "experts" at the National Weather Service the storm was supposed to move through the area by mid morning. So I postponed my departure a little bit and ate a good breakfast.Well for once the weather report seemed to be correct. By 10 AM the rain had pretty much stopped. I got my pack on and headed for the trail. Now the trail at Hanover goes right through town. Lots of folks wave from passing cars or give you the "thumbs up" as they drive by. It kind of makes you feel special.As you make the final turn and start to walk out of town you pass directly in front of a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop. Now that's just too big of a temptation for a thru-hiker. So in I went and ordered a bowl of my favorite -- mint chocolate chip -- YUM!!After my stop off at the ice cream shop I followed the white AT blazes and they led me around the Dartmouth soccer field. To my surprise there were several thru-hiker tents set up at the end of the field. I stopped as I went by and wound up talking to the group of hikers for nearly an hour. After that I made tracks for the first shelter where I ate my lunch. That left just enough time to hike on to the next shelter by dinnertime.I rolled into the shelter about 6 PM and daylight was already fading. Barely got my dinner made before things got dark. Crawled into my sleeping bag and called it a night.Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-05
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Fell short of expectations today. The terrain just plain overwhelmed me. It was frustrating not being able to make better progress but you can only do so much. Maybe it's good though because in a few days I'll be in the "Whites" where a 11-12 mile day is considered good.Regardless, it still bugged me to call the day at the 13 mile point. My mind was willing but my body refused to cooperate. In looking over the map I did see that today's hike involved over 3000 feet of uphill climbing. Anyway, I got to the shelter and found that there was a Dartmouth orientation group already there. They were curous about thru-hiking and I asked them a lot about their college plans.Then it was time for dinner and some journalling. I decided to turn in early and try to get an early start in the morning. Rather than plan a big day and get disappointed I'm going to take it as it comes and just see how far I can get. Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-08
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Kinsman Notch
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

This was my first day in the Whites, and what a great day it was! The weather was great -- cool but extremely sunny and clear.The first slope in the Whites (headed northbound) is Moosilauke. The summit of Moosilauke sits at 4,802 ft. I started at Glencliff, which sits at 1,140 ft, so that meant almost 3,700 ft of elevation gain in the first few miles of the hike. I hadn't done any climbs like this since very early in the thru-hike so this was quite an eye opener. The trail was mostly rock and progress was pretty slow at fitst. But I just backed off the pace and kept putting one foot in front of each other. After several hours of uphill trail (and I use the word "trail" very lightly) I broke out above tree line. That was the reward for all my efforts. Damn, what a view -- and I wasn't even at the summit of Moosilauke! It seemed like I could see forever. The entire string of slopes in the Whites were visible.I moved on to the summit and the views only got better. If I didn't have to make some miles I may have stayed at the summit all afternoon. Another factor was the wind and temperature. You're fully exposed once you get above tree line. As long as I was hiking I was comfortable but when I stopped I got chilled pretty fast. So, after an hour or so at the summit I had to move on.All in all, my first day in the Whites was excellent. They are as fantastic as I had heard. I particularly liked the fact that I could see so far and was finally out of the "green tunnel." As long as the weather stays decent I think the Whites are going to be a high point in my trek.Living the Dream . ..
Date: 2003-09-09
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 2 in the Whites and while beautiful, the going is pretty slow. A lot of the trail was hand over hand on rocks.I had pre-conditioned myself for shorter days in the Whites so the 7.5 miles today mileage was acceptable.The trail today did not go above tree line so the views were not as spectacular. I held up at the first shelter, even though it was rather early in the day because immediately after the shelter the trail gets very steep. I decided to call it a day and make that climb first thing in the morning.I fetched some water and made an early dinner. That gave me plenty of time to catch up on my journalling before drifting off to sleep. Life is Good!!Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-10
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Franconia Notch
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 3 in the Whites and OH BABY . . . these are some tall mountains. Today's hike took me over the "Kinsmans." Started off at an elevation of 2,495 feet and climbed to 4,358 in less than 2 miles. The trail is mostly boulders and involved a lot of scrambling and hand over hand climbing. At times the trail was so steep that you needed to lean forward to avoid losing your balance and falling backward.But, like yesterday and the day before, the reward for all my effort and sweat was without a doubt some of the most spectacular vistas I have seen on the trail to date. It seems so "worth it all" now that I am in the Whhites. THIS is what I came out here to see and experience and NOT the seemingly endless "green tunnel" I have been hiking through since this adventure began late last March.Today I have experienced my first Hut, which is a sort of alpine resort hostel operated by the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club). The huts are too expensive for most hikers as an overnight sleeping option but if you get to one of them around lunch time they serve a "bottomless bowl of soup" and homemade bread for $2. It just so happened that I hit the hut around 12:45 and got some great tasting vegetable soup.After lunch it was time to begin the drop down to Franconia Notch at 1,450 feet elevation -- quite a downhill. I hit the highway at around 4 PM and hitched a ride into the town of North Woodstock. Normally I would have continued on with my hike but I had a mail drop in N. Woodstock and needed to pick up some food items for the next leg of my journey.Four of us hikers hit town at the same time and we agreed to share a motel room to keep the costs down. Once we got all checked in to the motel the first priority was dinner. We found a little restaurant with 1/2 price appetizers. Each of us ordered 2 different appetizers and we made a meal out of them. After dinner it was off to the foodstore.It's amazing how much we get accomplished in a short period of time when we come into towns. If nothing else, a thru-hike can be a great exercise in organization skills. With everything pretty much taken care of in town I walked back to the motel, got a shower, and then headed over to the laundromat to do a load of clothes. That left just enought time for a little journalling before heading off to sleep. Tomorrow I climb up from Franconia Notch and walk the Franconia Ridge which is totally above tree line. It should be yet one more fantastic day in the life of this thru-hiker. Damn, I'm a lucky guy!Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-12
From: Zero Day in North Woodstock

To: to Liberty Springs Trail and back to N. Woodstock
Miles today: 5.8

Well, I guess the above description warrants an explanation. Let me just cut to the chase and say that today was one of those days I will never forget. I started off the day with what felt like an upset stomach. Because of that fact I hadn't eaten much for breakfast or had much to drink. Firefeet, Chickflick, and I hitched out to the trail to begin our hike up the Franconia Ridge. Before even leaving the trailhead parking lot I got nauseous and vomited up what little I had eaten. Now I was even less interested in eating or drinking. But I was too stubborn to call off the hike for the day. We started up the hill toward Franconia Ridge and I knew that something wasn't right. But I thought I could just hike through it and kept on going. About 3/4 of the way to the summit I started to get bad abdominal cramps and began to sweat heavily. I reached a point where I felt I just had to sit down and rest. The only problem was that the ground was cold, I was soaking wet with perspiration, and on top of that I was dehydrated and had no food in my system.Within a few minutes of sitting down my core temperature dropped dangerously low. I knew I was in trouble and called out for Firefeet. She and Chickflick had stopped for a break a couple hundred feet beyond me on the trail. Both of them heard my call and came running back down the trail to help.My condition spiralled downward rapidly and by the time they reached me I had gone into a serious state of hypothermia. I knew they were there . . . hell, I even knew what was happening to me. But I was too weak and confused to help myself. They quickly dumped my backpack and got some dry clothes and my sleeping bag. My sense of time was blurred but it seemed like they had me warming in my sleeping bag within minutes.I quickly recovered my normal body temperature and became coherent. After 2 hours or so I was able to walk back downhill to the trailhead on my own. We got to the road, hitched a ride back into town and checked back into the hotel. I spent the rest of the afternoon resting, re-hydrating, and eating. I had plenty of time to reflect on what had happened to me today.I will never know for sure what might have occured if Firefeet and Chickflick had not been there and reacted the way they did. What I DO know for absolute certain is that they reacted quickly and calmly and were responsible for getting me dry, warm, and back on my feet. In my book they're heros and I'll never forget what they did for me. On top of that they unselfishly gave up their hiking day on my behalf, without complaint. I'm proud to call them friends.So, what was the lesson to be learned here?? First off, if you don't feel good don't hike. Second, it's good to hike with someone. Last but not least -- never underestimate the potential for hypothermia. Even someone like me with a medical background can easily become a victim.
Date: 2003-09-13
From: to Liberty Springs Trail and back to N. Woodstock

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite/Shelter
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: overcast clouds

OK, let's try this again! Got a good night's sleep and had a full but somewhat bland breakfast. No coffee or juice today -- I think that may have been what caused a part of my problem yesterday. The weather was good and I felt strong and healthy. We all hitched back out to the trailhead and re-traced our steps from yesterday. At around 10:30 we reached the spot where I had stopped the day before and the hike officially started all over again.The trail was rocky and steep but we were all able to maintain a good pace. After a brief stop at the Liberty Springs campsite for water we continued our climb up and over Little Haystack Mt. From that view point at 4,250 feet we could see Mt. Lincoln (5,089) and Mt. Lafayette (5,249) in the distance.We were now above tree line and had 360 degree visibility. It seemed like we could see forever. Just as we were crossing from the south to the north peak of Mt. Lafayette something caught my eye. I was astonished . . . here was a young black bear running across the peak from right to left. I grabbed my camera and got off a couple shots before it ran out of sight. The bear itself on the pictures will most likely appear as a small black non-descript dot but to the naked eye it was a remarkable sighting. The trail then dipped down below treeline again prior to our next climb -- Mt. Garfield. Fortunately the next shelter was just beyond the summit. We reached the shelter and got settled in for the night. Whew -- that was a lot of up and down hiking for one day. My knees were screaming so I took some ibuprofen (Vitamin I, as hikers call it) and drifted off to sleep.Living the Dream . . . .
Date: 2003-09-14
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite/Shelter

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 9.7

Our plan today was to reach the next "Hut" and request "Work for stay" privileges. That involves we the hikers doing some menial tasks around the hut and in exchange getting free food and a dry place to stay -- the "dry" place to stay was a key factor since it started to rain early in the day and continued on well into the night.Anyway we slogged along up and down over some pretty rugged terrain. At first I tried to avoid the puddles but at one point I just gave up and started plowing right through them. My feet were totally soaked by now so it really didn't matter.I was the first to reach the hut at around 4:30 P.M. I went inside and inquired about "Work for Stay." -- YES, said the AMC staff member and boy oh boy was I relieved. They allowed all 4 of us to stay and, since there weren't too many guests (the paying kind)they even let us have a bunk with a mattress -- WOOHOO!We did some dishes and swept floors as our "work" and were treated to beef stew and homemade bread for dinner. In the morning we get hot cereal and pancakes. All in all that's a pretty square deal. Sure, we had to wait until the regular guests had finished eating, but then again we paid nothing and they paid $68.00. I'll take that kind of deal any day.As nightfall set in, the sky cleared and we had a fantastic moonlight view of the surrounding mountains.I curled up in my sleeping bag on a nice soft mattress and thought about how fortunate I was.Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-15
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

I awoke to a clear blue sky and gentle breeze. I walked out on the porch and just marveled at the scenery. Just then I turned around and looked out behind the hut. To my amazement, there stood a huge bull moose. The rack on that bad boy must have been 5 feet across. I managed to grab my camera and get 2 pictures before he walked off into the woods. Was that COOL or what?? The crew at the hut fed us breakfast and then we were on our way. The hike down to Crawford Notch was all downhill. In fact there were sections that had fine gravel on it and were really smooth. Of course this is the AT and it wouldn't be complete without some rocks and boulders and bog bridges. But the good news was that it went downhill. It took us about 3.5 hours to reach Crawford Notch. We walked a mile up to the Willey Campsite where there was a snack bar and telephone. After a sandwich and soda I got on the phone and called Suz Buchanan. I had emailed with her before the hike and she had told me to call as I passed through the area. Suz answered and said she would come down and pick us up. That was great news. About 45 minutes later the 4 of us were in her van headed to N. Conway.We had a wonderful dinner, got our laundry done and settled in for a good night's sleep. Suz just bought this house and is in the process of moving in. But she had a large carpeted room where we all spread out our sleeping bags for the night. This was just one more example of random kindness that has been shown to me since I started this hike.Life is good!Living the Dream . ..
Date: 2003-09-16
From: Crawford Notch

To: N. Conway
Miles today: 0.0

The original plan was to hike out toward Mt. Washington. However, we awoke to a horrendous downpour that had been going on for most of the night.I personally was not keen on the idea of hiking out in these conditions. Fickle pretty much agreed. However, Firefeet and ChickFlick were serious about hiking so Suz drove them back to the trail. Fickle and I offered to help Suz move furniture into her new house. She was happy about that so it seemed like a win-win situation for everyone.We ended up making a total of 3 furniture runs during the day and managed to get most of the heavy furniture moved into her new house.That night we went out to eat at a local restaurant and talked over our hiking plans for tomorrow. Suz offered to drive us up to Mt. Washington in the morning and we would slackpack south back to Crawford Notch. We have a plan! and the weather is supposed to be much better tomorrow.Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-17
From: Mt. Washington Summit

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

Well the weather forecast was correct and we woke up to chilly temperatures but a clear blue sky. That sure made me glad I hadn't hiked out in the rain yesterday.We got an early start and Suz drove us all the way to the Mt. Washington summit, which is at 6,288 feet. Mostly all year the summit of Mt. Washington is obscured by clouds. But today was extremely clear and you could see the summit from the ground.Fickle and I started hiking around 9 AM. We made good progress at first but then found ourselves stopping to talk with other hikers. That ate up a lot of time and we really had to boogie in order to reach Crawford Notch before dark. The downhills were brutal, especially at Webster Cliffs near the end of the day. One thing for certain though -- today was a crystal clear weather day. Not a cloud in the sky. Visibility had to be near 100 miles or so from the Mt. Washington summit.We started to run out of daylight around 7 PM and fortunately for ust that's just about the time we reached Crawford Notch. As we walked out of the woods we noticed that Suz was there waiting for us in her van. What a great person!! On the way back to her house we stopped off for the stuff to make tacos for dinner. Dinner ended up being pretty late and it wasn't too long after dinner that my eyes started to go closed. This hiking stuff is hard work.Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-18
From: Crawford Notch

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: broken clouds

This was the second beautiful day in a row at the summit of Mt. Washington, which is pretty rare according to the locals. By "beautiful" I mean that the sun was out and there were no clouds obstructing the view. That said, it was about 39 degrees wth a 20 mph wind when we started our hike.The entire day was spent above tree line, which means we were totally exposed to the wind and weather. There is a train called the "Cog" that runs from the bottom to the top of Mt Washington. As we began our descent the Cog was making its way up toward the summit. We took some pictures and then had to cross the tracks in order to stay on the AT.The surface of the trail was solid rock. Sometimes the rocks were flat and sometimes they were standing on end. Progress was pretty slow because each step had to be "planned." The minute you get the least bit overconfident and walk too fast you generally fall flat on your face.With very few exceptions the entire day was spent hiking downhill. It's hard on the knees but thankfully I have hiking poles to take up some of the load and pressure. Even so, I still needed some ibuprofen to get through the day.This was the second day in a row I attempted to hike 13 miles, which is pretty good on this terrain. Because of the rocky surface and the many trails that run through the Whites it is possible to actually get somewhat lost. you're not really lost per se . . . just headed in the wrong direction. Rather than "white blazes" there are piles of rocks called cairns that mark the path. It's a totally different style of hiking from that of the southern AT.Our big climbs today were Mt. Madison and Mt. Adams. That finished off the section known as the Presidentials. the wind blowing over the summits actually knocked me off balance a few times.The interesting part of today's hike was that Pinkham Notch was in sight for most of the afternoon. We walked a ridge line that went downhill and was for the most part above tree line so we could see our way to the destination. But as we dropped below 3,000 feet we were again surrounded by trees and it stayed that way to the visitor center parking lot at Pinkham Notch. We walked out of the woods at around 6:30 PM and waited for our ride. The van shoed up and we headed back to Suz Buchanan's house for a hot shower, dinner, and a bed. The 2 back-to-back 13 mile days really did me in. I'm thinking I may need to take a day off tomorrow. Will decide that in the morning.Lights out!!Living the Dream . . .
Date: 2003-09-19
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Ended up taking a zero today for two reasons. First, the Whites were being pounded with wind and rain related to the hurricane that had come up the coast. It was not a good day to be at the higher elevations. Second reason was that my body was pretty beat up from the previous 2 days of hiking. The good news is that I was able to get a lot accomplished. I went into Gorham and took care of my mail, got my laundry done and basically just rested my aching bones. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to clear so I'll be hitting the trail again.Oh, yeah . . . we did something else pretty cool today. We visited the Limmer Boot Shop in Intervale, NH. Limmer is one of the few remaining custom boot shops in the USA. They are so popular that the waiting list is 42 months for a pair of boots. I met Peter Limmer who is a master boot maker and his brother Ken who is a cobbler and does all the repairs. They showed me how a pair of boots is assembled from scratch. With most boots now being mass produced in other countries it was nice to see true artisans at work making high quality boots by hand.
Date: 2003-09-20
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: broken clouds

The weather report was just a bit off. It was still raining when we woke up. The latest word was that the rain should end by mid morning so we stuck with our plan to hike out. By the time we were all ready the rain had almost stopped so everything worked out ok.Today's hike was more reasonable in terms of total miles. The terrain was fairly rugged going over the Wildcat slopes. There are 4 Wildcat peaks and they are all over 4,000 feet so there was a lot of climbing. Another nice thing about today's hike was that we had time to take several breaks during the day. That lowers the stress and allows for a more comfortable pace.The day ended with a steep 1,100 foot drop in elevation -- hard on the knees.We arrived at the hut and were told we could stay for free and sleep on the picnic tables. Normally the fee was $20 so that was quite a deal. Got out of my wet hiking clothes, ate some dinner and drifted off to sleep.