morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-28
To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: fog

Our day began with a great breakfast at the hut. This was our best yet. There were lots of leftovers including scrambled eggs and cinammon rolls. This was a serious upgrade over our other work for stay breakfasts. Our first mountain of the day was Mt Madison. This was a mind blowingly beautiful mountain. The weather was misty and beautiful. The ridges were playing hide and seek in the mist. Beautiful rock summits and cairns gave this ridgeline a wonderful feel. We descended off Madison to Pinkham Notch. We had lunch there at the snack bar and finally headed up Wildcat Ridge around 3. The weather had started raining in earnest while we were eating. This is the typical NH rain. The kind that just Permeates everything eventually. We used our umbrellas until it just became too steep. This climb is an absolute killer. Steep rock hopping leading to sections that are more like rock climmbing than hiking. The rain had everything just flowing with water. After that, we climbed Wildcat Col, then 3 other Wildcat peaks before descending into Carter Notch and to our shelter for the night. I am a little worried about Coyotebec's knees. They are sore, and we have no days off before we go to OR. But we are warm and dry tonigh and into Gorham and out of the Whites tomorrow!More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-07-29
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Gorham NH
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: fog

We were up early and out by 6am. As we were walking the trail back to the AT from the hut, I slipped on a rock and fell hard on my hip. Ouch! I have fallen more times in New Hampshire than the rest of the trip combined. Our first task was climbing around 2,000 feet to the top of Carter Dome. The climb wes classic White Mtns: extremely steep, scrambly and with water pouring down different parts of the trail. The views were minimal as there was still some mist in the area plus still a lot of rain clouds. Coyotebec's knee are still bothering her. This was the main stress (for me) of the day. All types of scary scenarios were playing in my head of having to take time off, come back later in the year and finish, getting this close and not getting to Maine, and other thoughts like that. We mostly walked in silence, but I could tell she was hurting by the way she was walking. After almost 1,900 miles, I can tell when she is tired, hurting or strong. The other problem is that we have not been able to find Advil to buy in NH. The store in North Woodstock (our last resupply 7 days ago) didn't have any. So we've been through the Whites with like 9 advil pills. Today we had 2 left, so Coyotebec was saving them for the downhill into Gorham.At lunch, we stressed over whether to walk .25 down to the Imp Shelter. We decided to do it, and that was probably a mistake. It was rough, rocky and a long .25 straight down. We had come 7 miles in 5 hours this morning, so our progress had been pretty agonizing (mainly because of the tough terrain). After lunch was more of the same as we roller coastered over peaks and gaps until the AT finally started to descend towards Rattle Creek. Once alongside Rattle creek, the terrain got easier. Also, the last dose of advil was helping a lot. We got to the road and hitched a ride into Gorham. There's a hostel there called "the barn". Next door, there's a B&B that we found a room at. We did laundry, I took my first shower in 10 days, bought groceries and went to eat before heading to bed. What a day! Tomorrow with some luck, we will hit our last state line: MAINE!!!more tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-07-30
From: Gorham NH

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

OK - Let's cut right to the big news of the day. We're in Maine!!!! Today brought us out of Gorham NH, over a series of peaks and to our final state line: Maine. We can now officially say that we have walked from Georgia to Maine. oh - and we saw a moose too!I could tell early in the morning that the weather had changed. Gone was the heavy, wet air. A new cooler, drier air had moved in. We hitched a ride back up to the trail with a guy that runs a landscaping company. He said that usually the weather turns around the second week of August up here, but today, it felt like it had turned. Thats good news for keeping bugs down (if it turns out to be true). Sorry to all you folks back home suffering through a hot Louisiana summer.We headed north and climbed Mt. Hayes. After about 3 hours of hiking, we took a break and ate one of the sandwiches we brought from town. The terrain was still tough (Mt. Hayes is a 2000 foot climb), but it seemed easier than the Whites. Later in the afternoon, we were walking down the trail, and Coyotebec stopped short saying "Moose, moose". I looked up and saw a HUGE moose walking off the trail. If you haven't seen one, these are beautiful creatures. Our last break put us out walking again around 4. By 7, we had made it to the NH/ME state line. Getting to this spot in the middle of the woods meant a lot to me. It's something we've been working on for over 4.5 months. This has made me see how big getting to Katahdin will be. We quickly took pictures and went on the the shelter. The evening was very enjoyable with a beautiful sunset and some good food. More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-07-31
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: few clouds

Our first full day in Maine was what our friends Stinger and Swamp Dog would have called "a real ass whipper". We did the 14 miles we had scheduled and were thankful that we didn't have to do more. I think we were more tired from these 14 than any of our 20 plus mile days.We started the day with a major climb to Mt Carlo. Then, we topped out over West Goose Eye Mtn, East Goose Eye Mtn and North Goose Eye Mtn. The climbs were typical NH/Southern Maine: Super steep with lots of high stepping and some rock climbing moves. After these, we dropped down to a shelter and immediately climbed up to the South Peak of Fulling Mtn. The trail then dropped into one of the most infamous stretches of trail on the AT: Mahoosuc Notch. Mahoosuc Notch covers about a mile of trail. It travels through a narrow valley full of car and house size boulders that you crawl over, under and around. This requires a lot of energy and concentration. It is exhausting. I think it took almost 2 hours to cover the mile of Mahoosuc. After this, we climbed Mahoosuc Arm - a 2000 foot climb that relentlessly ascends over boulders, rocks and rock slabs straight up the hill. We worked for over 2 hours non stop to reach the top. After this climb, we headed down to Speck Pond Shelter. This left one more climb and a long descent. Should have been routine, but we were so fried from earlier that it took forever to get over the top and get down to the road.If you were wondering why our mileages are low over the last week or so, the reason is that the terrain is MUCH tougher. Today we put in 12 hours to cover 14 miles. That's tough terrain... We are still putting in long days of hiking, but just don't have as much mileage to show for it.More tomorrow....Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-01
From: Grafton Notch

To: East B Hill Rd.
Miles today: 10.1

We started our day with an awesome breakfast at the Chapman Inn. We met a couple that were up for a trail maintenance conference. They offered to bring us part way back to the trail. We arrived at the turn off and no sooner had they dropped us off, another car pulled in and offered us a ride the rest of the way up to the trail. This is the kind of stuff that happens when you "hold everything loosely". Things just turn out better than you could have imagined. It gives you a real sense of being taken care of.The trail ascended out of Grafton Notch and up Baldpate Mtn. I don't usually use this journal to pick bones, but I am beginning to get tired of something, so I am going to vent a little. We've been seeing southbound thru hikers for a couple of weeks now. Some of them are really great people with fantastic attitudes. The majority however, have spent all their time and energy painting gloom and doom stories about how horrible it is going to be in the Whites. Then it was how horrible Maine has been and how tough a time we're going to have here. A southbounder coming down Baldpate mtn this morning literally came to us saying "Just turn around and find another way around this. It's misty and raining and there's waterfalls running down the trail. Maine doesn't know how to build a trail. I can't wait to get out of this state". Please. If you are a future southbound thru hiker, remember that everyone judges tough conditions through their own set of lenses. Don't inflict your opinions (unless they are postive) on people that have already hiked 1900 miles. If it was only one or two, I wouldn't say anything. But the vast majority of southbounders seem to share this trait. OK - enough of the rant.We flew up Baldpate easily. There were no waterfalls running down the trail. The fog added greatly to the beauty of the morning. And (amazingly) we survived intact. Sorry - NOW the rant is really over. After Baldpate, we cruised down to the shelter and had lunch. Met a super nice southbounder named The Beast. We kept our break short as we were meeting Earl from a hostel called The Cabin. We arrived at 4:56 and they were going to leave if we were not there by 5. Whew. The Cabin is a cool hostel. The offer an all you can eat family style supper. We had hamburgers, Zuchini casserole, fresh corn, salad and much more. The people here are so friendly and accomodating. Tonight we watched a 20 minute documentary on a blind man that hiked the AT in 1990. It is called Amazing Grace, and I really recommend it to you if you are interested. More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-02
From: East B Hill Rd.

To: Old Blue/Bemis Mtn Saddle
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We had such a nice stay at The Cabin, we decided that we had to come back for a second night. The crew there helps you with that decision by picking you up at the end of the day and bringing you back for a second night. We started with a beautiful family style breakfast around the table with the other hikers staying there. After breakfast, Coyotebec, ESP, her brother and I were all dropped off at the trail. We only brought gear for the day - making the hike a little easier. We arrived at the trail in the rain. The day was fairly routine. We saw Pilgrim and Mad Dog - who we had not seen since Damascus. We also saw Sputnik on the trail. We finished up around 4:30 and Aqua from the Cabin was there to take us back. After a shower, it was time for another fantastic meal. Veggie Lasagna, Chicken, corn, salad, potato salad and much more. After supper, Coyotebec and I took about an hour to make a decision. The guys at the Cabin could take our packs up to Rangely. Then we would be able to slackpack the 22 miles into there. It was really tempting, but we are not sure that we can cover that much ground in this tough terrain. Plus the forecast is calling for rain all night tonight and tomorrow. So we decided to try to get to Rangely, but to carry our own packs in case we can't get that far.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-03
From: Old Blue/Bemis Mtn Saddle

To: Rangely ME
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We arranged an early start. Aqua drove us to the trailhead and we arrived around 5:30 On the way up the road, we saw a momma and baby moose. Then as we started up the trail, a massive daddy moose with big horns rose out of the grass he was sleeping in. Really cool. It was raining hard as we hiked up the trail. This was going to be a long day. I don't think I mentioned it before, but I lost my umbrella somewhere in Mahoosuc Notch. We made good time to the first shelter even through the weather. Water was flowing from everywhere. We were in deep mud, walking up what looked like creeks running down the trail, walking down what looked like creeks running down the trail, and through standing water nearly up to our knees at times. After a 10 minute break, we kept moving. Our next goal was a shelter around 7.5 miles away. During this section, we had to ford a river that was running really fast. This was our toughest ford of the trip so far. After lunch we kept grinding all afternoon through the water and mud - hour after hour. We finally arrived at the road around 6:45 and hitched into town. We got a room at the local in and then walked down to find a place to eat. We found a great surprise: A Thai restaurant! This is only the second one of the trip. After a great meal, it was bedtime. We suffered a mental setback tonight. We realized that we misfigured our mileage to Caratunk. If we make it, it will be 4 very difficult days ahead of us. And we have not had a break in over 2 weeks - so things are tough right now. But we are looking forward to our OR break, and we are going to do our best to reach Caratunk before then.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-04
From: Rangely ME

To: Perham Creek
Miles today: 15.4

Special Note: Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary! What more special way to spend it than hiking through the Maine wilderness with the one you love!We woke up still worried about the mileage we face in the next 4 days. Normally it is no problem, but the Whites and Southern Maine have been so tough. We've had to scratch and claw for miles. The next thing we noticed was that it was pouring rain outside our hotel room. Ugg... We briefly discussed zeroing and just going to Stratton before OR. After a few minutes we decided it was best to go for Caratunk and fall back to Stratton if the miles were too hard.Last night our shoes were so muddy we had to wash them out in the tub, so we were treated to wet shoes this morning - but at least they are not full of grit and mud. We went to a diner for breakfast and walked to the corner to hitch a ride. This time we waited a little while for a ride. A woman named Carol pulled off to give us a ride. It's always the best feeling when a car brakes and pulls over when you are hitching. Carol's family owns the island in the lake that is next to Rangely. What a great location for a summer house!We were on the trail around 8:15 and heading north. By the way - the rain had stopped and the weather seemed to be improving. We climbed Saddleback Mtn and 3 or 4 other peaks on the way to our campsite. Tonight we are alone near a creek in thick forest. We made good progress today, but we are not out of the woods on our mileage issue. The terrain does not seem as tough, but we still have over 50 miles to Caratunk. I am looking forward to a good nights sleep.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-05
From: Perham Creek

To: Stratton ME
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: few clouds

Last night we camped in a tiny little spot in the woods above Perham Creek. The woods here in Maine have a way of looking ancient and enchanted. It is a feeling of dampness, closed in density, green moss and years of mulch on the ground. We had a wonderful evening watching the sun set, listening to the creek and hearing the birds in the background. I have been learning a few birds by ear, and my favorite right now is the Hermit Thrush. It has a single note (like it's doing its own pitch pipe) then a song that sounds silvery and echo-ey. This morning I got moving around 5am as usual, but Coyotebec wiled me back into the sleeping bag for an extra 20 minutes while the sun came up. There was a chill in the air for the first time in a while. It felt like that first cool front that blows through Louisiana sometime in October - with its drier air and clear skies. This is just so welcome after all the rain, water and mud we've been through this week.We had been on the trail about an hour when Coyotbec spotted a huge moose on the trail ahead of us. It was going the same direction as us. When it heard us, it looked, then continued down the trail. I tried catching up to it to get a picture, but it was no use - the moose slipped into the woods and was gone.We had lunch at the Carabassett River, then headed up our second big climb of the day (we had climbed Spaulding Mtn early on this morning). This climb took us over South Crocker and North Crocker mountains. There are no views from any of these, but it was still fun to climb them and put it behind us. We met 3 "peak baggers" today. These are people trying to climb all 67 peaks in New England over 4,000 feet. Today, we bagged 3 just in our hike (Spaulding, South Crocker and North Crocker).One thing that's happening lately is that we are hearing the word "congratulations!" quite a bit lately. We never heard it before Maine, and basically not before we were past the Mahoosuc's. Now people day hiking as well as some Southbounders. This is kind of fun - you sort of feel like a little bit of a star out here. We arrived at the road around 3:30 and the owner of the Stratton Motel was there to pick us up. No Hitching - yay!! We had a nice supper out to a restaurant here in town. So nice to have town food!More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-06
From: Stratton ME

To: Little Bigelow Lean To
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

Susan from the Stratton Motel gave us a ride back to the trail around 6:30. We had a great stay here at the Stratton Motel. Susan and Don have done a great job making the motel hiker friendly. The trail was amazing today. We climbed several amazingly beautiful peaks. First was South Horn. Then the trail followed a ridgeline that dropped off and then climbed up West Peak of Bigelow Mtn. This climb takes you up through the trees, finally breaking through and climbing over the rocks to the summit. This is one of the peaks we have been waiting for. From here, if it is clear, you can get your first view of Mt Katahdin. We were in luck! We could see Katahdin off in the distance. It was a strange feeling to see the goal that you have been working toward for 5.5 months. We sat and looked at the distance and thought about our hike and how quickly it was drawing to a close. After this, it was a quick down and up to Avery Peak. We ate lunch here, talking to some day hikers and soaking up the sun. Then over a mountain called the Old Mans Head, over Little Bigelow Peak and down to the shelter. We had a milestone on Little Bigelow. It was on this mountain that we crossed the 2,000 mile point. I was thinking that I would be more excited, but I wasn't. I have a few goals in mind right now that we've been working toward for months: 1) Caratunk and our OR break. 2) Katahdin and the end of the trail. 3) Life 2.0 - This is our same life, but enhanced with the energy and ideas we've gotten on this trip. Believe it or not, it's getting chilly, so I am signing off for tonight.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-07
From: Little Bigelow Lean To

To: Harrison Camp
Miles today: 18.3

We seem to have broken through the big mountains (at least for the moment). Today was a cruise over rolling hills. We walked through dense forest and near perfect Maine ponds. While the scenery was not spectacular, it was very beautiful in its own way. This is the way that I had imagined Maine to be. Lots of moss, mushrooms and trees. We decided to treat ourselves to a stay at Harrisons Sporting Camp. This is a beautiful 1930's vintage camp that caters to fly fisherman and hunters as well as hikers during the summer. When we arrived, no one was around so we sat down on the back porch, put our feet up and wrote a few emails. The hummingbirds were all around their feeders. A couple of hours later, the owner Tim arrived and showed us around. We are so glad that we decided to stay. Harrisons is known to hikers for their breakfast: 12 pancakes, 2 eggs and 3 sausages for only $8. They are .3 miles from the Pierce Pond Lean To. We were staying in one of the cabins, so our breakfast was included. The camp has a large dining room, a wonderful old kitchen, and a living room. Deer heads and all kinds of old memorabilia are all over the lodge. There are lots of windows and the lodge overlooks the creek and a large waterfall. They don't offer supper, but Tim allowed us to use his kitchen to cook our trail food. Shortly after that it was off to bed for us. Right now we are feeling really great about the last 3 weeks of hiking. We have covered almost 300 of the toughest miles on the trail through the Whites, the Mahoosuc's and the Bigelow range. We are only 3.5 miles from Caratunk which was our best case scenario for where to get off for Outdoor Retailer Trade Show. We wanted to get as far as possible before we left for the trade show to leave less mileage for after. Also we knew if we could get past the Bigelows that the hiking, while not exactly easy would be much easier to handle after our show. We have 151 miles left to Katahdin and plan on taking 9-10 days to do it. We will also be meeting up with our Trail Fam - Tinkerbell and Hindsfeet to finish together. This will be a big lift as well.   So - that's where we stand. Tomorrow we re-enter society for a few days and we are really looking forward to it.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-08
From: Harrison Camp

To: Caratunk ME
Miles today: 3.8

Today was the day we've been looking forward to for weeks. Back in New York we spent time planning where we thought we could reach before getting off for our Outdoor Retailer show. We thought it would be between Andover and Caratunk. I am really proud of us. We have worked very, very hard the last 6 or 8 weeks to reach Caratunk. The trail through the Whites and Southern Maine was even harder than we expected. There were some hard moments. I remember times like: Hiking through Mt Wolf and N and S Kinsman through the pouring rain our first day in the Whites that took us to the end of our strength. The night in Rangely when we had to make a decision on whether to keep pushing for Caratunk or slow down and accept Stratton - we were really beat up from a 23 mile epic through the flooding rains (our 3rd day in a row in the rain). The day through Mahoosuc Notch and Arm that took us 12 hours to cover 14 miles. But there were high moments as well:Our anniversary day sitting on West and Avery peaks in the beautiful sunshine. Being able to hang out with Tink, Hindsfeet and other hikers after catching up to them at Zealand Falls hut. Talking to a group of 40 at Madison hut about our thru hiking experiences. Walking over Mt. Madison with the mist racing over the peaks and ridges.Through all of it we just kept our goal in front of us, stayed positive and kept choppin' wood. The last 300 miles or so Coyotebec and I have hiked without our trail fam of Tink and Hinds. We miss them a lot, but in a way it has been pretty special to go through the most challenging part of the trail with just Coyotebec. This whole lead in brings us to today: We woke and had our Lumberjack breakfast at Harrisons: 12 pancakes, 2 eggs and 2 sausages. I had to help Coyotebec out to finish, but we cleaned our plates like good thru hikers. We enjoyed eating with Swiss Miss, Boogeyman and Snapper. After that it was a quick 3-4 miles down to the Kennebec river. This river is too wide and deep to ford, so the ATC provides a canoe ferry across. It was fun to paddle for a few minutes. We then headed down to Rivers and Trails where we had a shuttle set up to take us to Waterville. Here we rode the bus to Portland. In Portland, we were picked up by Paul Weiss who we had met in the Whites. They took us into their home, fed us a great meal, slept in a nice bed and took us to Portland in the morning for our flight. Generosity like this is a big part of the magic that is hiking the AT. Thanks Paul and Lucia!Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-09
From: Caratunk ME

To: Salt Lake City UT
Miles today: 0.0

Today was our first zero since Hanover. Wow what a push. Paul brought us to "Old Port" early in the morning. We spent the morning walking around and looking at shops and being tourists. After lunch we caught a taxi to the airport. Around 10:30pm we were in Salt Lake City. It was fun to meet up with Dave (our shop manager) and talk about the trip, the store and the upcoming trade show. We were exhausted, so it was off to bed for us. Gumby & Coyotebec