morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-01-21
To: 100 Mile Wilderness Schedule
Miles today: 0.0

Ok folks, as promised here is our initial plan for getting through the wilderness. It is only a rough plan and will most likely change as we hike.June 8th - First night at Baxter.June 9th - Climb Katahdin / stay at BaxterEnter the Wilderness: 8 nights / 9 days of food expected.Hurd Brook - 13 mi.Rainbow Spring - 11.5 miNahmankanta St. Campsite - 14 miAntlers or Coopers Brook Falls - 8 / 15 miLogan Brook - 11.7 miHermitage - 12.4 miCloud Pond - 11.6 miWilson Valley 8.7 miHopefully we'll be able to take a break and rest overnight at Shaw's once we hit Monson. The milage is from the 2004 Databook. We'll see how we feel as we go - our total distances per day may increase or decrease. I tried to make it so that we can have reasonable days and some shorter rest days.That's all for now - thanks for the guestbook entries ya'll! -Dave
Date: 2004-02-04
To: Digi Camera Madness!
Miles today: 0.0

Howdy,   Yesterday I finally broke down and purchased a digital camera from the camera shop in town. I'm soo excited! Been wanting one of those for a long time now. I'm planning on bringing it on the trail now instead of my olympus 35mm. The Olympus is a great little camera, but the advantages of digital storage over such a long hike seem making the switch worthwhile. It's also nice to be able to send pictures back home to Florida instantly. I ended up getting a Sony DSC-P72 3.2 Mega Pixel. The sleek body, handling, and use of readily available AA batteries helped me decide on this particular model. So far I've taken about a dozen pictures and have been very happy with them so far. When I got it I also picked up a 1yr Ritz camera warranty plan. With this plan, if the camera fails for any reason the shop will replace or repair it on site. No need to deal with the manufacturer.   In other news, the hike planning is coming along - it looks like we'll have four or five food drops along our entire hike. Not too bad - checking out the re-supply options along the way, it looks like there's a handful of places where Post Offices are really close by and any kind of grocery / market aren't!   In the gear world - Jill and I got our new sleeping bags in the mail this past week. TNF Blaze 20 deg. on sale from Campmor. Mine already smells and looks a helluva lot better then my old TNF bag. It even has loft! lol - my old bag was lookin' kind of sad... {Jill's translation : Dave's OLD bag smells and he's happy to have a new one that's nice looking, non-smelly, and has loft - }   Ta-Ta for now - Dave
Date: 2004-02-05
To: Feeling things coming together?
Miles today: 0.0

Hey everybody,    I know it has been a while since you heard from me but Dave's got more free time on his hands    I'm starting to feel really good about my gear situation. I'm pleased with the individual weights and quality of the things that I will be carrying with me. It actually looks like the only big item left for me to buy is shoes. Those will have to wait until they come back into season. I know I will need to try on about a million pairs before deciding on any. It seems like a bunch of the girls who are hiking this year have peculiar feet ( I read someone's post on whiteblaze that has size 12EEE! - and I thought I had it rough)   My mom found a pair of trekking poles for around $30 that she's ordering for me - gotta love mom's they're the best. She found them in one of my dad's hunting gear catalogs- www.sportsmansguide.com is the website. SO, combine a pair of poles on the way and my new cozy sleeping bag - I've got most of my gear. I will still need to buy some clothes but I am hoping to find a bunch of that stuff on sale.    I have to say that I am getting nervous about starting our hike though. David told me some story about a guy who was climbing Katahdin and fell backward and got really hurt. Now I guess this guy had a physical handicap but it still is a little disconcerting to think that the first thing I'm gonna do is try to climb a mountain. It's exciting, but scary.   We'll see.    I was talking to one of the TA's for my ecology class about hiking and she asked if I was going to start bringing my pack to the gym and using the stairclimbers with it on. I know that some of you may have done this but I really think that I would either get asked to leave or simply be laughed out of the building. I really don't see me doing that any time soon - if I do though - I promise to make someone take a picture.    In news on the food front - I know we've probably already talked about the wonders that are Vigo rices but recently I've found that I can't get the rice to cook all the way - and that's on a conventional stove. I have a feeling that using the alcohol stove (meaning - no simmering) will translate into David and Jill eating a bunch of crunchy rice. mmmm so tasty.   I guess I will have to resign myself to knowing that by the time I've hiked all day I will be hungry enough to just eat the rice straight out of the bag - let's hope it doesn't resort to that.   Ok, well I need to go to class - we're having a guest lecturer on invasive species (which means one of the other professors here is going to talk to us about the zebra mussels in the Great Lakes - still interesting nonetheless)   More to come - and thanks for all the guest book signings!            -Jill
Date: 2004-02-22
To: Something Something
Miles today: 0.0

God hasn't forgotten Northern Lower Michigan. Yesterday on my day off I borrowed a pair of snowshoes and headed out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore. All it took was a short hike in the woods by myself to renew my spirit. A very much needed little excursion - I equate it to recharging my batteries. Too long with out a trip to the woods and I'm spent. The woods were amazing along the Empire Bluffs trail. I'd hiked the trail back in September in shorts but it was a little bit chillier this time around. A fairly warm day for up here though - 30s. I've figured out my yardstick for determining whether or not it's cold outside. Ice in your nose. That's it. If I'm outside for less then five minutes and my nostrels are frosted....it's cold. Otherwise there's no excuse for complaining.    The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was in all the papers up here a few months ago because of a string of Cougar sightings by hikers. Signs were posted at all the trailheads and folks got kinda jittery. I like it. I like the idea of going into the woods knowing that there are other animals out there that can eat me. It just feels right knowing that I'm not the only predator around. Plus...I'd really like to see one. I had Ranger friends out at Philmont who were followed for a short while by these big cats while hiking alone back to basecamp.   A pretty scarey experiece...somehow you end up much more freaked out then a bear sighting.   The Hike.   Preparations are coming along well - last week I posted the maildrop schedule on this site. I'm sure that schedule will change as we move along down the trail, but for now, that's the best I could put together. Using the DataBook, Weather Carrots resupply writeup and Baltimore Jack's resupply writeup I figured how many days of food we'll need to pick up and how often we'll need to do so from Maine to Georgia. I think it'll work out. I'll prolly tweak it a little from now and then though...still need to look at how we'll get our maps. Going through the DataBook was exciting at times. Going through page by page and getting closer and closer to home gave me butterflies at times. I can't imagine what it's going to feel like to actually cross the Georgia line. I get the feeling that I'll just want to start running to Springer.    As far as gear...I feel pretty comfortable. I'd like to get a new fleece...the one I've got now is kinda getting thin and is several years old. Maybe EMS will have a sale in the Spring.    Lately I've been reading journals of folks who've already starting hiking. How exciting is that? Wow. Folks are already on they're way... It was sad to see that Barkeater had to leave the trail and scarey that Peanut was soo close to going home. ^Best Wishes to everyone starting this Spring!^   That's all for now - Dave
Date: 2004-05-04
To: Bet ya gave up on us!!
Miles today: 0.0

Well folks - we're still here. It's been just about forever since there was a new post in the journal....so here goes...1) We are still hiking. Thanks soo much to everyone who has signed our guestbook. It really is encouraging to know that folks are looking forward to following our hike. We've been trying to keep up with several hikers who started NOBO hikes back in March / April via their trail journals. Specifically, "Pickle and Peanut" who are still hiking strong and seem to be having a wonderful trip. We also followed "Grace" in her attempt at a NOBO hike. Her journal and attitude created quite the stir in the Trail Journal's community. Regardless of personal issues, it was sad to hear her leave the trail.2)Jill and I are getting some of our last pieces of gear together. I'll try to get some new pics up on the gear list soon. I finally broke down and came to the realization the my old, favorite pair of Lowas weren't going to make it very far down the trail. So you can now count myself, and soon to be Jill, among the ranks of "NB 806 AT" wearers. So far I've been pleased and surprised at the comfort and stability of these shoes. Hopefully that will continue as the miles increase.3) Planning. I ordered a copy of WingFoot's book, the Thru Hikers Handbook, and put together a fairly decent itenerary for our hike. I'm sure it will change, but it gives us something to hand out to family and friends to give us all a visual idea of where we'll be on the trail.It's getting close! Between now and June 8th though, we've both got SOO much to do. Looking forward to hiking though. -dave
Date: 2004-05-10
To: Prep Hike
Miles today: 0.0

This past weekend I went on a short backpacking trip with one of the science classes here at school. It was soo great to get away and spend some quality time in the woods again. In addition to getting away, this trip offered the chance to try out some of my new gear. It's been somewhat frustrating not being able to get away on weekends to test some of my new equipment but that's just the nature of my position up here. Anyhow, the trip was great! We left Thursday morning from Leland, MI on a ROUGH 12 mi boat ride out to North Manitou Island. The island is managed by the National Park Service and only opened for campers the day before we arrived. In fact, the boat captain said we were his first crew of the season. The island provided some fairly easy hiking - but rewarded us with great vistas of Lake Michigan. We had partial days of rain and some chilly nights. Gear: The NB 806's were great...I'm guessing we did around 20 mi of hiking including some XC exploring. No blisters and no shin splints. Works for me. The rain jacket I got for Valentine's Day worked flawlessly. My little alcohol stove was great - even used it one night to cook some tortilla pizzas. The old Clip Flashlight worked - "OK". I carried it "fast-pack" style (fly and groundtarp - sans tent body). It kept myself and my tentmate dry - but was just kinda small for the two of us after spending a night and a morning in it hiding from rainshowers. I'm starting to look at some bigger tents with a bit of envy. Anybody know anything about the REI Halfdome Plus? Looks like it's still fairly lite - but would provide two doors and two vestibules and a bit more elbow room. That's in the works for now... Overall a great trip! We're down to 29 days until we leave!! I can't wait. -dave
Date: 2004-05-31
To: WHOA it's close
Miles today: 0.0

Holy Cow....one week to go....Neither Jill nor I can really imagine that we're actually doing this and that in one week we'll be in Maine.Phew...well folks we're still gonna give this thing a shot. Both of us survived our trips back to Tallahassee - my jeep suffered some pretty nasty transmission trouble but 'she' made it back in two days. We're still getting some food and gear stuff finalized this week.This is crazy and I'm excited. -dave
Date: 2004-06-06
To: LEAVING
Miles today: 0.0

We leave tomorrow morning! Our bags are packed and ready to go. Including food, both of them are under forty pounds. Even I'm impressed. I hope we don't go too hungry...we'll just have to go for it and see. Our maildrops are ready in a pile in my room - 8 boxes plus the one we've already mailed to Monson.Here's hoping for safe flights and friendly weather up on Big K.We saw that Tasha Marie is starting tomorrow - good luck girl - hope we run into you in the Wilderness. Best wishes.I tell ya what. I'm pretty nervous about all this. I think this is the first time that Jill has been more calm then I have. I'm pretty worked up over everything - it'll be fine once we are on the trail. But it's a lot to digest.That's all for now. Looks like highs in the 60s tomorrow with a PM chance of rain up in Maine. Time to get some sleep - I have to be up at 5:30 to get to the airport.This is my last prep. entry. Holy Cow. See ya'll in the funny papers.-dave
Date: 2004-06-07
From: Tallahassee

To: AT Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Today was a big travel day. We flew in from Tallahassee, thru Atlanta, Boston and finally to Bangor. After finding out that the bus station is _not_ across the street from the airport (more like two street lights and around the corner) we took a bus to Medway. From Medway we took a taxi into Millenocket to the AT Inn. Don the owner found us there and showed us around and set us up in our room. There were two others there, Tasha and Lev. They had arrived the day before but hadn't climbed Katahdin yet because of possible rain. The next morning Don got us some fuel and the four hikers took a packed taxi ride into Baxter. On the way we saw three moose - Dave spotted the first two.
Date: 2004-06-08
From: Katahdin Stream

To: Top of Katahdin (and back down)
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The big day. D-day or K-day. Something huge. We got to Baxter around 8:30am. We registered at the ranger station, switched from full pack down to some funky (smell not the music) daypacks and headed up the Hunt Trail. Lev, Tasha and we signed in together at the trailhead but soon Tasha and Lev left us in the dust. They're quick! We took our time and plenty of rest breaks - Jill's a newbie! We met some people along the way and got our first bit of trail magic. About three seconds after Jill mentioned she wanted a walking stick (the poles were back at the ranger station) Dave picked up a perfect hiking pole - straight from the bushes. The weather was hot and fairly humid for being so far north. We finally made it to the top as a round of poor weather rolled across the peak. It was super windy, drizzling and we were the last ones. We took really quick snapshots of each other and headed back. We wanted out of that weather and off that mountain! We stopped for lunch hunkered next to a rock for wind protection on the tablelands and then headed down the huge rock scramble. The whole experience was more than expected and by the time we got to the trailhead we were both fairly dehydrated (despite having brought 2qts each) and exhausted. Total time: 11hrs. Definitely not normal. Anyways, we made ramen, crawled into the tent and sacked out. Katahdin accomplished. Oh, and it was pretty and cool and neat to be on top of a mountain - especially for the first time (for Jill).
Date: 2004-06-09
From: Katahdin Stream

To: Almost Abol Bridge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Started out a little late this morning. Couldn't seem to get moving and we're both still sore from yesterday. The weather was nice, we saw two moose in the ponds that we passed and ate lunch by the water. We tried to make it to Abol Bridge but just got too tired. Instead we found a nice little make-shift campsite and had a nice evening by the Penobscot. The black flies showed up. Turns out, Vicks Vapor Rub is the way to go. Gob some along your hairline, put it on your arms - you smell like camphor and don't get as many bites.
Date: 2004-06-10
From: Almost Abol Bridge

To: Hurd Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up this morning and Jill is sick. Coughing, couldn't sleep all night because she's all congested. No fun. She took some sudafed and we made our way to Abol Bridge Campground and Store. We stopped in for some postcards, calls home, caffeine for David (a coke and some coffee singles), some chocolate for Jill and some more fuel (HEET - it really works). Dave got through to his folks but Jill had to leave a message. We pressed on from there (got a nice view of Katahdin at the bridge) and made it to Hurd Brook. Welcome to the 100-mile Wilderness. The sign says WARNING. There were a ton of skeeters today and we dubbed them the AT motivators. We nearly ran with our packs the last 0.3 miles despite having Deet on. We met two people heading NOBO and spent the night at the lean-to with SOBOs Bert, Jay and Spencer. They're from Mississippi and Alabama. They're nice guys just graduated from college. They're also still trying to figure out some things so it's nice to know that not everyone on the trail is a hiking expert.
Date: 2004-06-11
From: Hurd Brook Lean-To

To: Hurd Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today we took our first zero. Jill is still sick and nearly had a break down as we went to leave the campsite. Not feeling good, days of hiking and total inexperience got to her so we took a day to recouperate. She ended up sleeping most of the day - hopefully that will speed the recovery process from her chest cold. We met another SOBO. His name is Clem and he's a recent high school graduate from Virginia. He's carrying a french horn! He practiced some at the Lean-To. It turned out that he and David were at Philmont at the same time 2 years ago. The skeeters are still bad.
Date: 2004-06-12
From: Hurd Brook Lean-To

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-To
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: overcast clouds

We actually made it out of Hurd Brook today. Jill's still not fully better and definitely is still dealing with the whole "trapped in the wilderness" issue as she calls it but we're moving. The weather was nice and the hike was scenic as we got to skirt around the edges of some beautiful lakes. The breeze kept the bugs down and we saw a ton of people on the trail. There were 7 people who passed us in one direction or another. They were all apparently out for the weekend though. So much for it being the wilderness. Had our first lunch of PB&J which helped Jill's spirits (mmmm PB&J she says). The lean-to is really pretty and is featured on the cover of this year's data book. We had the place to ourselves but slept in the tent due to bugs. We did wash out some clothes though. The smell has begun. "Nature Boy," a SOBO who is ahead of us somewhere left a present at the shelter in the form of porn. An unpleasant surprise. We signed the register, sat on the nice log furniture and went to bed.
Date: 2004-06-13
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-To

To: Wadleigh Lean-To
Miles today: 8.0

Swamp Yankees!This morning was a late start because Jill feels like there is a small person sitting on her chest - she's still pretty sick. We nearly took a zero but she toughed it out like a real champ and we made it to Wadleigh. Along the way we climbed up Nesuntabunt Mountain which was rough and steep. We saw more folks out for the weekend and a trail crew. We got to the lean-to and met two more SOBOS. They're two cool guys from Connecticut, known to most folks as Seth and Jeremy but on the trail they are Night Rain and 4 Winds respectively. David also got his trail name today. Along the hike he said, "Mmm, my moustache is salty." To which Jill replied, "We can call you Captain Salty 'Stache." (Dave likes pirates.) Night Rain and 4 Winds approved on such a trail name and so it stuck. The Cap'n is on the trail.
Date: 2004-06-14
From: Wadleigh Lean-To

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 8.0

This morning we decided to try out the White House Landing that we've heard so much about. All four of us decided to go and after getting out of camp by 8 we were at the air horn by 12:15. That's 8 miles! It was a fast hike but the bugs almost gave Jill a conniption. Once at the air horn Night Rain sounded it off for our pick-up and soon there came a motor boat containing Bill, Ben and Pooh (the dog). Bill owns White House with his wife Linda and their son Ben. We enjoyed lots of ICE water and ONE-pound hamburgers that Linda made for us.   The main lodge is beautiful and decorated with all kinds of cool things like a canoe that's older than our parents and moose antlers that Bill and Linda have found. Bill is full of great stories and Ben is a very entertaining 7 year old. We heard that it was going to rain so we opted to spend the night in the bunkhouse ($15 each). We enjoyed homemade pizzas for dinner, resupplied our food (we needed 3 more dinners and two more bfasts to make it out of the wilderness). Everything is reasonably priced especially when considering the 50-mile round trip it takes to go into town to get things. David got on the scale there and has already lost 8lbs. Jill hasn't lost a thing But she is more toned looking
Date: 2004-06-15
From: White House Landing

To: Cooper's Brook Falls Lean-To
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs, home fries (=potato wedges), bacon, english muffins, oj and coffee. MMMM. Bill made it for us and we hit the trail by 9:45 - a little late but breakfast was worth it. We made our way to Cooper's Brook but stopped at Jo-Mary lake for about an hour to soak sore feet and enjoy the sunshine, view and rest. There were some tiger swallowtail butterflies there getting salt/nutrients from the sand. Very pretty - postcard worthy. After a push to get the site before dark we went swimming by the falls. It was COLD. Reminded us of Wakulla Springs from back home. Night Rain and 4 Winds were there also with us and we all enjoyed getting some of the slime off. We also spent our first night in the lean-to because there weren't any bugs!
Date: 2004-06-16
From: Cooper's Brook Falls Lean-To

To: Logan Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: clear sky

We hiked uphill all day. Almost. It was really hard after pushing the day before. We ended up half-way up White Cap and talked most of the day about food. We realized that for the wilderness we hadn't planned any snacks. We've been hungry. We also saw 8 snakes and several toads (big ones). The snakes were not too big and since there are no venomous snakes in Maine it's really neat to see them up so close. One got mad and tried to strike at Jill's pole - he was feisty for being so small. We again slept in the lean-to with Night Rain and 4 Winds our resident Swamp Yankees. Jill went to sleep early - exhausted.
Date: 2004-06-17
From: Logan Brook Lean-To

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean-To
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: few clouds

We had a really good day today. Hiking up White Cap Mtn was actually "fun" as Jill said. We slept in late and headed on up. The views were awesome and our quads definitely got a work out with all of the uphills! There were several mountains so we were bushed by the time we got to the lean-to. There were ten people at the lean-to and tentsites. We slept with 6 people in the lean-to, a tight fit. We met a NOBO named Smiley who gave plenty of good advice on knee pain and hiking your own pace. There were also a couple guys, Paul and Mike, who are planning to do the entire AT southbound in 77 days. Crazy.