morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-08-30
From: stealth campsite

To: Saco river stealth site
Miles today: 13.2

Got up feeling quite motivated this morning and headed out early- have been enjoying being out in the early mornings and into camp a little earlier lately. Ended up walking on my own this morning to Zealand Falls hut. Was a nice walk, slightly rocky at time, but not too bad. This is the white mountains after all- it's what I'd expect! Had a very nice lunch at the hut with Joe, LJ and the croo who seemed super nice. Now, the afternoon walk was not what I had been expecting at all! It was (dare I say it?) pretty FLAT for a few miles after the hut. What a relief to my feet and legs! Was in such a great mood stopped and chatted to all the other hikers going by. LJ and I also took a side trail down to Thoreau falls which was well worth it. We even took the side trail over to have a look at the ethan pond campsite just for the fun of it. Of course I slipped off the boards into a pit of mud, but at least it made for a soft landing! Was pretty funny but LJ was ahead so missed the whole thing. On the way back there was a slight mud angel print though.Got down to the parking lot before 302 and were greeted with some trail magic- a cooler and some lawn chairs set up from a former through hiker (can't read my own handwriting for his name- something like Rock Doner?). We had a drink and then he drove us into town for some resupply and told us of a great stealth spot. So I took orders, went into town and got what I was really looking for (beer and cake for Serenitina's birthday!) and we had an excellent campsite right on the river. Loads of hikers came to join us - Peru, Radar, One Life, Red Stick, Joe, Woodwrangler and a handful of others. Red Stick was playing the eukalayle, we were all singing songs and having a couple beers at the campfire by the river... quite an idyllic night really
Date: 2010-08-31
From: Saco river stealth site

To: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, keeping with my latest trend, up and out early once again. Red Stick had to stay behind today to sort out some shoe troubles but was going to try to catch up. There was a lot of climbing this morning but I quite enjoyed it, and guess who I ran into...? Tattooo! Was great to see him again.. don't think I'd seen him since Pennsylvania. Was pretty misty and cloudy on the morning mountaintops but I had a great time just hiking and chatting away with Tatoo. Actually came across a ton of hikers today and everyone seemed to be shooting for the Lake of the Clouds Hut was hoping they would take a good number of thruhikers. Had lunch at Mizpah hut with more of that delicious soup and then some cake that just looked too good to pass up! Walked with LJ in the afternoon and I think it might have been on of my favorite walks so far on the trail. The weather was overcast, but clear views, and the scenery was just spectacular. It felt like something out of the Lord of the Rings that we were walking through. And as hikers, we've said lots of times- 'why must the AT take us over EVERY hill?'. But then today there were a couple presidential peaks the AT actually curved around and skipped... and truth be told, me and LJ were slightly disappointed. But we got over it quick and were glad to arrive into the Lake of the Clouds hut early.I was slightly nervous about the huts since the croo at the last place were slightly disgruntled towards us, but no need to worry- the lake of the clouds croo were wicked nice! Spend a great evening taking a dip in the lake (had to be done- how often do you swim in bodies of water over 5,000 ft?), reading my book and hanging around with the loads of company we had at the hut. It was a very laid back and friendly atmosphere!
Date: 2010-09-01
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Osgood Tentsite
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: fog

Oh dear, what a difference a day can make! Started off great, did my chores and then headed up Mt. Washington which was exciting (socked in by clouds, but still exciting). It was a bit of a zoo up there but we went indoors and had a cup of coffee, checked out the cog railway train and moseyed along down the trail.Really enjoyed the first part of the day but something went very wrong the second half and I was quite a grumpy hiker.. probably one of my toughest days mentally. It was beautiful for a while, and the sun was out- but then the sun was too hot, and I was burning and running out of water (how is it possible to be that hot at that elevation!). And the views were amazing, but they went on and on and the trail turned into a never ending field of bolder rocks. I'm sure I sounds really ungrateful- it was just one of those days! I also fell down at one point off some rocks, busted one of my knees and mangled my trekking poles.So by the time I got to Madison Hut I'd pretty much had it but we had planned to go on a few more miles. So I drank a bunch of water and then hobbled on. LJ was very good and stayed with me the whole time as I dragged along at a snails pace feeling a little miserable (the rocks did not get any better after the hut). Every cloud has a silver lining though- when we finally rolled into camp (after dark) we were lucky to get the last remaining tent platform. And right next to our platform was a massive momma and baby moose! At first I was a little nervous the mother would get pissed off and charge because we were only 2 feet away (literally) but then Jurassic tried to pet the moose so I felt a bit stupid for worrying! They could have cared less that we were there and just carried on eating even as we drifted off to sleep.BTW- it's amazing the way moose eat. They bite down on a branch near the trunk of a tree and then just slide their mouths along it taking all the leaves with them as they go!
Date: 2010-09-02
From: Osgood Tentsite

To: stealth campsite
Miles today: 10.4

Was feeling better this morning, but my knees were still in pretty bad shape. Serenitina knew I had a tough day the day before and she made me a hot cocoa in the morning which was a nice treat to wake up to as opposed to the usual tea! Morning walk was actually great, the trail followed along an old road for a few miles into Pinkham Notch. Weather was unseasonably hot again (in the 90s and sunny), but the path was nice and shaded so it was a very pleasant morning walk.In Pinkham notch, had a nice shower and hot lunch but unfortunatly no resupply (for some reason my book listed short term resupply there but there was really nothing aside from a couple candy bars geared towards day hikers). Me, Serenitina and LJ checked our food and decided we had enough to get us to Gorham at the next road. So off we went to climb Wildcat.Wow, it ended up being a tough climb up wildcat and grumpy lobster made a brief return- didn't last too long thankfully though. Not sure if it was the heat, afternoon direct sunlight or the ups & downs on about 5 different peaks on the mountain so we never really knew how far we had actually gone- but this was a very mentally challenging climb! We finally made it up to where the gondola climbs the mountain and the lovely man operating it gave me some more water which made me feel a million times better! The rest of the day wasn't too bad, and I didn't think the climb down wildcat was nearly as bad as the climb up it (feel as if id been warned about the climb down before...). Me, Serenitina and LJ set up in a stealth site about a half a mile away from the hut. Some weekenders rolled in later and set up camp next to ours. We were already our tents (in true thruhiker fashion probably by about 8) and I just fell to sleep listening to them all trying to figure out their new REI gear, discuss its benefits and attempt to hang a perfect bear bag! Was pretty entertaining! A hiker lullaby...
Date: 2010-09-03
From: stealth campsite

To: Rattle River Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up this morning to a slightly different sound- a million flies buzzing around (yup, the second it gets warm again bugs seem to make a big comeback). Was good motivation to get up, get packed and head on down to the hut for some water (this no filtering thing at these huts is fantastic!) and to have breakfast.After breakfast, was a steep climb up Carter Dome (expected that though as hiked it last year with my brother). Day was actually quite nice though- very humid but the rain held off and I felt better than I had the last couple days. Okay, I felt better but my body is still pretty worn out and ready for a rest when we get to Gorham- these white mountains are tough.. but then I knew that they were going to be (we've been hearing about them since springer). Even, dropped my pack and took the .1 mile side trail up mt. moriah which was gorgeous! Love climbing around without my pack as well.After mt. moriah saw LJ and walked with him for a while. He was also having a very tough day and sounded like he was ready for a break as well. Walk wasn't too bad to get to the shelter (saw some toads and grouse) but was still very happy to arrive, set up my tent, have a bit of food and turn in for the night.
Date: 2010-09-04
From: Rattle River Shelter

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: fog

Woke up this morning excited for the short day, and an evening with some of the comforts of town with Serenitina and LJ! It had rained overnight so did my usual 'thunderstorm method' of packing up (try and pack everything possible and pack the tent really quickly last to try and minimize everything getting soaked). So after I'd packed up (dang squirrel chewed a whole through my food bag on the bear rope AGAIN- d'oh!) and was heading towards the shelter to make breakfast, I surveyed my surroundings and notice something looked out of place here..LJ was already up and at the shelter.. but he was walking around in his underwear which wasn't his typical morning routine. then i noticed all his clothes were being hung in an attempt to dry. i went over to see what was going on and he pointed to where his tent was- now in the middle of a pond that hadnt been there the day before! i guess he had woke up during the night floating in water- never a good sign! i felt really bad but couldnt help busting out laughing at the situation! not only was he just in a new pond/river thing but it was a well developed river complete with waterfalls and all that had just sprung up overnight! haha. At least it was a town day so he'd be able to get it all dry and get a hot shower. Was a wonderful, easy 2 miles out to the road where we ran into a lovely couple from TN who offered us a lift to town.Ended up staying at the white birch campground hostel which was just wonderful! they had a reasonable hiker hostel upstairs, little shop downstairs, on-sight laundry and a very nice warm shower! Got a shuttle to walmart for resupply and spent the day taking care of hiker chores and getting some well-deserved relaxation after the whites (and pizza!). Lucky it turned out to be a saturday and the campground was having a movie night on so me and LJ went over and saw the show. 'RV' was playing, and even if its not exactly a classic still enjoyed the whole cinema-esque experience. They even served popcorn so how can you go wrong with that?!
Date: 2010-09-05
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Campsite
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: broken clouds

After a great town stay and night of watching movies (after RV, me and LJ watched part of 'The Patriot' with Gouda- damn those red coats! ), the morning was slightly hectic trying to throw everything together. We quickly tried to organize our clean-ish gear, pack our resupply for the next few days and attempted to polish off the left over town food that we had bought at the store for our breakfast (ever hear of the expression your eyes are bigger than your stomach? NEVER go grocery shopping hungry!). Had a lovely coffee from the shop and then got a lift back to the trail from Bruce.Was a really nice walk today and the weather was cool so very pleasant to hike in. It rained off and on pretty much all day, but nothing to really write home about. Was a nice shelter tonight (with a fantastic view I might add!) but I decided to tent it anyways. Still went and had my dinner and hung out at the shelter for a while though. Couscous and Little Foot took turns playing the guitar which was a nice relaxing way to wind down the day. Also ran into the Canadian Geese here- first time I've seen them since just before Damascas!Cross our final state line tomorrow.... Maine is so close I can smell it!!
Date: 2010-09-06
From: Gentian Pond Campsite

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: few clouds

Could hear the raindrops overnight in my tent, but I stayed nice and toasty in my sleeping bag (have I mentioned how much I love my sleeping bag? once or twice? ..okay). Had a good breakfast, then hiked up Mt. Success and felt like a real hero! Was a good climb up, but going down was a bit tricky having to climb down some massive (wet) bolders. At one point, I got my backpack wedged between two rocks and was left with my legs dangling like a rag doll. Luckily I wasn't alone and someone was more than happy to give me and my pack a boot out of the tough spot!Crossed our final border into Maine this afternoon and had a nice little lunch with a bunch of other hikers hanging out at the crossing. (Katahdin, here we come!! er... well maybe in a few weeks). Stopped for water at the carlo col shelter (note to future hikers- don't do this! was supposedly .3 off the trail but seemed to go on for ages down a LOT of rocks. oh well, how these things go I suppose!). Terrain was a bit challenging after lunch, but popped in my music and really enjoyed the afternoon with some nice views on both Goose Eye Mtn east and north peak. There was even an exciting part of the day where we had to cling to a ledge and shimmy over to a ladder in order to get up the rock face- exciting! Everyone at the shelter tonight was pretty worn out and we've got the notorious Mahoosuc Notch tomorrow so off to bed to get some rest!
Date: 2010-09-07
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Shelter & Campsite
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: clear sky

Very tired and my body is sore so I'll made this quick. Mentally (and physically) I'm pretty disappointed at the moment because it took all my energy (and all day) to go just 5 miles!! I know this is silly because I expected it to be a hard day, but it's still a little hard to comprehend.The first 1.5 hours of the notch were really fun- like a giant puzzle trying to work around all those massive boulders! Serenitina, LJ and I had some pretty great teamwork going on too- have to pass our packs ahead of us to fit out the little rock/cave holes and giving helpful pushes (for those vertically challenged..) over boulders. It was also pretty incredible when we ran into Scat Tracker, Unicroc and Dune helping Bulldog (a blind hiker) and Hitchcock (his cameraman) through the notch. The last 1.5 hours of the notch got a little frustrating (the whole thing is 1 mile mind you), and then it was straight up the arm where I fell multiple times on the wet rocks. One time badly. I fell about 5 or 6 feet off a rock backwards, landed on my backpack and slid downhill head-first until the pack wedged between a couple rocks and stopped me. It was a miracle that I wasn't hurt at all really, just a little shell shocked! Serenitina was just behind me and started shouting for me not to move. I unhooked myself from my pack and was able to get up just fine- that backpack saved my life for sure! Always knew I liked Osprey..Anyways, me, Serenitina and LJ had a stop at the top of the arm and just laid on the rocks for a little bit to relax (exhaustion?) which was nice knowing the day was nearly over. The campsite was shortly after, and it was a slight kick in the teeth we had to pay to camp there. But anyways, day could have been a lot worse. My motivation is just a little down right now so hoping I'll feel better in the morning.
Date: 2010-09-08
From: Speck Pond Shelter & Campsite

To: Frye Notch Lean-to
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

In the middle of the night, was woken from some rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightening but no rain yet. So I made the (odd) decision to move all my stuff in the middle of the night from my tent into the shelter because I knew it was mostly empty and just didn't feel like dealing with wet gear in the morning. Was a strange move, even I think, but I must have been half asleep- that's my excuse anyways!Anyways, the terrain was a bit better today (a welcome relief!) but many of the rocks were pretty slick from the rain. My head wasn't really in the hiker this morning, and motivation was still pretty low. It was a nice pick-me-up when we got to the road and saw Dr. Rock and Kit Kat who offered me a soda! One Life was there as well, and had camped on the ridge last night and was saying how crazy the storm had been. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea that I moved into the shelter!I picked up a bit in the afternoon and me and LJ were on a mission climbing up the hill to the shelter. It just kept going up, up and up. Eventually, we realized it was taking us a really long time to get to the shelter (not this again!)- could we have missed it? But hikers ask themselves this question nearly every day and it never actually happens. Well then we started losing elevation and then another steep climb up and realized we must have been on baldplate mountain- in which case we actually HAD missed the shelter! This was a welcome relief and serious morale booster because we were actually further along than we thought and only had a couple miles to the next shelter- happy days! Rain managed to hold off til we got to the shelter and had a good night hanging out with Serenitina, LJ, the Canadian Geese, One Life, Scat Tracker and Unicroc.
Date: 2010-09-09
From: Frye Notch Lean-to

To: Andover, ME
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Rainy morning, but wasn't too bad. The walk was actually for nice and for the first time in a while, felt like I was actually hiking again as opposed to just spending all day attempting to not fall or twist an ankle on slippery rocks and roots. The weather was a little bizarre- it would cloud up and look like thunderstorms were coming, and then the sun would come out for 5 minutes and it would seem like a nice day and then back again- I hear that's just Maine for you though! Just before we came to a road, there was a fantastic falls and swimming hole right along the trail at Dunn Notch! And it happened to be during one of the sunny periods so LJ jumped in. I was about to but then the clouds came back so just rinsed off a bit instead. Little cold, but would be a great spot to come back to during the summer.We got to the road and met a bunch of hiker friends headed to Andover for the night. Serenitina, LJ and I were planning to keep going and head into Andover tomorrow night (there are two roads leading to Andover 10 miles apart) but Serentina thought the clouds were looking a little threatening so we decided- what the heck, we might as well head into town tonight. As she always says 'The best plan, is a flexible plan'. So it actually turned out to be pretty great town stay- resupply was very expensive but the hostel was wonderful. We stayed with David and Ilene at the Pine Ellis Lodging which is a fantastic spot- definitely somewhere I will head back to in the future. The 'bunk room' was actually a room with 5 real beds (sheets and all!)! Just me, One Life, Serenitina and LJ in here tonight. All showered, cleaned and listening to David play the native flute out on the porch while the rain dumped down. Definitely the right choice for the night!
Date: 2010-09-10
From: Andover, ME

To: South Arm Road stealth campsite
Miles today: 10.1

Great sleep in a real bed last night (still cracked the window a bit cos I love that feeling of fresh air on my face while I sleep)! Was up around 6ish, feasted on a breakfast of leftover pizza and a muffin. David made coffee for everyone and we were off to the trail at 8!Nice 6 miles in the morning with a slight drizzle that I kind of enjoyed walking in. A bunch of us stopped in at the shelter for lunch, but for the first time in a while we got COLD staying still so started moseying along again once I got chilled. Took my time in the afternoon going over Moody Mtn, listened to a little music, sang and enjoyed the steep trail reroute (due to a mudslide).We got a great tip on a steal campsite nearish the road from David (the next shelter was nearly 20 miles away- no thank you! Maine miles are very different from Virginia miles!). I probably rolled into camp last (still early though- around 3) after taking my time and enjoying the day. LJ already had a good fire going and had gotten spring water for everyone (filtering water has become a bit of a chore so really was a treat!) and we had a sort of mini stealth village set up right by a river. Camped here tonight with AD, Eureka, Duffy, One Life, LJ and Serenitina. AD treated us all to guitar music as we sat by the fire, and I'm not sure how to describe it but was just a wonderful night. One of my favorites on the trail so far. As I said to everyone around the fire, when I imagined what my thru hike would be like (pre-hike), this is exactly how I pictured it. It's nights like this where I feel like I could live this life forever. And to top it all off, David surprised us all by turning up and bring us a couple beers!
Date: 2010-09-11
From: South Arm Road stealth campsite

To: Bemis Stream stealth campsite
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to great weather this morning- and the day started off good with a climb up Old Blue Mountain. Even though the trail in the afternoon was pretty flat, it was littered with roots and mud and was a very slow going walk. Towards the end of the day, I started to feel pretty ill. Something was definitely wrong with my stomach and felt like I was starting to get a bit of a fever. Not feeling great combined with the difficult terrain made for a slightly miserable lobster (again- really I'm not usually this miserable people- Maine is just kicking my butt!).Got into camp after a tough walk down- and we had a really great stealth site set up with LJ, Serenitina and Eureka. LJ had a fire going but I couldn't really enjoy it like usual. Just ate my food and then was straight into my tent hoping that I will feel better in the morning with a good night's sleep.