morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-08-29
From: Andover Guest House

To: Bemis mtn lean to
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

woke up around 7, went to a diner down the street for breakfast and had 3 huge pancakes, eggs,toast and coffee. I couldnt eat it all. Had trouble getting a hitch out of town. Really wish we wouldnt have come into town but its too late for that now. Didn't get back on the trail till 11. Raining hard all day long and we still managed to do almost 19 miles. Hiked with Dandylion and Whitewater most of the day. stopped at Hall mtn shelter for a break. pushed down some food and kept going. just doesnt seem like I can eat enough food. I am always hungry and tired. Rained the whole day so didnt have any views and didnt take any breaks. Had to climb up Moody mtn straight up and straight down. Very slippery, dandylion said he slipped and slid like 15 ft downhill. had to ford a creek at the bottom of the mtn. luckily we could rock hop it. took a break there before we had to climb Old Blue Mtn. another hard climb for the day. 2200 ft in 2.5 miles it wasnt too bad. very foggy and raining hard up there the wind was blowing very hard. Me and Dandylion had to night hike off of Bemis mtn to the shelter which really sucked cause it was so slippery. finally made it to the shelter around 9 and cooked and got to bed by 10.
Date: 2005-08-30
From: Bemis mtn lean to

To: Piazza Rock Leanto
Miles today: 19.5

Woke up to the pouring rain, didnt really have too much of a choice of whether to hike or not. Started hiking and felt really good today, boots soaked and pretty much full of water from walking in puddles the whole day. came across another stream we had to cross with no bridge. someone had put some pops in the middle of creek and baracaded them so they would not float downstream. sat there in the rain and ate a snickers and some cheese crackers and drank a sunkist. kept hiking and came upon some college kids out for 5 days of hiking. hiked up to sabbath day pond shelter. Tons of ponds here in maine, its so beautiful when we get a view on top of a mtn to look down and be able to count 20 lakes or ponds. here they call them ponds but in ohio we would call them lakes. took a nice dry break in the shelter. Caboose, bali shag, and bear had to get into town before 430 and they had 9 miles to do in like 4 hrs. they sped off, whitewater, dandylion, and I took our time and made it to the road around 5 where we saw the 3 of them sitting there and they had not gotten to the post office. they finally decided to hitch into town around 5:30 and I think they were going to go to the hostel in Rangley. Whitewater and I headed for the shelter. Dandylion was low on food and didnt know whether he should go into town or not. I gave him a dinner that he could cook tonight and he took it so he came to the shelter with us. At the shelter about 8 trying to dry our boots out, then Rabbit came up and told us that the Hurricane Katrina is going to hit us tommorrow and its not looking pretty. Then told us about New Orleans and Mississippi and that made me sad to think about all the people down there who dont have any food or water. I had gone to sleep around 10 and Rabbit I guess had carried out some Vodka from town where he precided to drink all he had. I woke up and he was asleep on the ground in front of the shelter. Whitewater woke him up and told him to get into the shelter. He was really drunk and couldnt figure out how to get into his sleeping bag. Was quite amuzing to watch. He fell asleep and then started talking to himself.
Date: 2005-08-31
From: Piazza Rock Leanto

To: Sugar shack
Miles today: 19.8

So we woke up and said hello to Katrina, it was pouring buckets. Didnt leave the shelter till around 9:30 and walking with dandylion in the pouring rain. climbed up saddleback mtn where the wind was blowing about 50 mph and the rain was hitting us in the side of the face which really hurt. Then up the saddleback horn then onto the saddleback junior. We was above treeline for about 3 miles which really sucked because the storm was so bad. My packcover that goes over my pack to try to keep it dry blew off only once. I was happy that I had tied it on before I left the shelter this morning. was walking through almost 2 ft of water in spots. no way possible to even think about keeping our feet dry today. Rabbit was going to take a zero in the shelter today and I kinda am glad that I didnt cause I actually had fun walking in the rain all day. got to the poplar ridge shelter and caught up with Whitewater. there was a Section hiker in the shelter taking a zero. Dont really see why people are taking zeros in shelters cause there feet are going to get wet the next day anyways. the trails here in maine have had so much erosion on them that they just turn into streams. Left the shelter and kept hiking with Whitewater now. dandylion decided that he was going to stay at that shelter and just make it a shorter day. Climbed up poplar mtn then down to orbeton stream where we had to ford it. we was hoping that it wasnt too high yet because of the water and it wasnt. it only went up to our thighs. wasnt really too hard. hiked up lone mtn then stopped in spaulding mtn shelter. there were 2 hikers there taking a zero in the shelter. We stopped in just to make sure the Warming hut ontop of sugarloaf mtn was still open. Headed .5 out of our way to the top of sugarloaf mtn and almost 800 ft uphill. got to where the treeline is and couldnt see hardly anything. its a really good thing whitewater had been there before cause we couldnt even see the huge building we was going to stay in. Got in there and changed into dry clothes and then called my parents and rachel. My mom was upset cause she had just gotten the package I had sent home with my coat in it and this whole time she thought I was staying warm with my coat and then she found out that I shipped it home. I let whitewater use my phone to make some calls.
Date: 2005-09-01
From: Sugar shack

To: carabassett river
Miles today: 2.2

What a horrible day!!!   Woke up to the wind shaking the windows and sounding like it was going to tear off the roof of the sugar shack. out by 7 started the 2000 ft descent to the river we didnt know we had to ford. saw the river while we was coming down the mountain but knew there was a road close by so figured we would just cross on a bridge. well we were wrong. got to the river and there were some major rapids. there were probably some class 3 or 4 rapids. you could definatly take a kayak down the river. we walked 1/2 mile upstream and downstream, we could not cross without risking our lives too much. I had some cell service and called a lady that works for the maine appalachian trail club and asked her what we should do. she told me that there was a bridge downstream 4 miles. It would take us 6 hrs to bushwack 4 miles. or she said we could go up sugarloaf mtn (where we had just come from) and walk down the ski slopes. so we decided that going back up was really our only option. so we ascended sugarlaof mtn once again, 2000 ft up and started walking 3000ft down to the ski lodge. Ski slopes are very steep. saw a college track team, heading towards the AT told them about the creek but they just kept on running. followed this horrible steep gravel driveway for awhile then decided to walk down the grass slopes. this ski resort is huge. this mtn is 4200 ft high and it is the second highest in maine. the ski slpes go all the way down to about 1200 ft, got to the bottom and got a hitch to a grocery store where we called don at the stratton motel (hostel) and asked if he would come get us. got a half gallon of chocolate milk while we waited for him to come. started driving to the hostel and saw a hiker by the side of the road. Don stopped to see if he needed a ride, he said no. there was a dead moose on the side of the road, all the maggots were leaving the carcus cause I guess they were finished with it. there were thousands of them crawling over the road, it was the sickest thing ive ever seen. Got to the hostel and took showers, did laundry, ate lunch, and resupplied. Bought a half gallon of ice cream and downed it in one sitting, about an hour. updated my journals. talked on the phone for about 2 hrs. watched a little tv with dandylion and whitewater. dandylion is thinking of taking a zero tommorrow. only walked 2.2 trail miles but actually walked about 9. cleared up this afternoon into a beautiful day. a lot better than yesterday when the hurricane katrina hit us.
Date: 2005-09-02
From: carabassett river

To: safford notch campsite
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

slept great in the nice comfy bed. whitewater and I went to the diner across the street at 7. I got a big waffle and a omelette. kind of expensive but it was good. finished getting my stuff ready. dandylion is taking a zero here. whitewater is going home, he misses his family and misses them a lot, think he has just had enough hiking for one year. he had hiked maine last year so he doesnt care about hiking it again. don is going to drop me off on caribou valley rd which is .2 past the carabassett river, where we stopped yesterday. said goodbye to whitewater and dandylion. hopfully when I get to the smokey mtns in TN, whitewater and nurse rachet can come visit. caribou valley rd is a old logging rd, it was very rough. had to hike up crocker mtns, there are two of them, down the hill to ME27 the road that goes into stratton, where we stayed last night. I hiked a lone all day long. didnt see and thru-hikers. just day and weekend hikers, being labor day weekend, a 3 day weekend, there were a lot of people out. Got almost all the way up the south horn, when I saw theo the biking guy we had met a couple days ago. talked with him for 20 mins. got down to the horns pond campsite and talked with a few sobo's about the trail ahead of me. hiked up west peak then down to avery campsite, there was no one there. hiked up avery peak, which was named for myron avery who was one of the main people who built the trail and also I believe he was the first person to hike the whole trail, not in one year but after a few years he did it. met a couple guys going south on top of avery. we exchanged cameras and snapped a few pics of each other. was pretty windy and cold up there. hiked like another 2 miles to the campsite. all alone no one else here. found another nalgene water bottle, that makes 3 so far. built a fire, ate taco rice with mashed potatoes, called my mom and dad, my brother jed's wife mindy had her baby today. a boy named Grant. So I have a new nephew. talked to rachel too. My niece julia had called and let me avoicemail about her new brother.
Date: 2005-09-03
From: safford notch campsite

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: few clouds

Hiked along the little bigelow mtn range where I could look up and see mtn avery covered in clouds. It was so beautiful and weird to think that I was just up there yesterday. From down here I get such a better view of the mtn, the shear rock cliffs on th east side of it really make it a beautiful mtn. Came down off the little bigelow mtn, to the little bigelow shelter. some nice waterfalls here. Met two section hikers, Two older ladies out for a few days. told me the next 17 miles are pretty flat, I knew they didnt look very hard from my maps. came up on flagstaff lake. met two guys section hiking. brian and Tom, Brian hiked the whole AT in 02. Talked with them for 20 mins. carried on and stopped at carry pond shelter. The trail is really easy here, just a few 400 ft climbs, stayed at the shelter for 1hr reading the register and eating. hiked onto pierce pond, some bad swamps on the way here. The maintainers put some boards through them but if the waters high the boards float and you kinda have to surf on them. got to the shelter dry and there are 3 others here, two out for the night and 1 japaneese guy over here for a section. went up to this place called harrissons camp where they have served hikers breakfast for years. you have to make reservations though. did that then cooked supper. the japaneese guy went to bed at 7:30 so i tried writing in my journal but just couldnt get comfortable. bed by 8. brian and tom came in around 9:20.....././..//../.. Sitting here in monson next to Dandylion, he just told me that gas in England is between $7-$8 a gallon. Guess think about that next time you go to fill up that your paying less than half of what he would be paying if he was home.
Date: 2005-09-04
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to

To: US201 Caratunk
Miles today: 4.0

Got to Breakfast about 7:20, after being up since 4:30, the japeneese guy gets up at 4:30 and starts cooking his breakfast with his msr dragonfly (a kind of stove) which is not quiet at all. woke all of us up in the shelter. For breakfast I ate 12 pancakes, 3 peices of sausage, 2 eggs, 2 cups of coffee, and 1 glass of grapefruit juice. The pancakes had apples, blueberries, and cherries in them. all for $8 it was really good. Left there and hiked an easy 4 miles to the kennebec river. This river is 75 yards wide and there is no bridge. We are suppose to ford it but in 1987 a section hiker drowned. Upstream there is a dam and they release water at different times each day for power and for the white water rafting places around. So since 1987, this guy named steve has ferried people across the river, free of charge. I think he gets paid for doing it but he wasnt the one who told me that. We could definatly ford it when the water level is down but you cant cross the river faster than the water rises. some people still insist on fording the river even when steve is there, even though the canoe ride is the official trail. today is sunday and the lady at the post office said she would take my package to her house. went and picked it up and she gave me some hommade cookes which i later shared with brian and tom, guy in a van pulled up while i was sitting by the post offic e and asked me if I needed a ride anywhere. told me he would take me to northern outdoors. this place with a restaurant, a hot tub and a pool. talked to my parents and rachel. watched tv for a few mins and then relaxed in the hot tub. It was nice. This place is a whitewater rafting resort so there are hundreds of cabins and tent sites. brian and tom met me here and we just hung out and ate a lot of food. this place had internet but it was not working. bed by 10:30. had a really nice day of relaxing, hanging out with a bunch of people that I didnt even know 2 days ago.
Date: 2005-09-05
From: US201 Caratunk

To: Bald Mtn brook lean-to
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

stayed with brian and tom last night in their cabin. woke up at 8 and walked up to have breakfast buffet in the lodge. packed all my stuff up and headed out. Back on the trail around 10:30. Got to holly brok crossing and found dandylion sitting on the river bank. He too had been hikin alone the last 3 days. I was very happy to see someone I knew. Exchanged some stories and hiked onto pleasant pond lean-to, Alady had left some freshly baked peanut butter cookies there. I had to stop dandylion from eating all of them, before I even had one.
Date: 2005-09-06
From: Bald Mtn brook lean-to

To: East Branch of Piscataquis River
Miles today: 15.3

Had to hike up Moxie Bald mtn this morning, wasnt too hard. Although nothin has really been hard since southern Maine. Had to cross 4 creeks today and we could not cross them without getting our shoes wet. So I wore my sandels all day. These are the sandels that I wore on the start of my trip, that hurt my feet soo much. They started hurting but I readjusted them and they felt good. Crossed 3 creeks and got to horshoe canyon river lean-to. A really nice section of the trail here, we followed this stream for like 4 miles. Carried on and had to cross another stream. Only one of the 4 was above our knees. We got across the last one and had like 7 miles to get into Monson. A guy named Strider who had hiked in 03 had set a cooler there with pops and fruit in it. stayed here an hour. Then decided just to stay the night. Peaceful night by the river, watched ducks go by and tried to look for fish.
Date: 2005-09-07
From: East Branch of Piscataquis River

To: Monson, Shaws Lodging
Miles today: 6.7

Got out by 6:30, Into Monson by 9. Ate a early lunch at the general store, 2 cheeseburgers and fries. Went to shaws hostel, 27.50 got me a bed, shower, and all you can eat breakfast. No phone, no internet, kinda makes me mad that hostels cant put in a second phone line for local calls only. I had one at my parents house and it was only $21. Went to the library and updated some of my journals untill they kicked me off. Ate some ice cream, pizza. Caboose, balishag,and bear came into town. Bear is still taking me home, so I dont have to ride the bus for 35 hours. watched some tennis with capt pattagonia.
Date: 2005-09-08
From: Monson, Shaws Lodging

To: Cloud Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Had 3 pancakes, 3 sausage, 3 bacon, 3 eggs, a lot of homefries, milk, OJ, and coffee for breakfast. I could of ate more but not without feeling sick and then I wouldnt have been able to hike out. I felt great, Hiked with dandylion and capt pattagonia all day. had 3 creek crossings today, first one was not bad, knee deep, not very swift. 60' waterfall at little wilson stream was nice. Got to big wilson stream and it was deep, up to our waist. current was so strong I nearly fell over. I can imagine that it would be a lot easier without our packs on I think. ohh and I forgot to mention that this 100 mile stretch of trail is spose to be the most remote part of the trail. Even though we crossed 3 dirt roads today and one train tracks. It is called the 100 mile wilderness. Got to cloud pond shelter and got into the shelter. The 3 of us sent our tents home to save weight, we figured the shelters would be empty, because it is such wilderness that section hikers wouldnt be able to come in to hike, and there wasnt that many thruhikers in front of us. could be a bad choice if one of the shelters turns out full on us. Saw a mouse and killed him with the bottom of my cooking pot. was quite funny I thought. Dandylion and capt were sad. Japaneese guy is in the shelter tonight again with me. He snores a lot cause he smokes, won't get much sleep tonight I guess.
Date: 2005-09-09
From: Cloud Pond Lean-to

To: Carl A Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: light rain

Saw 2 moose this morning before leaving the shelter. We was .3 off the AT and I was all alone. Kinda got scared cause the moose saw me and I didnt really know if moose attack many people each year or not. Capt. Pattagonia left real early, he wants to summit the 13th, a day before us so he is trying to do 24 miles today.
Date: 2005-09-14
From: The Birches

To: Millinocket
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: clear sky

started climbing Katahdin by 7 am. Climbed with Dandylion the whole way. Passed cookerhiker and Northern Harrier on the way up. Such beautiful views, wasnt a perfectly clear day but was clear enough. took me 2 and half hours to climb 5 miles, we went up 4000 ft of elevation. This was some of the worst climbing we have done. there were spots where we actually had to pull ourselves up holding onto rebar bolted into the rocks. Thankfully it was not wet cause it would have been really slippery. Got to the top and stayed there for 1 hr 30 mins, 10-15 day hikers up there, Caboose, bear, balishag, Dandylion, Draggin, jewels, Dead animal, northern harrier, Vapor, Yardsale, and some other guy were the thru-hikers up there today. turned out to be a big crowd. Everyone got pics with the sign, some drank beer, some smoked ceremonial cigars, some just sat in silence and thought of their journeys coming to an end, for this is the end of all their journeys. It has been a long ride, I have enjoyed every minute of it but my journey is not over yet. Headed back down and took the same amount of time to come down as it did up cause it is so steep. We didnt use our hiking poles the whole time for they were just not usefull. Bears parents and dandylions friends were hiking up and I saw them first so I waited around with them. Bears parents are taking me home. Got to the bottom and bears parents had bought subs for us and brought some pop. Went to millinocket and got a hotel room. I walked down to the store and bought some milk and a magazine for the way home and some pop tarts. went out to dinner with bear and his parents, caboose, and balishag and his parents. It was a very nice dinner. After that bear, caboose, bali and me went out for a beer to celebrate the end of the hike. Im gonna miss all my friends that I have made out here. I do not know If I will ever see anyone that I met out here. I hopefully can meet up with these 3 cause they live in Indiana. Hazysonic lives in dayton so hopefully I can talk with him. Got a long drive tommorrow....
Date: 2005-09-22
From: Damascus

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

My parents brought me back to damascus. Stayed in the days Inn. Cereal and coggee for breakfast. Went to the sundog outfitters then to mt rogers outfitters. bought a hunter orange packcover, my old blue one was leaking really bad and I knew it would make my parents happier to see me wearing orange cause it is hunting season in TN. Hiked out and as soon as I looked back and saw my parents drive away, this big cloud of lonileness set in I was back at Square one. I did not know anyone I hiked fast and stopped maybe 6 times during the day for breaks. My legs hurt pretty bad by the time I got to the first shelter. I had gone 10 miles and not seen anyone not even any boot prints. No one had signed in the register for 3 whole days. I headed another 8 to the next shelter. About halfway there I saw tripod, A local section hiker who also had not seen anyone all day. Chatted for 20 mins, Passed a road that the TDOT crew was repaving. A lady sitting in the truck gave me a couple granola bars. Got to the shelter around 6, all alone still. set up my hammock then 3 hunters came in and kinda scared me cause they were all carring shotguns, cooked supper with them. The gave me some more food too, called mom, had really bad reception then headed to bed by 9
Date: 2005-09-23
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Watauga Lake
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Slept for 10 1/2 hrs last night, legs very stiff from not hiking for a week. Crammed some pop tarts down and met stumgles and just joe, both SOBO. But I think just joe has missed more of the trail than he has hiked. Talks a lot of BS too. I had met him when I was going north and he told me a whole different story this time. Hiked 1 mile down to a almost dry spring and barely got some water. Just joe kept going but stumbles stayed to talk. He is 19 and took a semester off college to hike. He is a very fast hiker, and does huge miles. I could keep up with him but he just did 8 more miles more than I did today, For 21 miles there was no water, We was both dry after 8 miles. We took a few breaks in the morning but after we ran out of water we did not stop at all the rest of the 13 miles to watauga lake. Drinking water out of a lake is horrible the boats was going by very fast and sturring up the sand so we had no choice but to have sand in our waterbottles. Stumbles and just joe kept going to do a 30 mile day. I stayed at this really nice campsite that I forgot to take a pic of. Two locals came in later and gave me some drink and food. Cabassa, rice, and beans, it was pretty good. Almost fell asleep talking to them. Thankfully I got a short day tommorrow.