morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-22
From: Nesuntabunt Mountain

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 9.7

Nesuntabunt Mtn to White House Landing9.7 milesWe set our alarms for 3:30am this morning. Crazy? Not so much. The sun rises early in these parts, and our perfect viewpoint over Katahdin and the lakes makes watching the sunrise almost mandatory.And it was definitely worth it. We watched the sun come up behind Katahdin with a pot of coffee and some crackers and peanut butter (first breakfast), until the little clouds at the peak turned pink, then hit the sleeping bags again for a couple of hours until it really was a decent hour to get up. After second breakfast we set off downhill and along Nahmakanta lake. After a brief moment of disbelief around lunchtime when the trail actually disappeared into the lake, in the afternoon it actually turned into something resembling trail and we managed to pick up some speed. For the first time this trip it actually felt like a hike not a rock scramble!We had one small dicey moment when I went down to knee depth in a muddy bog, and lots more of the voracious mosquitoes and blackflies to deal with but we soon reached White House Landing.What an oasis! Within an hour of arriving I was   bathed, in relatively clean dry clothes, and munching my way through a one pound cheeseburger (for my metric friends that's 2.2 kilos).(Note: thanks to all those who corrected my fat induced hallucinations here, obviously my calculation was the wrong way round and my pound burger was actually only almost half a kilo! Sorry.) Yes, I actually ate a burger, the first in who knows how long, and it contained a whole pound of meat!
Date: 2008-06-23
From: White House Landing

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day at White House LandingWhat can I say? Laundry via a washboard, tub and mangle, breakfast, sunshine, and no hiking. Our second zero day, but a beautiful place to hang out, and get dry, and eat! Just after breakfast Chris and Wes (who summitted Katahdin the day after us and have been at about the same pace since) turned up, and as we all walked to the bunkhouse a bald eagle swooped down close to the boat dock and plucked a large trout out of the lake. A very impressive sight.In the afternoon we took a canoe out on the lake hoping to get across to the marsh and hopefully see a moose. Unfortunately the wind and waves kicked up at the same time as we set out. We made it across the lake, and saw the bald eagle once agian, but decided it would be safer to head back to the dock because of the worsening conditions. Tomorrow we hike on.
Date: 2008-06-24
From: White House Landing

To: Cooper Brook Fall
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

White House Landing to Cooper Brook Falls 13.7 milesLeft White House Landing after another great breakfast and back to hiking. It was hard to drag ourselves away but a great day for hiking with blue skies and sunshine. Today was spent hiking the Pedumcock lake then Jo Mary lake and Cooper Brook. We picked up our next five days of food at Jo Mary road. It was heavy and we're very grateful that we had set up this drop so we didn't have to carry the weight all this way. We saw our first moose today. I got a picture but the camera focused on the trees not on the moose, you can tell its a moose though.Ended up the day at Cooper Brook Falls in a downpour. There are lots of SOBOs (southbounders) camping here.
Date: 2008-06-25
From: Cooper Brook Fall

To: East Branch Lean To
Miles today: 8.1

Cooper Brook Falls to East Branch Lean To7.9 milesWe got a very late start today. We were up late and everyone else had already left by the time we got moving. It was a gorgeous day and we just lazed around watching the falls for a while before we finally mustered up the energy for hiking. Today was the first day that I have actually managed to keep my feet dry. It was also my first night sleeping in a shelter. There were not many camping options at the shelter, but the shelter itself only had 2 hikers sleeping in it, Chris (Nature Junkie) and Wes who have been hiking at the same pace as us so I decided to try shelter life. For the record, I slept OK but it was rather buggy.
Date: 2008-06-26
From: East Branch Lean To

To: Sidney Tappan campsite
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

East Branch to Sidney Tappan campsite9 milesUp was the word for today, and there was lots of it! But for every up there seemed to be an even bigger down, and they seemed even worse. The climb up Whitecap Mtn was steep and hot, but the view from the top was extensive and impressive: we could see back all the way we had already come and forward to what was still to be hiked. We had a couple more smaller peaks to tackle before night so we only spent a short time at the peak. On the way down I took a fall on the ravine like trail of microwave sized boulders. It could easily have ended my hike, or worse, but somehow I managed to flip over when I saw the jagged point of a rock coming straight at my face and I landed hard but on my pack and cushioned from any harm. Amazingly I didn't even get a scratch or a bruise. Talk about luck! Eventually we crossed the last peak for the day and headed down to the campsite in the rain. It wasn't a night for socializing so we made camp, ate and went straight to bed.
Date: 2008-06-27
From: Sidney Tappan campsite

To: Chairback Gap Leanto
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Sidney Tappan campsite to Chairback Gap Leanto9.9 milesPeople everywhere today. We passed through Gulf Hagas which is obviously a popular day trip venue as well as being a start point for northbound hikes into the wilderness. We loved Gulf Hagas and would have liked to hike the loop but were worried about all the no camping areas ahead of us. We did take the time to have a quick cold bath in the stream and wash out some clothes to let them dry in the sun on the rocks while we ate lunch. After that we took a short walk up the loop trail to the first waterfall Screw Auger. It was beautiful and just made us long for more time, but it was already mid afternoon and we knew we had Chairback mountain between us and our first guaranteed campsite for the night.As it happened we could have camped a couple of miles further up the trail on the bank of the East Branch river, but it appears that the maps and guides only show campsites with privies, so by the time we saw the sites it was too late to hike the loop.Continuing up Chairback we both almost ended up with heat exhaustion: it was as if the temperature increased and the humidity suddenly shot up to 100% at around 4pm. Lucky for us, shortly after we both realized what was happening we crossed a small ice cold spring where we sat for a while chugging ice cold spring water until we felt our faculties returning.Chairback mountain has a rock ledges area about a half mile from the summit. As we approached the ledges we started to hear thunder. We didn't want to get caught on the ledges or the summit in a storm. The summit was listed as being only a half mile away but still seemed too far above is for that to be possible. Indeed it was possible: half a mile of scrambling and climbing straight up a rock slide of car size and smaller boulders. The view from the top was great. We could just see Katahdin in the far distant haze, but closer up, and of much greater concern, was the thunderstorm we had been hearing. We hurried down off the mountain the final half mile to the shelter area. There wa a group of five hikers camping already, taking most of the decent non water collecting spots and it was already starting to rain, the shelter however was empty except for Wes. Brian quickly set up his hammock and I settled into the shelter
Date: 2008-06-28
From: Chairback Gap Leanto

To: Cloud Pond Lean to
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Chairback Gap Leanto to Cloud Pond Lean to 6.9 milesIt stormed most of the night and was not a very restful night for me. The trees above the metal roof dripping water all night made not the soothing sound I expected but a loud multi tone like sleeping under an out of tune xylophone. This morning was still raining and we were in for a wet day.You can see from the mileage that we didn't get far: it was just too slick underfoot to make any miles and the heavy rain and lack of pace made everything cold and wet very quickly. The next leanto was almost a half mile off the trail and across a long series of very slick bog bridges around the end of a lake. Again, there was already a large group taking up all the available camping spots, and this time there wasn't even anywhere suitable for a hammock so we both claimed a space in the shelter. It was still fairly early but any thoughts of continuing on were abandoned: it was just one of those days to give in to the rain, change into dry clothes and jump straight into the sleeping bags to warm up before supper. At least there were no trees above this roof to provide the cacophony of sounds from last night and the night's heavy rain just produced that snuggle up and sleep grey noise. The longest lasting thing I received on today's experience was a nice big bruise on my butt from slipping down the wooden steps to the privy.
Date: 2008-06-29
From: Cloud Pond Lean to

To: Little Wilson Stream
Miles today: 12.3

Cloud Pond Lean to to Little Wilson Stream 12.3 milesAnother rainy day. There was a couple sharing the leanto that were convinced that the weather was going to clear. All I can say is I hope neither is a professional weather forecaster. The constant heavy rain was now starting to concern us more than just the inconvenience and discomfort of being wet. There are several river crossings ahead without bridges that we will have to ford. Some are listed as being quite treacherous in high water and it's quite obvious that the water levels are not going down anytime soon. When we reached our possible stopping point for the day with a couple of hours daylight to spare we decided to press on to take a look at the water levels.Indeed the rivers are running swift and getting higher by the minute. The widest crossing at Big Wilson stream was quite daunting. We decided to cross together and I was very glad to get across safe after a first false start when my hiking pole over extended in the swift current: I had to back out over about the third of the river I had already crossed as I knew the pole could not take my weight in that condition and I definitely needed it for balance and stability in the middle of the current. On the far side of the Big Wilson was a spot suitable for camping but we decided to push on and try to get over the next two fords before the water rose any further. One of the fords was just upstream of a 20 foot waterfall. The trail crosses this brook at a narrow point which is probably great at low water, but in high water it was a deep torrent. I decided to go upstream to a wider shallower point and successfully crossed there with water only up to my knees. My problems started after I had crossed, refastened my hip belt and sternum strap (always undone for fording in case I need to get out of the pack quickly) and was making my way back along the bank to the trail crossing. I slipped on the muddy bank and slid all the way down some slickrock totally out of control and back into the deep water. I managed to wedge myself into a rock before I was totally under water, but I and my pack were submerged up to my chest. I don't think l'd have had any chance to get myself and the pack out up the slickrock if I had been alone, in fact I had already unbuckled my straps and was prepared to jettison it if necessary. Fortunately though, Brian was almost across and managed to finish crossing, shuck his pack and scramble across the slickrock to my rescue. He provided the steady hand to hoist myself up on and boost me back up onto terra firma. This time when I gained the bank I bushwacked my way a couple of feet in from the edge before attempting to get back to the trail. The last ford of the day was below the Little Wilson falls and this time was incident free. On the bank on the other side was a nice little campsite that we set up in for the night.
Date: 2008-06-30
From: Little Wilson Stream

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Little Wilson Stream to Monson, ME6.8 milesBy this morning we were very glad we had pushed on and got the major fords out of the way.   There was a massive thunderstorm during the night with hours of heavy rain. We stayed nice and dry in camp. We have settled into a great camp setup that is possible due to Brian's winter tarp he is using with his hammock. It requires us to find a couple of trees suitable for him to hang from that also have a small level spot for my tent below. I set up my tent as close as possible to the hammock as I can without affecting his hang, and the tarp covers both of us, giving us a nice dry area to cook etc in. It works great if we can get the correct spot but if not then we can just set each up separately.It worked great for us with the storm last night. The water in Little Wilson had come up quite a bit in the night: the rock I had stood on last night to collect water now had water running over it. Our first stop of the day was the overlook of Little Wilson falls, a 60 foot waterfall just upstream and above our camp. It was very impressive and powerful engorged with all the rainwater and we were mesmerized by the power of the water dropping and especially the updraft of air and water up onto the cliffs on the other side of the gorge. The sun even came out briefly to give us a rainbow in the upflowing mist.The sun didn't last long though, and soon it was pouring with rain again. The trail was a flowing stream and the was no hope of keeping us or our feet dry. Nothing could deter us today though. Today we conquer the 100 mile wilderness. A couple of wet miles and we began to hear traffic for the first time in two weeks. Another mile and we stumbled out of the woods onto Maine highway 15. Within a minute of sticking out my thumb a pickup truck stopped for us, the driver had to cram our packs amongst all his gear in back and clear a load of trash up front to squeeze us in, but we were on our way to town and the Lakeshore house lodging. Rebecca welcomed us with a beer and a dry room and the nirvana of all hikers, a hot shower.We're here for a couple of nights. We'll zero tomorrow.
Date: 2008-07-01
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero day in Monson. Ate breakfast at Shaws and caught up with some of our fellow hikers there. Chris is going to take some time off to let his achilles heal (no pun intended), Doug (DeJoe) and Raleigh are heading out today, Wes will take today off as we are. We did laundry, went outfitter and food shopping and repacked food bags, ate more greasy food, dried out tents and tarps, etc. Now we're sitting watching a steady stream of emergency vehicles speeding through this small town. No one seems to know what is going on but apparently there is some emergency north of here.We've got a little more packing and sorting to do then I'm heading for a hot bath and bed. BTW my knees are doing OK. I'd by lying if I said it didn't hurt at all, but its mainly just the jarring from all the downhill hiking with the weight on my back, and I'd expect that even without my recent injury. We're hiking strong, if a little slow and cautious and in great spirits now we're showered and fed. Even better for our morale is that the weather forecast for the next week even has some sunshine in it!See you down the trail.
Date: 2008-07-02
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light intensity drizzle

Please hold, hiking will resume shortly.Today was yet another zero. Brian's Superfeet custom insoles that we purchased in Orlando before we left have totally disintegrated already.Mine that were fit and purchased the same day and have walked the same miles are just fine. Unfortunately, the outfitter we purchased them from offered no other option other than to take them back to be reheated to reseal them. That really doesn't help us right now. The Superfeet company were actually very helpful and tried very hard to help us out, but apparently the custom insoles are not a big seller in New England. Ultimately the closest Superfeet custom fit chair that was actually working is in Portsmouth NH but apparently they only do ski boot inserts and have no regular shoe inserts. The next closest is the REI store in Reading MA (that's almost in Boston). The Superfeet rep for New England can meet is there to fix the situation but she is heading out of town for the 4th July holiday so it would have to be tonight.So we managed to get a ride from Monson to Dexter where we could get a rental car and drive down to Boston.Right now we are driving back north but we're not likely to make it in time to get a ride back from Dexter to Monson easily so we'll probably have to stop somewhere short for the night. The good news is that we both now have functioning insoles so we can go hiking soon! We both got a spare pair made to bounce along ahead too. If they are that hard to get hold of in this neck of the woods it obviously won't hurt to have a replacement each handy.
Date: 2008-07-03
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Another zero. As we had the rental car and were in the larger city of Augusta we decided to run some errands. By the time we made it back to Monson it was too late to consider hiking today. An added complication is that two days sitting in the car or driving has stiffened my knees up. Hopefully they will loosen up when we get out hiking tomorrow.
Date: 2008-07-04
From: Monson, ME

To: Pleasant St, Monson
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Monson to Pleasant St 3.3 milesIf good intentions were miles we would have been a lot further away today. Unfortnately my knees just are not cooperating with the hiking program. We set out on the trail but at the first downhill my right knee started pounding. Even worse, by trying to favor it I was causing additional pain in my left knee and right hip and lower back. Brian had turned one of his ankles arveal times already also. At the first road crossing we sat down to discuss the situation and decided that our packs were too heavy, heavier in fact than they had been for the first 100 miles and we needed to return to town to lighten things up. By the time we got a ride and got back into town to Shaws bunkhouse my right knee was swollen and everthing below the small of my back aching. It seems that the decision to stop and get back to town was a good one. I've spent the majority of the day with my knees up and icing. We'll try again tomorrow.
Date: 2008-07-05
From: Pleasant St, Monson

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Still in Monson!This morning my knees felt tender, but the mere act of walking down the slight ramp out of the hiker lounge to the parking lot set my right knee straining again. During breakfast we made the decision to take one more day to rest my knees. If they are no better tomorrow I am going to seriously consider finding somewhere to stay longer term to rest them up properly. Here's hoping one more day will be enough to get me out hiking again.
Date: 2008-07-06
From: Pleasant St, Monson

To: Bald Mountain Stream
Miles today: 12.5

Pleasant St to Mountain Bald Stream12.5 milesWe finally managed to break away from the vortex of Monson this morning! My knee seems much improved at least on fairly level terrain and I'm anxious to be hiking again. There was a road crossing about 3 miles into the hike again where I'd have the option to bail out back to town if my knee still wasn't up to the task. It did fine though. The trail was not all flat but the ups and downs were fairly short. We had to ford three good sized rivers today and fortunately the water level had dropped during the past five dry days while we were off the trail, however the flow was still quite swift. We crossed all three safely and managed to find a small but suitable spot to camp immediately after the third. The trail today was a vast improvement over the wilderness and we managed to get a decent hiking pace and rhythm going right up to the last hour, when the tread disintegrated in mud, rocks and roots and the bugs came out in force. We were glad to find a spot so close to water and early enough that we could take a cool bath and get camp set up and dinner cooked before dark.Today was our first full day of hot and sunny hiking and its certainly a lot different from the rains of last week. I can't say enough good things about the folks at Shaws lodging house: the ladies there took great care of us, shuttled is around everywhere we needed and kept making our room availble as my knee demanded. We were sorry to leave but glad to be back out hiking.
Date: 2008-07-07
From: Bald Mountain Stream

To: Bald Mountain Brook
Miles today: 6.2

Bald Mountain Stream to Bald Mountain Brook 6.2 milesWhat a gorgeous day. So much so that we didn't get very far! That's OK though because we have already decided that we don't want to be in so much of a hurry that we can't stop to enjoy the trail when opportunities arise. We started the day lazily drinking a quart of water each, sitting on the rocky bank of Bald Mountain stream where we forded yesterday. We were lucky to find a suitable camping spot so close tol water and the pond was peaceful and serene this morning. As we continued hiking it was at least a mile before we spotted another suitable camping spot. Our next stop, only a couple of miles along the trail was the leanto. This one had access to the lake for swimming. If it had been afternoon it would have been nice to stop early for a swim, but we had a date with a mountain. We did waste some time watching a toad at the waters edge and the fishes swimming in the clear water.The weather has cleared and cold and rainy has become hot and sunny. That's OK with us in principal, but it does Make for some sweaty ascents. The two miles of trail to the top of Moxie Bald were very hot, but oh so very worthwhile. At the top was a 360 degree view and a brisk breeze to offset the hot sunshine and lack of shade. We spent a couple of hours enjoying lunch and the sunshine before the bugs found us and ran us off the summit. The trip down was about as steep as up, and almost took as long due to the care and attention my knee demands on descents.By the time we reached the leanto on the south side of the mountain we realized we were both a little dehydrated and sunburnt. One look at the clear mountain brook convinced is that we had found our home for the night. The cool rushing stream was good for both rehydration and a cool refreshing bath.
Date: 2008-07-08
From: Bald Mountain Brook

To: Pleasant Pond leanto
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

Bald Mountain leanto to Pleasant Pond leanto9 milesToday was grueling! It started off hot and got hotter and more humid as the day went on. Between start point and home for the night was Pleasant Point mountain, a couple of hundred feet lower than Moxie Bald yesterday, but much more drawn out on the north (up) side and extremely steep on the downward southern side. Just to add some difficulty there is no surface water for almost the entire 6 miles of mountain and we must have picked the hottest day of the year so far to hike it! We finally made it down off the mountain around 4:30 and went straight into the lake for a cooling swim and wash off. I'm glad we did as we just got finished setting up our tent and tarp when the sky started pouring rain. Tomorrow we have a short and mainly downhill day into Caratunk.