morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-06-07
From: Franconia Notch

To: Jackson, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

June 7th zero day.   Jackson, NH. Zero day!!!A well-needed zero day. I think all of us (Deadline, LittleDebbie, and I) have a collective tiredness that could be remedied by a nice leisurely day.With the help of a free cabin, we stayed in Jackson and relaxed. First thing in the day's plan was a delicious breakfast. I had a fantastic omelette. Sooooo good!!Once we finished fueling up, we decided on a fun activity... We got some beers and floated in inner tubes down the Saco River. It was fantastic weather and nice, cold water. It was perfect and so much fun. We were joined by one of Deadline's friends, John, who drove up for the weekend.After tubing, we drove through the area enjoying the many covered bridges and scenic views. This is a very pretty area and a great place to take a zero!!Upon returning to the cabin, we all spied a very cool and very large moth. It was a Luna Moth!!! Super-cool!!!We are still on track to finish the AT by July 1st or 2nd. It is crazy to even begin to consider the possibility of competing the triple crown. Fingers crossed!!!
Date: 2015-06-08
From: Jackson, NH

To: Lonesome Lake Hut
Miles today: 14.0

"The Rant"As I sit here in a 5' x 10' woodshed next to the Lonesome Lake hut, I feel the fatigue of some hefty climbs today and the excitement of the miles to come. Deadline, LittleDebbie, and I were offered this tiny three sided wood shed as an option since they had already chose four "thru hikers" for Work for Stay.The Work for Stay system in the White Mountains is designed to give thru hikers a chance to stay at these huts (they're usually priced at $120/per night). The deal is this: a hiker shows up at 3pm-7pm, lends a hand at some chores (anything from washing dishes to scouring pots to mopping the floor), and gets to sleep on the floor. If there is extra food from dinner, the hikers may get a free meal.It is supposed to be for strictly thru hikers, not section hikers, weekend hikers, etc. The reality is that many people lie and deceive to get this opportunity....That was the case today. Other hikers claimed to be thru hikers and got to stay at the hut tonight. We did not... It was a tough pill to swallow for sure.The hike today was really scenic. Not in the vistas and overlooks, but in the old forests and rugged mountainsides. The path often turned into a hand-over-foot scramble that was quite steep at times. This was really fun, except for one aspect.The previous night's rain made these rock slabs extremely slippery and dramatically slowed down our speed. The route was boulder fields and went through deep, dark pine forests.As I hiked along, I realized how fortunate we were. There were several downed trees that had recently been cleared on the trail. This was definitely appreciated by all of us.The rain was steady and disappointing, but it did add a certain mood to today. The clouds (especially when we were in them) and the fog also contributed to today's feel.Deadline, Denzi, LittleDebbie, and I left the cabin by North Conway at 10:30am. It was a late start, but that was actually good to help and lessen today's miles. By noon, we started hiking in the rain. By 3pm, the rains stopped. The rains would not resume until 9pm that night.The high elevation flora is great. The dead trees and the forest floor were covered in mossy blankets with assorted woodland plants popping up here and there. After making good time (considering the terrain), we descended a last peak. Towards the bottom, we came up on a nice hiking hut that is run by the AMC. This was when we inquired about working for stay. The rest is history.... All in all, a very good day! Yeah, maybe it was wet, muddy (especially when I fell a few times), and sometimes cold, I really enjoyed this little hike today. I am also pleased with our lower mileage day. It will keep us healthier for the home stretch.I do sure hope that i do get to stay at a shelter during my time in the Whites.
Date: 2015-06-09
From: Lonesome Lake Hut

To: Galehead Shelter
Miles today: 16.0

Today was a wash out. It was a deluge.... Normally, the rains would only be a nuisance. Today, the rocky climbs and descents were made dangerously slick by the precipitation.As we started out this morning, we passed four hikers. First, we went by Smiles (from Harrisville, Mi) and GhostPepper (from Austrailia). The next duo was a father and son team that was awarded Work For Stay last night at the hut.The storms from last night filled the creeks and streams to the brim, making them more exciting and lively. The initial creek crossing that I had used to have a bridge. Used to. It was washed away earlier in the spring and nothing remained.Deadline, LittleDebbie, and I made quick work of that crossing and many more to come. The water washing down the trails during the climbs was especially difficult. Slipping, sliding, and falling were standard moves for today. I actually skied down a granite slab (unintentionally) for quite a ways. Most times, however, I just fell. So many times. I felt like we were climbing for the most of the day. It was arduous. I guess the silver lining was that I was not overheating. Winds gusted to over 70 mph (there is a great resource for weather data--it is called the Mt Washington Weather Observatory) and literally blew me off balance several times. The alpine peaks were dramatic with their rocky compositions and unique plant life.The hardest climb for today was Mt Garfield. It came later in the day and taxed our muscles considerably. It got progressively steeper and steeper. At times, the climb was hand over foot. Once gaining the summit, it stopped raining. It was wonderful.We stopped and waited for brief views of the dramatic surrounding mountains. There was an old cement base for a fire lookout or ?.. The way down was equally dramatic. The descent followed slippery, rocky drainages. In fact, a good portion of the trail on the way down was an actual waterfall. Yup, a following waterfall as the trail.The final walk was an effort as well. Soaked to the bone. Shoes, shorts, shirts, and the works. The rain was so bad, my pack cover actually filled with water!!We walked to the Galehead Hut toward the end of the day. Walking in, we saw many visitors at the hut. We spotted a young man who seemed to be in charge. After asking about Work for Stay, he said, "ok!"We were relieved. Shelter from these storms tonight will be great. What a great opportunity and experience. As we sat on the front porch of the hut, the rains came down again. A nice woman named Phoebe who works at the shelter, brought us each an amazing slice of pumpkin pie!!!! So good!!!The hut crew was amazing. They fed us well-salad, stuffed noodles, and bread. There was even dessert!!! It was carrot cake. We all stood around and chatted about the trail. The work we had to do was just defrost/scrape the ice out of the refrigerator/freezer!!So great!!! A warm floor to sleep on, potable water, and an indoor privy. Hopefully, the weather will clear up and we will have a great day tomorrow!!
Date: 2015-06-12
From: Madison Hut

To: Hwy 16
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: few clouds

We awoke to one of the hut staff playing trombone song for the morning wake-up. The hut crew was great. They are very kind and entertaining! One of the staff members really reminded us all of Charlie Day (from Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia).LittleDebbie, Deadline, LunchBox, and I lingered around the hut to chat with the guests and do some chores for a free breakfast. LittleDebbie and LunchBox's task was to clean and defrost the freezer. Deadline and I were tasked with picking up old nails that were left from the original hut' demolition.One of the guests was really, really kind. Yesterday, LunchBox snapped one of his hiking poles in the wind and boulders when he fell. The guest offered him his hiking poles to use and just asked him to mail them back when he was done.Immediately adjacent to the hut was a healthy climb through the rocks and up Mt Madison. There were really nice views at the top. The winds had died down considerably. The trail followed the ridge line as it descended toward the treeline. It was an enjoyable exposed ridge with great scenery. Down-stepping through the rocky terrain, I could see Mt Washington which was covered in the clouds. We had chose a good day to go over Mt Washington.Following the ridge, the trail returned to the buggy forests. Thick beds of soft needles blanketed the ground. Thick, gnarled roots comprised the rest of the path. Eventually, we got to road. I decided to go and get my package from the post office instead of trying to get there tomorrow before closing time. The second reason was that there was a nasty rain storm coming in that expected 1-2" of rain. LunchBox decided to head on without the town stop.At the trailhead, we struck up a conversation with a nice fellow. His name was Jim, a 75 year old ex-AMC hut worker. He worked at the huts in the 60's and 70's. The reason he was at the trail was that he was going to climb a peak for his birthday. He was nice enough drove us into town! At the post office, the postal worker was great. He was clearly overwhelmed, but kept his composure. Initially, he said that I didn't have a package. After a follow-up search, he found it. He said that it was because of his new boss who didn't log it into the system. That wasn't a big deal, but he said that if that happened in a month or two, they would be screwed.After the post office, we hit the White Mountain Hostel. This was the hostel that Nimbles told us about on the Long Trail. His folks bought the place a couple of years ago. It was great and the proprietor, Marny, was awesome!!Now, it was finally time for a few beers and a lot of rest.
Date: 2015-06-13
From: Hwy 16

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 21.0

Today's start was a bit later than usual. Deadline, LittleDebbie, and I began our day at Pinkham Notch.Immediately, we began to climb up rocky Wildcat Mountain. The trail was steep rock steps and awkward rock slabs. Apparently, the most bones broken on any section is on this climb.At the top, tremendous views abound! Mt Washington was in full view. The trail meandered its was to the Wildcat ski chairlift. From there, the trail climbed again along the granite peaks. Tight clusters of pines accented the summit. The trail was absolutely soggy today. Last night's rain accumulated to form large puddles of water, mud, and pine needles. The sun came out and warmed the day.After another extremely steep descent, I found myself at the Carter Hut. While I was there, the hut master offered us enchiladas from last night's dinner. I overheard one woman who was a guest at the hut complain that her lemonade was too warm. She then asked for some ice. The worker explained that they do not have ice available.After a short break, I ascended up Carters Dome. It was another very steep climb that alternated in-between rock stairs and rock slabs. The ridge line was quite enjoyable. The winds were moderate and the temps were comfortable.Several wood planks were laid through the alpine bog. I was surprised at the number of folks out hiking today. This was a popular area. It was also the weekend.After several more climbs and descents, the trail finally went down for the last time. It followed a radio stream that collected into a bigger creek.A few more miles to walk and we would be there. At the road, weturned left and headed to the hostel. What a tough day. These climbs were taxing.
Date: 2015-06-14
From: Gorham, NH

To: White Mountains Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

After yesterday's tough climb, Deadline, LittleDebbie, and I decided that a zero day was in order. Today would be all about keeping my body idle as much as possible. A good opportunity to rest my sore knees.Actually, it was quite interesting to find out that many folks have sore knees from this last section. There will be a couple more really tough days before the trail mellows out a bit. In fact, there is a climb soon that is 1,500ft of climb in just under a mile!I went through my backpack and prepped it for the finale. Maine is supposed to be difficult, but beautiful. I was also able to get more info for the IAT potion of my hike. Later in the night, we watched one of Squatch's great movies. It was really fun to gather around with a bunch of hikers and watch a trail video.Tomorrow, we will resume our trek north. In ten miles, Maine. In less than 300 miles, Kahtahdin!!!
Date: 2015-06-15
From: White Mountains Hostel

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 18.0

June 15th from NH2 finished at Carlo Col Shelter. 18 milesDawn seemed to come early today.... It may something to do with staying up until midnight hanging out and watch tv. As I woke up, I could hear the sound of gentle rain starting outside. LittleDebbie, Deadline, Lunchbox, and I started out the day with a wonderful breakfast burrito, hash browns, and fresh muffins. We thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of Marni and the crew at White Mountains Hostel and Lodge.We headed back on the trail again. Quickly, the first climb presented itself. It was a steep and slow affair. This was multiplied by the fact that we were carrying 5 days of food.The air was cold and windy. Fog and clouds seemingly co-mingled and interacted with one another. Rains only came down occasionally, preferring to mostly threaten instead.The trail was notoriously full of (tree) roots and rocks. There was one other thing the trail was full of -- blowdowns. We had to negotiate ourselves through dozens upon dozens of trees laying all over the trail.One of the most beautiful sights today were the bright, light tan wood chips from a trail maintainer's axe scattered on the dark, contrasting mud comprising much of the trail. And yes, I said axe. I believe wilderness areas and some others have restrictions on gas-powered engines and whatnot.I remember Bloodbath telling me about it from his days on a trail maintaining crew. During his year of the PCT, there were so many blowdowns from winter that the crews had to get a waiver from Congress to use chainsaws.The alpine regions in this area were extremely boggy again. The mud was thick, deep, and black. Intermittent planks were semi-submerged in the muddy, soupy trail.Often, we saw moose tracks in this prime tracking material. No, not the ice cream!! I know that was a bad joke, but i couldn't resist anyways.It was an interesting area with its various states of decomposition. Mosses, lichens, ferns, and stunted trees create the view along the trail. That meant a faster pace for us (well, as much as one can expect on this rugged part of the trail. This also reduced the amount of wear of a lot of our equipment.A very cool sign came into view. I read it as smiles were on all of our faces. It was the Maine border!! We had made it to the last state! It was a great milestone, to say the least.The descents for today were as dangerous and tedious as the ascents. The wet boulders made for extremely slippery hand and foot holds. This was compounded by the fact that mud and pine needles had collected on the rocks, thus making them even slippery. Many slips and falls occurred throughout the day as the trail was thoroughly soaked.The last downhill was a wicked descent.   Difficult tall boulders made huge barriers for us to negotiate. Sliding, both intentional and accidental, was unavoidable. It was a nasty, slow-going slope.We ended our day at the Carlo Col shelter. We stopped here because tomorrow we will hike the most difficult mile on the trail. It will be a tough hike for sure!!
Date: 2015-06-16
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Speck Pond
Miles today: 9.5

I woke up early this morning. It was maybe 4:45. I relaxed and slowly engaged the day. After consuming some crazy amounts of food, I finished yesterday's journal. By 8:00, Deadline, LittleDebbie, and I were headed down the trail. The forest was soaking wet and heavy. As we walked, we were bombarded by clusters of rain drops from the tall tree's leaves.The mud was like thick, overcooked pudding. Sometimes, a hiking pole would probe into a deeper puddle to find out that it was shockingly deep. Old, sometimes rotting planks were placed in the problem area to help the hiker. Unfortunately, nearly every time you were left with some delicate foot work to avoid a muddy shoe.We decided to take a break at a shelter along the way. The actual trail had one taking a ladder to the shelter. When we got there, a hiker was still packing up to leave. His name was ThinkICan. It was interesting that Deadline and I both met him individually a long time ago. In fact, the hiker had even met Dandelion (my friend from Traverse City) in the Shenandoahs. Small world!!Today, we hiked towards Mahoosuc Notch, the reportedly most difficult one mile on the Appalachian Trail. This difficulty would be further increased by the incoming inclement weather.This section was not easy, especially in the rain. It quite likely would have been fun in fair weather. We began the day with several climbs and descents. These were taxing, but reasonable. They also came with outstanding views complete with low lying clouds to accent the peaks.The top of the mountain range alternated in-between open, alpine bogs and wind-beaten, smaller pine trees enveloped by moss. The last descent into Mahoosuc notch got ever steeper and trickier.We had hit the Notch! Finally!! That bad news.... It had started raining on us and made the rocks slicker than can be. The notch was basically an obstacle course that went through a massive boulder area. I am talking massive boulders! We had to hop, climb, slide, crawl, and even take our packs off during this little bit. It was hard on our gear and our mileage total for today. In the rock area, the temperature had to have dropped 30 degrees. Underneath the rocks, was all ice and snow. Large gaps and cave-like pockets existed under the rocks that we crossed.It took forever, but we got it done!! I was now soaked to the bone. As a reward for our completion, the trail took us up for a climb. This one was really steep and extremely slippery. I can't state enough how slippery can really slow one down.After getting to the top of the mountain, we got to a shelter. We were soaked and exhausted from today's conditions. We noticed that there was an $8 charge for anyone who camped or stayed in the shelter. We just paid and got into dry clothes. This was much better. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring better weather. It was the lowest full mileage day ever. We could have done more miles, but the slow going was so inefficient, it was not sensible. Tomorrow, bigger miles!!!   If we get a goo start with some fair weather, we will get some miles done!!
Date: 2015-06-17
From: Speck Pond

To: Hall Mountain Lean-To
Miles today: 21.0

Our morning began with a random visitor. LittleDebbie, Deadline, and I were awake and getting ready to eat some breakfast. A hiker came by that certainly looked like a southbounder (sobo). We asked him and, sure enough, he was a sobo. His name was Grayson and he was trying to beat the current record for a sobo AT hike!Surprisingly, the caretaker ran out and asked the sobo to carry mail with him to Carter Hut. The hut is off-trail and a huge favor to ask.After gritting our teeth and putting on yesterday's soaked clothes. It was rough!!! Talk about c-c-cold!! The morning temperature was hovering around 40 degrees.The day's hike started with a climb up a muddy and slippery mountain. It was like most of the other climbs recently--steep. The forest was nearly all pines now, giving off the sweet smell of their pine needles.At the top, the mountain transitioned into sold granite slabs. These slabs made hiking quicker...at least until the next slope with them. The summit had incredible views of mountain ranges stacked up on the horizon.From there, the trail descended to a col and then right back up the eastern summit. This summit was all rock which would have made this peak daunting, if not impossible, in the rain.After a nice break, it was time to descend back down into the woods. The trail turned into a soupy, muddy mess. Old tree roots were interlaced throughout the forest floor giving hikers another hazard. These roots are exceptionally slippery, especially when wet. The Hemlocks and Spruce overwhelmed the trail, making it exceptional narrow (and scratchy!).This was when we started hitting the dozens upon dozens of blow downs. The fallen trees obstructed our progress and was very hard on our gear. These would continue for the rest of the way to camp. Lots of moose scat was littered everywhere. Some of it was very fresh. The amounts of it on the trail reminded me of Isle Royale. Another interesting animal we saw was a grouse.This grouse was in the trail and started acting injured. It flapped its wings and flopped around. It kept going down the trail in front of us, clearly trying to have us move away from its nest. This bird kept it up for quite a little while.As the terrain and trail were tough, we didn't get into camp until 8:15pm. It was an exhausting day, but we finally did over 20 miles. It has been a while since we've done that!We got settled at camp, ate dinner, and finally sat back and relaxed.
Date: 2015-06-18
From: Hall Mountain Lean-To

To: Sabbath Day Lean-To
Miles today: 21.0

Maine is rough!! It is tough to make miles here. Between the rock hopping, the tree root scrambling, and the bog mud avoidance, time slips away quickly here. We started our hiking day at 730. It was a good start with enough time to get all of the camp chores caught up. Things like my journal and other little details were completed before departure.There were some significant climbs and descents, requiring the standard skills-such as using trees as hand holds, smart choices in routes, and effective use of rotting wooden planks for bog traverses.The day warmed up quickly and brought with it the multitude of pests with it. The trail was a little kinder than yesterday with most of the deadfall cleared. The tread quality definitely left something to be desired. Whenever the trail went up, it seemed water found its way to it and promptly ran down it. When the trail stayed "level", the boggy swamps would be the obstacle to try to get through/around.We met our first big bubble of southbounders today. They were a large group of six who had been having a tough go of the Maine terrain. Apparently, a few of the had left as early as May 11th. It was hard to figure out how exactly they budgeted their days.The trail continued along through the deep woods on wood planks. The plank typically would be 3 or 4 lengths, then a big section of mud, then a ton of roots to hop across. Most of the time, you could avoid soaking the shoes. Ultimately, after a slip (or a lapse in attention), one's shoes always get dunked.On the way down off the ridge, the descent became dramatically steep. Half way down, the view of a large pond/lake came into view. A solitaire cabin stood on its shores in dramatic fashion. Eventually, tonight's camp came into view. It was called the Sabbath Day Shelter. About at the same time, wicked, nasty mosquitoes came out in force. At the camp, we met Heidi, "HazMat", from Upstate New York. She warned us about the ferocious insects at camp. They were quite bad. So bad, in fact, Deadline and I set up our tarps to hide from the evil buggers.Tomorrow, we will hit town! We will go into Rangeley for food and supplies. It will be a well-deserved resupply stop!