morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-07-30
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter

To: Day 79
Miles today: 18.0

So I was stuck in my hammock for 13 hours straight last night because it was raining so hard. I went to bed nice and drunk last night so it didn't bother me to sleep in, although I had to pull some pretty technical maneuvers in order to piss without getting out of my hammock overnight. No rain today either! Everything is still so wet that the trail is dangerous as shit though. I definitely took a couple of nasty spills going up and down both peaks of Moose Mountain. I really tried to do a 22 and get 1/2 way to Glencliff, NH but I left pretty late. I spent the morning shaking off a hangover with Arrow until we parted ways (he's off-trail for a week for a wedding.) By the time I got to Bill Ackerly's house near Lyme Center, NH the sun was already setting. Bill is a sweet old Trail Angel who lives 1/10 of a mile off-trail. He invited any and all hikers to come hang out on his porch, fill up on water, and grab a free ice cream bar. I hung out there for a long while kind of unsure what to do. You see, water is gonna be scarce until I get to the other side of Smarts Mt. and the next shelter after Lyme Center was 6 miles and 2,300' feet away from the Ice Cream Man's house.    Luckily, there was this crazy Ridge Runner with a thick Boston accent who stopped by. He did his thru-hike a few years ago and still lives, sleeps, and breathes the Appalachian Trail. He told me about a secret campsite that he's been working on just 2 miles away, just passed a cache of sodas that he puts in grant Brook every day. So me and 2 NoBo's who were there, Moses and Kackle, said our goodbyes to Bill, did a short little night-hike, grabbed a soda, and made camp in our own little hidden campsite. Then we were joined by our Ridge Runner friend. He brought us some beers, collected wood and built us a fire, and gave us tips about where to find decent water coming up. Then he begrudgingly left us to go back home to his wife (who can't stand the outdoors.) We were eventually joined by a panting NYC cab driver who is out on a 2-week section. He sat there bewildered as Moses, Kackle, and I shared stories and drank for a while. By the way, I love FREE ICE CREAM!
Date: 2011-07-31
From: Ninja Campsite

To: Day 80
Miles today: 14.0

Thankfully, I woke up this morning with an excuse not to hike the 23 miles all the way to Glencliff, NH: I can't get my mail drop today because it's Sunday and the P.O. is closed. Having some time to kill, I figured I'd just have one of those days where where I just walk without any particular destination and see what happens. Well, what happened I climbed Smarts Mt. first thing in the morning. Bah humbug. The fire tower and the Fire Wardens Cabin on top of smarts were pretty cool though. The Smarts summit is exactly 420 miles from Katahdin so my hash pipe and I celebrated in proper fashion. After that, I climbed down 1,800' ft to Jacobs Brook and then right back up 1,500' to the peak of Mt. Cube. I was ready to call it a day on Cube Mt. and stay at the Hexacuba shelter but, before I got there, I was warned that it had been overrun by 15+ boy scouts so I just pressed on. I ran in to some NoNo's named Swift and Balance who told me that they had heard about a possible place to stay near the road crossing at the bottom of the mountain. when I got there there was nothing but a summer camp and some hiker-friendly sugar farm. I went and yogied some water from the summer camp and made a camp for myself in the woods across the street. My site is actually pretty quaint considering how close to a road crossing I am.    Noodles and onion soup mix for dinner tonight. I've only been back on-trail for a week, but I've definitely gotten back my insatiable HIKER HUNGER!
Date: 2011-08-01
From: NH 25A

To: Day 81
Miles today: 9.9

Super late start today. I didn't have a whole lot of miles to do today so I figured what the hell; I sat around and drank coffee, smoked hash, and listened to people hike by and comment on how nice my campsite was. I finally got going around 11:00 and climbed right over Mt. Mist without even noticing it. I cut it kind of close and didn't get to the P.O. in Glencliff, NH until 3:30. I got my mail drop and sent some more crap back home. By now, I've sent back everything that I don't use at least a couple of times a day. It's funny how luxuries become less and less important and pack weight become all that matters the longer you go out here. I think I've gotten my pack weight down to just under 40 lbs now that I've switched out my pack with Belle and sent home a bunch of crap that I used to think was important. Lowering my pack weight is super important right now because after I leave here I've got to climb through the whole White Mountain Range, by far the most difficult terrain I've encountered.    After finishing up at the P.O. I walked across the street to the Hikers Welcome Hostel and made myself at home. This is the closest thing to a genuine communal-style hostel I've been to so far. Right now, there is a bunkroom, permanent barracks-style tents, plenty of camping, a few RV's, and a couple of VW buses here. There's also a well-built outdoor bathhouse with a shower, sink, washer, dryer, and toilet. No one in particular seems to be 'in charge' of the place either. I don't even think the owner of the property lives in the state. Instead, the place is run by a rag-tag group of travelers, volunteers, and Trail Angels who are constantly coming and going. The amount of activity at this place is impressive to say the least. There are constantly people showing up, leaving, hiking North, hiking South, running into town, repairing gear, slack-packing, using the internet, grilling steaks, drinking beers, etc... I could get used to a place like this...
Date: 2011-08-02
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Day 82
Miles today: 9.3

I'm finally in The Whites! And I don't have my gear! Woke up at 5:30 AM this morning and hopped in Phat Chap's car with Twisted Tree, Swift, Deja, Moses, and Kackle. Phat Chap gave us a ride to the deli and then all the way up to Kinsman Notch, where we started our SoBo slack-pack over our very first mountain in The Whites: Mt. Moosilauke. It was so nice so enter this mountain range without my pack on. I've never seen mountains this big before, let alone climbed over them. There is this gorgeous waterfall that the trail parallels for miles on the northern side of the mountain. I was thankful to be southbounding at the time because I got to enjoy the waterfall as I slowly climbed up the impossibly steep trail instead fearing for my life as I climbed down. After some tough tough miles, we finally got above tree-line and reached the 4,802' summit. We had about a half hour to do lunch ans soak in the spectacular view before the clear blue sky turned in to a lightning storm in about 15 minutes. As I dashed down toward the tree-line I could see giant lightning bolts forming at eye level and shooting thousands of feet down to the valley below. It was intense.    We all made it back to Hikers Welcome safe and sound. And it actually turned out to be a pretty relaxed day seeing as how we were done hiking by 12:45 PM. I was able to yogi some beers, meet some cool, Trail Angels, smoke some spliffs, hava good time. Cimmarom showed up later on that night. Then Goldi Locks and Havoc showed up with their mom. Goldi Locks is 15 and her brother Havoc is 12, which officially makes them the youngest thru-hikers of 2011. And, with Cimmaron being the oldest thru-hiker of 2011, it made for a great photo op. This is gonna be a crazy little stretch of the AT...
Date: 2011-08-03
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Day 83
Miles today: 11.5

I'm finally in The Whites with my pack on! I caught a ride back to Kinsman Notch this morning with some hikers who were doing the same slack-pack that I did yesterday. I got on-trail at 9:00 AM and immediately got my ass kicked by Mt. Wolf, one of the smaller mountains in my immediate future. The going is slow up here for sure. The trail is comprised of nothing but crazy steep climbs and descents, huge boulders, sheer cliffs, and plenty of mortal danger. I think that this is the first time that I've felt real mortal danger on the Appalachian Trail. Up until now, a snake bite or a broken bone was about the worst thing that I could imagine happening to me. But here in The White, I can literally fall to my death if I'm unlucky enough to slip up in the wring place. It definitely, out of necessity, makes me more cautious and careful. On every license plate on every vehicle here in NH it reads "Live Free or Die." I like to thin that those of us here on the AT take that motto a little bit more seriously than most people in this state.      A little freaked out, I made it to the other side of Mt. Wolf and almost stopped for the day. But it was still early and the weather was nice. Me and Twisted Tree are hiking together right now too because we are the two stoners out of the group of slack-packers yesterday. So him and I motivated one another to go ahead and climb Kinsman Mt. too. The 4 miles to the summit just about killed me... literally. Slippery jagged rocks on a 60-degree-incline aint nuttin' ta fuck with. We got to Kinsman pond Shelter just before sunset and were forced to pay $8 to stay there by the caretaker! Unacceptable. I was furious about the notion of paying to sleep in the woods. You see, Dartmouth College is responsible for the section of trail from Hahnover to Mt. Moosilauke. After that the Appalachian Mountain Club, a group of rich good-ol-boys from Boston, takes control of the entire White Mountain Range. These guys ruthlessly use the trail to generate revenue under the guise of 'conservation and sustainability.' Never again AMC! I'm way too low on cash to let those bastards nickle-and-dime me to death now. Luckily there was a .pdf file on the computer at Hikers Welcome that listed a bunch of the secret stealth campsites throughout The Whites. So it looks like, from here on out, Portable G will be stealth camping!
Date: 2011-08-04
From: Kinsman Pond Shelter

To: Day 84
Miles today: 4.8

I slept like a baby last night, even did a healthy amount of snoring according to Twisted Tree. We got up at 7:00, dicked around until 9:00, and spent the morning climbing down steep. wet, and rocky Mt. Kinsman until we the Lonesome Lake Hut, my first AMC hut! And what an impressive structure this thing is. It is one of 8 huts here in the Whites that are owned my the AMC and modeled after the huts in the Swiss Alps. This makes them all gorgeous and fantastic places to stay... if you can pony up the $300+ per night per person it costs to stay there. Luckily, us thru-hikers can usually get a work-for-stay if we look real haggard and ask real nice.    So I walk into the hut and there is a small group of thru-hikers sitting at a table going to town on a free bowl of ham that was put out for us. I immediately join the hiker feed. At this point being fed like a dog doesn't even phase me; it's funny how hunger can usurp most other things, pride included. There was also cheap coffee and delicious hut-made bread. There were also several cute hiker girls on the hut Croo. Twisted and I kicked it for quite a while there and ate food, smoked cigs, and enjoyed the view. Then we continued to climb down another 3 miles to Franconia Notch, the site where the infamous 'Old Man of the Mountain' used to be. We hopped off the AT and blue-blazed about a half mile down some bike trail until we got to a parking lot. There, we got a $5 shuttle straight to Chet's Place.    This is another donation-based word-of-mouth hostel that I had heard about back at Hikers Welcome. Well, Chet's Place turned out to be even cooler that everyone had said because everyone neglected to mention that Chet is a raging Dead Head with an extensive collection of old SBD cassette tape recordings dating back to the mid 60's. Needless to say, Chet and I got along very well. I just can't express how much my hears goes out to these hostel owners who, day-in and day-out, donate 100% of their time and energy to helping us along our journey. We had a great night with the fun group of SoBo's whom we were sharing the hostel with. I met Milk Carton, who the SoBo's have been saying is the 'hottest chick on the AT.' She was more annoying than she was hot. I've learned by now not to trust anything that the SoBo's have to say. They act all high-and-mighty because they started in Maine and are doing the most difficult part of the trail first. The fact of the matter is that 1,800 miles worth trail has taught the NoBo's how to be humble as well as knowledgeable about their hike. It'll be interesting to see how these guys will have changed by the time I'm hiking with them in Virginia. We all ate town-food and drank copious amounts of alcohol. I couldn't ask for anything more... well, Bell maybe...
Date: 2011-08-05
From: Chet's Place

To: Day 85
Miles today: 1.2

I woke up pretty early this morning actually. Hung out and smoked hash until my hangover was manageable. Then went out into town for food. The butter-fried blueberry muffins at the pancake house in Lincoln are to die for by the way. Big thanks to Mom for depositing some $ in my account and to Twisted Tree for trading me some money for some opium. I would be too broke to keep going out here by now if it weren't for then. Thankfully, Lincoln is not the end of the trail for Portable G. I spent most of the day lounging around Chet's trying to motivate myself to hike out. I swear these hostels are getting harder and harder to leave! Eventually, Miss Janet showed up to drop off some hikers and gossip with Chet for a bit. I caught a ride out with her around 5:00 PM, Twisted Tree stayed behind to fix his phone and drink some more. I get back to the trail head, put my pack on, and realize that I don't have my trekking poles... So I used Miss Janet's phone to call Chet, who puts me on the phone with TT, and I arrange for him to bring my poles to me tomorrow. So I hiked like 1.5 miles in sandals and make camp by the 1st water source I can find. Now I just have to sit here and wait for TT to bring me my poles I guess. I'll climb up Franconia Ridge eventually...EPCOT FAIL.
Date: 2011-08-06
From: Franconia Notch

To: Day 86
Miles today: 1.7

I woke up this morning in an interesting situation: I'm at the base of Franconia Ridge, which tops out at a full mile above sea-level, and I'm forced to wait up for Twisted Tree, who is at least a half a day behind me, in order to get my poles back. I've got to somehow waste a day, but do it with style and class. I decide to go ahead and hike a few miles up the ridge and wait for TT at a campsite just south of Little haystack and Mt. Lincoln. Well, the 'few' miles up the ridge turns out to be easily one of the toughest most challenging climbs I've encountered on the whole trail. Not only that, but I'm hiking without my trekking poles for the first time and the trail is literally packed full of day-hikers, weekend-warriors, and exhausted dogs. I navigated my way through it though. Even took a 1/4-mile side trail to the summit of Mt. Liberty. There, I had a safety meeting with some local day hikers and soaked in the breathtaking view with my trusty JR.    When I finally got to the 'stealth' campsite that I was supposes to meet TT at, the damn thing had been destroyed by Ridge Runners and declared a "re-vegetation area." Nice try AMC, this is obviously a clever ruse to force people to go to the Liberty Spring campsite and pay an $8 fee. I ignore the sign, sneak behind a big boulder, and build for myself a nice little camouflaged ninja campsite, even fly my blackbird right over the little saplings and fallen branches that the Ridge Runners planted to deter tent-campers. Then I set out without my pack to go check out some waterfalls down a side-trail and summit Mt. Lincoln. The side-trail turned out to be 3-miles long and descend straight down the ridge so I turned around after couple hundred yards. Then I made a dash for the top of Mt. Lincoln. But, right when I reached the summit, the clouds rolled in and obscured the view before I could snap a picture. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. I am officially not in a hurry here in the Whites. Here's to moving superSLOW.
Date: 2011-08-07
From: Ninja Campsite

To: Day 87
Miles today: 3.4

The saga continues... It was a real day on the AT for sure. First of all, I failed to anticipate the thunderstorm last night. I figured that it would just mist all night because I'm up here in the clouds so I just draped my ground cover over my hammock. Huge mistake. I got caught with my pants down at about 3:00 AM and didn't wake up until it was too late. All of my shit got wet: hammock, sleeping bag, dry clothes, everything. I got up in the mist, packed up all of my wet gear into my wet pack and started hiking.    The beautiful scenery was obscured by the thick ass clouds, socked in all day. I did Little Haystack again, did Lincoln again, and summited Mt. Layfayette, the tallest mountain in Franconia Ridge. I dropped my pack, left TT a not on the sign, and climbed a mile down to the Greenleaf hut for water. There the Croo gave me bomb-ass water, free AYCE pancakes, and sent me packing so they could sweep/mop. I preceded to climb back up to the summit of Lafayette, build a make shift lean-to, and sit my ass down to wait for TT. I was there like all day: sleeping, scaring day hikers by crawling out from under my shelter in a troll-like fashion, smoking weed, trying to ignore the rain and the cold. It wasn't so bad I guess. I finally decided that TT wasn't gonna make it so I packed up and walked back down to Greenleaf to score a work-for-stay spot. Best choice I've made in a while. Thank God I don;t have to sleep in the rain again; I would have frozen to death. Turkey soup, ravioli w/ spinach, and cuscus for dinner. And a dry dining room floor to sleep on.Thanks CROO!!!
Date: 2011-08-08
From: Greenleaf Hut

To: Day 88
Miles today: 2.6

These huts are a life saver man. I woke up to the sound of Wagon Wheel playing ofer the speakers. Then I did a little bit of sweeping and was fed an AYCE breakfast of eggs and chocolate-chip muffins. I finally took off around 9:00 and climbed back up Lafayette. I was there for an hour tops before the wind/rain convinced me to just leave another note for TT and move the hell on. I met a cool SoBo (who has done 2 NoBo thru-hikes) who gave me a tip about a nice little stealth campsite by an incognito spring just shy of Mt. Garfield. I set up camp, ate an early dinner, then pretty much just sat on a rock in the rain and chatted with passers-by for the rest of the day. Still no sign of Twisted Tree...
Date: 2011-08-09
From: incognito spring

To: Day 89
Miles today: 3.5

So I woke up this morning with the full intention of SoBoing without my pack back to Liberty Spring in search of Twisted Tree and my poles. But when I got out of my hammock, the sky was actually blue and the wind/rain were tame. I decided to take advantage of the clearish skies and slack up Mt. Garfield instead. I hung out on the summit for quite a while and dried out my boots and socks (there's an old concrete foundation up there that allows you to take refuge from the wind.) Then I walked back to my little secret campsite where I ate, smoked, and spontaneously decided so say fuck Twisted Tree and my trekking poles and press on while the weather is nice. I packed up and walked back over Garfield and straight to the Galehead Hut without stopping. I got work-for-stay along with 8 other NoBo's whom I've never met. It was fun. And the lasagna was fantastic, and don't even get me started about the brownies... In fact, only 2 SoBo's got turned away today. Pretty nice Croo here at Galehead. I'm glad I'm not sleeping out in that40 MPH WIND/RAIN!
Date: 2011-08-10
From: Galehead Hut

To: Day 90
Miles today: 14.8

Fantastic day today. So glad I wasn't out in that shit ridiculous rainstorm last night, it literally sounded like a damn hurricane from inside the hut. I woke up super early and did some chores. Then I ate a ton of leftover eggs, oatmeal, and chocolate-chip carrot cake ; ) Then I slayed South Twin Mt, Mt. Guyout, and the Zeacliff ridge in the wind/rain and hiked straight to the Zealand falls Hut without stopping. The hut was by far the nicest one yet: great view, great design, swimming and close proximity to waterfalls, and a kickass Croo. I hung out there for hours romping around the flumes and waterfalls, yogiing food from section-hikers, and drying out my gear. It was too early to ask for work-for-stay and the rain clouds had sort-of cleared up so I just packed up and pushed on.    I must have been in the zone because hours went by before I felt like I needed to take a break. It might have been that the terrain was relatively easy for the first time in a while too. I made it all the way to Ethan Pond and saw Comfortably Numb setting up camp so I took my 1st break there to chat with him and fill up on H2O. The sky was dark but it hadn't started raining yet. And the campsite was full of weird townies. So I pressed on. I made it all the way to the Saco River (1,265') before I called it made made camp literally 20 minutes before a lightning storm blew in. It felt good to do my first big day here in the Whites. Looks like I may have developed my trail legs after all, trekking poles or no trekking poles.
Date: 2011-08-11
From: Saco River

To: Day 91
Miles today: 6.3

Another beautiful day in paradise up here in the land that time forgot. I weathered the shit blizzard last night like a boss, not a thing got wet not even my pack! I had time and energy enough to do a quick 2-mile stroll up and down Crawford Notch to check out some snack bar. The snack bar turned out to be a funky little lodge/pit-stop that's wedged in a canyon in between two huge mountains. I like it. I dumped my trash, gave myself a sponge bath in the rest room, and picked up some egg muffins and snack food for my pack. I made it a late morning and hung out with Yak and Stitch (the guy who looks exactly like Bill Nershi,) Lost&Found, and Falcor.    I finally broke camp around 11:00 and climbed from the river at 1,265' to the top of Mt. Webster at 3,910' in 3 miles. Climbing up Webster Cliffs was a trip because I could see the lodge where I ate breakfast the whole time. The thing looked like a tiny man-made speck in an otherwise untouched wilderness by the time I got to the top. If fact, this whole mountain range had been making me feel pretty spun out... it's more than just the hash and the endorphins at this point. The ambient energy here is apparent, abundant, and completely foreign to me still. I promised myself that I would one-day come back to the amazing place, and then made short work of Webster and Jackson and hauled ass to Mizpah Spring Hut in time for work-for-stay. This Croo was a little more strict and I was one of only 4 thru-hikers that they let in. I know of at least 4 more who were turned down. Me and an older guy 'worked' by giving a little question-and-answer seminar about thru-hiking. The paying customers ate it up. Many of them didn't even know that it is even possible to do what we're doing. Tonight was green beans, pasta, potatoes, bread, chocolate cake, and...MARINATED STEAK!