morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-05-27
From: Route 2 trailhead 

To: Carlo Col Shelter 
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: moderate rain

AT day 517.6 miles to Carlo Col ShelterI had a great night sleep at the Libby House. The resident ghosts left me alone. Paul dropped me off at the trailhead at 6:15. You have to do a short road walk and then the trail heads back into the woods. The mosquitoes came out and I had to stop and put on Picardin repellent. 20 minutes later the mosquitoes were gone. The trail starts off with pretty easy climbs and fairly smooth trail. After such an easy start I had great expectations for my days mileage. An hour and several grueling climbs later I reevaluated my goal for the day. The trail actually resembled North Carolina AT trails (the hardest ones) for most of the day.Most of the hike involved long fairly steep climbs that slowed me down to a turtle¢s pace. I couldn¢t make up time on the descents because of all the lrocks and roots scattered across the trail demand slow careful foot placement. The trail maintenance volunteers haven¢t been out yet to clear out the blown down trees. The most dangerous trees are the ones that fell down and got stuck at head level. It takes so much concentration to watch the trail for trip hazards that I seldom look up to see what¢s at eye level. Today I got knocked down by trees 3 times in the space of 5 minutes because I walked head on into a blowdown tree. I was lucky that I didn¢t get knocked out or get a concussion. I was very happy to finally get out of New Hampshire and enter Maine. Maine didn¢t take long to let me know that New Hampshire has nothing over Maine in terms of crazy extremely dangerous trail. Within less than 12 mile I has staring down a jumble of truck sized rectangular granite blocks arranged haphazardly. I checked my navigation app to confirm that I this mess was part of the trail. I basically had to use rock climbing skills to wedge my body between two slabs and ease myself down. Just another of many times that I look down and say ¢You freakin got to be kidding¢. I got to the campsite at 5pm which is nice because I could do all of my camp chores at my leisure. I¢m alone at the campsite this evening and decided to sleep in the shelter. It provides shelter from the wind and is much warmer than being in my tent on a windy night with sub freezing temperatures. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-05-28
From: Carlo Col Shelter 

To: Baldpate Lean- to
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

AT day 617 miles to Baldplate Lean to I knew that I had a big day today so I wanted to get up with the birds. They did their job and woke me up at 4:15. I was hiking out of camp at 5:30. The trail started off on a climb up to a ridge that would eventually take me up and over a mountain. Up on the exposed parts of the ridges the wind was howling and the temperature was below freezing. Many of the alpine boggy areas had frozen water. The views were spectacular. I could see many of the mountain ranges that I had passed over. The main event for today was the Mahoosuc Notch and Arm. The Notch is advertised as either the hardest or most fun mile on the trail. It is a labyrinth of truck sized boulders randomly positioned by hiker hating aliens. You have to navigate over, around or under the geological mess for one mile. The trail was made harder and downright frightening for me because the first half mile was filled with snow and ice. Luckily I had microspikes with me or I wouldn¢t have had the courage to continue. A special hazard with the snow was the possibility of postholing into a huge void between the boulders. Some of the pits are deeper than most humans are tall. If I postholed into one of these areas I probably would have got stuck and they would have found my body in July. Some of the boulders make little tunnels that you have to pass through. I had to take my pack off 4 times to squeeze through the crevices. It also wasn¢t marked by the white blazes very well. I knew the general direction to go but there were multiple options of which huge boulder to climb. I frequently chose the wrong one and got on top to find that there was no safe way down so I would have to climb back down into the icy mess and try a different route. It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to pass through this 1 mile section. I didn¢t think this section was fun or that hard. It took me so long because of the poor markings and I had to periodically stop to put on or take off my spikes. I lost my warm gloves in this section. I didn¢t think this section was fun or that hard. I¢m sure it would have been fun if I was with other hikers and it was ice free. Next came the Mahoosac Arm which is 1 mile of the steepest grade on the AT. I misread my guide and thought that the start of the climb was a half mile up the trail so I got really grumpy as I climbed the steep trail while thinking that the steep section was still to come. It took me more than an hour to complete it. I felt really good having survived the hardest 2 miles that Maine can throw at me. I know that the hiking will still be hard but not Mahoosuc hard. The rest of the day was spent hiking around a mountain lake, over Mt Speck, descending to Grafton Notch and then hiking back up another mountain to a campsite. I arrived at camp at 6pm which ended a grueling 12.5 hour day of hiking. I¢m sleeping alone in the shelter. It¢s not as warm as last nights shelter because this one only has 3 walls. Another AT hiker is here camping in his hammock.
Date: 2021-05-29
From: Baldpate Lean- to

To: South Arm Trailhead 
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: moderate rain

AT day 718 miles to South Arm Road trailhead The lazy birds slept in and didn¢t wake me up. Luckily I set the bird alarm on my phone for 4:45. I got to sleep in an extra half hour. I wanted to get an early start so that I could make it to The Cabin hostel for dinner. I called them yesterday from a mountain to let them know that I would get there today and Honey (a long time icon of the trail) told me that she would make some lasagna and apple pie for dinner. The morning started with a long steep climb up to Baldpate Mountain. The climb was worth it. There weren¢t any vistas because the strong cold winds were blowing clouds up and over the ridge. Just being able to experience the beautiful alpine environment with the majestic granite domes, stunted alpine plants and lichens was well worth the energy it took to climb up. The trail conditions were almost perfect and the trail followed the ridge through the alpine area for a long time. This was the best day of hiking I had for the week I¢ve been on trail. However, of all the crazy rock and boulders I¢ve stepped during the week, all it took was to step wrong on a small inconspicuous rock on a beautiful trail that almost did me in. I stepped on a rock and my shoe slid just enough to twist my ankle and my knee. My ankle felt fine but my knee hurt and started getting stiff. The pain eventually went away but my knee stayed stiff the entire day. I¢ve been fortunate to never have knee issues before so I hope that it works itself out. My final climb of the day was up Moody Mountain. The climb was described as a one mile rugged steep climb. The climb was made harder because of several spots where huge trees blew down and obscured all evidence of the trail. I would stop and look up the mountain in multiple directions for white blazes. When I couldn¢t see a blaze I would just pick a direction and climb up until my chosen path became so ridiculous that it must be wrong. I would back track and try again. Finally I would have to resort to using my navigation app to find the trail. Usually I would have to bushwhack through vegetation and loose soil to regain the trail. Definitely not what I needed for my last climb with lasagna waiting for me. I called the hostel from the top of the mountain to let them know that I was on my way down. Don was waiting for me at the trailhead. The family style dinner didn¢t disappoint. Honey and her son Don were very welcoming and shared some great stories. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-05-31
From: South Arm Trailhead 

To: The Cabin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I took 2 zero days at ¢The Cabin¢, a hiker hostel near Andover. I wanted to avoid the cold rain that showed up yesterday afternoon. The rain will continue on into tonight. If I was thru hiking I would have just kept hiking because ¢No Rain No Maine¢. Well I¢m in Maine so that old hiker adage is mute. I¢m also not in a hurry so I figured why get hypothermic if I don¢t have to. I had to take one zero to rest up from the 100 miles, 7 days excursion that took me through the famous Presidential Range, Wildcats, Carters, Mahoosuc Notch and Arm, Baldpate mountains into Andover. The Cabin is the perfect place to take a double zero. Honey, the owner is a very friendly, welcoming and delightful woman. I¢ve enjoyed the family style sit down breakfast and dinners that she serves. She loves the rugged mountains of New Hampshire and Maine. She started hiking when she was 2 years old looking for the ¢soft rock¢ that her mother told her to find. At 88 she still enjoys hiking. She showed me picture albums of her family celebrating her 84th and 85th birthday in the White Mountains. Honey is a historian of the AT. She has known and been friends with many of the icons of the AT. One of her AT buddies was Earl Shaffer who was the first person to hike the entire AT. Her brother is responsible for making hikers go through the Mahoosuc Notch and then the Arm. I¢ve 100 miles and have 245 miles to Katahdin. I leave at 6am tomorrow to get back on the trail. Warmer weather is coming and along with the warmth the bugs will come out. An equipment note; My BeFree water filter only had about 3 weeks of use and it¢s already clogged and slow flowing. The BeFree work great until they don¢t. I tried their swishing and shake cleaning methods which seemed to make things worse. Luckily I brought my Sawyer Squeeze along for a backup. I would be out of luck with out my Sawyer because there is only one store still open in Andover and it¢s not equipped with hiker supplies except for food. My Osprey Exos has worked great. I¢m so glad that I chose it over my Arc Haul even if it weighs an extra 1.5 pounds Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-06-01
From: South Arm Trailhead 

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

AT day 1017 miles to Sabbath Day Pond Lean to Honey dropped me off at the South Arm trailhead at 6:39. It felt great to get back on the trail. I started off with a long climb up Big Blue mountain. The grade wasn¢t too taxing but the terrain was filled with rocks, roots, streams, and mucky bogs. The trail was wet from the last 2 days of rain. It was very tedious having to carefully place your feet in a dry safe spot for hours. On a normal trail with such an easy grade I could have been moving much faster. There were metal rungs installed on several steep granite slabs to keep hikers from slipping. The next mountain was Bemis Mountain. The climb up to it was fairly easy and the trail spent a lot of time on a ridge with dry granite slabs that allowed for fast hiking. The views from Bemis were outstanding. The descent from Bemis was terrible. The granite on this side seemed to be much more slippery than the other side. There were many steep granite slabs to negotiate. I always try find a safe path along the edges of the slabs. If it looks really slippery I get down on my butt and ease myself down. Even though I was treading carefully I still slipped numerous times because of hidden slippery roots or rocks. I happened to break both of my trekking poles within 30 minutes of each other during this decent. Luckily there is still enough usable pole sections so that I can still use them. After finally getting down from Bemis I followed the trail up and down several rollers that gave me some great views of the surrounding mountains and lakes. I had to ford a river that didn¢t have any safe way to rock hop across so I had to get my shoes wet. I¢d rather just walk through the water then risk slipping off a slippery rock. I¢m camping in my tent even though the shelter is empty because I figured that the bugs would be annoying. The pond by the campsite is very pretty I sat on a log next to the pond while I ate dinner. I could see fish breaking the surface of the water. An owl has been hooting several times tonight. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-06-02
From: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: overcast clouds

AT day 1120.1 miles to Poplar Ridge Lean-toI left camp at 6am excited to get to the Saddleback and Horn mountains because there was supposed to be a long alpine ridge walk. I had a big 20 mile day planned. The first 11 miles of the day were easier than I expected. The trail was so nice that it reminded me of a typical trail found in the southeast. There weren¢t too many rocks and roots to mess up my hiking rhythm. I noticed that the forest was different today. Thus far Maine¢s forest looked and smelled like Christmas trees and the forest floor was covered with thick mats of moss. Today the forest had a mixture of conifers and the ground was covered in dead leaves with patches of ferns scattered about. The wildflowers are blooming and today I saw scores of various types of butterflies. That all changed after about 11 miles and the trail reverted back to a Maine trail full of rocks, roots, wet granite slabs, mucky bogs, and streams flowing down the trail. The hike up to Saddleback was long and steep. The summit always seemed to be just over the next rise but it wasn¢t. Once I got to the summit the views made me forget the hard leg burning effort that was needed to get up there. It was a beautiful sunny day with just the right amount of wind to cool you off. Next up was the mountain called the Horn. I could see it in the distance from the top of Saddleback several miles away. Before I could climb the Horn I would have to descend Saddleback. OMG what a terrifying descent. I found myself just shaking my head in disbelief as I stared down a super steep section of huge smooth boulders jumbled around. Imagine going to a tall building and looking out the window toward the ground that¢s how steep it was. I guess that hundreds of hikers of all ages successfully down climb these ledges but I think that it¢s ludicrous to make hikers with heavy packs risk life or limb. There also were plenty of moderately steep granite slabs made wet by spring water running down them. I spent a good portion of my time on my butt carefully sliding down to my next foothold. The Horn had similar views as Saddleback. After the Horn came Saddleback Junior. Once again the descent of the Horn was slow going and dangerous. The climb up Saddleback Junior was very strenuous particularly because it came at the end of my 20 mile day. I got to camp at 5:30. The campsite doesn¢t have any good tent sites so I did the unthinkable, I pitched my tent in the shelter. There were too many mosquitoes and gnats to sleep exposed in the shelter. I figured that my odds were good that no one else would show up. If they did I would take down my tent. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-06-03
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Crocker Cirque campsite 
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

AT day 1214.3 miles to Crocker Cirque campsite I was glad that I set up my tent in the shelter last night because it rained. It¢s annoying to have to pack up a wet tent. I woke up at 5am and it was still raining. I wasn¢t in too much of a hurry to get going because it was supposed to stop raining at 6am. Last night I discovered that the heel sole was separating from my Altra Lone Peak shoes. The toe areas are also getting holes. I was hoping that they would make it to Monson which has an outfitter and marks 100 miles to go. The shoes only made it 150 miles but those were insanely rugged miles. So I ordered a pair of shoes online and paid for overnight delivery. I hope that they arrive at the hostel I¢m going to stay at tomorrow. Today¢s plan was to hike a mere 14 miles to set me up for an easy 8 mile day to the road where I will get picked up by folks from The Hostel of Maine. I will take a NERO day and pick up a food resupply box. The rain made the rocks and roots more slippery than usual. My first 20 minutes of hiking downhill consisted of slow careful foot placement and butt slides when the slabs were steep. For awhile I was getting frustrated at the slow pace because I could never make it 14 miles going this slow. I was happy when the trail mellowed out and the hiking became enjoyable. I was trekking for miles through lush forests with fields of ferns and wildflowers. It looked like great moose habitat but all that I saw were tracks in the mud and poop. I came to the first of two rivers that I would have to wade across. Half of an aluminum fishing boat was stuck in the rocks about 5 feet above where the current water level was. During river crossings I leave my trail shoes on for better traction and foot protection. The trail spent a long time within a drainage that included waterfalls and gushing streams. The four miles between Mt Abraham and Sugarloaf Mountain was an obstacle course of blown down trees. I spent a lot of time climbing over, crawling under, or bushwhacking around trees that were blocking the trail. I kept reminding myself that this was infinitely better than dealing with wet slabs. I passed the 200 mile to Katahdin point. The climbs up the mountains weren¢t too bad. The trail was wet and rocky but I will take wet and rocky over wet granite slabs any day. I was feeling like this might be the first day that the trail wasn¢t out to kill me, but then the last descent of the day had to ruin it for me. There weren¢t too many granite slabs but there were huge boulders to navigate around and down on the steep descent. I got to camp around 4pm and have the place to myself. It is nice being able lounge around camp and complete camp chores at a leisurely pace. Of course I rather hike more hours and miles. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-06-04
From: Crocker Cirque campsite 

To: ME Route 27 Trailhead 
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: light rain

AT day 127.3 miles to ME route 27 trailhead The birds woke me up at 4:15 this morning. I was wanting to sleep in because I only had about 8 miles to the trailhead where I was going to get picked up by The Hostel of Maine. I¢m going to take a NERO and get my penultimate resupply box. My new shoes should also arrive. The trail was about as perfect as any mountainous trail could be. The climbs were still steep but the terrain didn¢t involve scrambling or huge steps. I quickly made it up South Crocker and then North Crocker. As I rested at the summit of North Crocker I thought that this has to be a trick. I was sure that a hellacious descent was coming up. Nope, for the first time since I started the hike on 23 May the mountains didn¢t try to kill or maim me. The 5 mile descent was glorious even though I still managed to slip on slick granite twice. The hostel is extremely clean and still follows Maine¢s COVID-19 protocols. I¢m finding that my hiker hunger is starting to kick in. I ate a large pizza with a beer for lunch. My shoes arrived so I don¢t have to stress about them anymore. I also found some spare parts to fix one of my trekking poles in the hiker box. Tomorrow I start my next leg of my journey which will take me 73 miles to Monson. I have the Bigelow Mountains to hike up and down tomorrow. Hopefully they will be kind to this old hiker. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-06-10
From: ME 15 Trailhead 

To: Cloud Pond Campsite 
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: few clouds

19.8 miles to Cloud Pond Lean-to campsite We made arrangements to skip breakfast and get shuttled back to the trailhead at 5:30. I was supposed to get a picture of the entering the 100 Mile Wilderness sign but I forget and I didn¢t see it. The first 9 miles was through a beautiful drainage that included a waterfall and a river running through a slate lined gorge. I also got some views on the some ledges and cliffs. The trail had its ups and downs but the grade wasn¢t too taxing. It would have been a great section to pick up my pace if it wasn¢t for the many roots and rocks that demanded a slower stride and more careful foot placement. I had to get my shoes wet 3 times today because of river fords. The current wasn¢t too strong but the water did come up to my knees. The biggest hazard was the slippery slimy rocks. I made it across all of them without slipping. The trail got more tricky on a long steepish downhill because of the thick layer of dead leaves. The leaves can be almost as slippery as ice. Then came another you better slow down section where the trail was covered with moderate sized boulders from a rock slide. So far the trail was challenging because of the obstacles but not a steep grade. Then came the long steep climb up Barren Ledges and Barren Mountain. The climb was very steep but the trail had reasonable sized slabs boulders to negotiate. None of the trail was wet and slippery. The climb came at the end of the day and it really tired me out. I had to take a 0.4 mile side trail down to Cloud Pond where the campsite is located. I scouted around for a good tent site and found that the best flat spot was right on the trail leading to the shelter. No one else was here so I set up my tent and partially blocked part of the trail. A pair of hikers showed up later and just walked around my tent. I had to get water from the pond. The shoreline stunk but the water seemed okay. The bugs came out in full force as I sat by the shore filtering water. I was glad that I purchased a new water filter at Shaws Hostel because the new one filters much faster which kept my time with the bugs at a minimum. A cool breeze started blowing so I got into my tent early. Tomorrow¢s plan is to get up with the birds and hike close to 19 miles to a campsite. I will be going over several mountains in the Chairback range. Water has been an issue because Maine is in a drought and hasn¢t had the normal amount of rain. Once you climb up a mountain and out of the drainage there normally hasn¢t been any water. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.