morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-10-17
From: Blue Mountain shelter

To: Flatrock Gap campsite
Miles today: 19.9

Today started out pretty cold and miserable, but then the rain went away and turned into a nice, breezy day. Hardly broke a sweat. Also, shout out to my father. It¢s his 60th birthday today! Go Dad!Since the majority of thruhikers start in Georgia and go northbound, the AT in Georgia is the most heavily traversed part of the trail. Thousands of people start here every year, but only 20-25% make it to the end. There¢s a 25% dropout rate by the time they reach Neel Gap, which is only 30 miles away from Springer Mt, the starting point. That¢s seems insane to me! I passed through Neel Gap this evening and bought a soda at the Mountain Crossing store/hostel. I¢m not staying there tonight, but I hung out for a bit and raided their hiker box. I hit the motherload! This is a big dayhiker hotspot, so there were tons of good snacks left behind. I got like 4 bagels, 3 applesauce cups, 5 granola bars, a bag of trail mix, and 2 tent spikes - which finally completes my collection! Also at Neel Gap is this giant famous tree full of hiker boots. It¢s nicknamed ¢the quitter tree.¢ Apparently, if you quit at Neel Gap, it¢s tradition to tie your boots together and throw them up in the tree. Lol! And let me tell you, there¢s a lot of boots! And most look brand new! Unbelievable. I feel so lucky to have made it this far. So many things could have pulled me off the trail (injury, illness, family death, etc). I saw it happen to a lot of people. I¢m sitting just TWO days away from the finish line now! That¢s so surreal. I remember my first day on trail as if it were yesterday. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. Lol I was just moving forward, everyday, one step at a time. And now I¢m literally almost there. I ran into Wookiee at Neel Gap! He¢s the SoBo I met in Franklin. We hiked on together another mile and are stealth camping about halfway up Blood Mt. Blood Mt. is the biggest climb on the AT in Georgia. The locals give it a lot of hype, but I¢m pretty sure it¢s just another big, steep hill. I¢ll be hitting it first thing tomorrow morning, so I¢ll report back. Camping with Wookiee is a cool surprise though. He zeroed in Franklin and still caught up! Dude did like 27 miles today! Crazy. It was fun reliving parts of the trail with him. All of our experiences for the northern section were slightly different since we were going opposite directions. It¢s crazy to think but like at some point we would have crossed each other¢s paths. Like at some point during the northern section, probably like Vermont, we were right on top of each other, but never met! Funny how the trail works.
Date: 2018-10-18
From: Flatrock Gap campsite

To: Hawk Mountain shelter
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: broken clouds

Last night was terribly cold and windy. I hardly slept at all. But it ended up being another beautiful, clear day. I¢m so grateful for these days, especially with tomorrow being my LAST day. OMG. By the way, Blood Mt was a breeze. Lol I can see how it¢d be kinda hard for NoBos who start here because it had its steep moments. But at this point, I¢m like whatever. What¢s one more climb? One more mountain? Show me something I can¢t do! LolI had some REAL trail magic today! First time since I flipped south! I had already concluded that no one cared about the early southbound flipfloppers, but then here was Navister with a cooler of soda and beer in the parking lot at Woody Gap. Navister is in his 30s and from Georgia. He actually did a northbound thruhike of the AT THIS year and just finished in September. It was really cool chatting with him. And Wookiee was there too. Between the three of us, every ¢type¢ of thruhike was represented: NoBo, SoBo, and FlipFlop. It was interesting to compare the differences in all our experiences. Same trail, but very different stories. I reached camp around 4:30. Wookiee showed up just minutes after me. That¢s when I looked at him and was like ¢Dude, if we really wanted too, we could summit Springer Mt TODAY!¢ We had just done 16 miles and the summit to Springer Mt was another 14 away. I had never done a 30 mile day, and I¢d also never night hiked. Wookiee had never done either of these things as well, and what¢s a better time to do it then your LAST night on trail, right!? Wookiee paused and looked at me long and hard... ¢Damn you!¢ Lol I caught him off guard with the idea, but he was tempted nonetheless. The only real issue though was Wookiee¢s knees. His knees give him a lot of problems. They pop a lot and he wears braces and stuff. He knew he could do the 30 miles, but he¢d probably kill himself in the process. So we decided to keep hiking with the intent to summit, but knowing that in reality we¢d probably camp somewhere along the way. And long story short, we camped somewhere along the way. Lol We stopped and threw up our tents just after sundown. We knocked out an extra 6 miles, leaving only 8 miles now between us and the end. EIGHT MILES HOLY FUCK. I¢m so close I can taste it. None of it seems real at this point. None of it.
Date: 2018-08-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

In 30 hours I leave for northern Maine. I've gathered gear, clothes, and food. My oatmeal, mashed potatoes, and Pasta Sides have been measured and poured into freezer bags. My clothes, pack, and tent have been doused in permethrin. The appropriate maps and AWOL pages have been printed.I'll be staying with Shoelace (see 2017 AT journal) for a couple nights. The hike starts Sunday morning. We'll be traversing Katahdin by way of Knife Edge, and then hiking the 100-Mile Wilderness. I'm feeling the usual mixture of excitement and trepidation. Six weeks ago I was on crutches, suffering from a torn calf muscle. I hope it holds up for the full 125 miles over nine days. I've packed a compression stocking, perhaps the only piece of gear or clothing I plan not to use... if I'm lucky.
Date: 2018-08-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Joanne, who by happy coincidence was booked on a flight eight minutes before mine, drove me to the airport this morning. During the drive, AA alerted me that my outbound flight would be delayed and that I'd miss the connecting flight. Worse, bad weather on the east coast had caused so many delays and cancellations that I won't be able to get to Bangor until tomorrow. So I'm back at home, doing chores and waiting another day. Fortunately, Saturday was scheduled to be an organization day with hiking to start Sunday morning. If tomorrow's flights are on time, I won't miss any of the hike.
Date: 2018-08-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Today's start was more auspicious. It's taking three flights to get to Bangor, but so far they're all on time. I did spill half a bottle of water into my shoe (yes, it was hard to do accidentally), but that's good preparation for the upcoming rain and stream fords. My one concern is lack of sleep. I won't get to Shoelace's house until nearly 10 PM tonight, and then there will be some food drop logistics to arrange. We leave for Katahdin at 4:00 AM, and I've been warned it's quite a climb: 4000 feet elevation gain to Pamola in the first 3 miles, then a mile of Knife Edge (see yesterday's photo) to Baxter Peak, followed by some scrambling down the Hunt Trail. Hope I can stay awake for our tailgate supper tomorrow night.
Date: 2018-08-05
From: Roaring Brook Campground 

To: Katahdin Stream Campground 
Miles today: 9.1

Slept with eight other guys on cots in Shoelace's garage. Lights out at 11:15 PM, wake-up at 3:15 AM. I was soon to discover this wasn't a good day to be short on sleep. Helon Taylor Trail to Pamola summit was tough but fun, with 4000' elevation gain in 2.9 miles. We rose through evergreen forest, then scrambled up a steep stretch on hands and feet, and finally reached the summit on talus. It felt good to be the second to summit Pamola. But the hike was far from over. Up next was the Knife Edge, a traverse of the ridgeline in the background of the photo. Due mostly to my fear of heights, it took nearly three hours to cover the one mile "trail" to Baxter Peak. Baxter Peak is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Four of us waited there for Pat, Charley, and Neon. After more than an hour with no sign of the stragglers, Mr. Bean and I started down the Hunt Trail (a.k.a. Appalachian Trail). The descent was almost as scary as the Knife Edge. In all, today's were the hardest, scariest nine miles I've ever done. Shoelace had reserved two shelters for us at Katahdin Springs Campground. He brought a propane grill and burgers (in his truck--he didn't climb Katahdin) to cook for all of us once everyone got to camp. However, some of the guys are still on the mountain at 10:30 PM. I can't stay awake any longer, so I ate a pack of protein-enriched granola at 9:00, and I'm going to sleep.
Date: 2018-08-06
From: Katahdin Stream Campground 

To: Hurd Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 13.4

This morning I learned that everybody made it to camp safely last night. Pat had run into some serious problems, including a knee injury. Mike and Palindrome climbed up the trail by headlamp with water and electrolytes to help him. They finally rolled in after 11:00 PM. The mood this morning was less celebratory than we had been expecting just a day before. For various reasons, only four will be hiking to and through the 100-Mile Wilderness: Shoelace, Neon, Mr. Bean, and me. We started with a smooth, easy, stream-side walk through Baxter State Park to the start of the 100-Mile Wilderness at Abol Bridge. It's a good thing the hiking was easy: my quads were very sore from the extensive, nearly vertical scrambling going up and then down Katahdin yesterday.Shoelace had driven his truck to the Abol Bridge parking lot, where he handed me a cold beer as I walked out of the woods early this afternoon. We switched from daypacks to full backpacks loaded with all our gear and a week's supply of food. This was the starting point of Shoelace's hike, 155 days after his hip replacement surgery. (From there, his daughter Katie and her boyfriend Matt shuttled his truck to Exeter for service and her car to Monson to serve as our pickup vehicle at the end of the hike.)By the time we rejoined the trail at 2:00, it had become hot and humid. Fortunately, Hurd Brook Lean-to was just 3.5 moderate miles up the trail. I arrived at 3:30, about an hour before the others. After chatting with a NoBo thru-hiker, I pitched my tent on a nice flat spot about 50 yards from the shelter. James and Laura, a pleasant young couple from London, set up next to me. It was the second night of their planned two-month SoBo LASH (southbound long-ass section hike). That's a very ambitious undertaking for people whose previous backpacking experienced was limited to a two-night shakedown hike.My first gear failure occurred after supper. The handle broke off my toothbrush. Brushing my teeth by grasping the toothbrush head between my thumb and forefinger turned out to be a challenge.It's uncomfortably hot tonight. I'm sweating heavily just lying naked on top of my silk sleeping bag liner.
Date: 2018-08-07
From: Hurd Brook Lean-to

To: Pollywog Stream
Miles today: 14.0

As usual, I was the last to leave camp this morning. The trail consisted mostly of roots, rocks, and mud, but it wasn't very steep. Under partly sunny skies, the scenery was delightful: bogs, ponds, streams, and lakes abounded.I caught up with Neon along the shore of Rainbow Lake, where he had stopped to chat with renowned thru-hikers, The Family. Kami and Ben Crawford were covering the last few miles of their 2,200-mile thru-hike with their six children. Their story is remarkable (https://thetrek.co/appalachian...), but so is the fact that they stopped to chat with us and pose with Neon. They're celebrities on the AT, yet their humility was remarkable.Our gang of four regrouped at Rainbow Lake Campsite for lunch. I chose to eat mine next to the spring on the rocky shore of Rainbow Lake, where I took off my shoes and socks to soak my feet in the cool water. A couple of attractive young thru-hikers came down to water about ten feet from me, and after talking about it for a couple minutes, casually stripped naked and went skinny dipping. It was hard to know where to look: I didn't want to stare, yet I was sitting there enjoying my lunch when they arrived so I wasn't going to turn my back to the lake for their sake. After they emerged from their swim and dressed, we had a friendly chat about their hike and mine. Apparently I acted appropriately ;)A very brief thundershower hit us after lunch. It cooled us, and turned out to be a refreshing break from the unrelenting heat and humidity--unusual for Maine. Unfortunately, the rain did nothing to alleviate the chafing-induced rash that had developed on my inner thighs. Walking the last couple miles was painful.Rainbow Stream lean-to, our planned destination for the night, didn't look very inviting. We pressed on to a stealth site on Pollywog Stream. The "campsite" turned out to be a flat spot on an abandoned logging road, but it was a delightful setting, with a direct view of the stream through the open flap of my tent. The only inconvenience was the lack of suitable branches for hanging a bear bag; I eventually managed to throw my line over a very high one.
Date: 2018-08-08
From: Pollywog Stream

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 13.1

Last night's campsite beside Pollywog stream was charming, especially with the soothing sounds of the stream. Shoelace had pitched his tent beside mine, and he snored loudly. I put in ear plugs around midnight and read my book for a while, but I still couldn't sleep. I finally took an Ambien at 2:00 AM so I wouldn't be completely exhausted in the morning.Today's hike was very pleasant. There were lots of roots and rocks, and a few hills. Crescent Pond was idyllic, something Thoreau would have written about. In several places, the trail looked down on the deep blue water of Nahmakanta Lake, which looked like a postcard picture of northern Maine. Although we left camp at separate times, we all pulled into Wadleigh Stream Lean-to for lunch at about the same time. There we met and chatted with several groups of thru-hikers, flip-floppers, and section hikers. Disappointingly, the shelter was littered with trash, including a golf club and a ping-pong ball. Who carries this stuff into the forest?I relish being in the wilderness even though the experience can be uncomfortable; a little discomfort is the price of admission. I made the mistake of eating a whole package of dried apricots for lunch. I'll spare you the details of the result other than to say that getting the runs in the wilderness isn't fun. Added to this unpleasantness is the chafing that started yesterday and a knot in my neck that's been nagging me for the past day or so. At least my quads are starting to recover from their workout on Katahdin.Tonight we were in for a treat. Shoelace had made a reservation at the White House Landing hostel on Pemadumcook Lake. A blue-blazed trail led us to a dock 1/3 mile off the AT. A walkie-talkie call to the hostel brought the owner in his boat to pick us up for the one-mile ride to White House Landing. We enjoyed hot showers with soap followed by a dinner of hamburgers, pizza, and beer. (Fortunately the Imodium finally did its thing, and my earlier digestive distress had subsided.) After supper I wandered down to the lakefront, launched a canoe, and paddled out to the middle of the lake. It felt good to get my arms and shoulders working after several days of hiking. But what I appreciated most was the peaceful feeling of being on the water just before dusk, listening to the loons (as well as some gulls) and getting a stunning view of Katahdin during the golden hour. I sat back in the bottom of the canoe, just watching and listening for 15 or 20 minutes. Ironically, the canoe ride was the highlight of my trip so far.
Date: 2018-08-09
From: White House Landing

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 14.0

Breakfast at White House Landing included coffee, OJ, eggs, bacon, English muffin, and blueberry pancakes... all of it tasty. Almost as good as breakfast was being able to brush my teeth afterwards with the new toothbrush I bought from the small cabinet of resupply items for sale. Due to a packing error, I was also getting precariously low on sunscreen. Another hiker told me he had seen a tube of sunscreen in the hiker box; it was a perfect size and apparently unused. (Most hostels on the AT have hiker boxes where people can leave stuff they no longer want to carry. Other hikers are welcome to take what they need. It's mostly junk, but sometimes you'll find a treasure--as I did today.)This morning's hike was remarkably pleasant. I took a snack break on a pretty sand beach at Lower Jo-Mary Lake, where I chatted with a thru-hiker. I caught up with Neon and Mr. Bean at the Antlers campsite on the opposite side of the lake. The weather was warm and the water was inviting, so I went for a swim. It felt great to splash around in the water for a while as my clothes dripped dry on a tree branch.  We came across some remarkable trail magic at Jo-Mary Road. (Jo-Mary must've been somebody important around here.) The Bean and JOTC thru-hiked in 2016. (JOTC, pronounced jot-see, stands for "Jesus on the cross," the expression his mother uttered frequently while he was planning their thru-hike.) This year the couple flew up from Baton Rouge to do trail magic. They rented a full-size pickup and loaded it with folding chairs, coolers, food, and drinks. They also paid a hefty entrance fee to use the private dirt road that intersects the AT in the 100-Mile Wilderness. They parked where the road met the trail and invited hikers to sit in camp chairs while they were treated to Gatorade, beer, sandwiches, cookies, protein bars, hamburgers, and other hiker delights. Amazing generosity!From there, it was a quick 4 miles to the shelter. There were twenty or so hikers sleeping in and around the shelter, but I was able to find an uncrowded flat spot just up the hill. I found a very solid but very high branch for hanging my bear bag. It must have taken twenty minutes--and more than that many cuss words--to throw my paracord over the branch. I had to stand on tiptoes to reach both ends of the 50' rope, so the branch must have been 30 feet off the ground. I'll sleep well knowing that no bear will be able to get my food tonight.
Date: 2018-08-10
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to

To: Logan Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 11.7

I slept poorly despite the relative quiet around me and the soothing sound of the cascades in Logan Brook. The heat and humidity finally broke today. It was cooler, drier, and quite windy. I stopped at a beautiful white sand beach on Crawford Pond, but a brisk onshore breeze didn't make me want to linger. Hiking, however, was much more comfortable in this weather.I was able to send and receive text messages from the summit of Little Boardman Mountain, my first connectivity since leaving Shoelace's house 5 1/2 days ago. Nothing important seems to have happened to family or friends while I've been away, which is a relief to know. Small things, including physical discomforts, are bothering me less and less. I've been more concerned about appreciating the moment than about reaching a destination or how many days are left in our hike. Cooper Brook Falls are pretty, and the shelter boasts a nice view of the brook. However, I really wanted a quiet night with no snorers within earshot. I found a nice flat spot with space for only one tent about 1/10 mile away. After socializing at supper, I wandered back to my solitary tent where I can hear only the sounds of nature. There won't be any snoring to wake me tonight :)
Date: 2018-08-11
From: Logan Brook Lean-to

To: Katahdin Ironworks Road
Miles today: 13.3

Last night was breezy and cool. For the first time, I zipped up my 28-degree sleeping bag. The cool, dry air helped me get a good night's sleep.The trail has become decidedly more mountainous the past day or so. The scenery is still beautiful, with stream crossings and mountaintop vistas, but I miss the numerous lakes and ponds we were seeing a few days ago. Different animals seem to inhabit these parts, too. We saw lots of bear scat earlier; now we're repeatedly seeing moose poop. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any of the animals that have left their droppings. There has been another noticeable change. In our first few days, we crossed several organized groups of high school- and college-aged backpackers, but we haven't seen any since Jo-Mary Road. We surmised the typical group hike must be from Jo-Mary Road to Abol Bridge, the easiest part of the 100-Mile Wilderness. The terrain here in the southern half is certainly more serious.Chafing is still a problem, and my feet hurt a bit, but overall I'm feeling good. I've enjoyed getting into the zone, especially on the climbs. Passing people twenty, thirty, or more years my junior has been good for my ego. Of course I wouldn't be passing anyone if we were walking in the same direction as the thru-hikers ;)Our group of four reached Gulf Hagas gorge and falls early in the afternoon. There's a parking lot about a mile and half away, and the gorge was swarming with day hikers. I haven't seen this many people in one place since we left the Katahdin Springs Campground. Shoelace offered to stay with my pack while I explored the gorge. I scrambled down to the base of the falls, climbed back up, and meandered along the rim trail to the next overlook, just over a mile away. I saw only two people after the first quarter mile. The gorge was impressively deep, but I didn't dare get close enough to the edge to get a photo with good perspective.After I rejoined Shoelace, we forded West Branch Pleasant River and blue blazed to the parking lot, where Shoelace's son Robbie met us with our previously-packed resupply bags, camp chairs, grilled cheeseburgers, and cold beer. What a treat! While we were eating, Gin-Gin arrived by car, put on her backpack, and came over to chat with us. She thru-hiked in 2017, and she's working as an ATC ridgerunner this year. She seemed thrilled to learn that I'd watched some of the videos she had posted of her thru-hike. On a serious note, she told us our intended campsite was suffering from overuse, and she asked us to use the privy at the parking lot rather than shitting in the woods near the campsite. I left before the others and found our intended campsite completely filled by what looked like weekenders. A helpful NOBO hiker told me there were a few empty spots near the road another 1/3 mile up the trail. Sure enough, I found a stealth spot next to a stream. If I hadn't been on the lookout for it, I might have walked by without noticing it. For once, it was easy to hang a bear bag on a branch directly over some rocks in the stream.