morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-21
From: Galehead Hut (AMC)

To: Saco River
Miles today: 14.8

We got a VERY late start today! This was after a long, late night last night. After we peeled and sliced apples for 2 hours and finally got to bed at 10pm, and endured a long, noisy interrupted sleep, we got up early so that the "croo" could set the breakfast tables for the paying guests.Our work-for-stay was not over yet. We had to wait for all the guests to be served, eat, and leave before we could sweep the Hut. We did get the left-overs from breakfast, but between 4 hikers and the croo, it barely amounted to a snack. We finally walked out of the Hut at 9:15am.In conclusion, work-for-stay can be very exhausting. If they were all like this, you would be too tired to hike through The White Mountains. It was a goal of ours to do at least one work-for-stay. Goal accomplished. It is still up in the air as to whether or not we will do another one. We have heard from other hikers that generally the work-for-stays are shorter and not BOTH in the evening and the morning, usually evening OR morning.It was a little surprising to us that the cook at Galehead didn't allow more thru-hikers to stay and understand the need for thru-hikers to leave earlier in the morning because she had thru-hiked last year.We hiked up South Twin Mountain, then Mt. Guyot, and then took a snack break at a vista. At the vista, we talked with Erica, an Assistant Hut Master from Greenleaf Hut. It was our first sunny, clear day and the views from the mountain tops were beautiful.We stopped at Zealand Falls Hut for lunch. All the Huts offer bottomless bowls of soup at lunch time. We took an hour long break. Cubby had the soup. Unfortunately, they had run out of the "good" soup and had made up some soup by watering down instant mashed potatoes and sprinkling in some dill. Etable, but not so good. Boston ate the tuna and crackers we had packed in. We had to eat the weight to lighten the pack.The hike after Zealand Falls Hut was a little easier. There were lots of bog-log planks and it was mostly downhill. We stopped at Ethan Pond for a snack break and some water. Wingfoot does not list any water sources between Ethan Pond and Mizpah Hut except for the Saco River in Crawford Notch. In actuality, there are numerous water sources right on the trail.We ended up camping on the north side of Crawford Notch a little north of the Saco River near a spring. It was between two trail intersections, also not mentioned in Wingfoot's book.We set up the tent at about 6:30pm, hung up our food, cleaned up with water from the spring, and were in our sleeping bags by 7:50pm. We looked forward to some much needed sleep!
Date: 2005-07-22
From: Saco River

To: Edmands Col / Gulf Spring - The Perch Shelter(RMC)
Miles today: 15.9

We got up at 4:45am and were on the trail by 5:45am. We climbed Webster Cliffs and then up to Mt. Webster. We got to Mizpah Hut by 9am and stopped for a snack and water, Bones caught up with us here. Took photos of a wild turkey in the middle of the trail. We continued onto Lakes of the Clouds Hut for lunch. We met up with Bones again. We each had three bowls of soup. Boston had tomato, and Cubby had corn chowder and the tomato soup.The weather was beautiful today. It was clear, cool, and sunny. We could see Mt. Washington all day. Instead of staying at Lakes of the Clouds Hut, we decided to take advantage of the nice and clear weather and continue to Mt. Washington.After reaching the summit of Mt. Washington, we took pictures and then headed to the snack bar. We ate lots of food, hotdogs, pizza, ice-cream, cookies, soda, and chocolate milk. It was a bit unsettling to reach the summit after a long hard hike and be surrounded by tourists who had either driven up to the summit or taken the Mt. Washington Cog-wheel Train. We took a few more pictures like the rest of the tourists, but then the clouds started to come in, so we took off for the next Hut, Madison Spring.We stayed ahead of the weather for a little while, but the rain started coming and thunder was around us. The next trail climb was up to "Thunderstorm Junction", and we thought it best not to hike up to a place called Thunderstorm Junction during a thunderstorm. At this point, it was obvious that we needed to head for shelter below tree-line before the Hut. We decided to go to The Perch Shelter. It is a Randolph Mountain Club (RMC) shelter and campsite, 1.1m off the trail and below tree-line.It was the first "shelter" we have stayed in for as long as we can remember - well, at least before "bug-season" hit. At the shelter we were concerned that the mosquitos and gnats might get us, but due to the high elevation and cool temperatures, they were not a problem.In the shelter with us, was an older (probably late 60's) woman hiking alone. She is a section-hiker by the name of "Jason's Mom". She started the trail as a thru-hiker and got to Bennington, VT where she fell and broke her wrist. She is finishing up her hike this year. She started at Katahdin and is headed to Bennington, VT.On our way from Mizpah Hut to The Perch we hiked around Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Monroe. We summited Mt. Clinton (Pierce), Mt. Jackson and Mt. Franklin.After some of the rains, we saw a huge, bright rainbow up at Edmands Col and took a picture of it.Bed at 7pm.
Date: 2005-07-24
From: Pinkham Notch Camp / Joe Dodge Lodge (AMC)

To: 0.5m south of Imp Campsite (AMC)
Miles today: 12.7

We got up this morning at 6am so we could get to breakfast at the dining hall by 6:30am. It is always great to start the day with a hot breakfast. We had eggs, sausage, potatoes, pancakes, cream of wheat, fruit, and orange juice. Yummy.We got on the trail at 7:30am. The weather was great, cool and sunny. We hiked up to Wildcat E, and then through the rest of the Wildcats. We took pictures of the Gondola at the top of Wildcat E. We then topped out on Carter Dome, Mt. Hight, and the Carters.We stopped to eat our lunch at Carter Notch Hut (AMC). It is a nice self-service Hut. It is next to a couple of absolutely beautiful small lakes. The Hut caretaker told us that there are trout in the lakes. At the Hut we bought and ate a couple of Hershey chocolate bars. It has been a long time since we have had regular Hershey chocolate bars. They were very good.We met a dog today. Actually, it met us. A cute little white West Highland Terrier came up from behind us on the trail at 9am this morning. The little Westie stayed with us for quite a while even though we encouraged it to go back down the trail to its owner. We never could hear any hikers coming, so we figured the little guy was a LONG way up. When it stopped for water at a spring, we quickly went up a steep rock face. The little guy did not follow. A while later, we came to a viewing platform. Who did we see? Our little hiker buddy on the end of a long leash. It seems he has hiked before, but this time he took off. So, he is now forever banished from "soloing". It turns out his name is "Whistler". We took a picture of him earlier, while he was on his last "solo". His owners, a dad and his son were out hiking and completing the 4,000-foot peaks in New Hampshire. The son is 12 years old and has 40+ of 48 of them completed. When we met up with them again later, near the end of their hiking day the son had just completed his 45 peak. He will finish the last 3 soon and has it planned out already. That is quite impressive. We wished him luck, but on a sad note, we don't think little Whistler will be summiting anymore 4,000-footers due to the new "leash-law". Whistler's dad pointed out the maine coastline, on this clear day, some 80 miles away from Mt. Hight.We got into camp around 4:40pm, cooked dinner, set up the tent and in the tent and sleeping bags at 6:30pm. It was a good day today and the lack of bugs and great weather had a lot to do with it.
Date: 2005-07-25
From: 0.5m south of Imp Campsite (AMC)

To: US 2 / Gorham, NH
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: fog

We slept in a little bit today, until 5:30am. It was partly cloudy, but lots of blue sky in the morning.We used the last of our water last night to cook dinner, so we stopped in at Imp Campsite to fill water. We filled our water and shared a liter of lemonade.We hiked up Mt. Moriah for a couple of hours and then descended for the rest of the morning. We saw a ton of southbounders. Most of them still seemed ambitious, but many were still carrying far too much weight. We would always get double-takes from the southbounders when we would tell them we are northbound thru-hikers. We always get the same reaction. They always think that we are "too clean" and our packs are "too little/light". We are wearing the same clothes we have worn the entire trip, it is just that we know what a laundry machines look like and USE them. We also make it a point to find a SHOWER at least every week or so. Over 1,800 miles on the trail and we still look like day-hikers. It is like that saying of Rodney Dangerfield's, "We can't get no respect!"We hiked down to the Rattle River Shelter and signed the register. It was the first shelter beyond the The White Mountains AMC Hut system. It's now back to the real world. No bottomless bowls of soup everyday for lunch.We got into Gorham, NH around 11:30am and checked into a room at the motel for tonight and tomorrow night. We will be zeroing tomorrow. We did laundry at the hotel and picked up our drop box of food from the post office on the way to the hotel. It is so nice not to have to do the whole food-shopping-resupplying thing.In town, we met up with Geronimo, Flip, El Jefe, and Frenchie.We went to dinner at Mr. Pizza with Bones. Cubby had the Surf-and-Turf special, it was way too much food. She shoveled in all she could. Boston had a pizza all to herself, and polished it off! We wanted to get some ice-cream after dinner tonight, but we were WAY too full. Maybe tomorrow.Before dinner, we hitched to Wal-Mart to check our camera memory card. The card is kind of freaking out on us. It will not display pictures on the camera, but the computer at the Wal-Mart showed us that the pictures are still there. We wanted to burn the card to a CD, but we were behind the "customer from hell" at the photo machine. First off, only one of the two machines was working. Secondly, and most importantly, the "customer from hell" was PRINTING 800-900 pictures. That's 8 to 9 HUNDRED pictures! That is hours worth of printing. We will attempt to burn the CD tomorrow.We are both looking to buy longsleeve shirts tomorrow due to the United States Postal Service losing our clothing package when we were in Virginia. We still don't understand how you can mail a package from one post office to another post office and have it get lost. Somewhere out there, there is a postal worker wearing Cubby's pants. You will recognize them, they will look like they are wearing "high-waters".We hit another mile mark today. We are now sub-300 miles! Yippie!
Date: 2005-07-26
From: US 2 / Gorham, NH

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

ZERO!We slept in today. Boston got up at 8am to eat the free hot breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Cubby chose to sleep in even longer. At about 9am, we got moving and hitched a ride back to Wal-Mart and burned camera memory card to a picture CD. We then hitched a ride to the Outfitters in town. Each of us bought a long-sleeve shirt at Moriah Sports. It is a nice store and great customer service. The owner was very knowledgable of the upcoming section of trail.We stopped in at the Candy Boutique and each got a small bag of candy. We walked to the Family Resource Center to use the computer to update our journal. Another hiker had told us that the Gorham Public Library charges for internet use. Here at the Resource Center they have a large computer lab and do not charge or limit the use of the computers.We will be meeting up with Boston's brother for dinner tonight in town. The only chores left for today are packing our packs and mailing home the picture CD and our a short-sleeve shirt.We don't know when our next update will be, it may be about a week or two.
Date: 2005-07-27
From: Gorham, NH / US 2

To: Carlo Col Shelter and Campsite
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

We enjoyed a nice dinner with Boston's brother and girlfriend last night. We all then went to a free outdoor concert at the Gorham City Park. It was a karoke concert. Bones was there. He sang on stage twice. It was a fun evening. The concert ended at 8:30pm. We went back to the motel and were in bed by 9:15pm.We got up this morning at 6am and had breakfast at the motel at 7am. It was a good breakfast, eggs, toast, french toast and OJ.A motel employee drove us back to the trail at 8am.The trail was good terrain to start with and we made good time. We stopped at Gentian Shelter for a snack break. We then headed on to top out on Mt. Success. Just before the top a squall came in. It was big winds and big rain, but it felt like hail. It hurt. We couldn't even see. We had to hunker down behind a large boulder for a couple of minutes waiting for a break so we could make it to the sign post that had blown over so we could find our way. The squall lasted for about 15 minutes and we enjoyed the peak of it at the peak of Mt. Success.We headed down to the state line and crossed over from New Hampshire to Maine. We are now in MAINE! We are in the last state, with 281 miles to go!Maine has already been rough. In just the half mile we have hiked in Maine to the Carlo Col shelter, we have already gone through a tough rock scramble.We got to Carlo Col Shelter about 5:30pm while it was still raining. Due to the rain, the shelter was already crowded. Everybody was cooking and eating in the shelter. There were also two camp-group leaders cooking dinner for 10 girls and they showed up and ate in the shelter after we got there. At least all these girls are sleeping in tents and not in the shelter.Our clothes are too wet to sleep in to keep warm, so they are hanging on various nails in the shelter. We are not looking forward to putting on wet clothes in the morning. Usually if our clothes are not too wet, we would "sleep them dry", but just too wet and cold today.Hikers came in from the rain up until about 8:30pm. All of us are crammed in here. Some sleeping on the floor right inside the door. Not too bad though. In bed by 7:30pm.
Date: 2005-07-28
From: Carlo Col Shelter and Campsite

To: Speck Pond Campsite/Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: few clouds

It was a full shelter last night, fuller than actual capacity, but we slept well.We got up this morning at 5:30am. We stepped over hikers as we made our way out of the shelter and onto the trail.We hiked to the top of Goose Eye Mountain. We then went over Fulling Mill Mtn. After that, we went through the infamous Mahoosic Notch. The notch was 1.1 miles of fun (and not so fun) and rocks. The Notch still had ice on the ground under and between boulders. It took us 2 hours to go 1.1 miles. We celebrated that accomplishment by an immediate 1.5 mile hike straight up Mahoosic Arm. We topped out on the Arm and went to Speck Pond Shelter. We got to the shelter at about 2:30pm.At the shelter we dried out our shoes and socks in the sun. Our shoes and socks were still wet from yesterday's rains. We then relaxed for a few hours as we talked with other hikers who had also just completed the Notch.It was nice to have Mahoosic Notch and Arm done. It is much better to reflect back with a sense of accomplishment than to look forward with a sense of dread. The Notch was like a puzzle, just figuring out the best way to climb over, around, or under the big boulders. It was not difficult per say, but just time consuming.We cooked dinner at 6pm and then went down to sit by Speck Pond and enjoy the view of the highest pond in Maine. The trout were jumping. It made us wish for our fly-rods.In bed by 7pm.
Date: 2005-07-29
From: Speck Pond Campsite/Shelter

To: East B Hill Road
Miles today: 14.9

We slept in until 6am and on the trail at 7:05am. We planned a low mileage day for today, just heading to Frye Notch Lean-to. We got to the Lean-to at 2pm, so we decided to move on. It was just too short of a day, plus the Lean-to was a mosquito haven.Fifteen minutes north of Frye Notch Lean-to, we had a very pleasant surprise. Boston's brother and his barefoot girlfriend hiked south from East B Hill Road and surprised us on the trail. At that exact time, we had been trying to decide whether or not to try to make a 4pm shuttle to "The Cabin" with a group of other hikers. The Cabin offers all-you-can-eat food. It was very tempting, even though we were supplied up to Rangley, ME. Before we could even make up our minds, Boston's brother came around the bend in the trail.We continued north, hiking with them. After a few minutes of hiking, Boston's brother asked if we were hungry. What kind of question is that to a thru-hiker? Of course we are hungry! He told us he had baked some banana bread and had it with him in his day pack. Talk about trail magic! We sat down then and there and polished off the loaf. It was good!We all hiked to the road and piled into his pick-up truck. His pick-up truck is not just your run of the mill truck, it runs on vegetable oil. We were a little concerned when we threw our packs in the back, that they would smell like french fries by the time we got to his house. The packs smelled fine.On the way to his house we saw a moose in the road and then 5 minutes later we saw a bear running across the road. Go figure. Here we are, hundreds of miles on the trail, and we see and moose and a bear, but we are in a pick-up truck on a road. Of course, our camera was in the bed of the pick-up so no pictures!We drove to the "Good Food Store" for terrific hot sandwiches and ice cream and sodas.We stayed the night at Boston's brother's place and he will drop us at the trail in the morning. Meeting up with them on the trail was great "trail magic".During today's hike we finished off Old Speck Mtn, Baldpate Mtn, and Surplus Mtn. While hiking with Boston's brother and his barefoot girlfriend, we hiked through Dunn Notch. It is a great and beautiful place with water falls into a ravine.We had a good time relaxing with them back at the house. In bed by 9:30pm.
Date: 2005-07-30
From: East B Hill Road

To: Stealth site 4.3m south of Bemis Mtn Lean-to
Miles today: 14.5

We woke up this morning at 6am at Boston's brother's house. He cooked us big and tastey hot egg and cheese sandwiches. We also drank a lot of OJ. We left the house with full stomachs.He drove us through Andover, ME on the way back to the trail and got to the trail at 7:30am.We had an easy hike up Wyman Mtn. and then up and over Moody Mtn. We hiked down to the stream next to South Arm Road where we took a break with lots of other Northbounders (Flip, Geronimo, August, Rhino).We then hiked up Old Blue Mtn. Old Blue is steep at first, but not too bad after that. We took a snack break on top, before heading across and down.We started looking for a tent site prior to Elephant Mtn. We stopped to fill our water so we could camp anywhere. Shortly after filling water, we came across a large camp set-up for a group of trail maintainers. We ended up camping on a flat spot next to their kitchen area. It was a little unsettling to be camped so close to a major food source. Not the "text book" campsite for bear prevention. The group leader assured us that they have seen no signs of bears or other critters in their kitchen area. That sounded reassuring until we realized they have only been here for 2 days.It was a good day of hiking. Sunny and warm. Nice weather. Relaxed pace.In tent at 7pm.
Date: 2005-07-31
From: Stealth site 4.3m south of Bemis Mtn Lean-to

To: Little Swift River Pond Campsite
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: broken clouds

We started on the trail at 6:30am after talking to the trail maintainers for a little while.Last night they baked brownies and offerred us some. They were nothing but char! We think they need more practice on their "camp oven".We headed over to Bemis Mtn Lean-to and ran into all the northbound hikers. Just before getting to the lean-to, we heard a loud crashing and thrashing in the woods. The noise was thundering directly towards us. Whatever was making the noise was BIG and rather fast. Cubby recognized it right away, but Boston just stood there looking into the woods at the noise. It was as if Boston was locked in place. Cubby yelled to Boston to "GO!" Boston then started moving and we both quickly headed up the trail. Cubby recognized the sound as a bear or a moose. It was very similar to the noise she heard when the bears were around our camp in New Jersey. (It was the "bear incident" that Boston slept through.)We got to the lean-to and took and hour break, laughing and talking with everyone. All the northbounders seem to be so lazy and just taking it easy now, and we are too!We got to the ME 17 road and took a break overlooking a beautiful lake and mountains. We then continued onto Long Pond, which has a beach and swimming area. We chose not to swim, since there appeared to be leaches in the water. We hiked onto Little Swift River Pond Campsite and set up camp for the night. The weather was great today, sunny and cool. It was a great day for hiking.We got to camp at about 4:30pm. The big group of northbounders we have been hiking around all showed up about half an hour to an hour later. They all ended up tenting there too. There were lots of tent sites and a large campfire ring. The campsite also had 2 canoes with paddles down at the pond.It made for a fun evening having this many hikers around. They guys started a fire and we sat around and laughed until 9:30pm. This was our latest night on the trail so far and we had a lot of fun.