morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-10-01
From: Monson ME

To: Long Pond Stream lean-to
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a memorable breakfast cooked by Keith Shaw, Sr. I opted for the ¢Two-Around¢ which means two of everything, resulting in a heaped up plate, all of it good. Keith Jr. shuttled the whole gang to the trail in his pickup truck. Mountain Dew, who doesn¢t like the cold, was dressed to summit Katahdin in January, but I have to admit it got chilly back there. I got off at the Route 15 crossing, while the others went on to the next road crossing, most of them to slack back for another night in Monson. It was a gray, cloudy, and cool morning. I saw a pair of loons on the first pond. Is there any other waterfowl that looks and sounds so pretty? There was a series of minor ups and downs and a long traverse atop the slate ridge. I ran into the slacker gang about 9 miles out on Big Wilson tote road. I waded Big Wilson Stream and climbed up the hill across the Canadian Pacific RR tracks; I had heard the whistle of a passing train a mile from the crossing. I stopped at Wilson lean-to for lunch and a chat with a trail maintainer. Beyond the top of the ridge was a mile-long slabbing traverse, which was slow and tiring, with lots of little ups and downs. When I got to Long Pond Stream, I found a little note in a plastic bag suggesting a fallen tree crossing a quarter mile downstream. At the AT crossing the stream was, in my judgment, dangerously high. There was a series of drops where the water was deep above the drop, very fast moving over the lip, and deeper still below ¢ mid-thigh except where it thinned out over rocks, and there it was faster moving. I know I sound fussy but I was a whitewater boater for years, and the first thing we taught beginners is never to wade in fast water above your knees¢besides the obvious problem of getting washed downstream, there is a real risk that you¢ll put your leg between two large rocks, get bent over backwards by the current, trapped, and drowned; there are little diagrams in most of the books about whitewater boating explaining this hazard. This crossing was a textbook example, never mind that hikers cross these things all the time. Just call me squeamish. So I walked down the road and found the fallen tree, which was maybe two feet wide at the near end and tapered to a foot wide at the far end. It rested on a boulder at each end, about four feet above a fast, deep chute of water. Crossing it wasn¢t so bad if you didn¢t look down, which you wanted to do to see where to put your next step. I made it across and bushwhacked partway back to the AT until I found a side trail.I followed the AT up past Slogundy Falls (and didn¢t see any crossing points that would have been much better). The stream is pretty here, flowing through a slate gorge. I reached the Long Pond Stream lean-to at 5:30 and made mac-and-cheese as it got dark.
Date: 2003-10-02
From: Long Pond Stream lean-to

To: West Branch Pleasant River campsite
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I was alone in the lean-to last night. It was pretty cold this morning ¢ mid-30s to low 40s. I started hiking at 7:45. The climb up Barren Mtn was not too hard, and there were some views at the top. Clouds drifted over, making it mostly cloudy for most of the day, the cloud layer at the level of some of the surrounding peaks. It was pretty much a roller coaster day going over the successive summits of the Chairback range. I met two SB guys plus NoBo Mover, who had jumped up here to finish this section. I was getting tired by lunch at Chairback Gap and a little worried about getting cold; everything turned out fine, as usual, but I¢m just a worrier. There were nice views from the ridges of upended slate on Chairback, but I couldn¢t see Katahdin. It¢s much easier to walk on slate when its tipped up so you¢re walking on the edges of the bedding planes instead of their smooth faces. That¢s what I was thinking when I slipped and fell hard on my butt. I took a shot on my tailbone, which was OK but bruised the heel of my left hand breaking the fall. After a long traverse of the ridge, I descended in improving weather to the West Branch of the Pleasant River, a 30-yard-wide mid-shin-deep crossing. The only problem was a pair of really cold tootsies by the time I got across. I met a group of women who were returning from a day hike in the Gulf Hagas. There was a decent area for camping a 100 yards from the crossing, so I pitched the tarp and cooked in the middle of the trail. It started to rain lightly about dark.
Date: 2003-10-03
From: West Branch Pleasant River campsite

To: East Branch lean-to
Miles today: 16.3

The rain picked up just after I got to bed and continued for several hours. I slept warm and dry, and thought back to a discussion with Spock at Galehead Hut about whether a tarp was adequate for cold rainy weather in Maine. It is. In fact, my Golite tarp is probably the most completely satisfactory piece of gear I¢ve got. It got up to a clear sky and cold temps. I packed and got started at 8. It¢s a very nice trail up through the Hermitage and past the Gulf Hagas trail loop, following the brook up to Newhall lean-to. I stopped for a rest and saw water dripping from the roof; sure enough, there was a residue of snow up there melting in the morning sun. There was a lot more where that came from: the rain I had experienced last night was snow at higher elevations. I began to see little patches on the fern beds and parallel piles of snow in the campsite where it had slid off someone¢s tent. There was an inch on top of Gulf Hagas peak (elevation 2700¢), mostly on the plants. I could see snow on top of the distant mountains and frosted trees on the next peak. This is where I got my first look, a spectacular one, at Katahdin, snowcapped against a blue sky. Each successive peak in the Whitecap range was a little higher and had more snow. I had put on raingear back at the lean-to to keep me warm, but I had nagging worries about hypothermia should something slow me down or stop me up here, like a bad fall on ice. The views were great from the top of Whitecap, which had maybe four inches of snow, making the summit a beautiful scene. The trail was also snow-covered, but a number of hikers, probably the people who had been at the campsite, had stomped it down pretty well. From the summit I could see the whole area between Whitecap and Katahdin, and it hit me here that I was truly near the end of the trail. Up on the summit I stopped to talk with Dr. Bob and his father Wooley. I followed the steep trail down, being careful now not to slip on packed snow on the rocky descent. I met Leaf at the Logan Brook lean-to; we had left Springer on the same day and first met in Georgia. Leaf left while I was eating lunch. I was happy to not have had any problems higher up. I had left the snow behind me and made good time down to East Branch lean-to, arriving at 4:30. Leaf had gone on, but I decided to stop for the night.
Date: 2003-10-04
From: East Branch lean-to

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 23.0

I was alone at the lean-to last night. I got up and out by 7:45. It was cloudy but not too cold. The East Branch of the Pleasant River was not very wide at the crossing. There were two possible routes, one requiring a couple of steps on stones that were an inch or two under water and a dry route that required a three-foot hop across a little chute of water. I chose the latter but slipped on the landing and put my foot down in a foot of water. Great decision. Not much water came into my boot, however. Going on, I met Leaf, Mr. Pumpy, and Chigger at a pretty stealth camp; we talked about stopping at Whitehouse Landing, which was about 20 miles away, long for one day and short for two. I climbed over Little Boardman ridge and met Brew and Jenn at a lovely camp near the shore of the pond. From there, the trail was easy and fast. I decided to try for Whitehouse Landing and pushed along at 3 mph, which was not so hard, given the long, gradual downgrade and good footing. Rain started at 1PM, lightly at first. It became steadily harder as I trucked on past ponds and streams and made it to the woods road by 5. The road and trail to the pickup point was wet, and I missed a turn that left me on the beach of Pemadumcook Lake with horizontal rain pelting me. I backtracked to the turn and got to the end of the trail, where a LOUD air horn hung from a hook with instructions to blow it only once. After 15 minutes, I saw a boat heading my way, piloted by Bill, the owner of the lodge. The lodge is rustic (no plumbing, gas lights) but warm and comfy. I had a sumptuous dinner of a giant cheeseburger, Budweiser, and a pint of Cherry Garcia. I shared a cabin with Paul & Sharon (thru-hikers that never got trail names) and their border collie Bela, Strider, whom I last saw in VA, and Brown Bess, a guy nearly my age from PA. Since I last saw Brown Bess I had learned that it signifies a type of black powder musket.
Date: 2003-10-05
From: White House Landing

To: Rainbow Stream lean-to
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: scattered clouds

It was a beautiful clear morning, and the forecast is good for the next five days. Hurray! We had a big breakfast of all the usual stuff, and I got on the first boat load across, meeting Jimmy, Elf, and others who had blown the horn during breakfast. We got started walking at 9:40 and made it back to the AT in 25 minutes or so. The trail follows the Nahmakanta Stream for a long way, finally coming to the eponymous lake. Paul and I talked for quite a distance. I had lunch on the beach at a quiet cove with Paul, Sharon and Bela, who amused herself by retrieving a stick she made Paul throw into the lake about 20 times. I left the lunch spot before them and climbed up Nesuntabunt Mtn, which had spectacular views of the lake below and Katahdin in the not-so-great distance (now only 16 air miles away).Coming down, I met an injured hiker, an older dayhiker who was being attended to by two others. I offered to help, but they declined; they were calm and seemed to know what they were doing, so I went on to the road, a half-mile ahead. The injured man¢s wife had gone for help a while ago, and she was long gone by the time I reached the tote road where her car had been parked. Still, I felt guilty about leaving. Going on, I walked around Crescent Pond and past Pollywog Gorge. It started to sprinkle. I put on raingear and continued up Rainbow Stream, which had some nice cascades and flumes, to the Rainbow Stream lean-to. I¢m now 30 miles from the end of the trail. I shared the shelter with two guys from Ohio who are hiking the 100-mie wilderness south bound.
Date: 2003-10-06
From: Rainbow Stream lean-to

To: Abol Pines campground
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Another cold morning ¢ hey, it¢s Maine in October! I got going at 8 and quickly walked past the Rainbow Deadwaters to Rainbow Lake, which goes on for over five miles. The glimpses of the lake were gray and cold-looking, but loons sang from time to time, a beautiful sound. It was an easy climb up Rainbow Ledge, where there was a view of Whitecap up to the 2500¢ cloud ceiling, and another view of Katahdin, also in the clouds. I had a quick lunch in Hurd Brook lean-to with two dayhikers from PA; one of them gave me some homemade dried fish that was very tasty. I also saw Paul, Sharon, and Bela, who had camped near the lean-to. When they passed the injured hiker yesterday, the man¢s wife and another woman had already returned to the scene, so I imagine that turned out OK, given the easy trail to the road. Still, you never know whether to be pushy in offering assistance. I reached the Golden Road less than 90 minutes from the lean-to and ran into Very Small Animal, the Dude, and Ladybug. VSA was sick and decided to pull off for a day or so. I camped at Abol Pines on the West Branch of the Penobscot, where I rigged the tarp as a windscreen. I walked back to the camp store to buy dinner, but instead found Greenman¢s folks, who were up from Alabama with a real down-home feast at the picnic table next to the store. So, just out of courtesy, I had to scrap my plans for a delicious mac-and-cheese feast and settle for ribs, cornbread, chili, and stewed butterbeans. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices. Greenman and Sunkist hadn¢t shown up by the time I headed back for bed, but I had a nice time chatting with his folks and the other hikers who gathered there.
Date: 2003-10-07
From: Abol Pines campground

To: Katahdin Stream and Millinocket
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The day started well. (Ominous foreshadowing.) It was a cold, clear, sunny morning and I was on the trail by 8 after having bought breakfast coffee and rolls at the camp store. It was an easy walk, much of it along the West Branch of the Penobscot and Nesowadnehunk Stream. Katahdin had its head in the clouds but looked magnificent over the march near the registration kiosk. From Pine Point I couldn¢t really see Sowdyhunk Falls, where I had once played in my kayak. The Nesowadnehunk Stream had lots of pretty rips and chutes. I crossed a board bridge over a tributary stream and continued up, stopping to look at Big Niagara Falls. I walked past Daicey, Elbow, and Grassy Ponds, and watched a moose grazing on the shore from 150 yards away. Katahdin was in the clear now and looked formidable and beautiful at the same time. I got to Katahdin Stream campground, and was invited to join a picnic being put on by friends and family of Peach Monkey and P-Nut. I soon learned that it was a Class IV day, meaning that all trails to the mountain were closed because of icy conditions. This was really frustrating, because the mountain (actually Hunt Spur 2/3 of the way up) looms over the campsite and it looked clear and very hikable. Double Dare showed up in a van, ready to summit, and Paul and Sharon and other hikers started to arrive, with more just behind them. A ranger arrived and told me that, frankly speaking, the mountain was 99 percent sure to be closed again tomorrow and maybe indefinitely, even for the season, until the head ranger (known as ¢BP1¢) decides to open it. This was the same command structure that had closed the mountain during the summer after a young hiker died from heat stroke. So¢¦ I had to think about what it would mean if I didn¢t get to summit this year. (I¢m basically a law-abiding guy and wouldn¢t try to sneak up when the trails were closed.) What I discovered is that although I¢d really like to be a certified thru-hiker, I had already accomplished the thru-hike in my own mind, and I felt satisfied. I¢d seen a big slice of the U.S., met lots of great people, felt close to nature, and proved to myself that I could do it. I would just become one of the longest section hikers ever to do the trail if I couldn¢t finish before winter.When I heard the ranger¢s prognostication, I didn¢t waste a minute picking up my stuff and heading to Millinocket. After waiting for 15 minutes for a vehicle to come by, I saw a car leave the campground. It was driven by a dayhiker who had Sharon and Paul in the backseat and gear up to the windows. He stopped and apologized for not having a couple of empty cubic feet to put me in, but Sharon and Paul saved me by piling up gear past the windows to the headliner (OK, a little poetic license here ¢ it really was crowded) and fitting me in with my pack across our knees. I checked into the Hiker Inn in town, had dinner at the AT Caf©, and made plans. I would take the bus home to Boston and drive back up to finish, if and when the mountain reopened.
Date: 2003-10-08
From: Katahdin Stream and Millinocket

To: Newton MA
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up at 3:30 AM, full of nervous energy. I started making a list of things to do when I get home, including writing about the meaning of the whole hike. I had a smaller than normal breakfast at the AT Caf© at 5AM. I talked to Paul and Sharon who were in a tougher situation than me. I called Sheila to tell her to expect me. I got through to the Baxter Park headquarters after 8 and confirmed that it was another Class IV day. Then I took a cab to Medway and the bus to Bangor and then to Boston.
Date: 2003-10-09
From: Newton MA

To: Millinocket
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I called the park this morning and learned that it is a Class III day with the Hunt Trail (the AT) open to the summit, and more warm weather is forecasted for tomorrow. I did the laundry, packed, and hit the road in my car at 11:30. It¢s a long drive (6 hours) but no longer than some of the green tunnel hiking days I had had on the trail, and easier! It was a beautiful afternoon and I could see Katahdin under a huge clear sky as I drove into Millinocket. Tomorrow is THE DAY. The weather report is for more partly cloudy warm weather. Outside the motel it is a luminous sunset, with saturated color everywhere.
Date: 2003-10-10
From: Millinocket

To: Trail's end
Miles today: 10.4

After a not very good night¢s sleep at the motel in Millinocket, I had breakfast at the AT Caf© at 5AM. I drove up to the Baxter Park gate and waited for it to open. I was the third car though and drove up to Katahdin Stream campground. I met Brown Bess at the shelter, and we started hiking just before 7. We were overtaken by Sleepy Floyd, Pipes, Phlegm, Superman, and Torch, and I went on with them. It was a beautiful, warm, cloudless morning, everything I could have hoped for on the last day of this often rainy thru-hike. The bouldering section up Hunt Spur was difficult in places, and I was glad to be climbing it when it wasn¢t icy, if, in fact it was on Wednesday. We made it up over the Gateway at the top of the spur around 11 and stopped at Thoreau Spring for a break. Then we walked across the table Lands and started up a ridge. I was just saying that we were on our last mile when we topped the ridge and I realized that I had been looking at the South Peak. Sleepy Floyd was waving from the unmistakable summit sign, and suddenly, we were all at the end of our 2171-mile hikes. After a lot of cheering and hugging, we passed cameras around and took photos individually and in a group at the famous sign. It was almost windless and warm, and we were in no hurry to leave. Dayhikers cheered for us. Sleepy Floyd surprised us with cans of Budweiser, which we used to toast each other. Superman put on his shirt with the big red ¢S¢ and a dayhiker who must have been in cahoots with someone presented him with a knit hat with the Superman logo on it. He and Torch unfurled a large peace flag and held it over the sign while we took pictures and toasted that concept. Soon, we were joined by CC, Chicken Legs, her sister Triple T, and Feral, and shortly after them by Brown Bess. Interestingly, after first cheering as we did, they cried (tears of joy), just reinforcing the idea that everyone hikes their own hike. We got together, 11 of us now, and a dayhiker took group photos with all the cameras. Some of us also had our pictures taken lying back on a flat rock at the edge of the precipice, courtesy of a former through-hiker who had dayhiked to the summit. We hung around on the summit from 11:30 until 1 PM and then made the final five-mile trek down to Katahdin Springs, well satisfied with the day. While waiting for the others, I looked though the many pages of the register at the ranger station and saw the names of many of the friends I had made on the trail. I shuttled a carload of hikers down to Millinocket, while some dayhikers gave others a ride. I left Millinocket before dinner, ready to return to my family and the rest of my life.It will take a while for me to digest the meaning of all I had been through and to see what impact it will have on me, but I know that it has been one of the best things I¢ve ever done.
Date: 2003-10-11
From: Trail's end

To: Newton MA
Miles today: 0.0

I'm home now, re-entering normal life with my family and looking for a job. (I decided not to return to my former job, but am looking for the same type of work with other companies in the Boston area. I'll have more to say about what the hike means to me in a while. In the mean time, here's the mock "press release" I sent to friends I have been corresponding with over the course of the hike:¢News Release¢*On Friday October 10, 2003, Millipede (aka Jim Purdy) reached the summit of Mount Katahdin, and thus finished his through-hike of the 2171-mile Appalachian Trail, which he began on April 14. The completion of the hike was delayed by two days owing to the closing of the trail due to snow and ice, but warmer weather later in the week provided glorious and ice-free conditions.Millipede was part of a summit group that included Superman, Torch, Pipes, Triple-T, Chicken Legs, CC, Brown Bess, Phlegm, Sleepy Floyd, and Feral. The through-hikers were congratulated by numerous day-hikers who were also on the summit. Superman and Torch unfurled a peace flag, and Sleepy Floyd distributed cans of Budweiser. Over the 147 days of the hike (excluding 30 zero days) Millipede averaged over 14 miles per day and exceeded 20 miles on 20 different days, mostly when off-trail food and drink was the goal. Along the way, he saw 8 bears, 3 moose, one rattlesnake, countless deer, and birds too numerous to mention. When asked about his immediate plans, Millipede said, ¢I plan to elevate my feet, elevate a beer, and watch the Red Sox defeat the Cubs. After all, my hike demonstrates that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.¢[* This is obviously a bit dated regarding the baseball prognostications.]
Date: 2004-04-03
From: Newton MA

To: Newton MA
Miles today: 0.0

I said in my previous entry after returning last fall that I was trying to understand that significance of my hike. I've done that from time to time and will wind up this journals with some of those thoughts.It takes around 5 months of hiking to complete an end-to-end hike of the Appalachian Trail. That¢s a lot of time and effort and cost and lost earnings and lost time with your family. So, it must be important in some way. It must have some greater meaning. What is it? Here¢s some thoughts.WalkingHiking is just walking, with a rocky scramble thrown in here and there. Walking is one of the most basic things a human can do. It¢s almost automatic, like breathing. Deep inside our brains, there¢s a mechanism that creates the rhythm and maintains our balance when we walk. As our feet move, left-right-left-right, tiny electrical impulses originate on alternate sides of our brains. I believe this rhythm is connected to other parts of our minds at a subconscious or unconscious level. For example, many hikers have songs playing our heads for most of the time we are walking, songs that connect to the rhythm of our feet and our breathing. This rhythm can also be connected to a walking mantra or meditation.