morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-03
From: Hanover, N.H. - Dartmouth College

To: Hanover, N.H. - Dartmouth College
Miles today: 0.0

Decided to take a zero day at Darthmonth College and enjoy the bed in the basement of the fraternity house. Just hung around town and enjoyed being off the trail for a day. Dimples, Java and ATV decided to take off on the Trail, so I will probably catch up with tme in a few days. Use the day to relax and get my laundry done.
Date: 2003-07-04
From: Hanover, N.H. - Dartmouth College

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: clear sky

Nice break at Darthmonth..being a college town, lots to do! Time to get bac on the trail, hiked 16.7 miles to Trapper John Shelter...spent most of the day hiking by myself, though did pass a couple of southbounders.
Date: 2003-07-05
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: broken clouds

Short day of hiking. Hiked with a section hiker to Firwarden's Cabin. There was a fire tower they climbed and they could see fireworks being shot off around the area. Happy 4th plus 1 day!!! Fireworks looke neat from up in the fire tower.Weather has been okay, not to hot and no rain.
Date: 2003-07-07
From: N.H. 25A

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 8.0

Stayed at The Hikers Welcome Hostel and took a shower and did laundry. Called home and it looks like I will be done around the 3rd of August. Mom and Dad have booked a flight to Portland, ME (unfortunately, no seats available to flights into Bangor) and will meet me at Baxter State park on the 3rd. We have a flight back (from Portland) to Atlanta the morning of August 6th, so we have a little "wiggle room" at the end. Looks like ATV, Dimples, Java, and maybe Poptart and A-Train will be finishing up around the same time...give or take a day.Hard to believe I have completed 1,773 miles and that the end is in sight. Still having a great time and enjoying meeting new people. A lot of Southbonders are appearing on the trail.Well, tomorrow I start the White Mountains, which is suppose to be one of the most impressive sections of the A.T. as well as some of the more rugid terrain. My next mail drop is scheduled for Mt. Washington (slight change from my original list). Will call home when I get to Mt. Washington.
Date: 2003-07-19
From: Pinkham Notch, NH

To: Pinkham Notch, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: fog

Luke had called on July 15th from Crawford Notch, NH to wish Carey a happy 16th birthday; however, we did not get an update on his travels since Glencliff. He called today (July 19th) to wish Susan a happy 22nd birthday and to let us know he was going to be about a week later than initial plans, so Laura and I spent this afternoon changing our travel arrangements from August 1st to August 8th.Luke is doing great and has slowed down his pace over the past week as well as taken a few zero days. He was in Pinkham Notch, NH today, which is near the end of the White Mountains National Forest and about 40 miles from the Maine state line. He is staying at the Hikers Paridise where he took a shower after two weeks.Luke said the White Mountains are "awesome" and has really enjoyed this area. He climbed Mt.Washington on July 17th. Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the Northeast (6,288 feet)and holds the world's record for the highest recorded on-land wind speed (231 mph); however, it is accessible by car, so it was a bit of a tourist trap. Luke said the views over the past week have been spectacular.The weather has cooled off and he has a few days of rain. When he got to Ethan Pond Campsite, the shelter was full (a lot of NOBO and SOBO as well as Section hikers in this area), so he slept outside (remember, he sent his tent home about 2 months ago) and it rained all night. He went into Crawford Notch and found a laundromat to dry his sleeping bag and clothes. Other interesting places he has found to sleep... a dugout at a baseball field in Lincoln and under a bridge near Lafayette Place Campground.In the White Mountains there are huts, which are run by crew ("croo") staffs and provide full service; however, they are expensive, so thru-hikers can work in order to stay for free at the huts. Luke said they have to wait until the paying customers finish with their meals and the thru-hikers then get the leftovers. Indicated it has been expensive in Vermont and New Hampshire, plus the towns are much furhter from the trail (10 to 12 miles), so a lot of hitch hiking into the towns.Dimples and Java left Handover a day earlier than Luke and ATV and Luke split up after Glencliff, so Luke has been on his own and hiking with section hikers the past week and a half.Only 300 miles to go and only 2 maildrops left. Laura and I went to the post office this morning and will mail his last maildrop next week. Hard to belive this journey is nearing completion.
Date: 2003-07-26
From: Speck Pond Campsite

To: Andover, ME
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: broken clouds

Luke called early this eveing from Andover, ME. He is now in MAINE...his 14th state and 1,914.7 miles completed...only 256 miles to go!!!!!The weather has be nice, very little rain. The trail is very rugged going through the end of the Whites and into Maine. Our plans are to meet Luke on August 10th at Abol Stream, which is at the Baxter Park boundary. Luke's last mail drop will be at Monson, Maine 04464, which he should reach in 8 days (approx. August 3rd.) After Monson, he will enter the "100-Mile Wilderness" the most remote hiking on the AT.Here is an update since Pinkham Notch....Luke has met up with some thru-hikers as well as section hikers and has slowed his pace down a bit in order to enjoy the wilderness and area of New Hampshire.Sunday, July 20th - Hiked 5.9 miles to Carter Notch Hut, the northernmost hut located on the banks of two small lakes in Carter Notch. It is the original hut, built in 1914. Climbed Wildcat Mountain (4,380 feet) just before Carter Notch.Monday, July 21th - Took a zero day and enjoyed the area and swimming in the lakes.Tuesday, July 22nd - Hiked 15.2 miles to U.S. 2 and got a ride into Gorham, where Jim Marshall sent Luke a mail drop...THANKS JIM. Ended up sleeping in an old train car...worked out well until the next morning when another train came blowing by and woke them up.Wednesday, July 23rd - Did 6.9 miles to Trident Col Tentsite. Last stay in New Hampshire before entering the 14th and final state...MAINE.Thursday, July 24th - Crossed the New Hampshire-Maine state line today and stayed at the Carlo Col Shelter...only 280.9 miles to Mt. Katahdin....hard to believe.Friday, July 25th - Passed through Mahoosuc Notch know to be the toughest mile on the AT, it took Luke a hour to scramble under, around, over, and through the boulders of Mahoosuc Notch. He found ice deep in the crevices and said he had to remove his pack only twice to get through the boulders. Camped at Speck Pond Campsite after climbing Mahoosuc Arm (3,770 feet). Did a total of 9.5 miles today.Saturday, July 26th - Hiked 14.9 miles to East B Hill Road and got a ride from shuttle service provided by Pine Ellis B&B. He is spending the night at Pine Ellis, where he plans to shower and get laundry done.Thanks for your continued support and interest. Luke will be home on August 12th.
Date: 2003-07-28
From: South Arm Road, Black Brook

To: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Hung out in Andover until late afternoon. Got a ride to South Arm Road, where Luke had slack packed south the day before. He and Shovel did not start hiking until around 5:00PM and only had one flashlight that worked, so they stopped hiking around 10:00 when they got to Bemis Mountain Lean-to.
Date: 2003-07-29
From: Bemis Mountain Lean-to

To: Rangeley, Maine
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: broken clouds

Luked called from Oquossoc, Maine. Very frustrating day as he had a mail drop in Oquossoc, which is 11 miles off the trail and he ended up having to hike over 5 miles before he got a ride. A lot of tourists in the area who are not "hiker friendly" (probably thought he was some bum), so it was difficult to hitch a ride and he ended up with a short AT day. Had hoped to do 19 miles today, but things did not work out as planned. The one good thing was his mail drop was a monster!Plans to get to Rangeley, today, and then arrange for a couple of days of slack packing with Gull Pond Lodge, so he can get a couple of 25 mile days in over the next couple of days.He has been hiking with Shovel and Rider on and off. Said the weather has been great, bug season is over and he saw a female moose today. Supposedly, you can see Mt. Katahdin from Sugarloaf Mountain...so, the end is truly in sight. Only 233.1 miles to go!One last maildrop in Monson, Maine and then the 100 mile wilderness section.
Date: 2003-07-30
From: Oquossoc, Maine

To: Caribou Valley Road
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: clear sky

Got a shuttle ride for $20 up to Caribou Valley Road and slack packed back to Rangeley (Gull Pond Lodge) and spent the night, again, at Gull Pond Lodge. Expensive 2 days...spent $80 for two nights at the lodge and shuttle service.
Date: 2003-07-31
From: Caribou Valley Road

To: Stratton, Maine
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: light rain

Shuttle service from Gull Pond Lodge in Rangeley back to Caribou Valley Road and hiked 7.3 miles to Stratton. Because of Rangeley, running low on money, so ended up sleeping in a parking lot near Maine highway 27...very noisy night.
Date: 2003-08-02
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Caratunk, Maine
Miles today: 21.3

Luke called from Caratunk, Maine. He has completed 2,020 miles and is on schedule to summit Mt. Katahdin on Sunday, August 10th. He will begin the 100 mile wilderness on Monday...hard to believe he is in his last week of this amazing journey.It has been expensive up in this area and he spent $80 over two days by staying in Rangeley for two nights and paying for a shuttle service in order to do some slack packing to make up some miles. Due to low funds, he ended up sleeping in a parking lot near the highway in Stratton...very noisy night. Also, clothes are hanging on by a thread...used dental floss to sew up his pants.He had another moose sighting the other day. A lot of lakes and streams along the trail, which makes it great to cool off, plus great views. Said he cannot remember the last time he took a shower, so the jumps in the lakes are great. He has had to ford several rivers and had to be ferried, via a canoe, across the Kennebec River, which is the most formidable unbridged water-crossing on the AT.Met a thru hiker from Georgia who flew up to Maine and is doing a southbound thru-hike; he will be attending Appalachian State starting in Spring 2004...small world.Should hear from Luke one more time on Monday before he starts the 100 mile wilderness trek.
Date: 2003-08-04
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: Monson, Maine
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light intensity shower rain

Luke called from Monson...his last maildrop! He is staying at "the Pie Lady" tonight and will begin the 100 mile wilderness first thing tomorrow. Plans are to get to Birches Campsite by Saturday, August 9th. Laura and I will then, hopefully, get into Baxter State Park Sunday morning and meet up with Luke at Birches Campsite to see him leave for the summit of Mt. Katahdin and wait there until he returns...about 9 hours later; the last 5 miles of the AT ascends 4,200 feet.Looking forward to seeing Luke next Sunday and celebrating his accomplishment .... 2,171 miles.Will post final entry next week.
Date: 2003-08-09
From: East Branch Lean-to

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 21.8

Great day today, especially spending the night at White House Landing and spending a night in a hostel (last one). Had a great 3/4 pound hamburger for dinner.Meanwhile, Laura and I had flown into Portland Friday night and drove up to Millinocket on Saturday. We arrived in Millinocket around 3:00 and went to the Baxter State Park ranger's office in Millinocket to see if Shifty had reached Birches campground...he had not. We ate dinner at River Divers restaurant (very good dinner) and then drove out to Baxter State Park to see where it was and to see if Shifty had arrived. Rangers at the entrance to the park were extremely friendly and helpful. Shifty had not made it into Birches. Rangers told us to check at Abol Pine campground, which is outside of the park, so we drove 8 miles to Abol Pine campground and went searching for Shifty around 9:15...no luck. Went back into Millinocket with plans to get up early on Sunday.
Date: 2003-08-10
From: White House Landing

To: Rainbow Lake
Miles today: 21.6

Last night on the AT and how fitting...it poured rain all night. Shifty and Shovel spent the night curled up under Shovel's tent fly and got soaked. Not a very restful night and a big day tomorrow.Laura and I drove to Katahdin Stream Campground (inside Baxter State Park) around 8:30 and saw a group of thru-hikers...hoping one of them would be Shifty. Met AKA, Chiquita, Gnome, Mandingo, Shout and Tunnel, but no Shifty. They thought he was a day behind them and would finish up today (the 10th). Sat and talked with this group of thru-hikers for about a half hour. Another thru-hiker, King Harvest, came into Katahdin Stream campground around 10:00 and said he had met Shifty earlier in the week and Shifty knew he had a flight home on the 12th. King Harvest thought Shifty would be in late that afternoon; however, it had been raining the past week, which could have slowed him down.Gave AKA and Chiquitta a ride into Millinocket and enjoyed talking with them. We went back to Katahdin Stream Campground to wait for Shifty. Hiked up to Katahdin Stream Falls and then sat in the campground park area waiting for Shifty. It got to 7:00 and no sign of Luke, so we decided to drive over to Abol Pine campground, again, and see if he was there. Once again, in the dark and pouring rain, we searched for Shifty...and once again, no luck. Went back to Millinocket for the night with plans to get to Katahdin Stream Campground around 8:30 tomorrow.
Date: 2003-03-07
From: blue mountain shelter

To: tray mountain shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: scattered clouds

day 6i woke up well rested after what wass mutually our longest day. that is poptart, the sub and myself. i have breakfast and join the sub at their tent site. they're still getting ready and will be for the next hour or so, but who's to blame them? they're only walking a few miles to unicoi gap and then hitching into helen. poptart and myself also have a light day ahead of us. we're only walking 8 miles to tray mountain shelter.the sub is finally ready and we head out. in no time we get to the road, wish lion cub a happy birthday, and say goodbye. the fellas stick out their thumbs and get picked up by something like the third car. poptart and i have a quick snack by the road and head on up the trail. the rest of the day is pretty uneventful until we get to the summit of tray mountain. absolutely gorgeous. we end up sun bathing on the rocks for a good half-hour and then head over to the shelter. on the way there we pass a nice little clearing and poptart decides that she's gonna set up her hennessey hammock tonight. now i'd heard of the hammock at neels gap, but hadn't seen it yet. at that point i was imagining something like a summer hammock. something that was anything but weather worthy. what poptart whips out is one of the most novel ideas i've seen on the trail to date (that and the pop-can stove). she tells me it's great in the rain and by the looks of it i believe it.poptart gives me a quick lesson on setup and we head over to the shelter. we get some water and she takes a bath. soon enough dean, brendan, journeyman and java show up. dean, brendan and journeyman have put in a pretty nice day to get here and they somewhat look it. everyone gets settled in and a little later on java and i fail miserably at getting a fire started. pretty soon the sun sets and we all catch a gorgeous display of colors. the night sky arrives with clarity so poptart and i decide to go to tray mountain's rock face and check out the sky. it's littered with stars and she points out the space station and even a couple satelites to me. i'm absolutely amazed. this is definitely not the average sky that i get over d.c. it starts getting a little chili so we head back and with that close another great day on the trail.
Date: 2003-03-09
From: blueberry patch hostel

To: bly gap
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: few clouds

day 8woke up, got ready, and had breakfast at the patch. lennie and gary hooked up a really nice breakfast comprised of pancakes, sausage, really great biscuits, juice and coffee. we entertained each other with pleasant coversations and then headed off. i was among the first group to leave, which included pile up and red. gary drove us to the trailhead and we said our goodbyes.a mile or so into the hike i caught up with brendan and dean who were just shooting it by the side of the trail. we chatted for a bit and started hiking. a couple of miles down the trail at the plumorchard shelter side-trail junction we took a break. there was a great big oak (i think) right there who's roots created these recliner-type notches. brendan and i snugged up in a couple of these and dean broke out the rest of his ribs from daniel's steakhouse and a beer that we all partook in. had a couple of smokes and just lazied around.not long after slowride and trooper pulled up. slowride's this cat from boston with one of the thickest bostonian accents i've heard and trooper's this really nice guy who just so happened to be packing a fifth of jaegermeister. we shot it with slowride and trooper for a bit. trooper offered us some of his thirst-quenching beverage, which we packed out for later and we headed out. the fellas didn't want to join us. they'd gone as far as they were gonna go. that was the last time i saw trooper. he got off the trail shortly after.we headed out and soon enough we came around a bend and saw a group of hikers on the side of the trail. we had made it to our first state crossing, the georgia/north carolina border. we introduced ourselves to the group who were collectively known as "five alive." they consisted of speck, diesel, slickrock and i can't remember the rest. we took photos by the tree with the border sign and walked a short distance more to a nice campsite.we got all set up and i made my first solo-attempt at fire building. it took me a bit, but i did finally get it going, despite dean's harassment. he insisted that we do it the old fashion way: using some white gas. i told him that the only way to go is all-natural. we hung around the campfire with five alive, journeyman, and a father and son couple for a bit and called it a night. i slept in dean's luxurious 2-man eureka, but i warned him that if i saw any sudden movements he wouldn't make it another day.
Date: 2003-03-18
From: mollies ridge shelter

To: derrick knob shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: overcast clouds

day 17had a great first night in the smokies. plenty of good company and the shelter was fairly warm. a bit windy though so you could hear the tarps that had been hung on the chain-link fence flapping all night. annoying, but they blocked off some of the wind. at the same time though, i wish the fences weren't up period. they're hideous and specially with the tarps. it makes the inside of the shelters very dark. they really don't fit in with the rest of the scenery so i was happy to hear that the new movement is to remove all the fences from the shelter.had a pleasant, foggy walk to russel field shelter and checked out the register. had a quick snack and headed out. it started to clear up a bit and soon i arrived at spence field shelter. i had heard about the shelter previously and had been told it's a great place to stay the night. i was hoping to have done that last night, but i had gotten out of fontana dam too late in the day. the shelter is like any other in the smokies, but it's located on a man-made bald. according to the companion "james spence cleared 100 acres here in the 1830s for cattle grazing." so the area is really open and it just looks great. kind of like a "little house on the prairie" type-deal.in front of the shelter are two now unused bear boxes (been replaced by bear cables). i layed my pack out on one of them and sat on the other and cooked my self up some lunch. i love hot lunches. while in the process malkovich dropped in for a quick second. we talked for a bit and he headed out towards derrick knob shelter. having finished my lunch, i packed everything up and headed out myself.the whole morning i hadn't seen anyone other than malkovich and it continued like that for the rest of the day until i got to derrick knob shelter. there i saw malkovich, a couple of weekenders, and later poptart, flick and subman showed up. dream chaser, the other thru-hiker from last night had already been by. he had told me last night that he was trying to catch up to a couple of buddies so was gonna be putting in some work till then.up till now, i can't really say that i've been impressed by the smokies. but tommorrow we have clingmans dome, so i'm hoping all that will change. clingmans is the highest point on the AT at 6643'. we're at 4880' right now at derrick knob shelter. almost a 2000' difference, but it's spread out over roughly 6 miles, so it's really no big deal. or at least i'm hoping it isn't. who knows? it could work out that we walk level for the next 4-5 miles and then the last 2 we have the 2000' to deal with. ah, who cares. i like leaving it as a surprise anyways. till tomorrow folks.
Date: 2003-10-07
To: Going back in time
Miles today: 0.0

Well, i'd been toiling with the idea of whether or not to do this ever since i got back home. This being writing a journal after completing my trip and, well, I think I've concluded my toil because here i am writing these here lines.I know this might be a little difficult, but i enjoy writing and it'll be nice to retrace my steps, relive the experience in a sense. Now the only question is where to start aside from the obvious. I think the train ride from D.C. to Gainesville, GA should do the trick. So let us conclude this introduction, set our dials for somewhere around 8 in the evening on the 1st of March, 2003 and begin our journey.P.S. I summited on the 21st of September on a gorgeous day.