morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-08-15
From: West Carry Pond Lean-To (ME)

To: Safford Notch Campsite (ME)
Miles today: 12.6

Today seemed like it lasted forever. We got going at our usual time and the trail was fairly flat. At one point, a line of 6 guys passed. I got off trail to let them by, and one of them said, ¢Nobo vortex train, coming through¢ and then followed with a train whistle sound. Eventually we had to climb Little Bigelow. A family out for a day hike passed me, but they didn¢t have as much stuff and it seemed like this is something they do often. However, my pace went down and I could barely do 1mph. By the time I got to the campsite, it was 6pm. Even though I started 2 hours earlier and had done 1.4 miles less than yesterday, I only got in an hour earlier. Today was only Little Bigelow; tomorrow we have the ¢big¢ Bigelows. The hostel we are staying with has pick ups at 1 and 4:30pm. Even though we are doing shorter miles, I don¢t know if I can make the pick up time. Then a couple comes in at 7. They are also doing a flip-flop hike and are currently nobo. I asked them where they started today and they only did about 8 miles. I almost start freaking out. It doesn¢t help that the weather report has rain in the forecast. SC sees that I¢m worried and tries to tell me, ¢ We got this.¢ I have service, so I call Spike¢s Dad. I¢m trying to tell myself that I can always pay a little more for a late pickup. It¢s not working.
Date: 2019-08-18
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-To (ME)

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-To (ME)
Miles today: 8.0

It rained most of the night. At one point I heard one of the guys in the lean-to get up. I thought maybe it was 4am, and he was an early riser. I fell back asleep and dreamed that I went to the Y (what¢s with the Y dreams recently?) to go swimming. I got in and used my last, free guest pass. I then realized I didn¢t look at the swim schedule before going. There were 2 pools, and the one for lap swimming was full. They were short lifeguards, so I filled in. I recognized some of the swimmers as hikers and they told me hikers got in free, so now I¢m upset that I wasted a guest pass. People were starting to get out of the pool, so I went to get in but a manager told me that the pool was now closed so they could have swim lessons. I woke up and looked at the time. It was 3:25. Certainly that hiker hadn¢t left *that* early. I fell asleep again. When I woke up I just lay there. I didn¢t want to be the first one up. Then I heard someone¢s alarm for 5. I stayed in sleeping bag through them snoozing the alarm 2 more times and then got up. This was practically sleeping in! When we finally got going, we started off downhill. It seemed like we would never reach the bottom. When we did get there, we had a stream to cross. SC went to the middle of the stream on rocks, stood there for a while, and then came back. There was one place where she would have to jump and she didn¢t trust that she could jump that far on these rocks while wearing a pack. Well, if she¢s not confident that she can, I¢m confident that I can¢t. I take my pack off and put on my camp shoes in order to ford the stream. Meanwhile, we keep seeing nobos cross without problems. However, if you cross nobo, you have a better angle on a slanted rock, so they don¢t have to jump. It does feel good to soak my feet in the cold water. After the stream, it is uphill to the lean-to. We get there early and have the time and energy to go to the next campsite, but it¢s supposed to rain again tonight. The guys we had stayed with each night between Caratunk and Stratton have caught back up with us and are staying here tonight. It¢s another packed house in the shelter.
Date: 2019-08-20
From: Piazza Rock Lean-To (ME)

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-To (ME)
Miles today: 11.2

Last night I woke up about 2am and had trouble getting back to sleep, so I worked on journal entries for about an hour and went back to sleep about 3:30. I dreamed that I was trying to meet up with a friend from college, but I was having trouble because I also had to watch a group of middle school students. If you¢re wondering why I share my dreams, it¢s because I¢ve been remembering them lately. I am interested in if I can make some meaning of them when I get done. You, dear reader, are welcome to do some armchair psychoanalysis. I slept in until 5:30. It helped that no one had an alarm that went off at 4:30. Not long after leaving the lean-to, I¢m passed by a sobo I haven¢t met before. He said he had cowboy camped last night on a tent platform just off the trail. He is also doing some sort of flip-flop. I am able to keep pace with him until the trail starts to go down. Then my thighs start complaining that they did too much downhill yesterday. Anyway, we talk for a while and he says he¢s going to the road to meet a friend. When we get to the road, we know the friend. He¢s a guy who has been slack packing the trail, but his support crew had to go home, so he¢s going to start backpacking the trail. Anyway, we stop by his truck for about 30 minutes and have some drinks and offload our trash. They are taking the rest of the day off, so they will be somewhere behind us for a while. After we leave, we see a guy I¢m 99% sure passed us on our first day. We stop and talk to a trail maintainer. We¢re the 23rd and 24th hikers he¢s seen today. He said the most he had seen in a day while out this summer is 18. He comments that he hasn¢t seen as many women as usual. We really haven¢t seen that many either since we came to Maine. While we didn¢t have any significant climbs today, the trail was full of what SC calls spaghetti and meatballs, that is, roots and rocks. It takes a lot of mental energy to figure out where to put your foot with every step. We saw a lot of survey tape today where they marked out where the trail will be improved for future hikers. We got to the lean-to about 4:30. There¢s a few guys tenting and a nobo thru-hiker sharing the lean-to with us. The pond is clear, but SC saw leeches, so I am limiting my exposure to it.
Date: 2019-08-25
From: Frye Notch Lean-To (ME)

To: Speck Pond Shelter (ME)
Miles today: 10.4

Last night I could hear the Harvard group as I went to bed, but I fell asleep quickly. Sidewinder had a harder time and actually told them to keep it down twice. When I got up this morning to use the privy, the door was wide open and the lid was up. I¢m wondering if I should contact the person in charge of outdoor orientation to tell them about these problems. I¢m actually wondering the reason they send students out to the Appalachian Trail in Maine when there are plenty of places that are not as heavily traveled and closer to Cambridge. This morning it was cold when I got up. It seems like it is so hard to move when it gets cold. More tents had appeared while we were sleeping.Today our first challenge was the Baldpates. The initial climb up reminded me of Bemis, and the trail between East and West peaks reminded me of the Saddlebacks. Just after the Baldpates, we stopped by our last lean-to. From here on out, they are all shelters. We have left the Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) and have entered the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), or as I¢ve heard it referred to several times already, the Appalachian Money Club. As we get close to Grafton Notch, we start to encounter lots of day hikers. We cross the road and come upon a parking lot. And what is that? Could it be? Yes, it is, trail magic! By the welcome kiosk are boxes of pastries, a huge bag of Snickers bars, and 4 large containers of cherry tomatoes. Then there¢s a cooler with sodas, salads, and yogurt. I take a salad and a soda. The salad has spinach, hard boiled eggs, almonds, cranberries, cheese, and dressing. It also comes with a fork! When I¢m done with the salad, I fill up my salad bowl with some tomatoes. This is probably my favorite trail magic I¢ve received so far.Now that we¢ve been refreshed by the wonderful trail magic, it¢s time to hike up and over another mountain. Sidewinder takes the Eyebrow Trail because it¢s longer and more scenic than the AT. However, when he gets back to the AT he turns the wrong way. Fortunately he didn¢t go too far before running into SC and getting pointed in the right direction. He and SC decide to take the .3mile side trail to the summit of Old Speck Mountain. I am content just hike the AT, and I¢m going to be late enough without adding another .6 miles to my day.SC goes up Old Speck, climbs the fire tower (she said it wasn¢t very tall), and still beats me to the shelter. This is our first AMC shelter and it has a caretaker and you have to pay to stay. I make dinner and then pay the caretaker while the food rehydrates. We eat dinner by headlamp, and then I have to set up in the dark. There is a woman here we met on our first day on the trail.
Date: 2019-08-28
From: Gentian Pond Shelter (NH)

To: US 2, Gorham, NH
Miles today: 11.8

I was up before sunrise as usual. While I wasn¢t able to see the sunrise from the shelter, the hills turned a beautiful shade of pink as the sun came up. We had 2 named mountains today: Cascade and Hayes. They were by no means like walking in Virginia, but were a lot easier than what we did yesterday. There was a lot of walking across big, flat rocks today. I like this type of hiking. However, you have to pay more attention because it¢s easier to lose the trail. After coming down Hayes, it was a nice, long, gradual descent into town. That part was a lot like Virginia. We do some road walking to the hostel. We get checked in and take showers. This place has my favorite loaner clothes. I might need to look into having them sent to other hostels. We order dinner from a pizza place. SC gets a pizza and I get a salad. I¢m worried that the salad won¢t be enough, so I also order loaded fries. I end up eating the fries and getting full. I guess I¢m having salad for breakfast. This is another hostel that serves all you can eat pancakes for breakfast. It¢s rained most of the evening since we got here. I¢m so glad to be inside.
Date: 2019-08-29
From: US 2, Gorham, NH

To: US 2, Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0

I didn¢t sleep well last night. The hostel is on a highway and all night logging trucks barreled down the road. As soon as I would fall asleep, another loud truck would roll by and wake me up. We decided to take a zero day today. We haven¢t had a zero day in 3 weeks, and also we need time to do a resupply. After the convenience stores we had to work with in Maine, I¢m excited to go to Walmart. There¢s an 8:30 shuttle to the post office. We ask the shuttle driver if he can take us to the hardware store that¢s right by the PO. On our way there we see a bear cross the road. That¢s #10 for SC. Maybe #6 for me? At the hardware store we pick up stove fuel. Then the shuttle driver takes us to a coffee shop. SC and I both get lattes and sandwiches. I also get a piece of gluten free chocolate cake.Back at the hostel, I eat second breakfast (the first was the salad I didn¢t have for dinner). I have a nice talk with a dermatologist about the reasons we¢re on trail and our plans for when we¢re done. There¢s a noon shuttle to Walmart. We have an hour, but we have so much to get. SC and I are running around, trying to get different things, and we keep losing each other. Finally we get in line and of course the woman in front of us can¢t get her card to work. I run to the shuttle to let them know we¢ll be a few more minutes. Then SC is trying to pay for some things with her Walmart gift card and they have to bring a manager over to figure it out. It involves SC typing in the numbers on the card. The process seems overly complicated.After all that, we go back to the hostel and I post some journal entries and edit others. At dinner I have a frozen microwave meal, a bagged salad, and a bottle of kombucha. I¢m glad I remembered to get dinner for tonight and breakfast for tomorrow.I have my earplugs ready and hope to sleep better tonight.
Date: 2019-09-02
From: Osgood Campsite (NH)

To: Osgood Campsite (NH)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I didn¢t sleep well last night. I was listening for the rain to start. I first heard some sprinkling about 12:45, and then the rain began in earnest around 2. I got up to use the privy and retrieve our food bags at 5:30, I then sat in the tent and thought about what to do. It is raining. It is supposed to rain all day. We are currently at the base of Mt. Madison, so for the next 2.5 miles, the trail is uphill and goes above tree line. We¢re not supposed to lightning, but wet rocks and wind aren¢t a good combination. My thought yesterday was we would climb over Madison and then go to the Madison Hut to see if we could get a work for stay. If not, there¢s a campsite .6 miles from the hut we could stay at. However, that campsite had earthen tent pads rather than wooden platforms and doesn¢t have bear boxes. Also we would be packing up a wet tent, climbing Madison in the rain, and possibly setting up our tent in the rain. Or we could stay here. SC¢s bladder got her up at 7:30. When she gets back to the tent, I tell her my plan. As she is the one that carries the tent and doesn¢t have a packcover, she likes this proposal.So today we mostly sat in our tent and read and wrote. I called Spike¢s Dad and talked to him for a while. I wasn¢t particularly hungry or thirsty, but SC had to keep herself from eating everything in her food bag. SC remarked, ¢This is the first zero day we haven¢t done anything.¢
Date: 2019-09-04
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut (NH)

To: Mizpah Spring Hut (NH)
Miles today: 4.6

They announced 15 minutes until lights out at 9:15 and the guests started going to bed and the thru-hikers started setting up our sleeping pads. I was in the very back and could see so many stars out the windows. I put in my earplugs, put my buff over my eyes and ears, and tried to sleep. There were a lot of heavy foot steps and some people talking oddly loudly, but eventually I managed to fall asleep.I woke up around 3am, and the stars had disappeared. When I woke up at 5:30, clouds had completely enveloped the hut.There were not a lot of guests staying at the hut, so they let us stay and sit in the dining room while the guests had breakfast. After guests were done eating, SC, a couple of nobos, and I had a chance to eat leftovers before starting on our work for stay chores. SC and I straightened up and swept the bunk rooms for an hour.About 9:30 we headed out into the clouds. It was rainy and windy. There was a trail crew out working on the trail, and for most of the hike to Mizpah Spring the trail was nicely maintained. We walked just below the summit of Monroe, across Franklin, just below the summit of Eisenhower, and then across Pierce. The first half of the hike was pretty exposed, and as we hiked we were going lower in elevation and gaining tree cover. This was good because when we were about a half mile from the hut, we heard thunder. It was also here that the trail became steep and more difficult. But then we saw the hut!We went in and got our free bowl of soup (we get one at one hut for buying a thru-hiker pass). SC was looking for something to pass the time, so she offered to help out and they put her to work washing dishes. At 4pm we went to the person in the kitchen and asked for a work for stay, and they said yes! Second night in a row where we get to stay inside for free. We were joined by 3 other hikers and they had us hang out in the library while the guests had dinner. We mostly just sat around and talked about food. We did wonder if we had made the right decision to stay when we saw the sun come out around 5pm, but a few minutes later it was raining againWhen dinner was over, we were invited down to eat leftovers. In addition to dinner, they also had some soup they were trying to get rid of. I have had so much soup today. Next was the work part of the work for stay. SC scrubbed dishes in the kitchen while I defrosted and inventoried a fridge in the basement. Then we asked nicely and they said we could stay in the library tonight rather than set up on the dining room floor. This is great because it is cleaner and warmer in here. We did have a croo member come in and ask us to keep it down. This is a good group of people to hang out with and I¢m so glad we don¢t have to tent outside in the cold rain.
Date: 2019-09-08
From: Cascade Brook/Franconia Notch/North Woodstock, NH

To: Kinsman Pond Shelter (NH)
Miles today: 4.8

I slept well last night in a real bed and still woke up early. Fortunately, there¢s a 24-hour laundromat across the street, so I took everything there. SC stayed in the room and continued to sleep. I wore rain gear so all of my clothes could be washed. Then I went back to the room so I could take another shower and put on clean clothes. Our next stop was a restaurant for breakfast before going to a convenience store to resupply. We are stopping at Glencliff in a couple of days so all we needed was breakfasts and snacks for 2 days. Early on the trail I would refuse to buy stuff at convenience stores because it¢s so expensive, but around here it¢s all that¢s available. It is a little cheaper than buying the same snacks at the huts. Then we went back to the room to organize everything and finish charging our electronics. We were not going very far today, so I was going to stay in the room until check out time.The motel offers rides to the trail starting at 8:30 and going until everyone is shuttled. Waiting until 11am to leave means that we have to find our own ride. We were not the only hikers who stayed ¢late.¢ We met a couple dropping off their key at the same time as us. They were headed south into town though. SC and I stuck our thumbs out and headed north toward the trail. Vehicle #4 pulled over and picked us up. It was a guy who works at a local brewery who said he wasn¢t all that interested in going to work.He asked if we were going to the Liberty Springs trailhead, and we said yes. However, he dropped us off at the Flume Gorge Visitors Center. No problem, we¢ll just take the bike path rather than the trail we took yesterday. And despite being .3 miles longer, I think the bike path was faster.Just .2 miles after we got back to the trail we hit another milestone. 1100 miles! We took a picture and then kept hiking. We took our time today because we only wanted to go 4.8 miles and wait until tomorrow to tackle the Kinsmans. We stopped at our last hut. I got a free soup, but SC wanted the soup and grilled cheese combo. The woman working the kitchen asked her if she was willing to do some dishes in exchange for food.  SC jumped in the kitchen and went right to work.Eventually we left the warmth and yummy smells of the hut and got ourselves moving again. It was uphill to the shelter. A sobo flip-flopper we¢ve been leap-frogging with is here along with a couple of people who appear to be section hikers. There is also a caretaker at this shelter, so we have to pay to stay here, but this is her last night! If we were here tomorrow, we wouldn¢t have to pay. It¢s worth paying though to have a clean privy and a bear box.It¢s going to be another cold, windy night.
Date: 2019-09-09
From: Kinsman Pond Shelter (NH)

To: Unofficial Campsite by Beaver Brook (NH)
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was cold, and I didn¢t sleep very well. I woke up around 4am, and finally let myself get up at 5. When I got up it was cold, and fortunately the wind had died down and there was no rain. We got going just after 7:30am. We first tackled North Kinsman before going over South Kinsman. We were already part of the way up North Kinsman by going to the shelter. The climb wasn¢t so bad. Going down was longer. While the climbs were par for the course, the mud we encountered today was something new. We first went through a bog where there were missing bog boards. It was impossible to go through without getting your feet wet. Fortunately the bog wasn¢t terribly deep, so by choosing my steps carefully, the water never came all the way over my shoes. But then we had mud. Some places there were yards of trail that were just mud and I had to feel around with my trekking poles to find places where there were rocks close to the surface. I ran into a couple of hikers we had met near Glasgow, VA and one had mud up to his right knee because he had taken a wrong step.As we came down into Kinsman Notch, a nobo passed saying something about ¢only¢ having a 17 mile day. I haven¢t seen a 17 mile day since we flipped. I wanted to tell him I was going to be really happy if I could make 13 miles today. As I got close to the road, SC was sitting sitting on a rock waiting for me. I was glad to see her because I wanted to talk about today¢s destination. Apparently this was also what she wanted to talk about. Our goal had been the Beaver Brook Shelter. However, getting there involves a 1.5 mile steep climb with waterfalls. Not wanting to repeat the discouragement of our night at Garfield Ridge, we decide to camp just past the road where there are supposed to be unofficial campsites. There is also a parking lot with pit toilets and trash cans. We will save that climb for the morning when our legs are fresh. We have set up our camp near Beaver Brook and beside what appears to be a beaver pond. There are trees here that have obviously been worked on by beavers, but none of it looks fresh. This is the first night we have hung a bear line since we flipped north. SC got a text from Sidewinder today. He had been 4 days ahead of us, but he got off for a couple of days on the road we just crossed, so now we are ahead of him. Maybe we will see him tomorrow.
Date: 2019-09-11
From: NH Route 25, Glencliff, NH

To: Unofficial Campsite MM1784.3 (NH)
Miles today: 10.0

Last night I sat around for a little while talking to some of the other hikers. Then about 8:30 I decided to get ready for bed. By the time I had everything set up it sounded like there was a party going on downstairs. I put in my earplugs and managed to fall asleep.For some reason I woke up at 3am and finally got up at 4:30. I went out to the ¢bathhouse¢ which is where the running water (toilet, sink, washer and dryer, and shower) is. This is probably the least clean hostel I¢ve been to and the set up of everything in the yard under a tent doesn¢t help things. I decided I didn¢t want to shower so I just washed my face and feet well. I then went inside and worked on journal entries until more people were up and moving. The first guy to come down after me went outside, probably to use the toilet. A few minutes later I could smell skunk. Fortunately the guy didn¢t get sprayed. I don¢t know what the skunk may have reacted to. By 6:30 several people were up and the lights were on. There was a shuttle leaving for people slack packing Moosilauke at 7:30 and another at 8:30. I just needed to walk up the road to get on trail, but I didn¢t have enough snacks to get me to Hanover. I needed to wait for all of shuttles to be completed to get a ride to the store. I found another guy who needed to resupply and they took us about 10:30. The store was still pretty much a convenience store, but it was bigger and nicer than most of the others I¢ve been to lately. I also got some ice cream for lunch because why not?About 11:45 I was all packed and organized so I started walking toward the trail. This time I was completely by myself. There were some rolling hills today. Plenty of rocks and roots but also more dirt. One of the hills was called Mt. Mist, but it was nothing like the recent mountains we had been doing.I saw 6 nobos today, one of whom I had met back in Virginia. There was a guy from the hostel who left after me. I hadn¢t realized he was a sobo. We leapfrogged several times today. I also saw 2 red efts today, the first ones I¢ve seen since we flipped up to Katahdin. I got to a campsite just south of NH Route 25A. There¢s actually several places along the trail here that look like they are frequented by locals, and based on the trash here, they¢re gluten free. I saw a tent set up about 100 yards north of me, but for the most part I¢m alone.The trees are just starting to change color. However, today it was raining in the morning and the afternoon was hot and humid. Mosquitoes were biting me as I made dinner, which hasn¢t happened in a while.