morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-06-15
From: Lakes of the cloud

To: Osgood Tent Site
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Wednesday morning brought dense fog around the hut. I couldn't safely leave at 5am even though I was ready. As time dragged on the guests gradually appeared, most ready for the 7am breakfast, which would then be followed by a summit weather report. Finally, about 6:45 a group of Japenese buckled up and headed out into the slightly less dense fog towards the summit. As I watched them disappear into the mist I made a command decision and moved out as well. I figured I wouldn't get too lost if other people were out there. That was probably a wrong assumption. The summit was only 1.5 miles away, which doesn't sound like much. The wind was blowing crosswise but it wasn't as cold as the day before. The conditions had scared me into wearing my long underwear hiking for the first time since the first year. It's normally much too hot. The suspense was high I I trudged upwards watching for each rock cairn to appear from the fog and show the way. The actual trail was minimal. From time to time I heard the group ahead hollering and whooping, trying to keep in touch with each other. It was comforting to me also. Suddenly an opening in the cloud revealed the view and everyone cheered. It left as quickly but kept coming back, each time a bit longer. There would be a view. As we curled up the mountain the wind would be blocked and then return with avengence, getting stronger all the time. At its worse you could not move into it. You had to wait for the gust to die down. Ask approached the summit a decision had to be made. My trail guide showed the way up but it was not clear the AT actually went to the summit. I was debating whether I would use the considerable energy necessary to do that knowing I might regret not doing it later. When I got to the trail intersection though the choice was taken out of my hands. A clear AT blaze pointed to the top. Straight into an 80 mile wind. We all worked hard to move up there in between gusts but finally made the summit, where there were several towers and the tiptop house. I hid behind a rock to take some pictures and then found the AT path down and left the summit in my rear view mirror.
Date: 2016-06-15
From: Summit

To: Osgood tent site
Miles today: 5.0

Wednesday was not done. Not by a long shot. The descent from Mt Washington took me across and then down along the cog railroad. This is a train all the way to the summit and is called the cog because that's how it works. The tracks actually have a series of peg like tracks that the trains main gear can push against as it climbs the grade that is much too steep for a normal train. This train is famous for hikers mooning it, supposedly because the railroad and tiptop house had a disdain for hikers at one time. From the summit the rest of the Presidentials looked imposing. These are a series of rocky peaks named for more of the presidents. As I moved to Mt Clay I realized my merino wool under layer was too warm now and had to stop to reconfigure. This meant stripping down to nothing. I found a hidden spot and changed, just happy to be out of the wind. I Had left the hut at 6:45, hit the summit at 8 and now it was not yet 9. Lots of day left and I still had hopes the terrain might ease up and let me get to Pinkham gap and a motel that night. Dream on. Each peak was nothing but boulders and rock cairns suggesting a way thru them. I picked my way up every climb and had to meticulously watch every step of each descent. Not everyone has to do this but with my reduced ability to balance, I had no choice. Without the hiking sticks I would be toast. Shortly after noon I found myself at Madison hut, where u stopped for some soup. I got the last serving of beef stew, which was hardly recognizable as such. For some reason all the hut food had to be an exotic combination of spices and tastes. Still I was happy to see one or two chunks of something in there that might have been meat. This hut sits at the base of Mt Madison. Climbing it is the first job after leaving and it is again a steep rocky effort. No real trail and a bit depressing to see the cairns as they get smaller and smaller until the mountain slope hides them and the true summit. As I worked my way up i caught sight of a crew member from the hut passing me. He had no sticks and was simply walking erect up the mountain. For what purpose I don't know. Maybe to show off. He walked to the peak, I think, and then came down the same way. He was up and down before I was up. Theoretically that should have been my last major climb for the day. The trail descended down to the valley and wouldn't it have been nice to find a smooth path on the backside of the mountain. Huh. The boulders seemed even worse than earlier and instead of just going down the profile undulated from peak to peak, each just slightly lower than the last. It was almost 5pm by the time I hit my decision point, the Osgood tent site. With almost 5 miles left to the gap I gave up and decided to pitch my tent. It was a good decision. Laying inside out of the bugs I was very satisfied with the day and fell asleep by 7. It was a hard 10 mile day but Mt Washington was behind me.
Date: 2016-06-16
From: Osgood tent site

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: scattered clouds

On Thursday I had every intention of doing a nearo to the gap and licking my wounds at the lodge that lies right on the trail there. I slept in late and got there just before 11am. I even negotiated for a room and checked out the dinner menu. All good. The next day I would tackle Wildcat, with its initial 2000 ft steep climb, the steepest on the AT. But then I asked about the weather for Friday. Chance of morning showers. No way. Without much thought I chugged a coke and an orange juice and headed back out to climb the mountain in bright sunshine. I didn't know how far I would get but I had the afternoon to do it. Maybe I would see my first stealth camping event. Stealth camping is pitching a tent in the wild, not in a designated camping area. I have been suitably humbled by the NH hikers. Many are much faster and more at ease on these trails than I am. But I continue to be amazed by my trail legs. The climb that I had come to dread since seeing it in the guidebook months ago was simply steep and long. Some rebar and some near vertical slopes but everything had a way up, as long as I didn't stop to think about falling. I went straight up without stopping, regardless of the fact that I had already been tired at the lodge, now 2000 ft below me. At peak E I stopped to take a picture and sent it to Misty. I had told her I was stopping so it probably came as a surprise. Why peak E? Because from there on it seemed there was another peak every few hundred yards. I came to a ski lift and gondola and a sign saying Carter hut was only 3 more miles. Just 3. Let's go for it. Peak after peak. Finally the big descent down to the lake filled notch. Nothing comes easy in Wildcat. While hiking there I had contemplated what to do if they were full. Not to worry though. The hut holds 40 and I was the fourth guest. My experience at Carter Notch hut was mixed. It was the best and most helpful crew of the three huts I stayed in. The meal, although still meatless, was also the best. But something went terribly wrong there and I cannot yet explain it or what it means to my trip forward. More on that later.
Date: 2016-06-17
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Gorham
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I left Carter hut at 5am, giving me the best chance of doing the 15 miles needed to get to Gorham. There were multiple climbs and descents that all looked manageable but many turned out to be challenging. Especially the descents. Very slow. I can't believe someone would choose to slack pack the entire 21 mile up/down in a day. I couldn't. It did sound like a good idea when I saw it in the guide in March. Live and learn. Luckily the final 3 miles or so turned out to be easy hiking and I got to the gap in mid afternoon, feeling ok. An hour and a shuttle later I found myself in the Top Notch Motel, and lucky to be there because it was biker week and everything was booked. The Whites were behind me, Maine ahead. Life seemed good but you know how life can be. I chose to stay in Gorham for two days, leaving again on Monday. Let's hope I can. There is an issue.
Date: 2016-06-18
From: Gorham

To: gorham
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I have a rash. It moves around on my body, breaking out in red welts that I scream to be scratched. Cortisone doesn't seem to help but topical Benadryl does a bit. On reflection I could have seen it developing. The morning I left Carter Hut my underarms were red and itchy. Red is a color I see poorly so I'm sure it must have been very obvious. At the time I thought it might be deet related but applied more for the days hike anyway. Slowly the rash diminished but my mind was racing wondering what about the hut may have caused this reaction. I came up with the wool blankets. Carter was the only hut where I didn't wear my long underwear to bed. The blankets did run on my skin. Perhaps. During the day the rash seemed to move around under my clothes. By the time I checked into the Top Notch it was around my waist and looked like chiggers on the belt line. A hot shower had the expected reaction but was probably not the best idea. Things degraded quickly and Friday night, all of Saturday and Sunday were spent chasing the rash around, applying salve and trying to determine what it might be. Opinions varied from poison oak to back pack rash but nothing followed the trend of it popping up somewhere and later receding. I resisted the urge to scratch, sometimes, at least enough to not open the skin and cause any infection. I spent Sunday night at the White Mountain Lodge because it was right on the Trailhead. I left at 4:30am on Monday because I could walk on a road for the first mile of the upcoming 17 mile day. The rash was on my legs. Then in my arms. Then my back. Then the hike got so hard I didn't have time to deal with it mentally. Does this sound like fun. Don't believe it. I was committed to make the Col Carter Shelter so that Tuesday I could then get to Grafton Notch, another 14 mile hike. These miles were not easy. I tented at Col Carter, reaching it late in the day and feeling weak. The rash was affecting my overall health and strength. What was there to do? I decided to make a dehydrated meal, spaghetti and complimented it with two plums and a coke. A very good meal for being on the mountain. The next morning found me still itching but stronger and able to power thru a very hard section called Mahoosuc. It was aptly called the hardest section of the AT and rightly deserves its own entry. I did make Grafton Notch late Tuesday afternoon and on the second try reached my Pine Ellis Lodge, a shuttle, a good meal and a bed.
Date: 2016-06-21
From: Col Carter Shelter

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 14.0

It's a good thing I didn't know what was in front of me on Tuesday. I probably would have just cowered in my sleeping bag and nearoed to the next shelter. That's what a pair of hikers I met at Col did. I started the day great, after a good meal and a good sleep. I was packed up and out before 5am, trekking back from the long uphill spur trail to the AT just at 5. It all looked good on paper. I had 14 miles to Grafton Notch and a shuttle. Halfway would be just passed a mile of boulders called Mahoosuc Notch, the hardest or most fun mile of the AT. I envisioned something like PenMar in Maryland where you gingerly step from Boulder to Boulder trying not to twist an ankle. Slow but not very difficult. So much for my intuition. First I had to get there. The climbs and descents, especially the descent into the Notch (everyone just calls it the Notch) were hard enough. I was barely making a mile an hour and at that rate was looking at a 14 hr hiking day. Then I hit the start of it. Huge blocks of rock, with ice still present in the deep ravines between them. No discernible trail or way to traverse it. Each movement involved taking a chance on being trapped or having to reverse if it was a dead end. There seemed to be almost no progress much of the time. At times a blaze would show a way thru but in some cases the way was going under boulders where I had to take off my pack and push it ahead, crawling thru mud and ice. Painstaking and disheartening. After two hours I was still in it. I met other hikers at times. Some were equally troubled while others thought it was exciting. I wish I could have been one of the latter. I already had 7 hrs of hiking by that time. And the fun didn't stop there. Finally the Notch ended. It was followed by a long steep climb up the Mahoosuc Arm. It just wouldn't stop. You would see blue up ahead but the trail would keep curving up back into the woods. It became a joke that it might never end. My trail legs saved me though; I refused to stop. Just kept taking another step all the way up. All better? Don't bet on it. The Arm was not the real summit. And to make matters worse the real real summit, Old Sect, was visible in its entirety, a steep rocky peak that looked far away and dangerously steep. It was both. But I was in a trance. I must have been. Necessity will do that to me. I needed to get to the summit to call the shuttle. After that I still had more than 2 hrs of descent to the road. Looking back on it I can't explain how I kept going without getting hurt. I got to Graftin Notch trailhead about 5:30pm. 13 hrs of continuous hard hiking. The shuttle came a half hour or so later, while I fought off the bugs. Then the rash came back. Mahoosuc. Must be Indian for hell on earth.
Date: 2016-06-27
From: Stratton

To: Stratton
Miles today: 0.0

Time to make an observation. I, along with hundreds of other hikers, have been climbing and descending these steep mountains for months. It is very unusual if one of these efforts doesn't include a collection of obstacles that requires more than just taking the next step. Coming across a steep rocky slide is normal. So is a ledge. So is a crevasse. In each case a way up or down must be found. Sometimes there is no obvious way. You then have to look harder. Many hikers before you have accomplished it. So can you. The first place to look is along the sides. There is likely evidence of using trees and bushes as leverage. The poor foliage unlucky enough to grow there will endure being abused its whole life. These plants seem quite resilient. I have not seen one break although I have seen some coming out at the roots. It is a dangerous game to put all your weight on a delicate pine tree branch as you leverage your body up four feet to a new toe hold. It must sometimes break. Once in a while the sides show no promise. Now is a test of hiking prowess, or stupidity. Time to stretch ones skills to another level. I have stood at one of these places, mostly descents, and thought there is no way down. Then, after fighting back the urge to panic, I take a calculated risk and make some progress. Once in a while it turns into a dead end but usually it means dropping a little further or faster than ever before. The limit has been stretched. It will be easier to do it next time. Rain makes a big difference. It's best to avoid hiking in wet weather because the rules change. Things that are possible can become impossible or at least more dangerous and it hard to know when that is. It is tough to admit defeat and having to retreat. I haven't had to do it yet. Still it would be terrible to get hurt badly or even crippled on the mountain because you took a big risk and lost. This is not a video game. There are no promises of success and no new lives. A typical hiking day might involve 40,000 steps. 10,000 of these may have some risk, stepping across rocks, over roots, etc. Each mistake is a wake up call, be it a trip, catch, or fall. One big mistake and the hike is over. One fatal mistake and your life is over. Just takes one. Interestingly enough the trips and falls usually occur when no apparent risk exists. When you are carefully picking your next step things usually go as expected. Maybe a bit jarring but still you land where expected. It's striding thru relatively smooth terrain where a stray root or rock will change your momentum and put you on the ground. Sticks can help; they save me every few minutes. Or they can actually cause the problem; they can stick or slip also. There's no way around the risk and the retelling of every fall story will usually include the phrase "if only".
Date: 2016-06-30
From: Stratton

To: Jerome Brook
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: light rain

Flo and Bee are two hardy women. They hiked the whites last year and are intent on hiking from Gorham to katahdin this year. I met them at the Polter shelter while I was beating my way to Stratton. Coming down from the Apex peak of Bigelow I met them again, this time with Flo sitting in the trail nursing her wrist wrapped in an ace bandage. Maybe broken but hopefully not. Slipped on a minor root; one of hundreds out there. We talked about it for awhile but it wasn't an emergency; she wasn't ready to be rescued; and they had maps showing their options. One option was just ahead of them; a trail down to a road. Another option was a campsite just down from the trail. Sit their and see what the morning would bring. I wonder what they did? I wonder if I'll see them again? I know they will finish the trail sooner or later. They are tenacious. Good luck Flo and Bee.
Date: 2016-06-30
From: Stratton

To: Jerome Brook
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: broken clouds

The other side of the coin from Flo Bee. I met Weepers and Wolfman at Pime Ellis. They said they were thru hikers going north. They had just done the same section I did the day before but now they were shuttling ahead to Rangeley whereas I was hiking from hwy 17 to Rangeley. I casually asked why they weren't doing that and they said "that's just the way we do it". I guess weepers must have seen something my face then because we stopped discussing it but they went cold and we never really talked at length again. Of course the trek to Rangeley was the start of my longer trek over Saddleback to the Polter shelter, a very long and tiring day. It was there I ran into them again, already curled up in their bags in the shelter. Flo and Bee were there also. The next morning I left before anyone else was up. It was another long day that got me into Stratton by early evening. The next morning at the grocery I ran into Weepers. We mumbled hello and left it at that. Had they hiked from Polter to Stratton? Not likely. Flash ahead to meeting Flo hurt. In talking they happened to bring up Weepers and Wolfman and how they keep popping up at campsites and towns but never seem to hike. We had a good laugh about how fast they must be. Sure. Fast at taking bailout trails to waiting shuttles. Don't get me wrong. It's fine to selectively section hike just what you want. After all, hiking is supposed to be fun. But calling it a thru hike is a bit much if you are skipping any sections of the trail at all. I wonder if they will make it to katahdin and take their selfies. I have learned to live with the fact that I am not going to complete this in a single year. I am not doing a thru hike. But I am completing walking the entire AT. And if you ask me how I found a certain section of trail I might even remember walking it and have an answer. If I don't remember, it doesn't matter. I did walk it.
Date: 2016-07-01
From: Stratton

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 37.0

Set out for a 17 mile hike hike over the Bigelows on Thursday. Destination should have been a b&b somewhere and a shuttle from East Flagstaff road. Didn't happen. The phone had no service anywhere in the area; they should have known that, so onto plan B. There was what looked like a nice lakeside tent site a few miles past the road. Walked right passed it. Don't know how. Ended up stealth tenting for the first time ever, at Jerome Brook. There was an existing tent site and I took it about 5pm. Sleeping by 7pm. Cookies, popcorn and my coke for supper. A Sobo called my coke silly that afternoon. Boy did it taste good! Half the hikers I met were lusting for it because many Sobos are traveling with very little water. Maybe they will learn before they get sick. The extra few miles helped me make good time the next day. The next 14 miles were the easiest I have found since Boiling Springs PA. I hiked them in 6 hrs to Harrison's Pierce Ponds Camp where Tim let me use his radio phone to call for a custom ferry over the Kennebec. The free AT ferry only operates 9-11am this time of year. Missed it by an hour. Cheryl showed up and drove me across with her motorboat and half disassembled outboard. But I got there. A quick walk up to the road and a free phone call from the phone next the post office and the Sterling Inn showed up to take me to a room, shower, and meal. I checked the weather and decided to stay Saturday as well. No real hurry to hump it to Monson. Can't get my mail drop until Tuesday anyway. Fourth of July. A very good hike even though neither the b&b or Harrison's worked out.
Date: 2016-07-01
From: Caratunk

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I don't think I have written about this yet, at least not cohesively. There was a major rescue on Mt Lafayette the day I was leaving Galehead hut, one day after I struggled up there myself. It involved a couple, both employed by NASA, who found themselves in trouble above the treeline in sleet and gale wind conditions. The story has been floating around the hiking community but my version is had a bit more credibility because I have luckily met and talked to both the rescued guy and the rescuer. I did not meet the rescued wife. The couple was slack packing. In fact they had slack packed all the way there and were intending to write a book on how to do the AT as a slack pack. Interestingly enough, both had also thru hiked the AT previously. That day they found more than they bargained for and were without enough equipment to escape the freezing poor visibility and fund their way back below the tree line. The wife was in a bad way as they huddled behind a rock and waited for their beacon to bring help. Then Wolfman appeared, no not the blue blazer skipping trail sections. This guy knew what he was doing and what to do for them. He set up his tent and got the wife out of the wind and ice. He tried unsuccessfully to find the tree line himself and settled for waiting with them for the beacon rescue team to arrive hours later. They did get them all below tree line and the wife actually was able to regain leg function and hike down from there. Thanks to Wolfman. One of the most impressive things about this story is Wolfman. If you meet hi you might be impressed by his hiking or camping skills but you won't hear a word about his heroics. He is extremely modest. I couldn't keep that inside. The couple is planning to add another chapter to their book. Hopefully it stresses respecting the mountain. I'm not sure how slack packing and respect for the mountain correlate. I slack packed a bit my first year out but even then I always carried my rain gear and emergency equipment. This year I carry my full pack every place I go on the mountain. It just feels prudent.