morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-27
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: light rain

What a day! It started with a late start because it had been raining. We had gotten lots of of warning about hiking to the north side of MT. Moosilauke in the rain. The thru hiker Companion and signs all said this was a difficult and dangerous trail when wet. Actually it turned out to be not bad at all. We got to Kinsman Notch and walked .5 miles to Lost River Visitor Center for lunch. Everything was going well and got even better when we got back to the parking lot at the trail head where we found another hiker, Eel and his family having lunch. They had come to see him and bring him goodies. They brought some extra goodies for other thru hikers so we got a soft drink, fruit and doughnuts. Wow! Then we started the 7.4 miles to Eliza Brook shelter and got a surprise. It was the most difficult trail we have done yet. It didn¢t look bad on the map or the profile. There were no warnings about danger slippery when wet, but it was up and down boulders, rock faces, roots and with the constant drizzle of rain it was all wet and muddy. The going was really slow because we had to be careful not to slip. It was getting darker but we finally got here just as it got too dark to hike. The shelter is full and there are a lot of people in tents here. I don¢t know how many of us there are, but a LOT! We found a tent site, and put our tent up in the rain and the dark. I¢m really glad to be in it and dry. My feet are killing me. The weather forecast for tomorrow is rain and thunderstorms for the next day. With all of these people hiking it will probably be hard to find tent spots.
Date: 2004-07-28
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Kinsman Pond Tent Site
Miles today: 4.1

After yesterday, we decided we couldn¢t find afford anymore late starts. Everything outside the tent was wet and muddy. The day was foggy and it began to drizzle again as we set off. We had already decided to do only 4 miles because it looked up, steep and from what we had experienced yesterday, very hard. It didn¢t disappoint us. A thousand feet per mile, it took us five and a half hours to do the 4 miles of rock climbing over slippery wet bolders. It would have gone faster if it wouldn¢t have been wet and muddy, but we were very cautious. We got to Kinsman Pond about 2:00, set up out tent and ate. Then we rested a bit. I found the caretaker and paid him the fee then we went to visit the other thru hiker he told me was staying in the shelter. His name is Slick and he is about our age and from PA. Later the caretaker, Slick, Relentless and I chatted a bit. Seems the trail is pretty much like this all the way through the Whites and even in a lot of Maine. This may take us longer than we expected it would. At one point today we were pretty discouraged, but food and coffee and planning a visit to town tomorrow has lifted our spirits.
Date: 2004-07-29
From: Kinsman Pond Tent Site

To: Franconia Notch Lincoln, NH
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke up in the mist and ate our breakfast with clouds all around us, really pretty. The two miles down to Lonesome Lake Hut wasn¢t bad. There were some steep points but it was well maintained. We stopped at the hut to get left over food they sell thru hikers for $2. In the morning it is pastry, in this case two kinds of cake. They also gave us cold lasagna from last night which was really good. We saw some other thru hikers there who were also chowing down. On the trail, we met two SOBOS who graduated from Furman U. last year and knew my niece Erica. Their names were Tyler Bex, and Matt Lynn. It¢s always fun to find you have a connection with another hiker you wouldn¢t expect and it happens more often than you might think out here. From the Hut to the road, the trail was easy and the sun had come out. We had decided to go to town to clean up and dry out our gear, but probably should have hiked on while the weather was good. We were lucky to get a hitch with a nice couple of day hikers from MA who drove us to a hotel in Lincoln. We ended up staying at the River Green Resort, which is a pretty nice place. We spent the evening going to the pizza place to chow down, shopping and then come back to the room to watch John Kerry give his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination. I thought he did a good job, and we were glad to be in town to watch it.
Date: 2004-07-30
From: Franconia Notch Lincoln, NH

To: Liberty Spring Tent Site
Miles today: 2.4

We went to Pancake House for big breakfast then caught the shuttle to the trail. It was steep going up but the trail was dry and well maintained. The day was sunny with blue sky and fluffy white clouds. We decided to take it easy and camp here, get an early start in the morning to do the ridge. We did go up to Mt. Liberty Summit to catch the view on this lovely day. This was truly a great vista today and an easy climb up and down without our packs. We spent some time chatting with Sage, the caretaker here. He thru hiked last year so we know a lot of the same people and could talk about our experiences on the trail. I played my flute a little, something I haven¢t had much time to do most of nights. Now it is an early bedtime for getting up with the birds in the morning.
Date: 2004-07-31
From: Liberty Spring Tent Site

To: Garfield Tent Site
Miles today: 7.8

We got up to a foggy day. The weather forecast wasn¢t good-showers , winds 25-30 mph at the summits and t- storms predicted for the afternoon. But, we set off anyway to do Franconia Ridge and go up Mt. Lincoln, Lafayette, and Garfield. The ridge was cloud covered but beautiful. Our hair was wet from the mist and sometimes I could barely see Gary 100 ft ahead of me. When we got to the tops of the mountains the wind about knocked us off our feet, but it was fun to walk in it. It cleared up enough to get a bit of a view after Lafayette. Really pretty with the steep mountain sides and valley on both sides of the ridge. We could see Mt. Garfield ahead of us and it seemed a long way off. The rocks got harder to climb as we approached Garfield, and at one point a nice young man gave me a hand up to help me get up to the top of a big rock. It was looking a bit grey and I was really afraid we could be caught on Garfield in a t-storm, but then it got a little better again. Surprise! We were passed by Flying Cricket. We had hiked with her last year for a while. It was great to see her again and find out how she and her sister, Sassafras, were doing. She was doing quite a few miles today, so we didn¢t chat for very long. Finally, after some more big rocks and climbing up and down, we made it to the campsite. We set up the tent in the wind and fastened it down good then made supper. We just finished eating and putting our food away when the rain started then the thunderstorms. It lasted about an hour. It really put down a lot of rain. I¢m so glad we got here before the storm. I hope cricket got to shelter before it hit. The tent is nice and dry and warm. Hope the weather is better tomorrow.
Date: 2004-08-01
From: Garfield Tent Site

To: Guyot Tent Site
Miles today: 6.2

It was stormy and raining all night. After the first burst of thunder there was an hour of quiet then it started again for another hour and a half. I don¢t know what happened after that because I fell asleep. I woke up about 6AM and it was raining. We finally got to pack up about 8 and got going by 8:30. The trail was really wet. It was also steep. First a steep down then a steep up until we finally got to Galehead hut where we took a break. The huts are really nice. We got soup, lemonade, coffee, and a snickers bar there for lunch. The climb up from the hut was pretty tough, but the view at the top was great. It¢s impossible to describe the majesty of these mountains all around us. The next stretch was pretty easy and ended with another great view from Mt. Guyot. From here we had to walk .8 mile to the campsite. That¢s a lot of extra walking but the tent site is good. We dried the tent out, ate supper and chatted with the care taker. There are 3 other campers here, two men and a boy staying in the shelter below our tent site.
Date: 2004-08-02
From: Guyot Tent Site

To: Ethan Pond
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a good one, warm, but not real humid or buggy, The trail to Zealand hut was pretty with great views from Mt. Guyot and Zeacliff. When we got to the hut, there was a nice waterfall over smooth walk. While I waited for the corn chowder to heat up, I soaked my feet in the cool water. That felt heavenly! We had two bowls of really good corn chowder, homemade bread, oatmeal cookies, coffee and lemonade. Yumm. Love those huts. Thanks AMC! The rest of the trail to Ethan Pond was really easy, so we got there in plenty of time to enjoy the evening. There is a nice kitchen area there to cook and we enjoyed the camping of four hikers from Mansfield, OH, two fathers and their sons. We also enjoyed talking with the caretaker, Tin Man. We got to bed early for a quick start in the morning.
Date: 2004-08-03
From: Ethan Pond

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We packed up and got going by 7:05 AM. The trail was easy down to the notch. Ethan Pond was beautiful this morning with the reflection of the mountains in the pond. I hope the picture I took turns out. All that was missing was a moose. We heard one below as we walked down the trail but didn¢t see one. Today is hot and humid, and a bit buggy! We got a hitch from the first car that passed us, a nice man on is way to work. We got a bunk at Highland Lodge, a nice new AMC facility. The first thing on the agenda was eating a good breakfast of course and then cleaning up and dealing with the wet dirty gear and clothes we brought with us. So now we are all clean, fed, and resting on our bunks. Lunch was good, I even had a beer. We are signed up for supper at 6 tonight and breakfast in the morning. Our drop box was here, so we are supplied with food. Tomorrow we head for the Presidential Range. I hope the weather is good because we will be above tree line a lot in the next few days and the summits can get pretty windy. Actually, this is beginning to look like a good night to be indoors, it is clouding up, and t-storms were predicted for the PM. Well, time to go make a few phone calls. I¢m enjoying this day and night of rest. We also have some pleasant company, another retired teacher from CT.
Date: 2004-08-04
From: Crawford Notch

To: Nauman Tentsite
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: broken clouds

Breakfast was really good this morning, everything you could possibly want for a good start to a hard day of hiking. We ate with Fran, Rae and Jim, who were great company. They had been in the bunk house with us. We had actually met Fran in VT when she was leading a group of hikers there. It was cool to see her again here. We also got to know the AMC Ambassador, Elsie and ate dinner with her and her friend last night. We really enjoyed the people we met at this stop. Everyone was so friendly! Fran gave us a ride back to the trail and we got going at 8AM. This was a tough day. It took until 4OM to get here, 8 hours for about 6 miles. A lot of the trail was rock climbing and pretty scary to me. The views though were fantastic. As we climbed MT Webster, the Willey House down below on the road got smaller and smaller. We remembered looking up from there last fall when we visited the Whites. We saw people on the cliffs above and wondered how they got up there. Now we knew. Just as we were climbing some of the hardest part, we met Mike Haaser and Ruth Kennedy. They are thru hikers from OH who just happened to know Jim and Bonnie Howard from Medina. It¢s a small world. We met a couple of South Bound hikers too, Fuman and his friend. I wish I wasn¢t afraid of the rock climbs, but it takes all the courage I can muster to do them with this 35 lb pack. I really take my time trying to find a way to get up them. Sometimes it almost seems impossible.
Date: 2004-08-05
From: Nauman Tentsite

To: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: fog

We got up really early this morning to get to the hut in time to get a work for stay. Plusit was supposed to rain in the afternoon. We got there in plenty of time and enjoyed some soup and left over pancakes from breakfast. Then we did our chore which was shaking out blankets from the bunks. We probably should have hiked up Washington today but the next place to stay was Madison Hut or one of the tent sites close to it which would have given us a 12 mile day. We were concerned about the weather and not sure we could do 12 miles in these rocks. The hike up to Lake of the Clouds was really pretty easy, but we weren¢t sure about going up MT. Washington and on to the next hut. The day turned out to be really nice. The hike up to Lake of the Clouds was great, we could see a long way then clouds would float in and obscure the view then float away again. The view from this hut is gorgeous. We could see the big hotel down in the valley and the Cog Railway coming up the mountain side. We spent our extra time here reading. After the guests ate, we got to eat all that was left over with the crew of the hut. These young people do a really great job of cooking for everyone, 87 guests tonight. They also have to maintain everything here and even carry down some of the food in backpacks from the Mt Washington summit. There are two Southbound Thru hikers here working for stay too. Now we are all sleeping on the tables in the hut. It is pretty cold out there, so it is good to be inside for the night. I¢m looking forward to hiking up MT Washington tomorrow morning. We are hoping for another good day
Date: 2004-08-06
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 7.0

We got up early after sleeping on the tables in the hut. I didn¢t get a lot of sleep because I was afraid of falling off the table. The two south bounders slept on the floor. Probably a better idea. The table did give me a great view of the sunrise from the window by my head. The hike up Mt. Washington was great! The sun was out, sky was blue and fog floated in and out over the valley, so we could see it most of the time. As we got near the top, the rocks became a bit slick from the dew that had iced on them. It¢s cold on Mt. Washington even on a good day and today was great for the place with the worst weather in the world. We spent some time at the summit going to the museum, watching the Cog Railway, calling home, eating in the snack bar, and mailing home post cards. We met another thru hiker Blue Bird; who had hiked to Harpers Ferry then flipped up to Hanover to do the Whites and Maine before it gets cold. Then she will go back and do Hanover to Harpers Ferry. We hiked with her from Mt Washington to Madison Hut. We helped each other out. She kept getting lost on the trail, so we helped keep her on the right path. We were slow and the path was hard. She helped by giving us cheerful encouragement. The views all along the way were so grand they can¢t be described or captured even with photo. When we got to the hut, they already had 5 thru hikers working for stay. They offered to let us pay for self serve meaning we could sleep on the floor and make our own food. We decided to accept this because it was .6 down to the nearest tent site and getting colder outside. As it turned out, we also got salad, brownies, and bread to go with our pasta dinner, so all was good. Now we are about to make our bed on the floor for the night. There are seven thru hikers sleeping in the dining room on either the floor or tables.
Date: 2004-08-07
From: Madison Hut

To: Pinkham Notch 
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: mist

About 5 min. to 7AM we started up Mt Madison¢s rocks. It was a rocky climb, but I could see us getting closer to the summit. Once up there, the view was marvelous! They valley stretched below us to the left and the long ridge lay ahead of us dotted with cairns to show where the trail was going down toward Pinkham Notch 6 miles beyond. This was a beautiful but hard path to follow. When I say ¢path¢ it is more like a Mountain side of boulders of all sizes and shapes among which one must find the route of least resistance. It took us until 5PM to do the 7 miles, that¢s ten hours of tough hiking. On the way down, we were passed by some hikers we¢d met at the hut the night before, a father and daughter, her boyfriend and the man¢s brother. They were really nice and fun to talk to. If it wouldn¢t have been for the great views coming down the ridge, it would have been impossible to hike, but when we got tired we could stop and see the auto road snaking it¢s way up to MT Washington, or look far off into the distance to see lakes and valleys, roads and finally distant mountains. As we got below tree line the trail got easier,. But the views were gone. When one is anxiously awaiting food and rest the miles go by slowly. When we got to Pinkham Notch, I called our friend Pokey who owns a bed and breakfast in nearby Jackson. She came to pick us up and brought a pizza with her because I had told her on the phone that we were famished. Windy Hill, her bed and breakfast, is a working farm nestled in the White Mountains. It is a beautiful farm house with hardwood floors, wood stove in the living room, comfy porches, soft beds with thick comforters, and the best hostess in the world. We settled in, got showers, then borrows Pokey¢s (Anne¢s) car to go to the Irish pub, Shannon Door, for supper. This little pub is really cozy and the food is great. They even had a guitar player singing Irish folk songs for entertainment. When we got back to Windy Hill, we crawled into the soft bed and feel promptly asleep! AH!
Date: 2004-08-08
From: Pinkham Notch 

To: Windy Hill Bed and Breakfast
Miles today: 0.0

When life is good one should enjoy it fully. SO we are taking a zero day at Windy Hill starting with a good breakfast and good company this morning. The other guests are a young couple from VT, Eric and Christa and another couple from MA, Tom and Carol. The conversation at breakfast is about everything from canoes to skis and moose. After breakfast I come with Pokey to the hay field where she is cutting the edge of the big field, and I am writing this journal. Gary is catching up on his rest. The sun is out, but there is a 40% chance of rain and even hail this PM. The hay can¢t get wet so cutting it is risky, but the outlook for the week is about the same. I am hoping for a good day for my friend. It has been a wet summer up here so far.I¢m truly amazed at the way Pokey handles all the many hats she wears, farmer, Band B owner, accountant, volunteer for the fire dept. For fun she skis, sails, and hikes. We met her hiking down in VA last year. It¢s clouding up more and more as I write and Pokey cuts hay. Please don¢t rain! Farming is tough!Pokey lent us her car to go to North Conway while she went off to bail hay. We had a good meal at the Moat, a great Bar BQ place. We also got new hiking pants and my poles fixed at EMS. I'd lost the end of my pole somewhere in the MT. Then we went to get supplies and food to cook at Pokey's house for dinner. It rained as we were heading back. Pokey and her son got their hay in just before it came. We had enjoyable evening cooking steaks on the grill, eating our fill and chatting with our friend.
Date: 2004-08-09
From: Windy Hill Bed and Breakfast

To: Carter Hill
Miles today: 6.2

Pokey fixed us a really good breakfast then went off to deal with her hay field and left is her car to get to Pinkham Notch to start our hike up Wildcat Mountain. This was a tough hike, steep and rocky. Not as hard as the trail from Madison to the notch, but it took quite a bit of time. I fell early on and it knocked the wind out of me, banged my ribs against the rock and started shoulder my hurting again. I took some pain killer and hiked on. No real damage I think, just bruised.We met three hikers from PA and had a snack with them on top of a rock with a good view. Finally, about 6PM we came to Carter Hut. This one is self serve and very nice. The bunk rooms are away from the hut and have 4 beds to a room. We get our own room. The kitchen has hot water on the stove and use of the stove. This makes preparing supper easy. The group is very friendly here. It's been a hard but good day.
Date: 2004-08-10
From: Carter Hut

To: Imp Campsite
Miles today: 7.0

It was a great day, sunshine and blue sky all day, not too hot either. The trail was not easy but not the worst we had encountered. The 1/2 mile down near the end was pretty hard. I went down some of the rocks on my butt because I was afraid of falling if I tried to go any other way. We got to the camp site about 5PM and set up the tent right away because it looks like rain. Then we cooked down at the shelter and had a nice chat with the guys from PA, Eric, Dave, and Jess. We are early to bed tonight to get an early start in the morning. We are looking forward to getting to Gorham and spending another night at Windy Hill B and B.
Date: 2004-08-11
From: Imp Campsite

To: Gorham NH
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: fog

The thunder sounded in the distance so I got moving fast to get the tent packed up before the rain came. There were a few sprinkles as we packed it. We went down to the shelter to eat breakfast and chatted with the guys from PA. It was an early start about 7:30. The trail was very nice, especially at the end which was almost level. Mt. Moriah was beautiful!   The views from the top were great even if a bit of mist was over them. The rain never came until after we were down and in Pokey¢s car on our way back to another great night at Windy Hill. After coming off the trail, at 2:00, we got a hitch from some girls from Quebec. I picked up my drop box from the post office then we ate at McDonalds and re-supplied from the Rite Aid. Pokey picked us up at Pizza Hut where we were eating supper. She also picked up ¢Walk Softly¢ another NOBO thru hiker who was slack packing from Pinkham Notch to Gorham, a trip that took us 3 days. He¢s young, a college math major and a very fast hiker. Only 16 more miles of NH my pack is heavy with food, the mountains are steep, rain is predicted for nearly the whole week and we have 5 to 6 days of hiking in some rough places before we reach Andover. Ugh! At least I have a good breakfast to look forward to in the morning.
Date: 2004-08-12
From: Gorham NH

To: Trident Col Tent site
Miles today: 7.0

We had a good breakfast at Windy Hill. Then pokey drove us to the trail head near Gorham. We were delayed a bit because they were moving a house down Black Mountain Road, but Pokey took a short cut around it, a bumpy ride through a neighbor¢s hay field. We said our good bye and headed toward Maine. Staying at Windy Hill and seeing Pokey again really lifted my spirits and helped me believe we can make it all the way. The hike was pretty easy compared to what we had been seeing through the whites. Just when it got a little tough going up Cascade Mt., I heard thunder in the distance and it started to cloud up. This gave us a reason to speed up a bit. It only drizzled a little, but there were some steep places where the rocks were wet and we had to be careful. We got here fairly early, 3:30, set up camp and ate right away in case it started to rain. There was a dead tree next to our tent that concerned us a bit until Relentless gave it a couple strong pushes and it fell over and went crashing down the hill. We won¢t have to worry about it falling on us now. We are in the tent early because it is wet outside. It will be an early to bed night. Hope it is a good day tomorrow so we can get a quick start. Only 9.6 miles to the Maine border.