morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-18
From: Rt 4 Rangley

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

Started: Rt. 4 RangleyEnded: Poplar Ridge Lean-toSleeping: TentDistance Hiked: 10.7Oh sweet heaven¢¦full pack from 1500 feet to 4100 feet, with steep ups and downs in the RAIN! I was freezing on top of Saddleback Mountain! The wind was blowing me and the rain was pelting me. It reminded me of a time a rode the Comet Roller Coaster, at Hershey Park, in the rain. Feels like be-bees getting shot in your face. Zero fun factor. I ran into to SOBO hikers up there¢¦they looked equally as miserable.Finally got to the shelter and it was full of young, guy type hikers. Packed in there like sardines, they were. They offered to squeeze over, but I needed to get the sopping wet clothes off and I didn¢t want to destroy them for life¢¦so I wandered off, alone, and set up my tent. I have not been this wet, fully dressed, since, let¢s see¢¦oh yes since hiking the AT in 2006.I am thrilled at the expectation of waking up in the morning and putting my wet clothes back on. Praying for sunny skies come morning¢¦Bluebird
Date: 2007-07-19
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 8.0

Started: Poplar Ridge Lean-toEnded: Spaulding Mountain Lean-toSleeping: Lean-toDistance Hiked: 8.0It rained all night, but I woke up with sun on my tent. I hoped for the best, but about 3:30 pm (eight miles in to my hike for the day) it began¢¦ I had just stopped at a lean-to, intending to cook a meal. I had no more energy to lift my legs higher than an inch and I needed sustenance. The rain came, and it stayed, and I STAYED. I am sharing the lean-to with four 2007 NOBO¢s. I sit here thinking how different it is to be on the trail this time around. I opted to be friendly but not intrude on their tight and very special community. I am secluding myself and I feel vulnerable, something I knew little of in 2006. I ask myself why, and wonder if I have been away too long to reconnect to the spirit of the people on the trail. It had taken months to forge the kind of camaraderie I see before myself here in the shelter. It had started in Georgia, in March of 2006 and grew the whole way to Maine. I¢m trying to complete something I started, with a whole new community of hikers. I¢m in a time warp. I¢ve leaped from a page in one book, to a page in another book. Feels weird.As I walk toward Katahdin, I imagine Johnny K out in front of me, warning me of a slippy rock or an ¢I¢ll poke your eye out¢ protruding branch, climbing up on a huge boulder and offering me his pole as a hand up. I can still hear him singing like Louie Armstrong, ¢and I say to myself¢¦what a wonderful hike!¢ I see Dadgum snapping pictures of all of us and smiling¢¦so happy to be there to finish with Monologue after finding out he had a hernia and thinking his hike was over. I can¢t forget Lothar¢s face as he sank in mud up to his knee.I think if Lipstick were here and able to hike with me, the memories would not flood over me as often. I miss them all, all those wonderful human beings that shared their adventure with me. I will enjoy my memories while I watch others make theirs. It is in its own way a whole new adventure, born of a whole new perspective.Bluebird thinking
Date: 2007-07-20
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to

To: State Rt. 27
Miles today: 13.5

Started: Spaulding Mountain Lean-toEnded: State Rt. 27Sleeping: HotelDistance Hiked: 13.5I have to admit to one and all that this body is not where it was in September of 2006. My 2006 injury put me on a coach for two months and in physical therapy till mid January of 2007. I started working at the Hershey Company in January and have virtually sat on my butt for up to ten hours a day for six months. I¢ve gained a total of twenty five pounds back, from the thirty I lost on the trail in 2006, for lack of physical exercise. When I tried to start walking again the Achilles tendon flared up and back to PT I went. I came to Maine in pathetic shape to be trying to climb these mucho grande mountains and today¢s hike was the straw that nearly broke the camels back. I was relieved to realize that Lipstick needed me to take a zero day as badly as I need to take a zero day. Being left alone with yourself, in an obscure out of the way place, with little or nothing to do, brings a new dynamic to your life that you can not be experience in hectic everyday life. Things start to come up that you have pushed back or busied yourself through. You sometimes find yourself overwhelmed and all there is left to do is have a good cry¢¦ a sobbing, gut wrenching, break capillaries in your face, good cry.My body was in physical agony¢¦Lipstick had hit the emotional cliff¢¦so what are we planning to do tomorrow? GO SHOPPING!!!!!!
Date: 2007-07-21
From: State Rt. 27

To: ZERO DAY
Miles today: 0.0

Started: Zero DayEnded: Zero DaySleeping: HotelDistance Hiked: 0It¢s a ZERO DAY¢¦ Limping I am, but glad to just hit the road in my bug and catch some local color. Zero Day in Maine Observations:¢¢        Maine Bake Beans are just that¢¦baked beans, no flavor, no molasses, no brown sugar, no bacon¢¢        Pollyanna town fairs still exist in Maine, with affordable handmade crafts, farm grown foods, town bands and musicians. A pleasure to behold and experience!¢¢        There are such things as duck races, cow bonnet competitions, and cow paddy throws¢¦and they are happening in ME! ¢¢        Andover ME does not sell vegetables or fruit. You have to drive to Bethel ME if you want to purchase veggies and live in Andover. Andoverians eat MEAT! ¢¢        You give Moose the right of way on ME roads¢¦go figure¢¢        You have to look very hard for NO scenery in ME¢¦ME is a constant postcard!The difference between a thru hike in one year and completing a thru hike a year later, is that you actually get to see some of the state you are passing through. BLUEBIRD LOVES MAINE!
Date: 2007-07-22
From: Safford Brook Trail (south)

To: St. Rt. 27 (from the south)
Miles today: 12.3

Started: Sanford Brook Trail (South)Ended: Rt. 27Sleeping: Hotel Distance Hiked: 10.3This was a slack pack day and I actually walked 12.3 miles as I did an approach trail to the AT. I will have to do that again tomorrow, as I will start the same place and go North with a full pack.A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!!! The Bigelow¢s are BIG and the Avery Peaks are amazing. I had to put a spin on the day though. I left my tri-focal glasses up on Avery West Peak and I was darned if I was going back up there to get them¢¦I stopped in at the Horns Pond Lean-to and left my phone and address with the caretaker, Jack Weber. I told him I knew the heart of hikers and if someone found them, they¢d drop them off. I said if they were found and he¢d send them back to me, I¢d up my 2007 donation to the ATC.Lipstick was waiting at the road reading a book and I am looking forward to tomorrow with a full pack and two days out...ending at the Kennebec River!Visit Maine!
Date: 2007-07-23
From: Safford Brook Trail (going north)

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Started: Sanford Brook Trail (North)Ended: West Carry Pond ShelterSleeping: Lean-to Distance Hiked: 13.0My body is remembering all the reasons why it loathed the trail and why it loved it. I had planned to swim tonight, but the air got cold quickly and I thought it best not to tempt my light head cold into a case of borderline phenomena! I did however treat my feet!Tomorrow I will haul %#*& to the Kennebec River to catch the ferry to Caratunk and Lipstick. We are planning a white water rafting trip, for the day. Poor Dot¢s so bored she¢s taken to garage sale hopping and buying all manner of potted plants. My car will be crammed full of stuff as we head back to PA.I¢m glad she stayed with me in Maine!
Date: 2007-07-24
From: West Carry Pond Lean-to

To: Kennebec River
Miles today: 12.9

Started: West Carry Pond ShelterEnded: Kennebec RiverSleeping: Cabin Distance Hiked: 12.9I SAW A MOOSE¢¦with her baby calf! I heard these limbs cracking and breaking and I thought to myself, ¢Something BIG this way cometh!¢ I swear, I had no idea these beasties were so big. I also thought a moose was brown like Bullwinkle, but this one was predominantly black and furry looking. The calf was definitely a ten on the cute scale and was a light brown.The sun burst forth on a day that started out looking like rain. It was hot and humid, so I took my pack off, emptied my pockets and jumped into Pierce Pond. COWABUNGA!!!!A section hiker, Shadow, pointed out a loon that was close by diving for food, it was a joy to watch. When they dive, you never know where they will surface and they¢re under for quite awhile. Last evening we all fell to sleep to loon song¢¦.wish you were here!Lipstick was canoed (ferried) across the Kennebec, thinking she would hike out to meet me. I greeted her on the opposite shore. Great to see my sis giving it the old college try. Her leg was feeling better.No signal for cell phones in these part. We were told we could get a signal 30 miles up the road¢¦FORGET THAT!Bluebird nests in cabin!
Date: 2007-07-25
From: ZERO DAY

To: ZERO DAY
Miles today: 0.0

Started: Zero DayEnded: Zero DaySleeping: CabinDistance Hiked: 0WHITE WATERRRRRRRRRR¢¦¢¦¢¦Boy did Lipstick and I have a blast. I can not put it into words how beautiful this place called Maine, is. Water clear as glass, in rivers as wide as our Susquehanna is in PA. When I think that ALL North American Rivers were once this clear, I ask myself, ¢What have we done?¢ I sure would like to see it fixed.Heading back to Andover for a visit and then home to PA.Bluebird will return to ME, August 26th and, God willing, get to Katahdin, raise her poles and get that picture for her 2007 CHRISTMAS CARDS! Happiest trails ever!
Date: 2007-08-13
To: BACK FROM NAPA
Miles today: 0.0

A HIKER FOUND MY GLASSES!!! Jack Weber sent them to me and they were waiting for me when I got home from the west coast! I LOVE HIKERS!!!!!!! I guess that means I love me too : ) I will be sending him a tip and the ATC a check this week. I was in Napa Valley with Rod this last week. He'd won a trip that included four VIP wine tastings. The first one was at 10:00 am! Huh? I was tipsy by noon. Great time. I saw my daughter Sarah, the Redwoods and grapes by the bunches and then some. The fermented grapes are my faaaaavorite!I joined a wine club. If theirs a tourist trap I fall in head first.Two weeks till Maine and with God's blessing Katahdin. Bout time, eh?Bluebird back east
Date: 2007-08-14
To: Katahdin to Caratunk
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Oh for pity sakes!!!! I can't find a way back to Caratunk from Baxter, Millinocket or Bangor ME? Is there not a single bus that goes into Caratunk! Grrrrr....I will not give up my quest and I welcome ANY suggestions. Oh, by the way, I understand they canceled the cow paddy throwing contest in Andover, ME this year. Seems one of the good old boys was using steroids. I AM NOT KIDDING, heard it from my sister, who heard it from David the caretaker at Pine Ellis Hostel, in Andover. While Dot and I were there, the local convenience store and restaurant was robbed of beer and cigerettes and we witnessed the arrest of a young man taking a joy ride in a pretty red convertible vet....that wasn't his. Hmmmmm and we thought these things only happened in heavily populated areas. Well, I guess that have to find something to do up there, least they go bonkers!
Date: 2007-08-24
To: Maine....Againe
Miles today: 0.0

So... Here I am with family and friends descending, to celebrate my dear, seventy-six year old mother's nuptials. This is on the hem (skirt tail) of my departure to Caratunk to FINALIZE my NEVER ENDING thru hike of the AT.I had originally planned to leave for Maine this evening, but, because of the reception, had to postpone my departure till Sunday, in the very EARLY morning, say 3:00 am. That will get me into Monson at (if I¢m lucky) 3:00 pm. Driving for twelve hours¢¦.let¢s see, what would be more fun than that?????? Feel free to enter your suggestions while signing my journal¢¦.the winner will get a signed Christmas card with me bowing before the ¢Almighty Katahdin Summit Sign¢ and a Giant Hershey¢s KISS!Obviously my journal entries will be posted when I get back from Maine, so don¢t try to follow my misadventures till after I get back, September 10th I want to let Jack Weber know I have not forgotten him!!! I just lost his address. Jack if you get this, send me your address!!!!!I OWE YOU POSTAGE!
Date: 2007-08-27
From: Caratunk, US 201

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 14.7

Getting to Monson Sunday took me eleven and one half hours¢¦It might have taken longer but, as I found myself in a one hour traffic jam, where I crawled along with other motorist a total of two miles, road rage intensified on my right, others four wheeled on the shoulders of the road, then the knot was untied and motorist blew out of the traffic jam at 85 mph. NOT a pretty picture. Resembled a detonated log jam! I was carried along in the current and made up for lost time rather quickly. Geezzz, people get nuts behind the wheel of a car.Today was business as usual till I fell. I slammed my head into a root and had great difficulty getting up under the weight of my pack. As a goose egg came up on my leg, I tied a bandana around and applied pressure then sat there and cried. All I could think was, Terry, what the hell are you doing back out here¢¦didn¢t you beat yourself up enough the last time? After I arrived at Moxie Pond I felt better. I jumped into the pond and took a bird bath, then hiked on to my planned destination, put up my tent, crawled into my old AT sleeping bag and fell asleep. There¢s no place like home!
Date: 2007-08-28
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to

To: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: broken clouds

Gah, I just got done eating the most vile dehydrated meal! If I locked my mouth on this stuff anywhere but here, I would spew it from my lips! Calories rule on the AT, not taste.My body is sore EVERYWHERE. If I try to move my toe¢¦my toe she screams. I was alone here in the lean-to, but something this way cometh. Ah, Willy Goat and Trail Dancer.Once again I have learned something new about myself while hiking today. When I¢m climbing up steep trails I think of all manner of things, while descending I am totally focused on footing poles and terrain (go figure, that¢s when I usually fall) and when walking on a somewhat level path¢¦I COUNT¢¦you know like 10001, 1002, 1003¢¦.now that¢s just weird.I forded my first stream today. Most huts have entries that warn of leeches that lurk in Maine¢s waterways. Good piece of information if you are an 18th century doctor and blood letter.
Date: 2007-08-29
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to

To: Monson
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: few clouds

Back in Monson and in one piece. I managed to get through this day remaining vertical with the ground. Nice for a change¢¦breathing air instead of eating dirt can be a pleasant experience for the thru or section hiker.I spent last night playing light tag with the shelter mice. Maine seems to be a rodent hot spot. They have morphed into a type of BORG community, all working together as ONE to completely decimate the food stores of human beings passing though their territory. Okay, you need to realize that I am hiking alone A LOT these days.Tonight I will not worry about mouse poop in my food bag. I will wake tomorrow to a hearty, hostel breakfast cooked by Dawn and Cindy and I will then venture out into the 100 mile wilderness¢¦carrying 10 days of food. I feel like a pack mule when I put on my back pack. We¢re just a bunch of little burros making our way to the peak of Katahdin.Hee haw!!!
Date: 2007-08-30
From: Monson

To: Long Pond Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: light rain

I started my 2006 thru hike with the notion that if I had not named myself Bluebird, I would have been dubbed ¢Stop, Drop, & Roll¢ as I was notorious for setting myself on fire with my alcohol stove. This year I would be so named ¢TRIPPER¢ Sweet heaven I can¢t seem to stay aloft. Hidden slippery roots get all the slipperier (is that a word) when you get to Maine. Did I mention the rain?? Oh yes, the rain this way came. We got a couple slam, bam thunderstorms, one right after the other. I had hooked up with Willy Goat and Trail Dancer for the last five miles of our day. The second storm hit while we were fording a stream¢¦let¢s see, how did this go. Trail Dancer slips and goes down on her butt, sliding into the creek (on stone like sliding board) boyfriend, Willy Goat, comes to the rescue and ¢God Love Him¢ he goes in. Both manage to recoup and as Willy extends hand to Dancer a rouge lightning bolt strikes in front of us and behind her. WHITE LIGHT AND BOMBA!!! NOW DAMN!!!! This is when hikers totally freak, start crying and running and doing all manner of 'Get the hell outta there!!!!!' They told me later they had a couple close calls this year...maybe one of those guys should be renamed LIGHTNING ROD!Days like this make you wonder, well make me wonder, what grips a human being to make them want to do this¢¦. So they can write about it???? Now to wring myself out and go to bed pretending to be a wet dish rag! JOY!
Date: 2007-08-31
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Chairback GapLean-to
Miles today: 10.9

I¢m having some real moments out here, as I walk through the 100 mile wilderness by myself. My emotions swirl at times, so much time to think and be with only myself. Like it sometimes¢¦other times, not.My falling is getting to me. I¢ve been a little, no, a lot paranoid about going down these mountains. This trail would be difficult without the rain¢¦with the rain it¢s downright treacherous. I¢m concerned about falling and hurting myself again, falling and hurting myself worse than the last time. When it happens I sit and cry, I feel mad and frustrated, because I¢m working so hard not to fall. I curse the roots and rocks out loud. I use to worry about someone hearing me, till I heard they do it too. There are moments I do not like what I¢m putting myself through and wonder what possessed me to return for this punishment. I am wearing my last dry shirt everything else is wet and I have turned into the ultimate whiner.¢I heard Katahdin call my name.¢ That¢s what I say to the rocks and the roots when they throw me down and shout,¢ What are you doing here? Didn¢t we send you packing before?¢ ¢Yes,¢ says I, ¢Yes you did, but I heard Katahdin call my name¢¦.AND HE¢S BIGGER THAN YOU!!¢
Date: 2007-09-01
From: Chairback GapLean-to

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 11.7

Lunchtime and Oh my sweet heaven has the tide turned. Last night I managed to get a cell phone signal in the wilderness, it¢s a beautiful day with breezes blowing and I have just run into my first trail magic in Maine! I am presently sitting along a logging road, in the wilderness, eating a Moon Pie and drinking a diet soft drink. Yes, diet¢¦go figure.Thank you trail angles!I am done for the day and I am sitting cross legged in my tent for as long as they will let me! I have to say that my day did not go without incident and after I fell AGAIN today, I was forced to recall something my sister had said to me when I came of the trail in 2006 with my injury, 266 miles from the finish. Her comment was, ¢Do you feel you subconsciously caused this to happen, like a self fulfilled prophecy? You¢re always saying you never seem to finish anything you start.¢ Needless to say, I could have killed her.Now I feel a little set back by the whole thing, like there may be some psychosomatic thing to my falling. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I can handle failure or disappointment. They will also say, in the next breath, you¢re afraid of success. You know they¢re right. I have a lot recall to validate it. I would like to be successful, financially sound, etc. but I am concerned about what it might do to me. Well, maybe it¢s time to find out.Today I saw Katahdin, tiny on the landscape before me. I took its picture. I am only 76.8 miles from the summit and I want to get there. I want to finish this¢¦whatever this is!
Date: 2007-09-02
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite

To: Cooper Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 17.1

I¢m alive¢¦.I¢m still alive!!! I am surviving Maine¢s AT, trail of certain death. Geez, I actually made it through a LONG day without falling. I thank God for this day, even if my feet feel like they¢ve been caned.
Date: 2007-09-03
From: Cooper Falls Lean-to

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 13.8

Oh, I am so glad I stopped here, even if it was an extra mile off the trail. I am showered I am clean and dry, my clothes are dry, my tent is dry. All is right with the world. Been a while since I washed my clothes on a wash board¢¦fact is, I don¢t think I ever washed my clothes on a wash board¢¦makes me appreciate my grandmother Tillie. Oh, it¢s good for taking care of the upper arm wing flab!I am lying in bed with the White House Landing one pound burger in my belly. I am satisfied and ready for sleep. I¢m getting closer to the K now, only forty-eight miles. Wishing my feet felt better, but this is what plagued me last year, so I¢m not surprised. So what if your feet feel like hamburger, quit your whining and do cadence.Later:I just woke up (couldn¢t sleep) and went outside. I looked up at the sky and, oh my, what a wonder¢¦without the light pollution of towns and cities, the stars became a visual extravaganza. The Milky Way was brilliant and I saw stars I haven¢t seen since I was a child, laying on my back in the front yard, on a summer night. Wonderful to feel like a kid again to see with the eyes of a child!
Date: 2007-09-04
From: White House Landing

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: broken clouds

A long, but remarkably beautiful day¢¦I found myself slowing down, taking in more of what was around me. Sounds, sights¢¦Maine is a labyrinth of lakes, ponds, streams, creeks, rivers, bogs¢¦it makes it special and different from the rest of the AT. The terrain now, is far more kind than it¢s been and I appreciate that.Locals are in their humor mode leaving crutches and oxygen tank at the trail heads with, ¢Hey, If you need this¢ signs.The journal in the shelter sent all the other hikers to the hill behind me. Seems the place is loaded with mice. Since I have no aversion to mice¢¦I have the lean-to to myself. I¢ve hung my food bag with anything that might call out to the critters from a local tree. If they find my bag and get in, I just figure they¢re smart enough to deserve a tid-bit or two¢¦more power to them.Bluebird on her Soap Box:I do not abide hikers crushing or drowning the little critters¢¦this is their turf and we¢re the visitors. So let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be¢¦All that aside, Lady green thought we might divert the mice away from the hut with a little left over peanut butter. She sliced open a PB tube and set it some distance from the shelter¢¦thus began the ¢RED SQUIRREL WARS,¢ brother pitted against brother! All for the love of Skippy! It was mildly entertaining till they started attacking eack other in earnest. I decided to dispense the PB on a few logs and rocks in an effort to thwart a rodent BLOOD BATH. They each found their own smudge and peace reined.I am thirty one miles from the summit¢¦I can hardly recall how I felt 30 miles into my hike last year and I don¢t really know how I feel now, but Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings¢¦for all my life I¢ll feeeeeel it. Actually, I really hate that song.