morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-11
From: Lonesome Lake Hut, White Mtns, NH

To: Stealth site off Franconia Ridge, Whites, NH
Miles today: 5.8

As tasty as dinner was last night, we have discovered why everyone complains about the hut system. The pots and pans in the kitchen started clanging at 6, and there was no way to avoid getting up. After we packed up, we had to wait for the guests to finish their breakfast which started at 7. The two of us sat down by the lake and caught a couple rays. So, at 8, we got cream of wheat, cold scrambled eggs, and coffee cake for breakfast. It was delicious. We go to eat with the croo who were somewhat friendly. Then it was time for our ¢work¢ for stay. We had to unfold (seems a little pointless to make the guests fold, huh?), shake, and refold three wool blankets per bed. We also had to sweep the floor and under the mattresses. We did the folding and shaking, and Amble, who is 68, did the sweeping, while the croo went off gallivanting. We finally finished just before 10, and we started our hike for the day at 10:10. So, to get breakfast and a free place to stay we had to get up at 6, and we didn¢t leave until after 10 ¢ HURRAY!! Chicken¢s knee hiccupped a few times in the relatively easy 3 miles to our hitch into town. We also had a few more hairy creek crossings. We decided to go get a little more food and rely less on the huts. The town of North Woodstock seemed like a tourist trap, but we did hit only the market. Chicken also called Black Diamond who, with hesitation, sent out a new pole section. While we were eating hot dogs, a young guy named Erik asked us a few questions about our hike and expressed his interest in hiking. We yogi¢d a ride from him, and on the way back he wanted to show us a cool part of Flume Park. We hung out there for a little while, and then we started our climb to Liberty Spring. We passed lots and lots of day hikers, one of which turned out to be Jason who we met a few days ago. After a short chat with him, we passed Liberty Spring Campsite, and filled up at the spring (we didn¢t want to pay $8 per person!). We found our stealth campsite near the top of Liberty Mt. Amble was already there. We had a little trouble finding a spot because the AMC filled in seemingly legal spots with trees. While we were setting up, three courageous gray jays swooped in and even ate cookies out of Amble¢s offering hand. Then we climbed .3 to the top of Liberty. We got fantastic views of Mt. Lafayette and Mr. Garfield. Then it was back to camp to cook. We had a great dinner of tortellini and Chicken¢s tomato sauce. Thank you Mike and Beth!! Jason had talked about coming up and meeting us. I hope he didn¢t try because he probably couldn¢t have found us. We were in bed before 8 so we could get an early start and possibly hit Galehead Hut tomorrow. Hopefully it won¢t rain too much tonight!Flanders
Date: 2003-08-12
From: Stealth site off Franconia Ridge, Whites, NH

To: Galehead Hut, Whites, NH
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: light rain

It was raining when we got up at 5:30 and it kept raining until 7:15 when we left. And it kept raining as we climbed up to Franconia Ridge. Scattered showers, my butt. Franconia Ridge, one of the most beautiful sections of the whole AT, was incredible¢¦ incredibly white on all sides¢¦ with incredible wind¢¦and incredibly wet rocks. We passed a SOBO named QT. She told us she had a 360 degree view from the top of Lafayette and that the weather was better on the other side. Damned SOBO LIARS. So, we climbed Haystack, Lincoln, Lafayette, and Garfield ¢ all blowing fog. We got a glimpse of blue sky from Garfield for a few seconds. We got to the hut and immediately felt welcomed by the croo. We washed dishes with Amble, answered the standard questions from the guests, talked with Nick, set the tables for dinner, and then we all sat on the floor in the hall (Cobra, Splash, and Blue Sky had joined us by then) until the guests were done with their dinner, and then we all pigged out. MMMM! Now we are sitting around waiting for bedtime. Nick went to sleep in the corner, but I woke him up with my camera flash. LA, La, La. Nite nite.                                                Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-08-13
From: Galehead Hut, Whites, NH

To: stealth site past Ethan Pond Shelter, Whites, NH
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: mist

5 MONTHS!! That¢s right, we started on the 13th, five month ago and we¢re still lovin¢ it. We woke up around 6:00 with the breakfast cook a clanging. The croo (Jan, John, Peter, and Anne) ¢allowed¢ us to be helpful, which the last croo did not. So, we set the breakfast table. By the way, they even grabbed mattresses out of the attic for us last night. After the guests finished eating, the croo did a funny skit for them, teaching them to fold their blankets and reminding them of wilderness etiquette (be prepared, pack it in - pack it out, etc.) Then we all cleaned up after breakfast. Then we ate cold scrambled eggs, corn muffins, and cereal, but not the oatmeal. Amble told us a funny joke involving Cheerios. The croo also announced that the weather was calling for more rain today, but looked good for the next couple of days (they¢d had 16 consecutive days with rain.) As usual, it was very foggy out. We passed a good many guests going up the first mountain, our only real climb of the day. Coming down off South Twin Mountain we got hit with a heavy, cold downpour that lasted only about 20 minutes. The wind continued to blow, but, believe it or not, the sun poked out. The terrain was much easier than it has been, despite the rain. Pretty soon, we got to a great view at Zeacliff. We got to dry out some smelly gear while we chatted with 3 guys from Woburn, MA. They even gave us some great gorp. Then it was a mile to Zealand Falls Hut. We passed an awesome hydraulic setup that pumped water out of their well. In fact, all of the electricity used by the hut is generated by the falls. We ate all-you-can-eat split pea soup for $2. Nick, Amble, Cobra, Splash, and Boat and Paladin (both spent a couple days in N. Woodstock) all were there. Chicken¢s knee wasn¢t doing too bad, so we decided to push on the next 5 miles (supposedly easy) to find a spot near Ethan Pond. We walked along the base of Whitewall Mt., which we could see earlier from Zeacliff. We decided again to skip the $16 shelter, but just before we got there, Nick was stopped, holding his camera. He said he saw a moose, but couldn¢t find it. Surprisingly, Chicken didn¢t sniff this one out (Someone told her they smell musky, so whenever she smells anything unusual, her pace halves and she focuses her attention on finding the moose ¢ to no avail obviously.) But she did spot it!! And we got great pictures as he stood 30 ft. off the trail. Our first real moose sighting. ( We saw one while driving around with Matt Tracz, but that was cheating.) Then it was a short hike to a stealth spot past the shelter. The sun came out and stayed out all day! Our first sunny day in the Whites. Hopefully, it¢ll stay like this. Life is great!! Flanders
Date: 2003-08-14
From: Ethan Pond

To: Mt Eisenhower , NH
Miles today: 11.2

We got up, pumped some water on our way to Crawford Notch and then began the ascent to the Presidential Range. We saw Nick on our way down to the notch, but he decided to take a break before the scary ascent saying with full British accent, ¢That looks like hard work!¢ When we reached the first vista ¢ Webster Cliffs, Boat caught up to us. From that point on we could see Boat behind us from every false summit and we waved at him the whole way up until he finally passed us between Mt. Webster and Jackson. We passed 3 south bounders ¢ Zen Master Brick, Scarecrow, and Ari. They all raved about how easy the trail in front of us was, so we had high hoped for making it to the Mizpan Hut for lunch. It wasn¢t quite as easy as they made it out to be ¢ so that¢s kind of scary ¢ they¢re most likely comparing it to the rest of the Presidential Range. But it was a fun hike. When we were exposed we suffered the wind for awesome views, and when we were in the trees we got to relax ¢ safe from the wind.At Mizpan Hut we ate corn chowder with Boat. It was a very watery ¢chowder¢ so we were very grateful for the ham sandwiches given to us by weekenders. There were only 4 pancakes in the bread box so we each had one and left one for Nick. Then we headed on toward Lakes of the Clouds. Boat would make it there, but I was enjoying my day so much I didn¢t really want to make it and ruin the day with a hut work for stay.We climbed Mt. Clinton (don¢t worry ¢ it¢s not Bill) and next was Mt. Eisenhower, but Mt. E. is not on the AT. Instead, a loop trail goes up to the summit and rejoins the trail in about a half a mile. We stood quite a while deciding what to do. It was a crucial moment for we¢d not skipped any of the AT so far, yet the summit loop is obviously more fun, exciting, and difficult. While we were debating, Boat came down off the summit showing us he had decided NOT to skip AT. Still, in the end, we decided that the AT should do the summit (most of the Presidents summits are non AT loops) and that we would do the summit trails because we want to AND, we decided, we should be our won judges. So over the summit we went and we were glad about the choice the whole way, especially since we could SEE the AT below us the whole time! After Eisenhower, it was time to find a place to camp. The map showed us that the Eisenhower Trail was about the only way to get down off the mountain away from the wind and fragile alpine growth. We found a little hole in the trees, cooked and went to bed early ¢ Eisenhower blocked the sunset anyway.Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-08-16
From: Madison Springs Mtn, Presidentials, NH

To: Past Pinkham Notch, NH
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: fog

Ah! This morning was our last morning in a hut. We are ecstatic to be leaving the hut system. The hut system caters to wealthy, short term hikers who wish to traipse about the Whites carrying snacks and pay dearly for it ($68 per person, per night). And that would be fine with us if there were an alternative for the long distance hikers. But there isn¢t, so we do ¢work-for-stay¢ which is really ¢work-for-scraps.¢ The work isn¢t difficult, but the problem is that while at a hut we must work, eat, and sleep (the worst part) on the hut schedule, not our own schedule. In order to get work for stay, you need to arrive in the early afternoon, and you can¢t leave until around 9 in the morning after your bowl of cold eggs. Anyway, I could go on forever with the sordid details, but instead let¢s get to the hiking. With no more huts in our future we are happy to be HIKING again.        It was a long hike over Madison and down to Pinkham Notch. The wind was howling over Madison. It blew me over twice and bloodied Ned¢s leg. It was a long, steep rocky down and took forever. After the steep part, though, the trail got a fair bit easier. It rained on us a little but waited to let loose the torrential thunderstorm until we were safely inside the Visitor¢s Center.        In the Visitor¢s Center we ate peanut butter sandwiches in the basement with Paladin and Nick. Paladin made a case for hitching to Gorham early, but the rain stopped so Nick, Ned and I could not be lured into town. We didn¢t go far ¢ only about a half mile from the notch, but we found a great solitary campsite by a stream. Nick got away from us, but hopefully he found a good site too. Paladin will sleep on sheets tonight, however, probably cursing us for abandoning him in town by himself. Ah well, we¢ll see him tomorrow.                                                        Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-08-17
From: Past Pinkham Notch, NH

To: before Imp Campsite, NH
Miles today: 12.4

We started the morning with a very steep climb up Wildcat Mt. At the top of the first peak there was a gondola for the Wildcat Mt. Ski Resort. There were about 5 peaks to Wildcat, but they weren¢t bad after the initial climb. From the first peak, it felt like we could spit on the hubbub in the Pinkham Notch, and from the last peak we could spit on the Carter Notch Hut. D©j vu, Songbird, Zapman, and Sparky all passed us somewhere on top. They filled us in on the latest gossip ¢ mostly where other people were and their gripes about the hut system. They also let us know Puff Puff and Snappy and the gang were in Gorham. We had a steep descent to the hut, where we caught up with Paladin. After a short break we climbed Carter Dome, where we ate lunch in a thick fog. It started to sprinkle, but it never really rained. Paladin caught up while we were eating. We had a lot of fun hiking with him the rest of the day. He really hates the hut system, calls all the guests ¢Turons¢ with his thick North Carolina accent. Although he had some great insight for AMC improvements, most of the time he was cracking us up with other AMC marketing ploys, like the AMC teaming up with Disney. We climbed several peaks of Carter Mt. before our last descent before the campsite. We had to find a stealth site, and while we were looking around, we bumped into John Galt, a SOBO. He told us about one beside him up ahead. We cooked with him and his friend who hiked in 2000. We all chatted until it started pouring, so we finished eating in the tarp. We went to sleep with the not unusual pitter patter.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-08-18
From: before Imp Campsite, NH

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: light rain

Reunion!        We got up, ate granola, wished our southbound site mates good luck, and headed for Gorham. We had only to climb Morian Mt., and it was downhill to town from there. Morian was beautiful. We had a good view of Mt. Madison, but Washington was obscured by a cloud. We passed a southbounder who said he had seen Washington earlier that day but we are getting used to these SOBOs, so we knew it was a lie. That cloud did not move all day. I was worried about the steep sections down into town, but they weren¢t too rocky ¢ more rooty and once we were done with the steep the rest was easy as pie. We got to the road about 1:30, thumbed down the third car that passed, and enjoyed a great hitch into town. The couple that picked us up had just done a 100 mile adventure race, which included repelling over cliffs at 1 am. They gave us each a Shipyard IPA to drink in the car. They dropped us off across the street from the post office and, as we crossed over to the P.O., a chorus of yelling and cheering erupted from the post office porch. It was Space Monkey, Puff Puff, Snappy, Bree, Spiderman, Flo, and Harmon! It was a joyous reunion. Medicine Man showed up soon after and Trail Frog was in town too. Of course, Nick, Boat, and Paladin had both arrived today too. After about an hour of vagrancy on the P.O. porch (I got my new pole section from black diamond, but the postmaster couldn¢t find our food box) we ate across the street at Mr. Pizza. Puff Puff and Snappy¢s friend Rob gave us a ride to the Barn, a hostel, and we lazied around for a couple hours before taking Nick to go find Paladin for his birthday dinner. We found Paladin in Mr. Pizza with Spiderman and Harmon, and who should be at the table next to them but FREMONT and CASEY (Casey is now Stoker, though)!! HURRAY! Nothing like finally finding Fremont on a day already devoted to reunions!                                                        Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-08-19
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond, NH
Miles today: 11.8

I slept in while Ned explored town on a bicycle. I lounged around, read, hard boiled some eggs, drank hiker box hot chocolate, and got to know the owner¢s six year old daughter, Lily. Lily showed off all her tricks and told us (me and Casey) a great many exciting stories. She was truly a trip! Her dad got a call that the post master had finally found our food box, but we had already gone to the grocery store so we (Ned and I) rode bikes down to the P.O. to get it forwarded. I was proud ¢ I rode the whole way without hitting any pedestrians or parked cars. I made sure by getting off and walking the bike past all people on foot. We ate breakfast on the way back where we overheard a little boy telling his grandma that he wanted his friend Lily to come spend the night. Hey! We know Lily! Anyway, we finally hit the trail about 12:30 with Boat.        We climbed Mt. Hayes, where Boat passed us. D©j vu, songbird, Zapman, and Sparky passed us too, going south as usual. They brought news that Bree, Puff, and Snappy were only about 45 minutes ahead of us even though they had left town yesterday. We were optimistic about catching them until my knee started hurting. WAH! It was really painful for a while, but I drank a lot of water and took some Aleve and it felt better. Boat stopped to camp at Page Pond, but we wanted a shorter day tomorrow so we kept going after giving him some water. It was just past 7 when we got to Gentian Pond. We set up on a platform ( a big pain) near Monkey, Flo, Bree, Puff, and Snappy. We ate and caught up some more and Puff made a small fire. And then we slept.                                                Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-08-20
From: Gentian Pond, NH

To: Full Goose Campsite , ME!!
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: few clouds

We beat our buddies up and out but waited for them on top of Mt. Success where we caught up our journal. We were just getting ready to take off when they appeared and Snappy yelled at me to take off my pack. After sitting on top a while longer gazing at Mt. Madison, we finally made it to the state line. We¢re in MAINE. What will we say now when asked where we¢re headed? Maine? We¢re IN MAINE. Did you hear that? Maine.        Boat, D©j vu, Songbird, Zapman, and Sparky caught up and passed us at the border. We were all low on water so we stopped at the Carlo Col Shelter for lunch before climbing Mt. Carlo and Goose Eye Mt. Goose Eye Mt. was awesome. It reminded us of the balds down south. In one place we were in an alpine saddle and it was amazing. We could see the peaks behind us that we¢d just done, a beautiful sun shining through clouds, and tons of mountains in the distance. By this time we¢d fallen way behind all our buddies ¢ I had a tummy ache for a while, so when we got to the shelter D©j vu said, ¢Call off the search party!¢ Bree said we weren¢t very far behind, but we vowed to get an early start for Mahoosul Notch tomorrow morning. I expect that the one mile will take at least 4 hours, cuz it took Twofiddy 3, we heard. We had a lovely time eating dinner and drinking the solo I carried from Gorham. Monkey got a free guitar lesson from a section hiker, Puff made her traditional mini fire and we retired                                                                Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-08-21
From: Full Goose Campsite , ME!!

To: Old Speck Mt.
Miles today: 6.2

What an extraordinary day!! We tried to get a pretty early start because we had ¢the Notch¢ today. The Mahoosue Mt. Range is known as the 30 hardest miles on the AT, and the Mahoosue Notch is known as the hardest mile. We¢d heard it took some people three hours to just do that mile, and we weren¢t expecting to be the fastest. We hit the southern end just before 8. It turned out to be a lot of fun. We put our poles away, and climbed over and under the huge boulders. There were a couple crawls and a couple very cold spots caused by year-round ice in the stream below the rocks. We met a guy who hiked in ¢85 and ¢90 and he told us we only had ten more minutes of the Notch. He cut our rejoicing short when he warned us that Mahoosue Mt. was going to be a tough climb. He was right, we were out around 10:30 ¢ 2 12 hrs for one mile! ¢The A¢ was only a 1200 foot climb, but it was steep, with a little bouldering involved. D©j vu, Songbird, Zapman, and Sparky, who had all passed us in the notch were taking a break at the top. We took a long break on top, too. It was a pleasant day and we got some good views. Then we hiked down to Speck Pond where a couple, Charlie and Jenny, out for the day, was fishing. They asked about our hike and then if we want to borrow a rod. Of course, Chicken wanted to fish. After watching her struggle with casting and line tangles, I took away the rod and said, ¢Watch me. This is how you should do it.¢ I cast out the line and immediately reeled in an 8 inch trout, brown trout I believe. Then Chicken was really jealous, and she tried for another half hour without luck. Just before Charlie packed up, he reeled in his first catch, a slightly bigger trout, which he gave to us. A few minutes later, Snappy, Space Monkey, Puff Puff, and Bree all pulled up after doing the notch. We all chatted about the notch and I showed off the fish I stabbed with my Leki poles. They didn¢t really believe me, but I had the fish to prove it. Then they all circled around while I cleaned them with my mini pocket knife. Then we all walked around the pond to the shelter to cook dinner. Chicken pan-fried the fish. They were delicious. Then the crew packed up for another mile to the observation deck on Old Speck Mt. Somehow we lost Monkey. We ate Ramen and No Bake Cheesecake up there and then we climbed the tower to watch an amazing sunset. Bree, Chicken and I decided to sleep up there ¢ it was a squeeze, but we managed. The toughest part was lugging up the sleeping gear on the ladder. Chicken was amusing. We all hung out until mars came out. It was a dear night. We even saw a few shooting stars. It became very windy up on the tower, and we had to tie everything to the tower. Hopefully, the wind won¢t make it too cold. It was a short day, but the hardest mile was done and we had a great day.                                                                Flanders