morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-31
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Sorry, still have marginal coverage, so takes too long to upload photos. Today was a beautiful weather day - sunny, nice breeze. Dry shoes all day!! Still sweat like crazy, so my clothes were soaked all day.Carter Hut was only 50% full last night. The bunks are 6 to a room. I had a room to myself, I think I looked like a thru hiker, so others did not want to chance being in the same room. I am now past the AMC monopoly, so from here north there are typical shelter every 5-8 miles and way fewer day hikers. It has been odd going through this stretch. Other thrus refer to AMC as the Appalachian Money Club instead of Mountain for the M. Thrus do not have the money to spend like most hikers here. We are just a smelly, cheap inconvenience for the others. That is the feeling I get anyway.Lots of SOBOs today. 3rd thru hiking dog in 3 days. Sparrow blew by my, but he was the only north traveller I saw. Day started with a 1,300 foot gain, then bounced along the ridge before dropping into Gorham. Great views all day. The hostel is right on the trail at route 2. We went into town to get food for the next 3 days. Should be in Maine in a couple days. The place is hopping. The buzz on the trail is this is a must stop. There were kids who stayed here last night but did not leave till 5pm today. Just hung around all day. A couple bought the place as a bed and breakfast 2 years ago, then found out it was on the AT. Now they are only open during hiking season.
Date: 2012-08-01
From: Gorham, NH

To: Genetian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.7

Today was a nice hike out of Gorham. Since it was a short day I almost hung out at the hostel for a bit. The forecast was for rain, so I took off at 8:30. Machine left just ahead of me. We had about 1/2 mile of road walk. As soon as we turned into the woods there was a cooler full of food and dri.ks. A hundred yards up the trail there was another cooler with more food. I kept going since I already had too much food from going to Walmart last night.The trail had lots of ups and downs, but was mostly walkable, just a few scrambles. I passed 10 SOBOs including Billy. He looked like he was from ZZ Top with the long white hair and beard. We talked for 30 minutes discussing equipment, Canadian politics and the human digestive system as well as many other things. He is one of the fun charactures out hear.I was the first to arrive at the hut. Indiana was right behind. We debated moving on but we could zee the rain coming in so we stayed put. Good choice as it rained for a while. Sparrow, Oppossum and Almost Awesome showed up in the rain and also stayed. 2 youth groups came and set up tents as well as 2 SOBOs and 3 more NOBOs I have seen before. It is 6:30 so may have a few more coming. It will be a crowded shelter tonight. It is now clearing so hopefully good weather tomorrow. We have the toughest mile on the AT tomorrow - Mahousic Notch followed by a 2,000 climb. Going to be a tough day.
Date: 2012-08-02
From: Genetian Pond Shelter

To: Speck Pond
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: few clouds

Today has been much anticipated , because I was going to do the Mahoosic Notch. It is described as the toughest or the most fun mile on the AT. First I had to hike over 11 miles to get there. Last night everyone (10) were intheir sleeping bags by 8:15, not unusual on the trail. I got going at 6:15. Everyone was up and almost ready by then. Sparrow, Almost Awesome and Possum caught me fairly quickly. I picked up my pace slightly and hiked all morning with them. We got to Full Goose shelter about noon. Sparrow had gone ahead and was napping in the shelter. He is made to hike - very fast smooth, stride. Forgot to mention, 5 miles in we entered Maine. It is the 14th and last state for the others. It was fun to be part of their little celebration.Back the Full Goose shelter. I was the first to leave on the 1 mile steep descent into Mahoosic Notch. The notch itself is a horizontal mile of big boulders. You need to pick you way over, around and under them. Some people are quite intimidated by this stretch. Sparrow caught me about 1/4 the way through and we continued together. My rock scrambling ability paid off here. Sparrow was impressed. Of course as soon as we got done the rocks he was off. We had an 1,800 foot climb in just over a mile. Extremely steep and alot of slippery rocks. I was already very tired so this was really tough. Finally got to the top and had a mile ridge walk to the shelter. I got there at 5, almost 11 hours to do less than 15 miles. Possum and Almost Awesome rolled in an hour later. A tough but fun day. A few SOBOs rolled in after 7 and spent the next 2 hours preparing their dinner. Quite an ordeal.
Date: 2012-08-03
From: Speck Pond

To: Andover
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I thought yesterday was a great day, but today was even better. The hiking was much easier , took 2 1/2 less to go slightly further. Had another fun conversation with Possum and Almost Awesome. They are a great couple. The highlight of the day was going over Bald Plate. It is 2 peaks about a mile apart. Going up the second peak is one big rock, just pick your way up. There are cairns to guide you. There were fresh blueberries on top. Just past the summit AA and P stopped for lunch so I joined them. It was clear and breezy and quite cold so we put our jackets on. Beautiful views of the Maine mountains. The Maine ATC has been great with marking and maintaining the trail. We hikers really appreciate all the work that is done on the entire system , trail, shelters, water, etc.Coming down into town got cell coverage and called for a ride. I arrived at the parking lot 30 minutes early. My ride arrived 7 minutes later. He had a cold lemonade for me. Tasted great. Got to town and it turns out it is Andover's annual festival. I am writing this on my tablet sitting on the town green while a band is playing and the town is out in full force. It is a very small town.Tomorrow I will get a 6am shuttle back to the trail and only do 10 miles and come right back here for more festivities. I will then only have 26 miles to Rangely where I am meeting Elizabeth for lunch on Tuesday.
Date: 2012-08-04
From: Andover

To: Andover
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a great 10 mile slack pack with Short Stop. We are at a hiker hostel in Andover and they gave us a ride to a spot 10 miles north. We then walked south back to our original pick up spot. That way we did not have to carry all our gear. Short Stop is a retired executive from Knoxville. We had a great hike together.So far Maine has been awesome. The photo is of a drawing a hiker did in a log book at a shelter. It is fun to read comments. This drawing picks on the AMC. They control the AT through much of New Hampshire. Many hikers, myself included think the AMC is all about getting money from day hikers. Anyway the MATC controls the trail in Maine. We are back to having the traditional shelters, well marked trails and well maintained trails. It is a very obvious difference from NH. The drawing even has the ATC ostrich with it's head in the sand. I think it's funny, but true. OK - enough of the ranting.The weather has been dry here which is also great on trail. Some of the stretches we have done would have been brutal if the rocks were wet.Today we hiked south, so saw lots of familiar faces. I have been out long enough so have met a lot of great people. This afternoon went back to the Andover festival and got some fried clams. It is funny how I crave different foods. Today was Coke and potato chips. I rarely eat either. I have not had a piece of chocolate since getting back on the trail. I normally love chocolate.There is a flue type bug going around on the trail. It is so bad the Maine CDC came to this hostel a couple days ago. It seems to have started in Gorham about a week ago and has spread along the trail. It is the #1 topic of discussion on trail. This hostel is really quiet now (5pm). I think hikers are choosing to stay on trail and bypass the hostels. The sick hikers have tended to go to a hostel to rest. I was in a bunk room last night, but Short Stop and I upgraded to a private room for tonight. So far we have both been fine. Hope we are getting north of the problem area. Everyone is also very concious of it and taking precautions so hopefully it has about run it's course.
Date: 2012-08-05
From: Andover

To: Sabbath Day Pond
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

Short Stop did anoth slack pack today, getting dropped of 13 miles further north and hiking back to Andover. It was very tempting to join him, but I decided to just pack up and head out. The day started with a 2,200 foot climb to the top of Old Blue Mountain. Once up it was a series of short ups and downs. Certainly easier than the past few days. I have a guide book that gives distances, etc. 3 hours into the day I was assuming I had covered abaout 6 miles. there was a shelter 7 miles in that I planned to stop at and take a break and get water. A SOBO came by about this time and informed me I had over 2 1/2 miles to go. I was totally bummed. A half mile up the trail there were direction signs and turns out the shelter is 8.5 miles from the road. There is an error in the guide book. This made me feel better.After lunch the trail was quite smooth, which was a nice reprieve from all the steep rocks of the past couple weeks. I completed the 17 miles in 9.5 hours, arriving at 5pm. The forecast is for storms tonight so the shelter was almost full. I took the last spot. There were 2 big groups camping nearby as well.During my Virginia hike I was not drinking enough. Here I know I should be drinking more as well. I have never sweat like I have this past week. It has been warm (88 in Andover) and very humid, especially in the trees. It has been dry in Maine, so the water has been scarce. Many sourses are ponds as well which is not that appealing. Saw 15 SOBOs today. I am surprised there are so many. Very even mix of male/female as well. Very high percentage under 25 years old.
Date: 2012-08-06
From: Sabbath Day Pond

To: Rangeley
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It is funny some of the trends. The group of NOBOs I am travelling with are more leisurely with their pace. Wide variety of ages, but leaning to the more mature. The young fast group has already climbed Katahdin. At the shelters the NOBOs tend to be in our sleeping bags by 8 and hiking by 6 or so to beat the heat. The SOBOs stay up later and start later. This morning was typical in that way. I woke up and read my book till 6:30 to be polite. I then got up and headed out at 7. None of the SOBOs were even stirring. Talks Alot was up and moving with me. She is a 60 year old hiking by herself.The trail was the easiest section yet. A smooth 9 miles. I only saw 2 people today, the quietest day for me. At the road there is a parking lot. Another big group was about to head out. It is 9 miles into Rangeley, so I was going to hitch hike. There was a gentleman there so I asked if he could bring me in to town. No problem. Turns out he is from Norwich, VT and knows several of Elizabeth's relatives. Her mom was born and raised in Norwich.I got dropped off at an ice cream shop and was sitting at a picnic table when I here "AZ". It was Almost Awesome and Possum heading back out of town. They came over and chatted a bit. Hopefully we can connect at the next road crossing on Wednesday. I have really enjoyed their company.I am staying at the Town and Lake Motel with a lakefront room. The loons are actually calling as I am writing this. A sea plane just took off a few minutes ago. Elizabeth is in Portland and driving up here today. She should be here by lunch time. We will be tourists for the next few days, ending up by Katahdin on Friday, where my brother and his wife will join us. Suncay we will go to their house in Freeport, then fly home on Monday. It has been a great trip.
Date: 2012-08-07
To: Rangeley
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Elizabeth made it to town about noon. It was great to see her.Last night there were at least 6 hikers staying here at the Town and Lake. The Myakka Mules, Talks Alots and several SOBOs. A young SOBO is having knee trouble and trying to figure out how to slack pack the next 50 miles. He is only 220 into his trip. Hopefully things improve for him. Short Stop did not come into town, so probably will not see him again. I saw Alpo in town. I had seen him back in Andover.E and I went to the grocery store and got a few supplies then headed to the trailhead. After about 5 minutes Oak and Butcher show up. We offered them some water and cookies and brought them in to town. They are both NOBO thrus. They were very appreciative.E enjoyed cruising around the town of Rangeley. It is a beautiful town right on a lake.Late afternoon we realized we did not have any breakfast stuff so we headed back to the store. I saw Bobcat doing some shopping so offered to bring him back to the trail. As we are leaving the store a local spots Bobcat and wants to give him a ride. Thrus are easy to spot. This guy was kind of secretive and wierd why he wanted to give Bobcat a ride, so we were persistant with questions. Turns out he is organizing a music festival this weekend and wanted Bobcat to stay and help in return for room and board. Satisfied he would be fine we started to head out when we see Oak. Sure enough, he and Butcher are looking to get back to the trailhead. We return them. As we are leaving the local guy and Bobcat are talking in the parking lot. We get the all good wave from Bobcat and head back to town for dinner.
Date: 2012-08-08
To: Greenville, ME
Miles today: 0.0

Today was another fun day. I had wanted Elizabeth to meet some of the great people of the AT. As discussed in yesterday's entry we made a couple trips to the trailhead giving rides. Last night at the Hotel Southpaw and his 14 year old daughter (Fiddlehead) showed up. I had seen them on the trail a couple of times. They are from Vermont and doing 2 weeks on the AT. They had a car in Rangeley and want to get it moved up the trail, so I agreed to drive it to Stratton. At breakfast we met 2 NOBOs. We them brought Southpaw and Fiddlehead to the Rangeley trailhead. The 2 guys from breakfast were just getting ready to leave the parking area so we chatted again. Just as they left Duke the thru hiking dog comes running up to me. I knew Keeper would be right behind. We had hiked a bit together about 10 days ago. Duke is a great dog who is having a ball with the trail. Very happy and healthly dog. It was great to see Keeper again as well. We said our good byes and E and I headed back to town to get Southpaw's car.Last night Almost Awesome had texted me saying she and Possum would be at the Stratton trailhead between 10 and 11, so E and I planned to get there by 10 and hike south till we met them. The drive from Rangeley to Stratton is beautiful. The trailhead is south of town. As I go through town driving Southpaw's car I see a hiker hitch hiking so I stop. He gets in and I realize he is Dutchman. We had shared a room in Virginia in May. Another fun reunion. I joke with him if we get pulled over he can help me explain how it is I am driving a car of someone who I do not even know his real name. Pretty funny.At the trailhead we met up with Elizabeth. I introduced her to Dutchman and we chat for a few minutes. He takes off and just as I am about to close up the car Possum and Almost Awesome walk into the lot. What amazing timing with everything. E and I drove them into town and had a late breakfast/early lunch together. In 24 hours Elizabeth got a great feel for the many wonderful people I have had the pleasure of meeting this summer on the trail.We then drove to Greenville and visited with our neighbors of 26 years ago. We will spend the day here tomorrow, then on Friday drive up to the base of Katahdin, where we will meet my brother and his wife. We did swing by the trailhead in Monson, but no one there needed a ride. We are north of anyone I know. Saturday I will hike Katahdin. It has been a very fun summer adventure.
Date: 2014-04-12
To: Day Zero
Miles today: 0.0

Finally made it to the hiker hostel with 3 other hikers. Two of the others had rough trips on Greyhound. The wether tomorrow is supposed to be awesome. Then a couple iffy days then another nice stretch. With any luck we will be at the Springer parking lot at 9:30. It is then a 1 mile hike south to the summit and the start of the AT.We've had a couple fun trail connections the past couple days. Elizabeth met a 2012 thru hiker this morning and a friend's aunt live a mile from the trail in CT.
Date: 2012-06-02
From: Route 52 Stormville, NY

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 3.9
Weather: overcast clouds

After spending most of the day driving from Martinsburg, WV, we finally made it to the Stormville, NY trailhead around dinnertime. We took a quick group shot, then Dozer and I headed north reaching the Morgan Stewart Shelter by dusk. A large meet-up group from NYC had taken over the shelter and surrounding area, so we set up camp away from the shelter. We stopped by the shelter to say hi, and hopefully yogi a beer or two. The group didn't seem particularly friendly, so we went back to the tents and called it a night.
Date: 2012-06-03
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: broken clouds

We hiked almost the entire day, and due to New York's gentle terrain the day's mileage total was over 16. No great scenery in this area, but we did pass the Appalachian Trail train station, a long boardwalk over a swamp, and a section of trail that goes right through the middle of a large cow pasture. Even though it's only early June, a few thru-hikers have already(!) made it this far north. We met Swiss Miss, Plus 3, and Socrates today.
Date: 2012-06-04
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Mt. Algo Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Slower going today, it seemed like the terrain became steeper almost immediately crossing into Connecticut. This is my first time in CT, it's scenic, and a lot hillier than I was expecting! Highlight of the day was seeing a bald eagle while taking a break near the Ten Mile River shelter.
Date: 2012-06-05
From: Mt. Algo Shelter.

To: Silver Hill Campsite
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: light rain

Another great first happened today, visiting a trail town. Kent, CT is less than a mile from the AT - way too convenient to pass up! We had only been in the woods for a couple of days, but going to a grocery store felt like going to a five star restaurant. Produce, snacks, meat, cold beverages that weren't water, it all looked so good...Returning to the trail, we got to experience the enjoyment of hiking uphill with extra heavy backpacks. Eventually. we made it to Silver Hill and were later joined by Chef Boyardee, a long distance section hiker. Silver Hill had all the amenities, a pavilion, deck, bench, and even a porch swing which was said to be the only one at an AT campsite or shelter. I later found out that this was false, the David Lesser Memorial Shelter in WV has a swing too.The next morning brought an unpleasant surprise - during the night a rodent got into my bear bag and ate some of my trail mix. I guess I'm lucky the critter didn't bite into any other food, but I ended up losing about two pounds of trail mix as I dumped the entire bag just to be safe.
Date: 2012-06-06
From: Silver Hill Campsite

To: Belter's Campsite
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Before starting my hike, I read about a thru hiker who did all 52 miles of Connecticut in one day. Hiking this section of the state, I started to wonder how anyone could hike the whole state in a single day. We slogged through 12 miles of ups and downs and had a unique view at one point, a race track in the valley below. You could hear the cars for a couple of miles, especially at camp. It wasn't the most peaceful, woodsy atmosphere, but the racing came to an end in the early evening.
Date: 2012-06-07
From: Belter's Campsite

To: Brassie Brook Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Got a nice break from the Green Tunnel today, scenic highlights included a waterfall, an abandoned bridge, a wide open meadow, and a sweet view from Lions Head. Earlier in the day we passed Billy's View and Rand's View. I guess there was a view at these places a long time ago, but both "views" were completely blocked by trees. Towards the end of the day, the climb to Lions Head rewarded us with a sweeping view, the best one I'd seen so far on my hike. We caught up to Roughneck and Eazy E near the top and took a long break while we enjoyed the view.
Date: 2012-06-08
From: Brassie Brook Shelter

To: Glen Brook Shelter
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

Very short mileage today, but it included three peaks (Bear Mt., Mt. Race, and Mt. Everett), plus finally leaving Connecticut behind and entering Massachusetts. We would have done more mileage, but the shelter spacing worked against us. The choice was to either stop at Glen Brook or push on to Tom Leonard, over 14 miles away.
Date: 2012-06-09
From: Glen Brook Shelter

To: Tom Leonard Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

On today's agenda was a trip to Great Barrington. We made it there without even having to hitch, "Cough Drop" from the ATC office gave us a ride to town and dropped us off at the co-op. I purchased a slab of tasty watermelon and proceeded to devour it in the parking lot. Next up was a visit to Berkshire Brewing on the outskirts of town. Not knowing its exact location, we asked a friendly lady if she knew where it was and she offered us a ride! Two rides without even having to hitch! When she dropped us off, the brewpub was just opening and the staff was very accommodating. After a hearty meal and a couple beers, we were given a large bag of brownie ends to take back to the trail. Next we caught a ride with a guy in a BMW (had to spend a couple minutes hitching) and he dropped us off at the grocery store. While shopping a little old lady asked me how my hike was going and proceeded to tell me that she once hiked from Springer to Front Royal, Va. Heading back to the trail we had to do a little road walking but eventually a guy gave us a ride in the back of his pickup, the first of many such rides on this trip.The hike up to the shelter seemed to take forever. There weren't any huge climbs, it just felt like the mileage was a little off. The shelter had extensive porcupine damage, it seems that porcupines like to eat the wood because of the preservatives in it. Someone was kind enough to leave a Louisville Slugger in the shelter to defend against any rogue porcupines. No porcupines, but the mosquitos were relentless. I ended up putting on my hat and pulling it way down even though it was a very warm night.
Date: 2012-06-10
From: Tom Leonard Shelter

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Sleep was a rarity last night and I was dragging this morning. The first moderate upgrade I came to completely killed my energy. I had to take off the pack, sit down on the side of the trail, and lighten the load by consuming a mass quantity of calories. After my early lunch I was moving a little better, until I got passed going uphill by a guy who was trail running. I almost yelled "Yeah, I'd like to see you go that fast with 35 pounds on YOUR back!" but decided to keep that thought to myself. I picked up the pace by afternoon and made it to Shaker before anyone else from Tom Leonard arrived.