morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-08-07
From: Full Goose Shelter 

To: Frye Notch Lean-to
Miles today: 15.5

Day 125- Fun first day in Maine. We got up early to tackle Mahoosic Notch which was a total blast for us. I had expected a large open boulder field like the Ramparts at Carter Notch but instead it was a narrow canyon with large boulders. I had wondered how we would navigate across the Notch but the only decision-making we had was whether to go left, right, over, or under the individual boulders choking the Notch. The air down there had settled overnight and was cold; we had the whole Notch to ourselves.From there, we split up to hike at our own paces. I had the kind of day I love with nice views, comfortable weather, a good audiobook, and a sustainable pace. Slabby climbs and descents are one of my weaknesses and there was a lot of it today but I didn¢t mind too much.Big Mac was at Grafton Notch waiting for us with lunch as well as some extra beverages to share with our friends who came to the parking lot later. He drove us down the road a bit to some waterfalls where the boys soaked and napped while Big Mac and I had more life talks. In all, we used 3+ good hours of hiking time to hang but it was well worth it. Today had some of our hardest terrain so there was no need to push for a 20 mile day. Instead, we only needed another 5 miles to get to a lean-to. Less than 10 minutes in, the rain started. It wasn¢t bad until we hit the alpine zones on the Baldpate mountains. The West peak got us soaked with sideways rain. The East peak made me a little nervous with a long, final, slabby climb to the top; I could easily imagine sliding back to the bottom like a penguin if I slipped. We hadn¢t heard lightning for a while but I didn¢t like it. As we neared the top, the wind died down and the clouds parted for an astounding view!! It felt rewarding for pushing through the discomfort. The climb up had good storytelling and it continued all the way down to our destination of the day. My knees aches but we were all in good spirits as we chowed down on junk food to finish out the great day.
Date: 2018-08-09
From: Stealth Spot in Dense Trees

To: ME 2 / Rangeley
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: light rain

Day 127- The trail was beautiful today although a mostly a tunnel. There was some enjoyable alpine environments with the absolute best blueberries on trail. Big Mac met us at a terrific overlook of the Rangeley lake chain with a top notch lunch spread. The final 13-mile slackpack to the highway into Rangeley was the first relatively flat walking although it was extremely muddy and rooty. Unfortunately, we couldn¢t enjoy it. We were tired and it didn¢t take long to start taking our frustration and stress out on each other. This led into multi-hour long talks about our relationship but we are exhausted so they didn¢t turn out that well. We both recognize that we might have prioritized getting to Katahdin over the self-care of our relationship. Have we done some irreparable damage to our relationship? Can we adventure like this again together without easily triggering the Achilles heels that we have developed m? We don¢t know but we will at least make it to Katahdin.Spirits were low and we walked in silence for the last six miles arriving at the parking lot at 8:30pm, well after dark. Rattler and Big Mac were in the parking lot with sandwiches and fresh mozzarella taking good care of us. They had already set tents us across the river for the boys and I got to snuggle with my dad in the car.
Date: 2018-08-11
From: Lone Mountain 

To: ME 27 / Stratton 
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: light rain

Day 129- We are better today. No big revelations or anything but the edge to our pain has worn down and smoothed out a little. Once we picked up Rattler at his own campsite, we stuck together up and over Sugarloaf and then the Crockers. We crossed a cool plaque marking the section of trail that completed the entire AT; that point also marked that we had exactly 200 miles remaining. The up and down today was a little steep requiring me to put a hand down once in awhile so we weren¢t flying. It didn¢t matter though since we knew where we were headed when we hit the road crossing. For the final descent, we went at our own pace and I could feel my knees screaming at the end of the 3,000 ft. Broken Seal did wait for me once at the 2000 mile marker!! That was a huge accomplishment for both us obviously but we didn¢t dwell on it too much as we had a party to get to.Our buddy, Running Griz, was in the parking lot ready to whisk us to his family¢s ski condo. It was a full house with him, his girlfriend, her parents, her siblings and nephews, three different couples, us three hikers, and two dogs. They were so incredibly welcoming and fed us extremely well! We all bathed (I got the jacuzzi tub) and got loaner clothes while we washed all of our items. The wine and beer flowed too so everyone was having a good time at the fire ring outside or under the two moose hanging above their bar. It was a fabulous day and I am so incredibly grateful for their stunning hospitality!
Date: 2018-08-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Day 130- Today, we picked our relationship first. We chose to zero with Griz and his amazing family. We will either make the miles by Rattler¢s earlier deadline or we won¢t but we need to focus on us. That meant lounging in pajamas Griz¢s wife brought for me, good conversation with his in-laws, amazing food and tea, and some internet time. We mobilized to go check out a local swimming hole with a sweet cliff jump but other than that, I was sedentary. Today was so fun that it did make me a little excited to finish this thruhike. I love what we are doing but a couple of days in pajamas and access to a full kitchen sounds fun for a change. I don¢t want that full time by any means but I think my body could use it just as much as my mind.
Date: 2018-08-13
From: ME 27 / Stratton 

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: few clouds

Day 131- Two breakfast sandwiches, one bowl of yoghurt, shedding pajamas for as-clean-as-possible hiker clothes, and lots of hugs later, it was time to get back to the trail. The beautiful Bigelows lay ahead but I felt significantly weighed down by my pack. It hadn¢t been this heavy since VT, before Big Mac started being our trail angel support. I had become a weeny and the guys had to wait awhile at Horn Pond for me but we had nice weather on our side.The views at the top were stunning and illustrated nicely where we recently came from and where we were going. We had a scenic lunch atop West Bigelow before summiting Avery Mountain and walking the five miles to Little Bigelow. It felt like it took forever especially since my stomach was not completely at ease. On our way off of Avery, some clouds had started to roll in and they helped contribute to a great final view from the Bigelows. As the last notable range on trail, the end actually feels near. No major steep climbs nor descents lay between us and Katahdin. My pace slowed the final few miles to the lean-to so that I could pick blueberries along the way. It was only Griz and the two of us in the lean-to with only one other hiker camping. While the chatting and stretching felt nice, it felt even better closing my eyes at 8:30pm.
Date: 2018-08-14
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Otter Pond Streamside Camp
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 132- Terrific sleep all around. There had only been a sprinkle overnight and the sky was overcast. We spent some time this morning in Onesimus¢s RV having coffee and ice cream bars. He¢s a trail angel following hikers northbound and this is the third time we met hit since Big Branch, VT.It was go time after our stimulants and we had the easiest terrain since MA!! At times it was rocky like PA and other times it was dense woods like southern VA. It feels like it has been forever since twenty miles was not difficult. Running Griz rolled his ankles some and did not find it as effortless as us.The highlight for me was crossing paths with Pappy- the 87 yo thruhiking followed up by lunch on a small, sandy beach. There were light showers in the afternoon but not enough to deter us from checking out the lean-tos and small stream waterfalls we passed. The guidebook says we cannot camp along the Kennebec River and the official ferry service ends at 2pm so we made sure to find a sweet spot to camp for the night. We found a deep swimming hole with a small waterfall flowing into it. We sat on the stony beach watching the clouds finally break apart and turn pink with dusk as dragon flies swirled ahead.
Date: 2018-08-16
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to

To: ME 15 / Monson
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 134- We realized that last night was our quickest hiking to dinner to bed transition in just over an hour. This morning was our fastest bed to hiking transition of around 35 minutes. Other than Moxie Bald, named after my childhood dog, the terrain was totally flat to Monson. Moxie was in a cloud but gifted us with the tastiest blueberries yet. We had places to go and people to see so we limited our indulgence and kept a steady pace all day.There were a couple streams/rivers to ford so we just went in with our shoes on rather than take them on and off at each crossing. We paced some lakes and walked along the west branch of the Piscataquis River for a long while. The sound of the running water really soothing. There has not been really flat terrain in a long time and we kind of surprised ourselves by finishing the 22 miles at 3:30. When we made it to Shaw¢s Hostel in Monson, the final trail town, we got to business. We went to the AT Office to get Baxter Park Info, showered and did laundry before having a celebratory meal with Rattler and Running Griz at the delicious BBQ joint in town. I slept poorly the night before so my socializing was minimal while Broken Seal had some beers with our friends. We do not know the majority of people here but that is typical. Today was a little bit of a business day but we are very much looking forward to what is ahead.
Date: 2018-08-17
From: ME 15 / Monson

To: Wilson Valley Lean-to
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 135- We woke up to yummy smells from the hostel kitchen and made sure to get seats! They came around asking how people wanted their eggs cooked and then the plates of food started flowing: bacon, potatoes, three eggs and all-you-can-eat blueberry pancakes. We left the table feeling extremely satiated and wobbled off to the AT Office after helping Rattler locate his missing wallet in the trash.Wendy at the office helped me make reservations for Big Mac to hike Katahdin with us and let us use her WiFi to continue in our search for housing in Austria. It¢s been tough on the trail with our irregular access to internet or computers. Broken Seal has received three offers but none have worked out in the end.Shaw¢s Hostel also has a gear store and a resupply in the barn out back. It¢s definitely pricier here but there are not really any other options. They had a good selection though. We are forgoing a food drop in the 100-Mile Wilderness and are packing out 6+ days of food. Excluding water, our pack weights came to 24lbs and 27lbs.Today, we also said goodbye to Rattler and Running Griz. We are finishing our thruhike while they still have many miles to go down south as flip floppers so I think we have a different mentality than they do. We definitely could average 18 miles a day and finish with them but we have worked so hard on this hike that we deserve the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful place if we so choose. With 1 extra day of food, the daily average becomes 15 miles and we get that buffer to hang out at cool spots and swim in any lake we want. We will at least see them when they hike down from the summit.It was a tough decision but it immediately felt like the right one when we started hiking. We agreed on having no alarms this week, no daily mileage planned- we are purely taking things as they come. We are happy how it went and have learned a lot from hiking as a trio for over 800 miles with Rattler. We talked about what we would have done differently and what Rattler might have done differently too. Our afternoon of hiking ended 1 ford and 10 miles later at a lean-to. Rain is coming tonight so we opted for a roof. There were some other people out on their first night of their backpacking trips but no thruhikers. We cuddled up to our favorite guilty please, Queer Eye, and then fell asleep.In general, there are a lot of feelings going on inside us. This feels like our victory lap in a way and I am looking forward to discovering this place!
Date: 2018-08-18
From: Wilson Valley Lean-to

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Day 136- We made the right decision to stay under a roof- it poured last night. The sound on the roof woke us up but overall, we slept really well. Part of this ¢enjoy ourselves¢ mentality translated to me writing a bit in bed before a late 9am start. We were still the first ones to be ready but a guy on his first day out asked if he could hike with us for a couple of minutes. Instead, he was with us for miles. He was a nice guy and obviously very excited but we had just said goodbye to our friends so that we could do a lot of reflecting, etc. I think he was unaware of how we were in a completely different mindset than him and it was uncomfortable for us. He was hiking so hard to hang with our moderate pace but eventually he dropped off on the first big climb up Barren Mountain. There was a light drizzle and a breeze at the top; enough to make my fingers kind of numb after sitting to eat lunch. While we definitely packed enough food, we probably could have eaten more snacks but our food bags are already overflowing from this long section.Today supposedly had the hardest terrain of the 100 Mile Wilderness with its steady climbs and descents over Fourth, Three and a Half, Third, and then Chairback Mountain. We took our time and talked a lot about what is ahead. We ended up at a tent site near the Lean-to later than anticipated. We had hoped to camp atop one of the later peaks with a view but we didn¢t find a great site. We had a nice, quiet evening though and went to bed content with how the day turned out.
Date: 2018-03-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Over the last week I have started getting all my gear finalized and settled. It's been a challenge trying to figure out which gear I really need, but I'll figure that out during the course of the AT hike. Yesterday, I called all my mail drop locations to make sure they were still in business. People on the other line gave me tips on how to send a mail drop. The one lady from Fontana Dam near the smokey mountains said "You'd be surprised how many people don't put their name on their package!" A lodge owner in Maine said that sometimes the ETA date gets confused with the zip code and the package ends up on the other side of the country. Hopefully that doesn't happen to any of my packages.  Tomorrow Theresa, Patrick, and I will start driving out to Atlanta which is two hours south of Springer Mountain. We'll make an overnight stop in Jackson, Mississippi on the way. It's almost here!!!
Date: 2018-03-24
From: Amicalola Falls

To: 1.5 miles from Springer Mountain
Miles today: 7.0

What a day today. Patrick, Theresa, and, I woke up a little late this morning after a filled day of venturing around Atlanta. We headed out to Amicalola Falls State Park to start the AT approach trail.  The approach trail is 8.5 miles from Springer Mountain. The southern terminus of the AT. The park office provided an initial introduction to the trail and what one should pack to for all the types of weather while hiking in the mountains. It can be anywhere from sunny to full on freezing rain and snow. They showed us how to do a PCT bear bag hang since the AT bears have figured out how to take down a traditional bear hang. They learned by watching us hang it.  Our trek started with a picture in front of the approach trail entrance. I first saw this entrance in a book called lost on the Appalachian Trail. In the picture it was the author and his girlfriend. I found it fitting to have a picture with Theresa. I was sad to say goodbye, since it won't be a little while before I see her again. We plan to m meet up in Virginia about 600 miles into my hike, hopefully sooner.The approach trail starts out on flat, but soon it shoots up near the falls about 600 steps straight up. It's not bad when you just hike for the day but with a 35 pound pack it definitely gets your heart racing. Patrick and I were asked several times if we were doing the whole thing. Everyone wished us well on our journey. After the falls, the trail was mostly up and down for 6 miles. It's going to be like that for the next 2200 miles. They say this trail is harder than the PCT and Continental divide because of all the hills. We were definitely feeling that today. We made it to the first shelter but decided to call it a day before summiting to the top. We didn't want to get to the top during the night which would have been an anticlimactic way to start the AT. I'm now listening to the pitter patter of rain on my tent. The forecast says it going to rain over the next week. I'm looking forward to it.
Date: 2018-03-25
From: 1.5 miles from Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: overcast clouds

For our very first night on the trail the rain poured. There was so much, that puddles formed around my tent as lightning lit up the sky. I was a bit worried that I would soon be in a lake. It slowed late in the night and the water luckily receded. In the morning, the outside of my tent was a mess with little flecks of dirt everywhere. Patrick was in the same boat. We both said that we should have tried out the shelter instead.It was a slow start to the day since because we had to pack up a wet mess, but we made it to the top of Springer Mountain! Patrick and I opened a celebratory peacemaker at the top. It was the best tasting beer over the whole week. We split some cheese and bread that really hit the spot.A little way down from the summit was the Springer Mountain shelter. There we met a guy named Overkill. He had this dolly type contraption that hauled 100 pounds. He even let me try it out. I don't know why someone would need that much weight unless you were not expecting a resupply for several days. He told us a story about the time he tried to outrun a bush fire only to submerge himself underwater while the fire blazed right near his face. You don't know who you'll meet on the trail.We had our first instance of trail magic! A trail runner was taking counts of how many people were hiking through. He was giving out rice Krispy treats and little hugs (not actual hugs but the little juices). It was a highlight after coming down from a mountain.The trail felt like a rain forest, it was misty, damp, and really green. Spring hasn't really started yet in the foothills. After 5 hours of hiking we made it to camp after 9.6 miles of hiking. I'm lying in my tent as I hear wind starting to wreak havic in this valley.
Date: 2018-03-26
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night the wind really picked up and it got below freezing in our camping area. I woke up shivering and had to put on all my layers. The trees in the wind were making a squaking sound at the wind blew through them. Patrick said it sounded like a giant goose!  Today's weather was a lot better than the last few days. It was cold, but clear. We could actually see the other mountains instead of this wet dripping fog that had been plaguing us. Plants were pushing through the fallen leaves showing us signs of spring. There was a lot more hills today than yesterday. We started earlier and covered less miles. We've been making sure to stretch to ease all the hard work our legs have been doing. We ran into a little more trail magic as well, someone was giving out water bottles in an area that didn't have much water.  We got to camp around 4:30 earlier than before. Sounds of laughter were coming from the shelter. It had a great communal area for hanging out. We've met people from all over that are planning on hiking the whole trail or just a section. Everyone was taking about the guy Overkill and his 100 pound cart. At least that's one way to get a trail name.  It's a bit cold tonight but not too windy. Hopefully I'll get better sleep than the last few days. It just takes time for your body to adjust.
Date: 2018-03-29
From: Neels Gap

To: Low gap shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was the longest hike yet. Patrick and I hiked 11 miles over moderate terrain. At one point, I got into a groove. My feet and hiking poles were in sync. I was making a good pace and passing up hikers. However, after mile 10 the ball of my left foot started hurting. It was from the constant pounding my feet have been doing over the last 6 days. We took a break and I massaged my foot back to recovery.  We arrived at the shelter around 5 pm and the area was already packed with tents. There were slim pickings for camping spots. When I set my ground cloth next to Patrick's I noticed there was broken glass on the ground. After picking up 4 pieces, I gave up on the spot. I have an air mattress and didn't want to pop it during the night.  It started raining right after I setup my tent in a new spot. I cooked pasta with tomato sauce leather then added in cheese and milk powder. It was really tasty after a long day of hiking. The rain finally stopped and a boy named mountain goat got a fire started. A good fire on rainy day brings people together. We met a woman who's job was to fly probes around Mars and collect information. Our group couldn't think of a trail name worthy enough for her. A guy from Wisconsin showed us how to use birch bark to start fires. Birch bark has a lot of natural oil which can be burned even when wet. Patrick and I discussed trekking to Unicoi gap tomorrow and then hitching a ride to Helen, GA. Helen is a touristy German town and probably has great beer. We'll see how the hitching goes since we're two dudes. It's easier for females to hitch rides.  It started raining again and everyone called it a night. Right now a puddle is forming under my tent. I'm glad the tent ground material is waterproof!