morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-13
From: MONSON!

To: Monson
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I love Shaw's. Our group- which now includes Thorny, Ranger, Dreamer, Rambo, Teapot, Prancer, Hot Pursuit, and Scott- completely filled the boarding house. They don't usually have this many hikers until August. All you can eat breakfast- you just tell them how many eggs you want, and they give you that number of eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, and home fries. I arrived in Monson with ALL of my Twix gone. I amaze myself. Got plenty more today- have to keep the streak alive!I'm glad I went stoveless- it's fun to watch everyone figure out their stoves as I chow down. Hitched into town yesterday with Ryan/Hot Pursuit/HP because Hot Pursuit is a mouthful- got a ride with a sweet old lady who used to be the postmaster general of Monson.We stayed in rooms with BEDS! and TVS! and SHOWERS! and TOILETS! and SOAP! They have extra clothes for hikers to wear while washing their grody clothes- I am currently wearing a pair of pants that come to mid-calf and give me a muffin-top, an old man's collared shirt, and an XXXL (who knew that even existed?) MIT sweatshirt. Lovin it. My legend is spreading. I introduce myself as Twix and people say "Oh! You're THAT girl!"We'll spend one more night here in order to go to brunch at the BBQ place in town (open only Thurs-Sun- damn you, rural Maine!) tomorrow and then hike out to the next shelter. We're going to try to keep our little family together as long as we can. I'm loving this so much- thanks to EVERYONE for all the messages! I love and miss you all. Southbound again!
Date: 2007-06-14
From: Monson

To: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: scattered clouds

First fall today! No reason, really. Just tripped over myself and wiped out. Horseshoe Canyon has a gorgeous swimming hole. There's one hole with a big waterfall at the end, and then a bigger and better (and perhaps safer) one at the bottom of the waterfall. HP and I swam across the first and climbed down to the second to swim. Prancer wanted to swim in the first, didn't grasp the idea of impending doom, and promptly got swept down the waterfall. Ouch. My newest culinary creation is trail cookie dough. Powdered cookie dough + powdered milk + water = delicious dessert. Or dinner. I slayed my first wild blister today! Part of my thumb toe (or big toe, to the uneducated) is now missing. I don't feel whole anymore. There was a knot in a log in the shelter roof that looked exactly like a human eye, and it was staring RIGHT at me. I felt uncomfortable. We have quite the musical bunch in our group- the snoring sounds like a symphony.
Date: 2007-06-15
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 13.0

BMB Lean-to is great. It has a skylight, a nice handle on the privy door, and a SHOWER! And by shower, I mean a frigid waterfall. An odd hippie lady showed up at the shelter tonight with her dog, Diesel. She entertained us with stories and explained that "some people don't feed their dogs chicken bones- you know, because it kills them- but I think Diesel is immune to them by now." I had to refrain from answering "Hippie lady, you definitely can't become immune to holes in the intestine."We saw a bunch of bees fighting. I thought it was silly- a bee punch can't hurt much, right? But Teapot informed me that if I was a bee, and another bee was punching me, it would definitely hurt.I have no foot-eye coordination. Hackysack is definitely not the sport for me. I need to find a luxury item- something I don't particularly need, but that would be fun to have. Ideas welcome.
Date: 2007-06-16
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to

To: Bank of Kennebec River
Miles today: 15.1

Caratunk? More like Carabunk. We walked into the hotel/outfitters, got a very weird vibe, and walked right back out. Never go there.Ended up camping on the bank of the Kennebec even though it's "not allowed." Carabunk will not have any of my money.
Date: 2007-06-17
From: Bank of Kennebec River

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 3.6
Weather: broken clouds

When I woke up this morning every slug in Carabunk had attacked my tent! They were orange and sticky and EVERYWHERE. Inexplicably, the words 'that,' 'there,' and any word ending in '-ing' have become hilarious. By the time I reach camp at night I'm usually so delirious that everything is funny, but those words in particular are wonderful.We have had the most incredible weather. Every night the forecast (from Thorny's radio) calls for rain or thunderstorms, but we haven't seen a drop since the first day. You may wonder why we only hiked 3.6 miles today. We were ferried across the Kennebec by a friendly ferryman who informed us that Pierce Pond has 26 pairs of nesting loons. By the time we reached the lean-to, threatening clouds had arrived. And within half an hour, we were told that we could find the best pancakes in the world at a lodge about .3 miles away. So we couldn't really leave. Heard the loons all night. What an unearthly sound.
Date: 2007-06-19
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Stratton
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

Did the entire Bigelow range today! Absolutely incredible. Two of the coolest peaks I've seen. The first 4,000-footers since Whitecap I think. When you can eat an entire Ben and Jerry's without feeling remotely ill, something is wrong. Or you're a thru-hiker. I think I've reached the point where it's impossible for me to carry enough food to get me through the days on the trail. So I must fill up in town. I'm ok with that. Southbound again tomorrow- I'll check in again in Rangeley. Love and miss you all!
Date: 2007-06-20
From: Stratton

To: Stratton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up intending- truly- to hike 14 miles out of Stratton to the first lean-to. It didn't happen, and here's why.When you wake up in a lean-to and it's raining, it's pretty hard to get out of a sleeping bag. Packing up is pretty easy, because everything stays dry under a roof. The first few steps out of the lean-to are pretty miserable, but you get used to it quickly.When you wake up in the rain in a tent it's even harder. Especially an unseamsealed tent. It's cold and wet outside, and you know it's only a matter of time before (a) the cold and wet join you inside or (b) you join the cold and wet outside. If you're lucky, you can find a tree under which you can eat a fairly dry breakfast. By the time you start hiking, you're already wet and you're ready to go.So when you wake up in a hotel and see rain outside, the only viable option is to stay inside and eat at least two pints of Ben and Jerry's. The weather cleared up by mid-afternoon but by that time we were fully invested in eating and playing pool and staying in town. HP's grandparents live in Rangeley and they're expecting us in two days. 34 trail miles with (another) zero day and some homecooked food waiting for us at the end. Can't wait!
Date: 2007-06-21
From: Stratton

To: Pelham Stream
Miles today: 18.0

Left Stratton after a 6:00 a.m. breakfast and weigh-in at the hostel. I've gained a few pounds- muscle or Twix, it's unclear- but my pack has loft a few, which is great. A big spider crawled into my pack during lunch today. I was too scared to get him out, so I'm just going to assume he died in there. Discovered that my feet hurt not because I'm walking all day but because I'm walking on roots and rocks all day. We took a break at a lean-to for dinner and decided to push on a few miles. They were easy miles- perfect terrain- and my feet felt AWESOME. Probably won't feel that way again until after Massachusetts. Three reasons to celebrate:1. Today was Hike Naked day. Teapot, Prancer, HP and I did not participate, but we were sure that Dreamer and Rambo- wherever they were- were hiking in the nude.2. Today was the first day of summer! happy summer.3. We crossed the 200mile mark today! Only 80 left in Maine... and less than 2000 left on the trail!
Date: 2007-06-22
From: Pelham Stream

To: Rangeley
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

Huge day into Rangeley. The Saddleback Range is now my hands-down favorite and the Bigelows are a close second. Spent three gorgeous miles above treeline. A bunch of rain clouds passed over us quickly. Nothing too crazy, but it was incredibly windy- I kept getting blown off the trail. Or, I stumbled off trail a few times and I used the wind as an excuse. I wiped out about fourteen times today. I've been doing really well so far- apparently my body decided to make up for it today. Two falls were noteworthy:1. On the Horn (part of the Saddleback range) I took my pack off for a few minutes. When I tried to put it back on, I fell flat on my back. I blamed it on the wind, of course.2. After the summit of Saddleback, I slipped on some bedrock and slid down a boulder on my butt/thighs. I have a nice rock burn going on. My tongue hurts from all the sugar/salt I've been eating- like after eating an entire bag of Sour Patch kids. I'm going to go for more 'real' food this resupply.HP's grandparents are putting us up for two nights. They fed us steak and potatoes. Thank god- I've been craving steak and potatoes since day 1.
Date: 2007-06-23
From: Rangeley

To: Rangeley
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

One thing I never expected to encounter on the AT is a Thanksgiving dinner. I'm talking legit Thanksgiving- turkey, mashed potatoes, all the works. Pie- apple, banana creme, chocolate creme. PLUS lasagna. Can we say heaven?Spent the day watching TV and movies, playing pool, sitting on the couch. Just generally being inside.Zip-off pants are EVERYWHERE and real pants seem to have disappeared. I'm trying to replace my spandex- taking off my boots every time I want to take off/put on pants is pretty irritating- but I reject zip-off pants.
Date: 2007-06-24
From: Rangeley

To: Little Swift River Pond Campsite
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: broken clouds

This campsite has canoes! Plus it's only 4 miles from the last place we stopped, which is GREAT. Teapot and Prancer grabbed the nice new green canoe and left the rusty old one to me and HP. It was probably a good thing, because the rusty old one had a big leak and Teapot is quite a big guy. If he had taken that one it would've been at the bottom of the lake in seconds. Luckily, Shoegoo appears to fix not only boots but also canoes!
Date: 2007-06-25
From: Little Swift River Pond Campsite

To: Bemis Stream
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Last night was the night of terror.I've so far managed to avoid getting up in the night to pee. Last night I was not so lucky. I woke up and, after trying to ignore my bladder for half an hour, left my tent to seek relief in complete darkness. Mid-squat I hear noises- not your typical chipmunk or squirrel noises, but noises that make me extremely nervous, especially in the dark. Big splashes in the water, snuffling/heavy breathing noises, that kind of thing. Something BIG was down near the pond. I froze in panic for a solid ten minutes. I eventually gathered up the courage to dash back to my tent and lay there shaking (no joke) as I listened to the THING in the pond.After what seemed like hours, I fell into a restless sleep that was interrupted quite rudely by a loud thumping noise. And when I say loud, I mean it sounded like horses were running through our camp. After my close encounter with the THING in the pond, I was not about to leave my tent. But our FOOD was out there, and desperate times call for desperate measures. The only noises coming from the other tents were snores, so I did what I had to do. I cowered in my sleeping back and whispered "HP! Thorny! Teapot! Prancer!" until I heard HP wake up. He started cursing and thrashing around in his tent- probably nervous about the food. He got out of his tent and turned his headlamp on, at which point I boldly pretend that he woke me up. "HP, dude, what's going ON out there? Why's your light on? What's that noise?"Monty Python moment: "It's just a bunny!"Seriously. A big bunny, jumping around our camp.I slept soundly after that.
Date: 2007-06-26
From: Bemis Stream

To: Black Brook
Miles today: 12.5

It says 12.5 under daily miles, but really that should read 17. I store my camera under a strap on my hipbelt. It's readily accessible should I ever need a camera, STAT, but it also falls out a lot. As I tell anyone who notices, however, "I'll change it the day I have to backtrack more than two steps to get it after it falls out."Well. Today I changed it. We woke up by Bemis Stream and immediately hit a steep uphill that went on for a little more than a mile to the first peak of Bemis (I think there must have been about 14 peaks in total). The view was gorgeous so I went to grab my easy-access camera. It was gone. Brand-new camera, photos from graduation and from the start of the trip- I wasn't about to continue on without it, especially when it HAD to be lying somewhere on the trail in the past mile.As it turns out, it was not lying somewhere on the trail in the past mile. It was lying a few feet OFF the trail, a mile BEFORE Bemis Stream, straight uphill. And I missed it the first time I passed it, so I backtracked even further than I had to- turning a fun 12mile hike with great views into a 17mile death march.I also resigned myself to death by dehydration today. I stopped for lunch at Bemis Stream Lean-to (3.8 miles from Bemis Stream for most people, 8.8 for me!) and decided that the mud puddle I saw couldn't possibly be the water source. So I left there with 1/2L of water thinking I would come across a stream soon. I did not. It was an incredibly hot day and I finished my water within half an hour. I walked about a quarter mile without water and began to panic. I vaguely remembered learning that once you realize you're dangerously dehydrated, it's already too late. WHAT IF IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE? I walked faster. A bee buzzed near my head and I began sprinting. I came across a mud puddle, used a bandanna to filter out most of the floaties, and drank the mud puddle. Twenty yards later I came across a beautiful stream. Of course.Thinking back on it, a few things made walking 5 extra miles and resigning myself to death by dehydration somewhat OK:1. actually finding my camera (shout-out to Neil, the SOBOer who came running after me when he saw my camera- I had missed it and continued backtracking)2. not dying of dehydration3. HP waiting 3 hours for me on top of Old Blue Mtn, making sure I made it there aliveMy camera is still in the same spot, but it is now secured to my backpack with a carabiner.
Date: 2007-06-27
From: Black Brook

To: Andover
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: few clouds

Today was the hottest day yet. I have never sweat so much in my life. I'm typically not a beader- I tend to get a nice sheen going, but droplets are rare- but I had drops of sweat coming from my HANDS. When does that ever happen? Someone should turn Moody Mountain into a parking lot. MATC sends us straight uphill, doesn't give us a view, and then sends us straight back down. According to a friendly Andover townie, the trail used to go along a gorgeous ridge/cliff but was moved after "one too many missteps." Give me near death over Moody Mountain any day.After descending Moody we were lucky enough to go straight back up for twice as long! Yay! Hall Mountain had a pretty viewpoint, though, and Prancer and HP enjoyed the stogies that someone left at the lean-to, so we counted that mountain a success. Much more so than Moody. Teapot hurt his knee and hitched into Andover from Black Brook and we hitched in on East B Hill road today to meet him. Will head out tomorrow with HP- Teapot and Prancer are going to take a zero to wait for the girls and to give Teapot's knee a chance to rest, and Thorny has to wait for a new sleeping bag. It will be sad to see the family become an extended family.
Date: 2007-06-28
From: Andover

To: Frye Notch LT
Miles today: 4.5

A resupply at Walmart was delivered from heaven and I botched it. How on earth could I possibly botch a Walmart resupply, you ask? They have everything!I forgot Twix. In fact, I forgot snacks of any kind. I have meals aplenty, but it is snacks that get me through the day. Mental head-slap. I am no longer worthy of my name.Today is the first day I have gone Twixless.HP's friend Travis and ex-boss (Travis' Dad) took us to Walmart and hiked a bit with us, then headed home. We kept today short to keep as little distance between us and the family as possible. Stayed at Frye Notch with Chilly and Tapeworm- fun guys. Enjoyed my first hot meal! I've decided to go with a stove. HP made me a little alcohol stove and I'm using his pot for now- I'll get one in Gorham. Sesame chicken noodles, mmmm. I haven't needed a warm meal and I actually do enjoy my cold meals, but I'm realizing that I need more variety in my diet.
Date: 2007-06-29
From: Frye Notch LT

To: Bethel
Miles today: 5.8

As it turns out, yesterday was the only day I had to go Twixless.Half an hour before hitting Rt 26, HP's knee freaked out. We took it easy until the road and had a nice long break for lunch at a little picnic area by the trailhead. Chilly and Tapeworm, who had a mail drop in Bethel, came up with maildrop, pie, and Twix ice cream in hand. So I got my Twix fix for the day- in ice cream form, no less.We started up Old Speck and made it about a mile before HP said he had to stop. And HP is an uberstrong hiker, so we turned back and hitched into Bethel for the night.Bethel is the most-hiker friendly town we've stopped in yet. While we were eating Ben and Jerry's in the IGA parking lot at least six people came up to ask about the hike and to offer us rides wherever we needed to go. We got pizzas (one for each of us- the waitress was a bit surprised) for dinner and the owner of the pizza place gave us dessert beers on the house. I picked up Twix and snacks at the IGA, so I'm ready to push on to Gorham tomorrow!
Date: 2007-06-30
From: Bethel

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: broken clouds

Oy. A challenging day.Our waitress at breakfast was shocked when I ordered the Long Road meal- french toast, scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon and toast- and appalled when I asked her for her biggest piece of apple pie afterwards.After climbing for 4 miles, took the .3mi side trail to the summit of Old Speck- who wants to climb 4 miles and not summit? Climbed all the way up an old fire tower for an incredible view of the Whites. While I was up there, remembered my intense fear of heights. Mahoosuc Notch was really cool- a mile-long scramble up, over, around, under boulders. Supposedly the toughest mile on the trail, physically, but I'm going to say that the mile after was even tougher.Towards the end of the Notch HP and I came across a moose. He had fallen from a ledge, tried to regain his footing and fallen into a crevasse. One of his legs was broken, one of his antlers (small- he was a youngun) was smashed, and he was all bloody. There was no way he could get out of there- couldn't even take a step. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen, and the cause of my first trail tears. That drained me completely and made the mile or so climb up to Full Goose my toughest trail mile yet.
Date: 2007-07-01
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Trident Col Tentsite
Miles today: 14.5

NEW HAMPSHIRE!!! Crossed my first state border today!!!!!!!!! My second "I'm actually going to do this" moment- my first was emerging from the 100MW.Slightly shorter day than we had over-ambitiously panned (~20miler to Rt. 2 near Gorham), but much longer than my body is now used to. My body is, therefore, rejecting me. Ow.The morning hike was really cool. We were mostly on boardwalks provided by the MATC and AMC- it's amazing how much easier it is to put miles away when my feet stay relatively flat.HP and I passed and scared a grouse, which then attacked Neil (my camera hero), Matt, Andy, and Sean (guys who were at the LT last night and at the tentsite tonight). Passed lots of NOBOers. I've noticed an alarming trend. All the male NOBOers are happy and cheerful and friendly, and all the female NOBOers just look pissed off. Is that my destiny? I hope not. My water purification system involves two bottles, Part A and Part B. I have to mix 7 drops of each, let it sit 5 minutes, dump it into a liter of water and wait 15 more. I started on new bottles today. Part A is fine, but part B doesn't want to give up a drop. When I'm squeezing as hard as I can, it takes 10 seconds for a single drop to come out. AquaMira will be getting a letter from me shortly.
Date: 2007-07-02
From: Trident Col Tentsite

To: Gorham
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: scattered clouds

If you ever want an adrenaline rush, walk up to a moose and say hello.As HP and I were hiking along, my now sensitive hiker ears picked up a noise that I couldn't assign to a chipmunk, squirrel or another similarly harmless animal. I looked about and, sure enough, there was a BIG baby moose and a BIGGER mama moose about 10 yards ahead of us, maybe 5 yards off trail. My first instinct was to go for my camera, but remembering Thorny's reaction to the baby bear, I chose instead to hurry past. As I'm passing the moose it begins to charge, and I quite adeptly froze in place. HP brushed against me as he sprinted by and I too began to run. After about 30 feet the moose gave up the chase, but I think I was still shaking when we got to Gorham. We got to Rt 2 and had a hard time hitching when SURPRISE! Along comes Sue, hostel-owner from Stratton. She was slackpacking someone through this area and pulled a U-turn to drop us off in town. I rode in front with her dog, Knucklehead, who promptly replaced all the dried sweat on my body with dog slobber.Tomorrow we begin to tackle the WHITES!!!
Date: 2007-07-03
From: Gorham

To: Rattle River Shelter
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: broken clouds

I had really good intentions today. I was going to hike to Imp Campsite- if not farther- with HP and Thorny. I was going to take the Whites by storm.And then HP found out he had to leave the trail for at least a few days. I headed out with Thorny but with a lot less enthusiasm, and when I saw the river (a lot like Texas Falls, for you Middkids) 2 miles in I was sold. It was barely 11 a.m. but I had gone far enough. I revamped my storming-the-Whites plan into a trickle-through-the-Whites-until-HPandthefamily-catch-up plan. I dropped my pack at the shelter and adventured up and down the river. I was joined by Andrew, who was also down for a short day. Together we made the most pathetic campfire you'll ever find. It took some methanol, four q-tips, and 11,000 matches, but we got it started. TEAMWORK!
Date: 2007-07-04
From: Rattle River Shelter

To: Imp Campsite
Miles today: 6.1

Woke up at 9am to the arrival of the Student Conservation Association crew that was working here yesterday. They must think I'm the laziest thru-hiker ever- they saw me arrive before noon, watched me sit around for hours, and now they find me snoozing until noon.Oh well. Twas worth sleeping in, because 5 minutes later HP came running around the corner prepared to do a 20mile day to catch up to me and Thorny in Pinkham Notch. Sean pulled in a few minutes later.Again the good intentions of the day (a big hike into Pinkham Notch) flew out the window. Sean, Andrew, HP and I stopped short at Imp Campsite. Ostensibly, it was a cool shelter with two levels and a potential view of Gorham's fireworks. In reality, the Whites were already kicking our butts. Met a cool caretaker, Sean, who would show up periodically on our journey through the Whites.