morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-07-21
From: Imp Campsite

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Got an early start because we decided to push on to Pinkham Notch today and head back to the hostel. The main reason we're going back is because Beka's sleeping pad has sprung a bad leak and Big Agnes is mailing a replacement out, and we gotta go back and pick it up. We headed up first into the Carter Range. It was frustrating as every couple of miles we would see a sign for a side trail that said Pinkham Notch was only 2-3 miles away, but being the purists that we are, we stayed on the AT, even when it took us over weird pointless peaks like Mount Hight. Going down into and coming up out of Carter Notch was brutally steep, but at the bottom we reached the first hut for southbounders.The High Huts of the Whites are a popular series of bunkhouses throughout the Whites that are staffed during the summer by a "croo" of mostly college students who cook up hearty meals for "part-time" adventurers out on multi-day hikes. It's $100/person per night though, so out of reason for thru-hikers. However, they do work for stay for thru-hikers only where we can help wash dishes, sweep floors, or whatever else they need. In return, we get the leftovers from dinner and breakfast (which are plenty) and we get to sleep on the floor of the dining area. This is 5-star accommodations for us at this point. However, it's not a guaranteed thing. Each hut will only allow so many hikers, and ultimately it also depends on the mood of the croo. Get there before around 4 and they'll tell you to keep hiking to the next hut.We just stopped at Carter Notch Hut to refill our water, and the croo here didn't seem to be in the mood for us so we moved along. We did run into a couple of day hikers, one of which had a small grill and a boom box strapped to his pack blasting music through the woods (maybe explaining the croo's bad mood). After the Carter range we moved right into the Wildcat range, another steep set of peaks. We passed a gondola on the way, a popular tourist attraction. Wildcat E was the last peak, and the descent into Pinkham Notch was probably the roughest, steepest we've had so far. Beka's knees were killing her at the bottom, as were my feet. Hustled out to the road and got back to the Gorham post office right before they closed to get Beka's sleeping pad. Spent one last relaxing evening at White Mountains Hostel with Purple and Carnivore and others again. - 2-packs
Date: 2011-07-22
From: Gorham, NH

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Got a late start today after enjoying breakfast and getting a ride back from Santa, an awesome old hiker from NC who is just hanging out around the area helping out and hanging out with thru-hikers. Got to grab a good pair of socks at the Pinkham Notch visitor's center which I desperately needed. Today we got our first real taste of how nice the trail can be once you get out of Maine. The trail surface was flat and even most of the way early on and we booked it. This is also where the AT actually switches around and follows the smaller AMC trails of the Whites, so we depended on signs to keep us on track. Finally we reached the base of Mount Madison, which (I believe) is the highest ascent on the AT for southbounders. It was a long grueling climb up, 3000 ft elevation gain over 3 miles. A little over halfway up we reached the treeline and headed into the alpine zone, first time yet. The climb continued to be rough, but the view was absolutely unbelievable. Amazing how a vista like that can take your mind off how tough the climb is. The last several hundred feet up was hopping from rock to rock. We passed Purple and Carnivore who were going backwards today after getting a ride from a friend to Washington's summit. This could well be the last time we see them because they're taking a few days off with friends and we're leaving in a week for 11 days. The wind was fierce at the peak of Madison, we both hit the deck a few times. Just past the peak we descended down into the col where the recently renovated Madison Spring Hut was. Joe and NOBO White Wolf were there for work-for-stay and they'd said they weren't taking any more, but they let me and Beka do it too after all. The croo here was very friendly. They sometimes let NOBOs do "Hiker chat" as work-for-stay, where they just do a Q&A about the AT with the hut's paying guests after dinner. White Wolf did it, and the rest of us will do our work in the morning. Ended an amazing day with an equally amazing sunset.- 2-packs
Date: 2011-07-23
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: broken clouds

Got a very late start today. Slept very well last night on the floor in the dining hall, despite the customers passing us throughout the night going to the bathroom and then getting up absurdly early to have loud conversations over coffee right beside us. Staying at the hut was definitely worth it, with comfy arrangements and plenty of hot food (even got some to-go), but we earned our keep this morning. Cleaned up breakfast and washed dishes, then swept the whole hut, washed the windows and folded the blankets on the bunks (as a group). Didn't get out until 10:15, but we were fine with it as it's a good bit cooler at this altitude.Absolutely amazing hiking today, the highlight of our hike so far. We were above treeline the whole day, and the terrain is rocky and rugged. The whole time we were walking we had a killer view of the valleys around us. For some strange reason the trail just barely skirts around a lot of peaks, like Jefferson and Adams, that would probably be worth the climb. We had been seeing a lot more people the past few days, but today was on a whole different level. The closer to Washington we got, the crowd grew exponentially. We hear there was some kind of anniversary celebration that drew a larger than usual crowd of tourist-hikers. There was literally a queue of people waiting to climb up Mount Jefferson. We had to squeeze around people on the way up Washington, and one grumpy NOBO nearly knocked Beka down as he elbowed his way through the crowd. A lot of NOBOs who have been isolated in the woods for most of the past 3-5 months kinda freak out in such a crowd. Made our way over the famous cog railroad as we reached the peak of Mount Washington, the highest peak in the northeastern US. We didn't get a picture at the summit sign because there was a long line there too. We did stop in at the snack bar and get some junk food for lunch. The panorama from Washington is amazing, but the peak itself is honestly unattractive to look at. It's basically a big pile of rocks with lots of weather sensing equipment and ugly crowds of tourists. Kinda funny to see all these overweight people who took the train walking around eating burgers and ice cream after all we've been through to get here. Also funny to see people wearing $3000 worth of fancy ourdoors gear to do a dayhike. Yes, I'll admit it, we're turning into snobs.Headed on down to beautiful Lakes of the Clouds Hut, the "flagship" hut, where we almost got told to keep going. A lot of thru-hikers here tonight, including some new faces. Gorged ourselves at dinner again and glad we're sleeping indoors again with the wind howling outside. Another beautiful sunset tonight, fitting end to an amazing day.- 2-packs
Date: 2011-07-24
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Another cozy, restful night that ended with chatty customers having coffee. We ate and blasted through our work-for-stay and started out by 9:30. It is literally the middle of summer, and when we got ready to leave, we found out the wind chill outside was in the high 30's. Mount Washington is known to have some of the worst, most extreme weather in the world (apparently we were lucky to have a nice view yesterday). We bundled up but it warmed up soon. Stayed above treeline for most of the day, and the views continued to amaze. Stopped in for some soup at Mizpah Hut and met the NOBO we'd heard about whose tent was destroyed in VA by a bear who went inside it looking for food while he stepped away for 2 minutes.Hikers are able to pack very light through the Whites because of the food & water available at the huts. We came in with 2 1/2 days worth and after 3 days we have 1 1/2 days worth left. We need to conserve still, though, so we wanted to reach the notch by 5 and get some food at a little gift shop snack bar. We had to hustle to get here in time, and the extremely steep final descent almost made it not happen. We made it though, and had some pizza & ice cream. We were hurting though, and didn't feel up to the 3 more miles to the next shelter. John, one of the employees, offered to give us a ride down the road to a public campground, and we got a tentsite here. We met at sweet lady here who chatted Beka's ear off about thru-hiking, a dream of hers. They even have coin showers here! - 2-packs
Date: 2011-07-25
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Very interesting night last night. I was sleeping sound when Beka woke me up trembling and terrified that a bear was walking around. It should be noted that Beka is way, WAY more scared of bears than she should be: they are way more scared of us than we are of them. As long as you're smart with your food, as we have been, you're fine. I digress... I sat up and turned my headlamp on, and actually got pretty creeped out myself as 4-5 sets of glowing eyes were creeping toward us. Finally they stepped into the light: a pack of racoons who climbed up on the picnic table to rifle through our stuff looking for food. Nevertheless, Beka continued to freak out. After about 5 minutes of shooing they finally moved on, but they didn't seem to fear us very much. They woke us up again a couple hours later and this time found a fruit rollup we'd accidentally left out. Luckily we'd bear-bagged our food and they never noticed it. A family car camping near us got up after the racoons' first round and put a bunch of stuff in their car. I have a feeling they'd left their food out which attracted the racoons in the first place. Mental note: don't stay at a public campground again.The sweet lady we met last night drove us back to the trail. Shortly down the trail we reached a stretch we'd heard about and were excited to find: a 6-mile stretch of very flat terrain with lots of plank bridges and great footing. We booked it, and for some reason we reminisced about high school memories all morning. Shortly before reaching Zealand Falls Hut, we came across our first patch of blueberries. We've seen tons of empty bushes so far, but these were hanging thick with ripe ones. After a short break and snack at the hut, we headed back out with grey, stormy looking skies. Climbed up Mount Zealand and then on to Mount Guyot (Gee-oh), where we spent more time above treeline. We were the first to the hut here tonight, apparently the most remote hut and one of the smallest. The weather gradually got worse throughout the evening, and we were surprised when the croo turned away some NOBOs later on back into the wind and light rain. The flat stretch allowed us to do our longest day in quite a while today. - 2-packs
Date: 2011-07-26
From: Galehead Hut

To: Liberty Spring Campsite
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: light rain

Woke up to thick fog and stormy skies, but after breakfast and work-for-stay the skies were clearing. Slow morning because of the trail getting steeper and the wet rocks. Passed lots of day-hikers today, a lot of them not so friendly. Of course, we (I) are starting to look pretty ragged. Climbed Mount Garfield but the peak was socked in with fog. The long climb up Mt Lafayette was clearer and promised a great view, but it had rolled back in by the time we got to the peak. The views on the way up were amazing though, probably the best so far in the Whites. The vegetation in these alpine zones is pretty amazing too. As we walked along Franconia ridgeline and were coming up on Mount Lincoln, The fog was getting thick, it started sprinkling and we heard thunder in the distance. We picked up the pace, but it was a pretty epic feeling to be walking on top of a rugged mountain above treeline in fog and hearing a storm rolling in. Beka felt differently. The descent was pretty steep and slow going. As has been the case most of the time, shortly after we set up our tent here and got inside, the rain started. We've snuck through New Hampshire so far without paying to camp, but the caretaker showed up late and we finally had to cough up cash. I'll be honest, it feels wrong to pay someone $14 so we can pitch our tent in the woods. Beautiful sunset, and a quick shot to the road to Lincoln tomorrow. Crazy that we're about to leave the trail for 11 days. - 2-packs
Date: 2011-07-27
From: Liberty Spring Campsite

To: Lincoln, NH
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Looked like it would rain all morning, but yet again we managed to avoid it. We expected slow going judging by yesterday, but it was a pretty quick shot down into Franconia Notch. Stopped in at "The Flume" visitor's center, another case of people taking over a natural sight and charging exorbitant prices for everyone else to see it. I did eat some of the over-priced food though. It took like 45 minutes of walking down the road thumbing before we finally got a ride, probably because this is a major tourism area and few of the people who passed us even know the trail is there. Probably thought we were dirty hippies. This sweet older lady with a thick New England accent gave us a ride, and admitted that she would never have stopped if it was just me. Gave us a quick tour of Lincoln and North Woodstock before dropping us off at Chet's. Chet is an outdoorsman who had an accident several years ago that confined him to a wheelchair and left him in pretty severe pain. He is a fantastic guy though, one of the most welcoming, genuine people I've ever met. He has a home in Lincoln where he has opened his large garage and back yard for hikers to stay, and only asks for donations and to just keep the place clean. We headed to town and pigged out, caught a movie, and then came back and shared some trail stories before heading to bed. We are now "off the trail", catching a shuttle to Boston tomorrow to fly to Charlotte. We're spending a few days with my parents, then driving down to Florida to meet Beka's family. We'll see how this affects our hike. Plenty of time to recooperate and get healthy, but plenty of time to get comfortable and not want to come back out. My back has even started hurting with all the steep up's and down's though, so we need a nice break.- 2-packs
Date: 2011-08-08
From: Boston Logan Airport

To: Lincoln, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

After almost 2 weeks off we are finally getting ready to get back on the trail. We sure did have a good time visiting with family in NC and FL. My Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary went off without a hitch and was a fun time. Our time in FL included lots of swimming and going to the beach. It was really nice spending some time with my 5 nephews and niece! Ryan was worried going to FL would make me not want to get back out on the trail, but really it just made me more pumped up about it. Our families were excited to see us and here about our trip so far, this just made me more excited a out getting back out. I know it's going to be tough starting back out ( physically and mentally), but Thanksgiving will be here in no time and this trip is once in a lifetime!So we are currently on the bus heading back to Lincoln, NH and will be back on the trail as soon as we can get a hitch in the morning. Happy trails!-Townie
Date: 2011-08-09
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a rough day.  I wasn't sure how the 11 zeros in a row would effect me, but now I know. I'll never take off that much time again!  We only hiked 9.2 miles but it took us about 8 hrs to het here.  We did take two long breaks that totaled about 1 1/2 hrs.  We stopped for a bit at Lonesome Lake Hut, the last hut we'll see and we thought it was the nicest one yet. Really nice croo and amazing view from the lake. We met several new SOBOs today.  One guy called himself "Free Bird".  He has already hiked the AT north twice!  I think he's crazy to do it again, but he was really nice and hiked along with us for a while. We also passed several NOBOs today. One couple with a deaf woman and a deaf and blind man!  The man was wearing elbow and knee pads and a bike helmet.  He hiked 1500 miles last year and is finishing it up this year.  Wow! That takes serious courage!  It rained on us a little this evening, but the Lord provided again and we got our tent up before it starting raining at camp!  -Townie
Date: 2011-08-10
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It stopped raining this morning just long enough for us to break down camp and pack up our pack.  For breakfast I wanted to drink a protein shake daddy sent me but I was having a hard time getting the powder in the bottle so I ate the powder dry.  It turned into a think gelitian like paste that stuck the my teeth and the roof of my mouth worse than peanut butter.  I also ate some dry oatmeal, which has become one of my favorite breakfasts.  I didn't sleep very well last night and every time I woke up I'd say a little prayer asking God to stop the rain for us to pack up in the morning.  As soon as we were done it started pouring.  Hey at least it wasn't freezing rain.  The climb wasn't bad this morning but the trail was soaked and so were we. Most of the hike ip Mt Wolf we were walking in a newly formed stream called the trail.  We got down to Kinsmen Notch at 4 pm and headed down to the nearest tourist attraction a half mile away to partake of their grill.  We didn't realize that was going to be a microwavable cheeseburger. Hey but a cheeseburger is a cheeseburger.  We started climbing Moosilauke just after 5 pm.  The trail was steep but was got to climb right next to a beautiful waterfall for a long while.  About 1/2 mole from the shelter we heard the thunder and the prayers began.  Please let us get to camp and get our tent ip before it starts raining, please!  We'll if there's one thing I've learned out here it's that God answers prayers, even if they are small and kinda silly.  We got our tent up and our rain fly stacked down in just enough time to through our packs in and jump in as it started pouring harder than it has this entire hike.  -Townie
Date: 2011-08-11
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 15.5

Today was our first big day since vacation.  We got started at 9:10 this am and finished around 6:15 tonight.  I'd say that's pretty good mileage. For breakfast I tried adding a little cold water to my oatmeal pouch and that was pretty tasty.  We hiked up and over Moosilauke, but we were socked in a cloud.  The top was pretty cool though.  Out of no where you're above treeline, and everything is covered in grass.  It was kinda like a vortex to another dimension because once we were back below tree line to trail got significantly easier. There was even dirt over most of the rocks and roots. We crossed several roads today and got our first bit of trail magic at one of the crossings.  There was a girl there that gave away snacks of all types.  I had an apple and a milky way and made a roasted red pepper humus and pepperoni bagel to go.  It was very tasty. -Townie
Date: 2011-08-12
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Fire Warden's Cabin
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning while we were packing up our hear we heard someone briefly walk up to the shelter and talk to the section hiker there.  After we were done getting all our stuff together we stopped by the shelter on our way out. You will never believe who the visitor was!  The section hiker told us that the AWOL, David Miller, stopped in to check the water source.  I would have gotten  him to sign our book. Within a couple of miles after we left the shelter we saw our first black bear.  It was about 50 yards away and running from us farther into the woods.  It looked like a huge black dog.  I was okay with seeing one as long as it was running away.  The mountains were mountains today.  Even if they were easier, they still made me out of breath climbing them.  The fire warden's cabin is an abandoned cabin with an abandoned watch tower.  I thought about us sleeping in the watch tower but was to freaked out by wind.The  past 2 shelters we have stayed at have no door on the privy.  Apparently the next one we stay at has a throne on a platform with no walls at all.  -Townie
Date: 2011-08-13
From: Fire Warden's Cabin

To: Mink Brook
Miles today: 15.1

We woke up earlier today and were able to start hiking at 8 am.  We made pretty good time hiking 5.9 miles by 10:45.  Just before the road crossing there was sign to the "blue house" where Bill gives free ice cream to all hikers that sign his register.  Bill told me according to his logs 22% of hikers are female.  This stat did surprise me a bit.  I wonder what the percentage is for SOBO females.  Bill gave us a ride to Lyme, NH where we ate calzones at Stella's which seemed like a really great idea at the time.  Well it was a good idea, it was just hard to get back on the trail with such a full stomach.  Then once we did get on the trail (not till 1:15)  it was really hard to hike.  We headed up to Holt Ledges slowly but surely.  We finally got to the top and Ryan yelled out OUCH! as he swatted a yellow jacket from the back of his leg.  I took off running in the other direction.  I haven't been stung by a yellow jacket in 22 years, but I'm carrying 2 Epi pens and benadryl just in case I have a similar reaction.  Luckily Ryan was leading the way, and his sting wasn't that bad.  We decided to "stealth camp" by a stream tonight.  It's so nice to here the water while laying in the tent, but I am pretty terrified a bear is going to attack us (or at least our bear bag) since there's no a huge group. -Townie
Date: 2011-08-14
From: Mink Brook 

To: Short n Sweet and Grey Beard's
Miles today: 11.5

Today we got up around 6:45, got packed up, and hit the trail by 8 am.  We had a nice easy walk into Hanover, NH.  We walked through several fields and crossed many roads.  We even walked through a maple sugary.  They place a tap in the tree which is connected to hose like tubes.  This drains several trees to one large container at the bottom of the hill.  Pretty cool.  I think I was told that 40 gallons of maple sap makes 1 gallon of maple syrup!When we got to Hanover we hit up Ramunto's Brick Pizza Oven where hikers get a free slice.  Then we beaded over to the Dartmouth Outing Club to drop our packs for a few minutes.  Tonight we are staying at Short n Sweet and Grey Beard's house.  We met them in the Crocker range when they invited us to stay at their house.  They are true "trail angels"!  Short n Sweet cooked a very delicious pasta dish with lots of veggies and Grey Beard did our laundry.  Short n Sweet even took us over to the Wal-Mart so we could resupply.  Wow, now that's some serious trail magic!-Townie