morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-08-11
From: ME 17 Height of Land Overlook

To: ME 4
Miles today: 13.2

We had a good night's sleep. We woke to clouds and fog over the distant mountain ridge. The wind was blowing. It was very windy. We were hoping the wind would blow the fog out. The weather forecast a chance of rain in the afternoon. We thought we should finish our hike before the rain came. We had the leftover cold blueberry pancakes for breakfast. They were good but much better yesterday. We were on the trail by 6:58. We immediately started to climb. We ended yesterday with a climb to the road and we completed the rest of the climb this morning. We had stone steps and then a nice trail to complete the climb to the top. We had a view of a pond. Lavender hiked again today. It is nice to have her back on the trail for a while. We had small ups and downs but no real climbs or descents. The trail was fairly nice, a few rocks and roots but overall it was dirt. Then, the fog turned to a mist. Soon after, it turned to a downpour. It was still very windy. Guess the wind didn't blow the fog out but it blew the rain in. And, it looked like an all day rain now.   Certainly not what the weatherman had predicted.    We hiked on in the rain. We passed a huge pond that would have been a nice place for our morning break except for the rain. In fact, we had no morning break because of the rain. The rain made the trail very muddy and the rocks very wet and slippery. We had a few rocks to climb down as we descended. We had lots and lots and lots of mud to maneuver around. We expected to see a moose standing some where in the rain. There were moose droppings every where. And, the forest looked like moose forest with pine trees and under growth. But, no moose were there for us to see.    We were soaking wet and cold and plain miserable by the time we reached ME 4 which was our destination for the day. We had scheduled a shuttle to Farmhouse Inn at 12:45. We arrived at ME 4 at 12:45, no shuttle. We waited in the rain, no shuttle at 1:00, none at 1:10. Count started to hike back up the mountain to have cell phone service to call again. Just as he started hiking up, the van arrived. We were thankful for the dry towels and inside warmth of the van. We took hot showers, put on dry clothes and finally had our second bit of food to eat for the day. It was cold today, 59. Not really cold, but, being so wet and the wind had us chilled to the bone. We are glad we are at an inn tonight.
Date: 2015-08-12
From: ME 4

To: Rangeley, ME
Miles today: 0.0

We took a zero day in Rangley, ME. Did you know Rangeley is half between the Equator and the North Pole. You learn something new every day. We are at the Farmhouse Inn. It is a nice place with lots of potential. The owners have had it for 2 years. They have did a lot in that time. It is going to be spectacular once they finish all their planned work.   We will have to come back and visit when we aren't hiking the trail!      Count received his new boots from REI. The ones he got in Killington are tearing at the seam. We are going to call him The Hulk as he ripped the seams out!   REI is really great. Count called them on Monday evening. They said they would send the boots the next day and send them 1 day mail. Sure enough, that is what happened. He isn't going to break them in and hike 2 20 mile days like he did last time. He doesn't want any more blisters!!      We spent some time shuttled hikers from the trail head, into town and for dinner. It is nice to have a car and pay it forward with all the trail angels and trail magic we have received.      We spent some time with Silent Force (haven't seen him since leaving Roger's place. He didn't know Lavender was off the trail.) and ISO reviewing the next 220 some miles. We would all like to summit Mount Katahdin together. But, the best laid plans don't always work. It is really unbelievable that we are talking about summiting.
Date: 2015-08-14
From: Camp site 1990.2

To: Stratton Brook Pond Rd
Miles today: 11.6

It cooled off into the 40's last night so it was a bit chilly but I slept great. I didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag this morning as it was nice and toasty in there. But I knew I had to get on the trail. I had a honey bun for breakfast and then quickly broke camp. I wanted to get hiking as quickly as I could to get warmed up.   I had a long descent off of Sugarloaf Mountain down to the south branch of the Carrabassett River.   According to the guide book, I would need to ford this river but fortunately I was able to make my way across hopping from one boulder to the next. There was an 8 foot gap between to boulders.   Thankfully, someone laid a plank between the two boulders. I walked across the plank! Now it was time to start the long climb up to South Crocker Mountain. This was a 2000 foot climb over just 2 miles. The first half mile wasn't too bad and I only climbed about 200 feet. Then it abruptly changed and became steep and rocky. Over the next mile I climbed nearly 1500 feet. This had to be one of the hardest climbs I have ever done. I was dead tired and drenched in sweat when I finally made it to the top. After a quick break to catch my breath I started down off the peak. It was a 500 foot descent and then a 700 foot climb up to North Crocker Mountain. This was another big climb but not nearly as bad as the previous climb. I arrived at the top and stopped for my morning break.    From here I only had another 6.1 miles to the road crossing where Lavander would be waiting.   I started the 3000 foot descent and soon came upon another hiker, Stately. He is doing a flip-flop of the AT. He started in GA back in March and hiked north to Daleville, VA and then he drove up to Katahdin, Maine and is now hiking south back to Daleville. He gave me some tips about the upcoming trail and I did the same for him. Then it was back to hiking.    I kept looking at my AT app on my phone because I knew I was getting close to the 2000 mile mark. Once I had reached the milestone I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't any marker showing the spot. So, I stopped and made a a 2000 out of branches just off the trail.   Today's picture is my 2000 milestone marker. Hopefully other Nobo's will enjoy the marker. Then it was just another 2 miles to the road crossing where Lavander was waiting. Turns out some folks were there doing trail magic. One of the guys had hiked the AT back in 2009. They had chicken on the grill, salad, potatoe salad and cold drinks. What a nice way to end the day. Now it's time to find a place to camp for the night.
Date: 2015-08-16
From: Long falls dam road

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: broken clouds

A thunderstorm rolled through last evening and made everything wet but it also cooled it down. Being cooler made for a good night's sleep. We woke early this morning because I needed to hike 17 miles by 16:00 today. The Kennebec River is 17 milea away and the official crossing for the AT is by canoe ferry.   Years ago you had to ford the river but apparently a few hikers had drowned trying to get across so now they have the canoe ferry. However, the ferry only operates from 09:00 - 11:00 and 14:00 - 16:00. That is why I needed to get an early start.    After a quick breakfast I was on the trail by 05:50. The elevation profile for today's hike looks great. It is mostly flat and the biggest climb is only 500 feet. We haven't seen terrain this easy for a long time. The trail was good for Maine but still had lots of roots, rocks and mud. Without the big climbs I was making good time. I hiked a bit more than 5 miles in the first 2 hours. If I could keep up this pace I would easily make the ferry.    The trail was very quiet this morning. I hiked over 4 hours before I saw another person. It was a group of of section hikers heading south. I stopped to talk with them because I didn't know when I would see anyone else. I was still making good time so I skipped my morning break and continued hiking.    Before is knew I had 10 miles in for the day and it had only been a bit more than 4 hours. Just when you get complacent hiking something always happens. I wasn't really paying attention hiking through some muddy area when my foot slipped off a rock and went into the mud/water completely over my boot. So now I was hiking with one very wet left foot.    I kept hiking until I reached the Pierce Pond shelter and stopped for lunch. I had did 13 1/2 miles by noon. I haven't did 12 by 12 for a very long time. It was nice to take a break. I took my boots and socks off and layed them in the sun to dry while I ate lunch. It was a nice relaxing lunch break. There were loons on the pond. They were very relaxing to watch. I could have watched them all day but I still had 4 miles to go to the ferry. So, I had to get going.    The trail for the next several miles was downhill and followed the Pierce Pond stream. There were numerous waterfalls along the way and I stopped to see them all. The trail was get nice, soft from the pine needles on the trail. Oh, what a comfort it was to my tired worn feet.   Before I knew it I was at the Kennebec River. It was only 13:45 so I had to wait 15 minutes for the ferry. Lavander was waiting on the other side and came across on the canoe to pick me up.    Soon I was boarding the canoe and we made our way across the river. It still is hard to believe I've made it to Maine and I was crossing the Kennebec River. I have read so many books on the AT and crossing the Kennebec River is a major milestone.    Once across it was just 0.4 miles to where Lavander had parked the car. Now it was time to rest. I rested a bit and then got my backpack ready for tomorrow's hike. Two more days and I'll be in Monson. This will be another major milestone.
Date: 2015-08-18
From: Camp site 2062.7

To: Monson, Maine 
Miles today: 12.0

I was woken early this morning by something walking in the river which then came very close to where I was camped. It was just barely starting to get light so I never did see what it was. It made a lot of noise walking through the woods like it was plowing through the bushes. I believe it was a moose but I can't be certain. I was glad to hear it moving away from my tent. Then I went back to sleep.      After a bit I was back awake and decided to get the day started. I had a quick breakfast consisting of a honey bun and then broke camp. I had to ford the river close to my camp so I didn't bother putting on my boots. The water was chilly at 06:30 in the morning. It was fairly deep too, just over my knees. I made it to the other side and stopped to put my boots on. I only had 12 miles to hike today to get to Monson, Maine.    The trail was good the first few miles as it followed the river I just forded. Then it got rougher and kept climbing up a 100 or so feet. Then it would drop down to the river again. After doing this 5 or 6 times I was like, ok, either stay up or down by the river. The trail finally climbed away from the river and a half mile later I came to another river that needed to be forded. Again the boots came off and I easily made it across the river. Just a half mile later I crossed a road where Lavander was waiting.    I took my morning break with her and had a nice cold soda. I'm going to miss these cold drinks when she returns to the trail at Monson. After my break it was just 6 more miles to Monson.   I was so looking forward to getting off and getting a shower.    I had nice trail the rest of the day. I had had a few good climbs but they weren't too bad. About a mile from Monson, I met Lavender who had hiked in to meet me. We hiked together the rest of the way to the road crossing.   It was only 11:50 and I had my 12 miles finished for the day. Again, 12 by 12. It was time to head to the hostel and get cleaned up. The rest of the day was spent getting our food ready that we will need for the 100 mile wilderness and the last push to Katahdin.   Only 115 miles to go! Lavender will be joining me the restof the way. Katahdin, here we come.
Date: 2015-08-19
From: Monson, Maine 

To: Monson, Maine 
Miles today: 0.0

We took our last zero day. Well, the last planned zero day. Since Lavender is hiking the remainder of the trail, we had to shuttle the car to Abol Bridge. We did that in the morning with the help of Shaw's Hostle. During the car ride, we had our first view of Katahdin. It looks very tall!   We got all our food ready for the 100 mile wilderness. We feel like we are at the beginning of the hike again going through all our supplies.    It has been unusually warm in Maine. In fact, we were told Bangor reached 90 degrees. This is the hottest it has been in 2 years. But, 2 years ago, the heat wave didn't last this long. We have our cold weather gear with us but will not need it. The temperature is to be around 70 the next week. We left our cold weather gear in the car. We are doing a food drop in the 100 mile wilderness. We only will carry 3 days of food. Then, on Saturday morning a service will drop a 5 gallon bucket with our remaining food at a "hidden" spot in the forest. This will allow us not to carry 7 days worth of food. We took care of this little chore. We then relaxed the rest of the day. There is a hiker, Ice Fire, who we met in Tennessee. He bounced north to Katahdinabout 10 days ago and had started hiking south to Hanover where he jumped off to go south. He had 393 miles to go to finish his thru-hike. However, today he decided to call it quits. He is physically exhausted and just cannot continue. We feel for him as it is a difficult decision to quit.
Date: 2015-08-25
From: Abol Bridge

To: Katahdin Stream campground 
Miles today: 9.7

We were woken during the night by a short rain shower but it quickly passed. We only had 10 miles to do today to Katahdin Stream Campground so we weren't in to much of a rush this morning. We had breakfast and then finally started hiking around 09:30.    The first few miles were heavenly. The trail was flat and there were no rocks or roots to step around. The trail then followed the Nesowadnehunk River for several miles. The trail cut off and followed a tributary of the river for several miles. We were given the choice of taking a high water bypass trail or ford two rivers. Of course we had to stay on the official AT trail.      We had the two rivers that we came to that we thought we would have to ford but fortunately we were able to hop across large boulders in both rivers. So we didn't have to take off our boots.    We started a small 400 foot climb and stopped part way up at Big Niagara Falls to took our lunch break. It was nice relaxing by the waterfall. We continued hiking the next 3.5 miles to Katahdin Stream Campground and arrived around 14:45.    We had just gotten into the park when we met a park ranger who asked if we were thru-hikers. He said we looked pretty clean for thru-hikers but then he got a whiff of us and said you are definitely thru-hikers!!   I guess we smell pretty bad. It will be nice to be finished with this hike and get a shower and have clean clothes every day.    The park ranger then registered us as thru-hikers and we received our permit for the climb up Mt Katahdin.   We are thru-hikers number 341 and 342 for the year. Just as we were finishing registering, we saw Pappa Lou and we went over to talk with him. He had just gotten back from summiting this morning. He of course was very excited to be finished with his hike and we were very happy for him. We talked for quite awhile about all the good times on the trail and then he had to leave. We said our goodbyes and we went on to the ranger station.   While at the ranger station, we found out the weather forecast for tomorrow, Wednesday. The weather wasn't favorable for summiting. The forecast for Thursday looks better. So, we decided to take an unscheduled zero day tomorrow. Oh, the ranger also told us, the other day when it rained. Well, it rained 4 1/2 inches. We can attest that it rained ALOT!!   We got a ride back to Abol Bridge. We retrieved the car. We decided to drive around the dirt roads spotting moose. We didn't see a moose. Instead, we saw a bear. This is rarer than a moose.
Date: 2015-08-26
From: Katahdin Stream campground 

To: Millinocket, Maine
Miles today: 0.0

What a storm we had last night. We went to bed at hiker midnight (21:00), only to be woken at midnight by a thunderstorm.   It started out with some lightening and thunder in the distance and then over the next few hours got closer and more intense. By 02:30 the storm was directly above us and the lightening show was incredible.   We had two lightening strikes extremely close to our tent. The brightness of the flash was incredible and the boom of thunder was instantaneous.   We were starting to get a bit concerned about sleeping in our tent on such a stormy night. Finally by 03:30 the rain started to lessen and the lightening was moving further away.   We finally got back to sleep and then woke up at 05:45 to go out and look for moose by the lake we were tenting nearby. Unfortunately we didn't see any moose but we did see some heron and a bald eagle.    It was misting this morning. We waited for it to stop before we dried off the tent and quickly broke camp. We are really glad we decided to wait and summit on Thursday since the weather is so bad today.   We checked into a hotel in the afternoon so we will hopefully get a good night's sleep. We want to be well rested for our hike tomorrow.    The rest of the day was spent getting our gear together for our final day of hiking tomorrow. We are taking minimal gear with us on the hike to Mt. Katahdin. We don't want to carry any more weight than we absolutely need to since it is a 4000 foot elevation climb over just 5 miles.   Just 5 miles up and 5 miles down and we are finished!
Date: 2015-08-27
From: Millinocket, Maine

To: Mt. Katahdin 
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.This verse kept us going throughout the long tough thru-hike. Now that we are finished we can reflect on the many blessings we have received along the way. We would like to thank all the many family, friends and trail angels who supported us all along the trail. It is only because of this support and friendship that we were able to complete this journey.   We will write more in the coming days when we have had a bit more time to relax and reflect on what we have accomplished.
Date: 2015-03-20
From: Springer Mountain 

To: Stover Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: overcast clouds

An Uber car picked me up from the Palomar Hotel in Washington and Helen and I said goodbye. I arrived at Atlanta at 11am to be picked up by Ron who shuttled me two hours north to Springer Mountain which is the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. He talked the whole way and gave me a wealth of information. The last few kilometers as we drove up the mountain was thick with fog, and it started to rain. From the car park you walk south .9 of a mile to the top of the Springer, sign the register and say hi to the other hikers. I imagined it would be more open with some buildings present, but the sign was just a brass plaque in a small boulder in the woods and the register a metal tray under a rock. There were 29 other entries so I was the 30th hiker to depart that day. My trail name is Happy2 and my comment, "See you at the end."The .9 mile was very muddy from the rain and previous hikers, and my new rai n jacket worked very well. Note to Helen, the extra $69 was to save 8 ounces was defiantly worth it. After walking back down past the car park it was 2.9 miles to Stover Creek Shelter to stay the night. I hadn't got around to practicing pitching my tent in the rain but I learned quickly! Some section hikers showed me how to hang my food bag from the cablez provided bears, and as the rain had eased off I had a chat. They had all the all the bells and whistles in terms of equipment and talked a good game but weren't able to light a fire with damp wood.I didn't cook as I hadn't figured out my home made alcohol stove, so ate trail mix and went to bed. It rained off and on all night but I slept quite well.
Date: 2015-03-21
From: Stover Creek Shelter

To: Hawk Mountain 
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: broken clouds

Second day. 21 March. The morning was overcast but soon started to clear into a beautiful day and I enjoyed my musli and powered milk with water, in my tent with legs covered with the sleeping bag against the chill. Joe Fubel who had hiked the trail 14 years ago had given me lots of excellent advice in Boston two weeks ago. In particular he said don't hike too far too quickly, so the second full day I will camp at Hawk Mountain which is only 5.5 miles.It was lovely hiking weather and the miles quickly passed. I stopped to wash my face in a creek and started talking get to a chap who had been following get me. He had a cool hikers beard and had retired the day before. A friend had dropped him off that morning to fulfill a long held dream of hiking the trail. He asked if he could hike with me and so we did, and the trail name proffered was Mountain Dew.About 12pm halfway up Hawk Mountain five teenage girls were coming in the opposite direction and asked if we would like some apples. It was my first experience of trail magic, where people give free food to thru hikers. Long may it continue! We got to Hawk Mountain shelter at 1.00 and so I tried out my new alcohol stove on some very heavy Uncle Bens rice. It worked brilliantly!I set up my tent and hung my bear bag on the cables Iike an old pro. The new water filter worked well down at the stream, although I noted enviously several people had filter straws they could fit to their drink bolts and not need to do any pumping.A lady of about 35 joined me while I was having lunch and told me she had started at Springer on 10th March. It was pouring and she struggled with the hills so much in the first 4.3 miles that she gave up and returned to Massachusetts the next day. Ten days later she asked her husband to drive her back and here she is. There are some interesting people around. Most have voices which carry through the woods as they hold court at the picnic table in front of the shelter. I prefer sleeping in my tent some distance away.