morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-10
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: broken clouds

Date: 7/10Starting Time: 8:50Starting Location: Little Bigelow Lean-to (tent)Ending Time: 4:50Ending Location: Pierce Pond Lean-toMiles: 17.3Morning Weather: Rain early, then clearingAfternoon Weather: Beautiful, sunny, mid-70'sBreakfast: CIB and Pop-tartsLunch: Bagel, pb, and honeyDinner: Pasta, tater, jerkyMisc. Food: Bars and gorpTrail Description: Just a big, wet, mudhole pretty much all the way. Unremarkable trail for the most part, except for Arnold Swamp where the bog logs weren't exactly rooted in the ground, so we floated on a couple of them.People: Graham, Scrubs, Bob, XCaverAnimals: NoneMoney: 0Complaints: Wet trail is frustrating.Thoughts: Biscuits! passed 600 miles today!!! She has got her trail legs fully under her and is kicking butt!The Pierce Pond shelter has the best view on the entire trail so far! We are right on the pond and looking at mountains in the distance. A lightning storm is off in the distance and the wind is blowing...so nice.Wet trail is frustrating. We walked through streams, mud pits, swamps, and this was the trail itself! It reminds me of Vermont's Long Trail section, only worse. It starts to wear on you after a while. I can only guess that I'll be doing more of this since I have a lot of flat ground to go.
Date: 2005-07-11
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to

To: US201 (Caratunk, ME)
Miles today: 4.0

Date: 7/11Starting Time: 8:40Starting Location: Pierce Pond Lean-toEnding Time: 10:30Ending Location: US201 (Caratunk, ME) Miles: 4Morning Weather: Sunny and warmAfternoon Weather: Sunny and hotBreakfast: Lumberjack breakfast at Harrison's - 12 pancakes (!), sausage, eggs, coffeeLunch: Buffalo chicken sandwichDinner:Misc. Food: Pint of Ben and Jerry's, plenty of Kennebec Brewing Company productsTrail Description: Wet, wet, wet. We went 10 yards before crossing an overflowing dam on Pierce Pond and completely soaking our shoes. It went figuratively and literally downhill from there, getting wetter and muddier as we approached the Kennebec. There were several (rushing) stream crossings involving high and slick log bridges that got my heart racing! The white blaze route is to canoe across the Kennebec river using Steve the Ferrymans's ferry service (there is a white blaze painted in the bottom of his boat)...I got to paddle the AT!!!People: Graham, Scrubs, Bob, XCaver, Steve the Ferryman, Dub and Yeti (southbound)Animals: NoneMoney: 8 for tentsite, 20 for lunchComplaints: None...life is great!Thoughts: Today we're taking a day to enjoy life. We've (Graham, Scrubs, and Bob) stopped at Northern Outdoors, which is a campground, lodge, and brewpub. We jumped in the hot tub after lunch and are relaxing the day away. It turns out that Bob will summit also on 2/20, which is his 50th birthday...pretty cool. Steve the Ferryman was super-nice and accomodating. He gave us a ride from the river and we stopped at his store so Scrubs/Graham could resupply and Biscuits! and I could buy Ben and Jerry's. He then gave us a ride to Northern Outdoors (a competing establishment) and helped us get settled. Too many good things to say about Steve.P.S. Steve said that we are in the top 30 (maybe 20) of thruhikers. Steve is the trail, so he would know better than most...
Date: 2005-07-12
From: US201 (Caratunk, ME)

To: Moxie Bald Lean-to
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

Date: 7/12Starting Time: 7:45Starting Location: US201Ending Time: 5:30Ending Location: Moxie Bald Lean-toMiles: 18.8Morning Weather: Sunny and warmAfternoon Weather: Hot, sunnyBreakfast: AYCE buffetLunch: Bagel, pb, and honeyDinner: PR, jerkyMisc. Food: bars and gorpTrail Description: Up Pleasant Mtn in record time. Climb up Moxie Bald was great - huge rocks formed funky geometric shapes with passageways for exploring. Both the top of and the view from Moxie Bald was wonderful.People: Graham, Bob, Scrubs, Yeti and Dub, Jaybird, southboundersAnimals: NoneMoney: 16 for breakfastComplaints: Biscuits! tumbled face first on some roots today (it was not the first time unfortuately).Thoughts: We saw Katahdin for the first time today! We saw the huge mountain ~125 miles off in the distance...it was beautiful.Meeting Jaybird was great. He was the 4th northbounder to finish, and has turned around and is heading south...for as long as he feels like it.
Date: 2005-07-13
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: ME15, Monson (Shaw's)
Miles today: 17.9

Date: 7/13Starting Time: 5:45Starting Location: Moxie Bald Lean-toEnding Time: 12:45Ending Location: ME15, Monson (Shaw's)Miles: 17.9Morning Weather: Sunny and warmAfternoon Weather: HotBreakfast: CIB and pop tartsLunch: Bars and gorpSecond lunch: Foot long sub, chips, zebra cakeDinner: PizzaMisc. Food: B&J'sTrail Description: Fairly easy day. Three major fords across streams and rivers, which were fun. Mud and rocks toward the end, which was a psychological challenge. People: Graham, Bob, Scrubs, StumpknockerAnimals: Deer, one at Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to that let me walk right up to it, and one that flew up from the river and across the AT (Graham and I were blown away by the show of power).Money: 15 for lunchComplaints: NoneThoughts: We're in our last trailtown! Well, minus a stay in Millinocket after Katahdin, but I don't think that totally counts as a trail town per se.We are closing in on the Big K, with only the 100-mile wilderness in the way. We did a very fasy 17.9 into town today and are relaxing the rest of the day away.
Date: 2005-07-14
From: ME15, Monson (Shaw's)

To: Cloud Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: light rain

Date: 7/14Starting Time: 7:50Starting Location: ME15, Monson (Shaw's) Ending Time: 6:30Ending Location: Cloud Pond Lean-toMiles: 19.1Morning Weather: Overcast, then rainAfternoon Weather: More rain, a patch of sun, then a rain storm that seemed like ArmageddonBreakfast: "3 by" at Shaw's...3 eggs, 3 bacon, 3 sausage, 3 pancakes (then I asked for two more pancakes), coffee, juiceLunch: Bars and gorpDinner: PR, tunaTrail Description: Real wet today since we got rained on most of the day. Several fords that were challenging...Graham went down in Big Wilson Stream which shows you how tough that crossing was (Graham is a solid dude). Beautiful views off of Barren Ledges after the rain stopped.People: Graham, Bob, ScrubsAnimals: NoneMoney: 65 for Shaw'sComplaints: NoneThoughts: Today was a super wet day. It rained for at least eight miles of hiking. Just so you know, when the weather is warmer like it is now, there is no donning of rain gear. You just keep walking, because a)your life is not in danger if you are wet and b) you're already soaking from sweat (so what's a little more wet from rain?). When we got to the shelter, there were 14 annoying girl campers and 3 counselors. They looked at us and said, "No room here, hope you can tent." Now, this is truly annoing and wrong as far as AT etiquette is concerned. Groups should not take over shelters, period...plan your outing and know where you can set up multiple tents for the group. We set up our tent, and then it proceeded to pour rain like I've never seen. All of our stuff was in the tent, minus food, so we cooked in the shelter while it rained. So, I was pretty nervous about how it held up. It turns out I had set the tent up in the middle of the drainage flow. This was incredibly stupid, you might observe, but there were no other tentsites and there was no indication of water flow on the ground (remember it had rained all day and I should have seen something). I'm happy to say that the tent held up well, minus the fact that some flowing water got in between the groundsheet and tent, so the tent floor was slightly wet in a few spots. We laid down garbage bags on the tent floor under our sleeping pads, and we were OK for the night.After the Armageddon storm, we had a beautiful lake view right beside our tent. The sun was setting and the sky was about 15 shades of pink, coupled with massive cloud forms moving rapidly across the horizon...unbelievable!
Date: 2005-07-15
From: Cloud Pond Lean-to

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

Date: 7/15Starting Time: 8:50Starting Location: Cloud Pond Lean-toEnding Time: 5:10Ending Location: Carl A. Newhall Lean-toMiles: 16.8Morning Weather: Sunny, clear, windyAfternoon Weather: Sunny and 70'sBreakfast: CIB and cereal barLunch: Bars and gorpDinner: PR, tuna, taterTrail Description: Ups and downs over Fourth, Third, Columbus, and Chairback mountains. Rough footing throughout...roots, rocks, mud, etc. We could finlly make time heading down to the Pleasant River. Fast climb up to shelter...Biscuits! killed me going uphill!People: Graham, Scrubs, Bob, southbounders at shelterAnimals: NoneMoney: 0Complaints: I had problems with motivation and attitude today, if you can believe it. For some reason the trail seemed to never end today, and Katahdin all of a sudden seemed 1,000 miles away.Thoughts: Hmmmm...
Date: 2005-07-16
From: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: broken clouds

Date: 7/16Starting Time: 6:30Starting Location: Carl A. Newhall Lean-toEnding Time: 3:30Ending Location: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-toMiles: 18.9Morning Weather: Sunny and coolAfternoon Weather: Sunny and hotBreakfast: CIB and cereal barLunch: Bars and gorpDinner: PR, tunaTrail Description: Up and over several bumps in the morning (Gulf Hgas Mtn., West Peak, Hay Mtn., White Cap Mtn.). Long downhill to Pleasant R iver, then up and over Little Boardman (very hot at this point). We FLEW down to the shelter...8.1 miles in 2:45.People: Graham, Scrubs, Bob, southboundersAnimals: Moose in river upstream from crossing...looked like a huge black rock in the water, except it moved!Money: 0Complaints: NoneThoughts: Today Biscuits! passed 700 miles, and I passed 2,100!!! This is the last "hundred" tick of the trip.Today I regained my composure and my upbeat attitude. The trail was great, and we had an excellent view of Katahdin from White Cap, which made it all seem more real. Hikers I've I've met are now summiting...Early Bird, PJ, TRex (tomorrow, I think). It's weird that it is all wrapping up...At the shelter there is a great swimming hole that is fed by a waterfall. We were able to hop up in the falls and get a natural jacuzzi bath - it rocked! Graham unfortunatelyy, was attacked by a leech (but he lived).
Date: 2005-07-17
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to

To: Mahar Tote Road (White House Landing)
Miles today: 13.8

Date: 7/17Starting Time: 6:10Starting Location: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-toEnding Time: 11:10Ending Location: Mahar Tote Road (White House Landing)Miles: 13.8Morning Weather: Sunny and hotAfternoon Weather: Hot and humid, with a brief rain showerBreakfast: CIB and cereal barLunch: 1 lb cheeseburger, BudweiserDinner: 14 inch pizza (sausage, green peppers, onion)...OK, I didn't finish the last two pieces. I tried!Misc. Food: Brownies, PepsiTrail Description: Flat, flat, flat. Fast, fast, fast.People: Graham, Bob, Scrubs, Bill and Linda at Whitehouse LandingAnimals: Moose swimming in lake...prettty cool!Money: 0Complaints: NoneThoughts: Today was a great day. It started off semi-sad because we lost Scrubs. He took off so he can summit on the 19th. "Team Juggernaut," as Biscuits! has named us, is now just us, Graham, and Bob - all summiting on the 20th.We burned down the trail hoping to make lunch at Whitehouse Landing. WHL is an oasis on the lake that caters to hikers. First of all, you take a side trail about 2 miles to a boat dock. Then you sound an air horn, and they boat over and pick you up. How cool is that?!? Then, you order a 1 lb cheeseburger and proceed to eat your face off. Too cool.We took the afternoon off. Biscuits! napped, Graham and I canoed out on the lake, and Bob swam. It was a very relaxing way to end the day.The scale here (which also matches the results from Shaw's) indictates that I have lost 37 lbs. while Biscuits! has lost 12. Crazy.WHL is great...only two more nights left. Unbelievable.
Date: 2005-07-18
From: Mahar Tote Road (White House Landing)

To: Hurd Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 27.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Date: 7/18Starting Time: 8:30Starting Location: Mahar Tote Road (White House Landing)Ending Time: 8:00Ending Location: Hurd Brook Lean-toMiles: 27.3Morning Weather: Hot and humidAfternoon Weather: Hot and humid (pretty much 90 all day)Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, english muffin, 10 pancakes, coffee at White House LandingLunch: Leftover pizza!!!Dinner: PR, tunaMisc. Food: Bars and gorpTrail Description: "Whatever" trail until Nesuntabunt Mtn., which was a massive, pointless up and down. More "whatever" trail until Rainbow Ledges, which was nice. "Whatever" trail is what I consider the 100 mile wilderness....not that interesting and riddled with roots, rocks, and mud.People: Graham, Bob, southbounders at shelterAnimals: NoneMoney: 0Complaints: Biscuits! hurt her right ankle today. We think it might be strained from overuse (her longest day ever) but are not sure. Whatever the case, it isn't good.Thoughts: Long day. First of all, White House Landing rocked! It was a great loction, Bill and Linda were super-nice, and the food was great. We had a great time and highly recommend it to other hikers!The trail footbed was horrible today with the roots and the rocks and the whatnot. I think this is really what got to Biscuits!' ankle.
Date: 2005-07-19
From: Hurd Brook Lean-to

To: The Birches Campsite (Katahdin Stream Campground)
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Date: 7/19Starting Time: 7:40Starting Location: Hurd Brook Lean-toEnding Time: 1:30Ending Location: The Birches Campsite (Katahdin Stream Campground)Miles: 13.4 Morning Weather: 90 by 10:00am and totally humidAfternoon Weather: Same (miserable)Breakfast: CIBLunch: Bars and gorpFinal Dinner: Red beans and rice, chips, snickersMisc. Food: Chicken salad sandwich, 2 ice cream sandwiches, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi at Abol Bridge StoreTrail Description: More "whatever" trail until we got to Abol Bridge store (although it was almost as if we coud feel the 100 mile loosening its grip on us).The walk in Baxter State Park was awesome. It's right along the river, and there are several falls that provide great views along the way.People: Graham, Bob and Patty, Scrubs (plus his dad and aunt)Animals: NoneMoney: 30 at storeComplaints: Biscuits!' condition has worsened. She could barely make the three miles to the store. She stopped there and hitched to the campground while Graham and I hiked. I don't know if I can even communicate the state that this puts me in. Does she push and try to make it? Do I go up without her? Do we wait a day or two and see if she can make it then? I just don't know... Thoughts: The last night. It's unbelievable, but here I am sleeping outside for the last time on my thruhike. It has been an incredible journey physically, mentally, and emotionally. And Biscuits! situation proves that the thruhike is relentless with these demands - my emotional state is in turmoil here at the very end. The hike up Katahdin is the biggest climb on the trail (4,000 ft. in 5 miles). The thruhike has definitely been the biggest challenge of my life thus far.And I've done it (or almost have). The Birches campsite is nice, although confusing. The ranger wasn't here so we couldn't sign in...now it's raining pretty hard and I don't feel like walking anywhere to find him. Oh well. Update (later in the evening): The Birches campsite is now paid for. The park ranger was super nice and said that I was the 36th northbounder (although some of the names on the list were technically section hikers finishing or flip-floppers. But whatever...36 is good enough for me).We saw Scrubs today after he came down from the summit, and he had this to say:"Some guy asked me up there if I was thruhiking, and I didn't know what to say. Well, I was thruhiking, but now I don't know."Well said, Scrubs. Congrats to all NOBO's that I've interacted with. We may not be thruhiking anymore, but we are now officially thruhikers.
Date: 2004-12-31
To: A dream come true...
Miles today: 0.0

As 2004 comes to a close, we anxiously await our hike. Time is spent these days tackling our lengthy to-do list. I think we have nine pages right now! George and I can't wait to take off on this once in a lifetime adventure. We're assembling our gear and testing out meals. Nights are spent chipping away at trail prep duties. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe how many things need to be taken care of in order to leave for 6 months. We were married on August 28, 2004 and individually, we have been thinking about hiking the trail for years. We finally decided that we couldn¢t wait to live our lives. It's easy to say, "Someday I would love to hike the AT." Unfortunately for some, this day never arrives. We vow not to live in that way. So our hike is dedicated to living everyday to its fullest. We also want our time on the trail to be a part of who we become and we want to share this with our family, friends, and future children. This is one of many entries to come. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures along the AT!
Date: 2005-01-04
To: Gear
Miles today: 0.0

Our long weekend was put to good use! We spent a lot of time shopping for gear and gathering necessary items. The dehydrator continued to crank out a variety of vegetables and meat. I bought a vacuum sealer to preserve the items we dehydrate. Dehydration is great...a pound of cooked ground beef turns into about 1 cup of dried meat. We went on a long hike yesterday (Monday). The weather was awesome (about 70 degrees). We had our packs fully loaded (with kitty litter that is!). George used his new trekking poles. He really liked the way the felt and can see the benefit they will provide along the trip. My poles are on order and I hope they arrive by next week. After our hike we bought a scale so that we can keep track of our pack weight and the weight of various pieces of equipment. So far my pack weighs 28 pounds. I was glad to find that out because I'm hoping on trail to keep my pack to 25-30 lbs. This is good practice, since it is heavy already I would have hated to find out that it was 15 lbs. George's was 50 lbs! but taking into consideration that he is double my size, that is not too heavy. Tonight we're testing another trail meal...mac & cheese with ground beef! Ummmm..........I'll report more on that later.
Date: 2005-01-04
To: Mac & Cheese
Miles today: 0.0

Tonight's meal was great. We mixed up dried ground beef with mac & cheese. It took 4 cups of water and 3 oz of alcohol in the stove. We used olive oil and water in place of the milk and butter. It still tasted fine. We also added one package of ramen noodles without the seasoning. That gave us more volume but we still had enough sauce to cover it all. Just needed pepper but the beef was hydrated back to normal. It still is a bit tough but we're using really lean beef and removing as much of the fat as possible. I also started a new batch of beef jerky in the dehydrator. This one has lots of red pepper flakes. Should be good and tasty. That's all for now...
Date: 2005-01-08
To: Vacuum sealer's hot
Miles today: 0.0

We're cranking out the dried ground beef so we decided to try out the new vacuum sealer. It works like a charm. 12 dinners down.........such a long way to go though. Last count we are planning to prep for 150 dinners. Some may say we're crazy to prep this food and do mail drops. It's not the thing for quite a few hikers these days. But it is for us so we're chipping away at it. We went on a big shopping trip to Sam's Club. I was sweating as we were checking out. Our cart was full. Nothing like buying 96 ramen noodle packs! We saved a lot of money by shopping there and put a dent in our list. Just think for a moment how much food you would have if you shopped for 6 months worth at one time! I'll be finishing up at my job on or around March 5th. Geof moved some stuff from his office this week. We're so excited for this. To our friends and family.......Thanks for the support and kind, encouragement you've given us!
Date: 2005-01-17
To: The first 50 days
Miles today: 0.0

We spent considerable time today developing our schedule for our first 50 days on the trail. We have our mail drops established but had not figured out how many days it will take us to get from one drop to the next. Also, many friends have expressed interest in meeting us along the trail. Since we live in North Carolina, it would be best for us to pick a few dates for friends/family to see us while we're in the state. This is the plan. Please let us know if you would like to meet us at either NC location. Leave Raleigh and arrive at Amicalola Falls State Park (http://www.amicalolafalls.com/): Friday, March 18Begin our trek north: Saturday, March 19The first good place to spend some time with us is the Nantahala Outdoor Center, Bryson City, NC http://www.noc.com/. We plan to arrive on Friday, April 1 and will leave on Monday, April 4. From their website, it looks like they have a kick-off for the 2005 white water rafting season that weekend. Should be busy and fun! If a few people plan to come, we can look into renting a cabin for the weekend. We should do this soon! Please email me if you're interested. This is about a 6 hour drive from Raleigh. Two hours from Asheville.The second place to meet us in NC is Fontana (http://www.fontanavillage.com/). This is where the Fontana Dam is and we plan to spend some time there. If someone wants to meet us, we'll plan to arrive on Friday, April 8 and stay through the weekend. If no one meets us there, we'll probably get to Fontana earlier in the week. So it is important for you to let us know if soon if you'd like to meet us on the weekend on April 8. The next fun and good location to meet us will be at Trail Days in Damascus, VA (http://www.traildays.nstemp.com/ or http://www.damascus.org/). We plan to arrive by Friday, May 13 and leave on Monday, May 16. This is a large festival with lots of fun stuff going on. It will be a busy weekend, but for some of you, I'm sure you'd have a ton of fun. You can look up Trail Days on the web to learn more. Of course we can meet people in other locations but these are some good layover points that we plan to stay for a few days.