morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-08-08
From: Newton, MA via Pinkham Notch

To: Newton, MA via Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Tor had the day off, so this morning we bicycled to Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau once lived and was inspired to write the quote from my March 15th posting. Normally we'd swim the mile round-trip across the pond together, with me inching along like a barge and her swimming circles around me like a jet ski, but with the wound on my shin still healing, I chose to sit on the beach while Tor swam alone. Riding the 10 miles home was painful. Apparently one of the areas I've lost weight is around my butt, so the bicycle seat was killing me by the time we got home.The barrage of kind notes that continues to flow in blows me away. I never imagined when I set off in Georgia that so many people would be following along at this stage of the adventure. Sometimes I think perhaps I'm adding pressure to myself to finish so I don't let anyone else down. But I know most of the pressure I feel is from my own desire to reach Katahdin.I got a text today from Thor the Red. We parted ways back at the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center in New York when he got off the trail for a few days to visit the Big Apple. I'd love to see a video of that good ol' boy from Lagrange, GA tromping around the city wearing his backpack and asking for direction in his southern drawl with that seemingly permanent smile plastered to his face. He's taking a zero today in Gorham and slack packing south to Pinkham Notch tomorrow. By my calculations, he'll be three days ahead of me when I get back on at Pinkham on Monday. In his text he mentioned possibly "finishing this deal on the same day." Summiting Katahdin with Thor would be a dream scenario for me, though I don't know if I can make up three days on him through Maine.I had lunch again today with a smaller set of former workmates, including Jim, who will be hiking the Wildcat Ridge with me on Monday, and dinner with two old friends from my home town, Bob and Jeff. The latter will be driving me to Pinkham and hiking for a week with me. All these restaurant meals are liable to make me fat, which is exactly the point. The last time I weighed myself at Chet's Hostel in Lincoln, NH, I was down to 188, below my final high school weight. I'm hoping all the gorging this week will pay dividends during the last 40 miles of New Hampshire and into Southern Maine, which by all accounts is as rugged as the Whites.
Date: 2014-08-10
From: Newton, MA via Pinkham Notch

To: Newton, MA via Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

It was a busy last day off the trail today. It started with another bicycle ride to Walden Pond, but unlike Thursday, when I sat on the beach while Tor swam, today I rode on to Concord center to get a little more exercise. I'm concerned that I've lost a lot of conditioning during the six days I've been off the trail. In the afternoon, we drove Tor's parents up to Gloucester to celebrate my niece's college graduation with a party on Good Harbor Beach, the same beach I met Tor at almost 24 years ago. And in the evening I met my son, Justin, near his apartment in Brookline for his first legal beer on his 21st birthday.Justin recounted a funny story about his overnight hiking trip in the Whites with his friend, Conor, a couple weeks ago. They'd grabbed two tents, or what they thought were tents, from the basement and showed up at Lonesome Lake Hut, looking for a place to pitch them. They were directed to the Kinsman Pond Shelter and campsite, the same shelter I passed coming off the summit of Kinsman in a thunderstorm that was producing pea-size hail 10 days ago. When they went to set up the tents, they discovered one was actually a sun shield for keeping infants shaded at the beach, much too small for either of these 6'2" strapping young men. So they ended up cramming into the other tent, which fortunately really was a tent. A one-person tent. Justin, thinking it would be warm up in the mountains based on the weather in Boston, failed to bring a sleeping bag and was surprised how cold is was up in the mountains that night. Having Conor's body crammed in the single-person tent with his was uncomfortable, but at least it gave him some added warmth.The slight daze I've been in since getting off the trail has been slowly clearing this week as I've started to readjust to the frenetic pace of the civilized world. Just in time to return to the solitude of the woods tomorrow.
Date: 2014-08-11
From: Newton, MA via Pinkham Notch

To: Pinkham Notch via Zeta Pass
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: broken clouds

What a pleasure to be back on the trail again, especially when accompanied by two long-time friends, Jeff and Jim. I'm afraid I didn't do them any favors in having them join me at Pinkham Notch, at the base of the Wildcat Ridge, one of the steepest climbs in the Whites. After one mile of relative flat along Lost Pond, the trail shoots straight up, climbing rocky ledges that require rock scrambles. Fortunately, we were able to carry relatively light day packs, since we started and ended at Pinkham Notch, where we're staying tonight.The Wildcat Ridge is comprised of five peaks, named Wildcat A through E. We summited E first and stopped for lunch at the ski area's gondola station between E and D. The views to the west of Mt Washington, both from the ledges on the way up E and from our lunch spot, were spectacular. At one point the Presidential Ridge, including Washington, disappeared in a dark cloud and I thought we might see some rain, but nothing ever came of it.We reached Wildcat A at around 2:30 and looked down at the last of the eight huts in the Whites, Carter Notch, almost directly below us. At that point Jim, suggested when we reach the notch Jeff and I climb over Carter Dome and Mt Hight, remaining on the AT north to Zeta Pass, while he go straight down to the car along the 19-Mile Brook Trail. The time was tight, but going over Carter Dome today would save us a long, steep climb with heavy packs in the morning. So that's what we did. On the top of Mt Height, Jeff and I met a SOBO named Hercules, and a dozen or so other hikers were tenting in Zeta Pass. Jim met us at the trailhead with cokes he'd bought while waiting for us. He'd had time to take a dip in the brook on the way down, while Jeff and I arrived just on time to make it back to Pinkham for dinner.
Date: 2014-08-12
From: Pinkham Notch via Zeta Pass

To: White Mountain Hostel
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: light rain

Today got off to a great start, as Jim brought me a cup of coffee while I was still in bed finishing off yesterday's journal entry. Jim, Jeff, and I then had an AYCE breakfast at Pinkham Notch before Jim dropped Jeff and me at the 19-Mile Brook trailhead and then left for work in the Boston area. I'm glad he was able to take part in this adventure.Jeff and I spent the first part of the morning retracing our steps from yesterday afternoon, climbing back up four miles to the AT at Zeta Pass, where we took a left turn toward the Carter Ridge. The weather bore no resemblance to the forecast, which called for sunshine, as we spent the next few hours walking along the ridge through thick clouds. The climb down from North Carter was steep and rocky, a mirror image of the climb up Wildcat yesterday.We stopped for lunch at Imp Shelter, where I ran into Celtic, a thru-hiker from Scotland whom I last saw in Southern Vermont. In getting back on the trail after my week off, I'm now part of a different NOBO bubble. Later in the day I would see Belch and Little Bird, whom I'd last seen in New York and Vermont, respectively.With a couple miles to go today, we passed the Rattle River Shelter, which, naturally, sits along the Rattle River. Shortly thereafter we came to a swimming hole, and Jeff and I looked at each other and smiled, knowing we each had the same thing in mind. A minute or two later we were diving in for a refreshing swim.Today's hike reminded me of a four-day trip I took with my family over 40 days ago, when we hiked in the opposite direction, staying in the Rattle River and Imp Shelters and Carter Notch Hut. I don't remember many details about that trip, except for my dad carrying an enormous sixty-pound pack with most of the equipment and food for the rest of us, and helping my dad spot the car at Pinkham, which involved bicycling down the notch back to Gorham.We're staying tonight at the White Mountain Hiker Hostel in Gorham, NH where there are about 20 hikers, including a Slim (me), a Jim, and a Slim Jim. With 2-3 inches of rain and possible flash floods in the forecast for tomorrow, we're considering taking a zero.
Date: 2014-08-13
From: White Mountain Hostel

To: White Mountain Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Jeff, AKA Grub, and I decided to take a zero today at the White Mountains Hostel, as did almost all the 20 hikers who stayed here last night. Our plan is now to make it to Grafton Notch, 31 miles north, in two days, the second of which will include the infamous Mahoosuc Notch, which the Awol Guide describes as the, "Most difficult or fun mile of the AT." Miss America, a hiker staying here at the hostel, who started in Georgia but flip-flopped in Virginia, now hiking southbound from Katahdin, showed me pictures of the AT passing over, under, and around house-sized boulders during her hike through the notch.Assuming we make it to Grafton Notch by late Friday afternoon, we'll be picked up by Jim, who's been following my journal and offered to provide trail magic in the form of putting me up for the night in his house near the AT in Maine. When Jeff joined me at Pinkham Notch, Jim offered to host him as well.Today was a quiet day around the hostel. After eating a big breakfast included as part of the fee here, everyone sat around reading, tapping away on smart phones, and watching TV. Monologue, a section hiker from Ontario whom I first met at the Beaver Brook Shelter just below the summit of Moosilauke, has been here for several days waiting for the results of his test for Lyme Disease, which he requested after feeling run down for several days. Around noon we piled into the hostel's two shuttle vehicles for a ride to the Chinese AYCE buffet in Gorham. The minivan I rode in, which has a capacity of seven, had 11 hikers crammed into it for the four-mile trip. Around 6:00 we made a trip to Walmart for resupplying and buying food for dinner, which we ate around the hostel's massive dining table that seats 12. The zero day today, although testing my patience, is probably not the worst thing. There's been a steady rain all day, so hiking wouldn't have been pleasant over wet rocks and roots. I was feeling a bit of pain in both knees during the two rugged days from Pinkham after having been off the trail for six days prior to that. And Grub was nursing a slight sprained ankle from slipping on a wet rock yesterday. Just before 8:00 pm I received a text with a flash flood alert, affirming our decision to stay put.
Date: 2014-08-14
From: White Mountain Hostel

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

With all the rain we had over the last 24 hours, I had low expectations for the condition of the trail today. As it turned out, yesterday's rain manifested in many different ways. Early in the morning as we climbed out of Gorham, the trail appeared dry, but the ground was like a saturated sponge, spewing water with each step. For long stretches, water flowed down the trail as though we were hiking along a stream. And then there were the boardwalks. Most were in good condition, but during one stretch they were floating in the water, though it wasn't evident until you actually stepped on them, at which point they sank, and your feet along with them. One boardwalk was pre-sunk and hidden under the murky water, so you had have faith that it actually existed and guess at it's approximate location. Bottom line was that, despite lots of effort to keep my feet dry early on, my feet were wet most of the day, which is exactly what I expected.In addition to being extremely wet, the trail was very rugged, so it took Grub and I almost 12 hours to cover just 17 miles. We descended countless rock slabs with water streaming down them clinging to trees. Fortunately, the weather and scenery were spectacular. By early afternoon, the clouds had cleared, a breeze picked up, and the humidity vanished. We took a long afternoon break at Gentian Pond Shelter, where I took a dip in the pond and we dried our socks and shoes in the sun, though they were soaked again not far up the trail. The view to the south from the shelter's opening of Mt Moriah and the Carter Range, where we hiked Tuesday, was awesome.Late in the day we reached the 1900-mile mark where someone had laid out sticks on top of a boulder to form that number. And a few miles later we came to the New Hampshire/Maine border. It seems like it took forever to get across New Hampshire with the six zeros I took due to my shin injury and another at the White Mountain Hostel in Gorham. As I lie in my sleeping bag in the Carlo Col shelter, I'm excited knowing I've just entered the northernmost state on the AT.
Date: 2014-08-16
From: Jim and Ann's house via Grafton Notch

To: Hall Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: broken clouds

Jim cooked eggs over-easy for the first time ever this morning, and all six that I ate, along with the bacon and toast, were perfect. He then drove me 90 minutes back to the trailhead at Grafton Notch, and Grub to his car at Pinkham Notch. Jim and Ann were awesome hosts, and Jim outdid himself with the driving, pizza, laundry, and breakfast, which had me climbing The Baldpates full of energy this morning.With Jeff's departure, I was hiking alone today for the first time in weeks. I've been fortunate to have many relatives and pre-trail friends join me on my thru-hike. In tallying it all up, I've had a total of 33 "guest-days" altogether. For the remaining time to Katahdin, however, it will be just me and any other section- and thru-hikers I happen to meet along the way.The mountains in Maine so far seem to consist of a massive rounded rock covered by a skimcoat of earth on which the trees and moss grow. The trails often cause erosion that exposes the rock slabs just below the surface. In the case of East Baldpate, a swath a hundred yards wide is exposed, and the AT runs up the middle of the slab, resulting in spectacular views to the south and west.I was running out of steam late this afternoon on the way up Hall Mountain and stopped for a quick snack. Being fairly high on the ridge, I checked to see if my phone had service and took it out of airplane mode, at which point the following text came through: "Just summited. Awesome mountain. Where are you?" AZ, whom I'd hiked with off and on between Erwin, TN and Central Virginia and whom I described back in May as "the ultimate no-nonsense guy" when we parted ways at the James River, finished his thru-hike today. He did so with cool precision, crushing the trail in just four months. Since Pennsylvania, I've been at least one state behind him until I reached Maine two days ago. The first two words of his text, "Just summited," dominated my thoughts for the rest of today's hike and further stoked my burning desire to stand atop Katahdin.When I reached the Hall Mountain Lean-to (the word sometimes used for shelters in Maine) late this afternoon, Belch was there along with two northbound section hikers from Alabama, Grunt and Speedo. Just before dark, Rabbit and Putter rolled in. Belch, Rabbit, Putter and I had all been at the Carlo Col Shelter two nights ago and had all traversed Mahoosuc Notch yesterday but had gone separate ways last night before reuniting tonight.
Date: 2014-08-17
From: Hall Mountain Lean-to

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 21.1

It feels like fall up here in Maine. We've had several cold nights, and this morning, while descending Hall Mountain, I saw maple trees with a hint of orange in their leaves. The days are getting noticeably shorter, especially in the evening. On our way from Georgia, we've traveled not just north but east as well, so we're now near the eastern edge of the eastern time zone. Thus, the hike itself is causing the sun to rise and set earlier each day.Late in the day yesterday the rain started, and it continued through the night and into this morning. As a result, the trail, which had almost recovered from Wednesday's deluge, was muddy and treacherous with wet rocks and roots today. The slabs on Bemis Mountain must be made of different material than those further south in Maine, because today I was slipping repeatedly, which wasn't the case in the Mahoosucs, even though the rocks down there were wet as well. Fortunately, the forecast calls for several days of sunny weather, so hopefully the trails will begin to dry out again starting tomorrow.A few nights ago at Carlo Col Shelter, I met a hiker named Finn who was doing a yo-yo, thru-hiking north to Kadahdin, then turning around to retrace his steps to Georgia. He painted a picture of Maine as impossibly difficult, seemingly playing on the apprehension we felt the day before we would tackle Mahoosuc Notch. There's no doubt Maine is hard, with its constant ups and downs and rocks, roots, and mud. But today's 20-miler gives me confidence that I'll make it through this final state just fine if I keep putting one foot in front of the other.It seems appropriate that on a Sunday night I'd be sleeping in Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to. Whip, a section hiker from Blacksburg, VA, was here when I arrived, and Rabbit rolled in just before dark. The calls of the loons on the pond tells me it's time to go to sleep.
Date: 2014-08-18
From: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

To: Stealth campsite at Oberton Stream
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: moderate rain

I was awakened last night by a loud thud, and at first I thought a tree had fallen on the shelter, until I heard both Rabbit and Whip apologizing profusely to each other. It wasn't until the morning that I found out what had actually happened. Rabbit, who had started out in the middle of the shelter, had somehow made her way to the end where Whip was sleeping and had bumped him with her legs. Whip woke up thinking he was being attacked by an animal and flung her body up and away from him, causing the thud when she landed. They both were laughing when recounting to me what had happened.We had all agreed to get up at 5:00 am, as we wanted to get an early start today. The loons on the pond served as a backup for my watch, starting their calls just after my alarm went off. It was still dark and cold when the three of us climbed out of our bags and began to pack up by headlamp. The worst part of the day was putting on our cold, damp socks, which hadn't dried a bit overnight. Nor had the trails, due to several hours of rain during the night.I caught up with Rabbit at the road crossing for Rangley, where she was hitching into town for a resupply, and she eventually got picked up by a guy driving a truck labeled "Portable Toilet Rentals." I hope I see her again farther north on the trail, because I've really enjoyed her company at the shelters for the past week. I first met her at the White Mountain Hostel in Gorham when she rolled in while the rest of us were taking a zero due to the monsoon rains that day. Similar to Thor the Red, I've never seen her without a smile on her face. She's a strong hiker, on track to complete the trail in just over four months. While many women insist on hiking with a partner, Rabbit seems comfortable hiking alone, including through the Mahoosuc Notch. The 20-something lives in Cambridge, MA and is currently applying to medical school.In a follow-up text from AZ after the one announcing he'd summited, he said Maine was his favorite state, and I'm starting to understand why. With its many lakes, spectacular mountains, and lush forests, this state is a feast for the eyes. I'm willing to forgive it for its muddy trails due to its amazing scenery. Today the AT went over two more 4000-foot peaks, Saddleback and The Horn, both of which were above treeline. A strong wind was blowing clouds across the summits and making it hard for me to keep my balance. When I arrived at my intended destination, Poplar Ridge Lean-to, it was completely full, so Spider-Man and Blink, who Slug and I met back in Vermont, hiked on another three miles to a stealth campsite next to Oberton Stream, which I had to ford after almost 13 hours and 23 miles of hiking. My tent is 10 yards from a waterfall, so I expect to sleep well tonight.
Date: 2014-08-20
From: Straton Motel and Hostel via Rt 27

To: Campsite at Flagstaff Lake
Miles today: 17.9

Today was the last big climbing day before Katahdin, as the AT went over the two Bigelow peaks, West and Avery, the latter named in honor of Myron Avery, "whose foresight, leadership, and diligence made possible the Appalachian Trail," according to the plaque on its summit. Since the diner across the street where I ate breakfast with Steech and Branden, the caboose of the 2014 SOBO class, didn't open until 8:00 am, and I then had to get a shuttle back to the trail, I didn't start hiking until 9:30. My heavy pack from the resupply in Straton and the near-record heat kept me moving slowly all day. When I arrived at the first shelter, Spider-Man was there talking to the caretaker, who said from Bigelow on a clear day it's possible to see both Mt Washington and Katahdin. I kept that in mind and looked to the southwest and northeast for the two mountains, respectively, from both Bigelow peaks. I believe I saw the faint outline of Katahdin to the northeast, still 180 AT trail miles away, though much closer as the crow flies. Remember the AT is fondly regarded as the longest distance between two points.The narrow ridge near the summit of West Bigelow reminded me of a miniature version of the Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire, with its drop-off on either side and rock walls used to keep hikers from trampling the alpine vegetation. Spider-Man and I leapfrogged each other along the ridge until he wisely stopped for water at a campsite a few tenths from the AT, while I skipped that opportunity and eventually ran dry. In the evening we met up at a campsite beside Flagstaff Lake, which we have all to ourselves.I have my alarm set for 5:00 am so I can catch the "ferry" across the Kennebec tomorrow. The official way to cross this river on the AT is by canoe, which runs each day from 9-11 am and 2-4 pm. By leaving at 6:00 am, I hope I can cover the nearly 19 miles between here and there on time for the afternoon ferry and stay in Caratunk Thursday night, where a hamburger has my name on it. Otherwise, I'll have to stay on this side of the River Thursday and cross on the Friday morning ferry.A few miles into today's hike I passed the 2000-mile mark and was surprised at how little excitement I felt with this milestone. I suppose at this point I have my eyes set on a bigger prize.