morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-09-01
From: Lincoln

To: Garfield Campsite
Miles today: 10.2

Garfield Ridge Shelter, 10.2I started out this morning at Liberty Springs trail head parking area. Doing this added and extra 0.8 miles to the day. The climb was not to bad other then it being real hot today. I reached Little Haystack Mountain and thinking the next mountain ahead of me was Mt Lafayette in to be disappointed by finding out it was Mt Lincoln. Then when I got on top of Mt Lincoln I looked ahead to finally see Mt Lafayette. I was already tired by that time. It seemed like it took forever to get up and over Mt Lafayette. I still had to get over Mt Garfield. I ran out of water about two miles short of Garfield Campsite and lost every bit of energy I had. I was very happy to see Garfield Pond. I filled my water bladder and drank a bunch.When I was climbing Lafayette Restless Legs was walking southbound. He got off the trail back in Bland because of shin splints. He was at the same motel I was at there. He healed up and now he hiking south to where he left off.When I got to the top of Garfield someone yelled down to me from the foundation of the old fire tower. It was Lefty. He did not remember me so he asked my name and yelled back to someone. I heard someone say "he's cool". I don't know what that was about. When I got to the foundation I looked over the edge and saw Giant, T-rex, Skrabbit, LB, and Lefty. They had all there sleeping bags and one tent set up inside the foundation. They said that they were waiting for the sunset and were going to sleep there. I though about it but I was worried it would get cold there, besides the foundation looked full with them in it.When I arrived at the campsite it was a little ways off the trail and the tent platforms where I had to hang my hammock were a ways behind the shelter. I got lazy and put my sleeping bag in the shelter. It was to dark when I arrived to be trying to look around for trees to hang my hammock from. There are only two section hikers here in the shelter with me tonight. I don't know where everyone is that was leaving town today. No one passed me today. I hope they do not roll in late tonight.I was looking at the map for the day after tomorrow. That was when I was going to try to be at Lake of the Clouds Hut. I am suppose to meet Hopper at Zealand Hut for the night. Then the next night at Mizpah Springs Hut, that is where I see an issue. I just looked at the map and that is a 14.1 mile day. That is a big day for the Whites. I am not sure if I can or want to do that for miles in the White.
Date: 2010-09-03
From: Zealand Falls Hur

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

Crawford Notch, 7.7   I slept good last night. I was able to sleep through the mouse over my head trying to chew through the wall.   I woke up not feeling good. My stomach is weasy and I feel very flush in the face. I am finding it hard to even move. I don't know whether it is a bug or something else. The way I feel now I will be lucky to make it the eight miles to the road crossing. I know I will not make it to Mizpah Hut. I can now see why people quite in the Whites. If there is ever a time I felt like quitting it is now and it is running through my head constantly right now. I did not want to go on.   Well, I did hike on but did not want to. Chef, Puma, Forest, Timon were still at the hut waiting to get breakfast for there work for stay.   On the way down from Zealand Falls Hut I lost my balance and landed on my right hiking pole and bent it at 90 degree angle. I was very ticked off. I probably said every four letter word there was, that was how upset I was. I knew if I tried to straighten it that it would snap off but I had nothing to lose so I tried and sure enough it snapped off. I had to hike most of the remainder of the day with one hiking pole. Skrabbit, DB and Lefty came up behind me about one mile before Ethan Pond Shelter and I let them pass. I stopped into Ethan Pond Shelter for a break and for me to lay down for a while. When I arrived Skrabbit, DB and Lefty were there eating lunch. They moved on and then Giant rolled in and ate and left. I laid down for a bit there before I ate.   After eating and laying down for a bit I felt a little better. When I got to Crawford Notch I decided because I still was not feeling good that I would hitch to the AMC Highland Center to see if I could get in for the night or head back to Lincoln to see if could get my broken hiking pole fixed. When I got to the Highland Center the shuttles were not running anymore for the day to where I wanted to go. One of the volunteers named Brian overheard us and offered us a ride but said it would be a little bit. This gave us time to get something to eat. When I got to Lincoln I went to the outfitters and they replaced the broken piece of my hiking pole.
Date: 2010-09-04
From: Crawford Notch

To: Lakes of the Clouds
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: fog

Lakes of the Clouds, 11.1   Very very windy today. I put on my long john shirt and my hiking shirt over the top of that. I also put on my convertible pants on with the legs attached. With my rain coat on to fight the wind off we went. The wind gust were pretty constant so all I had to do was lean into the wind most of the day. Every once and a while the wind would suddenly stop and catch me off guard and I would lose my balance and start doing a run forward to right myself before I fell forward.   When we got to Lake of the Clouds hut I ran into Freeman and his dog Damascus. I thought they were weeks in front of me. He said that he had gotten of the trail because he got garidia and just got back on a week ago. He left about 1/2 after we arrived. Shadow, T-rex, and ****. Were also sitting here in the hut waiting for this evening so they could do work for stay.   I went for a short walk before dinner tonight up a little on the trail south.   The dinner tonight was beyond belief. The start with vetable soup and salad. The main course was mashed potato's, cranberry sauce, pea's, and turkey. It was just like Thanksgiving. The desert was moca cake with topping. I never in my wildest dreams thought they would serve something like this in a remote hut. We got our moneys worth tonight.   Tonite for thru hikers are, Forest, Gaint, Chef, Shadow, Pebbles, Skrabbit, DB, Puma. Timon, Lefty, T-rex, ****.
Date: 2010-09-06
From: Mount Washington

To: Glencliff
Miles today: 5.1

Glencliff, 5.1   I headed back to Glencliff today to pickup the 28 or so miles I skipped to jump ahead to meet my hut reservation that I made. Tomorrow I will slack pack south from Kinsman Notch to Glencliff over Mt Moosiluak. Then the day after I will slack pack north from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch. Then weather permitting I will catch a shuttle back to the summit of Mount Washington and continue northbound again.   When I arrived at the hostel in Glencliff today I was very surprised to run into Bismarck and Bluesky. They told me that I just missed Chili and Pepper. B&B we're packing up to slack pack over Mt Moosiluak. Bluesky left somewhere around 11 am and Bismarck left over an hour later. I was very surprised at how later they left for this slack pack over this known to be hard mountain. I would not have left this late in the afternoon. They did another daring thing too. They left me all there gear and told me to have the shuttler here at the hostel drop it off at the address in North Woodstock when he dropped us off at the trail head in the morning. When I talked to the shuttler (Fat Chap) he said he had no idea where the place or the address was, he had never heard of the place. I will check my guidebooks in hopes that there is a phone number that I can give Fat Chap. If not then I have no clue as to what to do.   Shortly after Bismarck and Bluesky left Llano came in for the night. It was nice to see her again.   We went to the store and got some hot dogs, buns, chicken strips and cooked them up for dinner tonight.   Hopper went to bed around 7 pm as usual while camping. Everyone else sat around the fire out back talking and having a few drinks until almost midnight. This was one of the best times I have had sitting around the campfire this whole trip.   Vegan was here tonight. I first met him back at 501 shelter when his girlfriend was hiking with him at the time and they had just had a vegetarian pizza delivered.   Crazy Fox, Colonel, Piere, Vegan, Special Needs, Giggles, DC (Dry Clean), Loon, Eastwind, Moment, Chickadee, The Cheshire Cat, Agent Orange.
Date: 2010-09-07
From: Glencliff

To: Glencliff
Miles today: 9.5

Glencliff, 9.5   There were five of us that slack packed south from Kinsman Notch to Glencliff today. Dry Clean, Llano, Hopper, a section hiker and myself. The section hiker took off as soon as we got dropped off and the rest of us remained together the rest of the day. The first 1.5 mile to Beaver Brook Shelter was a real pain because it was steep. I was out of breath, weak and just could not get my mojo. Prior to the shelter I ran into Puck who has been carrying a hockey stick as a walking stick for his thru hike. I also ran into Bluegrass and Big R. Bluegrass told be he recognized my name from the registers and because he was hiking with Gypc Girl for a while when ever she saw my name in a registry she pointed it out to him and said she would like to catch up to me. He told me that she was about three days ahead of him right now. When we got to the shelter I laid down and relaxed while the other three talked to a day hiker that was at the shelter. I also ate a peanut butter whoopie pie I bought the day before. When we headed out from the shelter I felt a little better and the climb was not as steep. It was still about 2.5 or so to the summit of Mt Moosilauke though. When we got to the summit there were half a dozen day hikers up there. A few of them asked if where we came from and when we told them Georgia the questions started rolling in. After the day hikers left we took our summit photos. We sat at the summit for about an hour eating lunch and relaxing.   The descent was not as steep as the climb up but it was a lot longer. It took a toll on my knees today. During our southbound slack today we ran into Moment, Chickadee, Colonel, Crazy Fox, Piere, Vegan, Special Needs, Giggles, LB, Skidmark, Weasle, Studmuffin, Tigerwoods.   When we got back to the hostel we went to the store to get some things for dinner. I got some chicken to cook on the grill and some baked beans. I walked into the common room and saw G Hippie sitting there so we caught up on things. It had been a long time since I had seen him.   Just before dust Dancing Wing and Indiana walked in and it was Dancing Winds birthday and Loon and Eastwind had gotten a watermellon and stuck candles in it for her and we all sang happy birthday to her.   I was able to log onto facebook tonight and it seemed like everyone wanted to chat with me. If felt good to hear from everyone.   Here tonight are G Hippie, Deadman Walkiig, Indiana, Dancing Wind, Loon, Eastwind.
Date: 2010-09-08
From: Glencliff

To: Franconia Notch
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: broken clouds

Gorham, 0.0    Today I decided to take a zero day. It poored most of the night last night and it was threatening rain when I got up this morning. I was watching the weather this morning trying to plan for the day that I go back to the top of Mount Washington. As of now the best day looks like it is going to be Saturday, 11 September. That leaves me Thursday and Friday to get the Kinsmans done.   We went to Lincoln today to get my other hiking pole fixed at the outfitters. When I extended my left hiking pole yesterday and tried to tighten it the pole would not tighten into place. I removed the pole and noticed that the lower pole had a split down the middle. I was able to get it tightened enough to use ysterday. The outfitter gave me a new lower pole section. I also had to buy a new warm weather hat while I was at the outfitters because somehow mine did not get sent with my cold weather gear that was sent to me from home. After summiting Washington and my ears getting cold I did not want to go through that again.   While we were in Lincoln we ran into Chili and Pepper at the Subway next to the outfitters. We sat and chatted and they asked questions about the Whites because Pepper was concerned once we told him that Madison Hut was closed and Lake of the Clouds was closing on the 11th. I told him about the list of stealth sites that was out there. I had the list on my phone and he asked if I could email it to him. I did it while we were sitting there.    Today I decided to take a zero day. It poored most of the night last night and it was threatening rain when I got up this morning. I was watching the weather this morning trying to plan for the day that I go back to the top of Mount Washington. As of now the best day looks like it is going to be Saturday, 11 September. That leaves me Thursday and Friday to get the Kinsmans done.   We went to Lincoln today to get my other hiking pole fixed at the outfitters. When I extended my left hiking pole yesterday and tried to tighten it the pole would not tighten into place. I removed the pole and noticed that the lower pole had a split down the middle. I was able to get it tightened enough to use ysterday. The outfitter gave me a new lower pole section. I also had to buy a new warm weather hat while I was at the outfitters because somehow mine did not get sent with my cold weather gear that was sent to me from home. After summiting Washington and my ears getting cold I did not want to go through that again.   While we were in Lincoln we ran into Chili and Pepper at the Subway next to the outfitters. We sat and chatted and they asked questions about the Whites because Pepper was concerned once we told him that Madison Hut was closed and Lake of the Clouds was closing on the 11th. I told him about the list of stealth sites that was out there. I had the list on my phone and he asked if I could email it to him. I did it while we were sitting there.
Date: 2010-09-09
From: Franconia Notch

To: Gorham
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Gorham, 0.0   Slept a little late this morning but I can do that because I am taking a zero day. It looks like I will be taking a zero day again tomorrow and then heading to the top of Washington Saturday to pick back up where I left off.   While I am here in Gorham I have several small drop boxes to put together. I have to put some together for East Andover, Stratton, Monson, and one for the 100 mile willderness.   I am very concerned about things going on at home. Things like money being spent, wood not being bought for winder yet are just two things that concern me. It has taken a large ammount of energy out of me and exhausted me physically just thinking about it.   I have spent a lot of time on Facebook since I have been on the trail when I am in towns and other places to stay, more time than I probably would have back in the real world. I have discovered that there are some people that do not seem to have a life beyond facebook. It is very sad to think that facebook can rule someones life.   I went to dinner at the local mexican restaurant and as soon as I walked in the door I saw Gipc Girl sitting in a both with Rocket. It was so great to see Gipc Girl again. I sat for over an hour chatting. They both got off the top of Washington earlier today. They said it was raining when they left Lakes of the Clouds hut and they were soaking wet and cold when they reached the summit. Rocket stated that she could hardly feel her fingers she was so cold and wet. I am glad I ran into Gipc Girl because she is no longer on the trail. Mad Mike is coming to pick her up Sunday. He passport expires and she has to return to Austrailia. She is really sad that she did not have enough time to finish her hike. She only needed a little less than four more weeks. If she had not broken her foot way back in Hiawassee than she would have already summited Katahdin by now and the passport would not have been an issue.   Rocket also said she was heading back up to the summit of Washington on Saturday. I invited her to come along with me and she excepted. That will give me someone else to hike down to Pinkham Notch with that day.   The plan right now after Saturday is to head out again on Sunday and hike from Pinkham Notch to US2. That is of course if the hike from Washington to Pinkham Notch does not wear me out. I have been told by other hikers that it takes a toll on you. Some have said not to do it all in one day, but I will be doing it as a slack pack rather than a full pack.
Date: 2010-09-10
From: Gorham

To: Gorham
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Gorham, 0.0   We took another zero day today because of the weather. It is not real bad here in Gorham but it is overcast and drizzling, I am sure it is real crappy on top of Washington. It is suppose to be real nice tomorrow.   I had breakfast at one of the local dinners. While waiting for my breakfast I did some calculations and figured that I will most likely summit Katahdin on the 8th or 9th of October or even sooner.   There is a geocaching event going on in Eustis Maine on the 25th of September that I was hoping to attend. Stratton is just a mile or so down the road from Eustis and fellow geocachers said they would pick me up at the road crossing and bring me back. It looks like I may a day early for the event. I could take a zero in order to make the event but with me getting close to the end and the closing date of Katahdin I need to be careful of my zero days. The way I have it now I will be only hiking 10 mile days throughout Maine. I did this because I really enjoy Maine and wanted to take the time and exsorb all that has taken place over the last six and more months and prepare myself for the ending. I am sure some of those 10 mile days will turn into 15 miles days because of the cold weather starting to come in, the excitement, and the want to stay with my other hiking family that is pushing towards the finish. I am really hoping that what ever group I fall into prior to my finish date will also want to slow down and and do something close to 10 mile days also, but I doubt that is going to happen.   Today I am heading to the post office to get four priority box to create for four food drops in Maine. After I get the boxes it will be off to Walmart to get the supplies to fill the boxes. From my figures each box will only need for days worth of food supplies.   When I went to the post office today to get my priority boxes for my mail drops in Maine I ran into Jaybird. He was looking thinner but was his same old grumbling self. I was bitching about the post office losing his camera. Then when Hopper came into the post office he made a commit about talking to hikers that are not white blazing. That comment went right over her head because when I asked her later she said he was referring to me. She did not realize he was talking about her, O well.   We went to Walmart and I got enough food to build four mail drops for Maine. I also bought some burgers to cook on the grill for myself tonight. While I was cooking I put together the four mail drops.   I called Rocket and told her we would pick her up in the morning at 07:30 and be heading up the Waskington Auto Road at 8 am.
Date: 2010-09-13
From: Pinkham Notch

To: US Route 2
Miles today: 21.1

US Route 2, 21.1   I stopped at the Pinkham Notch AMC center store and got a new pair of leg gators, mine were in bad shape and all shreaded up.   The day started out overcast. It never got any better all day long. Once up into the clouds on Wildcat Mountain it could not decide weather it was going to rain or drizzle. It switched between rain and drizzle while going over all five summits of Wildcat. I got pretty wet but stayed warm because of all the climbing.   I ran in a thru hiker named Ice when I reach the gondola on Wildcat and he was miserable and said he was having a bad day and thinking about taking the gondola down. I told him there was no shame in doing that and that he could always take it back up when and if he was ready to resume.   While climbing one of Wildcats summits I ran into Coopa and Big O. Last time I saw them was in the Shanadoah's when I was making up the section I skipped. The got off the trail at Duncannon and flipp flopped. That means they went to Mount Katahdin and started heading back. People usually do that when they are not going to be able finish there thru hike in time before Katahdin closes or the weather gets bad and the snow comes. We chatted for a little while. They told me that Yatazee was coming behind them. That all flipped together. They were concerned about going up Washington. I told them my story and about slack packing down from Washington and told them that in my honest opinion that that section of the trail for me was the worst. They said they had thought about slack packing it and I highly recommended it to them. They were also concerned about the Whites and all the rain and if I were them I would be to. There is only one day of some sun in the forcast for the next week. I sure hope the weather clears up after that, I would hate to hike through Maine in the rain. It is my home state and I have hiked it before and know how beautiful it is. I would hate to have the last part of my hike be miserable when all the rest was good. I hope that there is no fog in Maine like what I have experienced today.   I lost my hiking hat somewhere I pulled everything apart and could not find it. I ordered a new one online tonight and had it sent to East Andover.
Date: 2010-09-20
From: Grafton Notch

To: East B Hill Road
Miles today: 0.0

East B Hill Road,    Staying at The Cabin is an experience everyone should experience. The Cabin is actually closed as a hostel now but accepts alumni hikers that have been there in the past. I have been friends with them for years, I am an exception to the rule. Hopper is an alumni hiker who has stayed there before. She stayed there with her husband when he thru hiked.   It is really too bad that they are not open to all thru hikers. The owners Honey and Bear are so friendly and would give you the shirt off their backs. It was at its time one of the best hostels on the trail. Its a shame hikers can no longer experience it.   Rocket and I stopped at Baldpate Lean-to for a break and a snack while Big R moved on.   When we reached the west peak of Baldpate it was very windy and cold. It was hypothermic weather. We put our rain coats on to cut out the freezing cold wind. It was still cold but not as bad. When the wind got under my rain coat hood it acted like a parachute.   We caught Big R when we got to Frye Notch Lean-to, he was eating. Rocket and I stopped for a quick snack and moved on. We were suppose to meet Hopper at the road crossing at 4 pm and as it was we were not going to make it. We were slow on the climb out of Frye Notch but once going downhill we were walking at a 3 mph pace. We made it to the road at about 5 pm.   The Cabin had baked beans, turkey sausage, corn bread, brown bread, potato salad, and cold slaw for dinner.