morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-06-23
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-To

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 9.0

Best. Decision. Ever.White House Landing totally was not in the plan. Phil was set against it at first. . . after all, we are in the 100 Mile Wilderness. There is "no place to get help" between Abol Bridge and Monson. So when I suggested that we rest at White House Landing, he may have sensed that as a chickening out move. But I mentioned the magical words and he was in.All you can eat breakfast.But of course before we got there, we had to ford the stream of doom. In Maine, a stream is not a happy gurgling thing like it is in Minnesota. In Maine, a stream is there to take your life away. It's pleasant, really. In order to get to the spur trail to White House Landing, we had to get past TUMBLEDOWN DICK STREAM, which you have to admit is an awesome name. Phil enjoys fording because he is seriously bizarre, but I did not particularly want to swim my way across so I scouted out another way. And what I found was a log "bridge" twelve feet above the water. It was made of four or five rotting logs that someone had draped between land and an island in the middle of the stream. It seemed like a good idea at the time, so I inched my way across, hoping the logs would not break. They didn't. I am still alive.So we took a .9 spur trail off the AT to a boat landing where I blew an airhorn (first time for everything) and eventually a guy came over to get us on a boat. WE WERE ON A BOAT!And so Phil and I are paying far too much for bunks in the bunkhouse, but we met up with Caleb, who stayed at the AT Lodge with us back in Millinocket! He was much faster than we have been, but his feet are raw with blisters, so he's been staying here a few days. My feet are pretty raw too, it feels good to rest them. We each got a shower and sort of washed our clothes, which felt good. I inadvertently got Phil's boots sopping wet and he is still speaking to me, so that is a good sign.Tonight we paid a lot of money for a lot of food, and our stomachs rejoiced. Between the two of us we ate a 1-pound deluxe cheeseburger (it was HUGE) and a very large pizza and chips and I think we drank about a gallon of water between the two of us.It's kind of ridiculous. But it was soooo good. And for one night, Phil is not lamenting how pathetic supper is. That, my friends, is worth more than I can say.Best quote so far on the trail, overheard at White House Landing:"Ma! I shot him at least ten times! But my BB gun ain't workin'! That squirrel won't die!"
Date: 2009-06-24
From: White House Landing

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

After an AMAZING breakfast at White House Landing, Phil and I were fueled up and ready to tackle a long but not particularly strenous day. I wore my Croc knock-offs all day long and my feet do regret it, but the trail has been more like a stream and there is little point in even trying to keep my feet dry. Good news: my heels are almost healed. Phil must have feet of steal, I swear, because he hasn't had a single problem with his feet yet. Lucky man. Today we crossed JO-MARY ROAD! It's MINE! So now we are at Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To but staying in a tent because the trail register talked only about the terrible bugs in the area. I love having the option of sleeping in the lean-to or setting up a bug-proof shelter. We opted tonight for no bugs. There's a nice little tent site by the water and I'm waiting for people to come into the lean-to. So far the 100 Mile Wilderness has been pretty deserted.Phil learned today that the water is really cold.Today we saw the SUN for the first time since Katahdin. We also saw a wild turkey, which would be a lot more exciting if it would hold still long enough for us to catch it and cook it. Mmmm.
Date: 2009-06-25
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To

To: East Branch Lean-To
Miles today: 8.1

My feet and Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) felt pretty awful today. We had one of our first serious fords, which I am sure I will look back on and laugh at quite a bit. We made it to the East Branch of the Pleasant River (lies, all lies) and inched our way across. I ended up going for a swim there because the water felt so good and I was already wet. As I was lounging in the water I heard thunder, so I managed to convince Phil to stop a few miles earlier than we were going to to avoid climbing a mountain in the lightning.Today basically was nondescript, except for a brief moment on Little Boardman Mountain when a moose tried to run over Phil.
Date: 2009-06-26
From: East Branch Lean-To

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean-To
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Oh, what a day. Up and down, up and down, and that original up up up! A few folks compared today's climb to Katahdin - I don't believe that, though it was a very long climb. It's obvious that the Maine Appalachian Trail Club has been hard at work, for the fresh-looking stone steps on Whitecap Mountain were incredible and made the climb easier.We reached the top and instantly the clouds came in and we got no view. None. But it was cool to eat lunch in the clouds with the guys we met back at East Branch - Ninja and Steven (Root Beer Float). We've been leap-frogging them all day in our hike.Phil and I talked about food for hours today while we hiked. Usually we hike somewhat together; he always climbs faster than I do so then I lose him and I'm sometimes faster at descending, but today because of all the ups and downs we stuck together and discussed every possible food, holiday food, spice, dessert, and Dairy Queen treat you can imagine.I really want some root beer and he really wants a Reese's Blizzard.
Date: 2009-06-27
From: Carl A. Newhall Lean-To

To: Chairback Gap Lean-To
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we walked off Map 2! Only one more map in the 100 Mile Wilderness!But now we are in the Barren Chairback Range. Dun dun dun. For a day that wasn't supposed to be too bad, it was rough. My knee got hurt yesterday somehow and today, hiking in wet feet, my lower half of my body just kind of felt like it was falling apart. Luckily I packed the duct tape!We hiked by the Gulf Hagas area today, whose name we don't understand one bit, but which was beautiful and supplied us with many many day hikers to gawk at. Wow . . . hikers who don't have to carry 30 pounds on their backs. Cool! Hikers who don't offend themselves with their own stench. Wow!We met our first ridge runner today. Ridge runners are hired by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to patrol high-use sections of the AT and make sure all is well. Gulf Hagas is very much an at-risk area, and so Andrea is making sure no hikers make stealth camps there, that everyone adheres to Leave No Trace, etc. The huge pine trees were lovely to walk through.Phil had a revelation today about his dream of becoming a professor. He was hiking up Chairback Mountain bouncing ideas off of me and had a particularly explosive outburst when along the trail came a northbound hiker from Australia who probably thought we were both insane. Then again, we're all hiking 2,000 miles, so . . . This lean-to is old and the register mentions "evolved vermin." Greeeeat.Night #3 with Ninja and Root Beer Float. It's been fun to have the company on the hike. It's also been freezing cold, which means NO BUGS. Gotta look on the bright side of this Noah-esque flood.
Date: 2009-06-28
From: Chairback Gap Lean-To

To: Cloud Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: light rain

I questioned my sanity more than once today. It started benignly enough - mist. Endless mist. I haven't seen the sun in forever. Mist, mist, mist. We climbed Columbus, Third, and Fourth Mountains. We were going to go 4 more miles today when the skies decided to dump upon us. We made it to here and that was all we had in us. We both had some pretty bad falls today. Phil's was spectacular. He would have gashed open his head if his pack hadn't buffered him.We found more trail magic today! Someone left a partially-remaining bag of M&Ms and an apple on top of the mountain. It was an INCREDIBLE find! We scarfed down the M&Ms and saved the fruit for part of supper. Yay trail magic!Last night Phil got his trail name, should he choose to keep it. As we played Spades with Root Beer Float and Ninja, Phil started talking about backrubs and somehow it happened that he was given the name Hungry Creepster. Not THE Hungry Creepster, for he is very much anti-definite-articles, but just Hungry Creepster. Lovely. Just a delightful trail name. I am sure there has never ever been another Hungry Creepster.And so it goes.
Date: 2009-06-30
From: Wilson Valley Lean-To

To: Stealth Site Near Road
Miles today: 10.4

Today was good - much better than yesterday. The problem with yesterday included a ford that felt like a deathtrap. Around lunchtime we met up with Mudpuppy at a lean-to where she had been staying for a couple of days hoping for the water levels to go down. She was rightfully terrified of fording it. There was a rope to grab onto above my head, but it was very high up and the water was rushing so fast that I knew if I let go, I would be swept downstream and that would be that. I'm not even really being dramatic. The entire time I was crossing I clung to the rope and shouted to myself "DON'T LET GO, YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT." The water was so loud that Phil, who was never far from me, never even heard my shouts. (This body of water, by the way, was also known as a "stream.")After that fun ford, the trailbuilders decided to route the trail right over the TOP of a WATERFALL with fast-moving rushing water. GREAT IDEA! I went upstream to ford it and still felt unsafe.There were a few other nondescript fords yesterday, but the worst was when I fell really hard and smushed my face and knee. Ow.Phil is still fine.But TODAY, today was fine. It didn't RAIN (!!!), there weren't huge ups and downs . . . Phil saw snakes . . . we had only one big ford and that was almost fun, but really dangerous.We got to Little Wilson Stream (again with the "stream" stuff. Come on, Maine. Call a river a river.) and there was no way to ford it. I'd heard of this stream from some NOBOs we met earlier. They said they got across on a log. Sure enough, a huge tree had conveniently fallen across the stream. I scooted onto it and started sliding across. The only problem (other than the not-so-conveniently-placed knobs) was that another tree had fallen across the fallen tree, so 2/3 across, the way was blocked. Thank goodness for two Quebecois/French girls who were on the other side and managed to grab my pack for me, allowing me the freedom to stand up easily and climb over fallen tree #2. It was rough. Really rough. Thank you, Wolf Ridge ropes course . . . We found out later that the women who helped us across were actually in charge of a camp of teenagers and they were attempting to get them all across on a 17-day hiking trip to Katahdin. I would not want to be in charge of them. What a nightmare. Phil tried to convince the girls that there were crocodiles in the river but none of them really spoke English. Good times.So that was fun! But we also saw our shadows today which was unbelievable! Now we are stealth-camped by a beautiful lake only a mile or so from Monson. Tomorrow: civilization. Root beer and ice cream. Pizza. And an all-you-can-eat breakfast. Life is really, really good. Even if I did get leeches when I tried to swim.
Date: 2009-07-01
From: Stealth Site Near Road

To: Shaw's Lodging
Miles today: 2.0

Today Phil and I went hitch-hiking for the first time. After about a mile I got tired of being passed, so I insisted on being the one to stick out my thumb. I turned around to face the cars coming so they (in theory) would note that I was not scary. It did not work. Then Phil said something like "Jo, I'll never say this ever again, but you'll look more like a girl if you let down your hair." Those were probably not his exact words, but that was the point. So I let my hair down and it cascaded over my shoulders and the next car pulled over for us.Score.The older man was perfect for our first hitch-hiking experience. He had a bumper sticker that said "I'm Going Nucking Futs" and he told us all about his bloodwork he'd just had done at the hospital. Perfect.Shaw's was also perfect. The first thing they said to us as we walked in was "Do you want breakfast?" Phil's heart grew three sizes that day. Dawn and Sue in particular have been amazing.Monson is a beautiful little town. It's still got a little General Store where you can jam on instruments with the owner. Cornbread and Phil spent hours sitting there and singing whilst Jo ate her second BLT in two days and Root Beer Float finally got his root beer float.While in Monson we had the chance to make friends with Abbi and Frances at the library, the pizza ladies at the MobilMart, and we got to meet old friends too: Ninja turned up, Mudpuppy emerged from the wilderness, and Caleb/Cool Change was in town too, though we didn't see him. But I also got to meet Anya and Josh. I've been friends with Anya for awhile on Facebook and it was fun to meet her in real life. Do we have to leave?
Date: 2009-07-04
From: Shaw's Lodging

To: Northern Outdoors
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: moderate rain

Phil and Root Beer Float and I are alive and well in The Forks/Caratunk. After much debating we decided to do a road walk to The Forks to avoid the W. Branch of the Piscantiquis River, which was nipple-high on Ninja and probably much much higher on someone like me. Plus it's been raining for, um, ever.So we hiked on the AT for about 2 miles yesterday til we reached a certain road, then we walked northish (?) to Shirley, then we took Shirley Tote Road (which turned into an ATV trail) to a road over on this side of the world. It was crazy. Roadwalking is faster, of course. I think it took us only a day to go 20 miles or so. We stealth-camped last night where it was not exactly legal, so whenever anyone went by we had to hunker down and hold our breath. That was, um, fun.Also, there was a big storm. If a tree falls in the forest and the only people who hear it aren't supposed to be there, did we actually hear it?Today we walked perhaps 10 miles on the ATV trail before it hit the road, then we sat down by Moxie Lake for lunch and the bus for Northern Outdoors went right by us . . . and that was our destination. Sadness.We hiked a mile down the road when a guy pulling out of his road waited for us and wanted to know where we were going. He gave us a ride into The Forks and talked and smoked nonstop. He know the guy in charge of the ferry on the Kennebec, and man was he a character! Anyway, he talked about how his buddies were over last night and how much pot they smoked and RBFloat and I were in the backseat trying not to laugh out loud. He had to pull over about three times to go talk to people he recognized in passing. But he drove us right here to Northern Outdoors!We are sharing a cabin tent, which is exactly what it sounds like, but there is a light! And I spent HOURS in the hot tub already, and there is a pool, and it's great. $9/night. We are ahead of schedule now, which is okay. We'll fall behind sometime I am sure.We didn't expect to be here so soon, but when it's pouring rain it's darn hard to refuse a ride.
Date: 2009-07-04
From: Shaw's Lodging

To: Northern Outdoors
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Hey everyone, Phil here. Happy 4th of July! I'm excited for the all you can eat cook-out here at Northwestern Outdoors tonight. The sky has cleared up and there may even be fireworks here in the soggy northwoods of Maine. This entry is maine-ly just to clarify that I am indeed here on the hike and that Jo isn't making me up. I exist. I will write more in the Trail Journal soon! In the mean time I'm leaving the typing to Jo's speedy and capable fingers. Further stories of travel and travail to come, Phil
Date: 2009-07-05
From: Northern Outdoors

To: Stealth Site by Lake
Miles today: 10.6

Long, hard day upon leaving Northern Outdoors. The highlight of the day was getting ferried across the Kennebec. Years back someone drowned trying to ford it. It's 70 yards long under normal conditions and due to a hydro-release dam upriver, the depth fluctuates so much that trying to get across without a boat would be idiotic. (Though it looked less scary than some of the fords we've done, honestly.) I paddled my heart out in front and the ferry dude paddled in back and eventually we made it across. We also made it across a dam of death today. Under normal water circumstances it wouldn't have been so bad, but as it was we took our time and thankfully Jeff, a section-hiker doubled back after he made it to help us find the safe spots to step. Trail angel.We found a nice spot by a lake and decided we'd gone far enough. We are camped under a widow-maker, granted, but hey . . . can't have everything at a stealth site.
Date: 2009-07-06
From: Stealth Site by Lake

To: Little Bigelow Lean-To
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Beautiful, SUNNY day! We woke up by East Carry Pond, lunched at West Carry, hiked apart for most of the day, Phil rescued my lost bandana that fell out of my pocket, oh, and there were actually DRY sections of hiking. Is this Maine?!Now we are at Little Bigelow, along with a Chewonki (sp?) camp of boys. The counselors are really cool and gave Phil a burrito, so he is happy. It's so fun to share sites with people, and this was a well-behaved camp. I was hoping for a couple of rounds of Kumbaya, but alas . . .
Date: 2009-07-07
From: Little Bigelow Lean-To

To: Safford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: light rain

Today was torture.We woke up to wet, cold rain. It was all I could do to crawl out of my sleeping bag. We had planned to go up and over all the Bigelows and camp on the other side, but we got five miles to the first campsite and we had to stop. I have never been so cold while hiking. It was ridiculous.We took the side trail and found a house-sized rock that formed a sort of cave. The trail to the actual tent site looked like a river so we made the cave as homey as possible, and I curled up in my sleeping bag and shivered for hours. We made lunch and soon Ninja came by, who also decided to try to stay warm under the cave.That was great until the cave got flooded and everything we own got wet. Good times!Thanks to another camp counselor, we decided to head into the actual camp site, where we set up on a platform and did our best to stay warm. Ninja, who only has a bivy sack, shared the counselor's tent for the night (Phil and I briefly thought about trying to fit another in ours, but we are not that crazy.) It was a cold, wet, miserable night.
Date: 2009-07-08
From: Safford Notch Campsite

To: Stratton
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

Whew!Today was not nearly as frigid as yesterday, though again it was hard to get out of my sleeping bag in the morning. We packed everything up and headed up to Avery Peak. It was eerie on top because we were inside of a cloud and it was raining (I saw FLURRIES) and there was an old building on top, and the whole thing seemed like part of a movie . . . South Peak was not quite as dramatic, and by the time we reached the Horn I was in hiking mode and just trying to get through the day.Eventually we reached Horns Pond, where we ate. Phil stayed behind this morning and made rice for lunch, which he stuffed in a bag and which was still lukewarm for lunch. It was wonderful to have a not-cold lunch ready for us without taking the time on-trail to make it. From Horns Pond it was all downhill to Stratton, which was the only thought getting us through the wet, sloppy miles.Stratton itself is quaint, tiny, and pretty cheap. We got a cool room with bunkbeds at the White Wolf - but that is another story that involves a pirate, a cross-dresser, and a time when I am not paying so much for internet access.
Date: 2009-07-08
From: Stratton

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Stratton continued.So we made it into Stratton to the White Wolf and upon entering, saw Ninja who looked darn near presentable. We wanted a room, since the hostel was filled up and I was desperate for a little privacy. All of a sudden a women who works there came up to us to help us. She was dressed as a pirate."Good thing you came today," she said. "We're closed tomorrow." "Why?" one of us asked. It was the middle of the week and our guidebook said nothing about random closings."We're all going to court," said the pirate.". . . oh." How do you respond to that?The pirate went on to tell us all about how the local cross-dresser in town had taken things a little too far with his (her?) getups and behavior, and how when the hotel had taken issue with it, the cross-dresser apparently sued. Or something along those lines. Great.But in the end, we got our room (with bunkbeds!) and Phil set up the tent to dry inside our room (it was awesome) and we went next door to Northland Cash Supply, which has the greatest pizza and seriously the best BLTs of all time.And this, my friends, was the night when Phil discovered Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I will let him speak of his newfound passion. I couldn't really do it justice.
Date: 2009-07-09
From: Stratton

To: Stealth by creek
Miles today: 2.0

Simple day. We sat around and waited for the mail to come, hoping against hope that the Steripen would have arrived. (It did not. Jo is not amused in Steripen land.) Thus, a very late start out of Stratton, but on the bright side I got to call my cousin Madeline and my nephew Daniel who have birthdays around today and torment them with my singing. Always a silver lining.The guy who gave us a ride to the trail today was almost normal. It was disappointing, really.
Date: 2009-07-10
From: Stealth by creek

To: Stealth by moss
Miles today: 10.3

Sun sun sun! Oh what a day! I feel good, I ate well, the sun is out . . . it helps so much. We had an easy ford of the Carrabassett River and it felt good. I hate to admit this after all my complaining, but I might miss river fords just a little.Maybe not.We ate lunch atop South Crocker Mountain, descended 2,000 feet and then back up 1,500. I got turned around on top of Sugarloaf Mountain and freaked out. I don't think I have ever been so happy to run into Phil. He wanted to head up a blue-blaze (side trail) to the peak of Sugarloaf (Maine's second-highest mountain) and I had zero interest in the endeavor, so I took the tent and headed on to find a stealth site for us.The BEST part of today was sitting on the Sugarloaf climb and a freakin' helicopter went right past us. We were at the same level as the helicopter. Dude.
Date: 2009-07-11
From: Stealth by moss

To: Popular Ridge Lean-To
Miles today: 9.1

Another beautiful day!Here we are at beautiful Poplar Ridge Lean-To, which on my map is mis-typed "Popular" Ridge. Phil and I have long been speculating what makes it so popular.I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who works to maintain lean-tos. It has never been so obvious as here, where Dave Fields (I think that is his name) has written up a huge document about the history of the area and an FAQ that made the night at the shelter amazingly interesting.Also of note is that we have met the Graff brothers, Blue Rhino and Slip n Slide. They are big-bearded guys from Virginia who have hiked through all the same muck we have. Fun to share the shelter with them, even if it was a bit gassy.