morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-08-15
From: Garfield Pond

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 10.8

My first cold wake up since the Smokies 4 months ago. Must have been 40 degrees. I warmed up quick but the rain and wind started so I stopped to put the pack cover on. Most of the day was pretty much like other days ¢ just hiking. Bono and I stopped at Gale Head Hut for some warm food. It¢s funny how sensitive your nose gets to food that¢s cooking. I could smell it 1 mile away!   I had an endless bowl of potato-dill soup. It was not bad and I thought Bono might like a bowl. He didn¢t and turned his nose up to it! Go figure! Once lunch was over it was time to climb. Wet and windy climbing all day. Got lost for about 12 an hour and had to back track to find the Southbound Blaze. The reason I got lost is there was a notice at the Galehead Hut that there was a discrepancy on the signage coming up so it had me second guessing the direction. I actually went out to this vista to make sure it wasn¢t the trail and saw it coming ¢ rain floating across the valley ¢ North East. I know I was going to get it, but I didn¢t know how bad before it passed me by. Ended up I got soaked on the descent. Pulled in to Zealand Falls Hut to see a familiar face, ¢Quatro.¢ He said he was doing a work for stay. I decided to ask the staff if they wanted a dog show and Q&A for stay instead of work. They accepted. We were allowed to sleep in the storage closet which had just enough room for my air mattress and plenty of shelves to hang wet clothes. The show went on at 8:20 p.m. and started with Bono¢s show which as you might imagine went off great with the audience who was treated to live entertainment. I finished up with a 40 minute Q&A in which I educated on hiking the AT and hiking with a dog. Lots of laughs, especially when I had him fetch his bowl and he brought back his ¢booty!¢ He hates those booties. Why he brought that in was a shock to me! He then did it again with his pack. He brought back his bowl instead! Oh well, maybe he was nervous?
Date: 2007-08-21
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 11.8

Wow! Everything is so Grande! Not use to seeing for over 100 miles! Today was a clear and comfortable day to hike and thank god since I¢ve been carrying Bono¢s pack and 50+ lbs. since Mt Moosilauke! I¢ve been carrying not by choice, but because Bono got stepped on at the Reunion Party and his back paw is bothering him, bad. Rather than drive him into the ground, I figure I¢d take the weight off his back. Summited Mt. Washington at 12 noon today and it was a great relief for me to do so. I have been seeing the smoke from the Cog and the observation tower over 50 miles away for some time, since Mt. Lafayette and it seemed very intimidating to me! Today I decided it wasn¢t going to go away and needed to be climbed, so off me and my partner went. The summit was packed with tourists and of course it wasn¢t the big mountain but the dog with the booties that was the main attraction. Everything up here looks so close to the sight, but takes so long to hike to. It¢s very deceiving. On a side not, I want to thank everyone who attended the reunion party. Especially all those who made it happen. My sister, my mom, my girlfriend and the students and family, the Mulligans, the Gawlicks, the Simoneaus, the Ouellettes, the DePenasse, the Dubes, the Maskers and everyone else I might have forgotten. I realize gas is expensive and your time is valuable. Thank you for spending it with me! Once to the Madison Hut, I asked about work for stay and they didn¢t seem as excited as Zealand Hut, but they agreed to the show. I was showed the cellar and it was literally a dungeon complete with steel bars and a 6 ft. by 8 ft. cement floor. The rest of the floor was dirt and damp with water dripping from above. While I waited for the guests to eat, I was interviewed by ¢Wounded Knee¢ who does a show on WGBH, NH TV that should air in December. Once the guests were done, I asked the ¢Hut Master¢ how long she wanted the show to last. She said they decided not to have us (me and Bono) go on! This made me really mad! Not because I didn¢t want to clean the stove and wash windows, but because I told everyone who asked me ?¢s to save them for 8 p.m. and I would answer them at that time. It made me look bad for not keeping my word.
Date: 2007-08-27
From: Stealth Camp Past Carter Notch Hut

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

My excitement to enter the 14th state had me wired for most of the night and into the morning. I heard my alarm go off at 5 a.m. (I said I heard my alarm go off at 5 a.m.), but didn¢t get up until 6:30 a.m. Seeing the ¢Welcome to Maine¢ sign brought some emotions out of me as I reminisced back to the first day on the trail. As I left the NH state line and was now in Maine I paused to take a look back at how far we¢ve come, how much further I have to go and where I go once I make my final destination and enter into my mid life.Nearly lost Bono in a mud bog on top of Mt. Success. He stepped off a plank and sunk up to his bear bell, burying his two front legs! I thought I would have to pull him out, but he managed. Today we had a taste of some very tough climbing as Maine is already proving itself very formidable with its challenges. Getting Bono down some of these rock scrambles was a bit unnerving, as I had to lower him down three 8 ft. drops. I felt bad as he whimpered and whined as I encouraged him to go to the edge. He did awesome since I never trained him to be lowered ¢ his trust in me was incredible! The first time I lowered him I thought I broke my wrist as I held on to a root with my feet on either side of the notch. The last occasion saw him swing and hit the rock with a thud as he bounced off and came to rest. We finally made it through the tough part and had to fetch water .03 away and steep! Lots of challenging ups and downs with the hardest mile on the AT being tomorrow with Mahoosac Notch. I sure hope we do more ups than downs on these rock scrambles. Bono goes much better on the ups. He tends to want to be Spiderman and tries to run the rocks on the downs.
Date: 2007-08-28
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Stealth Camp 1.1 miles from M-26
Miles today: 8.6

Mahoosuc Notch, what a pain! We spent 3 hours trying to make it through that 1 mile of boulder fields! Once we passed the dead moose (the one south bounders had told us about 1 month ago) the work began! Although I didn¢t have to lower him by his leash, there were times when I almost had to. The only way I was able to make it through in 3 hours was because of the options you could take and still follow the blazes. Usually two routes of worn rocks got you to the same place. The notch is two steep mountain walls that deposited giant boulders over time (much like the Old Man in the Mountain who lost his face). As we crawled, slid and clawed our way North you could look up and see the walls of the notch in the warmth of the sun as we remained in the cool, damp shady and slimy obstacle course. Finally through, we had the Mahoosac Arm to look forward to, another steep and rock scrambly mountain. We did okay on this section. It was tough, but most of it was steep slabs that you had to smear your shoe to. I had Bono¢s booties on his hind legs for this. Finally we make it to the top of the ¢arm.¢ We make our turn for our descent when Bono walks directly into a mountain mud bog! And he almost went under! These bogs are deep! I¢d bet at least 8-10 ft. deep. There was a guy coming the opposite way and I think Bono got distracted by him and wasn¢t paying attention. The guy burst out laughing, but at the time I didn¢t think it was funny, so in my meanest maddest voice I said to him, ¢It¢s not funny pal!¢ and walked on past. Now that I look back at it, it was pretty funny ¢ mud right up to his chin! Made it to Speck Pond Campsite around 3 p.m. and even though I was spent, I decided to get water and move on. I should have stayed because I ended up taking a good fall on which I thought I dislocated my shoulder. Stepped on a root and found myself falling fast right to my elbow with all my pack weight coming down on top of me ¢ I was lucky!
Date: 2007-08-29
From: Stealth Camp 1.1 miles from M-26

To: Surplus Pond
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

Wrapped up came ¢ fetched the bear bag down from the tree (Yes honey, I hung the food!) 1,000 ft. descent to Maine 26. Checked the register and saw ¢Quatro¢ was a day ahead. As I started to climb I passed Baldpate Lean To (3 miles into my hike). I didn¢t check, but wondered if ¢Quatro¢ may have stayed there for the night? Climbed Baldplate Mt and passed a surveyor crew with all their orange hats. You couldn¢t miss them ¢ ¢Blaze Orange.¢ Made it up Baldplate Mt. East ¢ a spectacular climb ¢ a shear rock face exposed to the morning sun, a very nice climb! Took a 45 min. break and spotted someone on the west peak Baldplate, wondered who it was and tried to spot them in my camera. Just about descended and ¢¢Quatro¢¢ comes up. We hiked for a bit and he went on. He was hiking to the next shelter. Myself, I wouldn¢t make it that far after Mahoosac Notch and the Arm.Dunn Notch Falls was a steep fall that fell into this Gorge about 150 ft. down, awesome sight! Bono enjoyed the water above the falls, nice big pools to swim in for him. Crossing the E-bill Hill Road was also nice with a stream ¢ pools of refreshing water and some nice tent sites, but I should move on. Stopped at the road to empty my trash in a barrel someone had left. Been hiking some nice flat and easy rolling hills for about 2 hours. Finally getting the 2 mph speed back. Rolled into Surplus Pond around 5:30 and found ¢¢Quatro¢¢ there setting up his tent. We talked for an hour after eating. He hooked me up with some extra food he had which was good since I would have had to go to town for a resupply. Lights out at 8 p.m.
Date: 2007-08-30
From: Surplus Pond

To: Beamis Mt. Lean-To
Miles today: 17.0

The day started off with a climb up Wyman Mt. Took a break at the summit to see if I got reception. I did, but not great as to be expected. On my descent I passed an outward bound group that had a few questions for me, so I talked with thtem while I got my water. Made good time today with four miles coming in 2 hours like the ¢old days.¢ Made an entry in the log book at Hall Mt Lean-to about spiders and spider webs. They¢re trying to capture you and prevent you from reaching your goal. Move forward friends and complete your journey. I know the trail and everything that goes along with it must be getting to me? Thought about what the outward bound group was wearing in the line of footwear and attire and I thought about what I brought for clothes originally and came up with the slogan, ¢It¢s not a fashion show, but a function show.¢ What you carry simply has to work for you or leave it! ¢Quatro¢ caught up with me at the road crossing as I was getting water. We both looked up and saw Blue Mt and got intimidated for a second then I said, ¢Wait a minute, we got intimidated about the Whites and their behind us, then Mahoosuc Notch ¢ that¢s behind us. I¢m going for it!¢ Of course, the thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance so that motivated us to move pretty fast. Up and over ¢Old Blue¢ which didn¢t end up being so bad. Once again, ¢Q¢ caught up to me at the Bemis Stream Trail and saw we had 4 miles to go with thunder and fowl weather coming. ¢Q¢ took off first and we were coming up behind and the storm chasing all of us! Rain started to fall which wasn¢t bad, but still 3 miles to go to the shelter and I felt I was making great time, practically running up these Mts. I started to get frustrated when after 15 miles of hiking we were supposed to descend to the shelter. I felt I made great time, literally ¢throwing caution to the wind¢ with no regard for my legs and ankles on the wet roots and rocks. We kept doing these small ups and I started losing it and swearing at the trail! Bono thought I was yelling at him, so he would stop and I would get mad at him, almost lost hi at one point ¢ finally made it ¢ no worries!
Date: 2007-09-03
From: Beamis Mt. Lean-To

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-To
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: few clouds

Had a nice change of pace this weekend when I had my girlfriend¢s daughter, Kayla Warren, hike along with me. She¢s 10 years old and she did a great job accumulating 13.1 miles for the weekend. Who knows, some day she too might hike the AT?! Left out of the trail head parking lot around 1 p.m. with 10.7 miles to the shelter. Got about 12 hour into my hike when I realized I forgot my camera with my girl in the truck! I stopped and finally got a signal on my cell phone to call her to get her back to the parking lot. I thought about just letting it go. I¢ve carried that 5 lb. camera all the way with me from Georgia, but decided it was worth getting it since there would be a whole week lost with no pictures or videos to document it. I dropped my pack and ran back down the Mt.Up Saddle Back, down Saddle back, up the Horn, down the Horn, up Saddle Back, Jr. and finally to the shelter. Lots of ups and downs and incredibly windy on top Saddle Back. Could barely walk a straight line! Steep descents had me watching Bono since I loaded him up pretty heavy this time. Rangeley Lake looked incredible from where I stood on Saddle Back. I know pictures won¢t do it justice! Made great time cruising along at 2 miles per hour. The whole day finally making it to the shelter at 7 p.m. to find ¢Slinky Dog¢ sitting by the fire. I could hear as I approached the shelter ¢Is that Bono?¢ Then they said a Big Hello! Good to see fellow hikers I¢ve known since GA and TN. What a long road it¢s been. Last night I dreamt of all the places I¢ve seen and all the folks I¢ve met.
Date: 2007-09-04
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-To

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: clear sky

Below freezing and windy to start off the day today. So cold I made sure the last thing I did when I broke camp was take my warm coat off. I didn¢t think I would be able to put on my still wet with sweat clothes from last night, but I did. Once I started to climb the wind was ferocious and I feared a tree falling on me or my dog. That would be just my luck! Passed ¢Gig¢ and Leslie I think for the last time. I¢ve been seeing them ¢slakn¢ south bound for the last 5 days or so. Ran out of water treatment. This too would be just my luck to get sick on the very last leg of my journey, not getting sick the whole entire trip from bad water!I decided not to go up Sugar Loaf Mt. since it was .05 off this trail. Part of me for some strange reason wouldn¢t mind the trail going right over the summit. Don¢t see why they don¢t route it there? The weather turned for the better later on in the day and it was very comfortable hiking mid day. Actually, it was hot on the exposed ridge descent to the river down below. Couldn¢t believe my eyes and ears ¢ ¢Tick!¢ going south bound! Thought I¢d never see him again! He flip flopped and was hiking with a friend from back home. Good to see him. We had some great laughs! 14.2 was enough for me today and it was nice to end the day at 4 p.m. with sunlight to work with instead of hiking until 7 p.m. The day before I was up until 9:30 p.m. getting all my stuff together before I bedded down. Today I had time to sit in the sun and enjoy the end of a good day of hiking. Chores are done and it¢s time to turn in.
Date: 2007-09-05
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Avery Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

Was a bit rough getting started with the cold and all the wind blowing. I¢m usually pretty good at changing out of my sleeping clothes and into my hiking clothes, but not this morning ¢ slept in (1/2 hour later than usual) and threw clothes over my sleeping clothes and got bundled up to hike. Once I hit S. Crocker Mt. the blood started flowing and the clothes came off piece by piece. The winds been blowing now for 3 days ¢ I can deal with the cold, the only thing I don¢t have and need are my gloves. Can¢t hold onto my poles because my hands are numb!Crossed ME 27 and had lunch for an hour since I didn¢t take a 10 a.m. break. The weather changed and it got quite warm climbing up Horns Pond Trail from 1,450 ft to 3,200 ft. Stopped in for water at Horns Pond Lean-To ¢ spring was dry which is right by the caretakers hut. I thought to myself, ¢Couldn¢t he have put a sign under the water sign saying spring dry?¢ I¢m sure lots of hikers would appreciate it and not stop to take their pack off to get water when there is none! Summiting South Horn (3,831 ft) me, Bono and another guy came to the top at the same time. Spooked, Bono barked at the guy and I (as usual yelled) ¢He¢s friendly!¢ The guy¢s response was (in a sarcastic tone) ¢Yeah that¢s how all my friends greet me!¢ I bit my tongue. When I was about to say ¢Save your sarcasm you ¢Fruit Loop.¢ You are obviously not a dog person. Instead I said he barked because you surprised him. As the guy passed by Bono not even petting him I noticed he had a caretakers patch on! So I thought (what do you know) I decided to lay into him about the dry spring. I said sarcastically, ¢Hey, ya think in your spare time (the guy was out hiking, not caretaking) you could put a ¢Spring Dry sign up so guys like me don¢t take off their pack for nothing!¢ His response was ¢Well there¢s a pond right there.¢ I just looked at him ¢ finally he said I guess I could do that and walked on.
Date: 2007-09-06
From: Avery Memorial Campsite

To: West Carry Pond
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Pretty cold at 3,800 ft and I was very anxious to go so I could warm up! Up the Avery Peak first thing and that did the trick, except it was very strong winds at 4,090, but I managed to do a short recording on the summit. Because I felt inspired by the plaque and the man the Mt¢s named after. Through perseverance and diligence Myron Avery built the AT which is the most famous foot trail in the world! Time to descent and look for the 2,000 mile painted in the road which says I¢m an official long distance hiker. The mileage marker is moved back since the distance increases every year and someone made a 2,000 mile sign with rocks on Little Bigelow Mt. 0 the paint in the road was done in the year 2000.Got side tracked with trail magic by ¢Walkn Home¢ who hiked the trail in 00. Glad they saw me because I had my head down dead set on the mileage mark in the road. Along the way I stopped to get water in the stream and nearly had my dream of achieving my goal cut short when Bono dislodged a boulder weighing approx. 300 lbs.! He was on the bank above. I was down below with my legs outstretched over the stream. All of a sudden I hear this heavy crashing and before I could move or react this boulder was stopped short of me by this log running parallel to the stream. If that log wasn¢t there the rock would have surely crushed my leg! I paused and blessed myself looked up and Thanked God! For my noted excitement. Made it to the road with the 2,000 mile mark, but had no way to get a good photo. As I came from the woods, a truck passed by then turned around. The guy asked if I was hiking? Yes, I asked if he could take some photos of me and Bono. Dam if I could remember his name? I had it and didn¢t think I would forget it? Nice guy. We talked and I gave him the website. Hopefully he signs the guest book. Then I¢ll have his name!
Date: 2007-09-10
From: West Carry Pond

To: Moxie Bald Lean-To
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Finally I have something to write about. No more, ¢Woke at 6 a.m. ¢ left the shelter by 7 a.m.¢ Anyway, woke at 7 a.m. and left by 8 a.m. (HeHeHe!) Well I did get a bit of a late start because when you go to bed soaked and wake up to the sound of rain knowing your going to do a repeat, it kind of works on your morale! I figure I can handle it for a couple more weeks since I¢m now on the home stretch. Once I got going, it wasn¢t so bad, but it was slow going. Lots of wet roots and rocks. I did manage to fall on my butt a couple of times even though I was taking ¢Granny steps!¢ Definitely don¢t wan to get hurt now, especially with my left Achilles tendon giving me problems. Lots of blow downs today and on one particular one I had to crawl on hands and knees and when I bumped the tree I heard this buzz sound and thought, ¢Oh Great, I¢m about to get stung by 100 underground mud wasps!¢ Instead, when I stood up I was face to face with a hummingbird! How cool as he checked me out not more than 5 ft. away! I call these birds ¢little aliens.¢ They are just so incredibly fast, definitely one of my favorite animals to witness. Ironically, 15 minutes later I stopped to read a note someone left in the trail ¢Giant hornets next 15 ft. above your head, look but don¢t disturb!¢ As I peered up I saw the biggest nest I¢ve ever seen! ¢Look but don¢t disturb!¢ Funny, I an out of here and fast! One more climb before the shelter and as we climbed almost to the top of the summit, someone put a picture memorial for Larry Poulin on a rock face. This place was very special with all kinds of cool rock formations and rock roofs. Next to the memorial was a huge split in the rock about 20 ft. deep and at the end someone placed a statue of Mother Mary up on a rock shelf. Now I almost didn¢t see it at first, but the most awe inspiring thing about this statue is the sun that had just come out for the first time today was shining in this crack right on the statue. It made the place seem very holy. You had that sense about it. I had to take my pack off and take my first picture of the day of this special place in Maine.
Date: 2007-09-11
From: Moxie Bald Lean-To

To: Monson, ME - Lake Shore House
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: fog

Third day wet and my feet are showing the wear with a burning itch. Luckily, I was able to dry my tent out a bit, although the floor of it remained wet. The wind blew all night as the loons sang their song. Even though it wasn¢t raining in the morning, I was tempted to stay in my bag, but did get up at 5:30 a.m. My earliest start in a while. I left at 6:30 a.m., not long after the rain started. Around 11 a.m. I took a food break and wrote in the register (Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to) ¢ prayer for the victims of 9-11 and I also wished my sister Paula a Happy B-day. Time to go, back into the rain as I¢m starting to get cold sitting around. Going for Monson, ME today. With this completed I¢ll only have 114.5 miles to go!!!!!! It¢s been a long time coming and I¢m ready to get it done! 17.9 miles will be the highest mileage since before the ¢Whites.¢ It helped that the terrain was relatively flat today and the rain motivates you, especially when you know after 3 days of wet feet you are going to have a dry place to sleep and a clothes dryer to dry our wet clothes, AHHHH! Conveniences! AHHH, ME 15 trail magic at the road. Nothing but a bag with empty cans, though it is nice to see the sign, Welcome to Monson, ME! Now¢s the time to put the thumb up and hope for a ride to the hostel 4 miles away. Great, it¢s starting to rain even harder now and we¢re out of the protection of the trees, so now exposure to the weather and cold is taking its toll. Awesome, a ride! A teacher in Monson who has 7 students and teaches grades 1-5 ¢ the way school used to be. Her name was Jackie and she brought me to Shaw¢s, a well known Hostel in town, but it was full. Ended up having to walk down the street to another hostel. Luckily, they take dogs ¢ AHHHH ¢ comfort!