morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-08-24
From: caughnawga

To: stratton pond
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: broken clouds

more hiking. it's still beautiful. vermont smells so good.we all ended up at a gmc hut that had no camping around it. it has been awhile since any of us has slept in a shelter. it felt a lot like georgia again - being cold, being in the mountains, sleeping in a shelter with a bunch of people...
Date: 2006-08-25
From: stratton pond

To: manchester center
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

a short hike into town. i saw my first deer in a long while. it was pretty exciting because it was huge and obviously wild and not accustomed to people. very different from the deer in shenendoah and harriman. once again, i had to hitch into town by myself, but as soon as we started to drive off tu-tone and hollywood came out of the woods. the guy who picked me up was awesome and stopped and waited for them to hop in. manchester center is great! very cute (though very fancy) town with everything you need. i finally got new hiking poles (my second pair broke only three weeks after i got them - so annoying) also i got new insoles because my feet have been hurting pretty bad. they feel great now.
Date: 2006-08-26
From: manchester center

To: bromley mountain warming hut
Miles today: 3.0

spent all morning in town. got a delicious breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage, homefries, toast and pancakes and of course lots of coffee) and then hung out at the bookstore for a while. we ran into garden gnome who has been sick and we haven't seen him in awhile. after lunch about ten (or was it twelve) of us squeezed into a truck and headed backl to the trail. we only made it three miles, though. as we came over the last hill there was a ski lift thingee (looking like a spaceship with all the green grass and mist) and a warming hut that we decided to spend the night in. people played hackey sack and sang songs and read discarded celebrity gossip magazines. it was a fun night.
Date: 2006-08-27
From: bromley mountain warming hut

To: little rock pond
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: light rain

it's raining and freezing. after a couple hours we came to a shelter where a fire was blazing. aaahhh, so nice. after warming up and eating lunch i hiked on. there were amazing views from bakers peak, despite the weather. and then there was the most gorgeous pond i've ever seen. despite the cold i had to take off my shoes and socks and wade in so i could take in the entire pond and it's surroundings. it was awesome.
Date: 2006-08-28
From: little rock pond

To: secret shelter
Miles today: 18.2

i went to the whistle stop cafe, a half mile off the trail, for lunch and ice cream. later, two step and snake eyes showed up, but two step is sick and has decided to go into rutland. so it was just me, gnome, pixie and danger and blue and mr. miyagi hiking on (where is tu-tone?) after hiking a while, we found some sodas in a stream! and then a little while after that, more sodas! how amazing. then we found a sign indicating that there was a shelter on some private property near by. our goal was the gov. clement shelter, but we were all feeling a little wary because it is right on a road and apparently is used by the town kids as a party hut.   so we followed the instructions on the sign, half wondering if we were walking into some trap, but delighted to find the sweetest shelter ever.
Date: 2006-08-30
From: rutland

To: stony brook
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

took the bus back to the trailhead. it dropped us off pretty far so there was a lot of walking to get back to the trail, but oh well. for some reason ended up hiking pretty slow and didn't get to the shelter until after nightfall. oh, i forgot, trailboss showed up in town last night and tu-tone finally caught up!
Date: 2006-08-31
From: stony brook

To: campout somewhere after rt 12
Miles today: 14.7

all i really remeber about this day is stopping for ice cream. we had to rush to get there before the place closed. I shared a blueberry pie and a pint of ice cream with trail boss. it was really good, but then i sorta felt like we ate it just cause it was there and is usually such a treat. we ended up only hiking a few miles up the trail until we found enough flat ground for our three tents. it felt a little sketchy. and then all night i heard animals snorting and hoofing through the bushes. as usual, i was too tired to investigate and just told myself it was deer and went back to sleep.
Date: 2006-09-01
From: campout somewhere after rt 12

To: west hartford
Miles today: 11.6

trailboss and tu-tone had to pick up mail in west hartford so i waited for them near the interstate right after town. an hour or so later a van pulls up and they tell me to get in. turns out they met a guy in town who offered to let us stay in his garage. it was pretty much the worst night of my life, but the guy was nice to let us stay so i won't say anything more about that.
Date: 2006-09-03
From: HANOVER

To: hanover
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

took a zero day today. stayed at baltimore jack's, he was awesome. we had a big bonfire last night and i met tea tree and 8 who were hiking south. spent the day just hanging out in town with tu-tone and the others. i'm sad about missing everybody else who hiked out last night, and also i am nervous about the whites, but i guess it will all work out.
Date: 2006-09-04
From: hanover

To: Moose Mountain
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

it took us a while to get out of town. we had lunch at quiznos - so delicious! then we went to cvs. when i came out tu-tone was asleep on the sidewalk. he woke up and we hiked out. shortwave and i made it to the shelter a little after dark but tu-tone was m.i.a. i hope he didn't fall asleep on the trail.
Date: 2006-09-05
From: Moose Mountain

To: hexacuba
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

awesome hiking today. i loved smarts mountain, even though it was pretty tough going. i love hiking up out of the trees and arriving at some great view. i went up a firetower, too. i love firetowers. hexacuba shelter was fulll of dartmouth freshman which was annoying, but i set up my tent, made dinner and went to sleep listening to the rain (and wondering what happened to tu-tone and now shortwave also m.i.a.).
Date: 2006-09-07
From: glencliff

To: kinsman notch
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: scattered clouds

mt. moosilauke was amazing! i loved how the trees changed the higher up you go. and then the first glimpses of the distant mountains - wow! i didn't hang out too much up top because of the dartmouth groups being loud and stuff, but it was still pretty cool. the clouds kept rolling in and out so i would have an amazing view one moment, and then nothing. i hiked down to the next shelter for a break where i saw gator again and met breeze. then hiked down cascade falls. what was that!? soooooooo steep and scary. yes, it was cool hiking next to the cascading waters, but, for real it was hard. some places had wooden steps attached to the almost vertical rockface, but then a step would be missing and you would have to slide down a few feet and hope you land right. scary. (but cool, too). by the time i got to the notch i didn't think i could hike another step, my knees were killing me from that descent. there was a good stealth campsite there but it was barely three o'clock, too early to set up on the sly. so gator and i walked up to the lost river tourist attraction and got snacks and hung out for a bit before heading back to the notch for the night.
Date: 2006-09-08
From: kinsman notch

To: lonesome lake hut
Miles today: 13.4

the trail started out fine but then got really muddy and kept slipping in up to my ankle. not terrible, but annoying nonetheless. then i got to hike up south kinsman. wow! hellishly steep with some rock scrambling. so much fun even though it's so hard and tiring. i loved getting near the top and then turning around and seeing the most amazing view and then climbing up a few more feet and then seeing more of that same amazing view. i was going to camp at kinsman pond because i got there around 4:30 and figured iot was too late to go to the hut and ask for work for stay. it's risky because supposedly they only take two thru-hikers and i knew if i didn't get it it would suck to have to hike another mile or so to find a stealth site. but i was still amped from mt. kinsman and decided to go for it. i didn't want to get there after 6, which is when they eat dinner, so i practically ran the whole way. i don't know how i did it, but i made it there a little after five and they let me do work for stay. breeze was there, too. we had to move a bunch of firewood. but then i just sat at the lake looking at franconia ridge, amazed that i would be hiking it tomorrow. and then after the guests ate dinner we ate with the crew. so much delicious food! chicken and broccoli and salad and lentil soup and coconut cake. yum!
Date: 2006-09-09
From: lonesome lake hut

To: greenleaf hut
Miles today: 9.3

so i found out that working at the huts is terrible in the morning. i had to wake up at 6:00 so they could prepare the dining room (where we were sleeping). then i had to hang around for two hours until we would get breakfast. two hours with no coffee! so i went down to the lake and saw the most incredible thing! a whole moose family - bull, cow and baby - grazing across the lake! i watched them for like twenty minutes before they went back into the woods. the bull went last, stopping here and there to eat or drink and then he shook off the water and trotted out. i felt so lucky!after breakfast (and coffee!) i hiked out and up to franconia ridge. i was so nervous because thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon. the ridge is all above treeline so it can be dangerous in a thunderstorm. i decided to go up and check it out but if it looked bad i would camp at the liberty spring campsite. on the way i ran into the whole gang - prana, iroc, trailboss, blue and mr. miyagi. prana's dad was hiking with her and he is from the area and had lots of experience hiking in the whites. they both felt confident that it was safe to go across, despite the rain. we all went as a big group and stuck together. it was phenomenal. despite the rain the views were amazing. fog would roll in and everything would disappear for a while but then it would all come back into view. i loved every minute of it. then the thundercloud came closer and closer. i got more nervous and also was pretty tired, so i decided to go the extra mile off the a.t. to the greenleaf hut. another big gamble, but it turned out perfectly. they gave me work for stay and the minute i got there the storm turned terrible and lightning was everywhere. i worried about everybody else, who had decided to keep hiking, but was glad to be warm and safe in the hut.
Date: 2006-09-10
From: greenleaf hut

To: galehead hut
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: overcast clouds

i didn't start hiking until pretty late. i was the only thru-hiker at the hut and had to clean the bunk rooms which involved sweeping and folding all the blankets (like 120 of them - three on each bunk - it took forever). i was hoping for some good views on top of mt. lafayette, but it was still pretty foggy. then i ran into blue and mr. miyagi. they told me about the terrible night they had running from the thunderstorm and setting up camp on the side of the mountain and getting soaked. i'm glad i decided to go to the hut. we got to the next hut and ate some soup (all you can eat for $2!). the hut croo was awesome, they even cooked up some vegetarian soup for blue and miyagi! eventually everybody showed up and we started to play a board game about the a.t. then we ended up staying the night. they let all of us sleep there but only had three slots for work-for-stay. most people had enough food, so breeze, crescent city and i took it. the food was really good. oh and snake eyes and two step caught up. it was good to see them again after so long! still no sign of tu-tone and shortwave.
Date: 2006-09-11
From: galehead hut

To: crawford notch camp
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

nice hiking today, not too hard. stopped at zealand for soup, but they were out. ended up deciding to hitch to crawford campsite to resupply. when i got to the trailhead, prana and iroc were there with a former thru-hiker stitch who was awesome enough to offer us a ride to the bunkhouse (as well as give us chips and sodas). she ended up even taking us to a town many miles away so we could get food at a grocery store and dinner at a restarant. it ended up being a great night. the bunkhouse was awesome, too. really nice owners and the place was clean and cozy. plus i got a shower and laundry, always a plus.
Date: 2006-09-12
From: crawford notch camp

To: lakes of the clouds
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

today we start the presidentials! so exciting. but first we hiked out of crawford notch, up webster cliffs. it was hard, but fun. we stopped at mizpah hut for soup. dan no-pliers who i hiked with up until damascus had been working at the campsite there and i was looking forward to seeing him again, but it turned out that he hiked out in the morning and left from pinkham notch, two days away. so my dream of hiking with him again hasn't come true. at the hut there were already ten or twelve other thru hikers but they let us stay anyway. we played trivial pursuit and i read a little from a book about tragic accidents in the white mountains (why do i torture myself like that?)
Date: 2006-09-13
From: lakes of the clouds

To: madison springs hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

the views from the hut were amazing. it did look like lakes made of clouds in the distant mountains. the hike up to mt. washington (highest point in n.h.!) was short and probably not that hard, but the rock hopping wore me out. i stayed at the summit for over an hour, writing postcards and eating at the snackbar. it was fun. i hiked out with prana, iroc and trail boss. they decided to moon the cog railway when it passed by. i was the photographer. unfortunately, the spot we were waiting in was only five or ten feet from the tracks and when the cog went by the engineer threw coal at us! still, it was fun and as we hiked on and then heard another train coming we dedcided to do it again! this time i joined in, but i messed it up. i thought mooning was a quick flash and you're done, but apparently you're supposed to bare it until the train goes by, which was like five minutes and i was the only one standing there with my pants up not knowing what to do because i thought i was done. it was awkward, but fun.everybody dedcided to go over the summit of jefferson on the loop trail but i decided to be a nerd and stick to the a.t. even though the summit would be more exciting. then i thought i could take up a side trail and meet them and go back the same trail and thus not miss any of the a.t. but the trail was straight up a jumble of loose rocks with only one faded blue blaze. i must have gone up like fifteen feet when i realised i was probably risking my life and went back down and headed to the hut. the rest of the trail felt really hard, maybe because i was tired, or maybe because it's hard.i got work for stay at the hut. they were awesome and even brought us cake while we were hanging out. my job for the night was to give a presentation on thruhiking. i was nervous, i used to hate public speaking, but it went okay. i can't complain because it's probably the best work-for-stay you can get. sure beats cleaning the bathroom floors.
Date: 2006-09-14
From: madison springs hut

To: pinkham notch
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: fog

hiked to pinkham notch and got some lunch at the snack bar. everybody else was deciding to stay at the notch but it was like $50 per person. trail boss's dad was there with a car so trail boss drove me, two step, snake eyes and breeze to gorham where we split a hotel room. so nice to shower and sleep in a bed.
Date: 2006-09-15
From: pinkham notch

To: zeta pass
Miles today: 8.6

today i hiked the wildcats. wow. it felt even harder than the hardest day in the whites. maybe it's because we're so worn out (despite the short mileage days and hotel rest). still i loved every minute of it. the rock scramble stuff is fun. we stealth camped in zeta pass.
Date: 2006-09-19
From: gentian pond

To: full goose shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

i woke up to an amazing view right outside the shelter. no moose at the pond, though. i keep hoping.at one point i was lost in the hiking and then i looked up and saw the sign - "welcome to maine." i can't even believe it!anyway, the plan is to hike through mahoosic notch and camp at the end. the notch is reportedly the hardest mile of the a.t. and some say it can take three hours.i rushed over the goose eye mountains (gorgeousness) to make sure i would have time, but the terrain was harder than i expected, a lot of pulling oneself up boulders and sliding down them etc etc. i didn't get to full goose shelter until three, which only gave four hours of daylight to make it down the mountain and through the notch. it's tight, but i thought, maybe... then it started to rain, so i set up my tent and called it a day.
Date: 2006-09-20
From: full goose shelter

To: speck pond
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: clear sky

turns out the "dangerously steep" downhill into the notch wasn't bad at all. and the notch was a lot of fun! sure, it was hard word, scrambling over and under giant boulders, but i loved it. some of it was pretty scary, too, a lot of jumping and hoping to land correctly on a far away pointy rock. then there was the arm, which i was also warned about. yes, it was incredibly steep, steeper even than coming down mt. moosilauke i think. but i loved it. i got to speck pond shelter and saw possum, who i hadn't seen since bear mountain. it was good to catch up and the pond was just so incredibly beautiful that i dawdled too long and thought better of hiking 7 more miles. plus, i lost the group coming out of gorham and figured they should be there tonight. so i stayed.
Date: 2006-09-21
From: speck pond

To: ANDOVER
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: few clouds

last night was so cold! i kept waking up and shivering and putting on more clothes and still shivered. it was so hard to get out of my sleeping bag this morning. last night when blue and miyagi came in they said it was snowing. it was definitely cold enough.it was freezing even while hiking! i was wearing every layer i had. and the wind was blowing so hard, 45 miles an hour i think. it was actually a lot of fun hiking, i felt like an arctic explorer, especially on the huge gorgeous rock slabs. it was scary, though, i kept getting pushed over by the wind and had to hunker down pretty low and push against the wind the whole way. baldpate mountain was so amazing. maybe my favorite so far. the views of maine - wow!tu-tone and i decided to hike all the way to town, a big day, considering the low miles we've been putting in. we got to the road and waited for a hitch but it was a narrow road going nowhere with no cars. eventually a truck came by and we hopped in the back. the driver was going almost seventy and the wind was ferocious but it felt so good to be lying there, braced against the wind, eyes tearing, looking out at the trees and mountains whizzing by and the sky was so blue and the clouds were so perfect and i was just so incredibly happy i wanted it to last forever.
Date: 2006-09-24
From: ME 17

To: piazza rock
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

finally made it out of andover! the highlight of the day was finding canoes by one of the many ponds we went by. tu-tone and i stopped for a smoke and i said if we are taking a break anyway, we should do so in a canoe! so off we went. it was so foggy we couldn't even see the shore and everything echoed so loud and eerily so we just sat in the middle of the pond making sounds and scaring ourselves. soon breeze and trail boss joined us in the other canoe. good times.
Date: 2006-09-25
From: piazza rock

To: perham stream stealth camp
Miles today: 13.6

saddleback mountains today. it was gorgeous! i love going above treeline. of course it was super windy and cold, but i'm getting to love that. especially amazing was going over and down the other side of the horn peak and all of a sudden the wind stopped howling and there was complete and mysterious silence.
Date: 2006-09-27
From: stratton

To: safford notch
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

somehow we didn't get out of town until after eleven. the hike over the bigelows (just the first part) was pretty cool. it was hard, but i'm sure mostly because everybody told us it was cake. again, above treeline = awesome. i think we saw katahdin for the first time. tomato gravy and iroc were pretty sure that that's what we were looking at. it was a little too abstract to get excited about, but still... the end of the day was exhausting. it started getting dark and i hate night hiking, but as we neared the campsite we could smell a campfire and that lifted my spirits. we finally made it and iroc and prana were there, fanning the flames. it's been a while since there's been a campfire, i almost forgot how good it is.
Date: 2006-09-28
From: safford notch

To: pierce pond
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: overcast clouds

twenty miles today. it's been awhile. the terrain was mostly flat, so it wasn't so bad. only we didn't leave the campsite until after nine a.m. so it was another nighthike. maine is so incredibly beautiful i can't stand it.   there were so many ponds today, all gorgeous, it was so hard not to sit at each one for an hour, especially late afternoon when the lighting was so magically golden. towards evening i was so tired and achy from walking all day and of course as soon as it got dark the trail became all muddy and rocky after being mostly flat all day. but i made it to the shelter in one piece only to find out i had just missed seeing a moose.
Date: 2006-09-29
From: pierce pond

To: caratunk
Miles today: 4.0

today is the big payoff for the big miles yesterday. first of all, i had the best night's sleep in a while! i was so warm and cozy and slept through the entire night. we woke up to the sound of loons calling and then went to nearby harrison's camp for the famous "lumberjack breakfast" - 12 pancakes (with apples, raspberries and blueberries) eggs, sausage, juice and coffee. it was so wonderful and i ate it while sitting at a table overlooking a stream and a waterfall. it doesn't get much better than this. then a short hike to the kennebunk river, where we had to cross in a ferry (really a canoe). it was so awesome - i'd been reading about the ferry for years and now i was in it! i can't believe it! i can't believe that i'll be climbing katahdin in less than two weeks!
Date: 2006-09-30
From: caratunk

To: pleasant pond
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: overcast clouds

got a late start today and waited with breeze and trailboss forever for a ride. almost ended up walking the few miles to the trail but finally got saved by a former thru-hiker (isn't that always the case?)we got to the shelter pretty early and made a campfire. it was awesome to just relax in the woods and enjoy ourselves.