morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

monson. not really. i'm actually done with the trail right now but SHHHH. don't tell. i have traveled back in time to tap into my brain at a moment about a week ago in order to bring you this update. monson had no internet machine thingers so looks like this is the best i can do. we sit on the edge of the wilderness. a strong 3-day 80+ miles caught us up to groove, guthook and fedex. we plan to finish as a crew. 7 NOBO ballers rollin up to the big K together. Target is june 30. i think that makes it 127 days for me. Shaws is fantastic. so fantastic that we had to take a zero here. i never knew monopoly to be such a tiring game, but it sure made my knees hurt after 4 hours of making change for my poor tenants. perhaps i shall kill them. two cases of bud, 5 bags of chips and a few gallons of ice cream. all you need to get ready for the end. it's so close. i'm tired. too tired to even put together a sentence much less be funny about it. sorry kids. even blues clues had some bad episodes. meeting tons of SOBOS. i have to be honest, at first it was cool, but i'm already sick of you guys. i'm not trying to be a total ass, it's just that it's really annoying to hear about how hard the trail up ahead of us is from someone who has hiked essentially none of the trail on what is one of the flattest parts. just shut up when you see NOBOs in the beginning. they don't want to hear about how hard white cap is. unless you give them jelly beans. also take all of that shit out of your pack and stop complaining (something that i do nonstop these days). adding some weight. gonna carry the hammock again and sling a full bottle of champagne all the way up to the K. big deal. as long as my big toe doesn't swell out of my skin i'm set. see you on the flipside. it's been fun. peaches
Date: 2007-08-20
To: Baxter State Park
Miles today: 0.0

I just finished packing with 20 minutes to spare before I head to the bus station to start a 17-hour trip to Bangor - I need to learn not to procrastinate so much. From Bangor it's going to be about an 85-mile hitch to Baxter State Park. Hopefully the hitch will go smoothly since it's pretty much just two roads. My pack weighs a ton. I packed eight days of food, not knowing what to expect out of my body in the first few weeks. Normally I just plunge right into big mile days when I start a long hike, but the years of boozing, smoking, and doing a few other unhealthy things to my body leaves me a little leery about starting off with 20-mile days from the start. That's pretty much my only concern right now for this hike. I want to finish this hike by Christmas, so that leaves me a little over four months to complete this hike. It took me five months when I thru-hiked in 2000, but I've hiked the PCT since finishing the AT so I know what to expect for a slightly faster paced hike. I can envision this hike being a fairly solitary one after I wade through all the northbounders finishing their hike. I might catch up to a southbounder or two before it's all said and done but I really don't anticipate seeing too many of them, if any at all. Solitude has it's advantages - I certainly won't have to worry about shelter space after three weeks into the hike. But the AT is a very communal sort of trail, and as such, does complete, or near complete, solitude diminish the experience of an AT thru-hike? Perhaps, but I really don't think so. It will certainly alter it, and my hike will be vastly different than your average northbounder, but it won't diminish it. I certainly have more I could write on the subject, but damn the time, I have a bus to catch.
Date: 2007-08-21
To: Baxter State Park
Miles today: 0.0

What a day. I spent the entire morning (and all of last night) on various buses and in various bus stations. I eventually arrived in Bangor at about noon today, and after a trip to the post office, I headed to the on-ramp of the interstate to hitch north. I was starting to get a little discouraged after waiting 40 minutes, but eventually a red Cadillac DeVille pulled over and the driver waved me over. We hadn't gone more than a few miles when Dale (the driver) asked me if I smoked. I said sure, he rolled one up, and we started smoking on our way to Medway. It dawned on me 15 minutes into the drive that maybe lighting one up on the interstate wasn't such a hot idea. I looked over and Dale had the pedal to the floor and his speedometer was positioned about three inches past the maximum of 85. Oh well, I thought, Dale's lived this long and I think he has a few more years left in him. He chatted my ear off the entire trip to Medway, telling me about his problems and basically his entire life story. It reminded me of hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail a few years ago where it seemed every driver that stopped to picked me up packed a bowl and unloaded whatever was on their mind. I suppose most people that stop to pick up hitchhikers are either looking for someone to talk to or are just very friendly. Dale dropped me off about 3/4 of a mile from Medway, and I walked the rest of the way there, still floating along. I didn't wait too long for a ride and I was in Millinocket before I knew it. My ride dropped me off at the road that led to Baxter State Park, and it wasn't long before some kid who said he was just out driving around picked me up. I was starting to come down - and not a moment too soon because conversation with my last ride was a struggle - and we chatted before he dropped me off at some little store about 8 miles from the park. I started walking, and 10 minutes later I got a ride from the dude who owns the motel and Trail cafe in Millinocket. I was lucky enough to get a lean-to for the night at Katahdin Stream Campground, and after a bite to eat, I've decided to go to sleep for the night.
Date: 2007-08-24
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Potaywadjo Lean-to
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Another restless night. Not only was I waging war on the bastard little mice, but I had the divine privilege of listening to the snoring orchestra all night. It wouldn't have been too bad, but the lead player was sleeping right next to me. I drifted off during intermissions, but they were few and far between and I awoke feeling pretty groggy at 5:30 a.m. The three guys heading north started packing up then and I shortly followed suit and took off around 7 a.m. The 70% chance of rain wound up happening at 3 a.m. and a light drizzle was still falling as I headed south. Camo left before me, and on his way out he asked me if I had planned to stop at White House Landing - a little place on a lake about 16 miles up trail. I didn't feel inclined to to drop $60 at a hostel this early in the hike, and I told him I would probably go to the shelter 18 miles up trail. I couldn't tell if he was disappointed with my response, but I ran into him later and he said he would probably save the money as well and push on past White House Landing. I think if I had gone he would have as well, but who knows.What a day of hiking; it was one of those days where the rain really couldn't decide if it wanted to stop or not. The end result was off-and-on drizzle for most of the day. There was only one climb - up Nesuntabunt Mountain - and that's where the A.T. drew first blood. I was walking down a large rock face, camera in hand, when my feet slipped out from underneath me and I came down hard on my forearm, scraping it up nicely. I slipped a few more times on the hike today; this section of trail is is nothing but rocks and roots, and my sneakers have absolutely no traction when it's raining. I seem to be making decent time, but my body aches from the wear and tear. My shoulders are especially sore, unaccustomed as they are to to all of this weight. I've been covering my mileage by 5 p.m. so far, and I keep reminding myself that I don't need to push on even though I have time left in the day. With all of the rain, it didn't take long for that good old hiker funk to settle in. Ah, how I missed that smell; my shoes are particularly atrocious. I also have a bad case of the chafe setting in, but the scenery out here is worth it. The trail is fairly level and has consistently followed lakes and ponds since Katahdin. I've seen two moose so far on the trip which equals the total I saw in 2000.
Date: 2007-08-27
From: Chairback Gap lean-to

To: Big Wilson Stream
Miles today: 16.3

What a great day. The terrain wasn't too hot - more ups and downs again- but the scenery was outstanding. The morning started with a tough climb up Columbus mountain which had a decent view. After another drop, the trail climbed up Monument Cliff and the view was extraordinary. I put some oatmeal on the stove, took off my socks and shoes to dry in the sun, and just soaked in the view. It was probably 70 degrees with a few clouds and a nice stiff breeze. Moments such as these are the reason I hike long-distance trails. There is a serenity on high cliffs and mountains that I do not find in the "real" world. It is at these times that I feel I can cast off civilization and spend my time surrounded by the beauty that nature has to offer. I think a lot of people attempt thru-hikes to capture this serenity before the last of our wild lands disappear forever, swallowed up by the onslaught of man and his machine. The irony is that thru-hikers are dependent on civilization to make a thru-hike work. A thru-hike is virtually impossible if it weren't for the roads that lead to towns for resupply. There is a parallel between the thru-hiker and Herman Hesse's Harry Haller, the Steppenwolf, a "mad man" who condemns the bourgeois society but try as he might to disconnect himself from that society, he finds he needs the bourgeois and that they need the Steppenwolves such as himself as well. I'm sure more thoughts along that vein will come as I reread Steppenwolf.After packing up on Monument Cliff (also called 3rd mountain) the trail descended and then ascended 4th mountain and then Barren Mountain before dropping along the Barren Ledges to Long Pond Stream. The views on Barren Mountain and Ledges were even better than Monument Cliffs and I enjoyed a nice long lunch there before heading for Long Pond stream. There some nice, deep pools just off the trail along Long Pond Stream and I couldn't resist stopping in for a dip in the water for an hour and a half. My body thoroughly enjoyed the cold water. It's amazing how invigorating a brief swim can be. My knees no longer hurt when I hit the trail again, but the AT quickly reminded me who calls the shots when I climbed, dropped, climbed, then dropped some more to Wilson Valley Lean-to, my original destination for the day. I stopped in, ate some dinner, chatted with a northbound thru-hiker and his daughter, and was tempted to stay the night there. The conversation was easy and the sun was about an hour or so from setting, but I felt like setting up my tent for the night. The sky was clear and I wanted to knock out a little more distance to make the hike into Monson all that much shorter so I bid farewell and headed downhill to Big Wilson stream. After taking off my shoes, I forded the stream and here I am, on the other side with my tent set up and the light fading from the sky, eagerly anticipating the vast quantities of food I will ingest in Monson tomorrow. Only 9.7 miles of hiking and then a short hitch into town, and the wilderness will be behind me. I can think of no other place I'd rather be right now.
Date: 2007-08-28
From: Big Wilson Stream

To: Maine 15 - Monson
Miles today: 9.7

I woke up at around 6 a.m. to the sound of a train traveling along the Canadian Pacific Railroad less than a half-mile from where I was sleeping. I packed up and eagerly headed down the trail toward town. I'm definitely looking forward to sleeping in a bed tonight; my back is aching to the point where I can only sleep on my side at night and even that hurts somewhat. I was also looking forward to using some indoor plumbing since I ran out of t.p. two days ago and have avoided squatting in the woods to this point. That almost caught me a mile from the road, but I clenched up and made it to the road alright. The miles were still tough, but I made good time and got a hitch to town fairly quickly, and my ride let me off right at Shaw's. A seat on a toilet and a round in the shower never felt so good. After cleaning up, I strolled around town and ate a pizza at the Mobil station. Surprisingly good pizza for a gas station. I dropped in at the library and added a few journal entries before heading back to Shaw's. Quite a few northbounders had rolled in and the flip-floppers I saw on Whitecap were there as well. We seem to have the same itinerary for the next couple of days so I guess I'll be seeing them for a little while. I also ran into another southbounder, Wicked, who happens to have a journal on this site. He said he also planned to finish by late December so perhaps this hike won't be as solitary as I once thought. We sat around drinking a few beers (I've also smoked about a pack of cigarettes since being in town which I'm sure I'll feel on the hike out) and chatting; a nice mellow evening. No one really gets out of hand this far north; by this time all of the partyers who started have faded off the trail. Unfortunately - and this applies mostly to the south - there is a bad perception of thru-hikers as partyers intent on getting drunk and the trail is just a means to accomplish this. There is some validity to this, but it is mostly in the south.By 10 p.m. I was pretty tired so I decided to head to bed and wait for the killer breakfast in the morning. I already picked up two days of supplies to get me to Caratunk, so the only thing I have left to do tomorrow is update some journals, mail a few things ahead and then hit the trail. Hopefully it's a relaxing day.
Date: 2007-08-29
From: Maine 15 - Monson

To: Horseshoe Canyon lean-to
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

It was tough to break away from Shaws, but I finally managed to do so by 3 p.m. Sue and Dawn have done a great job cleaning up the place and run a solid hostel. Breakfast in the morning was absolutely fabulous. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and about six cups of coffee and I was feeling pretty damn good. I actually felt like going back to sleep but instead moved all my gear out of the bunkhouse and lounged around for awhile. I went to the library and updated my entries on this site, sent some emails, and forwarded some clothing to Gorham that I haven't been using but may need in the Whites. After killing a few more hours, Dawn took me back to the trail at Route 15 and I headed north, glad to be back on the trail. I tend to get sucked into towns, but I'm always happy - almost relieved really - to be back on the trail. About halfway to the leanto, I ran into Highlife, Ragnar, Spyder, Otter and his Max, the flipfloppers who were at Shaws and right now we're all chilling at the shelter. The nine miles was pretty level and the miles reeled by. My back is flaring up again and I'm starting to have real concerns about it. I may have to take some time off in the near future and let it recover completely if it doesn't start feeling better soon. The terrain is only going to get harder and a bad back just won't cut it. Only time will tell.
Date: 2007-08-30
From: Horseshoe Canyon lean-to

To: Bald Mountain Brook lean-to
Miles today: 13.0

It was a fairly late start and a late finish today. I was actually the first person up at 8 a.m. Those guys like to sleep late, but I usually like to take advantage of the cooler temperatures in the morning. It was a nice easy 3.5 miles to the west branch of the Piscataquis River where a ford awaited. I decided to try to rockhop to an island where I would then rockhop to the other bank and pick up the A.T. Yea, that didn't work out quite the way I had hoped. There was what looked like a solid land mass that I attempted to step on that turned out not to be so solid. It gave way quite nicely and my right foot slid into the river. To keep my balance - I was about to fall back into the river - I quickly back-stepped with my other foot which put it squarely in the river. Nothing to do then but just wade across. I took off my shoes on the other side and set them in what little sun there was to dry. I cooked some oatmeal, rolled a couple of cigarettes and as I was waiting, Spyder rollin in, followed shortly by Otter, Ragnar, and Highlife. I waited a couple of hours for my shoes to semi-dry and headed up the trail. I made it about half way to Moxie Pond shelter when I heard rumblings of thunder. I thought maybe I could make it there before the strom hit, but no luck. I was soon soaked to the bone in a nice 50 degree thunderstorm, the kind of brisk storm that the only option you have is to keep walking to stay warm. I strolled into the shelter sopping wet, took out my sleeping pad, and set all of my clothes out to dry. The flip-flop crew rolled in shortly thereafter and they pretty much decided to call it a day because of the rain, opting to do some fishing with some line they purchased in Monson. They actually caught a few fish, none big enough to keep, but they were about to set up some cut bait (chopping up a smaller fish to catch a larger one) when I decided to push on four more miles. The sun looked as if it wanted to maintain an appearance, but no luck. Halfway up Moxie Bald Mountain, I felt a few drops of rain and heard some rumblings of thunder.   I knew the summit was fairly exposed so I scurried up and over. I passed about five northbounders which meant they either wanted to set up a shorter day to Monson, or the shelter up ahead was full. Maybe it was both because when I rolled into the shelter, there was about 12 college-age people already there. Great, I thought, an orientation group. They pretty much had the shelter all laid out (oddly no sleeping bags unrolled though) and I assumed most of them were sleeping in the shelter so I set up my tent. I was just in time as no sooner had I put up my rainfly then the skies opened up. After a quick dinner, I scooted in my tent to bed at 6:30.
Date: 2007-09-01
From: U.S. 201 (Caratunk)

To: Pierce Pond lean-to
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I just had the best night sleep on the trail so far. There was just a little matress on the bunk I was sleeping on, but having drunk eight beers the previous night, I was out like a light for pretty much the whole night. I packed up and went up to the lodge and ran into Spyder and Otter, and joined them for a late 10:00 breakfast. There was a shuttle going back up to the trail at 3 so I sat on the couch in the lodge for a solid three hours watching pregame college football and then part of a boring Virginia Tech game. At three, I caught the shuttle back to the trail with the flip-flop crew and we all took the ferry across the Kennebec. I was tempted to ford again, but the water looked fairly high and I had really had no desire to get my feet wet. While I was at Northern Outdoors, I realized Monday would be Labor Day and the post office in Stratton would be closed - hence the late start and four-mile day since it would do me no good to rush. I rolled up to a crowded Pierce Pond lean-to and wasn't too suprised by all the people there since it was Labor Day weekend. I set up my tent by the pond, went behind the shelter to make dinner out of the wind where the rest of the southbounders had congregated. We sat around eating and smoking until the sun went down and the cold drove us all into our sleeping bags.
Date: 2007-09-04
From: Maine 27 - Stratton

To: Maine 27 - Stratton
Miles today: 0.0

It didn't take much to talk me into a zero day, it never really does. My back was felling loads better, but I thought with a zero-day, most of my aches and pains would be gone. Spyder and I got a different room, one with a twin bed for Otter and his dog and a set of bunkbeds for Spyder and myself. I did virtually nothing today but go to the post office for another disappointment; my box wasn't there. I'll check tomorrow and if it still hasn't arrived, I'll have to start calling post offices along the trail, starting in Gorham where it should have been forwarded from. The rest of the day was spent watching t.v., drinking beer, and eating town food. It's funny how we come out here "to get away from it all" and the first chance we get, we go to town and imerse ourselves in civilization.
Date: 2007-09-05
From: Maine 27 - Stratton

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

My box still hasn't arrived, but I called the Gorham post office and it was there. I think when I gave the postmaster the zip for Stratton I accidentally gave him the one for Gorham. How he didn't notice is beyond me. Oh well, I had him forward the box to Andover, and shortly after I did, I realized I would probably roll into Andover on the weekend. That's why I rarely mail myself anything; it's been a royal pain in the ass dealing with the post offices. After squaring that all away, I resupplied and set up a drop to Pinkham Notch in the whites to ease my load through there.We all chipped in a couple of bucks to have the hostel owner take us back to the trailhead. A late start, but with only 7.3 miles to hike it wasn't bad. The climb up North Crocker was a breeze, but the descent down South Crocker was pretty steep. I rolled into the campsite at a decent timeand the flip-floppers came in shortly after. We all set up tents, Ragnar got a fire going, and we sat around talking witha few nobos that rolled in. I couldn't help but think about the "equalizing" force the trail has. You can take a group of 7 or 8 people from completely different backgrounds that would probably never meet or associate with each other in the real world and stick them on the A.T. and everyone is just a hiker. Sharing the same experiences and hardships without any social distinctions and constraints quickly creates bonds among hikers. A good example is Otter and Steady Steps. Both are the same age, but Otter has mostly been a laborer while I get the impression Steady Steps held some sort of white-collar job. Both are quite friendly, but they probably wouldn't have hung out together outside of the trail, but get along great on trail.
Date: 2007-09-06
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Poplar ridge lean-to
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: few clouds

I think I've left the flip-flop crew for good. They initially planned on doing the 14 miles to Poplar Ridge lean-to todeay, but after climbing Sugarloaf and Spaulding Mountains, they had a change of heart. Those were some tough miles, especially the vertical climb up Sugarloaf. I rolled into Spaulding Mountain lean-to and about 30 minutes later, Spyder showed up. We must have chilled there for about 2 hours until Ragnar then Otter and Highlife rolled in. They were pretty much spent and said they were only hiking down the hill and setting up camp. I only took two days of food out of Stratton so that was out of the question for me. I think they'll stick to 10 miles per day until they're out of Maine and New Hampshire, but my legs and back are feeling pretty good and I think I'm going to stick with 15-20 miles until I reach Vermont and then open up the throttle.There wasn't much to see in the way of views today as the clouds were quite low so I didn't bother walking the side trail to the top of Sugarloaf or Spaulding. It was just more of the same Maine roots and rocks combined with ups and downs, just without the payoff of views. When I got to Poplar Ridge a nobo was tenting nearby and a group of college kids was setting up a tarp nearby. I briefly debated pushing on and camping somewhere on Saddleback jr. but decided I'd like a roof over my head because the skies looked ominous all day. Two more nobos, Diamo and Sagbutt, eventually rolled in. Sagbutt set up a tentand Diamo decided to stay in the shelter. After some standard hiker chat, I ate some dinner and went to bed.