morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-08-08
From: Imp Campsite

To: US 2, Gorhan, NH
Miles today: 8.1

Today was a good day. I was headed to town, and both the trail and weather cooperated. I was hiking about 7:30 and had a climb of 700 feet up Mt Moriah. The climb was steep in places-- but nothing like yesterday. It was the same with the descent. The last 3.5 miles were along the Rattle River and was a beautiful stretch of trail. It was nice to be able to stride out and look around a little while I hiked!I got to the road crossing about 1:30, and the section hiker, who I followed down the really steep trail yesterday, was waiting for his wife. I called the hostel but they were full, and the owner recommended a couple motels. The first one I called had a room. The section hiker (I forgot his trail name, sorry) and his wife gave me a ride into town.So I'm clean, as are my clothes. I've resupplied for 3 more days and will hike out sometime tomorrow morning!Fitbit steps 28157     floors 124
Date: 2018-08-09
From: US 2, Gorhan, NH

To: Page Pond
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: broken clouds

I slept in until 6:45 this morning. I ate my leftover pizza for breakfast, showered, and slowly packed up. It was 9:30 when I left the motel. I walked to a place that I thought would be a good spot to hitchhike. No luck -- so I walked some more. It was around 10:20 when I finally got a ride. I rode in the back of Old Buzzard's truck, and he drove to Rattle River Hostel. Thumper got out of the truck, I hadn't seen her since Glencliff. Energy, a hiker I hadn't met before, was also getting dropped off. So it was after 10:30 when I finally got hiking. There were a few steep, rocky ups and downs, but the trail was pretty good for the most part. It threatened rain a few times and rained hard once. I waited under a tree during the hard rain and 10 minutes later the sun was out.I got to this pond about 5 and decided to stay. Lots of lily pads and frogs. Looks like a good place to see a moose.While I was enjoying the view, Thumper showed up. She was planning on going to the next shelter, but because she doesn't like camping alone, she decided to camp here also. There's a large flat rock right next to the shore where we ate dinner. Energy showed up late, and she's camped here also. And now I'm in my tent listening to the frogs.After the rain this afternoon, the humidity really dropped, and it's supposed to stay down for the next couple days. Yay!Fitbit steps 23517    floors 309
Date: 2018-08-10
From: Page Pond

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 13.5

Welcome to Maine!! I reached the Maine border about 2:30 this afternoon. Thirteen states done and just Maine to go-- 281 miles of Maine.This was a tough day hiking, but it was also beautiful. The weather was awesome as well, sunny and breezy. I was the first to leave camp at 7:15, but it didn't take long for Energy to catch me. She was planning a 19 mile day, so she needed to be moving. Thumper caught me about noon at the last water source for several miles. New Hampshire didn't want to let us go. We successfully summited Mt Success and then there were several steep rocky ups and downs to the Maine border. Maine was not to be out done by New Hampshire, and the steep ups and downs continued. We went over several peaks, and we had great views back to Mt Washington. Thumper and I hiked the last several miles together, and it was slow going. There were places where sitting down and sliding over the edge was best. Sometimes the pack came off and dropping the poles down happened several times. We got to this shelter about 7, almost 12 hours for me. It's supposed to get down to 40 tonight. Good sleeping weather and I'm ready to sleep!Fitbit steps 40100   floors 51
Date: 2018-08-11
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 9.7

It was another tough day of hiking in Maine. We were hiking just under 10 miles. We knew it would be slow, and we were headed to town so we got an early start. Thumper and I first went up and over South Mountain, and at the bottom waited the Mahoosuc Notch-- deemed the toughest mile on the trail. The Notch is a mile long jumble of massive boulders. Sometimes you go over them, sometimes around, and sometimes you crawl under!Haze caught us just as we started in and asked if he could join us. So the 3 of us worked our way through. Several times we took off packs and passed them up or down or through small openings under boulders. It took us 2.5 hours to do the one mile!We took a break after finishing the Notch, then started up the Mahoosuc Arm. It was 1600 feet up over 1.6 miles. It was nice to be able to keep moving (with small breaks to catch our breath). We had a late lunch at Speck Pond, then started the climb up Speck Mt. It was very steep and exposed near the top. We passed a woman who was trying to talk her hiking partner down. As I passed him he said "Don't mind me, I'm just having an anxiety attack." The last I saw the woman had dropped her pack and was climbing back up to him.When we got to the top of Speck, I called Pine Ellis Hostel to arrange our pickup. We had 3.5 miles to hike down and 2500 feet to drop. We allowed 3 hours for us to get to the road (no cell service there). We were 15 minutes early, and Gloria arrived right on time.So we ate town food and showered this evening. We all plan to stay here 3 nights and slackpack the next 2 days. We can get a few miles in and should be better rested when we finally leave here.Fitbit steps 31932     floors 289
Date: 2018-08-12
From: Grafton Notch

To: East B Hill Rd.
Miles today: 10.3

We had a nice day slackpacking. Thumper, Haze, and I took the 7am shuttle back to Grafton Notch and started hiking about 7:30. There was a roughly 2000 foot climb to West Baldplate Mt, then down and back up to East Baldplate Mt, and finally to Little Baldplate. The mountains were socked in with fog, but it was still pretty cool. The Baldplates are big, mostly bald slabs of granite. We took a break on Little Baldplate and the fog lifted somewhat, so we had some views. Across all three mountains there were a lot of blueberries which slowed us down!At one point coming down the mountain, Thumper, who was in the lead, motioned for quiet. There was a momma grouse with 2 mostly grown babies that crossed the trail right in front of her. They stuck around long enough for all 3 of us to get a good view of them. I'd been seeing some fly the last few days, but this was the first really good look.We finished our hike about 3, and our shuttle back to town was waiting for us. Nice relaxing evening. We walked over to a restaurant for dinner and bought some snacks for tomorrow's slackpack. Haze bought a 6 pack that we split back at the hostel, celebrating his becoming a grandpa last night!Fitbit steps 34390    floors 413
Date: 2018-08-13
From: South Arm Road

To: East B Hill Rd
Miles today: 10.1

Another day of slackpacking. We caught the 8am shuttle to South Arm Road and hiked back south. Going south, we got the toughest part of the hike done in the morning. We started with a steep climb, then a steep descent, followed by a bigger steep climb. It took us 3.5 hours to do the first 4 miles and then under 3 hours to do the last 6 miles.Tomorrow we leave Andover, but will still do some slackpacking! Pine Ellis Hostel will bring our full packs to us late afternoon, and we'll hike a few more miles.So I took my last shower for a few days. I bought resupply for 4 days and mostly have my pack loaded. The talk is turning to, "When do you think you'll finish?" and "What do you plan to do when you finish?"  It's starting to get real!Fitbit steps 31410     floors 371
Date: 2018-08-14
From: South Arm Rd

To: ME 17
Miles today: 13.3

It's best to be flexible out here. We slackpacked the 13.3 miles that we planned, but then instead of getting our full packs and hiking a few more miles, we took the shuttle back to the hostel. It rained off and on all day-- plus the hike took us an hour longer than planned. So we opted for a shower, clean clothes, and town food.  Tomorrow we'll take our full packs from the start!Today's hike started with a 2200 foot climb to Old Blue Mt. With the rain and clouds, we had no views. After that we had small ups and downs over the Bemis Mountains. We stopped for lunch at a shelter where 4 SOBO's were packing up. 3 NOBO's also stopped while we were there. There were tons of blueberries to graze on over the Bemis Mountains. Another grouse gave us an up close view of it on the trail, then it flew up into a tree right along the trail.After a steep descent, a little flat and then a steep climb, the sun came out. We had a great view from the parking lot at ME 17. Tomorrow it's back to carrying the full pack. I'd better get some sleep!Fitbit steps 40631    floors 506
Date: 2018-08-15
From: ME 17

To: Piazza Rock Lean-to
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

Well we finally broke free of the Andover vortex!  It was a great stay, and we got some miles in with a little less wear and tear on the bodies. We were the 7am shuttle, and we carried our full packs out. This section didn't have any really big climbs, so we made decent time. Haze is section hiking, and he's already done the next section so this would be his last day with us. We passed by several lakes and had lunch at one with campsites and a couple canoes for people to use. Haze had a bad fall going to get water, walked it off a little, then left before Thumper and me as he wasn't sure how fast he could go. He is a retired ER doctor; he should know what to do. He did move along pretty well, and we didn't catch him until the road crossing where he was getting a shuttle. His leg looked a little stiff to me but at least he can ice it tonight. He's now 40 miles ahead of us, so we probably won't see him again. We then sat at the parking lot and talked to Pitboss and his girlfriend and to Swiss, Miss, and Hot Chocolate. Pitboss and girlfriend were headed to town to resupply. Swiss, Miss, and Hot Chocolate, a couple from Switzerland and their dog, were waiting for her brother to pick them up for a zero day. Thumper and I then hiked another 1.8 miles to this shelter and got here about 5:30. Our tents are setup near a nice stream. The privy here is a two holer with a cribbage board mounted between them! We elected not to play.We heard some thunder today and had one 5 minute shower, but overall it was a nice day.  Tomorrow is suppose to be nice also which is good because we have a big climb and will be above tree line for a few miles.Fitbit steps 40048    floors 320
Date: 2018-08-16
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Sluice Brook Logging Road
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

There was a heck of a thunder and lightning storm in the night. It rained hard enough that I wondered if I might be too close to the stream. It only rained for about an hour, and there were no issues. It was 7:30 by the time we started hiking. There were a couple miles of small ups and downs that went by some ponds. We're on the lookout for moose but so far only moose poop.After the last pond, we started the climb up Saddleback Mt, about 2000 feet.  We went above tree line part way up and stayed above it for several miles. It was mostly sunny but cool and windy-- gusts of probably 40 mph.We took a break at the top, hunkered down behind a stone wall. Next was a hike down a ways, then up The Horn Mt. Heading down The Horn, we got back below tree line. There were awesome views during the entire time above tree line. Coming down there were several steep sections and our pace got slower.We got to this spot about 5:30. I laid my tent out to dry, built a small fire and had dinner. I took a bandana bath. Thumper sat and soaked her feet in the stream. Energy showed up around 7 and is camping here also. Two more hikers are camped on the other side of the creek.Fitbit steps 34525    floors 405
Date: 2018-08-17
From: Sluice Brook Logging Road

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The weather forecast was calling for rain starting mid-afternoon and raining all night. We started hiking before 7 with the hope of getting to camp and at least getting our tents set up before the rain started. A climb up Lone Mt started the day. I had cell service there and sent my journal entry. Also got the news that I have a new grand niece. Congrats Ian and Katrina!After Lone Mt., we had some pretty nice trail and made decent time. We stopped for lunch at a viewpoint and only had about 3.5 miles to go today. Then we started down. We followed a ridge for awhile with good views of Carrabasset Valley. The trail got very steep and rocky, so it was slow going. We finally made it down, crossed the Carrabasset River, then took a break. We got to camp about 3:30. We setup our tents and even cooked an early dinner before the rain started. It's just after 6, and there's a steady rain outside. I should get plenty of sleep tonight!Fitbit steps 31822    floors 391
Date: 2018-08-18
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: ME27
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up to thunder and lightning this morning. I did have cell service, so I checked weather and it said rain would end at 7 but rain again at 11.Thumper's tent was close enough that I could yell over to see what she was thinking. We decided to pack up and try to hike over North and South Crocker Mountains before 11. We were hiking by 7:30. The trail was wet and steep but could have been worse. There was a 1700 foot climb, a 400 foot drop and then a 600 foot climb over a 3+ mile start. We were heading down before 10.The last 4.5 miles were mostly downhill and not too steep. There was a lot of water on the trail, but it never rained hard again. Wet roots are slick and we each had a fall. No harm done, luckily. We got to the road at 12:15 and waited for our 1 pm shuttle. This is probably the nicest hostel I've stayed at. Pappy is here also. He's 87, and I met him in Georgia on March 4th! He's flipped up to Katahdin and is heading south. Highlight of the day was hitting the 2000 mile mark on this hike.  From here I have 188.2 miles to go!Fitbit steps 27363     floors 203
Date: 2018-08-19
From: ME27

To: Stafford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 10.4

Slow start to hiking, but it was a nice morning. The hostel served breakfast at 7. Thumper and I sat at a table with Pappy and his support team, his granddaughter and Two Clicks. I met Two Clicks in Virginia who has finished his thru-hike and is now helping Pappy. I got my tent dried out and packed my food bag. We were on the 9:30 shuttle that didn't actually leave until 10.The first couple miles were fairly flat, and then we started up the Bigelow Mountains. South Horn was first, then Bigelow West Mt., and finally Avery Mt. The views were amazing-- 360 deg views from West and Avery. On a clear day you can see back to Mt Washington and ahead to Mt Katahdin. We think, maybe, we picked out Mt Washington but really not sure about Katahdin. We ate lunch at a viewpoint and were slowed down all day taking pictures. The last 2 miles were a 2000 foot decent, which at one point went through an area of huge boulders-- house size boulders. It was around 7 when we got to this campsite. It's not the best, but we found 2 only-slightly-slanted tentsites. We needed headlamps to finish dinner.Tomorrow we'll get an earlier start, and the terrain looks somewhat easier.Fitbit steps 32540       floors 450
Date: 2018-08-20
From: Stafford Notch Campsite

To: East Carry Pond
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: moderate rain

The excitement for the day happened about 3am when I woke up to a mouse inside my tent! After a real life episode of "whack a mole" as the rodent did laps around the gear in my tent, I finally nailed it with my sandal. I turned my phone on to unwind and had a text from Thumper wondering what was going on!  Apparently I wasn't too quiet, sorry about that!After getting a little more sleep we were hiking by 7:15. The climbs today weren't nearly as big as yesterday.  We climbed up Little Bigelow and had good views back to the Bigelow Range. There were also a ton of blueberries. We ate lunch on the shore of Flagstaff Lake and had 4 loons swim by; it was a beautiful spot. We took a break at West Carry Pond and then hiked to this campsite on East Carry Pond. I waded in the pond and washed my legs off-- there was a lot of muddy trail today.We ate dinner on the lake shore and listened to the loons call. The weather was great today, the terrain was less hard. We got to camp about 5:15, so we had time to relax. Thumper started in Harper's Ferry, and she hit the 1000 mile mark of her hike today.  Very cool!Fitbit steps 43698   floors 302
Date: 2018-08-21
From: East Carry Pond

To: Pleasant Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

This was another beautiful day weather-wise, and the trail was good.We started hiking by 6:30. The Kennebec River was 10 miles away, and the official path across the river is a canoe with a guy from the ATC. The canoe operates from 9am to 2pm.We made good time and were at Pierce Pond at 10am with less than 4 miles to the river. Crossing over the pond outlet was a little weird. There was a wooden wall on the lake side with huge rocks on the outlet side with logs on the rocks. We were crossing on the logs when Thumper stepped on something slick that threw her to the downstream side. I thought she might save it a couple times, but she ended up in the outlet stream 3-4 feet below the walkway. She hung on enough that only the bottom of her pack and herself from the waist down got wet. I helped lift her pack as she climbed back up. We got to dry ground and she wrung her socks out. No major injury, so not much else to do but dry out as she hiked. Shortly after this excitement we came to a cutoff to an outdoor camp. We had time, so we walked to it. We talked to the owner for 15 minutes or so and had some coffee-- nice guy and interesting place.We got to the river just after noon, filled out our release forms, then waited for the guy to ferry two women across. Thumper lounge in the middle while I helped paddle from the front.When we got to the far side, the guy drew us a map in the dirt to show us where everything is in Caratunk. We headed for the Caratunk Inn to have their pulled pork sandwich and milkshake. They had a nice little resupply shop there as well, so we bought enough to get to Monson in 3 days. We were there close to 2 hours. Eventually we left and hiked 5.7 more miles to this shelter. We're camped a little ways from the shelter. Cheddar is here, too.  He's a young guy that hiked 27 miles today! It's probably the last night we'll see him.Tomorrow, the forecast is for showers all day. I hope they are wrong!Fitbit steps 40417    floors 209
Date: 2018-08-22
From: Pleasant Pond Lean-to

To: Bald Mt. Stream
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today wasn't a great weather daym but it could have been worse. It wasn't raining when I woke up, so I got my tent packed up dry. We were hiking by 7 and started with a 1200 foot climb up Pleasant Pond Mt. Everything was socked in with clouds/fog, so there were no views. The precipitation started as a misty rain while we were on the summit, so we got moving.  The trail was muddy, the roots were deadly slick and the rocks were mostly ok to step on. That makes for slow hiking. We stopped at a shelter for lunch, and the rain picked up. We hiked on up and over Bald Mt. Still no views, but blueberries were everywhere. We took a break at Bald Mt Lean-to which is on Moxie Pond and a very pretty spot. The last part of today's hike took us to Bald Mt Stream, one we had to wade. It was less than knee deep. We filtered water then set out to find a stealth camp. We hiked probably 100 feet when we found a spot. The rain had stopped which was nice for setting up camp and cooking dinner. Tomorrow I head to my last town-stop on this hike. We plan to zero Friday before heading into the 100 mile wilderness and then Mt Katahdin!Fitbit steps 40019    floors 383
Date: 2018-08-23
From: Bald Mt. Stream

To: ME 25, Monson
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

We are back to beautiful weather today. We were hiking by 7:30. The trail was muddy in spots, but the grade was good and we were headed to town. We had 2 rivers to ford, but both were less than knee deep so it wasn't bad.We got to the ME 25 road crossing a little after 4, and called Shaws Hostel in Monson to come get us. I showered and did laundry before getting dinner. There are a lot of people here. Some we know, but most we don't. Tomorrow is my last zero day. I'll need to get resupplied for the 100 mile wilderness and get some rest.115 miles to go!Fitbit steps 40146     floors 239
Date: 2018-08-24
From: ME 25, Monson

To: ME 25, Monson
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Last zero day (I hope)! I'm at Shaw's Hostel, and they serve an amazing breakfast-- eggs, bacon, hash browns, along with all you can eat blueberry pancakes. I got a little rest, but it seemed there was a lot to do. Thumper and I went to the ATC office to get the summitting rules. I may have some complications. There is a Native American gathering that weekend and all the day use passes are gone for Sept 1 & 2. I bought one for Sept 3rd as a backup. Basically to summit with Ben and Molly on Sept 2nd we'll have to wait in line and hope someone doesn't come use their pass. This hostel will bring us a food drop in the 100 mile wilderness, so we needed to figure out our miles and get that scheduled. We'll carry 4 days of food leaving here and they'll bring us 3 days, that will keep pack weight down.We went out to eat and sat with a hiker I hadn't met before. He started a week after me.I am sitting here writing this post when Poe walked in the room. He and Savage got here today. Nice to see some familiar faces. He did tell me that Plod Along and Grandma Shorty are off the trail. It's been a tough year to hike. Well it's time to sleep.  Tomorrow starts the last push!Fitbit steps 7169    floors 16
Date: 2018-08-25
From: ME 25, Monson

To: Long Pond Stream
Miles today: 14.3

This was a beautiful day to get back to the woods. We ate the awesome breakfast, got our food drop buckets filled and labeled, then caught the 8:30 shuttle back to the trail. Poet, one of the hostel owners, drove us and gave us the overview of what's ahead on the trail. Really good reminder for me.The trail today had a lot of small ups and downs. We hiked by several lakes/ponds and still haven't seen a moose. We crossed several streams and were able to rock hop all but one of them. Big Wilson Stream, we had to wade. It was flowing fast but wasn't over knee deep. A section hiking father, Darth Vader, and son, Nasa, crossed right after us. Darth Vader had been reading my journal.There was a cool waterfall at Little Wilson stream, dropping 60 feet.We got to camp just before 7, did all the normal camp chores, and finished eating by headlamp. The days are getting shorter!Fitbit steps 39995    floors 328
Date: 2018-08-26
From: Long Pond Stream

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

After our late day yesterday, we decided to start at 7:30 this morning. We were "only" hiking 11.7 miles, so we figured we'd still get to camp early.The day started with a 2000 foot climb up Barren Mt. It was cloudy/foggy, so there were no views. The sun kept trying to peak through and finally did around noon.Most of the day was a series of ups and downs. After Barren, we went over Fourth, Third, and Columbus Mountains. I was dragging today, so Thumper got a lot of rest waiting for me. We had a long lunch break and the views from Third Mt were good, so we sat there awhile. Still, we got to camp about 6, so we got set up and ate dinner before dark. Just in case you were wondering about the old question, "Does a toad poop in the woods?" the answer is yes-- even if two hungry hikers are right there trying to eat dinner!Fitbit steps 32837     floors 402