morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-17
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

My first day in the Whites, and a tough one it was. I was tired from the start because two bears had spent the night several feet from my tent in the hostel's backyard, crunching on plastic drink bottles and otherwise enjoying the loot they had acquired from local garbage cans. Phatt Chapp had mentioned that a mother and cub had passed through the yard before, so I didn't want to yell or do anything that a mother bear might view as aggressive toward the baby. But they really were just outside my tent and I was worried that they might decide to drag it around like the garbage bags, just out of curiosity. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well.Moosilauke was a difficult climb for me; my pack was (and is) ridiculously heavy, and the air was hot and muggy until I got up around 4000 feet. The views from the top were disappointing because of very thick haze and I was concerned that I might end up doing the notoriously tricky descent in a thunderstorm. The descent absolutely lived up to its reputation, though the rain did hold off, and I took a fall halfway down, bashing up my left leg and acquiring several cuts in the process. The fall left me feeling shaky--I was VERY lucky not to have gotten badly hurt, considering the terrain--and I was relieved to finally reach Kinsman's Notch. Quite a nasty climb coming up from it, and the rest of the day's hike was hard as well.The downpour didn't happen until I had set up camp in the shelter and eaten. The ground was underwater in no time, but the rain seems to be slowing to a drizzle now. I'm alone here tonight.
Date: 2007-06-18
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Liberty Spring Tentsites
Miles today: 11.4

Difficult hiking with some great rewards. It took me forever to get up south Kinsman, but both that and north Kinsman provided hazy (still impressive) views. Pleasantly chillyt up top (I had no trouble with bugs until down near Franconia Notch). The descent from n. Kinsman was pretty much vertical in places; I ripped the back of my shorts sliding down a boulder and had to stop at Kinsman Pond Shelter to sew them back together. I took a snack break at Lonesome Lake, sitting on a wooden platform with a postcard-perfect view across the water. From there to about 1 mile past Franconia Notch, the hiking was easy, then the AT shot up a couple thousand feet to Liberty Spring. The caretaker there, a thru-hike alum named Cuppa Joe, gave me a great platform (#8) and I've been lounging around ever since. I'm planning to watch sunrise on Liberty in the a.m.Thank you to the friendly hikers I met on the ascent...the PowerBar and piece of cake gave me the energy I needed to haul myself into camp.
Date: 2007-06-19
From: Liberty Spring Tentsites

To: Guyot Campsite
Miles today: 13.2

The Franconia Range! I got up at 4 and made it to the summit of Liberty just as the sun came up...I had the mountain all to myself, with 360 degree views and a spectacular combination of orange light and long, purple cloudbanks. Siler Bald back in GA is now just the #2 sunrise of my thru-hike! All the other hikers were apparently still asleep until 9:00 or so, since I saw no one the whole time I was crossing Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. All three were mostly bare and rocky, though Lafayette was the most impressive of the peaks: there was a particularly dark cloud hanging over it, making it look forbidding (or "sublime", as ENGL 382 would have it). As the guidebook warned, the summits look much closer than they actually are, which got a bit frustrating at times. Mostly I just stopped every few steps to take more pictures and tried not to think about such mundane things as mileage.Having trouble with my knees, especially the left one. The almost-vertical descent from Garfield was hard on them, but I think the joints will hold up as long as I take it slow through the Whites. Tomorrow is a shorter day, even with the .7 side trip back up to the AT, and the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse, then clear up for the time it should take me to cross the Presidentials.
Date: 2007-06-20
From: Guyot Campsite

To: Ethan Pond Campsite
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: fog

An easy day of hiking, even with the .7 up first thing in the morning. I got over Guyot before the rain started; clouds were racing across the rocks and I was moving cairn to cairn, but I didn't get seriously wet until Zeacliff. By the time I reached Zealand Falls Hut, I was totally drenched and ready to take a break from the weather. I spent about an hour there, answering people's questions about thru-hiking and enjoying a combination of leftover pancakes (free) and baked goods (cheap). There was a field guide to birds in the hut library, so I took notes on the species I'm most likely to encounter between here and ME. The ones that attacked me were indeed grouse, ruffed grouse to be precise, and I was what was definitely a slate-colored junco hopping around outside the shelter here this afternoon. The identity of the bird whose song I've been admiring remains a mystery...I'm tenting here rather than sleeping in the grungy shelter; the afternoon sprinkles seem to have moved on. The wind has already dried off the tent, so the gusts must be very strong up on the summits. No sign of the caretaker yet, so maybe I won't have to pay the fee...
Date: 2007-06-21
From: Ethan Pond Campsite

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: broken clouds

The climb up from Crawford wasn't terrible, the footing (well, hand-and-footing)on Webster was pretty terrible, and the views were great, esp. from the vicinity of Eisenhower to Lakes of the Clouds. Mt. Washington was capped in cloud all day. I stopped for a break at Mizpah Hut, where I met Will, who is sectioning NH and had actually stayed at Ethan Pond last night (never saw him come in). Mizpah had great leftovers...I got most of a loaf of spice cake for 1 dollar and just strapped it onto the pack for nibbling along the way.I'm doing work-for-stay at Lakes, which meant I spent a good hour in the cold, wet basement unloading, cleaning, and re-loading a big freezer. They gave me a chisel and a bucket of warm water with a sponge to loosen the ice with. Only problem: the sponge froze to the walls as soon as it touched them, leaving yellow sponge-prints everywhere. Not very useful. The temps outside today were in the low 40s, but it was the frozen turkeys and steaks I was stuffing back into the freezer than really made my hands go numb.Lakes is at capacity tonight...that means 90-some paying guests, along with a full croo. Overwhelming. Lakes of the Crowds indeed.
Date: 2007-06-22
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Mt. Washington proved to be an adventure (to put it mildly). The word of the day: REFRESHING! 34 degrees? Refreshing! Gale-force winds? Refreshing! Sleet and icy rocks? Refreshing! Same for the thick fog...I was very glad to have someone to hike this section with, since I knew it was going to be dangerous. My balance is iffy on a good day and my pack is still so heavy that it's easy for the wind to push against it and start me swaying grabbing at boulders. Will, despite being 6'3", somehow doesn't get blown around the way I do, enabling him to do useful things like catch my hat when the wind tries to steal it. He also managed to stay cheerful the whole way up to the Summit House, if reciting passages from Macbeth into a howling storm can be considered cheerful behavior. We hung around up top for quite a while, scaling down our plans for the day's hike and reading the long list of people who have died on Washington over the years. Monticello Lawn does not look at all like Monticello or The Lawn (or Monticello's lawn, for that matter). I took a picture of it anyway, since the whole idea struck me as kind of funny. The hail started not soon after that, when there were sustained winds of probably 40-50 mph to fling it against us, and we took refuge in a little cave until the worst of it was over. At least I had rainpants on...Will was hiking in shorts. I was so thrilled to see Madison Hut that I hardly minded the fact that it was almost as cold inside the building as it was outside. We played Boggle for a couple hours and then cleaned all the hut silverware as part of our work-for-stay deal. Sleeping on the tables again tonight. The weather's actually supposed to be worse tomorrow...hard to imagine.
Date: 2007-06-23
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Campsite vic. MP 856.5
Miles today: 9.3

The scariest hiking I've ever done in my life...I'm so glad to be safe and comfortable in my tent! Will and I went over Madison when the temp with wind chill was 15 degrees, sustained winds 60-70 mph (there were gusts up to 89 mph on Washington this morning), fog so thick it was sometimes very difficult to make out the next cairn, and sleet off-and-on. It's not hard to get blown off balance if you're caught mid-step not paying attention, but it's a very strange experience to be knocked down on the rocks when you're keeping a low stance and supporting yourself carefully with two trekking poles. The wind would catch the pack, spin me around by it, and push me right over...I felt like I crossed Madison pretty much on my hands and knees. The really astonishing thing was how many other people were out there with us, especially the crazy fools attempting Presidential or hut traverses (they'd started out at 3:00 am or thereabouts, in the dark). I tore up my rainpants scrambling around, probably well beyond the point where repairs are practical. It took forever just to get down below treeline again--I felt like hugging every shrimpy tree I saw--and I was so mentally exhausted by the time we reached Pinkham Notch Camp that the idea of paying 45 bucks to stay in a crowded bunkroom with strangers was overwhelminmg. Will has a friend who lives there, so he's going to stay overnight with the trail crew; I picked up my maildrop and walked partway up Wildcat E until I found a flat spot in the path. My tent is set up right in the middle of the AT, but it's very late in the day and I'm not really expecting anyone to come by. There's a beautiful view from a nearby rock ledge and the little trees are completely blocking the wind.
Date: 2007-06-24
From: Campsite vic. MP 856.5

To: Rattle River Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Just went for a very cold swim in King Kong's Bathtub, possibly the most perfect swimmming hole on the planet...it's just downstream from the shelter, probably 15-20 feet deep, dark blue and ringed by a ledge of white rock. Will and I jumped in together, then immediately started shrieking (me) and yelling (him) because of the cold. It wasn't any warmer than Laurel Fork back in TN, but the current wasn't so overwhelmingly strong. I can't believe this place isn't mentioned in the guidebook!Another hard day of hiking...hot weather, so it felt great to wash off. Will and I are tenting, but there are two guys at the shelter, Uncle Walt and The Bulgarian. The Bulgarian gave Will a trail name ("Stay-Puft", after his marshmallow man t-shirt), but I can't say it without cracking up.
Date: 2007-06-25
From: Rattle River Shelter

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

We didn't make it all that far today...my legs were totally worn out from yesterday's hike (and what on earth made me think it would be a good idea to go all the way from Pinkham to Stratton without resupplying? My pack must weigh a good 45 lbs). Will seemed to fly up Mt. Hayes, but I was more or less staggering on the uphills. There's a man tenting here tonight who finally went over Hayes today after breaking a leg on it two years in a row and having to be carried out. Why didn't anyone ever tell me how hard the Mahoosucs are???Gentian is a nice shelter, with a great view, a pond nearby, and a relatively minor insect problem. It's also quite busy: we're sharing the shelter with a NOBO sectioner named Bluebird (along with her border collie, Jasmine)and two SOBOs, Twisted Sister and her father. There are several people tenting on the platforms uphill.
Date: 2007-06-26
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Speck Pond Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

Maine! Crossed the border this morning--the very last border of my hike. Wow.Mt. Success was not a pleasant way to start the day, but I couldn't help laughing at the Success Trail sign, which looked like it belonged on some kind of motivational poster. I was expecting rugged terrain today, through Mahoosuc Notch of course but also from Carlo Col to Full Goose, since Twisted Sister had warned us that it wasn't as easy a section as it appeared to be on the elevation profile (we swapped maps back at the shelter). The descent was very tricky and aggravated my sore knee, the one I hurt back on Garfield. Hot weather didn't help matters, but the Notch proved a pleasant surprise in that respect: there's still ice and snow down there, and chilly updrafts kept us cool as we navigated the giant boulders. I only had to take my pack off once, to crawl through a narrow tunnel and push the pack ahead of me through the exit-hole. One of my Crocs got ripped off the pack along the way, but we managed to find it without too much time lost. Including the snack break we took in the middle, the 1 mile of Trail through Mahoosuc Notch took us 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was the climb afterward that was the real killer, and there was nothing left in my legs by the time we reached Speck Pond and claimed a platform there. No lounging around by the water--the blackflies were out in force.
Date: 2007-06-29
From: Andover

To: Old Blue summit MP1930.4
Miles today: 12.9

I got a late start this morning--Chris from Pine Ellis shuttled me to the trail crossing at about 11:30, so I was pretty sure I wouldn't be making Bemis Mt Lean-To for the night, just tenting somewhere along the way. The SOBOs had been going on about the difficulty of Moody and Old Blue, but Moody was no big deal and Old Blue didn't bother me much until I had been climbing for well over an hour. My knees are sore, worn out by NH, I guess. Having said farewell to Will yesterday, today I left Bluebird and Mountain Mike at the hostel and hoped I might catch up to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sometime during the day. Never saw him, and Sal seems to still be behind me (didn't sign the Hall Mt register). The AT is crawling wtih SOBOs, though. I do have the summit of Old Blue all to myself tonight, along with what promises to be a pretty sunset. This stretch of trail is quite dry, so I had two English muffins with peanut butter rather than using water to cook. Hopefully the seasonal spring at Bemis will still be running a little. It's chilly up here around treeline and there aren't any bugs to annoy me.
Date: 2007-06-30
From: Old Blue summit MP1930.4

To: Little Swift River Pond Campsite
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

A long day for me, though the temperatures were perfect and the bugs not bad. The Bemis range was very scenic; my tired legs detracted somewhat from the enjoyment of the hike, but I'm still finding southern Maine one of the most beautiful parts of the Trail. My feet were feeling sore by the time I reached Long Pond, so I spent almost an hour on the sandy beach there, letting the waves the wind was stirring up wash over my ankles and toes. Too cold for swimming today, but just hanging out on the beach had a sort of cleansing effect on my mind. I'd been feeling pretty negative because of being so tired, and relaxing at the pond was a cure for that. Sabbath Pond Lean-To wasn't far off and I spent a while there, where I found a map of the next section of ME and tent stakes to replace my missing ones (the trail gods provided--I must have sacrificed enough blood to the mosquitoes). Listening to Prairie Home Companion and hoping everyone else at the campsite quiets down early so I can get some sleep. One guy offered me this gigantic chicken teriyaki MRE: I turned it down by telling him I was a vegetarian, not having the heart to point out that his one MRE probably weighed more than my tent and sleeping bag combined. His kids really wanted to take the canoe here out for a paddle and weren't allowed to, but I paddled around the pond on my own and managed to tire out my weak hiker arms in about ten minutes that way. There were yellow flowers blooming everywhere just under the water's surface.
Date: 2007-07-01
From: Little Swift River Pond Campsite

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-To
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Woke to chilly temps--wish I still had my windpants, victim of Mt. Madison. My breakfast was interrupted by the wild gesturing of the MRE guy (he'd been down by the pond), who was mouthing "MOOSE" as clearly as he could. I followed him down to the shore and we spent a good ten minutes watching a moose wade around in the water, apparently eating those yellow flowers I saw from the canoe. There was mist rising in twists from the pond's surface, so the moose would suddenly disappear and then appear again--sometimes I only knew it was still there by the sound its head made plunging underwater. What a start to the day!Saddleback was a long climb, but not as difficult as I expected, especially considering all the warning signage near the bottom. It was windy and cold above treeline (I hid in a clump of low bushes to eat my lunch) and as I approached the Horn I could see a gray curtain of rain sweeping across the valley toward me. It's hard to describe the sense of isolation that this phenomenon always provokes in me--as if everything behind that curtain had actually vanished for good, leaving just me and the mountain and the birds that have gone silent. I had just enough time to put the pack cover on and was very chilly during the hike over the peak. My legs were exhausted for the climb up Saddleback Junior; I was extremely hungry, too, which didn't help my energy level any. It looks like I'll be hitching into Stratton after all, since I'm low on food and very low on TP.I'm tenting tonight...Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a SOBO named Ashes are in the shelter (she showed up late and immediately started playing games on her cell phone!). A shorter day over Abraham to Crocker Cirque tomorrow.
Date: 2007-07-02
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-To

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: scattered clouds

A fairly short hike today; I could have gone a few miles farther, but terrain and the need to hitch into Stratton pretty much left me no choice but to stop here, where I arrived at only 1:00. I found a tent platform across a noisy stream from the others, so hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight. Some incredibly obnoxious SOBOs ruined Poplar Ridge for me, showing up late and acting like a bunch of poorly supervised Boy Scouts. I actually had to take down my tent and set up farther from the shelter, on a very slanted, uncomfortable site. Despite sleep deprivation, I seemed to just fly up the big climbs today. The effect of that zero day back in Andover? My knees hurt on the downhills, but they've got less than two weeks of descents left to endure. The weather has been as capricious as usual in Maine, quickly clouding up and quickly clearing. There have been showers off and on for the last 2 hours, and I may go ahead and cook dinner now while the sun is out. I need some hot food to warm me up--it's chilly outside again. Hoping to put in big miles tomorrow despite the town stop and Bigelow Range. That'll set me up to reach the Kennebec between 9 and 11 am, when the ferry is operating.
Date: 2007-07-03
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Safford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Not an easy day of hiking, though my legs did handle Crocker first thing in the morning very well. The fairly hard hitch into Stratton and an easy hitch out; the guy who finally took me into town was the supervisor for a line-painting crew and explained to me all about how the line-painting truck works as we followed right behind it. I found everything I needed at Fotter's Grocery and ate a healthy brunch consisting of an ice-cream sandwich, a chocolate bar, two English muffins with cheese, and a big Coke. The climb up into the Bigelow Range was tough with a full pack and full stomach, so I stopped for a while at Horns Pond to resupply on water and chat with a SOBO also taking a break there. While most of the SOBOs (including that one) have been very nice, I had really hoped that leaving the Whites would mean leaving the crowds behind. Not so, alas.Superb views from West Peak Bigelow and Avery. I'm pretty sure Avery was the last peak above treeline that I'll go over until Katahdin itself. The Trail should flatten out tomorrow after Little Bigelow--a good thing, since I really need to make it all the way to Pierce Pond. Ferry schedule...argh.
Date: 2007-07-04
From: Safford Notch Campsite

To: Pierce Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: overcast clouds

A long day, though the grade and footing were mostly good. The hike had that combination of calm and craziness I've learned to expect from the Trail. I made a point of stopping at every pond I came to and soaking my feet while relaxing on the beaches. The lake winds kept the mosquito activity down along the shore (they were pretty bad elsewhere). My Pierce Pond bath didn't work out so well; I slipped on a rock and fell in, cutting my shin open. It tried to bleed through the Band-Aid, but the Band-Aid is a super-size one and is working just fine. I've got a big lump on my leg, though, and it hurts too bad for me to do the .3 to Harrison Camps and make a breakfast reservation.Besides falling in the pond, the craziness in the day consisted of a frightening encounter about 2 miles north of West Carry Pond Lean-To, when a gigantic bird started shrieking from a tree, then dove down to attack me. It narrowly missed my head and, thinking of the Hitchcock movie, I took off running as fast as I could over the roots and rocks. The bird followed me, screaming all the way and swooping at my face. Finally it gave up, but my legs were shaking for a good half-hour afterward. The bird was at least twice the size of an Amazon parrot. Maybe a female red-tailed hawk?Sleeping in a bit tomorrow, since the ferry won't start running until 9.
Date: 2007-07-05
From: Pierce Pond Lean-To

To: Bald Mt Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

One of those days that just has to be gotten through in order to arrive at better ones (at least, I hope tomorrow will be better). The man who runs Harrison Camps stopped by Pierce Pond last night and did some great imitation bird-calls for me, but then the rain started and was steady all night, soaking through the bottom of the tent in places the footprint didn't cover. Although the rain did lighten up, I walked in it pretty much all day, slipping and sliding on roots and rocks. Just plain tedious hiking.The most interesting event of the day was of course crossing the Kennebec. I took the "ferry", which was a red two-person canoe, rather than risking the ford (anyone who would try to walk across the Kennebec after a night of soaking rain really is a nutcase). The river was quite deep in the middle, with a fast, powerful current. Of the forders, the ferryman said, "Well, they either get lucky and make it across, or else we find them washed up against the dam twenty miles downstream."My shin was sore and did manage to bleed through the Band-Aid a bit, but my real trouble today was with a long but very shallow scratch along my Achilles tendon. I hadn't even noticed it before--I mean, I've got scratches all over--but it is infected now and the whole back of my foot stings and aches when it's in the shoe. Hoping Neosporin will fix that quickly! Monson or bust tomorrow.