morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-10
From: NH 25A

To: NH 25
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: clear sky

I'm writing this a day late. A lot happened yesterday and I ran out of time and energy before I wrote the journal report. Our hike was much shorter than usual for us. It's our last section before the tougher NH mountains that go above tree line. We got a good early start with breakfast at Dowds' B&B, Patrick makes a great omelet, and then headed out to the trailhead where we stopped yesterday. We met Ranger there and he switched from his backpack to his slack-pack for the days hike. Our shuttle driver then took our backpacks on to the Hikers Welcome Hostel on NH 25 where we planned to finish. There were only 2 relatively easy hills on our route, Ore Hill and Mt. Mist. Both are about 2,000 ft. elevation and didn't present a serious challenge. The terrain was easy, the weather dry (although there was a little rain the previous night), and there were few obstacles. It was great hiking day and we encountered a number of SoBo thru-hikers who started a month or so ago at Katahdin. Spartacus has been working with Rick, a close friend of his to arrange a special treat for us. Rick has a home that's relatively close to the trail and he and his wife, Penny, hosted all of us at their home for the evening. Besides us, Jim and Heather had driven in to spend the weekend and join the party. Shortly after we finished our hike and walked the 0.2 mile to the Hikers Welcome Hostel, Jim, Heather, and Rick arrived to ferry all of us to Rick's house. They have a sensational house on a large acreage that's virtually surrounded by forest. Rick has been upgrading and renovating the house and has more improvements in the works. There is a second house on his property where his son's family lives. They were gone for several days, so Rick housed a couple of us there.We had a terrific evening and want to thank Rick and Penny for a fabulous time. After we showered and laundered our hiking clothes, we had drinks and appetizers on their patio. Spartacus entertained everyone with his tales of the trail and we validated that all of them were true (and added a few of our own. After noting that Spartacus had lost weight and looks trim, Penny commented "new body, but same old Spartacus". For dinner, Penny made a fresh salad and a whole series of pizzas, each on homemade dough with different fresh toppings. They were wonderful and we demonstrated 'hiker hunger' (although slack-packing doesn't create the same appetite as backpacking and camping). But the pizzas were delicious and we made our mark. We all would have liked to talk longer, but Rick had to rise early for work, and we had a tough climb coming, so we headed for bed not long after dark. It was a great day, and we appreciate Rick and Penny's hospitality, and Spartacus sharing his friends with us. Tomorrow Mt. Moosilauke.
Date: 2015-07-13
From: N. Woodstock,NH

To: N. Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Today was the first of 2 back-to-back zeros we have planned. For the first, we're staying at the Woodstock Inn, one of our favorite places. Ranger and Focus have joined us here, while Spartacus drove to his home with his son, John after the Kinsman hike yesterday. It's been a great relaxation day, we all slept late (to varying extents). Breakfast here at the Inn is a treat, we ate outside and the weather is beautiful. It would be a good day to hike, but zeros are good too. We plan to take it easy, and enjoy the Woodstock Brewery's products.
Date: 2015-07-14
From: Franconia, NH

To: Franconia, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Today is the second of our 2 zeros here in the Franconia Notch area. We stayed at the Woodstock Inn in N. Woodstock last night. Dinner was great, and we had a good night's sleep. This morning after breakfast we packed up, checked out and moved to the Gale River Motel in Franconia. We really like the Woodstock Inn, but they don't provide shuttle services to the trail and Gale River does. The arrangements for the next several days are complicated and Gale River can support what we need. We plan to resume hiking early tomorrow morning and the driver will take us at 6:00 AM. Our hike tomorrow is a medium length and we will finish at the AMC Galehead Hut where we have reservations tomorrow night. The hut is part of the AMC network that supports hikers in the White Mountain area. Unfortunately, the huts don't provide power, so I won't likely be able to provide a journal input tomorrow. And I may not have service for up to 4 days. The weather is not helping tonight, a cool front is coming through and we had a brief shower earlier. The chance of showers will continue into tomorrow morning, but then the weather is scheduled to cool and be pleasant through at least Friday.
Date: 2015-07-16
From: AMC Galehead Hut

To: AMC Highland Center, Crawford Notch
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's hike was less strenuous and more pleasant than yesterday. The weather was great for hiking. An overnight cool front swept out the rain clouds and dropped the temps to the low 40's at the Galehead Hut. The only downer was that my boots and some of my gear didn't dry out, so I had a damp, chilly start. After a hearty breakfast at the hut, we all headed out...and up. Our toughest climb of the day was right at the start, over 1100 ft in 0.8 mile. By the time we got to the top of South Twin Mountain, we didn't feel the chill anymore. And we were happy that the climb didn't include any of the difficult rock climbs we had the day before. The South Twin summit was the high point for the day. Overall, the remainder of the hike was downhill, but it did include some short ups and many of the downhill segments were rocky and steep, and tricky to navigate. It helped a lot that the rocks had dried, but we still had to use the trees and roots at the sides of the trail to stabilize our descent. One section included a log ladder. We did pass through a variety of terrains and whenever there was an opening in the trees, we were treated to some spectacular views. We stopped at another AMC Hut, the Zealand Falls Hut near the bottom of a long descent. This hut was smaller than the Galehead Hut, but with similar features and services. We all had a bowl of soup to get us through the rest of the hike. Tonight we're staying at the AMC Highland Center. This is a large lodge that the AMC provides to support hiking in the White Mountain area. In many respects it's a much larger version of the huts, providing many of the same services. And it sits at one end of the presidential range of mountains. We had a pleasant evening here and plan to head toward Mt. Washington tomorrow. The weather is expected to be very good and we're looking forward to the hike.
Date: 2015-07-18
From: White Mountain Lodge & Hostel

To: White Mountain Lodge & Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Today we took a zero. We had planned to catch a ride back to the top of Mt. Washington and then hike down to Pinkham Notch. But the weather forecast was not good, rain with a possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Much of the hike, 7 miles at least, was through boulders in the open above tree line. Definitely not a good place to be in a thunderstorm, so we postponed that section for later. I'll take a few moments to describe the White Mountain Hostel. I believe it can accommodate 20 hikers. There are several bunkrooms, several additional beds in various places and 2 private rooms with 2 single beds. Marni owns and manages the hostel with her husband and several staff. We haven't stayed here before, but it has been highly recommended and we were anxious to try it. The biggest selling feature to us is that it's clean. There is space provided in the garage for boots and packs, and hikers can change into clean loaner clothes and camp shoes while their hiking clothes are being laundered (included). Breakfast is also included and snacks can be purchased. WiFi, TV (Netflix), computer are available and Marni provides shuttle runs to Walmart for resupply. Also, the shuttle to and from Pinkham Notch is included and the AT passes right in front of the hostel. Marni will do some additional shuttling for a fee. Again, from our perspective clean bathrooms, showers, sheets, towels and laundry are essential for a "good" hostel. Gorham, NH is about 3 1/2 miles from the hostel and we are familiar with Gorham from last year. Its large enough to have a lot of services that we like, including a very good restaurant, the Saalt Pub. Saalt is a family-run place and the chef (mom) has experience with Julia Childs. We ate there several times last year and were looking forward to returning. Last nigh (Fri)t, Spartacus' wife Janelle drove in to meet us with Happy Camper, a previous hiking partner with Spartacus and we all hied down to Saalt Pub for dinner. Saalt has become very popular, so it's good to be early. We had a great time and then headed back to the hostel. Spartacus headed back home with Janelle and Happy Camper and left his truck at the hostel so we could use it to resupply this afternoon. This evening, we repeated the visit to Saalt. So another zero has come and gone quickly. Tomorrow is back to the trail.
Date: 2015-07-19
From: Pinkham Notch

To: AMC Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 5.9

Today was basically a nero (nearly zero) for Princess and I. Focus and Spartacus decided to hike the whole 21.2 miles from Pinkham Notch back to the White Mountain Hostel. We know that the terrain is tough, and I wasn't ready to tackle the whole enchilada, so Princess reserved space for the 2 of us at the AMC Carter Notch Hut. Unfortunately, the hut is only about 6 miles into the hike, so we did a short one today, but have about 16 miles to do tomorrow. It was partly clear when we left the hostel early this morning, but it rained a bit overnight. We grabbed a quick bite at Dunkin D, and made it to the trailhead by 7. Spartacus and Focus took off quickly since they need to finish before dark and we didn't see them again. We had a muddy start as the trail went past a pond. Then we started a hard climb up to Wildcat Ridge. Most of the climb was hands & feet, very slow and tiring, up steep rocky ravines. The rocks were wet from last night's rain. It took us an hour and a half to get to the first peak, Wildcat E and in the next several miles we crossed peaks D, C, and A in succession. All were above 4,000 ft except D at 3990 ft. Wildcat D is the top of a ski run and we passed the gondola at the top. As we were climbing Wildcat A it started raining and made a tough trail even tougher. The rain continued for about a half hour. After crossing Wildcat A, we started a mile-long sharp descent into Carter Notch where the hut is located. We arrived at about 11:30, so it took us 4 1/2 hours to cover 5.9 miles. Slow, but we weren't in a hurry and took our time being careful on the slippery rocks. Ranger was at the hut when we arrived. He camped out last night and had a head start on us this morning. After talking for a few minutes, he headed on. He plans to camp at the Imp campsite tonight. He said that Focus and Spartacus had stopped briefly at the hut, but left about 15 min before we arrived. So we checked in early at the hut and settled into our bunks. It felt good to get out of our wet clothes, but we doubt they'll dry before morning. The clouds opened up early in the afternoon and we got some sun, but the rain returned about 5 along with lightening. We're about ready to head to dinner. This is the smallest of the AMC huts and the bunkrooms are not attached to the main dining area, so we're going to get wet again if we want to eat.
Date: 2015-07-21
From: The Cabin

To: The Cabin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a planned zero (not a result of weather like last Saturday). After breakfast this morning, packing up, and saying goodbye to Marni and our hiker friends at the White Mountain Lodge and Hostel, we piled into Spartacus' truck and drove to our next lodging near Andover, Maine. It took us a try or two, but we finally found The Cabin and introduced ourselves to the delightful couple, Honey and Bear who own it. All 5 of us, Spartacus, Focus, Ranger, Princess and I plan to stay here for a while as we hike through the first sections in Maine (and finish the last piece of New Hampshire).After getting acquainted, we had a strategy discussion about how to set up our daily hikes. We're planning on moderate length days (the terrain is not easy) and a great deal depends on the weather. There are sections here that we would not do on rainy days. Both of our hosts are veteran hikers and have done these sections numerous times, so we listened to their advice carefully. Today was a beautiful day and after all the talk we were anxious to get started. We learned that Honey is the dinner chef and she advised us that tonight's feature is shepherds pie, a favorite of ours. But first we needed to make a run into town to pick up a mail drop for Ranger and a few supplies. In particular, we needed some wine to accompany the pie. The country store and deli, not far away, met all our needs and more. Later, I relaxed with a crossword and then took a nap while Princess chatted with Honey and Bear. We also learned that August, who we've seen on the trail several times is staying here as well. The others in our group are staying in campers rather than the bunkroom and they took a rest too. Dinner was at 6 and Honey was more than ready. The shepherds pie was delicious and enormous and she appealed for no leftovers. We did our best, and almost cleaned it up. The salad was fresh and tasty, the rolls were right out of the oven and the dessert was fresh brownies with as much moose tracks ice cream as you wanted. I was so full after dinner that I didn't even indulge in my Cheeto stash. The Cabin is really unique and Bear has built it over a number of years with hikers in mind. The workmanship is first-rate, the kind of thing that you don't see much anymore. I hope to post more pics if Honey & Bear agree. And besides her culinary skills, Honey is a serious hiker - she's done Knifes Edge on Mt. Kathadin and filled Princess in on what to expect if she decides to do it. So now we have all our gear ready and set to go. Breakfast at 5 and wheels up when we're ready to go. Yippee! (a la Pintsize)
Date: 2015-07-22
From: Mahoosuc Notch, South end

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: light rain

Today was a banner day for me. We hiked Mahoosuc Notch. This notch is billed as the toughest mile of the entire AT (or alternatively the most fun mile). Very briefly, it's a narrow gorge with steep walls on either side. The trail passes down the length of the notch for about a mile. What makes it difficult is that the gorge is filled with boulders of all shapes and sizes, mostly big, some are as big as a house. There are some blazes in the maze, but hikers generally have to find their own way through it. And at some points there is more than one way to get through. Sometimes it's a route over the boulders, sometimes around the boulders, and in a few cases it's through tunnels or caves under the boulders. So it's pretty tough. We had good weather today, but it still took the 5 of us nearly 2 hours to get through the 1-mile section. Why did we pick today to do the notch? Because the weather was great - it would be incredibly difficult to do it in rain. Starting at the beginning, we got a really early start after Bear made breakfast for us at 6. Spartacus drove his truck to the end point at Grafton Notch and then Bear took all of us down a logging road to a point near the notch. From there we had a 2-mile hike on an access trail that led into the AT and took about 45 min. After finishing Mahoosuc Notch, we started a long, long climb up one of the sides called Mahoosuc Arm and then continued climbing up Old Speck to over 4,000 ft. This climb was more technical than many and involved a lot of upper body work in addition to legs. It was very windy at the top, almost difficult to stand. From that point, we started a long downhill that eventually took us back to Spartacus' truck. Our first stop on the way back was to the Sunday River Brewing Company, to tip a pint in celebration. And from there we headed back to Honey & Bear's place. Dinner was spaghetti with salad and fresh garlic bread. And dessert was my all-time favorite: strawberry-rhubarb pie a la mode. A great way to finish a great day of hiking.
Date: 2015-07-23
From: Mahoosuc Notch S. 

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Under most circumstances an 11.1-mile hike would not be very long, but there are some extenuating features. First, the section of the AT that we hiked today is not accessible by vehicles, so we had to hike a 2-mile side trail to get to our starting point on the AT and another 2-mile side trail after we finished the AT to get to our shuttle vehicle. So we really hiked over 15 miles today. Secondly, the terrain was really tough with some exceedingly steep uphills and downhills. Very little of it was flat and one short section reminded me of a piece of Mahoosuc Notch. It wasn't as hard as yesterday's hike, but it was challenging. This was our second day working with Bear as our driver. He knows the AT, the access trails and the local secondary and logging roads extremely well, and he's been shuttling hikers for years. He works with us to help us meet our hiking goals. And he's an early riser and doesn't mind taking us out early to the trail. Currently we're trying to balance the degree of difficulty of the various AT sections in this area with the weather outlook. Bad weather can turn a moderately difficult hike into a nightmare. So we're trying to do the most difficult hikes on good weather days, and save the somewhat easier hikes for days when rain is forecast. Today was a beautiful day, so we did one of the more difficult sections. The steep downhill sections would have been frightening if the rocks were wet. Everything turned out well today. The terrain was varied and interesting, and the trail had interesting features. We crossed several peaks that approached 4,000 ft, and the alpine environment at those altitudes is dramatic. One feature that I need to photograph is alpine bogs. Bogs on mountains are not unusual at any elevation, but it still surprises me to see them on mountaintops. Most of the time when the trail crosses a bog, a plank walk is provided to keep the hikers out of the bog. And as a hiker walks across the plank walk, he may use his poles occasionally for balance. But I've found that the bogs sometimes have a very deep bottom, as much as three or four feet deep. They look innocent enough, but a hiking pole could get lost in the bog. Other features we encountered today included a number of ladders to help hikers across a rock face, and rebar steps and handholds to enable scaling steep flat rocks. Finally, we had a moose sighting this morning while we were driving out to our starting point. Princess saw several last year, but this was my first. They really are very large creatures. So now it's late and time to rest for tomorrow. It looks like a rainy day coming up.
Date: 2015-07-24
From: US Rt. 2

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.1

We anticipated rain today starting late in the morning. So we got an early start again in hopes of beating it. Our goal was to hike the third piece of the AT between Gorham (US 2) and Grafton Notch. Working with our shuttle driver, Bear, we divided the total distance into 3 pieces (11 to 15 miles each) where he has access to the starting and end points of each. In the last 2 days, we've completed 2 of the 3 and today's hike is the third and final section. In our opinion, it is the easiest of the three. Today we took advantage of Spartacus' truck again. Both Spartacus and Bear drove their trucks to the end point for the day and Spartacus left his truck there. Then we all piled into Bear's truck and he drove us to the starting point. So we spent the rest of the day hiking (NoBo) toward Spartacus' truck. We hiked across several mountains today, Mt. Hayes and Cascade Mountain and several ponds, Page Pond and Dream Lake. The highest elevation for the hike was less than 3,000 ft. Both lakes were high elevation and quite beautiful. Most of the hike was over fairly easy terrain and we made good time in those sections. There were a couple of places where the climbs took us over some large boulder cascades and those were more difficult to scale. We also crossed a number of bogs. I talked about them briefly yesterday, typically there are plank walks or puncheons across the bogs. Today I've included a photo to give you and idea of what they are. The best news about the hike today was that it never really rained. There were some sprinkles in the early afternoon, but we were prepared for a drenching rain. The sprinkles did make the rocks and roots a little slippery in some spots but it wasn't a major problem. So we had a fine day today. When we reached the Gentian Pond Shelter, we took the same side trail that we did yesterday, about 2 miles long to get to where Spartacus left his truck (so we actually hiked 14 miles today). Then Spartacus drove us back. He also arranged to pick up 2 thru hikers along the way that he hiked with earlier this year, Honey Badger and Hare. After dropping us off, he took them back to his house for dinner. Dinner tonight was cheeseburgers grilled outside with all the fixings, corn on the cob, potato salad and brownies with ice cream. We all had an appetite. A really good day. Also, today we officially moved into Maine, our fourteenth and last state for the AT. We actually crossed the state line yesterday, but we still needed to complete today's hike in New Hampshire. So I've included the photo from yesterday.
Date: 2015-07-25
From: Grafton Notch

To: East B Hill Road
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: light rain

A second relatively easy day, low mileage, good weather and reasonable terrain. Princess relented on the starting time today and we had breakfast an hour later than usual at 6:00 AM. By 7:30 we were at the trailhead to Baldpate Mountain. Baldpate has two peaks, one to the west and one to the east. The climb was a good incline with no real difficulties for the first 1,000 ft, then a plateau, then a second incline to West Baldpate Mountain, a plank walk through an Alpine bog, and finally a third climb to West Baldpate Mtn. at about 3,800 ft, about 4 miles from the starting point. The western (first) peak was socked in and we couldn't see anything beyond the edge of the mountain. However, by the time we got to the eastern peak, the lower level clouds had cleared and we could see the surrounding valleys. The climb to the second peak was interesting, near the top it was all rock and the rock was in slanting shelves. So it wasn't so hard to climb - but it's hard to describe. Also the rock was rough enough that we got good traction with our boots. Before today we were concerned about a stream that we had to cross. We remembered that last year hikers weren't able to cross for a day because of high water. The past week or so has been relatively dry and we crossed it today with no problem. We also learned from Earl that there is a high-water trail that will bypass the stream if there is a problem. This evening we headed into Andover for "all-you-can-eat" pizza night at the Little Red Hen. It was good pizza, especially the potato & bacon pizza. Janelle (Spartacus' wife) joined us. This may be the last time we see her until Katahdin. Janelle made a batch of Polly bars for us, great energy bars for hiking - thank you Janelle. She and Spartacus hosted Honey Badger and Hare yesterday and they are staying here at the Cabin today, so they were there too. A number of other hikers were also there, including Brother Louie. He's back on the trail after helping out for several days at White Mountain Lodge. Today wasn't a good picture day for me. It was damp this morning and I got a smudge on my camera lens that I didn't realize, so there's a blurry spot on the photos. But I'll include a couple of them, you'll just need to look around the smudge.