morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-09-05
From: Campsite at west branch of the Piscataquis River 

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Guest author Sam:Up and on the trail by 8:00 a.m. We had the first real ford of the AT right off the bat (the Maine AT Club does not believe in bridges) so we didn¢t even put our boots on in the morning. Just walked out to the river and waded across.   Mid-calf at the deepest, no big deal. I found it refreshing, or ¢invigorating¢ as I called it. The Lizard said it was ¢freezing.¢Had one more ford later in the day, this one a tad deeper but not much. I couldn¢t wait to get in and cool my aching feet. The Lizard kept walking up and down the bank looking for a way to cross without getting in the water. He didn¢t find one.Continued on to Monson (thanks for the trail magic, Strider!) and took the short route into town, which added 2 miles onto the hike (going the ¢long way¢ would have been 3 more miles on the AT, then another 2 miles or so into town). I obviously voted for the short option.   I only bring this up because 1) I want those 2 miles counted towards my hike, dammit, and 2) while we were walking up the road to Monson, two older ladies stopped in response to Pat¢s ¢Hiker to Town¢ towel and hitch-hiking thumb to tell us they weren¢t going to give us a ride. They couldn¢t just drive by an wave. No sir, they had to stop and mock us. It must have been Pat¢s fault. One of them looked like she was eating a candy bar, so the look in his eyes probably frightened them off. Dropped Pat off at Shaw¢s, only to find that we¢d missed Dragon Slayer and Yoga Monkey by two hours. Pat was bummed; he didn¢t get to say goodbye. Sorry Pat, I¢ll try to walk faster next time.Said hey to Wicked Lobstah and Buddy, met Slim and Biscuit whom I¢d heard of but never met.   Janet drove up to collect me for my trip back to Augusta and points south. Dinner with Pat and Janet at a place called ¢Low Stress Moose.¢ Those wacky Mainers.Stayed at Shaws Bording House. Very nice people. They have been around forever and really take care of the hikers. Looking forward to the all-you-can-eat breakfast in the morning.
Date: 2004-09-06
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Monson, ME (zero miles)Ate myself into a food coma for breakfast. Hung out and did laundry with Grass. Uncle Ben, Lobstah, and Slim & Biscuit are here as well. Dragon Slayer & Yoga Monkey took off just 2hrs before Sam (MailTragic) and I arrived last night. I didn't even get to say a proper goodbye. Damn!Flip-Flop's girlfriend drove us all to the real grocery store to resupply. Now to find dinner...
Date: 2004-09-07
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Ben's package didn't come. We'll wait and see if it arrives tomorrow. I moved over to the Trail Magic Massage Lady's house. She lets hikers stay for free in exchange for a little work around the place. I'll stay with Ben, Grass, King Alabar and save a few bucks. We went over to Shaw's in the evening and drank some beers and played pool with Keith Jr and some other hikers. Fun night but everyone pooped out around 10pm. Came back to The hostel and chated with Alabar for a while before hitting the sack. I plan on hiking out tomorrow no matter what. It is supposed to rain, but whatever, we need to get moving so we won't have to hurry. I have seven days of food and my pack weighs 50lbs according to the scale at Shaw's. I'll get faster as I eat my pack weight down!
Date: 2004-09-08
From: Monson, ME

To: Leeman Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: broken clouds

Looks like Uncle Ben's package is still not here. Neither is mine. I am heading out today. Ben may wait. Grass may go with me and let Ben catch up. we'll see...Uncle Ben's package was there all along. His grandmother had addressed it to "Uncle Ben" and forgot to put his real name on it. Doh!Looks like we're headed out soon. It's about 1pm now. Maybe we'll make it 10 miles to the second shelter, or maybe not.We got out late, around 3pm or so. We did the 3 miles I needed to get to Rt 15 and then entered the 100 Mile Wilderness. The sign at the road said hikers should take 10 days of food. I have 7 and it is too heavy. I'll need to eat a lot in the next couple of days. We hiked the first 3 miles of the wilderness to the Leeman Brook Lean-to and called it a day. There was one hiker there, John, who I met at Shaw's in town. Two other section hikers showed up and made for a tight shelter. I was crammed in the corner but it felt cozy, I had a good nights sleep.
Date: 2004-09-10
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to 

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: overcast clouds

This day started better than the last. It almost looked sunny for a moment there. Grass and Uncle Ben headed out a little ahead of me and I took half the day to catch up. By the time I got to Barren Mountain I was back in the clouds. The wind was fierce all day and on the exposed top the gusts pushed me around. There was an old firetower structure on top and the wind made a wild humming noise as it blew through the framework, crazy. I took a few pictures, a video and went over as fast as I could. It was cold up there. We did a pretty short day today. We made it over Columbus Mtn and stoped at Chairback Gap Lean-to. I lost my map somewhere on Barren Mtn. I have not lost anything on this whole trip and now I am loosing things every day. I have just got to keep it together for a few more days...
Date: 2004-09-11
From: Chairback Gap Lean-to

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

Great weather today. Clear skies and warm sun for our last big river ford. Met a bunch of day hikers out today. This 100 Mile Wilderness is not as inaccessable as we thought. We met a crowd at the West Branch of the Pleasant River. Whole families with kids out for the day. I took off my boots and waded across in my camp shoes. Since we have had no rain for a day the river was not too high. Only knee high or so, and with a good bottom that was not too difficult to walk on. The mosquitoes here at the river were awfull. It was difficult to sit still long enough to change out of my boots. We put on some bug spray on the other side since they attacked even while we kept moving. We had a pleasant lunch at the Gulf Hagas side trail. We went a short ways down to the first waterfall and I set up my hammock. It was a beautiful place, we decided not to do the whole thing (it's over five miles) but did get to see a bit of the gorge at the first set of falls. We thought about camping up on top of Gulf Hagas Mtn. We even carried enough water to camp, but there was no place to set up on top. We ended up at the Sidney Tappan Campsite. There were a bunch of tents there when we arrived. Bluebearee was there and had some news for Grass. She was just out for a few days and had heard from Grass' dad on whiteblaze.net. He has reserved a campsite at Katahdin Stream Campground for the night of the 16th. Looks like he will be there to summit with us on the 17th. She is very happy to hear that since he was unsure whether he would be able to make it last time they spoke. Good news for her! We set up along the trail, had some dinner, and called it a night.
Date: 2004-09-12
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite

To: Campsite at Crawford Pond
Miles today: 13.9

I had a great breakfast on the "front porch" of my tent with Grass this morning. I'll miss waking up to her smiling face when we're done. She fried up some country ham and I made a denver omelet. We sat together and read the paper in the morning sun. What a great way to start the day. We got a good look at Mt Katahdin from White Cap Mtn today. My electronic compass on my watch died today. Good thing I brought a standard back up. With the map and compass we were now sure we were looking at the right mountain. My watch has been slowly dying since right before the Whites. The altimeter went first and that pissed me off. I had not really needed it for a long time, but as soon as I needed it again, in the White Mtns, it wasn't working. I was hoping then that it was just the battery going dead. Now there is no question, the battery has had it. Only the watch and timer work now, but that's OK, I'm almost done. It would be nice to know the altitude when we summit the big K, but I'll live.At the end of the day we found a great campsite right by Crawford Pond. There was a small sandy beach and I put my tent up right beside the pond. We had a fabulous cocktail hour before dinner. We drank mixed drinks by the lake at sunset. We snacked on some biscotti I received in the mail in Monson, ME. Thanks, Claire, for the treats! It was a great end to a nice day. At night the stars came out in force, while we listened to the loons out on the water. The night sky in Northern Maine is spectacular! Another one of the things I'll miss when I'm done.
Date: 2004-09-13
From: Campsite at Crawford Pond

To: Whitehouse Landing
Miles today: 17.0

Left pretty early for us. Just a straight up hiking day. Good weather, hope it holds for the 17th. White House Landing was great. Comfortable and hostpitable, not the least expensive, but nice. The folks that run the place are great. We had the biggest burgers of our lives. One Full Pound, yum! Homemade brownies with a pint each of Ben & Jerrys with whip cream and chocolate syrup!Knowing we would be hungry again in a little while, We got a pizza for later and retired to the bunk house. Very comfortable. We had a good time relaxing by the wood stove with John and Meanderthal. Full Pound Burgers!
Date: 2004-09-14
From: Whitehouse Landing

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Guest author Grass:Hello everyone! This is Grass and because Patrick (you know, sleeping beauty) is getting a Maine hot dog right now I will be your featured guest journalist. On Monday the 13th we (Uncle Ben, Pat, and myself) woke up early (well, I got up at 6:15 and had to roll Pat out of his bed at 7:30) for breakfast at White House Landing. We had first eggs, homefries, bacon, coffee, and OJ followed by blueberry pancakes. It was good to be cooked for and have a hot meal! After breakfast we were driven by boat back to the side trail we had taken to get there the previous day. The trail was muddy and full of tree roots but we made good time because it was relatively flat. Unfortunately, the big breakfast earlier gave Uncle Ben gas, and it almost killed us! We decided we could sell him to the government as a weapon of mass destruction. How much do y'all think we could get for him? Also unfortunately we made him walk behind us(because of the gas). About a half mile past Wadleigh Shelter we hit a bees nest and Ben, being the last, got stung. The incident made me wonder if I shouldn't have left him somewhere along the trail, though, when he promptly began to scream like my little sister, perform what we now call the "bee dance" and then push me (his girlfriend)to the side and run up the trail. Of course, the moment Pat heard Ben's screams he also took off down the trail. So there I stood,left to the bees and laughing hysterically. It was only then that Ben yelled, "Hey! These must be the bees that guy at the shelter warned us about!" ... Boys. After 7.7 miles we reached the top of Nesuntabunt Mtn. at 1520 ft. We got a really good view of Katahdin- it was exciting to see it so close! The boys spent several minutes placing our digital cameras, setting the timers, and then running back and forth to get in the pictures and then see how they came out. The good news is Pat didn't drop Sam's camera like he did Darrell's, so we're still only on digital camera number two! We finished the day with a fairly easy (it's all flat and downhill from here, guys) hike to Rainbow Stream Shelter. It was beautiful, right on the stream which sung us to sleep. Now, if we could only get these Yankees to stop making these baseball bat floors in the shelters, we would all be ok. Well that's all I got, folks, see y'all on Katahdin! Oh Yeah! By the way, I'm a princess!
Date: 2004-09-15
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Abol Bridge Campground
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

Nice hiking day to Abol Bridge. There were great views of Katahdin from Rainbow Ledges. We ran into Crooked Man there while taking a lunch break. He is the hiker that brought Dragon Slayer, Lobstah and me to his house in mid July. We had such a great time at his house with him and his wife. Thanks again for your hospitality! Crooked Man and his hiking partner were out to finish the Maine section and were involved in an after dark "rescue" on Kathdin the other day. An older lady who apparently was not a strong hiker and went up on Katahdin and couldn't make it down before dark. Crooked Man and his buddy went up and took some food and water. Crooked Man took her pack, which the people with her had not done, and his buddy took her by the arm and helped her down. She was just overexhasted by the hike. Tough mountain!We hear hurricane Ivan is on the way. I hope we get up on Katahdin before the clouds roll in. We got some beers and chips and cookies to celebrate our arrival at Abol Bridge.Tomorrow on to Baxter State Park, and Friday we summit the Big K, Katahdin Mtn here we come!
Date: 2004-09-16
From: Abol Bridge Campground

To: Kathdin Stream Campground
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: broken clouds

Grass' dad showed up at our tent site first thing in the morning. Grass was so happy to see him, even if he didn't bring ten Egg McMuffins. But he did. Way to go Rainman! My new favorite hiker. He was accompanied by Mala, a veteran hiker, who shared the drive just to come to Maine again. They took off after we had breakfast to check out of their hotel and make reservations at the Katahdin Inn, in Millinocket, where my brother Mike, Sam and Darrell have rooms for tomorrow night. We will see Rainman and Mala tonight at Katahdin Stream Campground. Mike, Sam and Darrell will be in Millinocket tonight and will come into the park to hike first thing in the morning.It was foggy and cloudy when we woke but by 10am or so the mists had burned off and Katahdid was visible again. It looms over the campground and is quite impressive. We can almost see where we will be hiking tomorrow.It was a easy hike to Katahdin Stream Campground. At Abol Bridge Campground we collected a couple other thru-hikers before we left. Uncle Ben and Grass have been leaving notes at the sheters for Slips. We had heard that he was right behind us and they were urging him to catch up. Well, he caught us this morning. He told me he had wanted to meet me ever since I helped his hiking partner, Fitz, back in PA. Slips and Bones joined us for the hike into Baxter State Park and we kept crossing paths all day with Lonesome Dove. We stopped for lunch at Big Niagra Falls. It was nice to sit and cool our feet in the stream. Lonesome Dove joined Grass, Uncle Ben and I for lunch. We all met up at Katahdin Stream Campground with Rainman, Jason and Mala. They fed us McDonald's burgers and then Mala cooked us some yummy tacos. Thanks Mala! We were provided with sodas and beer and had a good time around the campfire. It was a great second to last day and night. I'm looking forward to tomorrow'! s climb. There is a 30% chance of rain, but at 11pm the skies are still clear. We'll see. I have been having mixed feelings about finishing, but I am ready to be done. Only one more day!
Date: 2004-02-06
To: Major Plans for Mark
Miles today: 0.0

Hello to just about everyone I know - at least those that I have email addresses for. Many of you know that I have major plans for the next half year. In case you don't know, I'm hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, 2,170 miles. I start in early March and hope to be done by the end of August. I will have a cell phone with me and am hoping for reception occasionally. My phone number can be obtained from Jill. Feel free to call me and leave a message. I probably won't have the cell phone on too often to conserve battery.I would love to have visitors on my hike. Some of you have already expressed interest in meeting up with me for a day, a weekend, or a week. Any amount of time would be great.I will be mailing myself packages ahead of time. My packages are going to be filled with food that I have already dehydrated and vacuum sealed as well as other items that I will need along the way, ie resupply of ibuprofin, special soap to clean my sleeping bag, clothes, etc. My next entry page is a list of those drops, the addresses, my mileage between drops, and an approximation of the date that I will be there. The date I could be at these locations could be WAY off since I really don't know exactly what pace I'm going to be keeping.Please don't send me anything that would be too heavy to carry. I will already have a 50-60 pound pack. However, I would not complain if you wanted to send some cookies or something like that. I will be glad to eat most of them on the spot, I'm sure. I wouldn't mind getting a letter occasionally too. If you are going to send me something, make sure that you write on the package or letter:Please hold for AT-Thru Hiker: Mark Abrams General Delivery (if to a Post Office) City, State, and Zip Code Estimated time of arrivalI have to mention that Fed Ex and UPS can not be delivered to a General Delivery at the post office. The majority of my drops are to the post office. Just to let you know. I'm also goin to list the phone number of the post office or other drop location so you can call and get specific addressing instructions.Also, if you do decide to send me something that smells good, make sure you double or triple bag it because I've been warned that mice could be a problem in storage at the post office.My last day of work is Feb 20th. Jill and I are going to Hawaii for a week and then I leave for the east coast on March 6th. Wish me luck!!!Mark
Date: 2004-02-06
To: Mark's Plan
Miles today: 0.0

Start on March 9th (my birthday) at Amicalola State Park in Georgia1) 39.5 miles to Neels Gap, drop on the trail, roughly March 13 Winton and Marjorie Porter 9710 Gainsville Hwy Blairsville, GA 30512(706)745-60952) 103 miles to Nantahala Outdoor Center, drop on the trail, roughly March 20th Nantahala Outdoor Center13077 Hwy 19WBryson City, NC 28713(828)488-21753) 130 miles to Hot Springs, NC, drop on the trail, roughly March 28th General Delivery Hot Springs, NC 28743(828)622-32424) 123 miles to Dennis Cove, TN, drop 0.5 miles off trail, roughly April 5th Kincora Hiking Hostel1278 Dennis Cove RoadHampton, TN 37658(423)725-44095) 51 miles to Damascus, VA, drop on trail, roughly April 13 General Delivery Damascus, VA 24236(276)475-34116) 120 miles to Bland, VA, drop 2.5 miles off trail, roughly April 21 General Delivery Bland, VA 24315(540)688-3751closest section to Blacksburg7) 114 miles to Catawba, VA, drop 1 mile off trail, roughly April 30 General Delivery Catawba, VA 24070(540)384-60118) 113 miles to Montebello, VA, 2.2 miles off trail, roughly May 7 General Delivery Montebello, VA 24464(540)377-92189) 146 miles to Front Royal, VA, 3.2 miles off trail, roughly May 17 General Delivery Front Royal, VA 22630(540)635-7983closest section to DC10) 147 miles to Boiling Springs, PA, drop on trail, roughly June 2 General Delivery Boiling Springs, PA 17007(717)258-666811) 156 miles to Wind Gap, PA, 1 mile off trail, roughly June 15 General Delivery Wind Gap, PA 18091(610)863-620612) 125 miles to Bear Mountain, NY, drop on trail, roughly June 25 General Delivery Bear Mountain, NY 10911(845)786-374713) 140 miles to Tyringham, Mass, 0.6 miles off trail, roughly July 5 General Delivery Tyringham, Mass 01264(413)243-122514) 158 miles to Killington, VT, 0.6 miles off trail, roughly July 20 General Delivery Killington, VT 05751(802)775-424715) 117 miles to North Woodstock, NH, 5 miles off trail, roughly July 30 General Delivery North Woodstock, NH 03262(603)745-813416) 113 miles to Andover, ME, 8 miles off trail, roughly August 6 General Delivery Andover, ME 04216(207)392-457117) 139 miles to Monson, ME, 4 miles off trail, roughly August 15 General Delivery Monson, ME 04464(207)997-3975118 to Katahdin in Maine!
Date: 2004-04-07
From: Tennessee

To: Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Hey! Just got out of the Smokey's. It was tough. Lots of snow. I'm here at a hostel and am on a slow computer. Everything is going great. Wish I could send some pictures. Taking lots and filling out the journal that Jan gave me. It's really great to be warm and dry again. Taking a shower, doing laundry, eating a burger, and hitting the trail again soon.Jen - I will give you a call sometime in the next week. I have to get on a ridge somewhere. It would be awesome if you and Kerry can join me for a couple days. We'd have a blast. I'm a little behind schedule right now but plan on being in VA in about a week and a half.Dad - Can you look into a super light synthetic, 40 degree sleeping bag. I'm thinking of getting really light in VA. Mom - Hey!Jill - I love you and miss you babe! Will call you when I get to the ridge and get cell phone reception.
Date: 2004-05-15
From: Virginia

To: Northern Virginia
Miles today: 700.0

[Mark, and many of the hikers with whom he's been travelling, just spent 2 days at "Trail Days" in Damascus, VA. Mark will be getting on the AT where he left off near Dragon's Tooth in Virginia. He's with James and Tom.]Mark sends:Hey guys! Having a great time at Trail Days in Damascus. I have bad cell phone reception, so I don't think I'll be able to call. But I may. I'm going to mail the memory card today or tomorrow morning. Hopefully you have had the chance to check out trailjournals.com. I've hiked 700 miles so far. James picked me up at Dragon's Tooth and drove me down to Damascus. Tom Rider is here as well. Only 2 more weeks until I'm hanging out with Jill. I can't wait! Chat with you guys later![Mark's pictures will be uploaded to this web site as soon as they are received by his "webmasters".]
Date: 2004-05-19
From: Central Virginia

To: Northern Virginia
Miles today: 21.0

[Mark called from Peaks of Otter. He's planning on hiking 21 miles today. His webmasters received the "flashcard" and will begin uploading pictures to the Trunks website.   Enjoy!][Oh, by the way...Mark weighed in at 189 lbs. He has lost over 40 lbs since starting the hike. Don't worry, though, he could well afford to loose a few lbs!]
Date: 2004-05-24
From: Northern Virginia

To: Montebello, Va
Miles today: 0.0

Mark has made it to Montebello, Va and is temporarily slowed down due to blisters on his feet. I have pasted an email from him below. He is staying at a nice bed and breakfast and is being well fed. He hadn't had a shower or washed his clothes for 8 days so it was nice to get cleaned up. He has been doing some stream swimming though, which is very refreshing - by that I mean cold. JillI'm still at the bed and breakfast. I think I'm going to stay here again tonight because i have some nasty blisters on my ankles. Fortunately, i can slack pack 10 miles in my sandles. I really would rather be back on the trail but i'm in pain and think that a day out of my boots will help me a bunch. You should see the nasty blisters i have. It's awful looking. I was hoping that they'd be better by this morning but they aren't. I will call your cell again this evening. I should be available by email thru the day, except for about 5 hours while i'm hiking. Hope things are going well!