morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-08-07
From: Pine Ellis Hostel - Andover Maine

To: Stealth
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

K-17Stealth16.1 / 1948.3TentReading Man and I were on the trail by 7:10 and made good time over the six miles to Hall Mountain lean-to. There we met Bombadil who was slack packing south, still trying to take it easy on a knee giving him problems. We pushed on toward Beamis Mt lean-to, which would have made it an almost 19 mile day.There were a couple big climbs and big drops, but the trail was excellent most of the day. With the good trail we thought we could do the long day and the profile didn't look too bad. Unfortunately as we began the "gradual" ascent of Beamis the trail degraded into ... Well? Not as good as it was. In fact, it turned into a nastiness of roots and boulders. Our pace slowed and the time went by.I called it. Next stealth site I see is as far as I go today. Here we are after an eleven hour day. As I lay here in my tent the sky is spitting at the rain fly, but it's just the pattern of the last several days. No real rain and the water sources are beginning to go dry. SOBOs and NoBos trade water information along the trail. It's critical at this point so we're looking out for each other.
Date: 2016-08-08
From: Stealth

To: Rangley Maine
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: overcast clouds

K-16Farmhouse Hostel, Rangley ME20.4 / 1968.7HostelWe were on the trail at 06:00 in a cold breeze that made my hands numb. It felt good after a cool night's sleep. The top of Bemis mountain was covered n blueberries and we gathered several handfuls. Great day to be hiking. As the day went on we had intermittent rain, but only for a few minutes at a time. The trail was better. We made good time and found trail magic in the form of cold soda's and beer at Maine 17. I pushed hard the last thirteen miles to make it into the hostel tonight. I will take another zero here tomorrow and prepare for the trip to Stratton and then Monson.The stars really come out in Maine. You can stand on the porch with lights on and still see the Milky Way.
Date: 2016-08-09
From: Rangley Maine

To: Farmhouse Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

K-15Farmhouse Inn, Rangely ME0 / 1968.7Hostel Yep, another zero. I earned it too. Probably take another in Monson, but then that's what I mean by slowing down in Maine. I think I managed to repair my boot today. Time will tell. The last couple weeks of trail have been hard on them. Sometimes I'll wedge the boot between rocks to gain a foothold on the steep ups or downs. Tore the side stitching out of one. Unable to find Shoe Goo, I settled on AquaSeal. Maybe it will hold for another 220 miles That's on great thing zero mile days are for; equipment repair.After five months on the trail, a lot of stuff has holes, worn spots, damage and tears. Surprisingly, my physical condition does not reflect my equipment condition. Everything seems to be working OK, even my feet, which have been abused for months now. Maybe they just got tougher. A little burning discomfort when I finally lay down at night. Nothing a couple Tylenol doesn't take care of. Of course I am still taking the turmeric.The next few days will be difficult. More 4K mountains. I'm actually looking forward to it. If the weather is good there is spectacular scenery ahead. But then, you all know me. I pretty much enjoy anything the weather brings. Maine has been exceptionally dry this year. Maybe I shouldn't have said that before the river fords coming up Actually, the forecast has some T-Storms ahead.
Date: 2016-08-10
From: Farmhouse Inn

To: Spaulding Lean-to
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: light rain

K-14Spaulding Lean-to18.7 / 1987.4TentA long, tough day with four big climbs and three big descents. The trail was good for the most part though, which made the day a pretty good one.Leaving Rangeley we did a long gradual climb up Saddleback, where we got above tree line and enjoyed some spectacular views, especially back toward Rangeley and the surrounding lakes. The Horn and Saddleback Junior offered more views after we climbed their 500 foot climbs, which were somewhat steep. Generally, the summits are granite slabs and easy to walk on. The north side descents, however, tended to be very steep and tricky.I left Junco behind fairly early in the day. We had been listening to a raptor call. Not long after I lost sight of Junco, who likes to travel slower, I found the Goshawk making the calls and captured a video.During the latter part of the day, I caught up with Reading-Man. He and I pushed each other the last eight miles including the very steep 900 foot climb up Lone mountain.Four big climbs and a grunch of miles and I'm tired boss. Dog tired, but I made it to my planned stop.
Date: 2016-08-11
From: Spaulding Lean-to

To: Stratton ME
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

K-13Stratton ME13.5 / 2000.9HotelToday's thirteen miles felt like double yesterday's nineteen. It has a lot to do with the nature of the trail bed. Today was mostly rocky and a lot of steepness. Yesterday had a lot more dirt trail. That makes all the difference. It is what it is, and today kicked my butt.Spaulding, Sugarloaf, Crocker South and Crocker North. All near 4K in altitude, but varying in the length of climb. But now... If you scramble down 500 feet just to climb back up 500 feet it oughta count double. The downs really take time and cause more discomfort than the ups, so let's just consider that. I'm not complaining, just discussing the nature of the trail. Maine is awesome Maine is not easy.We passed the 2000 mile point today. Only 189 miles to go! If I was driving in a car, I would think it a long way. After walking over 2K miles, it doesn't seem so far. Weird huh?Here is a short video of a Goshawk... I think... Captured while we were climbing Saddleback mountain. Goshawk? on Saddleback
Date: 2016-08-12
From: Stratton ME

To: Stratton ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

K-12Stratton ME0 / 2000.9HostelWell, the forecast was calling for thunderstorms today and since my next section goes over the Bigelow range with open country I opted to take another zero day. Still ample time to reach Baxter before Beth and   Maggie arrive, but I will need to do some hiking nuthin I haven't done all damn summer.Had a big ole self created chef salad for lunch and a heaping plate of self cooked spaghetti for dinner here at the hostel today. Great little hostel, by the way. Owned by the Farmhouse Inn peeps of Rangeley, which is also excellent. The semi private room at the Farmhouse is actually like renting a suite. Not bad at all for $40 a person.Tomorrow is also supposed to rain, but not thunder and lightning. Hope not, but I need to hike. Need to wrap this adventure up. Need to go home.
Date: 2016-08-13
From: Stratton ME

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: broken clouds

K-11Little Bigelow Lean-to15.3 / 172.9TentRain and lots of it was the order of the day as NewHampshire Bob and I caught the 7:15 shuttle. It was a long, tough, rainy day. Behind me, the Bigelows, the last of the four thousand footers between me and Katahdin. Whitecap is almost 4K but that's another day. I left NH Bob at Horns Pond contemplating staying put. As for me, I had miles to put behind. Three steep peaks lay between me and the Little Bigelow shelter.Crossing the East Bigelow, North B and Avery peak in the rain wasn't what I had in mind when I zeroed yesterday, but it wasn't thundering, it was just cold rain. However, the ridge line of Little Bigelow was not as flat as the guidebook profile suggested. In reality, it was an obstacle course of ten foot ups and downs coupled with a couple of sheer cliffs right beside the trail, which was granite. So in hindsight, the easiest part of the day based on the profile was the most treacherous .The shelter was full, as expected at 7PM on a rainy day, so I did the quick fly thing by setting up my fly and ground sheet, which snap together, after which I set up my tent under the fly. I have not had to do that often, but when the need arises, I am glad I bought the ground sheet that goes with the tent.So, soaking wet, I changed into my merino wool base layer shirt and some dry underwear and socks. Happily typing out a journal entry on notes to post when I get a signal again. Trying not to think about tomorrow morning when I have to put on those cold wet clothes and do it all over again. Yep, Maine finally got some rain. Wonder what it will do to the rivers
Date: 2016-08-14
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: light rain

K-10Pierce Pond Lean-to17.7 / 155.2TentOk, let's do the math. Take the Katahdin section of 5.2 from the miles to go leaving 150.0. Divide by the number of hiking days left except for Katahdin... 10. So I need to average 15 miles per day. Most, but not all of it is relatively flat. Can do, but I won't be taking a zero. I will do a short day into Monson and head out the next morning.Today was a long relatively flat hike, but the humidity was back. I found ReadingMan at the first shelter and after drying my tent in the midday sun he and hiked the remaining ten miles here to Pierce Pond together. The "ponds" in Maine are actually huge lakes. Now having said that, Croton Pond back home in Michigan is similar in size. There are loons and Moose, very few boats and whitecaps if the wind is up. Very scenic and a change of pace from the mountain views. The trail can get muddy and rocky in places, but it was also the really nice pine needle or good ole dirt for the most part. Well, things are winding down. In reflection, it has been a very long time since I have seen my home. I'm ready to be there now, so I find myself being extra careful on the trail. It isn't over yet.
Date: 2016-08-15
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to

To: Bald Mt Lean-to
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: scattered clouds

K-9Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to18.7 / 136.5TentAnother beautiful day on the trail. I left camp at 7:30 and arrived at the Kennebec Ferry just as the canoe service was starting. I was sixth in line so the delay was only about half an hour. ReadingMan and Napster had been waiting 2 hours and 19 respectively. Napster, a young German fellow I have known since Southern Virginia tried to make the 2:00 PM cutoff yesterday and arrived at 2:30. There's a picture of NinjaHoops and Ninja in the canoe getting ready to make the crossing.I saw a mink from about eight feet away on my way to the river this morning. The trail paralleled a stream for several miles, so the mink had great habitat. I went for my camera and did manage to snap a few shots as he left the tree and vanished into the underbrush. When I first saw him I thought it might be a squirrel because we see so many of them. Then it registered as we locked eyes. What a beautiful animal to see up close like that.Yup, good trail, nice weather, phone signal on top of the only mountain we climbed today, Pleasant Mountain. Plus the added bonuses of a mink sighting and the Kennebec crossing made for a great day.
Date: 2016-08-16
From: Bald Mt Lean-to

To: Stealth 5 miles before Monson
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: broken clouds

K-8Stealth15.7 / 120.5 mtgTentNot a particularly eventful day. When I got to the top of Moxie Bald mountain, I oriented my map and gazed in the direction of Katahdin. It was there, but in the hazy distance. I took a picture, but it's not very good. If you really knew what to look for, it is barely visible.The trail was easy, so when I got to my planned destination at 3:30 I pushed on a little to make tomorrow's nero into Monson even shorter. I would have liked to reach Monson today, but it is not my style to show up in town after 7:00 PM. I like to get into town in the morning or at least in time for lunch. Of note... Both the west and east branches of the Piscataquis River were so low that I didn't remove my boots at either ford. In 06 they were both greater than knee deep.As I write, the rain is starting. Guess tomorrow's forecast is also rain. Not a big deal. Except, it means I will have one more chore to do; drying out a wet tent. My backpack popped a load lifter strap a couple of days ago, so that's one more thing I need to get done in town. Without the load lifter strap, it sits heavy on my right shoulder causing discomfort. No biggie for an hour or so, but on a ten hour day of hiking it gets really annoying. Hopefully the gear repair listed on Shaw's write up includes heavy duty sewing.I almost finished my very heavy food supply that I left Rangeley with. Tried some different things and also brought a lot more food. I ate well of peanut butter and honey on tortillas, summer sausage and an elaborate Gorp I made with walnuts. It was all really heavy though. I even tried Pop Tarts, ignoring the weight ratios I had calculated last winter. Buzzzzz!!! We have a loser! Honey buns it is for next week's last push. Back to basics for the next resupply.
Date: 2016-08-17
From: Stealth 5 miles before Monson

To: Monson ME
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: broken clouds

Monson 6.3 / 114.5HostelThe rain never stopped last night. Finally at about 6:00 AM it did and I packed up and headed for Monson. Here I am at Shaw's hostel, looking forward to a killer breakfast tomorrow morning before heading into the 100 Mile Wilderness.It's just the name of the stretch between Monson and Baxter State Park where Katahdin sits. Not actually a wilderness area, but wild none the less. I'll be taking a six day resupply because the alternatives are either too expensive or have received unfavorable reports from the hiker community. Six days is doable. Then it's a matter of climbing Katahdin then finding my way home.Actually I am looking forward to the luxury of taking a shower every day and using those fancy porcelain privies y'all take for granted. Shaw's has an excellent resupply store on site. I had to do my own pack repair. I'm sure Beth will get a good chuckle when she sees it. It's a pretty bad sewing job that I simply threw as many stitches into it as I could manage. Shaw's does gear repair, just not what I needed.Monson is the last trail town. Not much in the way of services, but enough for the amount of hikers that do come through. Beyond, the phone signals will undoubtedly be sparse. I'll be sure to put the final pages of the hike in after I reach civilization again. Hopefully by next Friday the 26th. Until then, you can look through the stacks of pictures to bump my hit count up
Date: 2016-08-18
From: Monson ME

To: Long Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

100 Mile Wilderness Day 1Long Pond Stream Lean-to15.1 / 99.4 mtgTentI asked Poet to do a little recitation during breakfast and he was happy to oblige. His rendition of the prelude to Canterbury Tales in Olde English is quite entertaining so I hope to attach the video to this posting. The breakfast was in the tradition of Shaw's Boarding House and most excellent. Three eggs to order, home fries, bacon and all you can eat pancakes. A true thru hiker breakfast.I crossed paths with another of my hiker friends at Shaw's as well. HalfTime, who I first met on the trail out of Hot Springs NC. She is heading south now like Lady Catherine, Robey Dobey and Tree Hugger, who I saw on the trail. One of the options of thru hiking is called a flip-flop. The hiker, leaves the trail, jumps to the other end and walks to where they left off. It's becoming more and more popular. Ok, yes, we were supposed to be talking about the HMW. ReadingMan and I hiked out together today and it was humid, but otherwise a nice day. As we got to Little Willson Falls, which is a really beautiful cascading falls, a family was coming from the opposite direction. Apparently there is a blue blazed side trail leading to a parking lot not far from the falls. UhhhhHuhh... Wilderness.We did finally have to ford a stream today. Big Wilson was running strong enough not to rock hop. I put on my crocs, tied my boots to my pack and used the guide rope. Ok, so I'm a nerd. It was knee deep. ReadingMan just walked across in his shoes. The streams are bigger along this stretch, but the water flow is lower than normal still. Lots of cool canyons and bigger trees. It actually is an interesting place.
Date: 2016-08-19
From: Long Pond Lean-to

To: Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: overcast clouds

100 Mile Wilderness Day 2Newhall Lean-to 20.8 / 78 mtgShelterOk, that was a long day. A whole day of ups and downs. Serious ups and downs. Likely the hardest day of the HMW. Up and over Barren mountain and all it's various peaks; some with their own names. Beautiful forest though, particularly between the peaks. Chairback mountain wasn't so much of a climb, but the descent was very steep. The trail crews have added a lot of rock steps, which must have taken an enormous amount of effort. Still it was wicked steep. I'm guessing 500 feet in a quarter mile. Radical descent. The last of it's kind... Whew! The highlight of the day was seeing the carnivorous pitcher plants in one of the high bogs. Yes there are bogs. Lots of em in places one might not expect. It was in one of these obscure places that I found the pitcher plants. Apparently, this particular species is endangered.Later on we forded the west branch of the Pleasant River, another not quite knee deep fording. Tomorrow we'll pass over the last set of mountains on the trail before Katahdin. White Cap is where we can expect to see a good view of the big mountain for the first time.I arrived at the shelter just as it was getting dark, tent spaces were not easy to find, so I opted for the shelter, as did Shoe who arrived at the same time. Always good to see his familiar smile.
Date: 2016-08-20
From: Newhall Lean-to

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: light rain

100 Mile Wilderness Day 3Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to18.9 / 59.7 mtgTentAs I left camp this morning a few hundred yards up the trail was a beaver pond. Two moose were grazing there. First moose that I have seen in Maine. No big antlers, but those big bulls are a little more timid.Up and over what we call the White Cap range, which may not be correct. White Cap mountain was the tallest, so we NoBos just refer to the group of peaks as such. The last high peaks before Katahdin. Coming down on the north side there was a side trail with our first unquestionable view of the big mountain. Pictures still don't do it justice, but soon we'll have some really good views of it.OK, why am I not counting down anymore... Well, Beth and Maggie decided the trip was too long and too costly. It will actually be less expensive for me to fly home. The silver lining in all that is a day early on summiting Katahdin. So, if you must know it's K-3 All of us have been cranking out miles. Two more twenty milers and a short day gets us the Birches campsite then all that's left is the Big K.
Date: 2016-08-21
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: light rain

100 Mile Wilderness Day 4Wadleigh Stream Lean-to21.5 / 38.2 mtgShelterRight now at 6:10 PM only myself and a section hiker named Pokey are settled in the shelter. All the others are tenting, although the weather reports have been consistently forecasting rain tonight and into the morning. Now, I am not fond of sleeping in shelters, but I'm all done with taking down my tent in the rain. Tomorrow's hike is just short of twenty. It will be the last long day on the trail. If I get to the destination early enough I may make one last push in order to reach Abol Bridge. Only if I could make it before the store closes at 7:00. Hate to say it. Nothing special about today. It was a flat walk through the woods. Got a nice view of Katahdin from Pemadumcook lake, but otherwise just a 21.5 mile trudge through the woods. Hey, I love woods. I've been living in them for five months-- Aaaaaaagggghhhhh! .....thank ewe.
Date: 2016-08-22
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to

To: Abol Bridge
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: clear sky

Abol BridgeHiker Cabins23.1 / 15.1 mtgHostelThe rain came in at 3:00 AM and rained hard for the next five hours. Guess I made the right choice by sleeping in the shelter. I was up and out by 7:00 headed toward Hurd Brook Lean-to, but for some reason I hike faster in the rain and I arrived at the shelter before 4 PM. Abol bridge was only another 3.5 miles.So, I stepped on to Golden road at 5:00 PM, exiting the 100 Mile Wilderness on day five. I'm a day ahead of schedule and if all goes well I will finish this hike on Wednesday instead of Thursday. I must admit that I was hiking hard and fast all day. It feels kinda good to be out of the HMW and on the doorstep of Baxter State Park.The trail was extremely wet today. Some of it was actually flowing water. In other places the puddles were unavoidable. Don't care the wunnaful thing about waterproof boots is that on a day like today you can soak your feet in cold water all day and it doesn't leak out. Katahdin is shrouded in clouds. Hopefully in two days it will clear off. The weather report hints of that.
Date: 2016-08-23
From: Abol Bridge

To: The Birches
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The BirchesBaxter State Park9.9 / 5.2 mtgTentA nice gentle walk in the woods today. Started out after breakfast at the Abol Bridge restaurant, which was included in the bunk room stay.I was number five of twelve on the sign up sheet for the Birches campsite. It's a full house tonight. Everyone is nice, but I have not known any of them for more than a couple weeks. Shoe summited Katahdin today; Tumbleweed yesterday. It's all good. A lot of my hiking friends will follow. Some have already gone back to their life before the trail. As I pack up in the morning, part of the packing logic will include the idea that my tent will no longer be needed. My bag and pad need not be accessible. My food bag will go into the trash as soon as I get to town. It has holes in it from the mice two nights ago.I put a fire together tonight. Most of us sat around and talked about our experience over the past several months. It's been a long time since I sat around a campfire. Didn't have a lot of them on the trail.It's an early wake up tomorrow. I want to leave camp at 0600. We'll see I just might sleep in.