morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-09-07
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Greenleaf Hut (work for stay)
Miles today: 15.2

That¢s more like it. A fifteen makes up for yesterday, at least. I don¢t expect many more fifteens for a while. This one just about killed me. At least it feels that way. Even starting on the trail at seven, it took nearly twelve hours to get here.        The rain I expected last night failed to materialize, thankfully, meaning that my tent is still nice and dry. A bunch of college kids from the Dartmouth Outing Club came into camp a little after dark last night, filling the shelter and making me very glad I decided to tent despite the expected rain. The DOC kids are definitely the best hiking group I¢ve encountered so far. They always defer to thru-hikers, stay out of the shelters if thrus are using it, and are generally much better behaved than, say, Boy Scouts.        Today was a MUCH better day weather-wise. There were a few clouds in the way, but by the time I moved up Kinsman and across Franconia Ridge, it had cleared off entirely. The views are amazing! It¢s hard to believe that I¢m still in the Appalachian Mountains; things are just so vastly different than they are south of here.        Tonight I¢m in the AMC Greenleaf hut. The AMC, The Appalachian Mountain Club, runs all the shelters in the Whites and also runs a system of huts. The huts are mountain lodges with bunkrooms. You stay there and get dinner and breakfast. Unfortunately it cost $80 a night to stay in a hut. It even costs $8 a night just to stay in a stupid shelter. Even worse, after determining that having shelters and huts in the same area resulted in over-use; they got rid of the shelters. So there are places where the only established place to stay is an expensive hut that might be completely full already anyway.        This sort of thing, plus the fact that they use the money to build multi-million-dollar headquarters has led to many thru-hikers referring to the AMC as the ¢About Money Club¢.        The only hope for a hiker facing the choice between a hut and ¢stealth camping¢ (camping somewhere near the trail to avoid fees) is the option of work-for-stay. Each hut will accept one or two hikers per night, free of charge, in exchange for a few hours of work helping with the hut chores.        I¢m really only here for the experience of it, myself. I don¢t see myself doing much work-for-stay on others parts of the trip, though I guess that could change. They didn¢t have anything for me to do tonight, so I have to work in the morning, which will delay my start tomorrow. Ah, well.
Date: 2006-09-08
From: Greenleaf Hut (work for stay)

To: Galehead Hut (Trail Magic)
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: clear sky

Today was pretty bad. I don¢t know precisely why, but the sort of frustrations that plagued me at the beginning of my hike has been coming back in a big way. I suspect that it¢s due to my slow progress as of late. The Whites are tough, but not in a truly physical way. I can go up even these steep mountains without pause or even growing truly tired. The problem is that the trail is nothing but mud and wet rocks. I can¢t get any kind of pace going, and it takes me an hour to go a mile.        So that¢s the problem here. I was hoping to be done by October 1st, but I¢ve been slowed so much it looks like I¢ll be taking this all the way to the 15th. I¢m so sick of being out here. I don¢t want to be out here anymore. If only it were that easy. I also desperately want to finish this thing. I want to be done, but I don¢t want to quit. So that¢s my general mindset right now. I¢m lonely, depressed, and generally miserable as I slog my way over slippery steep mountainsides.        I wasn¢t planning to stop here, though. As I said, I wasn¢t planning to do much work-for-stay. Work-for-stay at Greenleaf was nice. All I had to do in the morning was sweep out the Hut, and fold all the blankets. Still, it was a late start that I can ill afford over this terrain.        So I was hiking in a funk for the various aforementioned reasons. I was planning on stealth-camping somewhere atop the next ridge. About half a mile before the hut, I ran across Arthur Faden and his family. They asked all the usual questions and I¢m afraid to say that I was a bit brusque with them. Either they didn¢t care or didn¢t notice, as they matched my pace and hiked with me to the hut, talking all the while.        Just before we reached it, Arthur revealed that he and his family had reservations at the hut, but that one member of his family couldn¢t make it. He then offered me their spare slot at the hut.        It¢s amazing how blatant Trail Magic can be sometimes. Here I am at my lowest point in a long time and suddenly there¢s a person offering a stay in a full hut. It¢s not a free stay, he gave me his address and said to send ¢whatever I wanted¢ when I finish. Still, it¢s a whole world better than stealth-camping.        That¢s not enough to completely relieve this depression, but it certainly helps a bit. Now if only the universe would follow it up with making the rain that¢s supposed to come tomorrow not get here.
Date: 2006-09-09
From: Galehead Hut (Trail Magic)

To: Crawford Notch Campground bunkhouse
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: fog

All in all, today was a decent day. I got a moderately early start, and the terrain was a lot more cooperative than it has been. I pushed the miles to Crawford Notch because it¢s been since Hanover since I¢ve had a shower and a laundry. The campground here offers both, as well as a bunkhouse to keep dry in.        The rain predicted for today hit twice. First it drizzled for an hour, then the sun came out for an hour. Then, when I was a mile and a half from my destination it began to rain super-hard, then thunder right over my head. I hiked the rest of my hike in a torrential downpour.        Fortunately, I had met two section hikers, Mike and Grant, who told me that their friend would be waiting for them at the Notch. They asked me to tell him they¢d be late, as I hike much faster than they do. They also said he¢d gladly give me a ride down to the campground. So, when I reached the parking lot in the pouring rain I walked over to the friend¢s car and had a ride without hitching.        At the bunkhouse was a previous year thru-hiker who was just shuttling people around the area. So I¢ve showered, laundered, resupplied, and had a hamburger. Not a bad day, despite the rain.
Date: 2006-09-10
From: Crawford Notch Campground bunkhouse

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

Had a great day of hiking today. I hit the trail at around 8:30 and began the long, long climb into the Presidential Range of the White Mountains. It¢s a really neat feeling to realize that I¢ve been steadily climbing all day, and am not really tired at all. I can¢t believe I used to balk at the climbs down south. They seem like distant memories of easy times compared to the way the trail is up here.        The initial plan had been to stop at a campground about halfway here, so as to not get stuck up here if lakes was full. There is no other place to stop, and hiker-friendly facilities are limited at Lakes. When I arrived at Mitzpah, though, I just had so much energy left and there was p plenty of daylight besides. So I set off. I figured that even if the hiker facilities were full, I could just pay and stay as a guest. Lakes has a 90-person capacity and is unlikely to be full on a Sunday night.        The last four miles of the hike here are entirely above treeline, and after the rain yesterday it has been pretty clear, so there were spectacular views of the Presidentials and Mt. Washington for the whole stretch. It makes all the toil worth it.        ¢The Dungeon¢, the six-person hiker bunkhouse, was full, and I didn¢t feel like work-for-stay, so I payed for a bunk, had another GREAT hut dinner, and am feeling much better about things than a few days ago.
Date: 2006-09-11
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Osgood tentsities
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

I could not have had a better day to climb the summit of Mt. Washington.   Given that the summit is in the clouds 55% of the time, it¢s a tossup as to how things will be when any given thru-hiker arrives. Today the summit was absolutely clear all day, as were all the skies around it. The views were utterly breathtaking. You could see the Atlantic Ocean from up there. It was simply amazing.        It was also extremely cold. Mt. Washington is home to the ¢Worst Weather in the World¢, a record wind gust of 231 mph. It rarely gets above 60 deg. up there, and today never broke 35 deg. Fortunately all my cold-weather gear works just fine, and even though it was below freezing when I arrived, I was plenty warm beneath all my layers.        There¢s actually a road up to the summit, so there¢s tourist stuff up there too; a snack bar, a couple gift shops, a post office, etc. Apparently the bumper sticker that reads ¢This Car Climbed Mt. Washington¢ is a pretty common sight in New England. I bought a pin that says, ¢This Body climbed Mt. Washington¢ for my hat.        After hanging out in the summit lounge with other hikers for awhile, I decided to move on out to tackle the Northern Presidentials. It wasn¢t much warmer on them, as all but the last mile or so of today¢s hike was above treeline. Needless to say, the entire hike was filled with gorgeous view after gorgeous view. I¢m almost a little sad to be leaving them behind.        I¢m kinda sad to be past the Huts too. They¢re not nearly as bad as the thru-hiking community paints them. Besides, when you get to one in the middle of a day¢s hike, like I did today with Madison Springs Hut, they have all-you-can-eat soup for $2. What¢s to dislike about that?
Date: 2006-09-12
From: Osgood tentsities

To: Zeta Pass
Miles today: 13.3

Another pretty good mileage day. I think I¢ve finally gotten a handle on the Whites. Sometime in the past few days my body just seemed to find another notch to turn it up to. Today I traversed the many peaks of Wildcat Mountain. They were pretty easy, all things considered and after the beauty of the Presidentials, they were more of a letdown than anything else.        I managed to successfully resist taking the gondola down to the base of the mountain this time. It wasn¢t free and I had already wasted too much time at the AMC HQ in Pinkham Notch. I haven¢t had ¢all you can drink¢ milk since college, and I sat around for a while after I finished lunch just drinking milk and reading.        There¢s some bad news though: my last battery chip for my camera just died. I haven¢t had a chance to recharge them since my last mail drop before Hanover. The charger is in my bounce-box in Gorham, so there won¢t be any pictures until then. Though, as I said, compared to what I just went through, there¢s not a whole lot worth looking at.
Date: 2006-09-13
From: Zeta Pass

To: Colonial Fort Inn #11, Gorham
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

Hiked into town today, so this will be a short one. I sent out my latest journal pages and photo card today, and my camera battery chips are charging away on the table nearby.        The package that went missing near Kent, Ct. finally showed up. We had it forwarded to Gorham, and it was there when I went to get my packages. It appears to have been crushed, and most of the goodies in it were ruined. Fortunately the camera memory card in it was fine, as were the two Mountain House meals, and my coyote necklace.        Tomorrow they are calling for rain, and, given the super-strenuous trails I¢ve been on, I feel justified in taking one last zero.
Date: 2006-09-15
From: Colonial Fort Inn #11, Gorham

To: Carl Col shelter
Miles today: 17.0

Whoof! Big day! Helloooo Maine! I crossed the border into my final state about half a mile ago, and I¢m feeling pretty good about it. When I started out this morning, I was determined to make Maine before the day was out, so I pushed out the miles and got it done.        The other reason to get here today was to put myself within striking distance of the Mahoosue Notch, the so-called ¢hardest mile¢ of the AT. Starting from here, I¢ll hit the notch at about midday and then have the option of stopping at the shelter immediately afterwards.        The hiking today was pretty good except for the last two miles or so. Coming down from Success Mountain, it looks like the trail hasn¢t seen any maintenance in a very long time. It seems that the AMC doesn¢t take very good care of the trails that aren¢t near their big expensive huts.        In other news, I am being told that the flat sections I see in Maine¢s profile map really are flat, and not just cruel P.U.D.s. There is some hope that I can pick up some good miles once I hit those. They¢re still a hundred miles off, though.
Date: 2006-09-16
From: Carl Col shelter

To: Mahossue Notch
Miles today: 7.0

Whoever decided to include Mahoosuc Notch on the trail should be drug out into the streets and shot. It¢s a clear case of trail developers, rather than designing a long-distance trail, have strung together a long series of day hikes.        Mahoosuc Notch is a very narrow gap between two mountains. Rockslides from the sides of the mountains have completely buried the notch in bus-sized boulders which you have to clamber over or under. You never touch the floor of the Notch, as it¢s buried deep beneath the boulders.        It would be an awesome place to day-hike, but with my full pack on it was just tedious, at best, downright dangerous at worst. As ¢Minnesota Smith¢ put it last night, ¢The trail tried to kill me several times.¢ It was obviously in such a way that the route was not the most logical or the safest. Rather it was blazed to be zany. Lots of squirming underneath boulders when you could just go over them. For the most part I ignored the blazes and found my own way through. I didn¢t go through a single one of their tunnels, nor did I even have to take off my pack, as some had warned me about.        Still, though, it took me over TWO hours to get over the ¢hardest mile¢ on the AT. It was crazy hard. By the time I got through I wasn¢t sure I could make the next shelter before dark. Fortunately at the end of the Notch are a number of ¢stealth¢ campsites. So here I lay, alone in the woods once more, listening to ¢A Prairie Home Companion¢ on NPR and working on my journal. Tomorrow opens with a supposedly difficult climb up Mahoosuc Arm.
Date: 2006-09-17
From: Mahossue Notch

To: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: few clouds

Another short day. It took me forever and a day to get up the Mahoosuc Arm. Much of the trail was smooth, steep, wet rock. The trail was actually impassable and everyone just climbed up the sides on the roots of trees. It just seems that the further from the Whites I get, the less the AMC seems to care about taking care of the trail.        Fortunately today I finally passed out of the AMC¢s coverage area and into the Maine Appalachian Trail Club¢s area. It was funny how the trail immediately improved after I crossed the road that marks their boundary. The shelter register here is full of comments like ¢Was that actually a trail that I just saw?¢ It seems like it¢s been so long since I could actually HIKE rather than climb, the MATC¢s trail was so welcome.        Just after I got to the shelter here, ¢Redcoat¢ and ¢Mousehat¢ came past on a slackpack. It seems that the various hiker places in Andover all offer slackpacking, and I think I¢m probably going to go into town tomorrow to get in on that.        Anyway, my fingers are cold right now, so I think I¢ll eave it at that for now.
Date: 2006-09-18
From: Baldpate Lean-to

To: Pine Ellis Loding
Miles today: 8.0

Yet another shorty day. It seems like I just hit a wall a midday or so. The only thing I can think of is just the sheer amount of super-steep ups and downs are wearing me down worse than anything else I¢ve encountered before. At least in the Whites, it was usually only one really big climb a day. Here it¢s just constant grinding up wet rocks.        Anyway, I¢m down in the tiny little town of Andover. The road down here was almost completely untravelled, but I figured that since there are three hiker-friendly lodgings in this town, at least one of them would come up the road to look for business. I was right, as I had only been waiting about thirty minutes when David from Pine Ellis Lodging came up the road and asked if I needed a ride.        The plan now is to slackpack tomorrow. I¢m going for a massive slack of 23 miles. The terrain is a little easier than it has been, but not by much. Right now I just want to get the hell out of southern Maine. I figure that without my pack, I can cover than ground and get a significant distance towards that objective.        Here¢s hoping I can pull it off.
Date: 2006-09-19
From: Pine Ellis Loding

To: Pine Ellis Lodging
Miles today: 22.4

So..yeah..just a bit tired. I did manage the major miles today, and it actually wasn¢t all that bad. The terrain, on average, was pretty good. Two really long ridgewalks with minor climbs, and three massive climbs. Without my pack the climbs didn¢t really bother me too much. The hardest part, actually, was the descent from Old Blue Mountain. It combined the fun of ¢Oh my God, I¢m going to die¢ steepness, with sheer cliffsides and a hearty helping of loose rocks.        Frankly, I am damned SICK of being SCARED when I hike. I have no idea what compels the Maine trail designers to make the trail actually dangerous, but I wish they¢d cut it out. I¢m a hiker, not a rock-climber, rapeller, high-jumper, etc. The times when I can actually just put one foot in front of the other and MOVE have been few and far between lately.        Fortunately I¢m now moving out of southern Maine and its crazy mountains. I have a few biggies left, including the ¢Big K¢ itself, but from here on out the trail should be easier overall.        Of course, there¢ll be rain all this weekend, just because this isn¢t already hard enough,   Joy.
Date: 2006-09-20
From: Pine Ellis Lodging

To: Gull Pond Lodge Hostel
Miles today: 13.1

Not as easy going today as I would have hoped. There were not real climbs at all, and I was hoping to make better time than I did, but somehow they managed to find a few steep wet rocks to send the trail over even in the relatively flat areas.        When the trail in Maine isn¢t running over steep wet rocks, it runs across endless mud pits. There are bog-bridges in places, but for some reason they are randomly placed. In places there will be a bunch of them in others, none. The amount of mud in an area seems to have nothing to do with their placement.        So the general bad placement and disrepair of the AT in Maine slowed me up today. Even so I was on track to make my goal of 15 miles. I wasn¢t planning on coming down into Rangely, but when I got to the ME4 crossing, there was a guy there dropping off hikers to the trail. He offered me a ride into town, and I¢ve long since decided never to refuse such serendipity.        Once again this instinct has payed off. Not long after I arrived, the usual crowd started to show up. I continue to be amazed how we can spread out so much and yet still all converge on the same place at the same time.        Also, I keep forgetting to document a trail term coined by ¢Librarian¢ and myself way back in the day: ¢Hopefuluciantion¢ This is a phenomenon that afflicts all long-distance hikers, particularly at the end of a long day of hiking. The senses, hopeful for a sign of the day¢s objective, begin giving you false positives. Every fallen log looks like the roof of a shelter, the wind sounds just like cars on a road, you smell campfires that aren¢t there, etc..
Date: 2006-09-21
From: Gulll Pond Lodge Hostel

To: Poplar Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 10.7

Just a bit cold right now, so this may be short. I¢m actually surprised that I am where I am. There was a lot of temptation to stop today.        To start with, just leaving the hostel was a chore in and of itself. It was a very nice and comfortable place. I bit the bullet, though, and got my stuff loaded into the trail shuttle before my laziness could change my mind. A few other hikers had to run errands before we went back to the trail, so I got a late start.        I came across the first shelter only two miles in, at the base of Saddleback Mountain. There were a ton of great tent sites there, but I moved on. At four miles in, halfway up Saddleback, there were a series of amazing tent sites right next to Eddy Pond. I was sorely tempted to stay there, but eventually my desire to get this thing done made me move on.        It looks like I¢ll need to stop in Stratton. I should have bought food last night in Rangely. I only have three days worth, and Caratunk is five or six days away. By the time I get to Caratunk, though, Maine really flattens out. Hopefully I can pull some bigger miles, as I get closer.        Anyway, fingers are frozen.   That¢s enough for now.
Date: 2006-09-22
From: Poplar Ridge Shelter

To: Spaulding Mountain shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Not quite as cold as last night, but still plenty cold. It¢s about 9 p.m. right now and I just crawled into my tent after reading next to a campfire for the past few hours.        The terrain today was pretty sedate. A lot of climbing, but overall well-graded. I actually got here at around 3 p.m. I decided to take it easy today rather than push more miles. Either way ends with me in Stratton tomorrow night, so I felt I deserved a nice relaxing day.        I started gathering firewood right after I arrived and was thus able to accumulate enough to have a nice big campfire. The other hikers here were most appreciative.        There¢s really not much else to say right now. The rain is supposed to hit tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I¢ll be in Stratton by then. The question is how soon will I leave, as it¢s supposed to rain through Monday. I really hope that forecast changes!
Date: 2006-09-23
From: Spaulding Mountain shelter

To: White Wolf Inn #9, Stratton
Miles today: 13.5

So the rain did not hold off until the afternoon. It started raining right after I got everything packed and ready to go. Definitely a mixed blessing. My stuff is all dry, but I had to hike all day in the rain.        Fortunately Maine decided not to throw too much sheer rock clambering at me today. What with the rain I didn¢t think I could get over that kind of stuff. I have enough problems with it when it¢s dry.        Not a whole lot else to report. It was a miserable day all around. Hiked the last few miles with ¢Danger¢ and ¢Pixie¢, which made that part all right, and when we got to the road, the owner of the local hiker hostel happened to be driving by so we got a ride immediately. Two good things in an otherwise crappy day.
Date: 2006-09-24
From: White Wolf Inn #9, Stratton

To: White Wolf Inn #9
Miles today: 0.0

I have now officially taken a full month of zero days. I was pretty torn about whether to take this one or not, but they¢re calling for thunderstorms today, and I don¢t feel like climbing Mt. Bigelow in thunderstorms. Also, I¢m lazy.        I¢ve still got plenty of time, though. Right now I predict I¢ll be on Katahdin by October 9th. I might even get there earlier. After Bigelow tomorrow, the terrain really mellows out. Bigelow is really the last major climb fore the Big K itself. There are more mountains, but nothing seriously challenging unless the terrain is a lot rougher than it appears on the maps, which is always possible.
Date: 2006-09-25
From: White Wolf Inn #9

To: Safford Notch
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Didn¢t get quite as far as I would have liked today due to a late start, as always. Made it over Bigelow, however, and am looking at seemingly easy terrain all the way to monsoon. Bigelow is a high-use area, so the trail was well-maintained, relatively easy graded and generally a pleasure to hike on.        I got my first glimpse of Katahdin today. It¢s just barely visible way off in the distance from the top of Avery Peak.        Not much else to say, really. It¢s cold tonight, though not as cold as it has been. Here¢ hoping the real cold holds off just a few weeks more.