morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-08-03
From: Bemis Stream Campsite

To: Rangeley ME
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We left camp @ 6:20. Took a little longer to take down our tents. We mostly shelter. We hiked in our camp shoes to the adjacent stream. We had to ford it. We decided to have wet shoes & socks instead of soaking wet shoes & socks. It made sense to ud, anyway. Not long afterward, it started raining. Didn't last too long. Just long enough for us to don our rain gear. We had a climb up to Hwy ME-14. We had another 700' climb after that. It leveled off after that. Lots of muddy trail. Short ups & downs. At 9:30, we hit Sabbath Day Pond Shelter. We took a break & reassessed our planned itinerary. We decided we couldn't hike our original plan of making up for lost mileage & then getting into Stratton on Mon. We decided to cut today's mileage by 2m & take 3 days to hike the next section instead of two. We'd hit Stratton on Tue. When we had cell service, we called & got a room in Rangeley. We also changed our reservation in Stratton. We continued our muddy slog for the day. Lots of minor ups & downs that kept us on our toes. I only had one fall for the day. I guess that made it a good day for me. It started & stopped raining several times. Never lasted a long time. Just long enough to cause you to take the time to put on & then off your rain gear. Annoying. We hit the Hwt Jct @ 3:08. We caught a ride before we could stuck out our thumb. We were walking to a safe pull-out 0.3m W of the trail. It wasn't safe to do so, but a car stopped on a curve (no shoulder) & offered a ride. I kept one eye on traffic to the rear while loading our gear. No accident occurred in this hitch. The driver took us the 9m into town. He dropped us off at the Town & Lake Motel. Obviously, it was situated on a lake. There were canoes & kayaks for use. There were also two float planes tied up at the dock. Reminded me of last summer's Boy Scout canoe trip in Canada. It was cool to ride in a float plane. After eating, we cleaned up. The motel had no on-premise laundry. We were too tired to walk across town to the laundrymat. So, we'll put on dirty clothing tomorrow.
Date: 2013-08-04
From: Rangeley ME

To: Poplar Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 10.7

We got up early and walked to a diner w/ our packs. We waited until it opened @ 6:30 and ate breakfast there. Nice diner. Food was really great. After breakfast, we began walking/thumbing our way through town. It was a long way to the TH. It took a few minutes but we caught a ride (not much traffic). We started hiking @ 7:13. Much earlier than I expected. I was now carrying a replacement pair of hiking poles (Leki's). I had my Black Diamonds affixed to my pack. When I get my new Black Diamond replacement part in Stratton (ME), I'll have two complete pairs of hiking poles. That better last me, by God! At 1.8M, we got to Piazza Rock Shelter. We took a short break there. We kept climbing up Saddleback Mtn. It was a long climb. From 1622' at the TH to 4120'. I took a few pictures. I had service to I called Nancy and spoke to her for a bit. Didn't talk too long as rain clouds were rolling in. We had two more mountains to climb over this morning - The Horn & Saddleback Jr. It was pretty steep at times but not too scary. As we were going up Saddleback Jr, it started raining hard. Lightning & thunder. Fortunately, we were still below tree line. We hunkered down in the trees and got dumped on. I had full rain gear (jacket & pants) and I got cold. Knightrider only had his jacket. He must have been ever colder than I. When the storm finally stopped, we continued our climb. The trail was essentially a stream of water running down the rocks. Very slippery. We were very careful with our footing. Neither one of us fell today. Minor miracle! We hit Poplar Ridge Shelter @ 3:45. Nice to be out of the elements. The shelter's floor was essentially round logs. Like a series of baseball bats lining it. I had a NeoAir puffy sleeping pad. A closed-cell foam pad (like Knightrider's) might prove to be uncomfortable.
Date: 2013-08-05
From: Poplar Ridge Shelter

To: S. Fork Carrabassett River Campsite
Miles today: 13.1

It was very cold the previous night. The coldest it had been since April in the South. We planned a really short day - 8m. We started hiking @ 6:55. We had a brief climb and then a descent to Beton Stream. It was listed as a ford crossing. We were able rock-hop without getting our feet wet. We had a long climb up Lone Mtn. From there, we stayed basically level until we hit our planned stop - Spaulding Mtn Shelter. We got there just after noon. We had a 13m day planned for the next day. We decided to continue on to a campsite to shorten tomorrow's day. We climbed up Spaulding Mtn. One at the top, we traversed across Sugarloaf Mtn. We didn't crest it. We stayed basically level. We then hit an extremely steep downhill. Very slow going. Lots of boulders. Glad it wasn't wet. We finally hit the South Fork Carrabesstt River. We managed to cross it without getting wet (also listed as a ford). We set up camp on the other side of the river. Got there @ 4:10.
Date: 2013-08-06
From: S. Fork Carrabassett River Campsite

To: Stratton ME
Miles today: 8.4

Left camp @ 6:33. We had a big climb up Crocker Mtn to 4040'. We then had a short, steep descent and then we climbed back up to 4228' on N. Crocker Mtn. From that point, we had a long downhill to Hwy ME-27. We hit the highway @ 12:05. We quickly caught a ride. The driver was going to have lunch w/ the owner of the Stratton Motel. She called her and let her know that she had two hikers headed that way. She drove us there, we checked in, and then we went to grab lunch. Later, I picked up my hiking pole replacement part that had been shipped their. My food drop wasn't there. I called Nancy and got the tracking # for it. I checked w/ my phone app & it showed that it had been delivered several days prior. I walked to the P.O. and they still had the food package there. They apparently forget to give it to the motel owner when she picked up her mail. Good thing I got there early & on a day that the P.O. was open. That could have been annoying. Got cleaned up, washed some clothes, and later ate some more food (pizza) at another restaurant. Nice to sleep in a bed.
Date: 2013-08-07
From: Stratton ME

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: light rain

The lady from the Stratton Inn gave us an early ride to the TH. We started hiking @ 6:08. Early in the hike, we crossed the 2000m mark. We didn't see any marker for it. We had big climbs up North Horn, West Peak, & Avery peak. We had good views from West Peak especially. We had a long drop - 2300' - down where got some water. We got to the shelter @ 5:38. We had a nice, cool hiking day.
Date: 2013-08-08
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Harrison's Pierce Pond Camp
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We left camp @ 6:33. We had a descent out of camp down to Flagstaff Lake. We hit some tent sites 2.6m from the start 61 min into the hike. We hadn't hiked @ 2.5 mph in forever. Easy terrain. From there, we had a climb of several hundred feet. Naturally, it started to rain. It was supposed to be rainy today & tomorrow. A little later, we crossed a paved road where someone spray-painted '2000 miles congrats' on the pavement. Unfortunately, it was at the 2017 mile mark. We never saw anything at the true location the day before. We had another up & down to negotiate before we hit the West Carry Pond Lean-to (7.7m @ 10:15). We took a break. It had stopped raining by this point. We left there & continued onward to the next shelter. The terrain was gentle so we made good time. Along the way, we hit West Carry Pond. By this time, Shadow was with us. We stopped along the pond & ate a snack/lunch. We got to the jct to Pierce Pond Lean-to @ 3:20. We'd done 17.7m at that point. There was a camp 0.3m away that served a great breakfast. All of the hikers were going to eat there the next morning. For $ 28 more, you could spent the night in a cabin & take a hot shower. That's me & Knightrider opted to do. It was nice to.get clean. Couldn't do laundry, though. The camp was real neat. Had a generator to power the main building. The cabins was kerosene lamps for light. Ours was next to a creek. There was a pool table in the main building. There a porch w/ multiple hummingbird feeders. There were dozens of hummingbirds fighting each other for food. Quite amusing to watch.
Date: 2013-08-09
From: Harrison's Pierce Pond Camp

To: Bald Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Slept good in the cabin last night. The stream in front of the cabin had a soothing sound to sleep by. When I woke, I discovered that a mouse had eaten a hole in my lunch stuff sack. Rats! We had breakfast at Harrison's. We had a pancake breakfast (12 of assorted fruit pancakes) + eggs & sausage. It rained had during breakfast. It stopped when we finished eating. At 7:33, we started hiking. We had to walk for an 1 1/2 hr till we reached Kennebec River. There, we had to take a canoe shuttle across the river. The shuttle only runs from 9-11 & 2-4 each day. After crossing the river, we continued hiking until we reached Pleasant Pond Lean-to. We stopped for a lunch break @ 12:15. After leaving, we continued our hike. It started to rain in the afternoon. Harder as the day went on. We went up & down Pleasant Mtn. We eventually hit Bald Mtn Lean-to @ 5:30. We were wet as a dog. The shelter was rated for 8 people. Shadow showed up later. The shelter filled up to capacity.
Date: 2013-08-10
From: Bald Mountain Lean-to

To: Monson ME (Shaw's)
Miles today: 22.0

Didn't sleep very well last night. Not-a-bear slept next to my last night in the shelter. He flopped like a fish out of water all night. Kept me awake. We had a long walk planned for today. 22 miles into Monson. Fortunately, the weather cooperated. It was clear all day. We had a big climb over Moxie Bald Mtn. Had some good views from there. We stopped for a break at Moxie Bald Lean-to. Around 11:34, we hit the Piscataqus River. It had a rope across the river to assist hikers across. The day really dragged on as we went. We had many short ups & downs to do. With the lack of sleep, it made it even tougher. We finally hit the hwy @ 5:46. We tried to hitch for a while. After failing, Knightrider called Shaw's Hostel to check on a ride & available bunks/rooms. They said there was no room. But, they agreed to shuttle us into town. When the shuttle arrived, she asked us if we were 'Zman' & 'Knightrider'. We said we were. She said that Shadow showed up & reserved the last room for the the three of us. Great, we had someplace to stay. Later that evening, we bought Shadow a pizza for him taking care of us.
Date: 2013-08-11
From: Monson ME (Shaw's)

To: Monson ME (Shaw's)
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day in Monson. Knightrider's foot swelled up & really hurt. He iced it down & kept it elevated for most of the day. When the swelling didn't go down, I suggested that he go to the ER to make sure he didn't have a stress fracture. He did so. Turns iyt he didn't have a stress fracture. The doctor recommended he stay off his feet for 3 days. Because of that, we wouldn't be summitting together as we had planned. Bummer. We had been hiking together since NY (700 miles).
Date: 2013-08-12
From: Monson ME (Shaw's)

To: Long Pond Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.1

Had a big breakfast @ Shaw's. All you can eat. After breakfast, I caught a shuttle to the trailhead. Started hiking @ 8:55. I was really bummed out about not hiking w/ my hiking buddy, Knightrider. I had several river fords today. There were ropes strung across the river to help you across. At a high ridge, I had cell service. I called Nancy & spoke to her for a while. I finally hit Long Pond Stream Lean-to @ 6:15. Shadow was already there. I was tired. Another SoBo hiker was there as well. It was really great when I realized that I had less than 100 miles to go (actually 99.4).
Date: 2013-08-13
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 10.9

Had a short day planned for today - 10.9M. It was supposed to rain today. I didn't leave camp until 7:53. Late for me. Had a good little climb up Barren Mtn. After the descent, I had other climbs & descents up 4th Mtn & later 3rd Mtn. It started to rain. Didn't rain too hard. I hit Chairback Gap Lean-to @ 3:05. With the rain, the 6-person shelter filled up quickly. I grabbed one of the two remaining spots available. Unfortunately, Not-a-bear grabbed the last one next to me. He is notorious for tossing and turning while he sleeps. I slept next to him at another shelter in the past. He sleeps on a close-cell foam pad. Every time he turns over, he shakes the entire shelter. I didn't get much sleep then. I don't expect to get much tonight. Some long section hikers - Joe & Tori - showed up at the shelter late. They had been hiking from Andover ME with the intent of summitting @ Katahdin. All of the time with out a tent. Well, it caught up to them at this shelter. No room in the shelter & it was raining and expected to rain even more. Fortunately for them, another section hiker in the shelter loaned them the use of his tent. They set up the tent and slept in it for the night.
Date: 2013-08-14
From: Chairback Gap Lean-to

To: Carl Newhart Lean-to
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: scattered clouds

It rained some overnight. Got a late start hiking - 6:45. Had a steep descent at the start. Slick rocks. Took my time. Eventually, it leveled out. I reached the ford @ W. Branch Pleasant River. Glover & Atlas were there. After the ford, I had a gentle ascent the rest of way to the shelter. Reached the shelter @ 12:05. I got water at the nearby stream. Made it back to the shelter as it started to rain. It rained pretty good for a while. It later quit & cleared uo nicely. Only Grandpa Joe & his wife, Tori, were at the shelter for the night. Others that were there when I first showed up were just waiting out the rain. Later in the evening, 2-Speed & Mack showed up at the shelter. Great to see old friends again. I last saw them in Andover. They were a day behind me by a day. I would hike with them the rest of the way.
Date: 2013-08-15
From: Carl Newhart Lean-to

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 18.9

Left the shelter@ 6:11. Had a series of up & down mtns that I had to go over today. Last big mtns before Katahdin. Gulf Hagas, West Peak, Hay Mtn, & finally White Cap Mtn. White Cap was the tallest of the bunch. I tried to call Nancy but all I got was voice mail. There was a radio repair guy on top of the Mtn. He was waiting for a helicopter to drop off a new battery for the the radio repeater. I had a steep descent down White Cap. Glad the rocks were dry. Got to Logan Brook Lean-to around 10:46. Took a break there. Left there & headed to the next shelter - East Branch - & took another break. I headed on. I hit Kokadjo-B Pond Rd. I met Beercan (Jeremiah). He showed me where Mack's food cache was at. I was able to dump some food trash there. I kept going until I got to Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to (4:33). Nice location. Stream right in front of the shelter. I met a flip-flop hiker - 15 - that knew Mike (Bearcat). I hiked w/ Mike in 2010. 15 had been going NoBo until he neared CT. He then didn't think he'd be able to finish before they shut down Baxter. So, he went to Katahdin & started hiking SoBo.
Date: 2013-08-16
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to

To: Whitehouse Landing Hostel
Miles today: 14.0

Had a short, flat day planned for today. Going to the White House Landing Hostel. Left the shelter @ 6:08. The arch of my right foot hurt. I took some alief & tylenol & it felt better. I only took off my pack twice during the hike - Antlers Campsite (9:20) & Potaywadjo Springs Lean-to (10:55). I hit the trail jct to the hostel @ 12:15. Haven't hiked this fast in quite some time. Covered 14m in about 5 hrs. I had to walk 0.8m on a blue blaze trail to the boat landing. There, I had to blow an air horn to call the boat taxi. It arrived & picked me up as well as some section hikers I'd passed shortly to my arrival. The boat took us to the hostel. Shadow, Mack, & 2-Speed were there. They'd already finished their hamburgers. I ordered mine as well. After eating, I put my stuff in the bunkhouse. I then took a shower. There was no power in the bunkhouse or other facilities. I was able to wash my hiking clothes in a tub w/ lake water. Later, we ate supper. By this time, a large group of hikers had shown up. The largest of the season according to them.
Date: 2013-08-17
From: Whitehouse Landing Hostel

To: Rainbow Lake Campsite
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: clear sky

Got up & ate a nice breakfast. Eggs, bacon, a muffin, & lots of blueberry pancakes. Unlimited pancakes. After breakfast, I was in line to catch the first boat shuttle. Mack, 2-Speed, Joe, & Tori were on the first boat w/ me. The boat dropped us off only 0.2m from the trail jct. I started hiking @ 8:50. The day's hike turned out to much harder than the elevation profile indicated. Mack & 2-Speed hiked w/ me for a while. They later took off and kept going. At noon, I hit the Wadleigh Stream Lean-to. Took a short break there. I had a steep climb up Nesuntabunt Mtn. Met Mack & 2-Speed there. They had walked over to a lookout that showed Katahdin in the distance. It was only 16m as the crow flies. Nice view. I took a picture of the mtn. After a descent, I had a series of ups & downs for the rest of the day. Very tiring. I hit Rainbow Stream Lean-to @ 4:30. Joe & Tori were already there for the night. After a break, I continued onward. I felt really tired as the day went along. When I was about 2 min from the campsite, my foot caught a root & I did a face-plant on the trail. I fell so fast & hard that I didn't have time to react to it. Probably good that I couldn't. I laid there for a second & did a check on whether or not I hurt myself badly. Fortunately, I didn't. I got up and finished up the hike @ 6:02. I set up my tent for the night. Fixed supper, cleaned up, & got ready to call it a night. There had been a guy - Sampson - that was planning to summit on the 19th which was his 55th birthday. He had been inviting people to join him on this date for over 300m. So, there was a large group of people planning to summit on the same day that we were. There were only 12 slots for the shelter @ The Birches in Baxter State Park. There was a sign up for the shelter about 11m from our camp & 10m from the shelter. We decided to get up early the next day & hope we got a spot. So, we hit the sack w/ great uncertainty on tomorrow.
Date: 2013-08-18
From: Rainbow Lake Campsite

To: Katahdin Springs Campground
Miles today: 21.2

Had trouble sleeping last night. Worrying about the lodging situation for tonight. Got up @ 4:18 & started hiking @ 5:11. We had a good distance to hike before we got to the signup board. The guidebook said that there were 16 slots. What we heard from other hikers was there were only 12 slots. I hit Hurd Lean-to @ 8:38. I didn't stop. I hit the Abol Bridge Store @ 10:06. Mack was there. 2-Speed had walked the mile to the signup board to see of there were any other slots for the night. She came back & said there weren't. She said that they were filled up @ 6:30 that morning. We didn't have many options. The park's camping spots were usually full at Katahdin Springs Campground. We tried to call Millinocket to see if we could get a shuttle ride there so we could stay @ the hostel. None of us could get a signal. The phone @ the store also didn't work. Bummer. So, we left & hiked the rest of the way to the park. When we got there, we were able to get a campsite w/ some other hikers. Cool. Our 21.2m hike ended @ 2:42.
Date: 2013-08-19
From: The Birches

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 5.1

Got up early, broke camp, and started hiking @ 5:23. Mack & 2-Speed started ahead of me. They're faster hikers & I don't expect to see them again until I reach the summit.Early going was easy. Followed a creek with a gradual incline. It later got more vertical. As I was climbing, I was passed by a German lady & a British guy. I'd seen them off and on for about 8-9 days. They were also faster hikers than me. Seems like everyone is. About an hour after they went by me, the Brit was hiking back downhill. I knew he couldn't have summitted and came back down already. He told me that his fear of heights caused him to turn around. That surprised me as well as concerned me. I have a fear of heights. The idea of hiking all this way and not being able to summit would be horrible. I got to the really steep stuff. It wasn't so bad that I had to turn around. Still, I worried about going down it. That might prove tough. Several portions had metal rungs and steps imbedded in the rock to assist your climb. Slow going on this. The rock had a very gritty feel to it. Wish I had leather gloves or bike gloves. I had some liner gloves buy they would be toast real quick on the rock. After a while, I finally reached the Tabletop section of the trail. It leveled out. I was happy about that. The clear skies were starting to cloud up. I hope it didn't rain. Wet rock scared me. Fortunately, it didn't rain. As I got closer & closer toward the top, I kept checking my altimeter watch for the elevation. Soon, I saw the sign. I let out a yell, "Yes, yes, yes!' as I neared. I saw 2-Speed & Mack near the sign. I acknowledged them briefly & went and hugged the sign. Tears filled my eyes. I looked away to gain my composure and then turned to face them and get congratulatory hugs & high-fives. Had them take some pics of me next to the sign. Then, I had Not-a-bear take a picture of the three of us. We all three headed down the mtn. We stayed together until we got down to the 'easier' part. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Very windy, though. Really windy. But, I made it all the way down to the bottom. Mack & 2-Speed took off when we got down to the easy stuff. They missed my near faceplant when I tripped on a rock. It would have been like tripping on a sidewalk back home. Almost that bad. But, I didn't fall. And no one saw me. When I got back to the day-use area, 2-Speed, Mack, Shadow, and others cheered and clapped for my successful thru-hike. What a moment.
Date: 2014-12-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I like tinkering around w/ spreadsheets. I created a schedule for my 2013 AT thru-hike. I used it as my template for my hike. Sometimes I hiked further than planned, sometimes I didn't hike quite as far. I thought I was going to finish the hike earlier than planned. But, I slowed down in NH & ME. Essentially, I ended up summitting on my scheduled ending of 152 days on 8/19/2013. Post hike, I created another spreadsheet of my actual hike. I added my daily start time, ending time, & duration of hike (hours:minutes) to the spreadsheet. I'll list some of the statistical highlights of my hike:- 152 days- 12 zero days- Average = 14.4 miles per day (including zero days)- Median = 15.2 miles- Shortest day = 4.1M (did this twice; going into Harpers Ferry & into Andover)- Longest day = 25.6 (Boiling Springs - Duncannon PA)- Average start time = 7:08 am- Median start time = 6:57 am- Earliest start time = 5:11 am- Latest start time = 11:30 am- Average ending time = 3:16 pm- Median ending time = 3:33 pm- Earliest ending time = 8:50 am- Latest ending time = 6:45 pm- Average duration = 7:25- Median duration = 8:09- Shortest duration = 2:00- Longest duration = 12:26- Average hiking speed (daily) = 1.96 mph- Median hiking speed (daily) = 2.00 mph- Slowest hiking day = 0.93 mph (Lake of the Clouds Hut to Madison Springs Hut; nasty weather & break @ Mt. Washington; 2nd slowest = 1.01 mph included Mahoosuc Notch)- Fastest hiking day = 2.83 mph (Fayetteville PA to Ironmasters Hostel)Where did I sleep?- Shelters = 74 nights- Tent = 14 nights- Hostels = 36 nights- Motels = 27 nightsYes, I appreciated a being clean & sleeping indoors whenever possible.