morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-15
From: Rattle River Shelter

To: Gorham, NH (route 2)
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: broken clouds

We hiked into Gorham, NH on the 15th, and will be taking time off in N Conway, NH, until the 17th to let our knees & joints recover from the pounding they took in the whites. On the 17th we head north, soon to be in Maine (probably enter Maine on the 18th). Wow... We have under 300 miles to go.What awesome views we got in the Whites once the rain & fog went away (Hint: get the right person to put a good word in with the man above & the sun comes out). Thanks Suz!!!Based on input from South-bounders on the AT, it should take us about a month (more or less) to finish the AT from here. So we are looking for a mid September finish if we take our time & enjoy the ride... If we get some flatter terrain, maybe sooner. But there is no hurry, we just need to be safe & get to katahdin.So far I've lost 47 pounds (from 222 to 175), but I gain a little back when I am in town. I went to the Chiropractor while I was here to get my back aligned again. I'm still recovering from Bronchitis (the antibiotics are still working.I'm eating lots of Ben & Jerrys to try to speed up my recovery! More journal entries will be added when the pages I mailed arrive home & get typed in.My best to you all. The best is yet to come.
Date: 2003-08-17
From: Gorham, NH - Route 2

To: Gentian Pond Campsite
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: light rain

Today we are headed back to the trail, so we got up early and showered (I love showers¢¦), ate bagels, and drank coffee. Now that¢s the way to start the day¢¦ I was already packed, so I relaxed this morning, said goodbye to Suzie as she headed out the door (she had a church service at 8:00 and needed to unlock the church and air it out), then we gathered our gear and put it in Debbie¢s car (Suzie¢s daughter). As much as we hated to leave, the trail was pulling us back, so we hopped in the car and Debbie dropped us off at the Gorham trailhead. The first part of our hike today was a road walk North towards Mt Hayes, then the trail went back into the woods and up the mountain. Today was a great day, a mix of steep ups, gentle ups and downs, and some level trail thrown in to keep me happy. As nice as today was, my knees still ached a bit (they really never stopped until I had been off the trail for 2 months), we only hiked 11.8 miles and got to relax at the Gentian pond shelter and soak in the great view (we¢re still hoping a moose will show up). Tomorrow we hit Maine!!! NOTE: Wench and I both did nice slides today onto our packs, falling seems to be a daily event for me¢¦ OK, what else? We saw more thruhikers who were doing flip flops (hike north to Harpers Ferry, then jump to Katahdin & hike south back to Harpers Ferry). We saw ¢Snooze¢, ¢Family Man¢, ¢Weaver¢, and ¢Muk tuk¢. So far 1,886.5 miles hiked, less than a month to go. Life is good.
Date: 2003-08-19
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: clear sky

Well, a great day. Sun, breezes, views and lots of fun on the Mahoosuc "jungle gym" (the notch), and up the "arm". It took us 5 1/2 hours to do 5.1 miles, but it was fun. We headed out from the shelter t about 8:15 and warmed our legs up on the hike down to the Notch. Once there, we had lots of fun climbing over, under and around big boulders, some wet and full of moss and slime, and some dry. Only once did we have to take our packs off and pass them through a hole (cave). There were an assortment of places where we had to help each other up, down, and over rocks. And guess what?!?!? We even saw ice in 2 places! So cool (literally). But after a while it got kind of old, it was constant scrambles, and was fun, but you can get tired of anything after a while. The up side¢¦ It makes a great puzzle to solve (and we all solve it differently), like where do I climb, how do I get down, what path gets me from point A to Z safely (it¢s like a maze). Next we hiked up Mahoosic arm, it was a tough, tiring climb up smooth rock, but not as bad as advertised. And the views from the top were great, so we laid out in the Sun and had our lunch there. After lunch we climbed down to Speck Pond shelter (what a beautiful pond, it¢s like a post card view) to get water, and decide how far we wanted to go today. Well, we decided, this was as far as we wanted to go once we saw the pond and the view. SO wench went down to the pond to clean up, and I called home about my boots and poles (Boots are ripping and the tread is getting thin, and my Leki tip is still broken). I changed my mail drop from Rangely to Caratunk Maine, where I¢ll get my new boots (hopefully), and a new pole tip. Then I went down to the pond to join Wench and we both went in the water for a swim (of sorts, the water was freezing, but the sun was hot), and to do our laundry (we went in with all our clothes on), then laid out on rocks to dry out. Wow, this was the first time I went swimming on my thruhike (and I only swam 2 times total), it must be because we started so early and it never really warmed up, or it was always raining or something. We sat at the shelter and talked to the caretaker for a while, a strange guy, nice, but a bit out there. I asked him how far it was to the spring (I was wearing thin slippers), and he said 20 yards, so I went in my slippers. It was about 2 tenths of a mile over rocks! What a dope, he doesn¢t know how to tell distance? So much for keeping my feet safe. Then it was dinner, more relaxing and talking (we talked to 2 section hikers about lightweight gear), journaling and off to bed. Another nice cool night, great for sleeping. Today we passed the 1,900 mile mark!! Wahoo!! 1,901.2 miles hiked, 271.4 miles to go, 172 days on the trail¢¦ Sigh¢¦ Life is good!
Date: 2003-08-20
From: Speck Pond Shelter

To: Frye Notch Lean-to
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Some time over the last day or so my left knee started giving me more pain than usual (both knees always hurt). It gives me pain around my ACL, and my leg only bends about 70% of the way and then hurts. I think it¢s just swollen, I hope it holds together for another 261 miles (Advil, Advil, Advil). I must have hurt it in Mahoosic Notch on the Jungle Gym. It wears on the mind when I start getting new pains this close to the end of my hike, I need to toughen up, hike smart, and take my Advil. Other than that pain thang, it was a rip roarin¢, rootin¢ tootin¢ fine day. We were on the trail early and saw some nice views from the top of Speck Mt (I love sunny and breezy mountain tops). Then we hiked down into Grafton Notch to find some trail Magic (Doctor Pepper), garbage cans and bathrooms! Then it was up the mountain to the Baldpate lean-to for lunch and water, then a hike up to th East and West peaks of Baldpate Mountain. What an awesome pair of peaks, we had lots of sun and wind with more great views. Wench, Thirsty Boots and I hiked together today, we¢ve been sheltering together for a few nights now. From West baldpate we got great views of East Baldpate and visa Versa. East Baldpate is a very cool mountain, it¢s all smooth and rocky like Stone Mountain, Georgia, with a trail straight up the steep smooth rock. Awesome! It was fun watching the people hike ahead of me, and stopping to get pictures of the view ahead and behind. We sat in the sun and wind on East Baldpate and relaxed, looking out at the view (so many mountains). That was when I remembered, and took 4 Advil (my first of the day), so far, Advil isn¢t helping my knee pain, but I¢ll give it time. Now, as I¢m writing this, I took another 4 Advil, we¢ll se how it goes. We hiked on to the Frye Notch Lean-to, and decided to stay for the night, rather than hike 4+ more miles to the road to Andover (resupply point). A good decision, my knees need the break, we still have some big mountains to climb. Hmmm¢¦. Now I have Burger on the brain, we have a town stop tomorrow, so all I think about is food... Hmm¢¦ Maybe some ice cream too¢¦. Maine¢¦. It feels good to be in Maine¢¦
Date: 2003-08-21
From: Frye Notch Lean-To

To: Hall Mountain Lean-To
Miles today: 10.5

An early day, we were up at 6 and on the trail headed for B hill road (our hitch to town). It was a huge ¢Stepped¢, ¢rooty¢ up to start the day, wow my legs are tired! But after that it was easy hiking to the crossroad where we hitched into Andover. This sounds so easy, but it took us an hour to get a ride on a little traveled road. On the way to town in the pick up truck, Thirsty boots hat blew off (We¢ll worry about it on the way back to the trail). We had breakfast at Addies restaurant (well, I actually had 2nd and 3rd breakfast¢¦ Eggs, bacon, toast, and French toast), then apple pie, and Propel sports drink. I felt better after that, so we did our resupply thing, made a few phone calls, and hitched back to the trail (it took a half hour or so). Yes, we found the hat¢¦ Once we got back to the trail, we decide to head south a few hundred yards to a swimming hole and cool off. Dang¢¦Cool? Nope, COLD! That water was freezing!!! It took my breath away¢¦ It was numbing cold. But we all got in anyway, it was a bath, laundry and cool down session under a small water fall. At least I felt cool part of the afternoon. Our afternoon hike was nice, decent graded trail, easy hiking to the shelter, where we arrived at about 5PM. ¢Deuce Bigalo, Male Gigalo¢ was already there, later ¢Walkabout¢ and another thruhiker showed up. A fun group¢¦ Hmmm¢¦ What else? Lots of moose pop seen, no moose butts. We¢re in Maine, 250.5 miles to go! Sweet! Now to listen to some music and off to sleep. I found a great Jazz piano station occasionally to listen to. What great music to relax to¢¦ Life is good!
Date: 2003-08-22
From: Hall Mountain Lean-to

To: Bemis Mt Lean-to
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a hard 12.8 mile day with an early start. The climb up Moody Mountain was a B**ch, I felt like crap. I hit the privy early in the morning, then went in the woods after Moody Mt, then went twice again going over old Blue Mt (emergency situations, close to the trail¢¦ phew). I was tired, fatigued, sore, feeling bad, I had stomach issues, and every step I took was painful, I had jello legs. In the afternoon, I ate more food, drank lots of water (with 4 Advil), and felt better for a while (but by the time I got to the shelter I was totally beat again). This was a bad day, but it had some good moments. I am not ¢sick¢, but it was a tough day that wore everyone down (it just hit me harder). Tomorrow will be a long day, 17+ miles into Rangeley. Wenches friends (Bob and Joyce), are coming to visit her in Rangeley, so we are trying to get there as early as possible. Who was at the shelter tonight? ¢Thumb-kin¢, Red, Tom, Thirsty Boots, Wench, Hotdog, and Walkabout. I hope I feel better tomorrow¢¦ Sigh¢¦
Date: 2003-08-24
From: Rangeley Inn, ME (Route 4)

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-To
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

We started the day leasurely, breakfast at the hotel, laundry, I watched Bob and Wench toss a softball around, then tossed it a bit myself (badly). My shoulder is now OK (after surgery), but my arm is shot (it felt like I had a muscle tear in my upper arm every time I threw the ball). Next was the outfitter for fuel, the Red Onion for lunch (great sandwiches), and back to the trail head. At the trail head Bob presented us each with a Moose shaped chocolate lollipop (so we could say we saw one), then we saw Bluebeary and her husband and said hi (we saw Bluebeary yesterday on the trail). After we all said our goodbyes, we headed up the trail for Saddleback Mountain. Wahoo! The climb wasn¢t as bad as I expected it to be, because I was looking forward to views, and being above tree line again (have I mentioned how much I love this? Yeah, I know, I say it all the time..). But we were surprised by the force of the wind on the peaks, it was about 50 MPH on Saddleback, with higher gusts, and about 70 MPHG on ¢the Horn¢ (and the same on Saddleback Junior, with a temp of 58. Brrrr, it felt chilly, but there were awesome views to be seen (I know I overuse cool and awesome, but I ran out of words for the beautiful views I saw in NH and ME, so I just keep using my favorites over again¢¦ Sorry.). We may have seen Katahdin, but we weren¢t sure so we didn¢t count it, but there were good views of Sugarloaf and the Bigelow range. Time is flying by, we have 209.3 miles to go, we should be in Monson in about a week (wow, so close), I still can¢t believe it. The hike is winding down, we are almost there, 1,963.3 miles hiked. I want to slow down and enjoy it, but I also want to speed it up and be done. I¢m ready for heat, hot water and indoor plumbing¢¦ It¢s funny, how 7 months later as I am transcribing this, all I can think about is getting back into the woods¢¦ And now I am at the shelter journaling in a smoke and ash storm (the wind is blowing across the campfire and into the shelter, so I¢m cutting it short and going to sleep now. Thanks for everything Bob and Joyce!!! NOTE: It¢s a cold night in one of the 2 baseball bat floored shelters I saw on the trail (the old style floors with the rounded floor boards), it¢s not smoothe, but with my 2 inch Thermarest, it feels like it is. In the shelter ¢ Old Corpus, Me, and 2 good old boys from Florida (who pull a pipe out every hour of the night and light it up). Sigh¢¦ Wench, Thirsty Boots and Tom are tented nearby. Life is good!
Date: 2003-08-25
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-To

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

WE HAVE LESS THAN 200 MILES TO GO!!! 195.1 ¢ We have hiked almost 2000 miles ¢ 1977.5, more than 90% done. Cool! Make that ¢Cold¢¢¦.Well, another day in the bank¢¦A longer but mostly doable day, with a steep rocky downhill thrown in at the end. We were up at 6:00 and on the trail by 7:10. There were long downs to start the day (but not terrible), then a climb up to Lone Mountain and lunch at the Spaulding at shelter. Not bad, Tom and Thirsty Boots were planning on stopping there for the day, except for the fact that we got there at 11 AM (8 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes). So we ate an early lunch there and continued on, our goal was the Crocker Cirque campsite (14.2 miles). There was a steep up over Spaulding mountain, then some nice trail until the drop down to the Carrabassett river. There were steep drops here, where we balanced on crappy rocks and dirt (sounds like fun to me, but tough on the knees). After we crossed the river, we cruised another mile up to the campsite, a fairly easy day, but as usual it was tiring. Today it was cloudy all day, with some rain showers, some wind (not as bad as yesterday), with a temperature of about 50. We didn¢t take any long breaks today, it was a bit too cold and I didn¢t want to get cold and stiffen up (it figures, I got stiff anyway). Yesterday, I felt good, today rated only an ¢OK¢, my left Hamstring was cramping up (part dehydration, and part due to the cold weather), my pack wasn¢t sitting quite right on my back, but it was only a little off (much better than it was before N Conway when I had to go to the Chiropractor), so I can¢t complain too much (well, yes I can, but no one will listen). A couple more days and we will be over 2,000 miles hiked. In a week we will be in Monson, Maine, the last town before the Hundred mile wilderness (one hundred miles without a paved road, from Monson to Abol Bridge, Maine). In 10 days I get 3 days off while Wench goes to a wedding, I can¢t wait¢¦ A rental car, malls, movie theaters, FOOD!!! It still looks like we are on schedule to summit Katahdin around September 12th or 13th, but more important than the schedule is hiking slow and carefully, so we make it to Katahdin. What else? Hmmm¢¦. Another sliding fall on some roots today for me, I didn¢t injure anything, but my knees have been pounded for so long that they have accumulated damage, they hurt every time I bend them too far, or put weight on them when they are bent (hmm¢¦ sounds like something I do all the time.). Knees, hold out for a while longer, please¢¦ As for Moose, no luck yet. We all walked around the campsite looking for a good spot to find one, but they must have smelled us and ran. Tomorrow we head into Stratton, we thought we would get there in 3 days, but it took us 2, I hope our other sections go as well. Now oof to sleep for me, I should sleep better tonight in my tent than I did in the ¢smoke house, weed shelter¢ last night. Gheesh¢¦ At the tentsite: Thirsty Boots, hotdog, Tom, Old Corpus and Wench.
Date: 2003-08-26
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Horns Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

What a great night of sleep! I slept from 9 until 2:30, then until 5:00, then until 5:40¢¦better than usual, then up at 6:00 to get packed. Starting early seems to work better for us, it gives us more hours to get the miles in (and relax). We started out with a tough up this morning, but it didn¢t feel so bad, almost like we are getting in better shape (nah¢¦ it will never happen). Up and over the peaks of Crocker Mountain, and a looooong sweet, downhill, 5 miles long into Stratton Maine. An early hitch and we were in the Stratton Diner eating lunch (grilled cheese, fries, soda, water and cheese sticks), then over to Fotter¢s Market for a resupply (another 2 12 day section to Caratunk, Maine ¢ 36 miles). I called home again from a pay phone outside the Diner (while my food was being cooked), but no new hiking boots yet. My outfitter expected them to come in a week ago! If they don¢t come in today, I have no use for them. I had Shari call the Monson Post Office to have my bounce box sent to Shaw¢s boarding house (it¢s a holiday weekend, I won¢t be able to go to the Post Office and get it), and they said ¢no problem¢. After shopping, we saw ¢Thirsty Boots¢ and Tom in town and we went back to the diner with them (for dessert!!). Brownie Sundae for Wench, chocolate cream pie for me. Yummm!! Finally it was time to say good-bye. Boots and Tom are staying in town and we are continuing on. It¢s been fun traveling and camping with them for the past week. Hope to see them up the trail before Katahdin. We are planning on summiting the same day, but we would like to hike with them before that too. So on we went, into the Bigelow Mountain range, up to the Horns Pond Lean-To. Another tough climb, but rewarded with a nice view of South Horn Mountain and Horn Pond. Wench and I sat on a ledge for a while and rested as we soaked up the view¢¦ Then down to the lean-to where we saw ¢Old Corpus¢ again and met 2 nice women out hiking the AT. Sections, named ¢Evil¢ and ¢Bog Woman¢. We talked, and they shared their dinner with us, talked some more. The weather turned cloudy, got cooler and sprinkled for a bit as I was journaling. We won¢t be able to see Mars tonight, but maybe tomorrow night. Tomorrow we have planned a long day, 17.5 miles from Horn¢s Pond lean-to. We¢ll play it by ear and see how we feel. If it works out, we¢ll be able to hike into Caratunk the next day. (8/28). Well, enough for now, good night.
Date: 2003-08-27
From: Horns Pond Lean-To

To: West Carry Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: few clouds

Another nice day. We started out at 7AM, leaving ¢Bog-Mama and ¢Evil¢ making berry pancakes. Up South Mountain we went, seeing another great view back towards Horn Pond. We hop-scotched back and forth with ¢Old Corpus¢ most of the day until he stopped at an early shelter. The views today were awesome, and the wind was awesome too. 50 ¢70 mph gusts on most of the mountains. Being above tree line is fantastic, no matter how hard the hiking is, there is always a great view. Lots of pictures today, nice sun, good company. Today was a long day, but it somehow felt right to do 17+ miles. South Horn Mountain, West Peak of Avery Mountain and Avery Peak (the Bigelows), the little Bigelows. There were views from all of them. Then we finished the day with a couple of small hills (they felt like mountains after 14 miles). I¢m tired, my left knee is sore (still swollen near the ACL). My feet are sore, and fatigue hits early. Tomorrow is an easier day (15 miles, fairly level) into Caratunk to get a mail drop. It will be cool to ride the canoe across the Kennebec River. Hikers at the shelter: Aloha Ann, Coffee, Walkabout, Recycle, Wench, Cee Bee and hotdog. More tomorrow. Note: we were serenaded by loons during the night and in the morning (now on to town)!
Date: 2003-08-28
From: West Carry Pond lean-to

To: Caratunk, ME (Caratunk House)
Miles today: 14.0

Another early start¢¦ Recycled, Koffee, CeeBee, Aloha Anne, Wench and I hit the trail, followed by Walkabout. A very cool day, the temps dropped overnight and the wind picked up. This was an easy 14 mile day into Caratunk, but we had to coordinate it with the schedule for the Ferry across the Kennebec River. So we cruised North, stopping to look at the loons on a pond along the way, then stopping at the Pierce Pone lean-to for a VERY COLD lunch. The wind was blowing cold and hard off the pond, right into the shelter. After a long lunch we hiked on to the Kennebec river crossing, still managing to arrive 1 hour before the ferry operations started in the afternoon (that sounds so official, it¢s just a canoe¢¦). A hurry up and wait kind of day¢¦ The profile made today look fairly easy, but you never can tell, the rocky footing made us work at hiking it. Tomorrow and the next day we have some bigger mountains to climb, but still they are only 2,500 ¢ 3,000 feet high. 151.2 miles to go, we¢ll be in Monson on Sunday¢¦ Wow¢¦ 2021.4 miles hiked. I know I keep rattling off the mileage, but it¢s so unbelievable I have to keep saying it to convince myself I really hiked it. In Caratunk, we¢re all staying at the Caratunk house, a hiker Bed and breakfast. It¢s a great place, with real beds, resupply, they drive us to a Brew pub for dinner, they have showers, and they are a block from the Post Office. In my mail drop, I got a new pole tip for my broken Leki, new pole baskets, 2 new knee braces, snacks, and other assorted supplies. Now I am happy¢¦ Well, except for my boots, I still don¢t know if they got to my outfitters, and were shipped to Monson yet. But there is no cell coverage here, and a long line at the pay phone, so I will make my calls tomorrow, for now I will relax. . Dinner: A big burger and fries (the best on the trail), and a 5 Beer sampler¢¦ Yummmm¢¦. Highlights for today: Ponds, rivers, streams with waterfalls, good beer, the best burger on the trail, Great fries, and 5 loons (still raw and swimming). Thanks for a great stay guys!! Life is good!