morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-09-16
From: Tigertown and Podunk Rd Trailhead

To: Hanover Outdoors
Miles today: 9.2

Finished So NH today .5 miles and 8.7 miles of VT from Tigertown/Podunk Rd Trailhead to Hanover on Lebanon St at Hanover Outdoors. Climbing in the beginning for about 3 miles but gradual and not too hard. Not too much mud or bugs today. Lovely weather once the clouds started lifting in the sun. Chillier. Saw a porcupine! That was cool. Moved too quickly to get a picture though.Stopped at Dirty Cowboy for a smoothie and Molly's for a black bean veggie burger and pizza. We visited the Dartmouth Hopkins Museum of Art before we returned back to Fairlee. Tried packing car in a way that will allow us both to sleep in it at Katahdin Sunday night. Projected temperature for Sunday night is up 4 degrees from 31 to 35.Continued reading the Barefoot Sisters' account of their Northbound Thru Hike called Northbound. They talked about staying with Honey and Bear at The Cabin in Maine, Andover, Maine. Googled, found number, and they can help us shuttle our last 4 hikes from Gorham, NH to Grafton, ME. Will stay there Tuesday, 9/20, at their hostel. Hurray!Tomorrow we're going to see if we can find the Reel Brook Trail to see if it will work to break up our 16.3 miler from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch. If it does, we will try to complete the AT in NH before coming home.
Date: 2011-09-17
From: NH 116/Reel Brook Trail

To: AT Kinsman Trail and Reel Brook Trail
Miles today: 0.0

We found and successfully hiked Reel Brook Trail from NH 116 to the AT on Kinsman Ridge Trail 5.8 round trip miles. Now we know we can break the Franconia Notch to Kinsman Notch AT section into two doable sections. When we finish Katahdin and NH Rt 2 through ME Rt 26, we will schedule our Franconia to Kinsman hike. We will first walk up Reel Brook Trail to the AT and then hike N to S to Kinsman Notch. The second day we will walk up the Reel Brook Trail to the AT and then hike S to N to Lonesome Lake Hut and spend the night there. The third day we will walk from Lonesome Lake Hut the remaining 3 AT miles to Franconia Notch and then drive home, stopping in NJ to visit my sister on the way home.We stopped by Franconia Notch to see the Flume after we had lunch in N. Woodstock at Gypsy Cafe. They had good veggie burgers and grilled vegetable paninis. The Flume didn't seem so spectacular after hiking the AT and enjoying all the beautiful waterfalls and cascades in the White Mountains.Now we're packing up to leave Fairlee and go to Baxter State Park tomorrow. We're following the following schedule now:Sunday, 9/18/11, drive to Baxter State Park and overnight on tentsite at Katahdin Stream Campground.Monday, 9/19/11, hike to summit of Katahdin and back down 10.4 miles. Drive to Millinocket and overnight at Appalachian Trail Lodge.Tuesday, 9/20/11, drive to and overnight at The Cabin in Maine at Andover, ME.Wednesday, 9/21/11, shuttle from Grafton Notch ME Rt 26 to Mahoosuc Notch Trailhead. Hike up Nahoosuc Notch Trail to AT, hike S to N over Mahoosuc Notch and out to Rt 26.Thursday, 9/22/11, shuttle from North Road and Hogan Road as far as possible up Austin Brook Trail. Hike N to S on AT back to Hogan Road.Friday, 9/23/11, and Saturday 9/24/11 - divide up the middle section from Gentian Pond Shelter to Mahoosuc Notch Trail to complete the AT from Rt 2 NH to Rt 26 ME.Sunday, 9/25/11, shuttle from Kinsman Notch to Reel Brook Trail and hike up Rell Brook to AT and hike N to S to Kinsman Notch.Monday, 9/26/11, shuttle from Franconia Notch Liberty Spring Parking Area to Reel Brook Trailhead. Hike Reel Brook to AT and hike S to N to Lonesome Lake Hut, overnight there.Tuesday, 9/27/11, hike from Lonesome Lake Hut S to N on AT to Franconia Notch. Drive to NJ.Wednesday, 9/28/11, drive from NJ to home.
Date: 2011-09-19
From: Katahdin Stream Campground Baxter State Park ME

To: Katahdin and Daicey Pond ME
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: clear sky

Yesterday, 9/18/11, we drove to Millinocket, ME, where we had lunch at the AT Cafe, met Paul from the AT Lodge where we are staying tonight, and listened to good music at the Trail Fest Celebration in town. We met Muffin Man who was having a Sunday Summit Challenge (14 scoops of ice cream for each state hiked, toppings, banana, candy). Then we drove to Baxter State Park where we spent the night in our car at a campsite at Katahdin Stream Campground. We met Polar Bear who is beginning his AT thru hike southbound tomorrow. We saw millions of stars in a clear sky from the base of Mt. Katahdin. They were beautiful.Today, 9/19/11, we woke up at 5:30am and prepared for our early morning summit of Katahdin. It was a beautiful clear day with perfect temperatures. We passed lovely waterfalls and fantastic overlooks of beautiful mountains which went on forever. We thought the hike was easy the first 3 miles compared with the rest of the White Mountains in NH. It was steep uphill and climbing over rocks, but we were old hands at that. Then about 2.5 hours in we hit the stacked vertical boulders. There was an iron handhold on one but I had difficulty reaching it and wasn't sure I could pull myself up it with my limited arm strength. I looked at it and told David I didn't think that I would be able to climb back down if I succeeded in hiking up them. I sensed that if I did I might end up having a panic attack coming back down although I didn't have one while there. So, I made the decision not to go and suggested Dave come back when he could hike with someone braver and stronger. So we averted our mission to summit, and climbed down. To try to save the day, we hiked on the AT to Daicey Pond. On the way down Katahdin, we saw Muffin Man who was hiking it again with his friend Chris, Jedhi and Chef Boyardee. On the hike to Daicey Pond, we met Zip Lock and Whisper who was completing her section hike which she started in 2004 and completed today. We also met Pyrite and Peregrin who would be completing their thru hike tomorrow. When we reached Daicey Pond parking lot, we were tired and hitched a ride with a park worker back to our car. As we left to go out of the park, we picked up Pyrite and Peregrin who were hitching to Millinocket to the same lodge we were staying at tonight. We ate a late lunch/early dinner at the AT Lodge.We enjoyed meeting Cimarron, an 89 year old, who has made several attempts at thru hiking. I had read his journal on trailjournals before we left on our trip. Some friends had brought food up the Gondola on Wildcat Mountain where he had hiked to celebrate his 89th birthday. He was making arrangements with Dave at the AT Lodge to help him hike up Katahdin the next day.
Date: 2011-09-20
From: The Appalachian Trail Lodge Millinocket ME

To: The Cabin in Maine East Andover ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Enjoyed talking to other thru hikers at the AT Cafe in Millinocket. Talked to Spud who was summiting today, from Anchorage, AK. He still has to do the Smokies because he hiked with his dog. Spoke with Stitch and Yak who summitted yesterday. Drove to The Cabin in Maine and met Bear and Honey. Bear will be shuttling us the next four days hiking from Rt 26 in ME to Rt 2 in Gorham. We're staying here in their hostel tonight and then moving tomorrow to the Town and Country Motel in Shelburn, NH, to be closer to the hikes. We're having dinner with vegetarian Sheppard's Pie and several other thru hikers.
Date: 2011-09-21
From: Mahoosuc Notch Trailhead

To: Grafton Notch ME Trailhead
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

We did it! Finally hiked the Mahoosuc Notch - 1 mile of nothing but boulders strewn between two walls of the mountain in Maine. We started at Mahoosuc Notch Trailhead after Bear from The Cabin shuttled us over the very bumpy and gutted Success Pond Road in Berlin, NH. We hiked 30 minute miles the first 2 miles to the AT Mahoosuc Trail. It took us another 2 hours and 15 minutes to climb over, under and through the various boulders. I've never gotten so dirty on a hike before. It was a clear day but the rocks were wet and sometimes muddy from overnight rain. We had to slide down the wet rocks and climbed very cautiously to avoid falling. We were so happy when they finally ended.However, then we had to climb the Mahoosuc Arm and Old Speck Mountain, both very steep and continued rock faces to scale. On one peak I felt like I was on Katahdin again, very near the edge of the mountain with spectacular views, but hurrying and clinging to the rocks to find a safer spot on the top for viewing. By the time we finished our hike for the day, our clothes had dried from the wet rocks. Our total hiking time for the full day's hike was 9.5 hours for the total of 10 miles.We stopped by Pat's Pizza around Bethel ME on our way to stay at Town and Country Inn in Shelburn NH. Then we enjoyed the pool and hot tub, soothing our achey muscles.We had a great visit with Bear, Honey, and several thru hikers last night at The Cabin. Dinner was delicious. The thru-hikers shared some tips for our hike today since they had just done it. Bear and Honey were most gracious hosts. They invited us to sign their table where other thru-hikers have signed and updated us on the Barefoot Sisters and The Family. We felt honored to be at their home.
Date: 2011-09-22
From: Gentian Pond Shelter via Austin Brook Trail

To: US 2 Gorham/Hogan Road
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today we got started in the dark. We parked our car at Hogan and North Road AT parking lot and Bear shuttled us up Miller Brook Road to the Austin Brook Trail. He thought he would get us closer but the bridge washed out so we had to walk across rocks on a stream. We hiked about 2 miles up to Gentian Pond Shelter where we proceeded south on the AT 11 miles. Although today's hike was not as challenging as the previous hikes, my toes sure felt it. Early on, my shoe went into the muddy swampy area about 6 inches. However, when it started raining, it helped wash some of the mud off. We were excited to see a moose on the other side of Moss Pond although he scurried out into the woods when he saw us passing by. We also saw a tiny frog swimming in the mud puddle in the path. We heard grouse flutter away as we passed and enjoyed the pine scents as usual.We enjoyed sitting on top of Cascade Mountain looking at some very huge and beautiful mountains, trying to figure out the names of them. We also saw more color in the trees as they started turning.The hot tub was wonderful when we got back to Town and Country Inn and we plan to get in again before bed time.
Date: 2011-09-23
From: Carlo Col

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: light rain

What a day! Bear shuttled us from Austin Brook Trail where we left our car over the bumpy Success Pond Road in Berlin, NH, to the Carlo Col Trailhead. We hiked up 2 miles to the AT. We started following the trail but then found no more white blazes. The only way it seemed we could go south was up some very steep boulders. I got up one with Peace's help. He got stuck when he tried it. I pulled my lower back muscles trying to help. He found another way and got up to where I was. The more I looked at the boulder climb, the more I thought there had to be another path somewhere. So Peace went down to try finding it again to make sure before we attempted going higher. However, he found no path so we proceeded. We reached the top and I saw footprints in some mud on top, and then bog boards, so we assumed we were on the trail. Eventually we found blazes, I think. And, eventually, we crossed from Maine into New Hampshire on the trail. We had a long climb up Mt. Success but enjoyed the views when we reached the top. The climb down took what seemed like forever to Gentian Pond Shelter.We enjoyed the sweet fragrance of pine and cedar during the day, as well as the sunshine, frogs, birds, and more changing colors of the leaves. On our way down Austin Brook Trail from the Shelter, I slipped on a rock, with my head hitting the rock. Peace says, the rock was okay, even though I wasn't. I screamed in pain but screamed even more when I couldn't feel anything in my arms. After a few seconds, I started feeling tingling and sensation again. I thanked God for keeping me safe, healed and whole. And other than a knot on the base of my head and a few scrapes, I was good as new again. Yea, God! We continued to our car and got in the pool and hot tub when we returned to our motel. Unfortunately, the hot tub was not hot so we took a hot shower. We enjoyed tofu pups and baked potatoes in our room and are ready to try the hot tub again.We're packing up to move to our next motel which we haven't figured out yet. So on to google to see if we can find another motel with a hot tub. And so goes another hiking day in the life of Love and Peace.
Date: 2011-09-24
From: Shelburne/Gorham NH

To: Lincoln NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

With the prediction for rain and my still achy back, we decided last night to rest today and finish Carlo Col to Mahoosuc Notch Trail in ME on the AT next year. So we had breakfast on this beautiful sunny day (it rained overnight and then cleared--such a beautiful day for a hike, oh, well), then enjoyed the pool and hot tub this morning. Now we're leaving Town and Country in Shelburne and driving to Mt. Liberty Motel in Lincoln, NH for two nights. We will then be closer to hike Kinsman to Franconia, NH, tomorrow. Shuttle Connection will shuttle us at 630am at Kinsman Notch Trailhead to Reel Brook Trailhead. We will then walk up to the AT and hike South to Kinsman. Then on Monday, 9/26, Shuttle Connection will shuttle us from the Franconia Notch Visitor's Center Parking to Reel Brook Trailhead, and we will walk to the AT and hike South to North to Lonesome Lake Hut for an overnight. On Tuesday, 9/27, we will hike down from the hut to Franconia Notch and drive home. That will then complete all the AT in NH. Hurray!
Date: 2011-09-25
From: Reel Brook Trail, Easton, NH

To: Kinsman Notch, NH
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: broken clouds

Yesterday on our day off in Gorham I met Flying Turtle in the Fudge Shop. We had passed him on our way up Speck Mountain a few days ago. He has a journal on trailjournals from 2005 and 2006 and is attempting to complete his missing pieces. I also met a thru hiker who said he had hiked all the way from GA and decided to take today off because the mosquitoes were so bad.Today, we hiked 3 miles up Reel Brook Trail and hiked south on the AT to Kinsman Notch 6.5 AT miles. The trail was not as hard as I anticipated. However, it still took a long time to hike due to the typical rock-hopping required to avoid the mud and roots. The trail was very wet and muddy. We were delighted to see a moose on top of Wolf Mountain. After my startled yell at suddenly seeing the moose, I said "hi" and asked if she'd wait so David could catch up with the camera for a picture. She obliged and I got her picture before we both parted ways. Then we started seeing moose prints in the mud along the AT path. We enjoyed a snack break on a rock overlooking Gordon Pond with views of the mountains and changing colors.We were happy to finish early and have lunch at the Woodstock Inn Station and top it off with fudge from another fudge shop. We enjoyed a hot bath. We're now wrapping things up so we can hike our last two hikes and come home.
Date: 2011-09-28
From: Reel Brook Trail, NH

To: Franconia Notch, NH
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: broken clouds

Hurray! We have now completed all the AT in New Hampshire. Monday, 9/26/11,we started on a red carpet of maple leaves on the Reel Brook Trail, followed by a yellow carpet. We reached the AT and hiked north to the Lonesome Lake Hut. It began very pleasantly climbing gradually beside the multiple cascades of Eliza Brook. Then it took on the famous NH terrain of mud, rocks, and extremely steep ascents up Mt. Kinsman. The views were well worth the hard work. We could see many of the ridges we had already hiked like the Franconia Ridge, Mt. Wolf, and Mt. Washington in the distance. We continued with good views til we descended Mt. Kinsman. Lots more boulders and steep rock faces which we approached very cautiously. We finally arrived at Lonesome Lake Hut. We took our shoes off and put our feet in the water while chatting with a group of children and their leaders on an outdoor education trip also overnighting at the hut. After potato soup and cake, Dave took a nap in his bunk while I rested on the dock of the lake. We had a nice walk around the lake and then played scrabble. We enjoyed a yummy dinner of cream of tomato soup, bread, salad, peas, rice, stir-fried veggies with dumplings, and lemon bars. We learned that the lovely fragrance we smelled in the forest was from balsa fir, not pine or cedar. We played scrabble again before retiring and looking at all the beautiful stars in the dark night sky unobstructed by city lights.Tuesday morning, 9/27/11, after breakfast, we took off on the trail the wrong way adding .6 miles to our trip. But we only had 3.5 miles so it wasn't so bad. It was an easy hike from the hut. We saw lots more flowing falls in the Cascade Brook to the parking lot at Liberty Springs. It was nice to change into clean clothes and begin our long drive home. Home to our own bed, our own bathroom, our own house. We were happy to see our son Mark, his girlfriend Marissa, and our cat Fireball. And so ends our latest adventure on the Appalachian Trail. Tune in for the next edition...who knows when or where.
Date: 2012-08-19
From: Home

To: Killington, VT
Miles today: 0.0

We are excited to be approaching our fall section hike to complete the AT in VT and ME. We drive from Rockville, MD, on 8/31/12 and start hiking from Killington, VT on 9/1/12. We will complete the northern half of VT 9/2-6 and the southern half of VT 10/4-12. We will complete ME 9/7-10/2. Then all we will have left to complete the AT will be the 70 miles in Great Smokey Mountains. Hurray!
Date: 2012-08-29
From: Derwood, MD

To: East Dorset, VT
Miles today: 0.0

The day finally arrived to leave Maryland for our completion of VT and ME. Had an easy 7.5 hour drive to Rutland, VT, where we picked up a rental car and drove south on Rt. 7. We parked it at the Danby/Rt 10 AT trailhead. We had seen some AT hikers walking to Rt. 7 and were going to offer them a ride when we got back, but they were nowhere in sight.We checked in at our lodging for the next two nights, Marbledge Motor Inn, in East Dorset. Had a delicious dinner of enchiladas, rice, beans and taco chips with salsa at Gringo Jack¢s Southwestern Bar and Grill at Manchester Center. Went for a walk in historic old town.We had a full moon when we got back to our two-room cottage. Went for a walk to see the stars. As we were walking down the hill from our cottage, we discovered the birthplace of Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, the Wilson House Hotel, at 378 Village Street, East Dorset, VT. It¢s described on the following website: http://www.wilsonhouse.org/. The long porch had multiple rocking chairs which looked very comfortable.
Date: 2012-08-30
From: Mad Tom Notch, VT

To: Danby, VT
Miles today: 12.5

Got off to an early start. Found the Mad Tom Notch/21 AT trailhead and began walking uphill for two miles toward our destination¢Danby/10. It was like a normal mountain walk until we got to Baker Peak.   Then we had more rocks and roots to maneuver through, although there wasn¢t a lot of mud since it¢s been dry. There was a great view of the mountains and valleys from the top. Didn¢t see much wildlife other than a few birds. We wondered whether we were looking at an animal¢s mini-cow pie, but then decided it was a large upside down mushroom. I still had energy after our 12.5 mile hike, so I think the rest of our longer hikes won¢t be too bad.We met some section hikers and a couple thru-hikers hiking North to South. One was named Alabama and he was heading for Alabama. We met an older couple with a little dog who were section hiking and had just completed the Long Trail.When we got home, we ate some home-made chili we had brought from home. After a hot bath, we went to town for ice cream sundaes. So much for my plan to avoid desserts. We¢re going to walk outside after dark to see the moon and stars again. Then we¢ll pack up so we¢re ready to go to our new lodging in Killington after our 9 mile hike tomorrow.
Date: 2012-08-31
From: Wallingford, VT

To: Danby, VT
Miles today: 8.5

8/31/12We had a nice 9 mile hike today from VT 140 in Wallingford to Danby 10. We saw a little frog with a yellow stripe, a tiny frog which climbed up a steep rock without hiking poles (smile), and a small dark snake with a yellow stripe. There were a couple spots where there were piles of white rocks with a variety of individually created cairns. One rock shaped like a bridge was placed over two boulders then more rocks were placed on top of it in an interesting design.We met lots of northbound thru-hikers today ¢ Etchasketch, Traveler, Gray Wolf, Soleman, Bad Ass, Delaware, Josh (NJ), Fed Ex (FL), Chop Chop (TX) who has a blog on Word Press under Gentrified Takes a Hike, and Nutella from Germany. There were others whose names we can¢t remember. We also met General Sherman who was section hiking.After shuttling our cars and leaving the rental at Rt 103 for tomorrow¢s hike, we went through Rutland to our new lodging at The Woods in Killington. We have a nice two-bedroom condo. We enjoyed a swim in their pool and soak in their hot tub. We drove to Killington¢s K-1 Gondola Bike and Ski shop to buy our gondola tickets for the next two days. We had a yummy pizza for dinner at Dominic¢s, maple fudge from the market where we bought our food for breakfast, and are enjoying sitting here in the condo with a pleasant cross-breeze blowing through the windows and in the trees.
Date: 2012-09-01
From: Killington Peak Gondola

To: Clarendon VT 103
Miles today: 11.1

9/1/12We rode the gondola ski lift at 10am up to the top of Mount Killington, walked .8 miles down to the Appalachian Trail intersection at Cooper Lodge, and hiked 11.1 miles south to VT 103 in Clarendon. We had a lovely view from the mountain top. The hike down seemed easy until we got to some New Hampshire like rocks and roots which required more caution. We still kept our 30 minute mile pace. We had a 2.2 mile reroute on some backroads due to trail washout from last year¢s Hurricane Irene. We saw cows laying by the roadside and pretty wildflowers along the way. I asked one cow if it was okay to take his picture and he got up for me. I think he enjoyed our brief company. We saw some frogs, birds, caterpillars, chipmunks, squirrels, butterflies, and heard grouse take off in flight. We smelled lovely fragrances as we walked through the pine forests.We met thru-hiker southbounder Drew at Cooper Lodge and others hiking north bound: Cricket hiking the Long Trail, Fireball and FA who we met yesterday hiking the Long Trail, Grady, Steel Toe and Fire Road (Tim) who we met yesterday, and Cackle from NY. We got back to the condo just in time to use the hot tub and pool before it closed. We made chili and rice for dinner. We picked up our car at the base of the mountain and repositioned the rental at River Road near Thundering Falls for our descent tomorrow. We saw a kingfisher sitting on a telephone wire by the road near a swampy area. We also thought we saw a moose there in the twilight, but it was just a tree trunk.We¢re playing scrabble before we turn in for the night. We keep tying our score. We heard what sounded like a gun a few times, but it could be fireworks. There is a motorcycle rally this weekend in Rutland and Killington. We¢ve been lucky to have our condo building to ourselves so it¢s otherwise been relatively quiet.Oh, we finished the game. We tied again for the final score!