morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-09-09
From: Gorham, NH

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

I ate what was possibly my last plate of Eggs Benedict at Hiker's Paradise this morning, then Birdman and I caught a shuttle out to the trail. The sky looked ominous, and the air was chilly, but the first couple hours of hiking were excellent. Then it started to drizzle, then rain. And, it was chilly! We took what may have been the world's shortest lunch break at Trident Col Tentsite, scarfing our food down while standing in puddles and shivering. Maine is a mere five or six miles away! A trail maintainer asked us where we were headed today, and I told her Maine. Realizing that Maine was less than ten miles away, I clarified by telling her where I was walking from. It hasn't really settled in that I'm nearly in the final state. Looking at my guidebook today, I was shocked at how close all of the "Maine attractions" are.During my day of rest in Gorham, I watched way too much America's Next Top Model. So mind numbing.... such a vice to watch! But, it inspired me to think of next season's TV hit: Appalachia's Next Top Model. Appalachia's Next Top Model would feature Miss Janet, playing Tyra Bank's role. The contestants would be judged on their flowing leg hair, bruise coloration, and number of teeth.At the shelter tonight are Birdman, Dark Pork, Life Saver, and Wicked, who is a total southbound Stallionaire. The view from the shelter is obscured by fog and mist, but every so often, a bit of mountain will peek out. It looks like an image from a Japanese screen painting. Beautiful!Today, I peed in the AMC mouldering privy. I am a very bad person....
Date: 2007-09-10
From: Gentian Pond Campsite

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: light rain

I'm in Maine! And, boy, is it tough already! But, it¢s pretty and lacking day-hikers, car campers, and the other tourist that plagued the Whites. This is more my style -- I can go where I please and do as I like. When I saw a glimpse of the blue "Welcome to Maine" sign, it struck me how very very far I've walked in the past 5 1/2 months. And, I have such a relatively short distance to go until this adventure will be over.Maine's state motto is "the way life should be". Reading the motto on the welcome sign got me to thinking about some of my pre-hike ideas about "living the good life". This hike has managed to live up to my expectations of it -- it's a very close-knit utopian community out here for the most part.Thru hiking long trails is a valuable thing to do -- there are so many things I'll take from this trip and apply to my non-hiking life. But, this is not a sustainable way to live. Over the long haul, it's a drain on my body; on my savings account. A south bounder referred to the trail as the "real" world, and the non-trail world as the "rat-race". To an extent, I'd have to agree that there's something very authentic about the stripped down existence we experience on the trail. But, I also feel that a lot of what I did in the non-trail world was meaningful and worthwhile. Living an ideal life doesn't entail hiding out in the woods for long periods of time, but this hike has taught me a lot of valuable lessons that I can draw from in the future.Birdman and I hike at the same pace and have informally become hiking partners until his vacation time ends, and he gets off the trail. He's good to hike with because, like me, he has no shame about picking his way through rock obstacles at a slow pace, or butt-sliding down wet rocks instead of risking a fall. Today's hike required a lot of butt sliding daring-do. We're developing a growing vocabulary to describe our cautious grandma-like butt slide maneuvers. Essentially, the basic butt slide requires one to sit on a rock and slide down the face of it. A "demi-slide" includes all of the maneuvering of a full butt-slide without actual butt to rock contact. And so on... With all of the slippery Maine rocks, we're developing as many nuanced terms for butt-sliding as Eskimos have for snow.I can hardly believe I spent the day butt-sliding down Maine rocks!
Date: 2007-09-11
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Okay, so I'm not sure if I'm smart or a sissy, but when I heard the weather report from NOAA, I opted to stay put for the day. I'm about a mile or so from the infamous Mahoosuc Notch and Mahoosuc Arm. The notch is a boulder-strewn gully that is said to be the toughest mile on the trail. The Arm is one of the toughest climbs, sporting near verticle rock face. According to NOAA, today is supposed to provide heavy rains and electrical storms. Not the most ideal conditions for attempting one of the toughest parts of the trail. So, here I am... a little frustrated by the lack of forward movement and perversely hoping that the day's weather justifies my cautious decision!The big gossip on the trail has been about the dead moose in Mahoosuc Notch. Apparently, the beast blundered into the Notch this summer and broke one of his legs. He lay in the notch for days, bellowing at passing hikers. According to gossip, the Forest Service came out to the Notch to assess the situation, and decided that nothing could be doe. A thru hiker finally jumped down in with the moose and delivered a swift mercy killing, slitting the animal's throat with his pocket knife. The corpse of the moose has been left on the trail to rot, making Mahoosuc one of the stinkiest miles on the trail, as well as one of the toughest.
Date: 2007-09-12
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: light rain

I saw my first moose on the trail today! So, it was dead... and mostly decomposed. It smelled a little like my rainjacket too. But, by golly, it was a bona fide Maine moose. It wasn't as horrifying a sight as rumored, but it was a pretty gross mess at the bottom of Mahoosuc Notch. Poor beast...Speaking of the Notch, it's a done deal. It's a super fun, crazy climb, crawl, slide, and jump-filled mile of excitement. I loved it! It took well over two hours to traverse it, and I got a bloody knee and some sore shoulders out of the deal. There were a number of stone "chutes" to climb through which made me feel like Alice in Wonderland jumping into the rabbit hole. At some points, a slip of the foot could equal a ten foot fall into a boulder-strewn crevice... there were more than a couple moments of gasping and frantic scrambling for a foot or hand hold. A bunch of us went through at the same time -- Birdman, Dark Pork, Life Saver, General Tso, Serial, C-Shot, Suess, and others. We all looked crazed and happy (and a little beat up too) at the end. If I wasn't so beat, I'd turn around and do it again! Definately, it was one fo the BEST miles on the AT.The climb up Mahoosuc Arm was over-rated. It was steep, yes. But, it wasn't any tougher than some of the other climbs out here. The views at the top were fabulous -- I could see nothing but mountains for miles and miles. The Presidential Range of the Whites made an imposing bump on the horizon.All in all, I'm really glad to have waited for today's good weather to do the Notch and Arm. It was really worth it to have some sun and dry-ish rocks to make for an enjoyable day. Yesterday's weather was miserable... Mahoosuc would've been a nightmare in it!I'm at the beautiful Speck Pond Shelter with Uncle Silly (!), Katy the dog, Dark Pork, Life Saver, Tenacious T, and the two Birdmen. That's right -- there are two hikers on the trail named Birdman. And, the stars aligned and brought them here together at the shelter tonight. There's been a flurry of animated bird talk over in the corner of the shelter for over an hour now. It's as though they were seperated at birth!Fall (Winter?!) is fast approaching. The temperatures tonight should be in the 30's. But, the shelter is cozy full of hikers and I'm snuggled against Katy, Uncle Silly's dog. (He refers to her as his "personal space heater). This hike is coming full circle -- hiking from cold weather in the south to the cold up north.
Date: 2007-09-14
From: Rangely, ME

To: Poplar Ridge Lean to
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

Birdman and I are sure that the trail in Maine was created back in the day when "men were gods" (and women were men, and god was a woman) It's larger than life. And tough. And breathtaking. At the Red Onion restaurant in Rangley, there is an absurdly kitschy painting of two burly mountain men paddling a birchbark canoe while an angry black bear stands on shore, roaring at them. It's a prime example of the Maine aesthetic and also a fine illustration of the days when men were gods. We tried to explain this men as gods concept to our waitress, but she looked tired and just wanted to take our orders. She mentioned that the painting might be worth a good bit of money and left it at that.Today took me over Saddleback Mountain, the Horn, and Saddleback Junior (which we also referred to as "travel Saddleback" -- like "travel Yatzee"). The guidebook says that one may get a glimpse of Katahdin from these mountains, but a large cloud of fog had descended over the peaks, hindering the views from the summit. Anyways, I'm not even 100% sure what direction to look in since the trail meanders a good bit. The atmosphere was treeless and cloudy at the summits, and made for just as good eye candy as a view to the ranges north.We're now traversing the part of the trail maintained by the MATC (Maine Appalachian Trail Club). The MATC (unlike that AMC) does an excellent job with trail maintainence. The trails were clear, and it wasn't confusing to find my way around above treeline -- white blazes, orange blazes, and rock cairns were EVERYWHERE. I feel so much happier and safer when I'm not getting constantly disoriented! The shelter we're at tonight has an old ball bat style floor. It's made of many narrow tree trunks laid side by side. When men were gods, they used to cut boughs from evergreen trees to make comfortable beds on the floor. Now, hikers can't really take such liberties with handsaws, so we'll make due with our Ridgerests. It's a nice place. And quiet, because Birdman and I are the only two folks here. It's a nice change of pace, and I'm enjoying hearing only the sound of the wind in the trees, interupted by occassional pleasant mini-conversations with Birdman. Folks must have been a lot shorter back in the day, because I'm almost too tall to sleep in the shelter (I'm only 5'7"). But, I guess when you are a god, you don't need to be tall to fight bears.The caretaker at Poplar Ridge (mis-spelled "Popular Ridge" on the map) is Dave Field. He's part historian and part comedian and compiles a trivia list about this section of the AT every year. Hikers write questions in the register, and Dave responds to them by adding them to the trivia list. My favorite one is: Q: Why are moose pellets always symmetrical/identical?A: So you can tell they're moose pellets. Combined with a little greenery and a red bow, two of them make a nice Christmas gift -- "Moosletoe".
Date: 2007-09-15
From: Poplar Ridge Lean to

To: Spaulding Mt. Lean To
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today was cold, wet, and rainy. And fun! The trail up here in Maine is getting so much easier -- it's smoother, there are fewer ups and downs... We're hiking 2 mph or faster once again. I haven't gone that fast since Southern New Hampshire. The day was cut short because of shelter spacing -- we really wanted a roof over our heads for the wet night ahead, so we stopped short at Spaulding Mountain Lean-to. Tomorrow, Birdman and I are planning on heading into Stratton for showers, laundry, and to fulfill some town-food fantasies.I had some bizarre food related dreams last night. I dreampt that I was at a picnic and was trying to retrieve a platter of Thanksgiving-type foods from inside a cooler. Bits of food -- mashed potatos, chunks of turkey -- kept slipping off of the platter as I lifted it up. I kept frantically trying to keep all of the food on the tray. Frustraton! Mid-dream, Birdman woke up screaming on the opposite end of the shelter because a RAT ran over his face. His screaming woke me up and delivered me from yet another food anxiety nightmare! I'm really not THAT hungry.... for a hiker, atleast. I do manage to bring up food in conversation about a dozen times a day though. I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to engage Birdman in "food fantasy hour". Food fantasy hour usually starts mid-afternoon when lunch is long gone, and I'm beginning to get tired. I ask, "if you could eat anything in the world right now, what would it be?" Birdman is a good sport, but he's a vegeterian and lacks my enthusiasm for steaks, fried chicken, and hot dogs. He loves to talk veggies however....I had an exciting fall today! I was trying to scoot up an angled rock face, when I slipped, flipped onto my side, and slid down about 6 feet. It felt like a very hard core slip and slide ride, and I landed at the bottom in a mud puddle laughing. When I got up, I noticed that I'd bent my trekking pole in half! I later shoved it between two boulders, using them like a vice, and bent it (some what) back into its original shape. These poles have a few thousand miles on them, so I guess it'll be time to get a new set anyways. It's funny -- I manage to hike all the way from Georgia through Vermont without falling. Now, because of the terrain, I fall all the time.. But, it's as though falling is just like taking a step -- I jump up, brush myself off, maybe utter a swear word or two, and keep going!
Date: 2007-09-16
From: Spaulding Mt. Lean To

To: Stratton
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

The chill in Maine takes on an almost physical form. It is not like the cold in other parts of the country. Like other things in this state, it is larger, more intense. When the waitress at the White Wolf Inn stepped out from behind the bar to announce that snow's coming, we all paniced a little. While we are getting our first freeze, it looks at though we should have some clear sunny weather throughout the week. There'll be no snow despite the waitresses predictions.Birdman and I walked out onto Rt. 27 from one of the million anonymous logging roads connecting the trail lands to civilization. When I say "civilization", I am using the word in its loosest sense. The town of Stratton could fit on a football field. The local diner's wall is adorned with a photo of an old timer holding a shotgun in one hand and petting a moose with the other. Logging trucks cruise the main road, and folks in town are talking about moose season. But, the place has a cozy hostel at the Stratton motel, and the diner food is copious and greasy. The further north we walk, the smaller and more remote the towns become. It is nice that these little towns are only a few days walk away from one another with large tracts of wild land in between. It's the best of both worlds -- frequent re-supply with unspoiled woods. For a hiker, Maine really is the way life should be.
Date: 2007-09-17
From: Stratton

To: Safford Notch
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: few clouds

Mainers seem to share my passion for three dimensional maps. I've seen at least 3 or 4 of them since I've been in the state. It's nice to trace a finger along the dotted line marking the AT, reading the braille of the ranges underneath. The finger lifts up over the Whites, and jumps along Mahoosuc Range, Saddleback, then finally over the Bigelows. Then, it dips into a lower flat area marked with insignificant bumps and pimples. The Bigelows are the last real line of big bumps until Katahdin, and the southbounders are saying that the trail becomes gentle from here on out. Good. I am tired.Along with being chronically tired (a typical state for us hikers, so don't worry!), I've been chronically hungry. For breakfast, I had steak, 2 eggs, coffee, home fries, and 4 pieces of toast. When the waitress came to deliver my bill, I ordered another 2 eggs, more home fries, 4 pieces of toast, and more coffee. I practically licked my plate clean when it was all gone. Ah.... town food!I spent a good part of today silently cursing the terrain over Bigelow. The climbs and decents weren't bad at all, but the ground was absolutely littered with evil rocks and roots. I had to take a ton of tiny quick crooked steps. Horribly frustrating! Picture spending an entire work day stumbling, tripping, falling, rolling ankles, and stubbing toes.... I think this is the experience other folks had in Pennsylvania! Pennsylvania really frustrated Birdman when he hiked it last year, and he thinks I'm a nut because I really like it. I told him that Bigelow was my personal Pennsylvania. But, on to easier terrain....I'm here at Safford Notch camping with Birdman, Robert the southbounder, Robert's two dogs, Faith and Freedom, and Half-Step, who is doing a flip flop. I haven't seen him since Virginia.My gear is slowly disintegrating. I bent one trekking pole while falling two days ago, and the other one when I fell today. Clips are no longer clipping, fabric is fraying, and the whole lot smells of hiker. Luckily, I'm on the final stretch, and I can wait until I'm done to send things away for repairs or replacement. But, at this rate, I'll be limping up to Katahdin with gear swaddled in duct tape and mended with mismatched thread! I'm glad that the body is able to regenerate and heal... otherwise, I'd be looking as bad as my gear.
Date: 2007-09-18
From: Safford Notch

To: East Carry Pond
Miles today: 16.3

I can't say enough nice things about today.... It was a wonderful day on the trail, a wonderful day in Maine. Right after little Bigelow Mt. ended the trail became smooth and flat. It's the easiest terran I've seen in a long time, in fact. My feet were so happy about it! As were my knees.... and my mind. Birdman and I shocked ourselves by walking over 16 miles today. I can't remember the last time I was able to comfortably walk that far.It's Birdman's last night on the trail -- his section ends in Caratunk. We're stealth camping along the sandy beach of beautiful East Carry Pond. The leaves are starting to change color, it's a warm night, and it feels very remote here -- such a great spot.I passed the 2,000 mile mark today. I can't quite fathom the fact that I've been walking since March. Give me some time to digest, then maybe I'll come up with a witty observation about it all. For now, the concept fills me with fatigue.
Date: 2007-09-19
From: East Carry Pond

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 9.9

Last night brought a chorus of loons from the Carry ponds. East Carry Pond was, hands down, the most beautiful camping spot I¢ve stayed at on this trip. The water was so clear that Birdman got out of his tent in the middle of the night and couldn¢t tell where the water began and the beach ended.My backwoods bliss was ended, however, when I was woken by the sounds of logging in the distance! This is Maine and you¢ve got to take the good with the bad I guess. And I can¢t really complain about logging ¢ but maybe I can request that the lumberjacks of Maine start doing their thing after 8:00 am. The walking today was once again unbelievably good. The last few miles sported rough trail though ¢ I heard that a hiker got a compound fracture in her arm walking through here earlier this week. I managed my nastiest fall yet, giving up more blood to the AT rocks. But, luckily, the only real harm was done to my pride!The highlight of the day was the Kennebec River ford. The Maine Appalachian Club doesn¢t place bridges over most of its streams and rivers because flooding and ice melt tends to destroy them on an annual basis. Hikers get to rock hop or wade through the water crossings. The Kennebec is a wide swift river and the AT crosses it downstream from a hydroelectric plant that releases large volumes of water. A hiker died while trying to cross in the mid 80s so a regular ferry service was created and funded by the MATC to ensure safe passage. We got to cross the river in style as the ferryman paddled us to the opposite bank.   About fifteen minutes after we stepped to shore, the hydroelectric plant opened its gates and the water level rose six inches or more in the span of ten minutes, making the current very fast!The ferryman at Kennebec warned us about a drifter on the trail named Granite who had been harassing folks and was banned from entering a number of hostels and other businesses from Andover to Monson. Birdman and I found this rather disturbing. When we were walking past West Carry Pond yesterday, we heard a man far off in the woods shouting. We looked around but couldn¢t see who it was so we assumed it was someone from a hunting camp in the area and had nothing to do with us. Later we heard from Forrest and Spaceman that Granite took this as a personal slight to him and had an irrational break-down as a result. The boys said that he ranted and raved for well over half and hour, threatening Birdman and I with physical harm if we ever ran into him. Um¢¦crazy. Birdman, Forrest, Spaceman, and I are at Northern Outdoors Resort in Caratunk sharing a room. Birdman and I hitched to the resort in a pick-up truck full to the brim with bear dogs. The man driving the truck had a thick southern drawl and it threw me for a loop, convincing me that I had been magically transported back to Georgia.
Date: 2007-05-05
From: Springer Mountain, GA

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: light rain

May 5, 2007 -- Day 1This the first day of my AT hike. My parents drove me to 9/10 mile of the peak of Springer Mtn--the beginning of the trail from the S to N direction. Now that I am not trapped in the car w/ my parents constantly telling me not to get hypothermia I think that the hardest part of my trip is behind me now. Today I hiked to the top of Springer Mtn and it about killed me. I then hiked down to Three Forks for lunch and then to Hawk Mountain Shelter. I feel like somebody beat me up but am glad to see a lot of nice people at the shelter--Irish, Crowbear, Switchback, Make Tracks, Double Dare and others. Double Dare, Switchback, and Make Tracks have all hiked the AT before and are full of good advice. Maybe they can tell me how to make my pack lighter--with food, H20, and fuel in addition to all my gear I'm carrying 60 lbs. It feels like I am carrying Springer Mountain with me. Tommorow I hope to hike to Gooch Mountain Shelter and it seems like I'm going to have to hike a lot uphill w/o H2O unfortunately.
Date: 2007-05-06
From: Justus Creek

To: Dans Gap
Miles today: 8.6

Monday, May 7, 2007 -- (Night) Day 3Today I woke up at Justes Creek campsite at about 9:30 and after the extra 2 12 hours of sleep really made me feel better after a long day. I walked the remaining 1 12 miles to Gooch Mtn. Shelter to eat lunch and plan the days hike. When I got to the shelter there were a bunch of idiots there who were just leaving and it looked like they trashed the place. I spent about 15 min. cleaning up all the trash they left behind and luckily there was a bear-proof trash can to drop it off about 3 mi. down the trail. While eating lunch a fellow thru-hiker stopped to eat lunch who had come from Hawk Mtn. Shelter just this morning - that¢s what took me a day and a half to hike and he did it in one morning. He said he is going to Blood Mtn. that night which was 13.2 miles away. He said he had to average well over 20 mi/day to make it to Katahdin in Maine by the first of August. I told him I would see him down the road jokingly knowing that I would never catch up to see him again. Anyways, today¢s hike was a blessing compared to yesterday¢s. The sun was out, the trail was mostly flat and there was a really good view of all of the mountains from atop Big Cedar Mtn. I didn¢t make it to the next shelter but camped at Dan Gap at about 5:00 p.m. with One Love and their pet beagle, Benji.