morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-07-28
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Stratton Pond
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: few clouds

So this was the best day I've had out here. Maybe one of the best days I've ever had. We woke up to a chilly morning! And climbed the .3 to the top of Glastonbury where we found Little Dipper on the fire tower. And what a view. I can't describe it in words. Mountains as far as we could see. And a clear beautiful day to top it off. Sometimes everything just comes together to make the perfect day. This morning's hike had almost no mud, no humidity or mosquitoes. What more can I ask for??My mind was clear for the first time in awhile and hiking brought me new energy and ideas and brainstorms. It's what I was waiting for for a long time. At lunch we stopped at a shelter and met up again with Billy Hoot and Nutmeg, which was nice because I thought they were much further ahead. And after lunch we climbed Stratton mountain, which required me to eat almost everything I had in my food bag to get to the top! But when we did, it was like a magical place of beauty and friendship. God, I love this trail! We met and became fast friends with Hugh and Jean, the caretakers who live in a small cabin at the top during the hiking season...and have since 1968. They were a wealth of information and stories and good energy and when they invited us in to their cabin to show us how simple life can be, we had no idea all the stories they were going to tell us about the mountains that we had just hiked through. There are so may things I need to look up and research when I get home! It was an incredible experience up there and the sky was so clear we could see Mt. Washington from the fire tower. We finally headed down the mountain and walkied to the Condiments of our 9:30 eta. We knew we were getting close to Stratton Pond when we heard the loon calls! And after we spoke with the caretaker we walked all the way around the pond to our campsite. It was beautiful by moonlight and I can't wait to see it in the morning. What a day.
Date: 2009-07-29
From: Stratton Pond

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a relatively boring hike, added with it some mosquitoes, humidity and my desperate need for a shower and I was ready to get to the road! So we all booked it, got an easy ride into Manchester Center where we visited 2 outfitters, a food store, the best bookstore on the trail so far (with a delicious cafe) and an ice cream shop. The skies opened and poured ran and we were so glad to see Jeff, the owner of Green Mountain House when he came to pick us up. He drove us all to the hostel, which is by far the best hostel we've been to. Our own room, with all of our own beds, our own bathroom and shower, cozy clothes to change into while we do laundry, a full kitchen and a freezer stocked with Ben and Jerry's. Wow. Thank you, Jeff for making our trail dreams come true. We cooked up a delicious dinner and had plenty to share with the others here: Col. Mustard, McBride and Monkeywrench. Loving life right now!
Date: 2009-08-01
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Camping past Big Branch
Miles today: 16.6

My first day of August was epic, and can only be described in 2 distinct sections: the first part of the day which was happy, beautiful and exciting, and the second part of the day which was scary, annoying and exhausting. We said good bye to Jeff when he dropped us off at the trailhead around 8ish. We were soon climbing Bromley mountain and the fog lifted and the blue sky finally showed. Muster caught up to me and as we turned around to take in the incredible view, a moose came bounding out of the woods! Muster ran to the other side of the ski trail we were walking on and I stood up ahead, while getting a great picture of the moose standing with Straton Mountain in the back. Luckily everyone else wasn't too far behind and we all got to experience the moose. The view from up top was incredible. I spent the rest of the morning hiking mostly by myself and thinking about this hike and things that I've worked on while I have been out here. And I realized that I'm not quite ready to go home yet. I've got a few things still on my list to spend some time thinking about and working through. Anyway, the weather was terrific and what an incredible view we had from Baker Peak. The mud was pretty ridiculous, but at this point I'm just thankful for everyday it's not actually raining and try not to complain too much otherwise.So, moving on to par 2 of the day. I'll keep it brief, but basically a group of a dozen or so 14 year old girls had to be resciedu out to the next road because one of them had an allergic reaction to several bee stings. All the Divas, the Condiments and Early Bear and Little Dipper were involved and we didn't get to camp until 10:30 at night. Everyone made it out ok, but it was stressful, exhausting, and, well, a little annoying. You just never know how the day will turn out!
Date: 2009-08-03
From: Minerva Hinchey Shelter

To: Long Trail Inn
Miles today: 20.1

Today we had beautiful weather and incredible views from Killington. But it was such a hard day, really only because our feet have been wet for so long that the skin is deteriorating so badly. At one point on the descent, I took my shoes and socks off to air out my feet and they look like corpse feet. It is miserable. The rain this year is really really hard to deal with, but we're all hanging in there and trying our best. My poor feet have seen better days though.Anyway, the climb up Killington was beautiful, and the morning hike was fun because we hiked with Toaster, Frank n. Stein and Pork. The blue blaze to the summit of Killington was steep but worth the climb because it was such a clear day that we could see forever (actually just 5 states). It was 6:00 by the time we started down Killington so we stopped at 8:30 and called the Long Trail Inn and put our order in for dinner. It was waiting for us when we got there. A veggie burger, long trail ale and we were ready for bed! My feet feel like someone took a hammer, beat them for a day and then set them on fire. Hiking in wet feet is horrible. As Muster said earlier today, "I feel like I'm being tortured." Hoping for drier days...
Date: 2009-08-06
To: Camping on Dana Hill
Miles today: 20.0

The weather was perfect today. So I was as happy as could be. The mud on the trail is drying up, my feet stayed dry the whole day and it didn't rain a drop. It actually was a little chilly and I got a whiff of fall in the air. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over Kent Pond. I got a little bit of reading done before the others woke up. We had breakfast, said goodbye and were hiking by 8. There was a pretty steep climb but after that the day was small ups and downs. We hit the 1700 mile mark and celebrated by eating lunch. The coolest part of the day was reaching The Lookout, which has a small cabin on top with an observation deck on its roof. The views were incredible! We hiked on to the next shelter where we had dinner. The shelter was empty which was a nice change. Then we hiked down to VT 12 which offered beautiful views of Vermont farmland from a meadow filled with Queen Anne's Lace and Milkweed. It was picturesque and really special because the sun was setting, too. I found myself overcome with happiness and excitement today. It's amazing how much the weather out here affects my mood and morale level. Today I felt like I could walk forever. I hope I feel that way tomorrow because we've got a long walk to Hanover!
Date: 2009-08-07
From: Camping on Dana Hill

To: Camping before Hanover
Miles today: 18.6

Well, the weather was gorgeous again today. And it was another long day for us. I definitely felt less energized than I did yesterday, but the walk along Vermont's countryside and farmlands helped me stay awake. We took advantage of Cloudland Farm which was .2 off the trail and sold the best ice cream and soda that I've ever had. We also got to hang out with Roo, a cool Australian shepherd dog that lives there. We pushed on and met up with Condiments at lunch who agreed that the first 7 miles of the day were tough indeed. I was exhausted, but we pushed on and found a green Adirondack chair overlooking the valley and mountains ahead of us. I could have slept in hat chair for hours. But instead we kept walking after a short beak and made it down to the road where we had dinner at the deli in West Hartford. Delicious!!! We made it up to the shelter and then hiked an hour or so more so we could be closer to Hanover for breakfast in the morning. I'm tired from the past couple of days and am looking forward to some much needed sleep.Reality changing moment: the sandwich at the West Hartford deli. Wow.
Date: 2009-08-08
From: Camping

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: few clouds

What a jam packed day! We woke up at 6 and were smiling at the New Hampshire border around 8ish. It is still surreal that I've walked this far and I think it will take awhile for all of this to sink in. We had to wait in a line for breakfast at Lou's! But it was delicious and we were excited to run into Nutmeg and Billy Hoot. After breakfast we did some town chores and ended up at the Co-op, the best food store on the trail so far! And then it was time to push on. We got about 5 miles further and Karen from Tigger's Tree House picked us up, brought us to her house and let us take showers and do laundry. It was incredible generosity and we really needed it! I am still amazed at all the people who will help us just because we're hiking. So we climbed Moose Mountain and made it to the shelter and were excited to see O.G, Praire Dog and Angry Beaver and the GA girls there for the night as well.
Date: 2009-08-09
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

I went to sleep last night feeling like I was getting a cold, and I woke up this morning still feeling under the weather. Blah. But it was nice to sleep in a little. We were hiking around 8:30 and made our descent from Moose Mountain in pretty good time. Then we climbed a short but steep hill with some incredible views from the top. The humidity was thickening and the clouds were rolling in though. We got a message from our friend Angela that she as at the road about a mile away! So we hurried down and were excited to see her again. We decided to stop at the blue house west of the trail for soda and I cooked the rest of my pumpkin soup for lunch. Mmmm. We hung around awhile and then when we hit the trail again Grommet and Ms. Muster stirred up a wasp's nest and got stung a couple of times. Scary!! They were shaken up but ok thankfully. So Angela climbed most of Smarts Mountain with us which was awesome. Angela bid us farewell before the top though because she had to get back to her car before dark. Plus, we seemed to have hiked into a misty, cold cloud and it was getting kind of nasty. After she left the climb got a little ridiculous and was like straight up. But soon enough we arrived at the tent spot and I was just happy that it wasn't actually raining while we set our tents up. The rest of the gang (Col. Mustard, O.G., Ink, Prairie Dog and Angry Beaver, the GA girls) are staying in the Firewarden's cabin, but we're happy to have our little tent city, even if it is misty, damp, and windy out here tonight. I hope we can get some views tomorrow because the climb up here was gorgeous, with exposed rocks and hemlock trees. So far, NH is beautiful!
Date: 2009-08-10
From: Firewarden's Cabin

To: Dancing Bones
Miles today: 12.0

We woke up still in a cloud, so no views for us this morning. It was definitely warmer this morning, too, and I was sweaty and sticky by the time we got to the base of Smarts mountain. We ran into the Georgia Girls who asked us to go to a commune with them instead of the shelter at the end of the day. Our response: absolutely! So we had that to look forward to as we climbed Cube Mountain, which had some incredible views from the top and a sweet place to hang out and take it all in. The sky was definitely clearing up, too, and it was turning out to be a beautiful day. So we climbed down the 2000 feet or so hit a road and then kept going. And it was actually getting hot out! Ugh. The last 2 miles of the day I could have done without- muddy, swampy, buggy, sticky and I was cranky. We made it to Dancing Bones where we feasted on vegetarian leftovers and learned a dance called Pan Eurhythymia from our new friend Becca. Wow, I won't soon forget this experience tonight!
Date: 2009-08-14
From: Crawford Notch

To: Kinsman Pond Campsite
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

We woke up to the Muster and the Georgia Girls bringing us breakfast to our tents around 6:30. They were slackpacking again so they brought food to us from the diner before they started hiking. An egg sandwich-perfect! So we crossed the street and began the day of ridiculous climbing. We had heard this was one of the toughest sections of the trail, but it wasn't a few miles into it and I realized we were doing like 1 mile an hour that I believed it. The trail started out really steep. And by the time we got to the top of that one and had lunch I was a little worried about climb number 2 of the day! Plus, we ran into a southbounder who told us the next 3 miles before the shelter were really tough. And they were. Rocks, mud, slippery roots, tricky footing- the works. Plus, I was having some kind of lower GI attack and had to stop every 30 minutes. We made it to the Eliza Brook shelter and couldn't believe how long it took us. It was a really nice spot though, next to a beautiful brook. We left there around 5 and followed along that beautiful brook for a mile or so until we got to Harrison Pond, where we were excited to see pitcher plants! And then we looked up and realized what we had to climb. Wow, it was so steep and it took so long! Kinsman Mountain is a butt kicker. When we made it to the top, the views were worth every bit of it though. The sky was turning pink and we could see the silhouette of mountains we've climbed and ones still yet to come. Someone left a paper in between some rocks explaining what mountains we could see, which was cool to read. So we enjoyed our time up there and then headed down, and then up again, and then down down down all the way to Kinsman Pond shelter. It was like 9 pm when we got here- wow do I hate night hiking. Hopefully no more of it. The sky was incredible as the sunset today and now i'm Tented without my rainfly looking at more stars than I have ever seen in my life. Today was long and difficult, but it was equally beautiful.In other news, the lace holes of my shoes are completely busting after only a month or so, so I called REI and they are sending me a new pair in Gorham. Sweet!
Date: 2009-08-15
From: Kinsman Pond Campsite

To: Little Haystack
Miles today: 8.5

This morning we woke up to more beautiful weather and clear skies. The caretaker at Kinsman Pond (who let us stay for free!) told us it was going to be a perfect day with 150 miles of visibility once we got above treeline. But first, we had to get down Kinsman! Storm and I stayed together and the climb went quickly. My knee did something weird so I put my brace on it, which seemed to help. We got to our fist hut where I was really excited to get some potato dill soup, bread, donuts and lemonade. All at like 10am. Yes! Plus, this hut was totally sweet and situated on a incredible pond where people were taking advantage of the warm weather and going for a swim. We made it down to the Franconia notch in good time and were relieved to have some normal trail where we could do 2 miles an hour. Waiting at the road for us was the best trail magic yet: all the fixings for an incredible strawberry shortcake. Wow-thank you BLT! Col. Mustard, Blessed and Cloudbuster joined is for the treat and we were all really excited. The next 1.5 miles were a nice gradual climb, and then it got steeper and steeper and the heat really started to zap the energy from me. We made it to Liberty Springs campsite where we got some delicous ice cold water and where the caretaker told us we probanly picked the best day of the summer (weather-wise) to hit this most scenic section of the AT. All of our terrible weather memories are gone, just like that! We ran into the Georgia Girls and we all started heading up to the summit. There wasn't a view of Liberty, but we could see the next few peaks in front of us and then headed up to them. It got steep, as usual, but then we started to get some sweet views. And then we got above treeline and really got the views. The ridge walk from Little Haystack to Lincoln is in plain sight and is incredible. We're camped out up here and taking in the clear night sky and the unbelievable views. I'm pinching myself up here because I can't believe how sweet this is.
Date: 2009-08-16
From: LIttle Haystack

To: Camping past Guyot
Miles today: 12.7

Today was a really long day. I think we're still getting used to the fact that we're doing 1.5 mph, maximum for a lot of the day. But this morning I got up nice and early and joined Storm (who woke even earlier) for an incredible sunrise from Little Haystack. It was by far are sweetest campsite ever. The morning was beautiful as we summited Lincoln and Lafayette and continued up the Franconia Ridge. But once we went down back below treeline, the hiking seemed to really slow down and got tedious. Plus, it was incredibly humid and hot. We stopped at Garfield Pond to have lunch and I had to drink the disgusting pond water because I didn't have a drop to get me up Garfield Mountain. Luckily, the climb was really short and we were up and down to the water source pretty quickly. The rest of the climb down Garfield was really steep, and partly a waterfall, so that took some time. And then eventually we got a view of Galehead Hut, where we were hoping to stop for a snack and it seemed so far way. The eyes play tricks on you in these mountains. We ran into the caretaker for Garfield (who actually called us his heros-hilarious!) and he said the hut wasn't too far. He was right, and we had some snacks and cooked dinner there. We ran into Prairie Dog and OG there, too. Then, the steep climb back up onto the ridge. I was a sweaty mess and it took us 45 minutes to do .8. Wow. We met 3 really cool southbounders who knew of us and we were all excited to meet. We made it about a half mile past Guyot campsite and pitched our tents and are about to fall sound asleep.
Date: 2009-08-17
From: Camping past Guyot

To: Crawford Notch Campground
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: fog

Today was our easiest day in the Whites so far. We made it down Mt. Guyot and to the Zealand Falls Hut in a couple of hours. The Falls looked incredible and I wished we had more time there to go swimming. But the person working at the hut gave us some sweet leftover stuffed shells and we inhaled them. The heat and humidity were pretty intense today, especially for the Whites! But after a little more rocky down after the hut, the trail became completely flat and we banged out 4 or 5 miles really quickly. It was such a relief. After a snack break at Ethan Pond we went down, down, down to the notch, where we got our fastest hitch yet and are staying at the Crawford Notch campground. The shower and clean laundry felt great. The Presidential range starts tomorrow. So exciting!
Date: 2009-08-18
From: Crawford Notch Campground

To: Mizpah Springs Hut
Miles today: 6.4

It was another hot day out here. We each had 2 egg and cheese sandwiches and doughnuts for breakfast which were surprisingly good. A really cool guy came and talked to us for awhile about our hike and then offered us a ride back to the trailhead. Sweet! We were hiking by 9, and the climb up to Webster cliffs was ridiculous. It was so hot, and it was so steep that I have never been so sweaty in my life. Seriously. It took us awhile to get up there, but it was incredible to see how far up we just climbed and the views! Amazing! The rest of the afternoon was spent walking this incredible ridge, sweating our asses off and becoming totally dehydrated. Man were we excited to see Mizpah Spring Hut! All the potable water you can drink. My lips were like crusty I was so thirsty. But with clear, blue skies on this ridge I can't even complain. I hope tomorrow is like today!Storm and I spent the evening in the library listening to the Croo entertain and serve dinner. Man I hope there are leftovers! A few chores around here tonight and then sleeping in this sweet hut. We are still excited and thrilled to be hiking the Whites.
Date: 2009-08-19
From: Mizpah Springs Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 11.8

Today we all agreed: this is why we love hiking. Storm and I left nice and early, missing breakfast at the hut but getting a head start on the day. We started around 7:30 and were in pretty dense fog. The forecast wasn't sounding good, so I kind of gave up hope for a good view from the Presidentials. And then like a half an hour later all the clouds lifted and there was nothing but blue sky. We had incredible views of the ridge the entire morning all the way over to Lakes of the Clouds hut. We were above treeline the entire time and could see for miles. It was so beautiful that I was pinching myself. It was pretty windy and I started to smell a little bit of fall in the air. So when we got to the hut, I had tea and cake and incredible views of the summit of Mt. Washington. We headed up to the summit after a nice long break and were surprised at how gradual and nice the climb was. It was very rocky, but not hard at all. When we made it to the summit the wind was blowing so hard that I was holding the sign to not fly over! It was crazy to be around so many people at the top but it was nice to send some postcards and eat some food from the snack bar. After awhile we headed down and continued to have some unbelievable views of the Presidential range. It was vast and seemed to go on forever. I took a million pictures trying to capture everything, but it was overwhelming and I doubt I was able to get pictures that did the scenery justice. After awhile the clouds rolled in and the sky became ominous. We heard thunder rumbling and were walking as fast as we could. Thankfully, we made it to Madison Hut and didn't get wet. There were probably 15 hikers there tonight but we were all able to eat and stay. It was the last night for the Croo for the season so one guy actually drank so much that he was puking in the kitchen sink and almost stepped on my neck and killed me. Wow. But it's great to be inside on this chilly night. The clouds cleared and I could see every star in the sky tonight. It's overwhelming how beautiful it is here.
Date: 2009-08-20
From: Madison Hut

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: fog

Another gorgeous day in the Whites! We stayed at the hut this morning for breakfast and were then on our way. We climbed Madison a few minutes later and stopped for a breathtaking view. The next 3 miles or so were down, down, down over big rocks and still above tree line. It was slow going, but with unbeatable scenery. After we got below the trees things went by quicker. We stopped at a beautiful creek to soak our feet and cool off and then pushed on to Pinkham Notch where a really cool couple drove us into Gorham (after picking up Brown Cow, too). We are going to zero tomorrow and then slackpack the last 21 miles of the Whites the next day. It feels great to be in a bed!