morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-02
From: South Paris

To: Zero Day (South Paris)
Miles today: 0.0

I know, I know. Another zero. I didn't want to but the forecast was rain. In fact the whole week ahead is forecasted as rain...again. But of course today was another weather poker bluff and I lost. The sun is kind of shining thru the haze.Hope to get more pics uploaded later today.So, in lieu of a trail report, here is another list. Spiritual Pillgrims Rules for Thru hiking1. Leave alarm clocks at home - let nature wake you up. There is no time schedule to keep on the trail and they're really annoying to other hikers trying to sleep in.2. Leave cell phones at home - Please, people, it's the rat race we're trying to escape, not bring with us to the trail. Besides, if you need a cell phone in the woods, you don't belong in the woods.3. On blue blazing - sure, go ahead and take those blue blazes. Some of them make sense and lead to good views like water falls. And if you didn't blue blaze, you'd never reach a shelter (all side trails to shelters are blue blazed)4. On yellow blazing - for me yellow blazing is OK to skip portions of the trail you already hiked. However, yellow blazing is absolutely forbidden in order to deliberately skip ahead.5. On slack packing - is slack packing OK? Since I'm in the middle of a 3 day slack pack, you bet'cha.6. On pack weight - go ahead and load her up. No sense in being miserable dreaming of something you wish you had brought along. Besides, the bugs, rain, crowded shelters, muddy trail, rocks and slippery tree roots will give you plenty of misery.7. On zero days - there is no reason not to take as many as you need. Why rush? The rat race will be there when you get home.8. On hair length - a recent poll on Whiteblaze reports that 41% of hikers keep buzz cuts, however I think the retro hippie-bum look is very chic.9. On personal hygiene - OK, so we all smell a little, or maybe a lot, but please bath when possible. No need to be a walking microbial germ pit.10. There are no rules!
Date: 2006-07-03
From: Rt 17 trailhead, ME

To: South Arm Rd, Andover ME
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: clear sky

Another nice easy slack pack however my knees got pretty stiff on my zero day yesterday. That made for a painful day today hiking on only 1 aleve this morning. Had some really good views from Bemis Ridge. The toughest part all day was the last climb down Old Blue to South Arm Rd.Passed 2 NOBO hikers, 1 with a pack, 1 slacker. Caught a SOBO hiker, Chunky, and walked with him a while. He was headed to the bushes last time I saw him due to an upset stomach he said he had been dealing with for a day or 2.Posted some new pics today.Only 233.1 miles left.
Date: 2006-07-04
From: Rt 4 Trailhead, (Rangeley, ME)

To: Rt 17 Trailhead (Oquossoc ME)
Miles today: 13.1

I won at weather poker today! Seems it rained in lots of places except on me. There was a magnificent view of Saddleback Range seen from Rt 4 driving to the trail head. You can see why it is called Saddleback Mountain. It was an easy section taking only 6 hrs. I didn't see any other thru hikers. The only hikers I saw was a group of kids heading north, probably from a summer camp.There were a lot of boreal bogs. Some had bog bridges, some didn't. I stuck my pole into one bog when I lost blance on a log. It swallowed about 1/3 of my pole. Glad it wasn't my leg.My new boots are already blowing a seam on the outside of the right foot. Guess that means a visit to REI when I get home. They only have about 222 miles on them. My old pair lasted much longer.Here is a little redneck hiker lingo I saw in a shelter register, reminiscent of Jeff Foxworthy. Giardia, that little parasite you get from bad water that causes havoc to the digestive system, can be used like this: "Giardia get the fire going?"Laurie Potteiger, the nice lady who runs the ATC visitor center in Harpers Ferry, WV helped me determine how I will report my thru hike. Since I blue blazed and yellow blazed around trail I already section hiked on previous visits to the AT, I will request my 2,000 miler certificate as a section hiker. Remember, 2,000 miler section hikers hike all of the trail in more than a 12 month period. 2,000 miler thru hikers hike all of the trail in 12 months or less. This means that I did not technically complete a thru hike.The ATC tracks thru hikes completed but I beleive they do not issue separate 2,000 miler certificates.Laurie mentioned the term "thru hike experience". This I will shorten to form an acronym, T.H.E. From now on I will sign trail registers as T.H.E. GAME '06. This relieves me of the ethical dilemma of claiming to be a thru hiker when in fact I am not. By the time I reach Katahdin, I will have "section hiked" almost 2,000 continuous miles but at the same time have experienced a thru hike.
Date: 2006-07-05
From: Rt 4 trailhead (Rangeley, ME)

To: Spaulding Mtn lean-to
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

On to the final approach. If time allows I want to try to make it to Spaulding Mtn lean but that is almost 19 miles. Don't know how much my pack weighs but with 5 days food, it's a whole lot heavier than that teeny weeny day I had the last few days. Stay tuned....Started hiking about 9:30 a.m. and arrived at the shelter about 9 p.m. I took 3 short breaks and a linger dinner break at Poplar Ridge lean-to. I met Mordecai there, a SOBO. The weather was really good today. Not too hot, low humidity, breezy. At 9 p.m. the temp was 55. Good for sleeping.Climbing Saddleback wasn't too hard. It was mostly a gradual kind of climb, but got a little steeper above tree line. The descents down the Horn and Saddleback Jr were pretty steep. Reminded of the Whites. I almost got wet crossing Orbeton stream. One rock was submerged under a rapid and I slipped hopping over that onto the next bigger rock. Both boots ended up in the water, but only for a second. It was pretty easy going to the shelter from there except the last part climbing Lone Mtn. Between Lone Mtn and the shelter I saw 2 moose, a male and a female. They were right on the trail. Cool!!!! It was after 8 p.m. The last one I saw it was early in the morning. Seems that is the best time to see them.I met Gold Bond, who is also a SOBO thru hiker, I think. She had a black lab with her named Scout. His tail was louder than his bite. Saw 3 others hikers SOBO. At the shelter there were 4 hikers in the shelter and a few folks camping too.
Date: 2006-07-06
From: Spaulding Mtn lean-to

To: Stratton Motel/Hostel
Miles today: 5.2

Another unplanned stop at the Stratton Motel which also doubles as a hostel. After talking to 2 of the hikers at the shelter (can't remember their names, Paul and Christine, maybe) I left about 7:15. I saw several people climbing up toward Sugarloaf from Caribou Valley Rd. One was a man and woman who were working on peak bagging the 4,000 footers in Maine.Not sure when I decided to come into Stratton. I saw in the trail registers and at White Balze that several hikers stayed here and it was highly recommended. Once that thought of a town stop popped in my head, it wouldn't go away. It is owned by Don who also owns a few other motels around these parts.So I skipped Crocker Range, which I hiked last year on our RV tour. This will be the last section I will skip. I don't have any maps to look for blue blazes, (except for one I know about to get into Monson). The only other piece of trail I hiked north of here is Katahdin, and I can't skip that! I walked Caribou Valley Rd 4 1/2 miles to Rt 27 and then a few miles on 27 before getting a ride. I did ask that trail angel his name and told him I would probably forget, which I did. Seems like the closer I get to Katahdin, the more brain dead I get.I met a lot of SOBO's here: Heavy Foot, Ketch-up, Tin Man, Grandpa Dude and Worm. There are a few others I still haven't met. I ended up getting the last bunk available.Tommorow, Don is going to slack my pack up ahead on the trail about 16 miles since he is going out that way to pick up a hiker. That will mean camping for me tomorrow or maybe pushing out another 7 miles to a shelter if the weather is bad. I will be able to slack the last big range (Bigelow) and peaks until Katahdin. This will also keep me on track to summit July 19th.Next trail update will be in 2-3 days in Caratunk, which I plan to pass thru after getting my bounce box, or Monson, where my last regular mail drop is going. I may take a zero day in Monson.
Date: 2006-07-07
From: Stratton Motel/Hostel

To: West Carry Pond lean-to
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: broken clouds

Don slacked me and Chestnut over the last major mountain range with peaks over 4,000 feet. We slacked with water only over the Avery-Bigelow ridgeline about 16.7 miles and picked up our packs off of Flagstaff Rd. Finally had three days in a row with no rain. The views from the top of the ridgeline were pretty good, but we weren't quite sure of the direction of Mt Katahdin so we didn't know if we could see it in the hazy distance. Saw a lot of people SOBO on the trail and met a caretaker at Horns Pond. After crossing Flagstaff Rd. the going was pretty easy to West Carry Pond and we made the days hike in about 10 hours. We plan to get up at 3:30 a.m. in order to get the ferry across the Kennebec River between 9 and 11 a.m.
Date: 2006-07-08
From: West Carry Pond lean-to

To: Bald Mountain Brook lean-to
Miles today: 28.7

A long day today. Chestnut and I started walking at 4:00 a.m. but he quickly outpaced me. Must be nice to have long legs. It was light enough by 4:45 that I didn't need my headlamp. I got to the river and was ferried across by Craig who was working harder to get a number of hikers from the east side of the river to the west side.I got a ride almost immediately when I got to the hardball road down to Rivers and Trails Hostel run by Steve the Ferryman. Chestnut was sitting on the stoop of the store eating a Ben and Jerry's. Steve is the one responsible for running the ferry service. The ferry was started around 19885 when a hiker drowned tryint to ford the river. Steve and his wife treated us really good while we were there. I downed a Ben and Jerry's of my own along with a small microwave pizza and a coffee. I picked up my bounce box, took 2 days worth of food to reach Monson and left the rest behind.From there we took the blue blaze from the store back to the trail. Chestnut quickly outpaced me again. Had to cross Pleasant Mountain which turned out to be not so Pleasant. It took almost 4 hours to cross. There were many false hilltops on the north side which meant lots of ups and downs and also several blowdowns. Then at the bottom there was an unexpected ford across a stream flowing into Moxie pond. I managed to rock hop even hough the rocks I was hopping were under water.
Date: 2006-07-09
From: Bald Mountain Brook lean-to

To: Shaw's Boarding House, Monson ME
Miles today: 19.0

For the third day in row, I walked with Chestnut. Going over Moxie Bald was pretty easy. We met a SOBO and his dog, Degobah and rat Dog near the summit. We stopped at the lean-to on the north side of the mountain for a break. Luck was on our side. There was a moose there having breakfast at the edge of the pond. I was able to get some good pictures of it.There were 3 fords today and some muddy bogs. I ended up walking about 15 miles with wet boots and sox. The 1st ford was unexpected and not listed in the companion as a ford but as Bald Mountain pond. The ford was caused by the water outlet running out of the pond. The second two fords were about knee deep. The west branch of the Piscataquis River cut its way through Horseshoe canyon. It was pretty impressive and attracted my attention away from the trail to see the thundering white water. It was a fairly easy walk and we made it to Shaw's by 4:30. At Shaw's I met Red Ranger. He started 4 days after I did back in February and passed me early on in the trip but not sure where. I was at Kincora hostel when Bob Peoples told me he had already come through. Ron (aka Chronic) was also at Shaw's along with a number of section hikers and SOBO's. Two of them were El Duderino and Brits, who is from England. Didn't really get around to meet everybody else.Made a major faux pas. There is no ATM in podunk Monson and I arrived with about $7 in cash. Fortunately, the Mobil Mart did cash back purchases and I got yet another pizza there for dinner and money to pay for my room. Everything else in town was closed since it was Sunday. But of course, this was Monson. Everything else wasn't much.
Date: 2006-07-10
From: Shaw's Boarding House, Monson ME

To: Cloud Pond lean-to
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Milestone: Less than 100 milesShaw's was everything a hiker would want for a great hostel. It's former owner, Keith Shaw, passed away and the property was sold earlier this year. But the new owners, one of which is Dawn, bought it and kept it running as one of the "gotta stop" places along the trail. The whole staff was extrememly hiker friendly. Dana, Dawn's Daughter (lots of D's there) was the first to greet me yesterday and gave me enough good information, including a pleasnt welcome, that I decided to stay there even though I had a maildrop at another place in town.Buddy, the cook, was sold along with the house, and prepared the best brekfast I had on the journey. He dropped me, Ron and Chestnut off at 8:40 a.m. and gave us good info on the fords coming up. The hardest one, Big Wilson, was coming up. Chestnut and Ron blasted off into the 100 mile wilderness on Chestnut's 5-day plan to summit. I plugged along at my usual pace. I soon caught 2 of the guest's who had been at Shaw's and they wanted to know what I had for breakfast! Lots of coffee was the reply.I nearly rock hopped Little Wilson stream but stepped on a slick unsteady piece of shale and did a banana flip. I landed in about 8 inches of water on my butt with my feet in the air. I thought that I must have looked pretty comical but for a second or two I didn't feel very comical. I made it the rest of the way across and didn't get my boots too wet.There was no rock hoppin Big Wilson however. Red Ranger was on the far bank drying his feet. I just plowed across and steadied myself with my poles. The water was waist deep with a swift current. A SOBO female was a bit tentative about the crossing and was starting out as I reached the far side. The last ford, Long Pond stream, wasn't rock hoppable either, but it wasn't quite as deep or as wide. There were shelters within a mile past both the fords so I stopped at each one to ring out my sox.The biggest climb of the day was Barren mountain at 2,660'. It was a small challenge but nothing is stopping me now. Cloud Pond lean-to is just past the summit but it was about a 1/2 mile off the trail. Not my favorite location. Since I had to drink pond water and was sure to purify it, I noticed I was getting low on Aqua Mira. Hope I have enough to get to Katahdin. Might risk it some and drink straight out of the streams.This morning at Shaw's it seemed like it was going to be a hot day. It was 82 late yestrday afternoon in Monson. It ended up being cloudy so that helped it to be cool. There was thunder most of the day. I got caught in a little bit of rain but nothing bad. It's 64 now but feels cooler. Red Ranger made it into the shelter a little while after I got there.
Date: 2006-07-11
From: Cloud Pond lean-to

To: Logan Brook lean-to
Miles today: 24.4
Weather: scattered clouds

I left Cloud Pond at 6:15. The 1st hard climb was a surprise. It was called Fourth Mountain. It was at a lower elevation than Cloud Pond but there was a big loss of elevation before reaching it.I met Joe, a MATC ridge runner at Chairback Gap lean-to. He was picking up trash left by the knuckleheads who think it's OK to pollute the wilderness. Thanks, Joe! At the register there I saw that Chestnut and Ron were going to do about 29 miles today so I don't think I will see them again.Going down Chairback was kind of treacherous, straight down a rock slide. Fortunately, it was a very long stretch. After that it was a nice descent to Katahdin Ironworks Rd and the Pleasant River West Branch. This ford was wide but fairly shallow and I crossed in bare feet. There weere lots of people in the Gulf Hagas area. Had hiked in there about 6 or 7 years ago with Linda and her girlfriend Lorraine after our 1st trip to Baxter State park.Stopped at Carl Newhall lean-to for a dinner break. I wanted to get over Whitecap, the last big peak at 3,650 before the Big K, and sleep at Logan Brook. That was a good plan because at 4 p.m., Carl Newhall was already crowded witha capital C. I met a few SOBO's there including Rowmin Goat and Marta, from Charlotte NC. Turns out that Marta is a member of PATH and I met her in 2004 when I did some trail work on the Konnarock Crew. Seems that the trail community is a pretty small world too. As I continued north I met 2 more SOBO's within a mile of the shelter that planned on staying there too. Hope they had tents.It got darker and darker by the time I got to the top of Whitecap. The summit was fogged in so I still have not had a good view of my final destination. It was thundering and I expected to get rained on any second but my luck held out and the rain seemed to blow over.I was the only hiker at Logan Brook but there was a MATC trail crew there. I noticed that there had been some fresh stone work on the trail descending from the summit. Maine has the best stone work I've seen along the whole trail.I wore a new pair of sox today but they didn't work out as well as the worn, stinky, crusty things that have survived since Springer. The result was a small blister on the trouble spot I've had on the same "ring" toe of my left foot. I also had some major chafe going on my back side from sweating so bad today.I saw an entry in the shelter register from Mrs Gorp on July 4th. Team Australia was here only 3 days ago. A little more comfy with the temp tonight, about 61.
Date: 2006-07-12
From: Logan Brook lean-to

To: Potaywadjo Spring lean-to
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: light rain

Another good, long day. Only 48.3 miles to go!Pretty easy terrain and the trail has dried up (mostly). I managed to average better than 2 mph. I also was able to rock hop the last ford between me and the Big K so my boots stayed pretty dry and my feet are in good shape.It was a warm humid morning so I stopped on an open rock face on Nesuntanbunt Mtn and tried to dry out a little in the sun. Late in the day it got darker again and about an hour after I got to the lean-to it rained...hard. Sounded like a snare drum pounding on the tin roof. I met 2 SOBO section hikers, Viking and Ski Pole. Viking thru hiked in '01 and he provided a little trail magic in offering me the rest of his red beans and rice. There were also 2 other SOBO thru hikers whose names I didn't get.Potaywadjo Spring as pretty cool. It was about 15 feet across and there was a bog bridge leading to the middle of it. There was also sand in the spring bottom and you could see it getting displaced by the water coming up out of the ground. The water was crystal clear, cold and tasted great.Earlier in the day I passed Cooper Brook Falls lean-to. It had a powerful series of cascades before reaching a really good pool. I didn't go for a swim however. I wanted to keep pushing on. I'm thinking I can summit on Friday if I do a bigger day tomorrow. I had other opportunities for a swim where the trail crossed over some sandy beaches on the shore of Jo-Mary Lake but I was in too big of a hurry to even take many pictures.In one of the registers I saw that Bogie and Bacall had passed thru about 10 days ago. Those were the folks I met way back near McAfee Knob in Virginia. They're finishing up there 9 year section hike and I think Bogie told me that this will complete the trail for them.
Date: 2006-07-13
From: Potaywadjo Spring lean-to

To: Hurd Brook lean-to
Miles today: 29.7
Weather: light rain

Almost did a whopping 30 mile day. Only 18.6 to go. I know I can summit tomorrow. After today, I have been considering changing my name to Delirious Man Walking.Really nothing new to report. Todays mileage was a lot like yesterday. I passed over another beach that had a good cold spring to drink from. Rainbow Spring was also coming up near a lke shore and it was occasionally bubbling. Wish I could have made time for a swim. I walked several miles along strerams and lakes today but I've got finish fever and just want to git-r-done. I had considered going all the way to Abol Bridge campground but that was about another 3 1/2 miles from here and I only had about 45 minutes of daylight left.Met Mandingo and a few other SOBO's at Hurd Brook. Mandingo is doing a flip flop. He was NOBO but got injured around the James River area in VA so took 3 weeks off. Now he is back on.Yesterday morning and this morning were kind of emotional for me. I know I am so close to the end. I kept replaying the Amazing Grace video I saw of Bill Irwin, the blind hiker, completeing his journey. And seeing Orient guide him along makes me miss my 2 furry kids at home.
Date: 2006-07-14
From: Hurd Brook lean-to

To: KATAHDIN SUMMIT
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

I DID IT! IT'S FINALLY OVER!I left Hurd Brook at 4:30 a.m. Got to Abol Bridge a little before 6 and made breakfast. I continued on and took my last blue blaze, Blueberry Ledges Trail, from the Baxter State Park to Katahdin Stream CG. Picked up a day pack at the ranger station and started up the Hunt Trail just before 9. The climb to Baxter peak was an adrenaline rush. I gained almost 4,200' over 5.2 miles of trail. The 1st mile to Katahdin Stream falls was pretty easy. Then it started climbing hard. By the time I broke out above tree line it was pretty much straight up. My hiking poles were more of a hindrance than a help up to the Tableland since I had to use my hands to climb up and over rocks and boulders. Some places were pretty nerve racking and I wanted to hug the mountain. I thought to myself "Self, I can't believe they let people do this". It was a Weather wise, it was a Class 2 day meaning hiking above tree line was not recommended.I could see Baxter Peak after reaching the Tableland and passing what is known as the Gateway. Between Thoreau Spring I met Ron, Chestnut and Mark (Chestnuts Dad) on the way down. Chestnut was still smoking his cigar! When I got to the Holy Grail, the sign proclaiming the northern terminus, I leaned my had on the wooden structure for a few seconds and cradled it saying out loud "I did it! I dd it!". There were to many day hikers around to completely break down and start bawling.I changed into my Hard Time Hollow T-shirt and had my pic taken with a small American flag (this will be a small gift and token of appreciation for Rusty Nesbitt back in the Hollow in Virginia). I crammed a granola bar down my gullet and headed back down.Just before reaching the Gateway I caught up to Ron, Chestnut and Mark again. Ron and I continued down ahead of Ron and Mark. Ron was hopping down the boulders like a mountain goat. Figured if I did that my knees would give out and I would do a nose plant on the rock, or worse. A short storm rolled in and it spit rain a hail for about 5 minutes. With high wind, the precip really stung when it hit me.Back at Katahdin Stream campground I went to the ranger station to get my pack and then I was issued my permit. Didn't seem to be any rangers present in the morning so I signed the register and headed out. But that didn't mean I was going to hike up again. The ranger recorded me as the 17th thru hiker to finish this year.Met Chestnuts mom Pat. Ron shared 1/2 of his subway sandwich with me that she had brought for the rest of the crew. Chestnut and his dad were down around 5:30. We dropped Mark off the Big Moose Inn (same place we stayed on the 1st trip to BSP several years ago) and Pat drove me and Ron to Millinocket. We shared a room at the AT Lodge. This is a fine establishment run by Don and Joan Cogswell. It was a great place to end the hike and the Cogswell's have stupendous hospitality. Earl Shaffer even stayed here.Ron went to do laundry and I went in search of food. Got a good dinner at the Skootic In. And now, bedtime! Sweet Dreams!