morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-06-17
From: Stealth Site

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 10.0

I woke up this morning and just started crying. I cry every day now. I miss the cats. That sounds really stupid, but it is true. Also, I don¢t want to move. My feet and knees hurt just from moving. A book at Shaw¢s scared me very badly about The Whites. I want to go home.I sucked it up ¢ after crying for an hour and a half, and I remembered that if you smile it will put you in a better mood. SO, I just plastered a fake smile on and hiked. It worked. There were no major uphills today except for Moxie Bald. We started that right after lunch and my back belt was bothering me. After about a mile, we stopped to let food digest better... for about 20 minutes. Then up to the summit! It was neat, at I felt pretty good about it. Tonight I over boiled my couscous. It still tasted okay, though. Also, I let the freeze dried beans soak longer than the recommended time ¢ they were much better than last time.We met Conquered from Concord, NH today. He is a section hiker and very nice. I wish more hikers were like him. He told us about a hiker that died a couple days ago when he was swimming at Pierce Pond. They think hypothermia overtook him. It is a very sad tale. He was in his 20s and only about 150 miles away from Katahdin. Also, today, at this shelter, a man approached us asking if we had seen a girl around nine years old. Apparently she went for a walk today (or yesterday?) and never returned home. It has been an evening of sad tales.
Date: 2012-06-18
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to

To: Holly Brook
Miles today: 11.0

Brrrr! Cold morning! Didn¢t sleep well at all for some reason. Perhaps the mosquitoes. Don¢t want to take off my long johns or my fleece. Alas. We¢re going to try to hike a 12 today. We¢ll see how that goes.*        *        *        *        *        *We hike about 11 miles today. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less. Not sure at all, actually. We are stealth camping for the first time for real. Before when we ¢stealth camped¢ there was an actual campsite. This is a very lumpy spot so hopefully we¢ll sleep. At least mosquitoes won¢t be buzzing in my ear all night ¢ bloodsuckas! There is one buzzing outside of the tent right now and I feel like saying to it, ¢In your face!¢Today we hiked up Pleasant Pond Mountain. It was an okay hike with awesome views. We at lunch at the ¢almost summit¢ which had better views than the actual summit. I tried to text my dad to wish him a happy father¢s day, but the phone was all wonky. Hopefully it went through.We hiked the last couple of miles today with Julia. We are stealthing together because we have to catch the Kennebec ferry tomorrow. It only runs from 9AM ¢ 11AM at this time of year. We also have to get our mail drop in Caratunk. Hopefully we¢ll get it in time! If not we have to wait a whole day. Blah!We saw part of a moose leg on the trail this evening! It was both cool and gross. I poked at it with my hiking pole and a bug scurried away. Eww!Oh, we also went swimming in Pleasant Pond. It was a huge pond ¢ more like an ocean with the waves coming in. It wasn¢t very deep either, but it was refreshing. We then had dinner at the Pleasant Pond Lean-to and hiked on to where we are now. Maybe next to Holly Brook. We don¢t have a map, so I can¢t say.It is nearly 8PM so I should go to sleep. We have 4 or 5 miles to hike before 11 tomorrow. Probably should before 10. At least I smell better after swimming in the pond. Yay for rinsing off!One last thing ¢ I saw a lone iris today just before a stream crossing and I thought of Grandpa. He is with us.
Date: 2012-06-19
From: Holly Brook

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: scattered clouds

What a long day it has been! I slept very poorly last night due to the giant lump in my back from the stealth site location.We got up at 6:00 and were hiking by 6:45. We had to get our mail drop in Caratunk and catch the Kennebec Ferry which only runs from 9-11 at this time of year. We got our mail drop with no problems. The woman there was very nice. She even let us get water from her house which was directly across the street from the post office. Main St. in Caratunk is slightly depressing. Several houses are rundown and for sale. One gorgeous house was $58,000! Man, if only I wanted to live in Caratunk - maybe after this trip I will.We parted from Julia at the road because she didn't have a mail drop and needed food. She didn't expect that there wouldn't be any place to purchase food in Caratunk. Charlotte also didn't know and she'd gotten a hitch by the time we reached the road again. We got the ferry without a hitch. It was 9:05 when we got there. The hike to Pierce Pond was not too bad, but I was ready to stop for lunch when we got there. Conveniently, it was noon. Lorax was there with Eric and Eden. Julia came soon after. I guess she got a bunch of food from vending machines.Steven and I then walked almost 9 miles over flat trails to East Carry Pond which was our planned destination for the day. It was only 4:00 or so, so we decided to hike another 1.5 to the next pond over. Unfortunately, that was on a road! So, we set out looking for a stealth site, but it was either too buggy or too boggy. We ended up at West Carry Pond Lean-to, about 17 miles from where we were this morning. WOW! We didn't get here until 7:00 PM.It is now after 9:00 and I am dog tired and my feet are aching. The next couple of days of hiking sound like they're going to be brutal. Two mountains over 4,000 feet in elevation.So glad we pitched the tent tonight. The bug chorus outside the walls is ridiculous. Darn mosquitoes! Stupid me for forgetting to wish Andrea and Aaron a happy anniversary yesterday.
Date: 2012-06-20
From: West Carry Pond Lean-to

To: Little Bigelow Shelter
Miles today: 7.7

OUCH!! Everything hurts. Well, not everything... but my feet and shoulders and hands. No 17 mile days for a while again.Steven is hopping into the pond right now. It is very windy out here, though. These ponds are more like lakes. They all seem to be very windy with a lot of waves. There are even small whitecaps on this one. I was considering getting in the water to wash up, but the goosebumps on Steven make me not want to bother.*   *   *   *   *   *   *We didn't leave our camp today until 11 AM! The latest we've left yet. Neither of us felt like hiking, so we took an easy day of 7.7 miles to Little Bigelow Shelter. On the way we met up with Matt and Sharon (!!) who were trying to hitch a ride. Matt's ankle is injured. Eric and Eden saw them and Eric carried Matt's pack on top of his own for about a miles. Thus, Eric is now "Sherpa."Not too far after that we came upon Flagstaff Lake where we swam a little bit and had lunch. Also, for the second time today we met Scrabble (a dog), Fancy Free, and Cruzin'. Scrabble is very small and cute. We only had three more miles after that where we stopped at Little Bigelow Lean-to. There are two NOBOs here, Buckets and Utah. They said they saw Julia earlier today lying face down on the trail saying it was too hot to hike. Poor girl. She is hiking longer days so she can meet up with her mom.Eric and Eden went on to Safford Notch Campsite, presumably where Julia is staying. Charlotte (Booterman/Booterface) is here along with Fancy Free, Cruzin', and Scrabble. Steven... The Count and I are drinking bed-time tea and will read some of our sci-fi book before going to sleep. We decided to pitch our tent to give people in the shelter more room.There are so many things we don't know yet. Like, will our tent flood if it rains? Also, we're observing the green food bag as it slowly crumbles over. Will it touch the ground? Will it fall over? How long will it take if it does? Five, ten minutes? Never? have we been on the trail too long already?My legs are slowly getting more muscular and my armpit (left) is getting more muskular. Only the one armpit smells really bad. The right one smells, but it is far less offensive. We've been eating a lot of calories and I don't look ANY skinnier. After dinner tonight, I ate a chocolate bar Steven had been carrying. Hooray for chocolate and carrying less weight! Tomorrow is when we start hiking the big mountains, I guess. We will hit our first peak over 4,000 feet since Katahdin. Our campsite is a 1,760 ft, then we go up to 3,010 ft, down to 2,230 ft, and up to 4,090 ft then down again... and depending on how we feel and the time of day back up to 4,145 ft. Ca-razy. My feet hurt... first day with no ibuprofen for me. Woo!
Date: 2012-06-21
From: Little Bigelow Shelter

To: Avery Memorial Campsite/Bigelow Col
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

I woke up around 6:00 and could definitely have slept another five hours. My body is TIRED. I'm so looking forward to our zero day in Stratton.Today I invented tea-odorant. If you steep tea in the morning, use the bag as deodorant. Then you will smell like tea and not BO. I don't know for how long, though. We'll find out...*   *   *   *   *   *   *Not long if it is a hot day and you sweat profusely. Alas, tea-odorant may not be the solution. However I think I smell better than I did yesterday. Who knows? Maybe it does work!Today we hiked up Little Bigelow Mountain. We met Cruzin' at the top and Scrabble and Fancy joined us shortly thereafter. They were celebrating because a woman who was effectively their boss (but a very bad one) decided to resign. Steven pointed out where we were hiking to and I said, "We're hiking THERE???" I was not excited. I was feeling very discouraged because he thought it would take us 4 hours to go 2 miles. It only took 2.5. I showed him. I'm very unhappy about his opinion of my hiking speed. We probably should have gone on to Horns Lean-to, but I was so tired I didn't know if I'd make another 3 miles. Plus, we'd not have gotten there until about 8 or 8:30. I know it is the longest day of the year, but my body doesn't give a crap.We have set up camp at Avery Memorial Campsite/Bigelow Col. I feel pretty bad about it. I know Steven would be much farther than we are right now if I wasn't so slow, but I just can't seem to get my energy going right. I keep thinking that if I were a stronger hiker I'd feel better, we'd be farther, I wouldn't be holding Steven back.We have a 30% chance of thunderstorms tonight and then in the following days it will be crummy weather - but maybe it will be okay. I hope so. Steven wants to go see the sunset. I'm so tired I don't want to hike up to the next peak, but I don't want to miss it either. Ugh...
Date: 2012-06-22
From: Avery Memorial Campsite/Bigelow Col

To: Stratton, ME
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

Last night Steven and I went up to West Peak in the Bigelow range for the sunset. It was cloudy, but still beautiful.Today we hiked 8ish miles up to West Peak and then The South Horn, Horns Pond, and into Stratton, ME. We now sit in the Stratton Hostel & Motel watching The Watchmen.We ate a pizza and Ben & Jerry's Phish Food, some Doritos, and gummy peach rings. Oh, also LOTS of orange soda.ZERO DAY TOMORROW!!! Hopefully I can sleep without my legs feeling weird.Eric and Eden are here. They are waiting for Booterman to come along, I think. There was another hiker whose name I forgot here too. He is a middle aged guy and is drinking and talking a lot. A lot.
Date: 2012-06-23
From: Stratton, ME

To: Stratton, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Zero day today. Things I forgot to write yesterday (apparently I'm tired... or brain dead): We saw a beaver. We started our comedy sketch of "you might be a hiker if..." based on the Jeff Foxworthy "you might be a redneck if..." routine. I'm sure it has been done before, but it is still funny to us. We also ran out of water for the first time. Yikes! It wasn't for long, though.Today, we went to the diner for breakfast and then went for a walk. We saw a moose cross the road in front of us! So cool! We "ran" down the road to get a better view of the moose, but it was gone. Too bad because I missed an opportunity to pet a cat along the side of the road. After our walk we went back to the motel room and watched some house renovation show that Steven didn't really care for and then went for another stroll. I guess we like walking! We passed a co-op and looked around in there for a bit, and then went to the gas station to see what they had in there... where we saw Booterman!! She talked to us for about an hour about how she is scared of snakes and loves coffee and how she got angry while hiking false summits in the Bigelows so she started beating the landscape with her ridiculously long ski pole. She also told us a little bit about The Dirty Southbounders. We haven't met them yet.After that we walked down a street and passed the elementary school. We played on the see-saw and Steven climbed the climbing wall. We did chin ups in the fake truck jungle gym. It was fun. We went back to the motel and watched Mystery Men. Oh, at some point we went grocery shopping for our resupply.Dinner at the White Wolf was good. We had quail and burgers and bread with maple butter and wine. A welcome treat after trail food. Dodgeball was on tv when we got back and we watched that. Now Steven is watching Wild Wild West which I've never seen. It is kind of neat. It is late, though, so I'm going to sleep. zzzzzzzzz
Date: 2012-06-24
From: Stratton, ME

To: South Branch, Carrabasset River
Miles today: 8.0

Today we got up around 7:20 and planned to get a few groceries before we went on our way. Unfortunately, the grocery store didn't open until 9:00. We went to the general store to see if they had donuts... but I didn't want them. SO, we went to the gas station instead and I was glad. I got a bagel with sausage and egg and cheese. YAY! I also got 2 no bake cookies. We walked with Booterman who was limping. Poor Charlotte. Steven took a shower while I went to the store to buy apples, Swedish fish, and a notebook for him to write in. Steven doesn't know about the fish yet. It is a surprise.We only walked about 8 miles today, but we walked over Crocker Mountain: two peaks both over 4,000 ft. On the first peak Starfish (Eden) and I had a "Ryan Massimino Moment". We discovered that she is friends with my brother!!! They worked together in Philmont. Sweet! She called him right on the spot and we left him a joint voicemail message. We are now at the south branch of the Carrabasset River camping with Sherpa, Starfish, Booterman, and Julia. I think tomorrow we're going to try a 13 mile day. We are about 9% done with the trail.
Date: 2012-06-25
From: South Branch, Carrabasset River

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

We woke up to rain beating down on our tent. BOO! We got up and tried to get/keep stuff as dry as possible. Then we went off for the day. Poor Steven... Count... had to carry the wet tent. We had to ford the Carrabassett first thing, which wasn't actually a ford. We got to rock hop and someone put a board across the last bit, so that was good. Then we started hiking up. Soon it became open and windy. We could see scree slides down the side of the mountain. It looked pretty awesome, but it was cold! The wind whipped around cooling the rain and sweat on our bodies. Brr!After two long miles we came to the trail to Sugarloaf Mountain. It was a half mile to the summit. I walked on by. I didn't feel like adding an extra mile to our day. Maybe some other time. Then we went up and over Spaulding Mountain which I don't remember much at all. It sopped raining for a little bit and that was nice. We stopped for lunch at Spaulding Mountain Lean-to and ate our lunch with Booterman and Julia. About a half hour later, Sherpa and Starfish showed up. We still has 8 miles to hike and it was still raining on and off. At our 1 mph pace I was feeling a bit discouraged. I said to our friends, "We'll see you guys at 9:30." This caused a general groan from the shelter. Steven and I were off! For the first 2 miles we hiked at a 2.4 mph pace. Julia caught up with us, and then we slowed down for the descent from Lone Mountain. There were the awful kind of bog bridges that don't have any traction lines cut into them. I slipped off at least four times because they were so slick from the rain. I ended up just walking next to the ones that I could and waddling like a penguin. Before our final uphill of the day we had to ford Orbeton Stream. The climb down to the stream took quite a while and was a little scary. It was a steep descent down rocks. At the ford I basically gave up trying to keep my feet dry (because they were soaked anyway) and I went through with my shoes on. They didn't get much more wet than they already were.We had 1,500 feet to climb up to Poplar Ridge. Apparently I have no concept of what footage a climb is. It was the most interminable climb yet. Probably because it was over my least favorite terrain - wet rock. We finally made it to Poplar Ridge (which isn't in the data book). There was no view because of the rain and fog. We SWEAR there was a shelter just after the peak, but never saw a trail going to it. I know there was a roof there. I saw it. We put our packs down and went searching for the side trail. I went one way and Steven went the other. He found the shelter, but not the mysterious one we saw.At the shelter we found Julia, Merry, and Pippin. Merry and Pippin are from Amherst!! What a small world. Merry works at Whole Foods and knows my neighbors because they work there too. How crazy. They also know two of our other friends from school. So crazy!We had Ramen Noodles with peas for dinner. I didn't get sick from eating the pasta YAY! We went to bed soon after. Booterman, Starfish, and Sherpa never showed up.
Date: 2012-06-26
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

This morning we woke up and it was still raining. Ugh! And then it rained harder. It is now 10:15 and I'm still in my long johns and cocoon. We're not exactly feeling motivated to get moving to the next shelter. It is 9 miles and over 3 mountains.*   *   *   *   *   *An hour later... I'm in my sleeping bag trying to get my clothes dry. It isn't working too well. The rain has not ceased since... I don't know when. We've eaten PopTarts and Swedish Fish. Count and Glo-bug (Julia) are playing a seemingly endless game of war.Everything is wet. I just walked to the privy and the trail is so drenched that the water came up over my ankles!! My feet are now trying to get warm again in my fleece socks and sleeping bag.Part of me is glad we're not hiking, but the other part wants to keep moving. I think if it wasn't so darn cold I wouldn't mind hiking in the rain. Softwalker and his sister, Laurel, passed through today. They hiked from the previous shelter and are moving on to the next one. They seem very nice. Tomorrow we will hike rain or shine. Being wet is miserable, though.Glo-bug taught us the "ancient Canadian one-square wiping method for conserving toilet paper" today. You take one square of toilet paper and fold it into quarters. Then rip a tiny piece out of the corner that becomes the middle when you open it up again. You save the tiny piece - she said it is the most important part. She placed it gingerly onto her sleeping pad for safe keeping. Then she opened the square and stuck her finger through the hole and said, "You wipe with your finger," as she wiggled it, "and then you..." and she wrapped the surrounding square around her finger pretending to wipe the poop off! HA! Then she picked up the teeny piece, the most important part, and said, "And this is to clean under your fingernail." AAAAHHHHhahahahahahaha! I laughed pretty hard. Besides that, the highlight of the day was when I threw a cheerio out for a bird. He got it and flew away.
Date: 2012-06-28
From: Rangely, ME

To: South Pond
Miles today: 2.1

Today didn¢t go exactly as planned, but it turned out just fine. The Count and I ate breakfast at the BMC Diner. I had eggs with homemade white toast and hash. I gave Count my homefries. I¢m not sure whether to call Steven ¢The Count¢ or just ¢Count.¢ We¢re not sure about this trail name. I have a hard time calling him by it too. We cleaned up and checked out of Town & Lake and went promptly to the post office to mail the tent poles and sleeping pad to the Amherst girls. Then we went to the outfitter, Ecopelagicon ¢¦ or something like that. I got waterproof gloves, two mini bungee cords in case mine break, two postcards, and a birthday card for Andrea. I filled out one postcard to Grandma, the other to work, and Andrea¢s card. I also signed the hiker book inside the store. Then we went to the library until Carole would arrive. We got our pack that were stored at the motel and got a text from Carol saying that she may not arrive until 4:00. We ate lunch on a public green and then mailed our postcards and got ice cream. YUM!Carol arrived just about at 4:20 and we saw her almost immediately. Her friend Elisa took us to the grocery store where we got bagles and Mio. Then to the trail head where we saw Sherpa, Starfish, and Booterman. They didn¢t want to hike yet, so Elisa took them back to town. That was very nice of her.Then we were off! Carol (Hummingbird) was very excited. I, too, was happy to be on the trail. We didn¢t hike too fast because Hummingbird doesn¢t have her hiking legs yet, but we still made it two miles in to South Pond. There were two people fly fishing on the pond. We set up our tents and had dinner ¢ Pasta Sides Chicken Flavor ¢ that we had snagged from a hiker box. I was not impressed, but free food is good for me! We hung the food bags and are now in bed. It is after 9:00. Sheesh! Today I purchased a $2.00 engagement ring to wear. I tried a paper ring, but that lasted about one second with all the sweating and raining. I joked that Steven couldn¢t even shell out for my $2.00 engagement ring. I¢M DOOMED!! At least I don¢t care if this one gets broken.
Date: 2012-06-29
From: South Pond

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

This morning, around 6:30 we were still in our tents when we heard BIG splashing in the pond. Two moose! They were across the pond. I looked for my camera quickly, but didn¢t locate it right away and I was making a bit of noise, so I gave up so I could watch them and not scare them away. Steven went to get his phone to take a pic, but it was double or triple plastic bagged. Sadly, when the moose heard the rustling, they freaked out and stumbled out of the pond and into the forest before Hummingbird could see them. Doh!We are now at Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to. There were quite a few bugs, so we decided to pitch our tents. There are actually quite a few people here tonight, so that was probably a good idea anyway. Today, we hiked 7.3 miles over relatively flat terrain. As it was Hummingbird¢s first day on the trail, it was tough for her. It was definitely harder than our first day¢s terrain! I just read back to that day and I wrote that I was pushing after mile 9. She was pretty tired. Tomorrow is going to be harder and a ten mile day. I hope she is okay with that. I think I will be carrying her food bag. That should help.My little toenail on my left foot is like a loose tooth. It is really creeping me out. I can¢t feel it or anything, but it is gross. It isn¢t quite ready to come off yet, so I¢m not pulling it. I can still see pink under there. We are 10.53% done with the trail! Also, we¢re nearly half way to MA! We ate dinner on the big tent platform with Sherpa, Starfish, Booterman, and Lite Brite (formerly Glo-bug/Julia). It was fun conversation about nothing much. We did talk about Booterman¢s feet and my toenail. I guess Booterman is worse off than I am. We also discovered in the register that Balroc changed his name to Void. I guess it is because he can eat pretty much anything and everything that is put in front of him. HA!