morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-16
From: Woods Road 

To: Horns Pond Lean-to 
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a day of just moving forward. We did big miles and big climbs. We had three separate climbs of 2000' or above.The weather is absolute perfect for our big push. A few days ago it was in the 80s for a number of day, but now it is dry and cool. Today was the first day in ages that my socks stayed dry. There are still some muddy sections on the trail but with a little effort we can stay out of the mud.The mosquitos have been a little worse today than before, but they are still not too bad. The black flies are pretty well gone, and are not a problem. We are being told by SOBOs that the mosquitos will be much worse up ahead, but we have stopped putting too much stock in what we hear. It seems that a lot of people going south tell us all about the bad things that are ahead of us, but then they don't really turn out to be as bad as they make it sound.It was a milestone day! 2000 miles done. If there is no wind blowing, and I stand completely still, I can feel Katahdin pulling me north.
Date: 2015-07-17
From: Horns Pond Lean-to 

To: Harrison's Pierce Pond Camps
Miles today: 28.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We decided last night to get an early start and get a long day in. The reason for the long day? A 12 pancake breakfast at Pierce Pond Camps on Saturday morning. Tim, who runs Pierce Pond Camps, asks that you reserve the pancake breakfast in person the night before. There is a shelter less than half a mile away, so hikers usually stay there and walk over to make the breakfast reservation.We were on the trail soon after 6:00 and immediately climbed to South Horn peak, then dropped down a bit and more or less followed a ridge and climbed up over 4000' to Bigelow Mountain west peak and to Avery Peak. The early morning air was completely calm and the skies were clear. The perfect conditions for seeing for miles. We were told that you can see Katahdin from the top, but I couldn't be certain which one of the distance mountains was the one. After spending some time on the peaks taking photos of the breathtaking landscape that was dotted with ponds, and lakes, and early morning mist, we moved on. The trail was much easier this afternoon than it has been for weeks. It gradually came down from the mountains and wound its way along several vast bodies of water (that are called ponds in Maine) and along some ancient portage trails. It was quite nice to be able to actually walk some fast miles instead of using your hands to climb up and down countless mountains, like we had been doing the past week or more.We got to Harrison's place just before 7:00 and made reservations for a breakfast in the morning. I can't wait to see what it will be like.
Date: 2015-07-18
From: Harrison's Pierce Pond Camps

To: Bald Mountain Road
Miles today: 26.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We broke down camp early this morning and made our way to Pierce Pond Camps to eat our 12 pancake breakfast we reserved. Pierce Pond Camps has several rustic cabins that are rented out to guests, usually fisherman or hunters. The main buildng is a log structure with a big wraparound porch. The rafters are rough pine logs, and judging by the way the floor is uneven, I am guessing the floor joists are as well. There was a spacious dining room where there was a few long tables and chairs set up. There was also a common room for guests that had a pool table, a small library, and couches and chairs. I noticed that the one end of the pool table was shimmed up about three inches to compensate for the slanted floor. The place is run by Tim, a one man operation. The place is completely off-grid, and had a small generator running on the porch to power the lights.When we got there, Tim had coffee ready for us and was making pancakes in the kitchen. It was very informal, you walked right through his living quarters to the dining room. The tables were clean and neat. We joined another hiker, Librarian, at a table with coffee while we waited on breakfast. Tim set the table for us, then brought our breakfast out. There was some sausage links and 12 blueberry pancakes on each plate with powdered sugar sprinkled over the top, and a separate plate with your eggs that were made to order. Everything was plated like a gourmet restaurant. It was fabulous!After we stuffed ourselves with breakfast we headed out into a light rain toward the Kennebec River. After a quick, flat two miles we arrived at the river just as the ferry operating hours started. The ATC employs a person at the river to ferry hikers across the river in a canoe. The canoe has a faded white blaze painted on the bottom to make it seem like a part of the trail. Hikers used to wade across the wide river, but after a few drownings they want everyone to use the ferry.After the river crossing and some more easy miles we went up and over Pleasant Pond Mountain and Moxie Bald Mountain. They were both a little over 1000' climbs, but after what we were used to it, it seemed like two short climbs. There was light rain off and on, and both summits were completely fogged in with no views. The trail is overgrown at a lot of places so we stayed soaking wet most of the day by brushing against wet undergrowth. We also came to the first stream so far that we were not able to rock hop our way across. At first I was going to take my shoes off and wear my rubber camp sandals, but decided against it since my shoes and socks were already completely wet. I waded right through the knee deep water. It helped clean my shoes and pant legs.After a few more miles we found a flat spot by a stream and camped right by the river. We quickly ate a light dinner then crawled into our tents to get away from the bugs. They don't seem to be too bad when you keep moving, but they become quite annoying when stopping.
Date: 2015-07-19
From: Bald Mountain Road

To: ME 15
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: broken clouds

It rained heavy last night at some point but I stayed dry in my tent. I was up a little earlier than we planned, because I couldn't sleep and I was itching to get to town. Monson will be the last town before the 100 mile wilderness, and my last resupply. It feels strange to be thinking about my last resupply.I had semi-dry socks to put on, but after walking a bit in wet shoes they were wet. We got to the west branch of the Piscataquis river to ford after only going a few miles. This was not a rock hopping kind of fording, it was knee deep and there was a rope stretched across to hang on to while crossing. After a successful fording and a few more miles, we had to ford the east branch of the Piscataquis River. I changed into camp sandals for both crossings because I didn't want to deal with the squishing shoes afterwards.The trail was muddy and the undergrowth stayed wet, so we stayed pretty wet all morning. About three miles from the ME 15 it started raining again. I had a little bit of phone service a half mile from the road, so I called Shaw's, a local hostel, and inquired about a place to stay and a shuttle into town. They were already full so we just kept going to the road. There was an old man at the trailhead waiting for some friends on the trail and he gave us each a Coke when we showed up.After walking around a bit in the trailhead parking lot, I was able to get weak reception for my phone and called the Lakeshore House to see if we could stay for the night. They still had spots left, so we booked a room for the night and waited for the owner to pick us up. The Lakeshore house has a pub and a dining room downstairs, and we spent some time in there eating after we had cleaned up and done our laundry.My feet were hurting after putting in big miles and being wet the past few days, so an afternoon off is just what they needed to recover. Besides, it rained almost all afternoon, so it was a good time to be inside doing town chores. I couldn't get a phone signal in town, so I had to walk about a mile outside of town to make a few phone calls to arrange meeting times and places on Friday. I don't expect to have any phone or Internet service till I get to Millinocket, so I won't be able to update my journal till the day before I summit.
Date: 2015-07-20
From: ME 15

To: Fourth Mountain Bog
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: broken clouds

Last night a thunderstorm rolled through the area. I saw the lightning flashing and heard the rain pour from the comfort of my bed in a hostel. If it had to rain, I'm glad it did it when I was in town.10-Speed and I got up and packed up all our gear that was hung out to dry throughout our room. We had a small fan pointed at our shoes all night, so now we had dry shoes. We walked next door to a restaurant, called Pete's Place, and ordered the 100 mile wilderness breakfast. It was three huge pancakes, three eggs, three sausage patties, home fries, baked beans, and toast. I was not able to eat all the beans and the toast. It was probably the first time on the trail that I couldn't finish a breakfast. I doubt that the two gas station donuts I had before breakfast helped matters.After breakfast, we were shuttled out to the trailhead again, and we were off into the 100 mile wilderness. Since it rained heavy last night the creeks were running strong and there was mud and puddles everywhere. At first, like I always do, I tried to keep my feet dry. But of course, like always, it was pointless. They were soaking wet within a mile. We didn't get far before we had to ford a stream, and I changed into camp shoes before wading in. I didn't get far till I lost my balance and nearly ended up falling into the water. We forded a number of streams before lunch. Some of them weren't even listed as being streams that needed to be forded in the AWOL guide, and a few of them were mid thigh depth with a rope stretched across the stream to hang on to. Some places we're a bit sketchy, but it worked pretty smoothly. I didn't bother changing into camp shoes after the first one, it was too much hassle.At mid afternoon we came to a sign that said trail magic 1/8 mile, and pointed down a gravel path. We followed it, and sure enough, there was a tiny cabin with an old man who stays there for a few months out of the year. I accepted the beer and the soda he offered me. I hadn't seen any real trail magic in the state of Maine so far, I certainly didn't expect any in the 100 mile wilderness.We climbed up over Barren Mountain and enjoyed the view in the late afternoon. It was getting late and we didn't get the mileage in for the day that we were hoping to. The mud, the repeated fording, and the slippery rocks slowed us down a lot. When 8:00 rolled around, we decided to camp wherever we could find a decent spot and get an early start in the morning.
Date: 2015-07-21
From: Fourth Mountain Bog

To: East Branch Lean-to 
Miles today: 26.1
Weather: light rain

I woke up at the crack of dawn and went out into the woods to take a crap, then I got back into my mosquito free tent to eat a bagel with spam and cheese. We both wrapped up camp in a hurry to avoid the mosquitos and were on the trail by 6:00. I find that the most effective way to stay comfortable in these mosquito infested areas is to wear long sleeves and pants.If there was ever an argument against intelligent design, it would have to be mosquitos. What kind of intelligent designer would include those nasty bloodsuckers in a world that includes humans? (This is my anti-mosquito rant for today)So anyway, we started the day by climbing up and down a series of mountains that had steep and hazardous climbs and descents on damp and slippery rocks. 10-Speed and I both did a complete wipeout several times before we finished the up and downs. It was a slow go, but we stayed at it. We stopped for a late lunch at a lean-to and met a fellow NOBO, Slingshot, who is planning to summit on the same date we are. He decided to join us as we pushed on up another series of mountains. These climbs were a little safer, since the trail had stones laid out like steps on most of the trail. The tallest of the mountains was White Cap, which has a peak at 3650'. This will be the tallest mountain we go over till we get to Katahdin. The rest of the trail to Katahdin should be relatively flat. I am looking forward to some easier miles tomorrow.We just got our tents set up before it started raining lightly, then we took our food to the shelter and ate dinner and watched it rain. The terrain is looking better for tomorrow, so we discussed how many miles want to do in the morning. Slingshot is ok with higher mileage, and plans to join us.My feet are tired of being wet for the past few days and are looking awfully sad. The entire bottoms of my soles look ghostly white and wrinkled.
Date: 2015-07-22
From: East Branch Lean-to 

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to 
Miles today: 29.6
Weather: broken clouds

Everything was damp this morning after the light rain we had last night, but the temperature was cooler and the humidity was down. A slight breeze was blowing and drying things out real nicely. There was some bugs in the morning, but as the day went on and got drier, they became less of a problem.Slingshot, 10-Speed, and I started out together, and the first thing we did was go up and over Little Boardman Mountain. It barely qualified as a mountain, it was only a 500' climb. We walked together at a steady pace for most of the day. We stopped for lunch at the edge of Jo-Mary lake. The lake had a small sandy beach where the waves were washing up, it almost seemed as if I was at the shore. The huge lakes that are everywhere in Maine are impressive. The water looks clean, the mountains come right down to the water's edge, and there is never anybody on the lake. The fish and the loons are usually the only other visable creatures that we have to share it with.This afternoon we got a beautiful view of Katahdin across the Pemadumcook lake. The blue skies and white clouds with Mama K off in the distance, seemed to be a picture for a postcard. It seems so close now, less than 40 trail miles away. As we sat around the shelter this evening, we talked about the fact that this may be the last time we have to cook dinner on the trail. And all of a sudden, I didn't want this to end. It is days like this, when the trail gods are smiling on us, that I am going to miss terribly when I get back home.My feet are much happier tonight after getting a chance to dry out a bit today.
Date: 2015-07-23
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to 

To: Abol Bridge Campground
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: overcast clouds

The three of us met in front of the shelter a little before 6:00 this morning and were ready to get on the trail. We decided to try making it to Abol Bridge Campground by this afternoon before they close. We didn't know when they close, and also heard that the restaurant wasn't open late every day. Yesterday morning we all gave a dinner to a southbound hiker who didn't get his food drop that he expected at the halfway point of the wilderness, so we didn't have any extra food, and we needed that restaurant.We started off by climbing the small mountain, Nesuntabunt. It wasn't a tall mountain, but the terrain was rough, and we had some slow going. When we finally got to Pollywog Stream, 10-Speed and I did some risky rock hopping to get to the other side, only to discover that the trail didn't cross the stream. So we went back across the rushing stream, without falling in, to where the trail continued. This morning was the first morning in days that I had dry shoes to put on, and I felt fortunate that I didn't get them wet in the unnecessary crossings.We kept getting views of Mama K during the day, but could never quite see the summit because of the clouds. We are SO close now!We exited the 100 mile wilderness and took a site at the Abol Bridge Campground for the night. We took much needed showers, and had dinner at the restaurant. I purchased some wifi from the campground with my credit card, but it was flaky and slow. I did, however, work on getting my last few journal entries uploaded.There are people camping with cars and RVs at sites all around us. The three of us have our tiny little tents set up in a cluster in the corner and see people with coolers, giant tents, lawn chairs, and generators trying their hand at camping. It feels like such a different world than the one I came from.Now, to go a bit more miles to Katahdin tomorrow, then stay in Millinocket for the night, and summit Saturday.
Date: 2015-07-24
From: Abol Bridge Campground

To: Katahdin Stream Campground 
Miles today: 9.9

We planned to start at 6:30 this morning so that we arrive at the base of Katahdin in plenty of time to meet my brother James and Arwen, who are meeting us, and going into Millinocket for the night. I couldn't sleep when it started getting light outside though, so I took my phone and went up to the campground office to upload my journal f Rt o yesterday. The wifi was down so I wasn't even able to do that, so I putzed around by the river so I don't wake up 10-Speed and Slingshot. Then I saw Slingshot come back from the shower house and heard 10-Speed moving around in his tent, so I started packing up. We got our stuff together and headed out before we had planned, because we were itching to get this last little hike out of the way.The trail was flat and easy. In fact, it was probably one of the easiest 10 miles of the whole trail. It started raining lightly after we were 5 miles in and was raining cats and dogs by the time we got there. We huddled under a shelter by a picnic table, hung out our clothes to dry, changed into dry ones, and waited to be picked up. The park ranger came over and signed us in for tomorrow's hike. After waiting for an hour or so, Slingshot got there as well and also decided to go into Millinocket for the night since he was soaked. When James and Arwen got there, we piled all our wet gear into the car and spent the rest of the day drying out, doing laundry, and eating.
Date: 2015-07-25
From: Katahdin Stream Campground 

To: Mount Katahdin 
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: broken clouds

We didn't have a day use parking reservation for Baxter State Park today, so we had to be one of the first cars in line when the gates opened. That meant a 3:00 AM wakeup to get ready and make the drive to the park by 5:00. We were the first car there to wait at the gates, but within 15 minutes there was a string of cars behind us waiting for the gates to open. We dozed in the car for an hour till they opened the gates to let us in at 6:00. The park doesn't want too many people on the mountain, so they restrict the amount of people on the mountain by limiting parking. If the lots at the trailheads are full, there is no other place to park. The system favors us since we like getting up early.James, Arwen, 10-Speed, and I started up the mountain a little before 7:00 on a cloudy, drizzly morning. I put my rain cover on Mr. Maroon and wore a rain jacket for about a mile, till I got too warm. The trail went up steadily for a few miles, then it got quite steep. It was a boulder scramble for another mile or so till we got to the table lands, where it leveled off for a bit then resumed the steady climb till the summit.It was foggy and dreary, but it wasn't windy, and the temperature was great for climbing. It was great to be climbing with friends, we didn't hurry and we had a good time. Slingshot, Gimpy, Captain, and Smoke were also finishing up their thru hike. There was a lot of day hikers on the summit when we arrived, so we waited for a time when we could have a bit of time at the sign to take photos. I placed my last trail dollar under a rock at the base of the sign. I didn't really feel any huge rush of emotions like I thought I might. Maybe it was because I had already been there before, maybe I didn't really want to be finished yet, or maybe I need some time to process my thoughts. I felt more elation coming out of the 100 mile wilderness a few days ago than I felt today.We sat at the summit and ate lunch and congratulated other hikers who arrived. I carried a bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes, one engraved with Springer Mountain the other with Mount Katahdin, to the summit to celebrate. But, the mood just didn't seem right, so I decided to wait till this evening to open the champagne.We slowly hiked down the mountain, then went to Millinocket afterwards and refueled in true hiker fashion; McDonald's burgers and milkshakes.I have hugely conflicted thoughts on being finished with the trail. I will post my final post with my thoughts on the trail after I had a week or two to process my thoughts. I will also post a list of my gear with my thoughts on what I liked and what I didn't like. Thank you for taking an interest in my adventure and for all the encouraging comments.
Date: 2015-02-12
To: About Me
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

This is my journal for my 2015 flip-flop Appalachian Trail thru hike. I will be starting at Harpers Ferry WV on April 20, 2015 and hiking north to Katahdin. Upon completion of that section, I will then take a bus or train back to Harpers Ferry WV to hike south to finish my hike at Springer Mountain, GA. This 2189.5 mile Appalachian Trail thru hike is 40 years in the making. My first introduction to the Appalachian Trail was the summer of 1974 hiking from the Nolichucky River near Erwin, TN to Iron Mountain Gap. I was a 13 year old Boy Scout in Luther Franklin's troop in Johnson City, TN. This troop was very active and given our proximity to the AT, many of our overnight trips involved short sections of the AT. My ATC guide from that time has various notes over the next several years showing hikes involving landmarks of Sams Gap, Big Bald, Spiveys Gap, Erwin, Iron Mountain Gap, 19E, Dennis Cove, Laurel Fork Gorge, US 321, Low Gap, and Damascus, VA. Many of these sections were hiked multiple times over those years. Other than Big Bald, I today cannot specifically recollect any of these places from those early days. Most of my memories of these hikes involve blisters, aching shoulders, rain, leaking tents, and waking up in pooled water in our tent due to poor site selection. Despite these challenges, I was immediately smitten with the AT. The idea of doing an AT thru hike for me was germinated in 1974 or 1975 by reading and re-reading Ed Garvey's classic "Appalachian Hiker Adventure of a Lifetime" detailing his 1970 thru hike from Georgia to Maine. Despite those memories of the challenges involved in hiking the AT, the desire of doing a thru hike remained with me since then. To be continued ...
Date: 2015-02-16
To: About Me (Part 2)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Eventually I drifted away from backpacking and the Appalachian Trail when I went away to college. After college, although my wife (trail name kATchup) and I did do a few short backpacking trips on Grandfather Mountain and the Uwharrie National Forest, my main passion evolved into rocking climbing and mountaineering. In 1987, life choices moved us out west where over the next 25 years we lived in several areas of California in addition to the Boulder, Colorado area. Over these years, I continued to progress my climbing and mountaineering skills and eventually worked for a few seasons guiding rock and mountaineering climbs. I split my guiding duties between rock guiding in Joshua Tree National Park and the Eastern Sierra and guiding summer/winter mountaineering trips up Mount Whitney and Mount Russell in the California Sierras. I also traveled extensively across the US climbing as well as international climbing trips to France, Ecuador, Tanzania, and finally Nepal in 2008.In 2012, kATchup and I relocated back to the East Coast and once back in western NC and the Southern Appalachians, my love of the AT returned and the desire to do an AT thru hike was re-kindled. Having recently left a job I disliked immensely, I decided that this was the perfect time to step up and pull the trigger on an Appalachian Trail thru hike. In my next entry, I will detail my thoughts on why I have chosen to do a Flip-Flop AT thru hike ...