morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-09-14
From: Royalty Inn

To: Royalty Inn
Miles today: 0.0

In the morning Dready was not feeling any better and even Piker felt a little sick. We decided to stay again. We are having such a great time hanging out with Dready and Blaze and we would love to hike ME with them. We decided to stay and not eat out, just cook our food in the room. For breakfast Blaze made all of us peach(flax seed) pancakes. They were great! More of the same today. Unfortunately Dready began feeling worst. We had another quiet night watching LOST. Tomorrow? Ms. Mileage
Date: 2005-09-15
From: Royalty Inn

To: Royalty Inn
Miles today: 0.0

We knew this would be our last day in town. It was dumping rain and we were totally not motivated to start out. Dready is still sick. I feel so bad for her,it is horrible to be sick out here. Another night and day of trying not to spend too much money on food. Our time out here is short. Only a few weeks remain and we are ready to get there. We are enjoying our last moments and miles on the trai. It will be hard to walk away from friends that we have metout here and not see them every day. We are off tomorrow. Gotta get it done!! Our first day out will be rough I'm sure but we have beautiful Maine ahead of us. Supposedly one of the most beautiful parts of the trail and to NOBO a rewarding end. Off to Maine! Ms. Mileage
Date: 2005-09-16
From: Royalty Inn

To: Royalty Inn
Miles today: 6.9

A long day packed into just a few miles. Mileage and I got a ride to the trailhead with Hopeful Hiker. He pretty much shuttled the whole hotel with his rental car. He decided to flip flop. Two more hotel guests actually called their NOBO hikes quits here. One SOBO as well. That's a lot of dropouts for one place and time. The trail wat ultra wet and steep. Rain drizzled down on us as we ditched poles and climbed on all fours. My legs kept cramping and so did Mileage's. Very steep stuff. We were first to arrive at the tentsite and were relieved to drop our stuff and set up. Jeweler,Moonpie,Stretch Lefty and Vippie soon arrived. Blaze and Dready did not however. We soon learned Dready still felt sick and they turned around and went back to town. It is pouring on the tent and will probably not stop until tomorrow. Only five more days of rain we hear. Piker
Date: 2005-09-17
From: Trident Tent Site

To: Carlo Col Campsite
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Our tent endured another big storm last night. We did get a few leaks but not too bad. The rain stopped around 9:00AM. We started to get motivated but it's hard when everything is so wet. As we headed out to the trail everything was clouded over. A thick mist blew thru the air and brought a nice chill. Yellow,red and orange leaves littered many sections of the trail. As we gained elevation we entered an Alpine zone. All the trees looked like Bonzai's and brick red moss grew out of the sharp rocks. We also walked across rock walkways with spongy masses of all colors. The climbs were close to vertical up and down. Mileage went down first. I heard a crash behind me and there she was all sprawled out on the rocks. She maintained high spirits and luckily was okay. A little bit later I slid about 15 feet down a wet sheer rock face. Just a few abrasions, nothing serious. We are walking so slow and carefully. Many of the other hikers here have been falling a lot too. It is most likely the unfavorable weather conditions. After lunch at a shelter things got very steep and we dropped back down to a mile per hour. We were very excited though, Mileage and I were about to cross into our final state. Our bodies were very tired and wet. Many falls had been taken and we were muddy. Thru my twisted nasty hair I saw a Blue sign nailed to a tree. The fog was too thick to make out what it said. As I got closer I read:"Maine-the way life should be." Finally,Maine!!!! Mileage and I took a celebratory break and cheered to our accomplishments. We took a lot of pictures and moved on up the mountain to our current campsite. Moonpie,Jeucher,Stretch and I drank a little whiskey to celebrate our Maine arrival. Another rainy night in our tent but who cares, everything is wet already. No Pain,No Rain,No Maine. Now I got all three!! Piker
Date: 2005-09-18
From: Carlo Col Campsite

To: Speck Pond Campsite
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a serious day on the trail. This section was made to weed out the weak hikers. Now I understand why some people quit when they walk into Maine. Once again it was tough getting going this morning b/c of the constant rain. Everything we own is soaked, it's pretty miserable. We were out of camp at 9:00. We started our day climbing, naturally, sheer wet rock. The weather has made the hiking tough. The trail is mostly rocks,roots and mud puddles for the past 3 days, a steady mist has been falling. The forest is extremely moist, any tree that you hit sprinkles little droplets of water all over you. The trail goes up and down with some very sketchy rock walks that slow us down a lot. The miles are still slow going. We did our first 1.8 miles in 2 hours. It gets a little frustrating but at least we're getting somewhere. We kept a steady pace and arrived at the shelter for lunch. Hot Lunch!! We didn't really bring out enough food for this section. It's been really tough & we are so hungry. We chowed down and headed for Mohoosic Notch. Supposedly the hardest mile on the trail. We were able to get down to the notch rather quickly-probably good energy from lunch. The notch is on mile long & took us just under 2 hours. We weave thru housesize boulders, crawling on all fours most of the time. It took a lot of concentration and enery to maneuver thru the section. It was the toughest and most amazing hiking all in one. We had to take off our packs for one section and pass them tru to each other. That's a first. When we finally made it through the boulder scramble we had a huge climb ahead of us. We put it into high gear & pushed ourselves. We were both feeling pretty beat down. After over an hour of climbing we realized we hadn't seen a blaze in a long time. Oh no we were lost. The trail was comsumed by a stream and we thought we took a wrong turn. Frustrated we puched on.. How could this not be the trail?? When we finally got to the top of Mahoosic Arm there was a blaze and I wanted to cry. Only .9 to the shelter. It is a pay shelter but we were so beat & it was about to get dark so we forked out the cash. It has been a while since we stayed in a shelter. I alaready miss our tent but it is nice to almost be dry. I'm so tired. Goodnight. Ms. Mileage
Date: 2005-09-20
To: Piker
Miles today: 0.0

Ms. Mileage and I are in Andover and loving Maine so far. Looks like we have been collecting a little bit off guest book trash. To the person who left us the warm entreys about above treeline camping, thanks. Your ignorance is funny and everyone here at the Inn had a good laugh. There has been no destruction of alpine plants or any others during our time in the whites. Camping on rocks is very low impact. Have you ever heard of a free standing tent? Do you get it? You should understand the facts before making judements. Have you ever thought about complaining about all the black smoke and coal chuncks that the cog train spits out? How about that fat highway planted right up the Mountain, or the industrial park built on the summit. Cut us a little slack man. We represent the hikers out here that are leaving no trace. I am also surprised that you hide behind your keyboard and give me no other way to respond but publicly. Until you stop hiding your name like a coward we will not allow you to post on our site.       To everyone else thanks for the great support and as always it is great to hear from you all.                            PIKER
Date: 2005-09-20
From: Frye Notch Lean-To Shelter

To: Andover Guest House
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: light rain

Two shelters in two nights. It kind of makes me remember our Georgia Style. As we woke the thunder was roaring. Mileage and I were "up and atit" though,good to go. Trampas was feeling beat up so we wished him well and took to the trail. Straight up we began. As always Maine is a rough ride.Vertical climbs with fresh streams running down the beaten trail. We pushed hard and the path eventually leveled out. I pulled ahead of Mileage a bit and ran into a big time surprise. A big old Moose standing smack dab in the middle of the trail. We locked eyes and two beams of steam shot from the beasts nostrils. The massive wall of fur then began to trot down the trail. Click clack,click clack deep vibrations under his feet. Wow I yelled. Mileage heard the commotion and put it in high gear. The moose cut left hard into the woods and his steps became silent. Feeling less threatened it stood still and allowed us to take pictures. I am fully amazed at how large a moose is and I will never forget when we locked eyes. After the moose we did a few more miles and came to our road. Now we had to find a ride to Andover. As we sat at the East B Hill crossing a large porcupine waddled by us walking down the road. They seem to be very melancholy critters. I gazed into the thick woods daydreaming as a drizzle came down. All of a sudden my buddies Blaze and Sampson emerged from the woods. Dready was close behind. Now we are totally psyched. Nice reunion. Trampas came out next and we began hitching. Funny enough we were trying to get a ride on a dirt road in the woods and actually got one. A big pickup truck picked up the five of us and the dog and brought us to town. This town looks just like the theme of Northern Exposure. A town without a light. We are now set up at the Andover Guest House with our crew:Mileage,Blaze,Dready B,Sampson and myself. Our resupply in the small country store came to about 100 bucks. Pretty rough stuff. We decide to get lunch at the Snow Valley Diner. Blaze and I immediately went for the pancake eating contest. Eat 4 jumbo pancakes,get them free. The pancakes were each the size of a plate and half an inch thick. 3 pancakes later we were ready to puke. Game over. Today is our six month anniversary and it has been a great day. Mileage informed me that we had a pissed off individual leaving us guest book entries. This person spoke big words but was a little too shy to leave us their name. We respect this environment that has been our home for the last half year. I guess people need to know that. Trail life is really good and I am beginning to miss it already. I know that is a premature thought but it is there nontheless. I am in a room full of great people and a beautiful dog. I am hunched over this pad writing as we all talk. It's time to join them again and put this down. Sampson just passed gas also so I think I'll take him for a walk now. Piker
Date: 2005-09-21
From: Andover Guest House

To: Black Brook
Miles today: 10.1

Our stay at the Andover Guest House was interesting to say the least. A massive pocket of hikers ended up here and that always produces craziness. The staff and guests provide an environment quite unlike reality. Mileage and I are packing 7 full days of food for this next stretch and that equals about 26lbs. Gear and food were spread all over the room. We awoke to this resupply disaster at about 7:30. As we dealt with it Mileage noticed blood on the floor and on Sampson's face. Upon closer inspection we realized he had a pretty good nose bleed going. Blaze quickly pinched shut his nostrils and plugged him with tissues. The bleeding stopped eventually but it was still a little scary. He was a happy dog as soon as it was over. Good boy!We got a quick breaksfast at the diner and then hit the street. After about 10 minutes hitching Mileage,Dready,Blaze,Sampson and I got rides to the trail in two different cars. Very nice people. We were on the trail soon after and Maine is great. It is easily my favorite state so far. It's tough hiking but well worth it. We are passing lakes and going over mountains with great views at all times. The leaves are changing colors and we had nice fall weather. There was one very steep climb that had rebar pipes drilled into sheer rock. Climbing up those metal ladders with extra heavy packs was exhausting. The rest of the hike was just about perfect. Balze and I were disappointed however because the stream fords were so wimpy. Both of us got all amped up for nothing. Soon enough though I think we will get our deep rushing river fords.Our current status is psyched. We are camped on a river beach. The slow moving water curls around our site. Mileage and I had a great pasta dinner and we all passed around a flask of whiskey afterwards. Cowboy TV(campfire) was turned on and we all zoned out. The wind is blowing pretty good and the pine trees are all creeking. I will hope for the best because we might have one or two widow makers near our tent. Time for sleep. Piker
Date: 2005-09-22
From: Black Brook

To: Bemis Stream
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: broken clouds

This morning we slept in after our evening of sitting by the fire drinking whiskey. Naturally we slept great. We slowly began getting ready. Pker made oatmeal for breakfast with his own chiseled brown sugar. Delicious! We had a huge climb to start our day. Hiking uphill for 3 miles. I never thought that I would reach the top of Old Blue. It's still hard to start our day climbing straight uphill. We took a break at the summit with Dready Bear & Blaze. Then we headed into the Bemis Range. We would have to climb East,West,Third,Second,and First Bemis Peaks. It started out a bit rough but the terrain was nicer than Old Blue had been. We steadily moved along. There was a lot of Moose scat scattered all over the trail but no moose sightings today. We reached the West Peak and took a lunch break at a lookout. When you look across mtn. ranges you can already notice the leaves changing colors. It is officially autumn today. The air is crisp and cool, it has been perfect hiking weather. After a big calorie meal we were ready to get the mtn. range over with. Each peak seemed to get easier as we went. We crossed East & Third peaks rocky summits & then stopped at the shelter for more water. A quick break there and we were on our way. Gotta keep movin' if we want to get to K-Dog. The last two peaks were really hills and we cruised as we dropped in elevation. A little before our campsite Piker slammed his knee against a rock. I'm hoping it will feel better towmorrow, it was bleeding & bruised earlier. We are camped right next to the babbling stream with Dready Bear,Blaze and Sampson. We were pretty tired after today's hike. Luckily the terrain got easier but it was still a lot of up and down. We had a huge pasta dinner with cherry pie for dessert. I need to note in my journal today how much Pker's feet are stinking up our tent. OOh! The stink just keeps getting worse out here. Sorry Piker you're busted!!! Moving on thru Maine tomorrow! Mileage
Date: 2005-09-23
From: Bemis Stream

To: Sandy River
Miles today: 14.0

Today we wanted to get an early start. When the alsrm went off at 6:15 Piker was already up and adit. It took me a little while to get going. I really had a horrible nights sleep. We packed up quickly to try and beat the rain that had started falling. Oatmeal for breakfast and we were out of camp by 7:45. We had a good jump on the day. We began climbing,like most day, and I was feeling pretty sluggish. It has definitley become my second nature to just keep moving and continually put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes I'll zone out, like people do driving, and as my body aches I'll be surprised by the huge hill I just climbed. It is a strange thing. I have to admit that I look forward to the morning when I will wake up and not have to put my pack on. It's been a long 6 months.This mornings climb I definitely put myself in a zone and slowly made my way uphill. We could all tell immediately that the terrain was easing up a little. After Spruce Mtn. we had a wonderful"Forest Park" style walk. Nicely graded trail over freshly fallen red,orange & yellow leaves. Pker and I stopped to take pictures of a beautiful red tree and it began to rain. We were .3 miles from the shelter so we put it in 5th gear. We got a little damp, nothing serious. We decided to cook lunch there and wait out the rain a bit. An hour later the sky began to clear and with full bellies we pushed on. The terrain was more of the same. Gradual hills over a muddy root filled path. It was a lot less strenuous than what we have been doing. We pushed 4.6 miles in 2 hours and took a break at Little Swift River Pond. We set off for Sandy River and because of the wonderful terrain we were able to move very quickly. We were at camp by 4:00. I was happy to have an early day, after a good nights sleep I'll be ready to go early tomorrow. We had a big dinner, our appetites are in full force. We will definitely be able to bump up our mileage a little with the terrain changes, hopefully a 15 mile average will carry us right to K-Dog! Today I read in a register the hardest state list from 1-14. This is my list: 1.Maine 2.New Hampshire 3.Georgia 4.North Carolina 5.Tennessee 6.New York 7.Vermont 8.Virginia 9.Massachusetts 10.Pennsylvania 11.Connecticut 12.New Jersey 13.Maryland 14.West Virginia. WOW! I still can't believe that we have walked in all of those states. Pretty sweet. It's making me nostalgic already. Ms. Mileage
Date: 2005-09-24
From: Sandy River

To: Old Woods Road.
Miles today: 13.4

It's pretty cold and I feel like reading so just the facts. We woke at about 7AM and it was freezing. We made a quick breakfast and were off. Next, 2400' climb. It kicked my ass and I bailed in deep mud,full force into the cold stinky gloop I went. The path skirted many lakes and was a tangle of roots. Eventually we got above treeline and to the summit of Saddleback Mountain. The wind was wild so we moved along. Two more mountains above treeline and then we dropped back down. The last few miles were pretty easy so we made good time. Mileage, Dready, Blaze, Sampson and I are all camped on an old logging road with a waterfall spilling over the side. It's gonna be a cold one tonight. I am getting scared that the hike will be ending soon. I'm not ready yet! Piker
Date: 2005-09-25
From: Old Woods Road.

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: overcast clouds

The moon was out in full force last night. I got up at about 3AM and saw the light glistening off the waterfall we were tented next to. I crawled back into my sleeping bag and slid back into dreamland. When I woke again the sun was creeping over the mountainrange warming one small corner of the tent. Mileage and I had oatmeal for breakast and rationed out bars for the day. We will need to carry even more food with appetites raging. As always we started off with a climb but at the summit it leveled off and we walked the ridge. We caught up with Blaze and Dready soon and we all had lunch at some shelter. The sun was shining at first but then dark clouds and cold winds moved in blowing the colorful leaves in all directions.After our massive lunch we climbed Sugarloaf Mtn. but did not take the blue blaze to the top, with heavy cloud cover and bitter temps it didn't seem worth it. Sorry PaPa Piker! Blaze and I jumped ahead for a little bit and I found a sweet pair of shades sitting on a stump. Ground score. We got to the riverford first and saw that it would be wimpy just like the others so far. I am ready to plunge into the fridged water and wade across. Soon enough I do believe this wish will be granted.One last climb and we arrived at the campsite. It was early so we all got to chill and reflect back on this great adventure. I can't believe it will be over soon. Mileage and I going back to living like normal people. Driving to work,finding a car to drive,traffic and TV. Luckily we can push that all back for now and experience the peace of the forest and the smell and warmth of the campfire. Piker
Date: 2005-09-26
From: Cirque Campsite

To: White Wolf Inn
Miles today: 7.3

This morning we were up before the sun, working like busy bees to break our camp down before the storm hit. We were woken up by some serious wind and lightning. It was a little hard for me to motivate but I am happy now that we have a dry tent. We were out of camp and climbing by 6:50. Pretty early for us! We had to tackle South & North Crocker Mtns. The first climb up the south mtn was almost verticle in some areas. We climbed over a lot of roots and rocks and about half way up the climb it started to sprinkle. As we gained in elevation it was extremely misty and it seemed as though we were walking through the clouds. We were happy to get the 2 mtns over, we were fueled with a few snacks and it really didn't give me energy. The rest of our day was mostly downhill over slippery muddy terrain. Piker and I both took a rough fall. Can't wait to get our other shoes in Monson-they will actually have some tread. We were at the road by 10:15. We waited for Dready Bear and Blaze and then crossed the road and began our wait for a hitch to town. It was raining still and when the huge logging trucks blew by us we would get a cool misty spray of water. There wasn't a lot of traffic and we waited patiently. We got lucky about 15 minutes later when a pick-up truck pulled over. We hopped in the back and took a chilly ride to town in a truck with a rough sounding transmission. A little scary. I held my hood tight against my head and tried to duck down and get out of the wind. Soon enough we were a the White wOLF Inn , it was so nice to be out of the rain. We checked in, dropped our gear in the room and went right down to the restaurant. Piker had the huge wolf burger-chese, sausage, bacon, and mushrooms. That was a huge burger. We had some yummy sweet potatoe fries and awesome mud pie. I was so full and satisfied. Our waitress was hillarious-many funny hiker stories to tell. She had us laughing!   For the rest of the day we took care of our town business. Post office, laundry and resupply. I finished my book, I have to get a new one for the rest of the trip or I might go crazy. We've been lounging most of the day. Piker and I had salad and Lasagna for dinner. It has been raining pretty hard all afternoon and we are so happy to be inside and dry. I hope that the rain stops tomorrow. We will be heading out after we have pancakes in our room. Only 187 miles to go. It seems surreal already. We are definitely enjoying the last stretch hoping to see more Moose soon and not any dead ones. Moose season started today, one week a year. I could never shoot a moose, that are too cute. Better were orange this week! Peace. Mileage