morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-08-03
From: Rattle River Hostel 

To: The Sterling Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Our shuttle driver, Bruce, met us at Rattle River Hostel at 7:30 in the morning. He had told me yesterday that the trip to Caratunk would take three hours and that he needed to be back in Gorham for another hiker in the afternoon. He charged us $75, only looking to cover expenses. He¢s in his 80¢s and claims to be happier shuttling hikers than he¢s ever been. He¢s x-military and has interesting tales to tell. We arrived at 10:30, exactly three hours after takeoff.I remember The Sterling Inn fondly from last year. One of the nicest hostels on the trail, in part because it doesn¢t just cater to hikers. They host tourists, wedding parties and the like as well. Zach, the owner¢s son, will be driving us to Moxie Pond tomorrow morning at 6:45, the spot where I stopped last year. From there we¢ll hike three days to Shaw¢s Hiker Hostel in Monson where we¢ll stage ourselves for our hike through the famed 100 Mile Wilderness.It¢s called The Hundred Mile Wilderness because throughout it has no opportunities for resupply. Shaw¢s offers a service for hikers where they take a sealed bucket of food items you¢ve purchased to a location about halfway through. It¢s a remote location, Joe Mary Rd, where we¢ll take the contents of the bucket to get us through the final 50 or so miles. Once through the Wilderness we¢re close to Mt Katahdin for our final summit and completion of the AT.I¢m told there¢s very little cell service, especially during the first half, so after Shaw¢s you may not be hearing from me for a while.
Date: 2021-08-04
From: The Sterling Inn

To: Stealth site at 2065.6
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: scattered clouds

We enjoyed our stay at Sterling Inn. Arriving at 10:30 in the morning afforded us a nice long day of rest. We¢d already done our laundry the day before so all we needed to do was resupply for our three days to Shaw¢s in Monson.Our plan called for camping at Moxie Bald Lean-to, but we got there at 12:15 so we ate lunch and hiked on. We decided to stop at a tentsite that was listed on Guthook but not on the AT Guide. It made for an 11.8 mile day but much of the hiking was easy once we got ourselves up and over Moxie Bald. Once we arrived we saw that true to its name, it was perfect for tents but lousy for hammocks. We eventually found two spots that could work after snapping off lots of dead lower branches. One of my trees is quite skinny. I pitched my hammock and tried it out. Because of the skinny tree, my weight caused the tree to bend and my butt hit the ground. So I pitched it higher and that worked. Then I pitched my tarp over the hammock. After dinner I got into the hammock and the tarp which had been nice and taught is now sagging miserably because of the bendy tree. I¢m doubtful it will work well should it rain. Let¢s hope it doesn¢t.Our goal for tomorrow is to try and hike another 10 miles or so and stealth camp again which would leave us with just around four miles for the hike into Monson and Shaw¢s Hiker Hostel. It would be nice to have a nero (nearly a zero) day before entering the 100 Mile Wilderness.I¢m a little concerned about a persistent pain in my left heel. It¢s slowing me down, especially in the afternoons
Date: 2021-08-05
From: Stealth site at 2065.6

To: Lakeshore House
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Our day started early. We¢d both hit our hammocks at around 5:30 so I was up and breaking camp a little before 4:00. We hit the trail at 6:10. Exceeding our own expectations, we hiked 13 miles all the way to ME 15, Monson. It was easy hiking for the most part, and it started raining towards the end of the day, so we decided to make tomorrow a zero rather than a nero. We called Shaw¢s Hiker Hostel but they were full so we called Lakeshore House and got two beds in a bunk room. And we were able to get them for two nights. Relieved at our good luck, we quickly settled in, borrowed loaner clothes, did laundry, took showers and ate at their in-house restaurant. We really enjoyed our appetizer of bacon-wrapped scallops in a maple syrup sauce.With the help of doses of Vitamin I (Ibuprofen), my left heel fared better than it had yesterday. It feels best when climbing because I land on the front of my foot. The long downhills are the problem. Taking a day of rest and stretching will hopefully get me ready to start the 100 Mile Wilderness on Saturday.Tomorrow we¢ll head over to Shaw¢s and see if we can consult with Poet on devising a plan for older, slower hikers.  He and his wife, Hippie Chick, run Shaw¢s and he knows the Wilderness inside and out. Our plan calls for nine days of hiking, but Gayle thinks we may be able to do better. Fewer days means lighter packs.Today¢s photo shows Gayle traversing a stream across a pile of jammed up sticks, unique in our experiences. In Greek mythology, the River Styx represents the border between Earth and the underworld.I should have mentioned this good news before. The woman who went missing back in New Hampshire was, according to croo members at Carter Notch Hut, found later the next day after being reported missing. What a relief it must have been for her son, her hiking partner.With a sunny day in the forecast for tomorrow, I¢m looking forward to a fine breakfast at Shaw¢s, working out a plan, and resupplying.
Date: 2021-08-06
From: Lakeshore House

To: Lakeshore House
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

It¢s been a nice warm sunny day here in Monson. A perfect day to rest and prep for our last push to Katahdin. We walked over to Shaw¢s to partake in their famous breakfast. Ten bucks for a big plate of three over easy eggs, excellent hash browns and bacon, orange juice, and blueberry pancakes. Later in the morning it was back to Shaw¢s to resupply for the 100-Mile Wilderness. Five days of food will march out in our packs tomorrow and another five into a bucket to be delivered halfway into the Wilderness on the 11th of August, five days out. They say we pack our fears and it looks like I¢m afraid of running out of food based on how much I¢ve acquired.Poet spent a generous amount of his time walking us through a plan he thinks will work for us and marked up a small map to take along. If-and it¢s a big if-we can keep up with this plan, we¢ll have made up the two extra days we¢ve already added to our original plan, summiting Katahdin on the 16th. But this plan features mostly 2-digit days including one 16-miler.Monson¢s General Store makes excellent salads and sandwiches so we picked up lunch there. Dinner was enjoyed back at Lakeshore¢s restaurant.There are so many northbounders in town that both hostels are filled till Monday. These hikers must have started very early in Georgia to be here so soon. I suspect that many had decided to postpone their 2020 hikes till this year due to the pandemic.We¢ve requested an early shuttle back to the trailhead tomorrow. I already know what tomorrow¢s photo will be. Can you guess?
Date: 2021-08-07
From: Lakeshore House

To: Stealth camp at Vaughn stream 
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Eric, the owner of Lakeshore, drove us to the trailhead and we were hiking by 8:00. It was exciting to finally see the sign I¢d seen pictured so many times before warning hikers to know what they¢re in for entering the 100-Mile Wilderness. There were many hikers today and the waterfall we stopped by for water and lunch was downright crowded.No big mountains today but it wasn¢t easy going. The trail rarely stayed level; it seemed to be always going up or down. And I¢ve rarely seen so many roots. They¢ll slow you down for sure. But for the most part there were fewer rocks than we¢ve been seeing.The real kicker was the rainstorm that hit us hard for the last two hours of our hike. At times it was a deluge. It got so dark it was hard to make out details of the trail. I took a slip ¢n slide as my foot slid off the trail. Thankfully the rain slowed and stopped just before reaching our planned stop by Vaughn Stream where we set up our hammocks. It won¢t be fun slipping into soaking wet clothes in the morning.
Date: 2021-08-08
From: Stealth camp at Vaughn stream 

To: Stealth camp near Chairback Pond
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: broken clouds

Twelve hours hiking today covering 10.6 miles. Not quite as bad as it looks as we had to detour way off trail to get water midday. There were plenty of difficult sections today and like yesterday, short on the flat stuff.There was an unfortunate mixup at the end. I had thought we were planning to camp up at Chairback Pond, 0.2 miles off the trail. Gayle thought we were camping just beyond the cutoff at the stream crossing. She was hiking ahead of me so blew right past the cutoff and started making camp. I took the cutoff trail to the pond, thinking I¢d find Gayle there. I was so sure I had it right that I left my pack up by the pond and went looking for her. I found her just beyond the stream, her hammock already set up. So I had to hike back up to the pond and get my pack. I was mad at myself for not wearing my pack when I went to find her. It was already past 6:00. It had been a long day.So far for these two days in the 100-Mile Wilderness we¢ve kept to the plan Poet had devised for us. They¢re longer days than we might normally do, but we kind of need to try to keep up as we¢ve both got just enough food for the plan.Tomorrow we pass Katahdin Ironworks Rd after six miles. We¢ve been told the trail starts getting easier. I hope they¢re right.
Date: 2021-08-09
From: Stealth camp near Chairback Pond

To: Carl Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Finally an easier day. That is except for the ¢rock slide¢ down the north side of Chairback Mountain. Gayle warned me it would be tough based on her memory of the hike last year. It was a steep downhill over huge boulders. I utilized my new technique of going backwards on all fours. Even so, there were spots where I puzzled over where to place my next step. At one point I felt stuck. Couldn¢t figure out my next move. It got so frustrating I felt myself beginning to cry. I was able to pull it together with words of encouragement from the erstwhile Rainbow.The Chairbacks are essentially four peaks of one mountain, cleverly named Mountain One through Four, Mountain Two not being part of the AT. Fortunately we¢re done with them now and though there are still mountains to climb, they¢re not as steep or dangerous. And of course there¢s Mt Katahdin at the end whose own degree of difficulty is legend.Last night I heard raindrops pitter-pattering on my tarp at 2:40. I bounded out of my hammock and grabbed my hiking clothes and stashed them under my tarp. I woke Gayle to inform her of the rain. But it didn¢t last long and didn¢t start again till morning as I was packing away my hammock. But by the time we started hiking, it stopped and hasn¢t returned all day .I got to camp this afternoon at 4:00, first time arriving at a reasonable hour since starting the Wilderness. It¢s so nice not being rushed. Gayle had already hung her hammock and put on her camp clothes by the time I showed up. She¢s become a faster hiker than I. There¢s a nice breeze this evening so there¢s at least a slight chance my wet hiking clothes will dry overnight.Tomorrow we hike over a series of mountains including White Cap Mountain from which we¢re supposed to text Hippie Chick at Shaw¢s to let her know if we¢re on schedule to meet us the following day at 4:00 for our food pick-up to get us through the rest of the 100-Mile Wilderness. And so far we¢ve been able to keep up with Poet¢s plan which will put us at Abol Bridge, the end of the Wilderness, in just eight days.
Date: 2021-08-10
From: Carl Newhall Lean-to

To: East Branch Lean-to
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

We¢re halfway through the Wilderness in days (4 of 8), and almost in miles (47 of 100). That feels like a great accomplishment   when you consider we¢ve hiked by far the more challenging half.This morning we hiked over the last big mountains we¢ll encounter till Katahdin. On top of White Cap we had some cell service so I spoke with Joan and told her how we¢d be finishing the Wilderness in eight days instead of our originally planned ten, thus making up for the extra two days we added early on. Gayle called Hippie Chick at Shaw¢s to confirm that we¢re on track to make our food pick-up tomorrow at Jo-Mary Rd, 12 miles out. The plan with Shaw¢s had been to meet there at 4:00, but with another four miles to our planned camp, we asked if we could meet at 2:00 instead. It may be challenging to get there by 2:00, but we¢ll be leaving before 6:00 and other than one climb in the morning, it should be smooth sailing. But if we think we might be running late, Gayle will break away and do the hustle. She¢s considerably faster, especially in the afternoon.I discovered a bit of a food situation this morning. I hadn¢t really been conserving my rations, not bothering to assess what I had left until breakfast this morning. While drinking my coffee I dumped out my food bag and found to my horror that outside of tonight¢s dinner of mashed potatoes I had a Slim Jim, a Snickers, a Kind bar and a packet of Cheese-its. That needed to cover breakfast and lunch today and breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Oops. Shame on me. Gayle was also low on food but was able to spare me a bar and a packet of Belvita cookies. So I ate no breakfast and split the Belvita packet into two portions which I ate during our morning climbs. Aside from that, I ate only a Kind bar in the afternoon, holding out for tonight¢s mashed potatoes.  After dinner Aaron, with whom we¢d been camping for a few days, gave us three spare Cliff Bars of which I¢ll eat one for breakfast tomorrow. Then a little later, two women who had overheard our food conversation this morning, showed up with a little bag of their spare food. Now we have plenty. I treated myself to a ¢Fun Size¢ Snickers for dessert. The trail provides.The Maine Appalachian Trail Conference, who maintains the trail up here, has been busy replacing old outdated privies with new, spacious, state-of-the-art structures. They¢re clean and don¢t stink. Imagine that.The weather these past two days has been really nice and today I got my first glimpse of Mt Katahdin from the north face of White Cap.
Date: 2021-08-11
From: East Branch Lean-to

To: Antlers Campsite 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I arrived at Jo-Mary Road, the location for our food pick-up, shortly before 1:00. Gayle had arrived earlier and had already prepared a hot lunch for us. The pick-up was planned for 2:00, but the Shaw¢s van was already there when we arrived. The kindly delivery man had a cold can of Coke for me and a frosty PBR for Gayle. (Pabst Blue Ribbon is the beer of choice among the AT hiker community.) After sharing the three bean chili and chewing on some jerky, we were off again for another four miles to Antlers Campsite making it a 16 mile day, our longest on this trip. To be sure we¢d make the pick-up on time, we had started hiking at 5:25 this morning with only the faintest daylight illuminating our path.With only brief climbs this morning, today¢s hike surely represents what I¢ve been hearing about the second half of the 100-Mile Wilderness. It¢s nice and easy. Mostly level ground with only occasional rocks to maneuver, mostly near water crossings. There¢s a lot of natural beauty up here. Ponds and lakes abound, blueberries growing alongside the trail, and areas where the mature trees are sparse and much of the forest floor is jam packed with new growth. It was somewhat disappointing, however, to hike for well over an hour to the sound of the lumber industry harvesting trees. Their operation was not in sight due to the AT¢s protected corridor, but the noise sure came through. I think the big lumber companies own much of the land we¢ve been hiking through.Antlers Campsite is situated alongside Jo-Mary Lake, a rather beautiful setting. It was threatening rain all day but it never actually rained. The faintest of sprinkles started while setting up my hammock, but by the time we finished dinner it had stopped. Someone said the next two days will be hot. In the middle to upper 80¢s.Just three more days in the Wilderness putting us at Abol Bridge on Saturday. We plan to stay at the campground there where we hope to shower and wash our disgusting clothes.It¢s exciting getting this close to completing the AT, and I¢m also very much looking forward to being back home with Joan. I miss the comforts and routine. I¢m so fortunate to have such a wonderful wife who has supported me and this crazy adventure of mine.
Date: 2021-08-12
From: Antlers Campsite 

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

If by R&R you mean rocks & roots then yes, this has been a day of R&R. There were many long sections of trail today that were covered in twisted jumbles of tree roots that slow me down to a crawl. And if not roots, then picking my way through rocks is another pace killer. I¢m sorry to complain because the day had some really good offerings as well. There were two huge lakes we walked along, Jo-Mary Lake and Pemadumcook Lake, with the trail walking across their sandy beaches. There were also some stretches with level, soft pine needle footbed running alongside a stream. Perfect superhighway with a view. But when I hit the harder stuff, particularly after hiking six hours, I¢m beat and just want to be at camp.We arrived at Wadleigh Stream Lean-to before 3:00 and wasted no time getting our hammocks hung. We¢d fetched water a mile or so before camp, hearing that the water source here was poor. Gayle, trooper that she is, carried the additional 1.5 liters to camp, tucked into the back of her pack. As is typical, we get right down to dinner, the early bird special. Gayle ate an alarming quantity of food. Oatmeal appetizer, Pad Thai, and a packet of mashed potatoes.We¢re now six days into our eight day traverse of the 100-Mile Wilderness and have covered 76.5 of its miles. We hope to camp at Abol Bridge Campground upon exiting the Wilderness. From there it¢s just a one day hike to put us at the base of Mt Katahdin for our summit the following day.
Date: 2021-08-13
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to

To: Rainbow Spring Campsite 
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

Lying in my hammock last night I heard the bass rumbling of thunder followed by some rain. It didn¢t get heavy and only lasted maybe a half hour. I put my shoes and pack under the hammock but left the clothes I¢d rinsed out in a pool of water hanging on my clothes line. Call it a final rinse.It¢s really beautiful up here in north central Maine. Today the trail ran along streams with waterfalls, large lakes and ponds. What has become clear is that the closer we get to water, the rootier and rockier the trail becomes. It makes sense. These waters lie in a depression with the trail running alongside at a higher elevation. When it rains, the water naturally flows down into these bodies of water and while doing so, takes some of the dirt from the trail with it, leaving the roots and rocks behind. So we hikers pay a price for these pretty waterside views.We climbed our last mountain today until our final ascent of Katahdin. At the top I was able to get cell service so I called Joan who was having her morning tea. It was so nice not to be cut off by spotty service. I got pretty choked up when I told her how much I looked forward to being back home. She sent me a virtual hug and expressed how grateful she is that Gayle is here to cheer me on.We¢re at a nice campsite tonight on Rainbow Lake. By the lake there¢s a spring fed water source, a pipe running the cleanest, coldest, most delicious water ever. We were there before others so I stripped down and bathed in the clear lake and rinsed out my sweaty hiking clothes. It¢s been quite hot and humid these past two days and my pants get soaked with sweat down to below my knees. Not pretty.Just one more day in the Wilderness, an 11.2 into Abol Bridge. If we summit Katahdin on the 16th, it will be two days short of five weeks since our start in Hanover.
Date: 2021-08-14
From: Rainbow Spring Campsite 

To: Abol Bridge Campground 
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

A smooth decamping and breakfast had us on the trail at a record breaking 5:15 this morning. We had decided to rendezvous at Hurd Brook Lean-to, the last shelter in the Wilderness, 7.7 into today¢s 11.2. I showed up 20 minutes after Gayle and ducked under the roof of the shelter just as the first raindrops fell. A thunderstorm brought buckets of rain, but after snacks we donned our rain jackets and headed out for our last stretch of Wilderness. The rain slowed and stopped before too long leaving only the rumblings of distant thunder.As I reached a point where I figured I had about an hour of hiking left, my thoughts turned to the 100-Mile Wilderness and how for so many years I¢d imagined myself hiking it and completing the AT. Then I started noticing bright areas on the trail ahead and my shadow returning. Soon the clouds dispersed and the trail was dappled in sunlight. The forest leaves were still wet with rain making then nearly sparkle. Moments later I saw the sign up ahead warning southbounders about entering the Wilderness. How perfect an ending. Then I walked across Abol Bridge and snapped today¢s beautiful shot of Katahdin.On the other end of the bridge sits Abol Bridge Campground, a privately run campground with tent sites, RV spaces, and some small bunk rooms. Gayle, having arrived before me, had already managed to secure a cabin for us, had soap and quarters for laundry and soap and towels for showers. We took badly needed showers, threw our filthy clothes into the washer and went to the camp store to buy food for our upcoming final two days.Someone in the store had told Gayle that the next two days were to be sunny. That would be icing on the cake, though today¢s forecast is for winds and rain this afternoon. It¢s 4:00 and so far just a little rain. The most important day for decent weather is Monday, our summit day.Tomorrow we hike an easy ten miles to The Birches. It¢s a small campsite reserved for northbound hikers who¢ve managed to sign up early for a spot there. Otherwise there¢s Katahdin Stream Campground. Both are located at the base of the mountain. The Birches is where Joan and I surprised Gayle last year by showing up early afternoon to take her by car out of Baxter State Park into Millinocket for lunch.