morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-06-11
From: Mount Madison Area

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: fog

After looking at my map last light, I am sure I lost the AT at the summit of Madison, so it¢s time to backtrack. It stopped raining before dark last night, but none of my clothes or gear dried out. To top things off, I have a coffee spill in my tent this morning. It is time to go to town for a massive gear cleaning. I pack up the wet sticky mess and head back up the bolder scramble to the top of Madison. The morning air is dense with cloud cover. The rock cairns are marked with white granite rocks on the top, allowing me to see from cairn to cairn and not much beyond. I run into a large group trying to day hike the entire Presidential Range in one day! The morning haze burns off but the humidity stays. Temperatures on the ridge are in the 70¢s and it is getting warmer as I descend. The descent is slow going and steep. The tops of my knees are throbbing with a new sharp pain.The last five miles to Pinkham Notch is smooth hiking. I was relieved to discover that I still enjoy simple hiking after days of ¢technical¢ hiking. From Pinkham Notch I hitch a ride into Gorham to ¢Hiker¢s Paradise.¢ Just Mark is there exclaiming ¢How did you get here already?!¢ He hitched in from a different road, so he is still a day ahead of me.The hostel is wonderful: a kitchen, laundry, bikes, and even a pool. The owners give me permission to use the garden house and I spray down all my gear. The bank clock reads 93 degrees.
Date: 2005-06-12
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: fog

A LOOOONG slackpack from Pinkham Notch and back into Gorham. Walking the extra miles is worth it. Navigating over the rocks is much easier when I'm just carrying a lunch and my raingear. Hiker's Paradise has daypacks for hikers to use, so I've left the smelly beast at home today. Mary Ann, the owner of Hiker's Paradise, gives me a ride 11 miles back to Pinkham Notch.The Wildcat Range is not nearly as busy as the Presidential Range, but there are still many hikers out today. There is a chairlift that goes to the top of the first Wildcat Peak, so I suppose a hiker could skip the gigantic ascent and just start from the ridgeline. Would that be blue-blazing? Yellow-blazing? I'm not sure. I skip Carter Notch Hut--I'm on a mission to finish the Whites today! I heard there was an excellent swimming hole, and it probably would have been a great break on another hot and humid day. The clouds are building up throughout the day, so I'm trying to get through the hike before any storms begin. The rain never comes, but it is still nice to get back to Gorham with some daylight left. I've been told that Gorham is the last "real town," for a NOBO. Main street is maybe three miles long, so it's really not that big. Oh well, all I really look for in a town is a gas station these days!
Date: 2005-06-13
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: fog

Last night was another night too hot to sleep, even with an ice pack on my head. Mary Ann brings me back to the trail early. I¢m trying to beat the heat, but the morning temps are already in the 80¢s. It¢s hot, but I¢m relieved to see the first miles after Gorham are smooth walking. Will it last?There is a big contrast between the trail conditions here as compared to the Whites. I am now in the Mahoosuc Mountain Range. The Mahoosucs get much less use compared to the Whites. The trail is narrower and overgrown in long sections. I¢m at a slightly lower elevation and the bugs are on a rampage. Gentian Shelter is up on a knoll above a lake with a mountain view, very scenic. It also catches a breeze keeping the bugs down. For me it is just a break, because today I am going to Maine! First I must climb Success Peak. I thought I reached the summit and took a long break, taking in the panoramic views. Then I continue along the trail, flat and above treeline to the summit proper. Two hikers are taking a break here, the first SOBOs! We talk for awhile, me asking many questions about Maine. It is literally just around the corner. The crossing of the Maine border feels surreal. For five months I have been telling people that I am walking to Maine. I have got a lot of skeptical reactions. I was skeptical myself. But here I am, staring up at a blue sign up in a tree: ¢Welcome to Maine, The Way Life Should Be.¢ I am glad no one else is around because the stupid blue sign has me choked up.   Then I let out the usual whoops and run around taking self-timer photographs. Maine!As I swing my pack over my shoulder after my short break, I hear a ripping. It is the chest strap on my pack. I¢ve made it to Maine, but I¢m falling apart at the seams!
Date: 2005-06-15
To: Andover, MAINE!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, it looks like filling in my journal gaps is turning into an after-trail project! I'm currently in Andover, Maine. MAINE! It's still hard to believe I'm here. I might of shed a few tears when I saw the sign "welcome to Maine, the way life should be" three days ago. So far Maine has been a lot of rain and t-storms. Yesterday I went through the famous Mahoosuc Notch, "the hardest mile of the AT." It is a one mile stretch of gigantic boulders that you have to crawl over, around, under. It was scary at times, especially in the pouring rain and solo! It took me just under 2 hours, and I had to take my pack off three different times! My favorite move was taking off my pack and using it as a step to get down a fifteen-foot rock face!I'm starting to see the early SOBOs. Their energy and excitement is a boost.New Hampshire and the White Mountains where like a different planet compared to the rest of the southern AT. Definatly the scenic highlight so far. NH and what I've seen in southern Maine is beautiful but hard! I have never been on hiking trails like these before. I'm calling it "technical" hiking, because there are so many obstacles, sheer rocks faces, and steep descents where you literally have to dangle off roots and trees! It's forcing me to slow down. It's not Life AT 2mph anymore, it's Life AT 1mph...but I'll get there. Everyone seems to be curious about the bugs in the north this time of year. There out there--just bring the DEET. The strongest stuff you can find!Smoothie and Sniffy (sister Becky and Sadie) will be joining me for the 100-mile wilderness and the climb of Momma 'K'. Who votes that the rested, healthy sister is my gear sherpa?
Date: 2005-06-17
From: Andover

To: Bemis Mountain Lean To
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: light rain

Yesterday I took the day off in Andover. It¢s raining again, and I¢m dragging my feet. I don¢t want Maine to pass by without me seeing it. Or maybe I¢m just getting soft. After two days in town I can officially say I¢ve done Andover: I went to both general stores, the restaurant, the post office, and the library! It¢s a relaxing day, I catch up on phone calls and read email. I am excited to hear from Alpha (started with me January 1). He has gotten back on the trail in TN. There is just one other guest at the hostel today: SOBO Jeff. We hang out on the deck trading stories, passing time, and counting cars that drive down main street (there were 3 in 3 hours). Today I¢m back on the trail after a giant-sized breakfast. A stack of blueberry pancakes three inches high! The Andover Guest House is a great place, my only complaint is that we weren¢t allowed to bring our packs inside. My pack never dried out on the porch, and now there is a musty smell to it. Oh well, I¢m back in the rain anyway. The forecast predicts sunshine this weekend. I can¢t wait to get some views of Maine!
Date: 2005-06-19
From: Piazza Rock Lean To

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean To
Miles today: 16.9

Looks like I¢m going to have gear issues right up to the end. This morning I had my backpack balancing on the porcupine-guard on the shelter and it tipped off the ledge, rupturing my water bag. Bad news for someone obsessed with water. I¢ll have to get by carrying one liter of water from source to source. I ask ¢Jason¢s Mom,¢ the other woman in the shelter if she remembers any long stretches of trail where she couldn¢t find water. She says, ¢I don¢t remember zero feet without water!¢ With all the rain this week, she has taken four whole days off in shelters. Today the sky finally looks promising. I can see blue sky for the first time since New Hampshire!   I couldn¢t be more excited to climb to the Saddleback Ridge for my first views of Maine.I¢ve had an ongoing joke on this trail since my first day hiking off Springer Mountain. Occasionally when I see a prominent peak in the horizon I ask, ¢Is that Katahdin?¢ My own AT version of ¢are we there yet?¢ Today is the first moment this ridiculous statement became a reality. On a clear day, Katahdin can be seen from the Saddleback Ridge as a distant silhouette. I can¢t single it out amongst the countless peaks, but it is a boost to know the end is in sight. The ridge has three peaks: The Horn, Saddleback, and Saddleback Junior. Wonderful views, including Lake Rangeley and large blocks of undeveloped forest lands and distant mountains. Other than a cabin here, a logging road there, my panoramic views are mostly devoid of signs of civilization. When I was in Rangeley yesterday, I stopped at the outfitter to buy my fourth pair of boots. Four pairs!   My first pair last 800miles, the second and third lasted 500 miles each. This last pair will make it to the end or I¢m walking bare foot! They felt good walking around the store, but after a day on the trail the tops of my feet have been rubbed raw. I see more SOBOs at the end of the day as I¢m approaching Poplar Lean-to. I believe they are the first SOBOs to climb Katahdin.
Date: 2005-06-20
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean To

To: Stratton, Maine
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

I have been noticing that all this freedom in the woods is giving me an intolerance to schedules, but I didn¢t realize I was incapable of making a correct one. Last night I discovered I am off by an entire day from when I¢m supposed to meet Smoothie and Sniffy in Caratunk. Now I have a reason to stop in Stratton today. Might as well hit up every last trail town anyway! In the morning I meet SOBOs Gills and Samoa coming down from a night on top of Sugarloaf Mountain. I have been hearing about the ski hut open to hikers at the summit for several days now. It sounded like quit the place to camp, and Gills and Samoa enjoyed a great sunset and sunrise. I wish I could have motivated myself to walk a few more miles yesterday.I am putzing along today and taking many long breaks at the overlooks. An Alaskan Husky catches up to me. I stop and wait for the owner, 20 minutes behind his dog! I have a lot of questions for him regarding backpacking with a dog. I¢ve done a lot of hiking with Sniffy, but never backpacking. I¢m a little nervous about fording the streams and rock hopping with a dog. His dog has gone thru two backpacks. He runs into the woods and rubs the straps until they break off. That way the owner can¢t find the pack, the dog food is gone, and fido gets people food¢smart dog! Temperatures are real warm today. I am still hiking between water sources with just one liter of water, and it isn¢t enough for me. Waiting twenty minutes for the iodine to take effect isn¢t helpful either. That which doesn¢t kill you, makes you stronger¢¦The Crocker Mountains make me sweat, like all peaks in Maine seem to do. These peaks have no views, the summits are densely forested. I¢m to the highway by 5:00 and the third car that passes stops to bring me into Stratton. Hitching in Maine has been a breeze.The SOBOs have been raving about the Stratton Inn: $15/night, free internet, free long distance, kitchen¢¦sounds like paradise and I¢m staying the night! The hiker bunkhouse is full. This has never happened before! I¢m usually the only hiker! Don, the owner, sells me a private room instead, stopping by with a cup full of chocolate. Sold! Don is a great guy, very accommodating and seems to really go out of his way for hikers. I vote Don the ¢Miss Janet¢ of the north!Two Katahdin-bound section hikers Mickey and Commander are in the bunkhouse, the other hikers are SOBOs. There is an interesting socialization going on in the community room tonight. The NOBOs are on one side, the SOBOs are on the other, each having private conversations!I get plans squared away with Smoothie. If all goes as planned, she¢ll be driving to Caratunk and staying with Steve the Ferryman the night before I cross the Kennebec River. Of course, after being abandoned by other family members on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I am skeptical of any plans!
Date: 2005-06-21
From: Stratton, Maine

To: Little Bigelowo Lean To
Miles today: 15.3

I begin the morning safe inside my hotel room looking out a screen door. Dark clouds of mosquitoes are flying around the parking lot and dozens are clinging to the screen itself. It doesn¢t seem safe to go outside today. Don is outside on the porch with powdered donuts, still not enough to get me outside!But the big bad Bigelows are beckoning. The word on the trail is that the Bigelow Range is the last big climbing in Maine, that the trail gets noticeably easier, even flat. I¢ll believe it when I see it! Elevation-wise the Bigelow Range has the last peaks above 4,000 feet until Katahdin. I can¢t spend the rest of my life hiding from the bugs in the Stratton Motel, so I soak myself in DEET and I¢m on the trail by 7:30. I catch up with Commander and Mickey before Horns Pond and pass. That¢s my speed: too fast to hike with the section hikers, to slow to hike with the thru-hikers that pass me!Both caretakers are out at Horns Pond, their season is just starting and they are cleaning up campsites. They give me a detailed description the three peaks I¢m about to climb. They know it well, this is their office. They also remind me that today is an important hiker holiday: Hike Naked Day. Yeah right, as if I want to expose more skin to the black flies and mosquitoes!Six-tenths of a mile to the first peak: the Horn, requiring the usual grind. I can see people on my next climb to Avery Peak. More SOBOs, there seems to be a steady flow now. From them I pry for updates on the hikers ahead of me. Thicket is the first NOBO to finish the trail this year, on June 18. He has made himself a legacy among these first SOBOs: apparently he ditched his sleeping bag in Monson when the temperatures were in the 90¢s, then the cold and rain hit while he was in the 100-mile wilderness. He must of really been cruising thru to stay warm! Congratulation Thicket!Back to the Bigelows, just one more peak left: Little Bigelow. I¢m a little sad the big mountains are over after today, these views in Maine have been spectacular. For me, Little Bigelow has about eight false summits, hitting a peak then dropping down only to start climbing again. The summit of Little Bigelow is important: it¢s mile marker 1999.9.   ¢Let¢s party like it¢s 1999.9,¢ writes a fellow hiker in Bigelow Shelter. The shelter is 1.5 miles down the peak. I¢m pretty tired after the long day today. The shelter has an area know as ¢the tubs,¢ several pockets of water in a stream. Great for icing the feet after a long day!
Date: 2005-06-22
From: Little Bigelowo Lean To

To: Pierce Pond Lean To
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: few clouds

By now I¢m reluctant to believe anyone about trail conditions, but I must say they were right this time. The trail did flatten out after descending Little Bigelow. Somewhere shortly after Little Bigelow is the 2000-mile point, and several miles later I cross a road with ¢2000-miles¢ pained in white in the middle of the road. There are two SOBOs taking a break here. We talk about the journey, and I point out that their 2000-mile marker is in the Smokies. I can remember back to that point: Pigpen and Celtic where about to celebrate hiking 2000 miles, I was pumped that the ¢miles to Katahdin¢ column in my guidebook finally dropped below 2,000 miles!   I am a little jealous that most of their adventure still lies ahead while mine is coming to an end. More SOBOs in the trail and at the Carry Pond Lean-to. This trail used to be so quiet¢¦I think I¢m getting a small taste of the craziness that takes place every spring at the other end of the trail. A ¢small taste,¢ as 300 thru-hikers start in Maine, while about 3,000 start in Georgia. I am worried about one thru-hiker I met today. My first warning was when he asked me what the next state after Maine was. He then tells me he entered the 100-mile wilderness with only 3 days of food saying, ¢I knew about the 100-mile wilderness, I just didn¢t know it was right at the beginning of the hike.¢ Hmmm¢¦The walk includes many strolls along lakeshores today. I am putzing along slowly despite the smooth trail. I¢ve got no reason to rush. The Kennebec River is an obstacle I can¢t cross until the morning, so I can¢t go much farther today. The Kennebec River has a ferry service, and this time of year it only runs for a few hours in the morning. The last miles of the day are through a dense conifer forest. I am going a little crazy after walking through monotonous scenery all afternoon. Around each corner is another stretch that looks like the last, I could be walking in circles for all I know! Apparently the majestic scenery of New Hampshire and southern Maine has spoiled me! The bugs seem to be coming in pockets today, then they wage an all-out attack the last two miles. I mean attack¢they are biting right thru my freshly applied DEET! The air is literally a dark cloud of mosquitoes around me. My right hand is hold both of my trekking poles and my left hand is running up my arms and legs as I¢m running down the trail. ¢This is torture,¢ I¢m thinking, as I plan on setting up my tent as quickly as possible and seeking refuge once I get to the shelter site. But my life changes from a living hell to paradise in one minute. As soon as I leave the AT and start heading down the side trail to Piece Pond, I am welcomed with a blast of cool lake breeze and here is the most scenic shelter site I have ever seen. The breeze is strong enough to keep down the bugs. I went from wanting to quit this trail for good, to standing on the shores of paradise in one minute. The highs and the lows of this hike are really getting extreme! This trail is not conducive to mental stability!
Date: 2005-06-23
From: Pierce Pond Lean To

To: Pleasant Pond Lean To
Miles today: 9.7

An epic sunrise over Pierce Pond, enjoyed with one-eye open and still deep inside my sleeping bag. The lake breeze kept the mosquitoes away all night, but something has made a meal out of my neck last night. Perhaps a spider? I can feel four large welts and they itch like mad. I am up early, excited about meeting Smoothie and Sniffy in Caratunk this morning. They should be waiting on the other side of the Kennebec River in a few hours. I leave the shelter at 7:00 and walk the four miles to the river. I¢m 20 minutes early for the 9:00 ferry. Shortly Smoothie and Sniffy appear as small dots across the wide river. Then Steve the Ferryman is paddling across against the swift current of the Kennebec. The ferry is a canoe, the ¢official¢ route for the AT. The canoe even has a white blaze painted on it. After signing my life away and putting on a life jacket, we are paddling to the other side. The river looks to be 12-feet deep at its highest points, but Steve informs me that the water level can rise quickly and without warning as a dam upstream releases water automatically.We dock the boat on the river bank and I am attacked by Sniffy. It¢s been a long time since I¢ve been home, and I haven¢t seen the dog or my sister in 4 months. We talk with Steve for awhile before heading into Caratunk. It sure is nice to have wheels to get around town with! I am thrilled just to be driving in a car, while Smoothie wants desperately to ditch the car as she just drove for 20 hours from Wisconsin. I refuse to go back in the woods without a bug suit after yesterday¢s attack. It takes a few hours to shower, do laundry, pack, and find bug suits. We could only find mesh jackets with head nets, nothing for the legs, but this is better than nothing. Now I am ready to face this last stretch. For the first time on this journey, I have official hiking partners.We hike six miles today, to the Pleasant Pond Lean-to. A short day, but a good way to initiate Smoothie and Sniffy to life on the trail. We are only carrying two days worth of supplies, as the stretch from Caratunk to Monson is short. Today is again blazing hot day and we take a short walk to Pleasant Pond to swim after hiking. Just a few yards from the shelter, Pleasant Pond is a little shocking. It is a fully developed recreation lake with cottages everywhere! We can actually hear someone¢s generator as we cook dinner back at the shelter. Smoothie has enough energy to build a campfire tonight. I tell her that if she still has enough energy to run around gathering wood, we probably didn¢t walk far enough today! She rolls her eyes when I tell her that I have never built a single fire on the AT. Evenings are for laying on the thermarest and moving only when absolutely necessary. Just you wait Smoothie¢¦
Date: 2005-06-24
From: Pleasant Pond Lean To

To: Monson
Miles today: 15.3

After the first warm-up miles between Caratunk and Monson, the hiking is going well with Smoothie and Sniffy. Sniffy is turning out to be a good trail dog. She is finally starting to realize the walking is going to be an all day activity and is starting to slow down. At first Sniffy was putting in double the miles, running ahead, then backtracking to us. Now she has learned to walk between us at our pace and is starting to lay down whenever we rest. Other than running off the side of Pleasant Pond Mountain and disappearing for five entire minutes, Sniffy has behaved. The terrain has been relatively flat so far, only a few climbs. I am not walking at my normal pace, but I expected that. I didn¢t expect Smoothie and Sniffy to be in the same condition as I am. It is actually a good thing to slow down. It is forcing me to take everything in. Soak up as much as I can these last days on the trail. We¢ve had a few river crossings, nothing we couldn¢t ¢rock hop¢ across. Sniffy has learned to follow me across, and tries her best to follow my route. She doesn¢t see the rocks just below the water surface that we step on, so she did have one mishap where she tried to make a 6-foot jump from rock to rock. She missed and hit her head on the rock instead of making the jump. She came up like a champ, wagging her tail as I¢m cracking up on the shore of the river. Smoothie is delighted at her first taste of Trail Magic. I teach her how to ¢yogi,¢ and we are able to hitch a ride all the way back to the trailhead in Caratunk where her car is. This is the longest hitch I have done yet, a distance of over 60 miles. Again, it is weird to have wheels, and even stranger to show up at Shaw¢s Hostel in a car! Monson is my last trail town, and Shaw¢s Hostel is an important part of AT culture. It¢s hard to believe I¢m finally here, my last town before the end. I try to get Smoothie to understand this, but the remaining 114 miles has different meanings for each of us. This will be the longest trip she has ever done. Keith Shaw is at the door to welcome us to his hostel. It is late in the evening, and we are both deliriously tired after a full day of hiking, hitching, and then the long drive to Monson. Keith informs me Just Mark is also here. He must have taken a few days off if I caught up. I thought he would have been a few days into the wilderness by now and I¢m glad to be seeing him again. Shaw¢s is dog-friendly, ¢Katahdin,¢ the resident dog is delighted to see Sniffy. We aren¢t up for doing much tonight, especially since Shaw¢s famous breakfast is scheduled for 4AM the next morning. It is supposed to be in the 90¢s tomorrow with high humidity, and most of the hikers want an early start. Keith doesn¢t want to be cooking in the heat either, and I can¢t say I blame him.