morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-07-12
From: firemans cabin shelter, NH

To: Hikers Welcome Hostel, NH
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: scattered clouds

thank god i was heading to a hostel today cause my body was tired. i needed to relax and eat some good food and take a shower, it had been over 2 weeks since i had showerd or done laundry, crazy. i went to this hostel with the people i met at the shelter before and it was a packed hostel. i met even more poeple. they all had heard of me from crank telling them that some girl was hiking crazy miles to catch him. and i guess i missed him again by like 20 minutes when i got to the hsotel. he decided to move on. ugh. so annoying. but anyways... it was another nice day and we say in the sun and just relaxed which was amazing.
Date: 2009-07-13
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel, NH

To: Eliza Brook shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: scattered clouds

so today were some huuuge climes. we actually started the whites, which is crazy. mnt moosilauke was the first big one. so i mentally prepared myself very well for it, it got up to 4802 ft in elivation, so it was nice. i just took it slow and i was dripping sweat like crazy. but the hike up was so much fun and soo pretty. when i got to the top finally the wind was just blowing cause it was above tree line so we were pretty much on top of a rocky mnt bald, so the wind was blowing. but we had some views. i couldnt stay up there long though cause it was cold with the wind. i met up with chip ontop and we hiked the rest of the day together.the decline was the worst part of the this mnt though. it was the steapest and longest decent i feel like we've had in a while. there were steps and crow bars drilled in the sides of the rock so poeple could hold onto them to cause it was so steap. it went along a waterfall stream like thing so the rocks were all wet and it was tough. chip and i were exhusted and once we hit the bottom we were soo releaved it was over. the decent was definialy worse than the clime.we had one more mnt to go over and that wolf mnt. but that only went up so 3400 fh and it was a much easier clime (well from the looks of it). but i think i thought itd be a piece of cake since moosilauke was the a steap clime, so i didnt really mentally prepare of it and i... was... struggling. it was one of the worst mnts i can remember. which tells you that its the physical stuff thats tough, its the mental thing that will make or break you. so when i hit the shelter man i was happy. i was able to squeeze in (thank god cause it was going to storm during the night realllly reallly hard apparently). lots more sobos who were all really nice. but no crank...
Date: 2009-07-17
From: Eliza Brook shelter

To: Eliza Brook shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

so... i had some pretty down days. i actually ended up zeroing for 3 days in this shelter. i slept for 3 days. literally. i think i just got bummed out. i got bummed out about leaving all my freinds to catch two people that i really wanted to see again who i never saw. crank was always just so close but i couldnt do it anymore. i think i realized that i might be chasing someone who might not nessisarily want me to catch them. so that meant i was away from all the people i want to be hiking with. so i just bummed out and slept. i met lots of southbounders and people came and went and then all of a sudden, the evening of the third night spaceman came walking into the shelter!! i was sooo excited!! thats all i needed was to see a firmilar face, he didnt even have to say anything, i was ready to hike the next day. so spaceman and i were headed into the whites...
Date: 2009-07-18
From: Eliza Brook shelter

To: Greenleaf Hut
Miles today: 15.0

holy cow the whites rule!!! we did laffaete ridge and it was beautiful. i mean probebly one of the most beautiful days on trail so far. the sun was out and the sky was blue and we hiked up over tree line and just walked on the ridge line of these rocky mnts. it was amazing. "D" (an older man who ive friended out here) said it was so beautiful he cried. we hit the first huts too. there basically like cabin/hotels in the middle of the mnts. they are completly off grid cause they are so in the middle of no where and hight up and people pay like $90 to stay there the night and get dinner and breakfast cooked for them. i guess this area is so heavily used that the huts are the best ways to keep the wilderness and wild as possible. so with thru-hikers, you have to get to the huts b/c 4pm-530pm and they will take 4 hikers in for a work-for-stay. so we dont have to pay, and we sleep on the dinning room floor. the best part is we get all the left over food! so i ate sooooo good in the whites. i mean, throw up in your mouth good. it was awesome. usually for the work-for-stay i would just wash dishes or sweep, it was never more than 1 1/2 hrs of work. it was a pretty good deal. the worst thing was though that sleeping in the dinning area. it was the only area for guests to hang out in and the kids would stay up late and the parents would wake up early, so that was the worst part. but it was a cool experience. oh and on top of the ridge today we could see mnt washington in the distance and like always, it was up in the clouds. we'll be hitting that in a couple days.
Date: 2009-07-19
From: Greenleaf Hut

To: Zealand Hut
Miles today: 13.0

it was another awesome day today! blue skies, its amazing! after eating some good breakfast, spaceman and i headed out on the ridge again. we climed mnt garfield which had an awesome view! it was a tough clime but once you got up there, it was totally worth it. the climes are steap in the whites. they get right to the point, but i like that. you work really hard to get to the top and then are above treeline and just have the most amazing views in the world. its like right out of a magazine. i cant believe i am hiking in all of this beauty. spaceman and i stopped at Galehead hut for lunch and they gave us all these breakfast left overs, it ruled! the hard part about having all this awesome food at the huts is that we have really hard hiking to do imediatly after. its good for energy but man is it horrible burping up all that food as your climing these mnts. and we're climing. hand over hand climing where we have to put our poles away to have both hands free. its scary at times but its really fun. this is probebly some of the most fun ive had, and the weather has been so great that we've had views both days so far. keep your fingers crossed for more!
Date: 2009-07-20
From: Zealand Hut

To: Mizpah Hut
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

no horribly big climes today. i mean, its the whites so we're climing but nothign too bad. lucked out again with weather and spaceman and i have been spending the days together hiking and talking and getting to know each other even more. its really nice. im really glad that i had someone i was already semi-close to to go through the whites with. the trails are kinda congested with weekend hikers cause of the huts and stuff. we're running into some southbounders, but not too many. i hate having to race to the huts to get a work-for-stay, but we're getting up so early any ways cause of the sleeping situation so its easy to get out and hiking pretty early.
Date: 2009-07-21
From: Mizpah Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 12.0

waking up today was kinda a bummer. it was horribly cloudy out and rainy and it just looked aweful. and today we are climing mnt washington, which is 6500 fh and if it was cloudy at the hut then you know it was like 40 mph winds and completly white ontop of the mnt. so spaceman and i hung out in the hut and slept in a when we woke up again at noon, the sun was out!!! we packed up out things and headed out at 1pm. we couldnt believe how it cleared up!we only had 12 miles to do today, their white miles though, but we got through to the first half pretty fast and had some late lunch at lake of the clouds hut. (left overs.. mmm...) then we headed on out to mnt washington and climed the huge rocks and made it to the top with a view!! we had a view on mnt washinton!! that is crazy! they say only 65 days out of the year there is a view on washington and we had one! it was windy and we didnt wanna hang out up there too long, but the fact that we had a view was amazing. it was like disney world up there. there are vans and trains and stuff that shuttle people to the top of the mnt and they have a snack stand and bathrooms and all sorts of things. so it was werid coming to that on the top. it kinda takes away from the fact that you just climed a mnt. so we came back down and there were a bunch of 4000 footer mnts in a row and just looked georgeous. it was a better view than ontop of mnt washington. it was so great. definitly got some pics today was a good day. we didnt get work-for-stay cause we left so late, so it was $10 to sleep in the hut, so that wasn't bad. and we still got food, so i was happy. spaceman and i met up with dude and patrick too at the last hut so it was nice hanging with them.
Date: 2009-07-22
From: Madison Hut

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: fog

so today is out second to last day in the whites. im pretty sad about it. but it the whites definitly went out with a bang with the wildcat mnts. they were tough. straight up and up. i mean, its nothing we cant do, but it was a good clime. but it feels so good when you truckin up these mnts and your legs are so strong that its tough but you can push through it and you can just feel how strong your legs are. its awesome.blue skies again if you can believe it! there was lots of climing again today. its just so much fun. i absolutly love the whites. it feels like a ride the entire time. we came to carter notch hut at 4pm and got work-for-stay. and the crew there ruled! they were all so nice, definitly my favorite hut crew of all the huts. they had to at one time tell me to stop fanny tooting though cause the guests were around. lol. ive been in the woods too long, but then again, i think i was this way before this trip, teeheeso after the guests went to sleep the hut crew whipped out some beers and we did beer bongs! hilarioius! my first beer bong on the trail, so funny! i havnt' done one of those in like 5 years. i woke up in the middle of the night and had to go pee, so i went outside and realized that the stars were out! i hadn't seen stars in who knows how long! it was awesome! i could see the milky way, and shooting stars, it was so great. and being in the middle of the mnts like that, everything we visable. i spent some time out there and just watched the skies for a little bit before going back to bed. im ganna miss the whites...
Date: 2009-07-23
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: White Birches Hostel
Miles today: 15.0

walked out of the whites today it was another aweosme day out though. well at first it was cloudy and windy actually. we had a big clime coming out of the hut and climed carter mnt. it was just climing up huge rocks. and the wind was blowing like crazy, i had to really concentrate on not loosing my balance. there was no view cause ontop of the mnt unfortunitly due to the clouds, but it cleared up late in the day. mid clime i found spaceman sitting on behind a huge sheet rock so i sat there with him and it got so quite cause the wind wasn't hitting us at all with the rock shield. it was actually pretty cool. but right when you stood up you nearly blew away! we also climed mnt moriah which wasn't anything too crazy. it was out last mnt in the whites though. overall, the i would have to stay the whites were really on the top of my list so far. and it was hard but nothing was too hard where it wasn't fun and exciting. and the climing was awesome! we werent just hiking we were rock climing! where u needed to pay close attantion and go slooow. if we hiked 2 miles an hr we were doing really good. it was like we stepped off the AT 2009 when we were in the whites too when it came to weather. every single day we had views and blue skies at some point. we got to lay in the sun for lunch a few days (i think its been over a month since ive done that). the weather really made it the most enjoyable experience the whites could have given me. im really happy. and im really glad to have gone through it with space man. he was my partner in crime in the whites. hes like me brother now, its awesome!
Date: 2009-07-25
From: White Birches Hostel

To: Carlo Col Shelter, ME
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: few clouds

so we've done it, ive made it to maine! its absolutly crazy that im here. for the past 4 months ive been saying "im headed to maine" and its werid to be here. now i have to say Katadhin. craziness...so its exciting to enter maine, BUT man does this state suck so far. its horribly muddy, raining, and we hike up and down these mnts that are just covered in this sheet rock that is wet and muddy so its crazy slippery and you have to hike soooo slow. if im going 2 miles and hr thats a good pace. its like, "welcome to maine, now slip and break your leg only 300 miles away from katadhin" thats how i feel about maine so far... hopfully itll get better...
Date: 2009-07-26
From: Carlo Col Shelter, ME

To: Full Goose Shelter, ME
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: light rain

so i thought today was going to be a nice and easy day, only miles, thats nothing. so i didnt leave until 1230pm which ended up being a mistake. well, not a huge mistake, but it wouldve been nice to have had a little more time. its took ALL DAY! all day to hike 9 miles! i think i was going like 1- 1 1/2 miles an hr! it was exhusting, even though we're moving so slow, your brain has to be paying such close attention all the time that you actually get exhusted from hiking this kind of stuff. i fell once today and scrapped my arm actually and two other guys fell as well. its almost impossible not too at some point. at certain parts there are these muddy areas where they put wooden plants over that we can walk on. well the water is so deap that the planks just float in the muddy water. so they get covered in mud and you cant see where the planks are. so i use my hiking poles to feel ahead of me and then step down on the planks, well... i must have misjudged and i missed the plank and stepped down and i sank into the mud up to my waist! i am not exagerating! i had to call for de-leader who was up ahead about 20 yrds cause i couldnt get out and he said when he turned around and saw me, he could only see half of me cause the other half was down in the mud! so he had to pull me out! it was rediculous! pretty grose actually, i could feel all the bubbles and mud moving all over my leg, and i wear and skirt and no underwear, so that was the worst part! oh man it nasty!
Date: 2009-07-27
From: Full Goose Shelter, ME

To: Baldpate lean-to-ME
Miles today: 12.0

we were very lucky it was a nice day today and not raining, cause we had the Mahoosuc Notch to hike. this is said to be the hardest mile on the AT. its down b/w the sides of two mnts and its just these piles of huge boulders that you have to clime over and under and around. its crazy actually. it took me an hr and a half to hike 1 mile... 1 mile! i had to put my poles away so i had both of my hands free to help me clime these boulders. it took a lot of upper body strenght and abs to get around these things. also, b/c of the boulders, in some spots there is huge chunks of ice that are always there year round cause the sun never hits it. so that was pretty cool to see. and when i was low under the boulders where the ice was, the temperature was like 10 degrees cooler and then id clime up over the rocks and the warm air would just hit me in the face. it was pretty cool. but after and hr and a half i was happy for it to be over. i was just scared i was ganna hurt myself! but i made it out in one piece
Date: 2009-07-28
From: Baldpate lean-to-ME

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

i headed out today with de-leader from the shelter and we only had 8 miles to go. not too shabby, so we thought. when we headed out, we had a pretty decent clime ahead of us, baldpate mnt. it was rainy and cloudy and absolutly no views at all. and the rocks were all wet and slippery and the entire mnt was covered in huge sheet rocks. and with all the fog it was impossible to keep your eye on the blazes cause they were just so hard to find! we spent a lot of time just looking around to make sure we were on the trail. then when we confirmed that we were, we had to take even more time placing our footing and making sure we didnt fall. it was a really slow/tough clime cause of the weather. on a dry day and with no clouds it would have been awesome. there was a scout troop that stayed at the shelter with us last night that were sopposed to be climing the same mnt that morning and we hoped they got there and turned around cause it was too dangerous for young kids and inexperienced hikers. it sucked. i mean, it got the blood going, but i was happy for it to be over cause the entire time im thinking, "dont hurt yourself, dont hurt yourself"we made it into town in one piece which was awesome. we stayed at the Pine Ellis Hostel which was so wonderful. i was really happy to be there. and the diner that was down the street was amazing!!! the best was their breakfast though, blueberry pancakes were the best damn blueberry pancakes i have ever tasted. for the next few days i found myself thinking about the diner while hiking. loloh and another cool thing was the i ran into spaceman in town who i thought was way ahead, so we got back together, so that was great!
Date: 2009-07-29
From: Andover, ME

To: Old Blue Mnt, ME
Miles today: 12.0

so i stuffed my face with a great breakfast at the andover diner and then headed out for the trail. i was only planning on doing 10 miles and camping near a stream cause it was going to be really nice that night. 0% chance of rain!!! i dont know if i have ever heard that this entire hike!i hiked pretty fast the first 6 miles, did it in two hrs. it had been a while since i hiked 3 mph, so that was pretty nice. since i was ahead of schedual for the day i decided to clime old blue mnt and tent up there. the clime was great, not too hard and i got up there at 430ish, so it aloud me to find a nice spot to set up camp. there was a great rocky area and had a nice patch of dirt, so i put my tent up without the rain fly, so it was basically just a net tent. i was sooo excited to have it cause the stars were ganna be out full blast tongiht, there was not a cloud in the sky!so i was up at around 3600 ft, it was basically above treeline and i fell alseep early and then woke up at around 11pm and opened my eyes to the most beautiful sky i may have ever seen. ever star was out, the milky way was as bright as can be and i was all alone an top of the mnt. it was quite, peaceful and beautiful. literally jaw dropping when i opened my eyes. i layed there for the next 20 minutes or so and just felt so calm and happy. this was definitly one of the most memorible, soothing, calming, and soul-touching moments on the trail so far... it was amazing...
Date: 2009-07-30
From: Old Blue Mnt, ME

To: Sabbath Day Pont Lean-to, ME
Miles today: 14.0

it was a beautiful day today. i woke up and was just so happy from the wonderful night before and the clear skies in the morning. i hiked up Bemis Mnt which was awesome! it was this mnt that was completely covered in this rock and there were pine trees just popping out of the rock scattered throughout it. but the trees werent too dense so you could see across the mnt top perfectly. i found a really nice spot that had a great view, so i decided to take lunch there. i ended up stayin there for over 3 hrs! it was so great. i ate and then layed out my therma-rest and layed down and took and nap in the sun ontop of the mnt. i layed on my side and my view was this georgeous mnt range where not one building was in sight. i layed there for a while before i fell asleep and just watched it while hawks flew above me. (i know, it totally sounds cheesey, but its real!) b/w last night and today, i really felt connected to me hike and where i was and what i was doing... i loved it.
Date: 2009-07-31
From: Sabbath Day Pont Lean-to, ME

To: Rangely, ME
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: moderate rain

i walked to the road and was working on getting a hitch into town that was 9 miles away. i was just ganna pop in for some town food and come back out to the trail since i only had 11 miles to hike for the entire day.about 25 minutes into trying to find a ride, all of a sudden this large white van pulled over and said "jump in!"i got into the back and there was this adorible golden retreiver in the back and the two guys in the front introduced themselves. one was thru-hiked in 2006 and has since moved to Rangley, ME. they took me back to their house and told me i could stash my stuff at their house to keep it outa the rain and told me where to eat some good lunch. i told'em i was headin back to the trail before they got outa work at 5pm so i said thank you and they headed out. after i ate some food i was so tired i took a nap on their couch (which said to do) and i ended up being home when they got back. so they invited me to stay the night, take a shower and do laundry for nothing. it was sooo nice!took a nice hot shower and then we headed to one of the guys parents house for dinner and his parents were sooo wonderful!! they cooked us an amazing dinner and we had some drinks, it was a blast! then we headed out on their boat and went out onto Rangely Lake for the next 2 hrs and watched the sun set and listened to the loons. it was just amazing. the sounds of the loons were soo cool. the next morning i ran into spaceman in town who i had seperated from again right out of andover. he came back to these dudes house and showered and we did laundry and we ended up staying the night again. i wasnt planning on zeroing in this town, but these people were so nice. we had dinner again at the guys parents house and had some drinks and hung out all night. i now have a place to stay anytime i ever want to come to maine, i can go to rangley and stay with these lovely people. its just amazing how people can be out here. take 2 complete strangers in their house, let them use their shower and laundry and computer, everything while they're away all day at work. then bring them to their parents house for dinner and take them out on their boat. and they didnt let me pay for a thing. nothing.i always heard about strangers taking hikers in but it hadn't happened to me until now. people really can be amazing.
Date: 2009-08-01
From: Rangely, ME

To: Spaulding Mnt Lean-to,. ME
Miles today: 16.0

we headed out of rangley, ME today and one of the guys i stayed with took us to the trailhead in the morning and hiked up saddleback mnt. unfortinitly we didnt have a view up there but it was a hell of a clime! we took a sky hill rout rather then the AT cause it more direct (aka- STEEP!) thank god i had a huge breakfast in my belly of i wouldnt have made it. i was dieing! definitly opened up my lungs for the day and once i got to the top i felt great.so spaceman and i got back on the AT and started following the blazes as we've been doing this whole time and then after about 1/2 hr or so we ran into 'D' who was headed north and started after us, but for some strange reason we were talking towards each other. ugh. we were headed southbound. so we turned around and had to clime back up saddleback for about a 1/2 and we summetted twice. lol. first time i made a wrong turn and headed southbound. it was funny and alright only b/c it was only about 3/4 of a mile.when we got onto saddleback jr the clouds had cleared and we had a fanstic view. it was above treeline at just over 4000 ft. so we took 2 hrs there and ate and layed in the sun. god did the warmth of the sun feel great.