morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-08-15
From: Base of Moose Mtn 

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The others were still in their tents when I took off up the Mtn. At or near Moose Mtn shelter, I met NOBO Poppop, SOBOs Phoenix, Delta, & Breeze [or was it Brie?], & Section hikers Meteor Man & Grateful 1. The latter was communicating something similar to my motto "This is the day that the LORD has made" ¢ the giftedness of life and especially the gift of the Trail experience. I didn't stop at Trapper John shelter because it's a quarter mile off the Trail. Lyme-Dorchester Road is very confusing: no markings to tell where the Trail goes. The "Companion" says, "Water & ice cream at blue house just West of Trail." I walked more than 0.4 mi. West without finding anything blue. Turning the other way, I found that that instruction doesn't count because the Trail actually follows the road to the East without crossing it yet. At a road intersection, I met Bottle cap, Fun Size, Rome, & Waffles (from Blacksburg, Va.) & Dr Huss, who appeared over the next few days as a hiker, but here as someone with a vehicle helping slack-packers. They didn't seem to know where the blue house was but at least showed me where the trail went from there, along the South side of the road. After a while, it actually crossed the road, & THERE was the blue house! The owner of the house wasn't there, but a helper was, along with Achilles, Neema, Bottoms Up, & Genie. I hadn't seen Neema since NY, & she was worried I'd gotten much thinner. I had lunch, ice cream, & a coke there & went on. They were planning to stay a while & make a pasta dish together. At the next road crossing, I met some people with the "Wounded Warrior" project: Popeye, Flo, Nesquik, Rosie, Mama Goose. Some of them had just been interviewed by a local TV station, following them up the Mtn. with camera. As I went up the hill from there, I met various members of the production staff coming down, obviously not as fit as the hikers, so it took them longer! Somewhere along the way, I met a SOBO who insisted his trail name is "Code Name Rambo". I also met Trail workers for Dartmouth Outing Club, who were working on a side trail off the AT. These groups put in huge amounts of effort, which we hikers need to appreciate more.I had hoped to get to Hexacuba shelter, but it was practically dark by the time I got to the fire tower on Smarts Mtn. As I cooked supper, Smack & Duffle-Miner went up & decided to stay there for the nightThe Firewarden's Cabin is near the tower, fully enclosed, with sleeping on the floor. Poppop was there when I arrived to claim a place near the door. When I came back from cooking supper, the place was full.
Date: 2013-08-16
From: Firewarden's Cabin

To: Rt 25 ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Hikers Welcome hostel
Miles today: 20.1

I had a little trouble getting going this morning, even tho I knew it would be a long day. It wasn't that I didn't wake up early enough. I had to be careful of all the other people sleeping on the floor of the cabin as I packed up in the dark. Then I had to take a detour to the privy [a very nice A-frame with lots of light]. It was fully light by the time I got on the Trail. Then after about a half mile, I discovered that I'd left my shirt hanging on a nail in the shelter [working in the dark, I was focussed on the floor]; so back I went.My timing was good in one way: in about a half hour, I saw some moose-poop on the trail. This is not unusual ¢ the moose like to use the Trail too! This must have been pretty fresh because when I looked up ahead on the Trail I saw what looked like the rear end of a large horse. Sure enough, it was a female moose, going ahead of me. When she became aware of me, she disappeared into the woods [They are good at that].The morning was basically down one hill & up the next, Mt. Cube. I did take the detour to Hexacuba shelter to fix my lunch. Unlike Dick's Dome in Va, this hexagonal shelter is big enough to fit lots of hikers. The only problem is if the wind is coming in the open side (2 adjacent sides of the hexagon). Today was plenty warm & sunny. In fact, when I got to the top of the mtn, I didn't want to stay very long, in spite of good views, because there was no shade up there. Other hikers stayed to bask in the sun, but I try to avoid that. Besides, I didn't have enough battery power to take many pictures.In addition to Mt. Cube, there were lesser ups & downs, including Ore Hill & Mt. Mist, thru-out the day. The Trail got confusing at several places. Crossing NH 25A & NH 25C, the Trail jogs some distance to one direction or the other, without any clear indication of which direction & how far. This isn't unique to NH ¢ the trail clubs need to get together to come up with some standard protocol for these situations. Farther along, there was a scarcity of blazes around Webster Slide, in the last 3 miles that I did in the dark. I had a choice when I got to NH 25: go on another mile & arrive at Jeffers Brook shelter after 10:00; or go 1/4 mile down the road to the hostel. I called the hostel; Miss Janet answered, & assured me it was OK to come in so late. So that's where I went. The other guests had eaten a home-cooked meal, & they fixed some of the left-overs for me. Nice welcome! All the indoor bunks were taken & there were a number of tents in the yard; only two of us ended up in the outdoor bunkhouse [like a big tent]. I got a shower & went to bed. Got to be ready to start the White Mtns tomorrow.
Date: 2013-08-17
From: Rt 25 ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Hikers Welcome hostel

To: Rt. 112 ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Kinsman Notch
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: broken clouds

Glencliff doesn't have many houses, but it does have a post office that opens a 7:30am. I was able to get my mail, repack my stuff, & leave much of it at the hostel to be picked up in a few days. That way I could lighten my pack for today. I got a good start up Mt. Moosilauke, which marks the beginning of the White Mtns. My recollection of this (South) side of the Mtn. is that it was easier than the other side. It includes some road walking, then a fair number of rocks as you go up. When I got to the top [elev. 4802], there were a lot of people: practically all the thru-hikers I've seen recently, plus a huge number of day hikers, many of whom came up another trail. I had a snack up there, but it was too windy & too crowded to cook lunch. I'd come up rather slowly, but was able to speed up on the way down, even with some rocks. Not many people passed me on the way down to Beaver Brook shelter. I cooked lunch there, amidst a bunch of hikers who stopped there, including a SOBO couple planning to stay there. Also there, I met Rosie, a member of the Warrior hikers. We walked down the Mtn together. She was trying to meet up with Miss janet, who was to pick her up at the trailhead at Kinsman Notch.I had been texting Susan to coordinate meeting her there too. I was also trying to take pictures of the waterfalls along the Trail & the structures Dartmouth Outing Club has built to help getting down the rocks [some of them slippery]. Nevertheless, I was able to stay ahead of Rosie. As I neared the bottom, Susan said she was 11 minutes away. I figured I was closer to the end than that & would likely be waiting when she got there. However, there was more flat trail at the bottom than I remembered. When we arrived at the trailhead, I immediately saw Miss Janet's van in the parking lot. Then I looked at the entrance to the parking lot, & there was Susan's car, arriving exactly at the same time I did, after driving 3 days across Canada! Amazing!Susan had brought grandchildren Andy & Ellen, & we all headed for a motel near North Woodstock. After I cleaned up, we went out to a nice restaurant, & I got to talk by phone with my daughter, Katy, in Seattle. Zero day tomorrow!
Date: 2013-08-18
From: Zero Day in N. Woodstock

To: Zero Day in N. Woodstock
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The Episcopal church was easy to find [right behind the Woodstock Inn] and welcoming, but I continued my pattern of visiting churches while the pastor was away. Here they did Morning Prayer with a lay leader who didn't try to preach. It was fun to spend a day with family. The motel was actually a group of duplex cottages along the river. The water attracted the grandchildren there & later out at Franconia Notch, where they jumped from rock to rock across Whitehouse Brook. They & Susan also got to check out some muddy trail, as we tried to locate a spot for them to bring me food on Tuesday. Part of the idea of Susan's coming out from WIsconsin is to help lighten my load by more frequent food drops.We stopped at a zip-line place to sign the kids up for tomorrow & then went to a pizza place for supper. I didn't do much related to preparation for hiking all day except to go to the laundromat at 9:00 pm.I guess that's what a "sabbath" should be: rest from whatever our "work" is.
Date: 2013-08-19
From: Rt. 112 ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Kinsman Notch

To: Between Kinsmen
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Since I had tried to spend my zero day with Susan & the grandchildren, & I'd done my laundry rather late last night, I had left sorting & packing till this morning. It took longer than I'd expected to get my pack ready & prepare a food drop for Franconia Notch tomorrow. Susan dropped me off at the trailhead at 10:30. I hoped that would still be enough time to get over the Kinsman mtns to Kinsman Pond shelter. Almost immediately, I found a fallen branch to try to move out of the way. A couple of section hikers appeared & helped me. They were a father & 10-11-year-old daughter, El Fantasmo & Clover, & I saw them a couple more times today. The day's hike began with going up & over Wolf Mtn. I had hoped for some good views of Mt Mousilauke behind or South Kinsman ahead, but all I got was glimpses thru the trees. It seemed like a nice clear sunny day but a bit hazy in the distance. I met SOBOs TopHat & Jules plus a few section hikers coming South, but no one passed me going North all day. Have I now escaped the "bubble" of hikers I'd been with? I did see Monk & Grinch at the Eliza Brook shelter, where I stopped for supper. It's a nice new shelter since my last visit, still in a lovely setting near a noisy brook. I followed the brook much of the way up South Kinsman, passing numerous pretty waterfalls. Then came a lot of rock climbing, which felt good for a while, but left me pretty exhausted. It got dark before I got to North Kinsman. I finally found a space between the densely packed evergreens to pitch my tentFull moon again.
Date: 2013-08-21
From: Liberty Springs tentsite

To: Base of Mt. Garfield
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

Feeling (& hiking) better today. Being very stiff made for slow getting going, including loading up on water from the spring. It took from 5:30-7:30, but it was also an opportunity to loosen up. I took some more Advil, just in case. I also discovered that one reason I was having so much trouble with balance yesterday was that the stabilizer strap on one side of my pack had come loose [the third instance of poor sewing on this pack!] ¢ I was able to tie it so that it did the job even with my top-heavy packing.Starting out, there was still a bit more uphill climb to get up on the ridge. Crossing Franconia & Garfield ridges involves a LOT of ups & downs on rocks, much of it out in the open above tree line. I dug out my sunscreen as a precaution. I saw lots of thru-hikers along the ridge & passed them when they stopped [temporarily, of course]. A number of those who had seen me yesterday expressed their concern about me. On a bright clear day like this, there are spectacular views -- it feels like you can see mountains in every direction for miles & miles. I found it also amazing how far away you can hear people. When you look for the speakers, they turn out to be over on the next peak, half a mile away. It's easy to see how mountain people thought up yodeling as a means of long-distance communication. I met SOBO Emperor, flip-flopper Pack Man, plus lots of day hikers. I stopped for lunch in the lower space between Mt. Lafayette [5300 ft] & Mt. Garfield [steeper, but not as high]. I was passed by a lot of hikers looking for Garfield Pond because they needed water. The pond turned out to be most of the way up the Mtn & not very good-looking water. There was the promise of better water over the Mtn at Garfield Ridge shelter, another nice new log shelter, where they incorporated some artistic curved logs.I ended up camping at a place off the Trail a bit North of the shelter, near the Franconia Brook trail. I wanted to go a bit farther, but not as far as Galehead hut. I tried to make use of the natural cushioning of the moss without messing it up too much.
Date: 2013-08-23
From: Crawford Notch ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ US Rt 302

To: Mizpah Spring hut
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: clear sky

After breakfast at a coffee shop, I spent some time reorganizing my pack. I think I got it a little bit lighter. Around noon, Susan took me to the Trail at Crawford Notch & walked in a bit with me. Going up Webster Cliffs, the Trail keeps getting steeper & steeper. Even when you get up on top, there are lots of minor ups & downs over big rocks. I stopped around 2:00 to cook some lunch. While I was eating, a 68-year-old hiker named Pop-pop came up with a companion, & they followed me the rest of the afternoon. I get very competitive in such situations & worked hard to stay ahead of them.After a mile or so along the cliffs, the Trail rises to Mt Webster. Great views of the notch all the way, altho I couldn't see Susan, who spent some time at a pond down there. The way over to Mt Jackson wasn't too difficult, even involving some boardwalks, with a short rock climb at the peak. Only a little distance to go after that. I asked about work-for-stay at Mizpah Hut ¢ apparently I was the only one to ask, so I was accepted (nice thing about Mizpah is that there is a campground alternative right next to it). The work ended up being pretty easy: helping them sort recyclables so they could carry them down the Mtn. on their next supply trip. The "croo" at each hut has to pack in loads of supplies each week. I think they usually have an easier side trail for that than the AT. Then I got to sit round while the paying guests ate, altho I was invited by some guests to sit with them for dessert. One of those guests was Sugar Buns, whom I had met in early April at Aquone hostel. She had flip-flopped & was heading South now, but having some difficulty that led her to stay at the hut.After the croo had cleaned the tables & washed dishes (they refused my offer to help), I got to eat the leftovers with them. It wasn't bad except for being cold. After the guests had gone to bed, I got to sleep on the floor of the dining area. No worse that sleeping on a shelter floor.I had inquired at Zealand Falls hut about what kind a rock its mountain was made of. I tried to see if anyone at Mizpah knew any more geology. The hut director got out the official naturalists' guide (a 4-inch-thick notebook), & we learned that it is Conway granite [likely named for the town or the person the town was named for]. Later I noticed a poster on the wall that said that the rock between Mizpah & Mt. Washington is not granite but gneiss & shist. I'll have to see if I can tell the difference.
Date: 2013-08-24
From: Mizpah Spring hut

To: Mt Washington
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: clear sky

One of the hardest things about work-for-stay is waiting to eat breakfast till the paying guests have eaten, various announcements have been made, and the tables cleaned off. The croo doesn't eat before the dishes are done. So of you want an early start, & have done your assigned work, you can leave early & forego breakfast... Or you can just wait. Not having far to go today, I chose waiting. The guests clear out pretty fast, heading for other huts or various mountain peaks. A couple of days ago, I had met such a large bunch of hikers coming South from Galehead Hut that I imagined them lining up at the hut & all taking off together when the starter's gun went off. The croo was an enjoyable group, beginning to focus on their trek down the Mtn for supplies. They had a couple of volunteers from Maine who would take care of the place while they were gone.It was a beautiful day on the Presidential Ridge, a gradual uphill toward Mt. Washington. Visibility was great in all directions [altho you don't see Mt. Washington till you are a couple of miles from it] ¢ I wish I knew what all those other Mtns are. There were loads of day hikers & "peak-baggers" [people trying to visit all the Mtns over 4,000 feet]. I went over Mt. Pierce [aka Mt. Clinton, for DeWitt Clinton], & near but not quite over Mt. Eisenhower & Mt. Monroe.I stopped for lunch at Lakes of the Clouds Hut, the largest of the huts. They had a line of people getting soup & ran out of the lentil soup while I was in line; the other soup didn't sound so good, so I just got water & left. From the hut to the summit of Mt. Washington, 1.3 miles, is ALL walking over boulders on a trail marked with cairns [rock piles every 30 feet or so, usually with a white rock on top]. It got more & more crowded with hikers as I approached the top; & when I got there, I actually had to wait in line to get my picture taken by the summit sign [last time here, I'd barely been able to find the sign, the fog was so dense]. Mt. Washington is the highest Mtn on the trail in the North & is known for severe & capricious weather conditions, but not today. Susan had driven up the toll road to pick me up, a scary proposition for her because of the steep shoulders & hairpin turns. She was there waiting for me as I approached. She had become acquainted with a couple of section hikers who were completing their AT hike at Mt. Washington, having been prevented several times by bad weather.  They rode down with us, or actually, he drove us down in our car, since he felt more confident about that kind of driving [probably worse going down than going up!]. They were staying next to us in the motel, & we then went out to dinner with them to celebrate their completion.
Date: 2013-08-31
From: Dream Lake

To: 2 Zero Days in Gorham
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

The rain last night was probably the hardest I¢ve experienced in my little tarp tent. I awoke just as it started, so I could pee without getting too wet, & put my poncho over one end of the tent. That kept most of the spray from coming in. The stream entering the lake seemed louder with the extra water, and I¢m sure the waterfalls on the way down were more spectacular than usual. I could see the lake quite clearly in the daylight, but there seems to be no easy access to it, so I could see but not touch.I went down the Mtn on the Peabody Creek Trail. After some boardwalks around the lake, it proceeded downhill on a manageable slope without too many rocks to climb down (I did manage to slip on a couple of wet rocks anyway) but with three fords over the creek. When the trail started to level off, I thought I was almost there till I saw the sign for a side trail to ¢Grand Falls¢. According to the map, that¢s only halfway down, so I was going to be late. But it did get easier, turning into an old road before reaching the bottom. It was nice to see Susan walking up the trail to meet me.When we got to town, I had a lot of stuff to dry from the rain, did some pre-washing for when we go to the laundromat, & did a little grocery shopping. After lunch at an all-you-can-eat oriental restaurant, Susan did a little organ practice at the church in Berlin, & we went to a presentation of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, apparently an annual Labor-Day week-end event up here.I called my doctor son-in-law about my ankle. His advice; RICE ¢ rest, icing, compression, & elevation. I¢m trying to work on those these two days, so that I can get back out Monday.Sunday morning, after a breakfast buffet, we went to church in Berlin. It was good to hear Susan playing the organ again, & it was good for the congregation, since otherwise they had no accompanist for this week.In the afternoon, we heard another Bach presentation. It was excellent, with some really accomplished musicians, much better than I would have expected for some small towns in an out-of-the-way part of NH. Going up & down the stairs to the balcony wasn't real easy for my ankle & other stiff joints. After a few snafus, my new shoes finally arrived; so, tomorrow, I'll get to see what difference that makes.
Date: 2013-09-06
From: Frye Notch Lean-to

To: Hall Mtn Lean-to
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: broken clouds

There seemed to be a lot of noise pollution in the woods this morning -- was it some off-road vehicle tearing up terrain OR a mobile sawmill? I finally concluded it was some other kind of logging equipment, hard at work over the ridge. I was passed by Jackalope, Zorro, Smoky & Sleeper, All Well, Sky-breaker, Seabiscuit, Long Island, & Sideshow. Some of them were waiting for a ride when I got to East B Hill Road. I also met 3 SOBOs from Ohio who were almost done. After passing Surplus Pond, the big climb of the day was up Wyman Mtn. & over to part of Hall Mtn. When so many people pass me, I expect the next shelter to be quite full. Hall Mtn turned out to have only one man in it, Zook, a flip-flopper from Milwaukee. Others were camped nearby.This was the first day in more than 10 that my legs felt up to going more than one mph. It was easy trail this afternoon, & I was up to 1.3 ( Yes, I used to do 2 routinely). Since I felt good doing it, I'm hopeful that it bodes well for the future.   I did take a little time to do some trail maintenance as well. Several people thanked me, & a couple of guys helped at one point: I had cut a couple of 5-inch branches & thought they could be rotated off of the Trail if I could get a little help. One hiker just picked up the whole thing, moved it down the trail a ways, & tossed it off to the side. I wasn't expecting such strength!The Trail was very narrow in many places because they need to cut back some of the shrubs & brambles along the sides.
Date: 2013-09-08
From: South Arm Road

To: Bemis Mt Lean-to
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: scattered clouds

After a great breakfast & worshiping in the pretty, little Congregational Church in Andover, I got my stuff together, & we headed back out South Arm Road. Before dropping me off, Susan wanted to look at the lake: South Arm is an appendage to Lower Richardson Lake, a very long lake with lots of cottages & boat access points. She then walked in a little bit on the AT with me, but it got too steep pretty quickly. On this clear, sunny day, there were lots of good views going up Big Blue Mtn. I met flip-flopper Size 15, whom I had met down South, & was passed by NOBOs Danger Dave & Jackalope. The rest of the way, there were few views, as the Trail skirts Elephant Mtn thru old growth Red Spruce & then ascends the highest peak of Bemis Mtn. From there down to the shelter, I was going slower because it got dark very quickly on the east side. I had a little trouble finding the side trail to the shelter, actually spotting some tents before I could see the structure. It was empty. Last time I was here, the shelter was full & so were all the good campsites. I had ended up pitching my tarp-tent up against a big rock, which let a little water in when it rained that night.