morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-01
From: THE SUMMIT

To: Katahdin stream 
Miles today: 5.2

We were up and ready bright and early for our shuttle to Baxter State Park at 6:30. The ride to the park was an hour on a bumpy road. "Ole man" from the AT lodge was our driver, and imparted pearls of wisdom to us as we drove. We got to the Ranger station and picked up our stinky loaner daypacks, took pictures to document the beginning of our journey, and make sure they had one last picture so they knew who we were when they were pulling our dead bodies off the mountain. (just kidding) There were 10 hikers starting with us, two wounded war veterans, one with no legs! So at this point I'm thinking, if he can do it, so can we. That feeling lasted until the first boulder field that we had to pull ourselves up by bar handholds...I just have one thing to say...That mountain kicked our butts! I wouldn't call that a hike, rather a boulder/free fall rock with climb with no climbing gear. (Jake would be proud) There were several times where i thought we were going to die. We made it off the mountain with jelly legs, got to our campsite in just enough time to set up our tents and dive in before the rain came. Oh, and did I mention that the temp today was 90! I guess we brought the Arkansas heat with us...Hello Mother Nature we are in Maine!
Date: 2013-06-02
From: Katahdin stream 

To: Abol bridge campground
Miles today: 9.9

We started out by stopping at the ranger station and weighing our packs.Flash-32Noodle-30New World-27Choices-35We redistributed a little later. The hike at first was very hot and we were struggling getting used to our packs fully packed. We trudged on with the idea of getting 13 miles down the road to Hurd Brook Lean with a treat stop at Abol Bridge for a treat at the fishing store at mile 15.1. It was the carrot dangling in front of us. we came to our first river ford and it was raging so we opted to take the high water crossing, adding another .9 miles to our day , but we were safe. About 3 miles from the fishing store it started to rain a little so we put on our pack covers, but not our rain gear because we were so hot. we thought the rain would cool us down. The skies dumped rain and hail and lots of rain. for the next three miles we were drenched and swimming, yes swimming, through puddles. There was nothing dry at that point. when we got to the Baxter State Park boundary we realized were not going to make it to Hurd Brook, so we regrouped and headed for the campground at the store. Terbear was with us and we all got a campsite with no power and no water for the steal of $60 (ha) They had a bath house with coin operated showers. 6 min for .50...the best 6 min of my life. We tried to get some things dried out but round two of storms really prevented that.
Date: 2013-06-03
From: Abol bridge campground

To: Hurd Brook Lean to
Miles today: 3.5

We left late trying to make use of the hand dryer in the bath house to dry things out a bit. We all decided that a short hike to the shelter and spend a day chilling and trying to dry out a little more was what we all needed to boost our spirits. To save time and catch up the journal i'm going to make some quick entries.
Date: 2013-06-04
From: Hurd Brook Lean to

To: Rainbow Stream Lean to
Miles today: 11.5

Today was not a hike! It was a slog through mud, roots, and water. My knee had been sketchy for the last two days and today was the icing on the cake. By the time we got to the shelter it was toast. To top it all off, when you get to the shelter you have to cross over a slippery log stretched across a roaring river with water coming over the log...not a safe crossing. I just did it because I knew if i thought about it i couldn't do it. Noodle went next and lets just say she panicked halfway across. I couldn't go out on the log to get her because it would push the log down. I screamed at her to focus and she finally got close enough to me to get her. We cried, hugged and right then I knew that fording rivers was not going to happen...The mommy in me, kicked in, and right then I made a decision to get us out of here. We had a pow wow in my tent and we discussed options. We made a decision to hobble my knee to the next road crossing that we can get cell service and GO HOME.
Date: 2013-06-05
From: Rainbow Stream Lean to

To: pollywog stream
Miles today: 2.5

We made it to the road...no service. Then a truck came out of nowhere and told us there was a fishing camp 1 mile down the road that had limited cell service so off we went. We stood by the shore of the most beautiful lake and stood in the one spot they told us to and made a phone call first to Mark, then to Rebecca at Lakeshore House. She put us in touch with a wonderful man named Buddy that said he could be there in two hours to take us to Monson. He plucked us out of the wilderness stopped at jo-mary road so we could pick up our food drop, waited while we left some food for all our friends form the shelter last night and then took us to the most wonderful donut shop before bringing us to Lakeshore House. We met Rebecca and settled into our rooms, did our laundry, and called Mark. Ok, so let me cut to the chase. We explored all our options to get home...then we had dinner at he restaurant here where Rebecca sat down with us and through the course of conversation I shared with her my fear of watching someone drown in a river crossing, my knee issue, and most importantly, my not really wanting to give up. So we came up with a plan. Skip about 100 miles, the most dangerous river crossing, and have them shuttle us to mile 128.5 to avoid all the dangerous rivers. So there you have it...This crew is not done yet! So stand by...this fat lady hasn't sung yet!I'll try to get the picture thing figured out too and post them but for now town chores are calling.Things I have learned so far...2013 is not a good year to die...it is our hike not anyone else's...we will not look back on the void of 100 miles and we really dont't care what the purest have to say about that...Hike your own hike...and in the words of MISS JANET, never quit on a bad day! See you down the trail.
Date: 2013-06-06
From: pollywog stream

To: Moxie bald mountain lean-to
Miles today: 99.8

Today is a new day! The kids went to the post office to retrieve our food drop, while I updated our journal. They came back to tell me all three packages were missent or lost...what! That is our food for the next 5 days. Regroup time. We are getting so good at this flexibility stuff. The lady at the post office said she can bounce them to Caratunk which is a two day hike away. We have enough food to get us there barely, but we will not starve. Now on to the next part of our day. Rebekah's husband, Charlie drop us off in the middle of the woods just past the west branch of the Piscatataquis River (a really dangerous ford) Let me pause here and explain a ford-you come to a raging river and you must walk right through it one slippery step at a time-being mindful of the fact that if you fall you must get free of your back pack and hope you can swim to shore safely. I'm not going to sugar coat it...it is what it is. Back to the trail...we had a short 4 mile hike to our lean to for the evening. We came to a "stream" about 2 miles in and our spirits sank. It was raging. New world and Choices thought they could get across in the part that was only waist deep...Noodle started in full blown panic mode and Flash...well i am the mom...went into safe plan of action mode. We bushwhacked thru the woods to a safer crossing up stream. Noodle still wasn't hot on this plan but we all worked together as a team and got to the other side safely. We continues on to our home for the evening. WOW! We are right on the most beautiful lake. We started a nice fire to dry shoes and socks and settled in. Later, Freehander, Nectar, and Spits joined us in the shelter. They all started a week ahead of us and told us of their struggles with the 100 mile wilderness and how lots of hikers had been pulled out fir injuries and hypothermia. Glad we passed on that...as i know most if you who are praying for us are glad too.Update on my knee: I am pushing thru the pain while still guarding it. Spits gave me some KT athletic tape...we'll see if that helps.Thought for today...Life is a journey to be experienced...not a problem to be solved.
Date: 2013-06-07
From: Moxie bald mountain lean-to

To: bald mountain brook lean-to
Miles today: 4.1

Moxie Bald mountain was our task for today. 2 miles up and 2 miles down...4.1 miles for the day. I know short miles but we realized we must go slow because we won't be make it to Caratunk before the post office closes on Saturday. We hope our packages arrive and we can pick them up on Monday. I don't know if we are getting better or if that 2600 foot climb wasn't so bad. Awesome views from the top, and texting ability from the top. AT Mother Nature was kind today and placed some beautiful wild flowers by the trail..purple just for me. So glad we are still out here. It rained on us again but just lightly. Made it to the shelter. Made dinner and right as we were about to turn in for the evening another hiker named Eric from Knoxville came in. He is section hiking as far as he can get before mid July. Hurricane weather coming tomorrow....probably zero in the shelter tomorrow. Let me explain zero...you hike 0 miles for the day...generally taken in towns. Injuries for the day...Flash gets has huge rock fall on foot from fireplace...New World cuts his finger with pocket knife...duct tape and paper towels is the fix.Thought for the day...we should take all sharp object from New World and compression socks help swelling from falling rocks. Thanks Jeremy!
Date: 2013-06-08
From: bald mountain brook lean-to

To: bald mountain brook lean-to
Miles today: 0.0

With a forecast of heavy rain we decided to "Zero" in the shelter today. Zero is a day of no hiking, zero miles. We figured it would be good on the knee and give New World's wound a chance to heal. About midday a hiker named Pops came by to eat lunch and dry out and asked what happened to New world's finger. We told him of the slice and dice routine he had done the day before. He said lets unwrap it and look at it, so we did. It started gushing blood again...not good. We all prepped for field surgery. Lots of superglue, blood, and a patient that started seeing stars and almost passed out, we got it glued together. Then we put the patient to bed in his nice warm sleeping bag. Pops saved the day! Who needs an ER right? It cleared off and we got bored so we went for a hike. Did you catch that, we went for a hike! What else is there to do in the middle of the woods. All the streams are roaring and we have to Ford a "stream" tomorrow. Hope for the best!New World's thought for the day...tiring, hot, cold, boring. I think it was a kinda "ghetto" surgery back in the hollar bo ~New World
Date: 2013-06-09
From: bald mountain brook lean-to

To: pleasant pond lean-to
Miles today: 9.0

A couple of miles into the hike we came to a...well i would call it a raging river of death...but the trail guide calls it a stream. HA! I have to say we conquered it! We tried to rock hop, but Flash just plunged right in and got up to her mid thighs and got to the other side only to fall in the bogg part. Noodle cried and Thought something was attacking her but Choices reassured her it was only her backpack straps floating in the water. He was great at calming her and getting her and himself across the "stream". New world did the best. While we were struggling with this crossing, another hiker named Bear that had been at the shelter with us the night before, came flying by like that "stream" was nothing. He disappeared up the trail after that and we will probably never see him again. From that point on, everything was just do it "Bear Style". we hiked up and up and up Pleasant Mountain...nothing pleasant about it...except the views. From the top we could see Moxie Bald Mountain that we have climbed the day before. We also saw a large group of families day hiking that gave us our first trail magic. we warned them that we were stinky and they said they didn't mind. (Flash was smelling quite boggish) We told them of our adventures and asked about the nearest medical facility to have New Worlds finger checked out. Turns out one of the gentlemen was a Doctor...once again, the trail provides. One family gave us gummy worms, the best Jordon almonds, and granola bars. I didn't even crack my tooth this time on the almonds. Thanks day hiking families. You saved the day as our food supplies were low and we knew we would not make it into Caratunk before dark. We continued on down the rock slide/wet muddy trail to our shelter for the night. The boys found a beach on the pond near our shelter for the evening. They found a piece of Styrofoam to float on. They Said that was the most fun they have had on the AT. Tomorrow we go into Caratunk and FOOD!Thought for today...The trail provides everything you need!
Date: 2013-06-10
From: pleasant pond lean-to

To: US 201 Caratunk
Miles today: 5.7

Caratunk never looked so good! We got into town and went to the post office and behold, our packages were there! We checked into the Sterling Inn and ordered two pizzas and headed for the showers. We devoured those pizzas like they were nothing. Then on to laundry, washing our shoes off in a bucket, and sorting our resupply. Then onto dinner at the other place in town, Northwoods Outdoor Center. We had heard a rumor about a hot tub there. This was no rumor. The staff told us that we were welcome to use it and we hopped in, clothes and all, right after dinner. The weather forcast for the next day was for heavy rain so we decided to ZERO again tomorrow at Northwoods Outdoors. We are getting quite good at this zero thing. We have three hard days ahead of us...the Bigelow Mountains.Just a side note to explain our extreme mileage the other day...I added the part we skipped to keep our journal current. Also, sorry about the journal entries not being fast. Cell service is very sketchy and i am not the best at this technology stuff. Pictures are an issue that we are working on. Standby!
Date: 2013-06-11
From: US 201 Caratunk

To: us 201 Caratunk Northern Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0

Best day ever! Life was rough today...sitting at the lodge...in front of the fireplace...watching it rain...jumping in the hot tub occasionally...food at our fingertips...showers...warm bed. Don't feel sorry for us today because it was awesome! New World finally made the statement we all wanted to hear last night...I'm full. It only lasted 2 hours though. Hiker hunger has kicked in for him I guess. Several people have asked about where to send something. Our nest stop for mail is Rangeley ME. Address it to: AT hiker Shawn Chapman/General Delivery/Rangeley, ME 04970. Our expected arrival is around the 18th or 19th and it takes about 3-5 days priority mail. Just a note too if you send it priority(the preset, if it fits it ships boxes) if we miss it they can bounce it forward to the next stop for us. I hope that is clear. So tomorrow its back to the wild...but this sure was nice here.Don't forget to sign our guest book on the left side of this page. We look forward to all the comments.
Date: 2013-06-12
From: us 201 Caratunk Northern Outdoor Center

To: pierce pond lean-to
Miles today: 4.1

We started our day hiking in the pouring rain...welcome back to the trail! We first had to take a ferry/canoe ride across the Kennebec River. It is a very fast moving river with water levels that rise and fall quickly, so Hillbilly Dave paddles you across. Thank you Hillbilly Dave...we didn't have to ford this one. Next we hiked a short 4 miles to Peirce Pond lean-to. This is the place where, almost a year to the day, and Northbound AT Hiker named Parkside lost his life in a drowning accident. He was 11 days from finishing his thru hike. His family had posted a picture and an information sheet about how to survive while swimming and cramping occurs. Mental note...no swimming over our heads while thru hiking. We also saw three hikers from TN that we started with on June 1. They were flying down the trail...we probably wont see them again. Beautiful pond that we spent the night by.
Date: 2013-06-13
From: pierce pond lean-to

To: west carry pond lean to
Miles today: 10.0

We got up today excited because we saw on our map that we were going to encounter a beach...in Maine. The trail followed along the east and west carry pond on some very sketchy log bridges, but we finally arrived at our beach. It was a 10 foot by 4 foot section of sand, but we didn't care. we took our wet shoes and socks off and laid our on the beach! We spent an hour basking in the sun, yes I said sun, something we have not seen much of here in Maine. Then the party was over and we put our semi wet sock and shoes back on and continued on to our castle for the evening. Tomorrow we start the bigelows.
Date: 2013-06-14
From: west carry pond lean to

To: Little Bigelow Lean to 
Miles today: 7.6

Up, up, and away. We climbed and climbed and climbed some more. We came to the road before the shelter and thought we had only 1.4 miles to go. They lied! I am telling you that was the longest hardest up hill climb and it kept going. We finally made it there and it was worth the climb. The shelter was very nice but the privy was quiet impressive. Yes, we get excited about privies out here! It was a two seater, with windows, curtains, a real door with a door knob and even had been painted white on the inside. Real class. There were several other hikers staying, but we met one hiker who is trying to complete the entire trail in 60 days. He cooked his food and was off to complete his 35 miles for the day. There was also a northbound section hiker named Meg who gave us lots of trail info for what we had ahead of us. Thanks Meg! Today we started hiking up Little Bigelow Mtn and Tommorrow we do the rest and on to Big bigelow with its twin peaks.
Date: 2013-06-15
From: Little Bigelow Lean to 

To: Avery Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 7.2

Ok, so that was a climb today. We now understand why everyone talks about the Bigelows. Your climb forever until you reach the top at 4090 ft and the trees disappear. It was very windy and very cold, but man the views. We saw all the mountains we had climbed in the last 2 weeks and then the ones we still have to climb. We also had cell signal for the forst time in a while so we called home. We would love to call everyone when we get signal but we have to conserve our batteries. We think we will start getting better signal now because we are getting closer to towns and not so much in the wilderness anymore. We were able to see what we would be climbing down tomorrow taking us into town. We got very excited at the thought of town. We still had to hike down to our campsite, between the peaks of the mountain, for the evening. It was a very steep down hill and our only water source was very dirty small stream right in the middle of the downhill. We made it to our platform for the night, set up our tents and settled in for the evening. They provide platforms to set up your tent on so you don't disturb the vegatation. It was very cold, but we were at 4000 ft.
Date: 2013-06-16
From: Avery Memorial Campsite

To: Cranberry Stream Campsite
Miles today: 6.3

Down we go! We crested the second peak and the started down and down and down. There were parts of the hill that New World said we could just sled down, and he was right, we just didn't have one handy. Noodle just wanted to cry when we saw a couple day hiking and they said we had about another mile and a half. We thought we only had half a mile. She said she was just going to camp there on the side of the hill. She finally decided that wasn't a good idea and if we were going to beat the rain, she must go on. We made it to the campsite just in enough time to get our tent set up and get in before the rain. We decided to camp just outside of town of Stratton so we could hike in around 8 and maximize our town time. We are all dreaming of town food.
Date: 2013-06-17
From: Cranberry Stream Campsite

To: Stratton Motel
Miles today: 1.8

We hiked uphill to the road...the map lied again. We made it to the road around 7:30 and tried unsuccessfull to summon a ride hitch hiking into to town. The lady that ownes the hotel finally came to get us around 8:15 and we all 5, another hiker named Chipmunk was with us, piled into her vehicle with her standard size poodle laying across us. It was interesting. First stop the grocery store to purchase stuff to cook breakfast at the kitchen provided at the motel/hostel. Never go to a grocery store hungry. We left Noodle to cook while New World, Chipmunk and I went to the laundrymat to start our clothes. Oh, of course showers were first on the list, because we were quite stinky. We spent the rest of the day picking up our mail drop, cleaning equipment, and relaxing. There were several hikers in town and it was good to see some hikers we had not seen since the start. we had dinner with chipmunk and Drifter and then went to bed.
Date: 2013-06-18
From: Stratton Motel

To: crocker cirque campsite
Miles today: 7.3

We finally got our ride to the trail head around 9:00, which is a late start for a hiker. We had a big mountain to climb and a schedule to keep to make it to Rangely by Friday. Choices has decided to go home and his flight leaves on Saturday. We started out with a 5 mile up hill climb up one peak then down then 1.5 miles up again then down a steep decent to our campsite for the evening. On the last decent of the day, about 1 mile from the campsite, Flash tumbled head over heals about 15 feet down the mountain. Not the best way to get down but hey, it happened. After the initial assessment of all bones, the upside down turtle tried to right itself. It was quite comical...wish you could have seen it. The next miles was a blur. We made it to our campsite beside the clearest stream, set up and discovered we had cell service...we could call home. Are you getting the picture here that cell service to us is right up there with town food. Heaven! The initial shock of Flash's epic fall wore off only to discover all was not well. The left ankle did not fare so well. Oh well, maybe it will be better tomorrow. New world hiked part of the day with Kate (We met her on the second day at Katahdin Stream campground the morning after we climbed Katahdin. We have referred to her as Smiley all along, but she has not accepted that as her trail name.) He really enjoyed hiking fast with her instead hiking with the slow crowd. It is supposed to get really cold tonight, around 35, so we are turning in early.