morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-30
From: Jeffers Brook Shelter NH

To: Beaver Brook Shelter NH
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Gaiter Grrl entry:The climb up Moosilauke was long (3500') but well graded. I started to listen to Anna Karenina - I figured I should choose an epic book to match the White Mountains. The views at the top were OK - kind of in the clouds so not great. It rained a bit on the way down and it took me 3 hours to go down 1200'. I got to Beaver Brook shelter at 1pm, but I'm been dreading going down Moosilauke, so since it was raining a bit and I was tired I stopped there. I snuggled up in my sleeping bag and sacked out solid for about 3 hours. Then I put on my warmer stuff I got for the Whites - wool leggings and a heavier wool top with thumb holes - very cozy.Skeeter and Puck (SOBOs) showed up. I asked about the scoop on the soup at the huts - $2 bottomless bowl of soup at all the huts, but they run out of the "good soup" early but after that you can pretty much also rely on potato-dill. The Whites are much more restrictive where you can stay - there are $8 campsites, and there is a system of huts. The huts are nice buildings with 'rustic' accomodations - there are bunks and you are served breakfast and dinner. It costs about $90 to stay there and they fill up months in advance but they reserve a couple 'work-for-stay' slots for thru-hikers.After dark, Skiman and Catch Up (brother and sister NOBOs) arrived. The shelter has a beautiful view of the mountains ahead.CC entry: Gaiter Girl has entered the Whites. This entry is made by CC. (Briefly,to catch her readers up.) Friday her Mom, Dad and sister, Karen,(who arranged everything and picked her parents up at the Manchester Airport) picked Gaiter Girl up at Glencliff, NH for a weekend R&R. Gaiter Girl had time to do laundry and shower at Hiker's Welcome and pick up her maildrop before they met her. During the weekend they explored several good short scenic hikes along brooks with waterfalls. Karen brought a cooler full of lunch supplies and drinks for picnics at tables near where te car was parked. Karen and Gaiter Girl gave 4 AT hikers, whom she knew,a 7 mile lift back to Lincoln from The Flume. The guys were so grateful, they named Karen "Lifesaver". Then the family proceeded onward to Mount Washington in the car and took the cog railroad to the summit. It will take Gaiter Girl several days to get to the summit again by foot across the mountains once she is back on the trail. Sunday night the plan was for her family to hike the mile to Jeffers Brook Shelter with her, but running out time to get back to the Manchester Airport for her parents, her family turned back at 5pm after only a short distance on the trail.
Date: 2007-07-31
From: Beaver Brook Shelter NH

To: Eliza Brook Shelter NH
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: few clouds

The Beaver Brook shelter faces east so there was a gorgeous sunrise view. It was a shame my shelter mates were missing it but they probably would not have appreciated me waking them up.Although I envisioned going down Moosilauke as terrifying - I thought I would get to a place where I was too scared to go up or down - it was OK. It went along a flume brook. Dartmouth Outing Club was in the process of putting in new rebar and wooden triangles to help with the steep parts. I have to say up to now I've been pretty much cursing the Dartmouth Outing Club - the section of the trail they 'maintain' starts in Vermont. The trail has been terrible - no blow downs were cleared, bad blazing, the privies were disgusting (won't go into it), and the shelters had bad water sources and sometimes didn't have trail registers. But I guess they've been focusing on revamping Moosilauke so I have to give them some credit. It took me a long time though. I met Sir Wounded Knee and Lady Green who were slack-packing - although they're NOBO they went south on Moosilauke so they could go up the hard side and go down the easy side - pretty smart.When I got to the bottom, I had my lunch in the parking lot. It was 10:30, and I had eaten all my day's allotment of food except for dinner, and I was still really hungry. I burst into tears. Major wuss moment. So the rest of the day didn't go so great - I was light-headed and had no energy. I met Jerry and Stretch who went flying by me. Hawk passed me and said he heard there was a big crowd at the shelter which surprised me since I hadn't really seen NOBOs. It was almost dark when I got to the shelter - Skiman and Catch Up were in to 2 tent sites, and Jerry and Stretch had squeezed their tents near the shelter. There were 4 sleeping bags set up in the shelter that was designed for 8, but the 3 SOBOs in there didn't make room or even acknowledge me. One was lying on his bag smoking weed. I think smoking of any kind in a shelter is extremely rude. The group campsite was taken up by about 20 teen-aged trail maintainers. A few of them came to the shelter and asked if anyone wanted to play cards. So the 3 SOBOs and them started playing this loud game involving slapping and shrieking. I was thinking 'you have to be kidding me'. Amidst this insanity, Jerry was cheerfully chatting away to me - he was like a beacon in a dark night. The 4th person in the shelter showed up - he was the backcountry manager for the AMC. I asked him if there was ANYWHERE I could set up my tent so I wouldn't have to stay in the shelter, and he hesitatingly said that the maintainers had started on a tent pad, but I jumped on the suggestion. The pad was right next to the group's tents - almost touching - but it had just had the rocks dug out of it. I had to eat and set up my tent in the dark, but sleeping on the just up-turned dirt was like sleeping on a fluffy cloud.
Date: 2007-08-02
From: Lonesome Lake Shelter NH

To: Liberty Spring Tentsite NH
Miles today: 5.5

Jack and Cat left before breakfast so I sat off to the side while the guests ate. Every morning the croo wakes up the guests with some kind of music - this hut someone played violin. During breakfast the croo does a skit to tell the guests how to fold their blankets (once lengthwise, twice widthwise - so fussy), and to tip the croo. The skit this morning was to Star Wars. I grabbed a book from the hut library - 'Not without Peril' - with accounts of people who have died on Mt. Washington - what was I thinking?I wasn't sure how I was going to get fed so I was just sitting there when Lady Green and Sir Wounded Knee came in to check out the first hut north bounders face and I was talking about the pros and cons of the work-for-stay. Lady Green was horrified that I had to do the compost but I think she assumed it was sewage compost not food compost. They went off to stay in North Woodstock and finally the hut manager said "oh - you're waiting to eat!" - forgot about me. But I got 2 plates of eggs, 2 bowls of oatmeal with canned peaches (luxury) and 5 pieces of coffee cake. Rolled out of there around 9:00 AM. I walked down past Cascade Brook and found a perfect swimming hole. The water was so cold it took about 45 minutes until I could do a full immersion but my knees had a long soak and felt so much better for the rest of the day. Temps in the 90's going down into Franconia Notch and up towards Franconia Ridge. On the way up I got a cell phone signal and decided to stop early at Liberty Springs campsite so I would have time to catch up on my journal. No signal at the campsite but I figured out where I could re-supply because with the low mileage I'm doing I will run out of food soon. The sites here have platforms for tents to reduce the impact of camping - a little tricky with my tent because it's not free standing but I got a good system worked out.
Date: 2007-08-03
From: Liberty Spring Tentsite NH

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite NH
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: few clouds

Gaiter Grrl entry: tried to get an early start because there were thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon, although the Liberty Springs care taker said the weather reports are from Mt. Washington and don't always hold through for Franconia Ridge. Ate my last breakfast It was hot - 90's in the valleys and 80's on the ridge. The views were disappointingly hazy - darn that global warming! This is what the Smokies are supposed to be like in the summer - not the Whites! It was still exciting to be actually walking on a ridge and see the mountains ahead on the trail.When I got to the campsite turn-off, the guy about my age who was camping for the weekend with his family was at the spring. We got to talking - he is from New Hampshire and is in the Whites alot. I am asked him if he noticed the weather changing and he said 'well, if it is, it's happening really fast'. So now I'm thinking I need to figure out the places in the world I want to see and see them in a hurry because it's all going soon.I talked to the caretaker - I've been asking all the SOBOs if they have seen Wildfire and Ashes since before Glencliff because Leigh told me to look out for them. Always the answer was that they were behind. Well, this caretaker had met them and it is confirmed that we missed each other - they went into N. Woodstock the day I was leaving Lonesome Lake.I heard thunder as I was making dinner but the thunderstorms (3 of them) passed over Mt. Washington and missed where I was. CC entry: Campsite is at 3500'. Phoned in location around 6:45 pm. Thunder storms approaching. No other hikers at the site at that time.
Date: 2007-08-04
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite NH

To: Guyot campsite
Miles today: 5.5

There was a rough downhill right off the bat and the Beav came flying by as I was painfully picking my way down. When my sister gave him a ride, he was getting off the trail to move, and had just getting back on the day before. He said the first day back kicked his butt and he needed to get back into trail shape. It was encouraging to hear that someone else is finding this poart difficult.I went to Galehead hut for the soup - tomato-veggie but I added olive oil and Idahoan pototoes to beef it up. I asked the croo member if he could radio Zealand hut to reserve me a paying bunk so I wouldn't have to worry if they had work-for-stay slots or not. He said they were full but I could try for work-for-stay "if in fact I was a thru-hiker". So obnoxious. And although I started in Harper's Ferry I still have done twice the miles of the SOBOs that are calling them thru-hikers. Anyway, I was telling him that my knees are really hurting, I'm moving slow (on the downhills I'm down to 0.5 mph) etc. and he backed off and said I could do work-for-stay there. But I didn't feel I could stop after 2.7 miles. I was so tired (the pain is wearing me out) I was lying on a rock in the sun trying to figure out what to do - go down a diffeent trail and take some time off, stay at Galehead, could I really make it to Zealand 7 miles away - finally I put on my pack, picked up my poles, and started walking down the AT.At 4:30 pm, I was still 4 miles from Zealand so I turned off to Guyot campsite, which was 0.7 miles off the AT - bummer. The turn-off was in this wierd wind tunnel - the pine trees were growing horizontally because of the wind so there was no cover. The Guyot campsite was pretty full - first the caretaker offered me a spot in the middle of the walkway to the spring which my tent would have totally blocked. So he found me a site on a 3-tent platform. There was a group there - Ernie, Ernie's kids Amy and Sam, and Ernie's buddy Kent. They had stayed there the nite before and had spread out over the platform so they were a little miffed at first that I was there. Then they got over it and were really helpful fitting my tent in. Chilly and windy here - but the tents are configured to the other 2 tents are blocking mine from the wind - score!
Date: 2007-08-05
From: Guyot campsite

To: Ethan Pond campsite
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: scattered clouds

46 degrees in my tent this morning - hard to get out of the toasty warm sleeping bag. The day was clear and cool and there were nice views on the way to Zealand hut. I met Buttercup just before the hut and we both had lunch at the hut. There is a set of falls with swimming holes and there were alot of day hikers enjoying the beautiful Sunday. Tina served us soup and was answering questions about the croo schedule - the pack out trash/pack in supplies twice a week and rotate being cook. Since she was the cook that day she worked from 5:30 AM to 9:30 pm - and the other crew members had taken off at 9 AM to enjoy the gorgeous weather. She was baking some yummy looking chocolate chip cookies for the dinner - torture to smell and see.Shortly after Zealand hut there was a 2-3 mile stretch of trail that was an actual dirt path on a very slight incline. I couldn't believe it - I had to find white blazes to make sure I wasn't on another trail. I was WALKING instead of handhold/toehold, handhold/toehold.I met up with Buttercup right before the turn-off to the campsite - she was stealth-camping because she doesn't want to give money to the AMC. Many hikers really revile the AMC and call it the Appalachian Money Club, etc. She said the president is the highest paid president of any non-profit - not sure how true. To me, the prices are comparable for what you pay at a lodge at a national park which is run by an outside contractor. The money part doesn't bother me as much as the obnoxious croo people. I told Buttercup that the hut system makes the Whites accessible to people who don't want to carry tents, stoves, sleeping bags and all that back-packing gear and she said "Those people are wimps. The people that hike the AT and stay in hotels and slackpack are wimps. Not that I'm judging.." ("Wimps" sound pretty judgemental to me but maybe I'm more sympathetic now that I can barely hobble along.)The tentsite is on Ethan Pond and you have to rock hop to get there. I got myself set up on a platform and met Lady Green and Sir Woundeded Knee, who were staying at the shelter. Lady Green was rinsing their clothes and laying them out on rocks in the sun. I asked her "Did you belive that stretch of trail?" She said "I know - it was a gift from the gods!"When the caretaker came to register me, he explained there was a separate eating/cooking area because there were bear problems at that site - sometimes they could hear the bears splashing in the pond in the morning. So every time I woke up I listened but I didn't hear any bears.
Date: 2007-08-06
From: Ethan Pond campsite

To: Crawford Notch Campground NH
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: fog

Woke up to blue skies - was bummed I wasn't hiking today. Then about an hour after I started it starting pouring and I was glad I wasn't hiking today. After a forgiving 3 mile down hill, I had a 3 mile road walk to this campground. The downpour was torrential! Every time a tractor trailer came by I would be blasted with a wind/water wall - even though I stepped to the side and most of the truck drivers were kind enough to move far to the yellow line.After 2 miles I saw a building which I ran to like someone finding water in a desert. It was the bathhouse for the state campground - showers and laundry. I kind of re-grouped and put on my poncho and another layer. I talked to 2 women in the bathroom about the weather and how the general store was at this campground. I was a little surprised that I wasn't pitiful enough for them to offer me a ride. I considered just staying there, but there was no food at the state campground, so I started off again. The Companion said that the Crawford Notch campground had tentsites. That made me a little worried - my silnylon pack cover had wet though, my pack had wet through, my silnylon poncho wet through - what was it going to be like in my single-wall silnylon tent? I wasn't sure, but I figured I'd cross that bridge later. A car stopped to pick me up - it was the second woman from the bathroom and her husband - aha! so I was pitiful enough. They were visiting from Quebec and offered to take me to North Conway - which was tempting but I'd be so far from the trail (18 miles). I dripped into the store and asked for a tentsite - the woman said "In this weather? Wouldn't you rather be in the bunkhouse?" So for $20 I got a bunk with a mattress in a new log cabin, a towel, soap, shower tokens, and a shuttle back to the trail. I debated doing laundry because I had only been hiking in these clothes 9 days - then I snapped back to reality and realized that's kinda gross. So I did laundry, ate pumpkin bread and drank tea. As I was showering I heard a noise that either meant the roof was caving in or there was a thunderstorm - there was horrible rain and thunder and lightening for the rest of the day. I was so glad to be indoors, warm, dry and clean. I had been craving either pizza or McDonald's so the closest I could get was ramen noodles with Prego and mozzarella (the only time I've had ramen on this trip). I re-supplied - a small but good selection there and they carry yellow HEET which I use for stove fuel. I bought a historical novel "The Pilgrim Soul" which was about Dolly Copp who lived at the base of Mt. Madison in the 1800's. Tomorrow I will decide if I should zero here to rest my knees or keep going.
Date: 2007-08-07
From: Crawford Notch Campground

To: Crawford Notch Campground NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: fog

Gaiter Grrl entry:Did zero to rest my knees and also the weather is supposed to bad again tomorrow so I don't want to be going over Mt. Washington in the rain. It was such a nice day though. The campground is on the Saco River and there is swimming hole next to the campground. I went there and soaked my knees. After a BRIEF dip (super cold), I lay on a big rock and finished my book. There is so much glare when you read in bright sunlight and wouldn't you know - I found a pair of sunglasses on the bank. Went back to the bunkhouse and had a big nap. A pleasant day.Of course, with the limited things to do, I went to the general store many times. There are a couple bears that hang at that campground and although there are warning signs everywhere most of the campers are total idiots, because they think putting their food in a cooler and putting it under the truck bumper is going to deter a bear. One guy said a bear got hot dogs from a cooler and the night before it got cheese and chocolate. The campground owners were very nicely trying to explain that the bears learn to associate the cars with food and eventually will tear apart the car or truck cab to get to food. And then the bears become a nuisance and have to be killed (little kids around so the message was veiled).CC entry: Arrived here yesterday in torrential rain. Walked off the AT along highway 302 for 3 miles in the rain with semis splashing and speeding past her. She is taking a 0 day today. Her knees are bothering her and she has run out of food while she was making slow progress the last few days. She has laundered, showered, resupplied, rested and gettiing ready to start again tomorrow toward MT Washington, which is probably 2 days away. Weather looks good for tomorrow. Heavy rains, thunderstorms and high winds (like 70mph) the last few days.
Date: 2007-08-08
From: Crawford Notch Campground NH

To: Mizpah Spring Hut NH
Miles today: 6.4

Gaiter Grrl entry: starting pouring sometime in the night and never stopped. Ken from the campground came over with coffee to check that I was still going back to the trail. As I got into the van, I told him, "I must be nuts." - he said "Well, it kind of goes with the territory." He and his wife are the opposite of snowbirds - they live in Tallahasee, Fla and summer at the campground in their trailer and help out. It was SOO treacherous going up Webster cliffs. In terms of footing, it wasn't worse than Kinsman or Moosilauke but there was the rain making everything slick and it was super windy. But what was really freaking me out was that there wasn't anyone hiking so if something happened to me, no help would be coming for a long time. The CC entry says there was thunder - actually there wasn't but I think my mom extrapolated from what I told her when I called that night "I thought I was going to die - a lot." I finally saw a human being - a SOBO who was already bloody. Saw 2 more SOBOs and a father and son on a day-hike from Mizpah hut (I would call them lunatics but then what does that make me?). Although it was rainy, it fortunately wasn't that cold. My poncho was billowing around me like a spinnaker and I was drenched head to toe. But that silnylon doesn't breathe so the poncho kept me warm. There were spots where I the 'trail' was ankle deep in water so I gave up trying to keep my feet dry pretty early on.The top of Mt. Jackson had sidewise pelting rain and it took a few false starts before I could find the path off the summit. When I got to the hut clearing, a SOBO Gerald Blaney was entering the clearing from the north. He had hiked from Madison hut which means he went over Mt. Washington in that crazy weather. I aksed for work-for-stay but decided to celebrate still being alive by springing for the $90 to stay as a guest. There were 2 Boy Scout troops there so I was glad to get out of the common room and go to bed at 7:30 - there was a family of 4 (parents, adult daughter and her boyfriend), Gerald, and a NOBO in my room for 10 so it was a pretty quiet bunch. The weather report said the rain would be tapering off in the early afternoon but when I went to sleep I could see rain and the tops of the pine trees were being blown around like crazy.CC entry: Horrible day hiking. Reallly scarey. Very high winds, torrential rains, thunder storms. Made it safely though to this hut . Expensive but there will be hot turkey dinner prepared for hikers tonight. Tomorrow is reported to be nice weather.