morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-07
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

I woke up this morning on one of the couches in the pavillion in Port Clinton feeling rather chilled. I think it got down into the 40s last night-- coldest weather I've felt in a while. But it felt nice, better than the stifling heat heat.I took my time getting a move on this morning-- I finished "Growing Up" by Russell Baker, a pretty good autobiography from a world famous newspaper columnist. Later Grasshopper came over and told me to meet him at 3C's, a restaurant down the road, for breffikst, which I did.Grasshopper is a definitely a curious guy. I like him. He works in academia in Chicago, though he's planning on moving to the southwest after this trip. He's a pretty experienced backpacker, from what I gather. He's done the Long Trail in Vermont and the John Muir Trail in California.Grasshopper showed off his hands, which were quite strange. He can't bend his fingers at the middle joints-- they're fused together. And his pinky, well, it just hangs there, pretty much useless. Grasshopper seemed rather proud of them. Or at least amused by my shock. This will probably be the last time I see him, as he's taking several days off to meet his girlfriend. So it goes.Any way, I went back to the pavillion and finished writing my article. It was past noon when I did so, and by the time I got to the post office to mail it and get the hell out of Port Clinton, it had closed for lunch. 12:30 to 2PM. Who the hell takes, let alone NEEDS, an hour and a half lunch break?To kill time, I went to the Port Clinton Hotel down the road where many thru-hikers had commented in the pavillion shelter log on unfriendly reception. But they fine towards me. Ate a small (i.e., massive)portion of cheese fries, and washed it down with old reliable, Yuengling, one of my favorite brews. Back in Meadville, Jimmy the owner of the Penny Bar sold these guys for $0.85 a glass. Man I love Yuengling... And then I found $5.Didn't get out of Port Clinton until 2:30-- way too late. Arrived at the Windsor Furnace Shelter 2.5 hours later at ate dinner and left at 6:30 to night hike towards Eckville, 9 miles away.It is here that the rocks of PA live up to their namesake. For the first time since Fontana Dam, I have blisters.Luckily the last 5 miles (which were in just about complete darkness) became a smooth wooded road. Made it to Eckville a little later than I anticipated-- stopped a few times to shoot the bull with some kid who didn't seem to know much about the Appalachian Trail, and chatted it up with some hotties who were leading an Outward Bound expedition.Arrived at Eckville a little after 10PM. Anonymous is here, and we spent a good hour talking about all sorts of things, including the war in Iraq (he's a veteren).I am enjoying my stay in Pennsylvania. It is good to be back in my old college state. The tap water still tastes zincy, the people are a little hostile, but somehow it all still feels right, for some reason.
Date: 2007-07-14
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Greenleaf Hut
Miles today: 15.2

I can say with all earnestness that to-day was one of the most memorable days on the Appalachian Trail. New Hampshire is a stunning state, but it is also by far the toughest portion of Trail I¢ve yet encountered. I do not expect it to become any easier.Upon leaving the shelter, we immediately had to cross Eliza Brook, a somewhat difficult rock hop that shouldn¢t have been too much of a problem, except Cheeze got reckless and fell in. Drat. Despite my protests, he insisted he was fine and didn¢t need to dry out (it was pretty chilly out) and that he would hike it off. He did just exactly that. Pretty impressive.Climbing up South Kinsman was slow going, but awesome. It was an incredibly steep and technical boulder scramble that seemingly never ended, but when it did, oh! the views were stunning. We joined Rafiki at the summit, and just hung out there for a while. Rafiki has hiked parts of this region in the past, and was able to identify mountains for us. Directly in our line of vision lay the magnificent Franconia Range, which would be our destination for the day. The descent was not quite as tricky, and we arrived at the AMC Lonesome Lake Hut just in time for lunch¢never-ending soup with bread.The Trail jogged around the Lake, which was swarming with families, crossed several brooks and passed under Interstate 93 at Franconia Notch. Rafiki, who has been having problems with a new pair of boots, soaked his feet in a stream for a little while, and then we began the long, exhausting climb up Franconia, which gained approximately 3000 feet in elevation. We rested for a while at the Liberty Springs Campsite and chatted with the caretaker, Cuppa Joe, who thru-hiked back in ¢05 and is good friends with Rob Bird. Then we hiked the last few tenths of a mile up to the exposed trail.Wingfoot says that Franconia has the most outright beautiful views on the entire Trail, and I could believe it. Little Haystack, Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette were incredible. To our left sat the remains of the Old Man in the Mountain, which crumbled back in 2003. To our right, Mount Washington, still several days away. Everything looked so close, even though we had to hike about 4 miles above tree line. It wasn't a perfectly clear day, there were a several clouds dancing with the sun, but it made the experience even better. And since we hiked it in the late afternoon, we were practically the only ones on the Trail, which was awesome.Tonight we are at Greenleaf Hut, a full mile off the Trail and 1000 feet below where the summit of Lafayette. One of the ¢croo¢ kids is a former thru-hiker, so we were treated like kings.It¢s good to be the king.
Date: 2007-07-15
From: Greenleaf Hut

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 13.6

Remember that beautiful day... when was it? Oh yeah, just yester-day. Those glorious views from Franconia that made me appreciate the beauty of New Hampshire and this world I've been privileged to inhabit? Well to-day, Franconia made me appreciate my life even more, except in a very frightening way. I climbed back up to the summit of Mt. Lafayette after a pretty good stay at the Greenleaf Hut, and well, it was completely socked in with clouds, and there was a storm brewing something fierce. It was very slippy, and very dangerous, and very windy, and I could have easily died, I think, if I hadn't been extra careful sliding down those sheer rock faces. I was lucky to get below tree line when I did.The Whites are rough... I said that yester-day too, but this time I mean it. Rock scrambles are nothing. Descending rock faces with a river running down the center is completely different, and that was more or less the terrain between Franonia and the Zealand Falls Hut.Cheeze, Rafiki, Space Muffin and myself are here for the another night of croo-a-licious phun. Rafiki would have gone further, but he is in a lot of pain from his new boots. Drat those things. A hiker's worst enemy, new footwear.
Date: 2007-07-16
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Mizpah Spring Hut
Miles today: 14.1

The croo at Zealand Falls Hut rocks. They made 50 extra pancakes for me, Cheeze and Rafiki, challenging us to see how many we can tuck in. I ate 10, because I am a wimp. Cheeze at 18. Rafiki ate 22. He beat the record, previously held by a stinkin' SOBO. Take that, SOBO! I fart in your general direction! (Or at least Rafiki does!)This afternoon at Crawford Notch I felt very lazy and took a long lunch at the road crossing. Cheeze and Rafiki were way ahead, but that's okay, I would catch up with them at the Hut. As I sat there on the side of the road, eating my PB&J and feeling unproductive, and vehicle with PA license plates pulled up to the parking lot.A family got out and began walking toward the Trail. There was a waterfall a short ways off. The father walked up to me, and asked where the waterfall was."Just walk up the road .3 miles and the trail to the waterfall is on your left," I said.After a huddle, the family got back in the car and drove the .3 miles up the road to the closer parking lot. From there the waterfall was a short hike.Suddenly I didn't feel very lazy at all.
Date: 2007-07-17
From: Mizpah Spring Hut

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Cheeze, Rafiki and I left Mizpah rather late because the croo had us do some light chores. Space Muffin got to leave earlier than us because apparently he did chores the night before. Cheeze and I churned some compost, in addition to some other things. The croo here is pretty cool, they made us our own breakfast (French toast!) because there wasn't enough left over after the regular guests left.It was a spectacular day to hike up Mount Washington, the highest peak in the northeast. I hiked up to the summit alone; I just can't keep up with Cheeze and Rafiki. They haul ass, and my short legs can't carry me that quickly.I met up with them at the summit, which was incredibly crowded. It was a bit of a shock to see so many people, almost all of whom had either driven up the Auto-Road or taken the Cog. At first it seemed like we were the only thru-hikers there; little kids were running around screaming and dodging their chiding mothers. But then a SOBO named Dustin, who I remembered seeing at Trail Days, approached me and said hello.While at the summit house, I used a pay phone to call my parents, and learned that they and the whole family were in Michigan. They told me my grandmother was killed in a car wreck three days earlier. The funeral will be in two days, so I have no way of getting there in time from New Hampshire.I'm besides myself with grief. I hardly noticed the rest of day, although the three of us took time to moon the Cog, which blew horrid black plumes of smoke in our faces.We arrived at Madison Spring Hut later after some very tough terrain and decided to call it quits for the day. Space Muffin is here, as are a few SOBOs. This croo is pretty unwelcoming compared to the other croos; they didn't feed us or even talk to us, although they made sure to give us chores. They're lucky I was overwhelmed by that sense of magnanimity that often accompanies despair, otherwise they would have received the sharp end of my tongue instead of listless indifference.Currently, I have very little willpower to complete this hike. Grandma was a strong supporter and my biggest fan (my parents sent her my articles), and it deeply saddens me that she didn't live to see me finish it. But I'm not going to quit.Grandma, this hike is for you.
Date: 2007-07-18
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Pinkham Notch, NH16
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: fog

Rain to-day. And the terrain was hard. The Northern Presidentials are the toughest stuff I've yet encountered on the Trail. To top it off, Cheeze was feeling mighty sick, so we bailed out at Pinkham Notch and Rafiki's friends Jeff and Maria were gracious enough to take us in to their sweet pad in a dinky town called Lost Nation. Thanks Jeff and Maria! This is the kind of trail magic that is truly hard to come by.My thoughts were consumed by my grandmother to-day. Feeling pretty depressed.
Date: 2007-07-19
From: Jeff and Maria's House

To: Jeff and Maria's House
Miles today: 0.0

The three of us decided to zero to-day on account of the rain and Cheeze feeling ill. We all think he has Giardisis. His farts are god-awful.This is my 12th zero since the trip began back in March. It'll probably be my last. While the rain pounded on the window panes, we ate good food, drank raw milk, and watched "Dead River Rough Cut," a strange and wonderful film about Maine trappers living "offa the fat o' the lan'." One small item to add to my "me-need-now" list. Perhaps Christmas will prove fruitful.Jeff is an interesting guy; he seems to have worked as a trail maintainer in the area for most of his adult life, and had some good stories to tell. Digging up rocks covering up hiker poop is always good for a laugh.I listened to Rafiki and Maria engage in "bird talk" for a while. It made me wish I knew more about identifying them by their plumage, calls and songs.It felt odd not to walk in the rain for once.
Date: 2007-07-20
From: Pinkham Notch, NH16

To: Imp Campsite
Miles today: 13.1

We didn't get back to the trail until nearly 11. For one, we woke up late. For two, we dawdled. For three, it took us at least half an hour to get back to the trailhead from Lost Nation. Many regards to Jeff and Maria for their kindness.The climb out of Pinkham Notch was pretty steep, and, as expected, I lost sight of Cheeze and Rafiki pretty early on into the hike. Wildcat Mountain is also a well-known ski resort, and after an exhausting climb that took me up and over numerous peaks, I arrived at the summit to find a few dozen "day hikers" who had taken the gondola up to walk around for a few minutes and complain about how it was beginning to cloud up and rain. Cheeze and Rafiki were nowhere in sight.At the top were a somewhat elderly couple who were sitting on a rock eating lunch. They introduced themselves to me as Pizza Man and Gizmo; they had thru-hiked a few years ago and were now doing section hikes up and down the trail. I had seen their entries in the registers from time to time. My memory was also jogged by what Matt had said about them back when I first met him, how they had accused him of not treating the trail with respect and admonishing him for allowing Uwharrie into a shelter.But they were friendly enough, and after a brief respite I continued along. The Trail remained treacherous, and I was tiring more quickly than I had anticipated. After Wildcat I went up and over the Carters, which offered very beautiful vistas. The northern end of the last Carter Peak, however, was extremely treacherous. A river was running right down the middle of the trail, which was nearly vertical, and I almost fell badly. After that I decided to not go an extra six miles to Rattle River Shelter and just bite the bullet and pay 8 bucks to camp at Imp Shelter, which is an AMC facility.Cheeze and Rafiki are NOT here, they're most likely at Rattle River. Hopefully I'll catch up with them tomorrow. If not Rafiki, then Cheeze, at least. Many SOBOs are here, as are a few section hikers, and they're all admiring my pack, which, in all honesty, is the lightest pack in the group by about 10 lbs.
Date: 2007-07-21
From: Imp Campsite

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: scattered clouds

I should have gone those extra 6 miles last night. For one: I wouldn't have had to pay to sleep in a clean shelter full of unsmelly SOBOs. I'm used to funky peeps. For two: it didn't downpour or rain last night, though there were a few instances when the wind was blowing so hard I thought it should have. For three: the terrain between Imp and Rattle River was pretty moderate. For four: I would have had known company that I enjoy.Alas, I didn't, and I won't dwell in the past.Anyway, by the time I arrived at Rattle River shelter this morning, Cheeze and Rafiki were long gone, but there was another guy there calling himself Belgarian, a semi-professional photographer who had thru-hiked twice already, the first time nearly thirty years ago. He went on this rant about how a thru-hiker whom I didn't meet but have heard plenty about named Missionary Mike told him he was going to Hell for having a pentagram tattooed on his arm. The guy put me a little on the uneasy side, so after a spell I left and huffed the easy 2 miles or so to the road crossing to Gorham.I only had to wait about 30 seconds for from a friendly local carpenter to pick me up, by far my easiest hitch yet, and I spent a good portion of the day developing some photos and eating town food.Hitching back out was only a little tougher, and soon I was hiking with the waning sun to the Gentian Pond Shelter,my destination for the day. I'm told that between Gorham and Andover is the toughest section of the Trail, and I could believe it. There were several instances where I lost the path in the mud or it was just plain difficult. It was about 11 miles to Gentian pond, and although it was really pleasant and awesome, it was not, by any stretch of the imagination, easy. A few times, entire puncheons were sunk into mud, and other times where you had to literally jump rock-to-rock in order to get across the mud. Once, standing precariously on a rock, I stuck my hiking stick down into the surrounding mud, and it went halfway up the length of the shaft. Not a good place to take a spill.I arrived at Gentian Pond to find Cheeze and a whole bunch of SOBOs chillin out. Cheeze is feelin pretty crappy, but it was good to see him again for the first time since yesterday morning. Rafiki apparently skipped town and went to Carlo Col, the first shelter in Maine. Belgarian told me the 4 miles between Gentian and the border were hard miles, and I believe him. He was right about everything else trail-related (including the best spot to hitch into Gorham!Maine to-morrow. I can't believe it.
Date: 2007-07-22
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter and Campsite
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: scattered clouds

The Belgarian wasn't joking when he said the last four miles of New Hampshire were tough. Holy effin crap were they tough. First, we had to climb up a gigantic mountain called Mt. Success (ha!), and then we had to tread very carefully down crazy-go-nuts boulder scrambles that made me wonder if I had taken the wrong trail. Cheeze was ahead of me, of course, the entire way, so when I say "we", I really mean "I".I caught up with him at the Maine border, where he was sitting down eating some food underneath that famous blue sign:Welcome toMAINEThe Way Life Should BeHe had a fallen a few times from hiking with a little too much egress, and was recooping. We hung out there for a good half hour, drinking in the glory, feeling a little uneasy about marching off into the final stretch.While we hung out there, a SOBO named Smiles (no relation to Smiley, who I hadn't seen since the Beauty Spot in Tennessee. I wonder whatever happened to him...) crossed the border, and we chatted with him for a few minutes and he took our picture. Apparently he spent the night at Carlo Col with Rafiki and two other thru-hikers, the latter of whom decided to get it on in the middle of the night in the shelter. Hats off to those two (whomever they are) for being adventurous.Smiles himself was a curious dude. He had just been discharged from the military, and he had walked to Mount Katahdin from his homestate, Indiana. He was planning on walking even further south after finishing the trail. I guess the military can do that to people.Anyway, we finally crossed into Maine, and oh boy, it kicked my ass. It was just so friggin gnarly. But then again, the scenery was truly spectacular. Even within the first couple miles, it is clear that Maine is absolutely beautiful, like no other state along the Trail.I arrived at Full Goose Shelter completely wiped, and Cheeze was hanging out there, and we both just decided to call it a day.While we were there we met Nathan, Peace Train and Obie, SOBOs just passin' thru who seemed like decent guys, and we spent the night with John, Missing Link, Mary Ann and Kurt, aka "Blaze of Glory."We had heard about Blaze from a SOBO named Watchless at Gentian Pond, how he hikes slowly with Mary Ann, his friend's daughter, but then as he nears town he pulls thirty mile days and sits in a bar drinking for days waiting up for her.Both of them are from Smithtown, on Long Island, and it was nice to shoot the breeze and "tawlk about Lawn Guyland" with them.Cheeze, in the meantime, engaged in "farm talk" with an older woman who finishing up her last section hike of the Trail. I never knew people found tractors so interesting.The Mahoosuc Notch is tomorrow, can't wait!
Date: 2007-07-23
From: Full Goose Shelter and Campsite

To: Frye Notch Lean-to
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Even if the official mileage doesn't indicate as such, this was a long, hard, but incredibly rewarding day. For starters, immediately after leaving the shelter we had to contend with the Mahoosuc Notch, the Trail's proverbial "toughest mile." Okay, maybe it isn't proverbial, but I had heard so much about the "house-sized" rocks and the absolute craziness of the Notch that I guess it was inevitable that I was going to be let down, and conclude once again that most hikers are full of bullshit. For example, back at the Cloud9 hostel, Crutch (who has since garnered himself a rather seedy reputation) went all doom and gloom on Foot pump and me and told us it'll take us sbout 4 HOURS to get through it. Uh huh. Just like how it was going to take me 7 DAYS to get through the Smokies, when it only took a little over 4. Future thru-hikers beware, take anything anyone tells you with a grain of salt.That being said, the Notch is still a lot of fun. The boulders are closer to trailer-home sized rather than HOUSE-sized, and there are a lot of them, and the trail works to your advantage if you're taller than... uh, me. Cheeze was able to leap from rock to rock pretty easily, while there were a few instances where I had to lower myself down and squeeze under a few boulders. But, I only had to take my pack off once, so no big deal. It took us about 1 hr 40 mins to get through it, and that included plenty of time for goofing off and taking photos.Oh, and yeah, there is a dead moose down there-- looked like a calf, poor thing. It was curled up in a fetal position. I didn't have the heart to take a picture of it.Immediately after the Notch, we had to climb up Mahoosuc Arm, a very long rock face that was, well, it wasn't too bad, but I was plenty tired when I arrived at Speck Pond about an hour or two later. Since we took a short day yesterday, we didn't have any plans on just going a measly 5.1 miles, so we continued on, first up Old Speck Mountain, where we climbed the side trail and took in views at the firetower, down to Grafton Notch (and out of the forlorn AMC realm) and up to Baldpate Lean-to for dinner.It took us a conversation over dinner to decide whether we should go to Frye Notch Lean-to or not, and we ultimately decided we should.In order to reach Frye Notch, we had to first go over the three humps of Baldpate Mountain. Funny how I had never heard about this mountain from any of the hikers I met, because it was easily one of the most spectacular stretches of trail. Most of it is above treeline, and the clouds were drifting over the peaks, so that half the time it was clear, but as soon as we would get to a summit it would be foggy and wet.On the climb down the north side of Little Baldpate Mountain, we were treated to an incredible sunset dancing with the clouds. Truly a moment that I won't forget anytime soon.I began this day off thinking that the Mahoosuc Notch would be the highlight of the day, but the Baldpates were, in my small, honest opinion, so much nicer.