morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-10
From: Cloud Pond Lean-to

To: ME 15/ Monson, ME
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: few clouds

Day 9-   It rained hard during the night and it didn't let up 'til past midnight. Jaybird was up most of the night reading The Hobbit despite the thunder shaking the entire lean-to all night. The thunder and lightning were insane. When we woke up at 5:30, it was still drizzling outside. 4 miles and 1 mountain later, we came to a lean-to 0.8mi. from our first ford. There we found two southbounders. One was a guy we'd been hiking with for a couple of days. (We still don't know his name, so we just call him "our buddy".) The other was a sobo thru-hiker whose trail name was "Captain Sobo."    And the five of us headed down to the water. You could actually hear the water raging 2 miles away and seeing the rushing water didn't boost our confidence. Once we got there "our buddy" just went rushing in. So we followed - first Greg, then Chelsea, then me. Chelsea, being the lightest, wanted to be between two people. (I had to pull her through the final part of the river.) We had to wear our boots through the water, face upstream at all times and use our poles to secure ourselves. Every time I lifted my foot to move over, the river would start to pull it away, and a couple times I would've been swept away if it weren't for my hiking poles. Captain Sobo decided to wait it out as he thought the river was still too out of control. We still had three more fords, but none were nearly as bad. Eventually the sky cleared up and the sun came out. So besides pools of water in my boots, it was a nice day for a hike especially for our longest day yet. We made it out of the 100 mile wilderness a day earlier then we thought we would thanks to us finally starting to get our hiking legs. When we finally got out of the woods at 7 o'clock we had our first experience with hitchiking on the trail. It was taking a while at first so we started to walk towards the town (an extra 2 miles on top of the 19 we'd already done). But thankfully, someone who was familiar with the trail stopped in his pick up truck and picked us all up, team Fatty Gruck Gruck, "our buddy," and a section-hiker (another type of hiker on the AT who hikes the entire trail over a long period of time by hiking in different sections) we met 3 miles before the end. So when we got into town we collapsed at the famous trail hostel Shaws (well not before a huge meal of pizza and other goodies of course).
Date: 2005-07-11
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 10- Well, now that we're done with the 100 Mile Wilderness and the first 115 miles of the Trail, it seemed like a good time for a zero (AT lingo for a day off when you hike zero miles). I needed a chance for my feet to heal, my equipment to dry and my stomach to fill. Looking on the maps, it looks like we have some tough terrain ahead so some recuperation time seemed like a good idea. One funny thing: before we went to do laundry and eat lunch, we put our packs, boots, etc. outside in the 90degree sun because it was a clear day. Just our luck, as we were eating, a rain cloud decided to stop by and rain on our stuff. So we ran over and moved the stuff. Just as we got everything inside soaking wet, the rain stopped and the sun came out hotter than ever. Overall, a worthwhile zero and quite restful as well as Chelsea's last day on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-12
From: Monson, ME

To: Moxie Bald Lean-to
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: light rain

Day 11- And then there were two....today as we were being shuttled back to the Trail, we said goodbye to Chelsea as she stayed at Shaws waiting to be taken to the airport. So that's that and now I have only one companion left and seeing Chelsea leave made me think how in about 18 days, I'll be on my own. Greg and I had a day of flat, easy terrain today, so we decided to go 18 miles, which turned out O.K. It's not something we should get used to though, because we have some real mountains coming up - nothing like in the 100 Mile Wilderness.
Date: 2005-07-13
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: Caratunck, ME
Miles today: 19.5

Day 12- Today was my birthday. I celebrated in a similar way that I do every other year like with a 2-week hike with camp or working 12 hours in a fish factory (last year in Alaska). We decided to hike over 19 miles today, over two mountains to Caratunk where we could re-supply, shower, set up tent and get a big dinner and breakfast at a campground/resort/microbrewery. The 19 miles went well and it was nice to get mountains with views. We even got up the first one early enough to be above the cloud line and get a great view of the morning fog still in the valleys. So we came out of our hardest day well, a little tired but feeling O.K. The last couple miles were a bit frustrating because the whole time we could hear the highway we were trying to get to but the trail never reached it as we were hiking parallel to it instead of towards it. Eventually we made it to the road though and started to try and get a ride. When a car stopped along the small street perpendicular to the highway, we asked directions to the Northern Resorts, which was where we were going to stay. They not only told us where it was, but took us there as well, even though there were already 5 people in their mini-van. The place was amazing. There was a hot tub, arcade, restaurant and satellite radio with a constant flow of good music (these may not sound all that luxurious but after a couple days of very long hiking, you couldn't ask for more). Once we set up our tent and cleaned up, we headed for the restaurant/lounge/bar/arcade to eat, hang out and go on the computer until 12 when we realized we didn't have a flashlight to find our way back to our campsite. So we had to have a very tipsy employee drive us there who was having trouble figuring out his left from his right.
Date: 2005-07-15
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to

To: Little Bigelow Mt.
Miles today: 20.0

< p>Friday, July 15Day 14. Pierce Pond Lean-to - Little Bigelow Mt. (20 mi.) We had some miles to make up after our little off day yesterday. So we were going to push on ahead to a lean-to 18 miles away. Half-way through the day, after our second swim of our trip in a nice little pond, we decided we felt good enough to push on past our planned stop for the night after a break for dinner seeing as how there wouldn't be any water if we stopped on top of the mountain. We made it to the top of Little Bigelow Mt. for our first 20 mile day. It was beautiful on top, great views of mountains we had coming up, places we'd hiked past, the sunset, and eventually the stars. We envisioned a nice peaceful night under the stars but this wasn't completely the reality due to the monstrous mosquitoes whose buzzing I could hear through my sleeping bag hood. So end of story, I didn't sleep much during what was supposed to be a relaxed night on top of a mountain (known to a thru-hiker as "cowboy camping," when you just get out your sleeping bag in a nice place and go to sleep there).
Date: 2005-07-16
From: Little Bigelow Mt.

To: Stratton, ME
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 15- Good day today. We went up our first 4,000 footer peak and hiked out to a town where we could re-supply and satisfy our craving for a meatball sub and chocolate milkshake. We had some of the best views of the trip too. It was cool to think, while eating my tuna, that not many people get to have lunch on top of a mountain, looking at the views that we were looking at of mountains and lakes a hundred miles away. We also had our first experience with trail magic. 1 mile before the highway, there was a cooler left out for A.T. hikers. Unfortunately, there weren't any sodas left... only beers, so I had to settle for a Bud Light...oh well. Very refreshing though (unfortunately I'm not getting paid to say that).
Date: 2005-07-18
From: Spalding Mt. Lean-to

To: ME Rt. 4 Stratton
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 17- Last night we thought we had the lean-to to ourselves for the first time, but at around 10:30 as we were about to fall asleep, we saw two lights coming out of the dark in the rain. They were Nobos and had hiked 22 miles, long day. But we had a similarly long day, as well. The hike went well overall. It was exhausting partly because of what we¢d done yesterday, but we got through it. The Saddleback Range, which we were hiking, is supposed to have great views, but unfortunately we were in the clouds and it was too foggy to see the trail 30 ft. ahead. Right before we went up into the woods, we had to stop in a lean-to to fill up water and then went up to our first mt. for lunch. While we were there I realized that I had left the tent back at the lean-to 2 mi. away. So after some thinking, we decided the best option was to wait until we passed a Nobo and ask him to ask a Sobo who was taking a zero day at the lean-to, ¢Stone-passer,¢ to take our tent to Rt. 4 so we could pick it up tomorrow. Right now we¢re just waiting ¢til then to see if everything will work out. In the end it was a long day, my feet and legs are exhausted and I¢m thankful for the short day we¢re going to have tomorrow, Once we got out to the highway at 6 since we couldn¢t get cell phone reception, we had to hitchhike. After 20 minutes we got picked up and went to a town, Rangely, where we called Don, the guy who runs the motel we stayed at in Stratton. He offered to pick us up at Rt. 4 when he dropped us off at the Trail the day before. So tonight we¢re back in Stratton and even though we¢ve done over 30 mi. in 2 days in the hardest part of the Trail, we¢re back where we were before any of that hiking!
Date: 2005-07-19
From: ME Rt. 4 Stratton

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: broken clouds

Tuesday, July 19Day 18. Rt. 4 Stratton ¢ Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to (8.7 mi.) Even though we covered little ground, today was a long day. We had to wait and see if Stone-passer would leave our tent, so we slept in ¢til 8 o¢clock, watched TV, shuttled to a diner to eat breakfast, planned out the rest of the trip until Greg has to leave (July 28th), bought food, arranged for a shuttle to Andover (?), packed, and left by 1pm. It wasn¢t until 3:30 that we saw Stone-passer at the Trail head. Well, the bad news is that he didn¢t have the tent. The good news is it seemed as if he didn¢t get our message. The bad news is that we didn¢t believe him. He probably just didn¢t want to carry it over the Saddlebacks.More bad news: as I picked up my bag to leave, I noticed that it had been laying in shit for the past hour and a half. More bad news: after a half hour of hiking the very sunny, hot, humid day turned into a very rainy day with thunder and lightning which isn¢t safe when you¢re up high. At one point we started hiking up and all of a sudden the thunder and lightning occurred simultaneously, meaning it hit very close, so we threw down our metal hiking poles and ran down where we came from. Eventually though the weather calmed down and we were able to make it to the lean-to by 8:20, our latest day since Katahdin.
Date: 2005-07-20
From: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

To: Bemis Mt. Lean-to
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Wednesday, July 20Day 19. Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to ¢ Bemis Mt. Lean-to (8 mi.) Another short day, so we slept in again ¢til 8 and took our time in the morning. After about 3.8 mi. around 11:40 we got to a nice road, ME 17, that ran along the side of a mt. and had a great view. Since we only had a little over 4 mi. left, we decided to hitch into the town nearby for lunch. It took 45 minutes, but we finally got a pick-up to get in the back of. When we got into town, we had our meal of a cheeseburger and split a pizza pie (plus a milkshake and root beer). Then it was an easier 20 minute hitch back to the Trail in a mini-van, a family with two very hyper kids. They had light saber swords!
Date: 2005-07-21
From: Bemis Mt. Lean-to

To: Andover, ME
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: few clouds

Thursday, July 21Day 20. Bemis Mt. Lean-to ¢ Andover, ME (18.7 mi.)   We¢re in a town again. It may seem like we¢re in towns a lot, but it¢s only when we do extra miles and get ahead of schedule. That¢s what we did today, an extra 6 miles to make it a very difficult, with 2 notches to go down and up, but very rewarding day, with a hostel with real meals and real beds waiting for us. Zzzz!
Date: 2005-07-22
From: Andover, ME

To: Andover, ME
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Friday, July 22Day 21. Grafton Notch ¢ East 8(?) Hill Rd./Andover, ME (10 mi.)   Today we ¢slack packed.¢ The people at ¢The Cabin¢ offered to drop us off at a road 10 mi. south of where we finished yesterday. Then we¢d hike north back there and stay at the cabin again for a second night. This way we could leave our heavy frame packs and take day packs with just water, food, and a rainjacket. So it turned out to be a nice relaxing hike on one of the nicest mts. so far, Baldpate, and with some extra time we were able to take a little nap on the peak.
Date: 2005-07-23
From: Andover, ME

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

Saturday, July 23Day 22. Grafton Notch ¢ Caslo Col Shelter (14.5 mi.) Today we finally got to and through the infamous Mahoosuc Range. We¢d heard a lot about it, especially the Mahoosuc Notch and the map looked a bit daunting, but we made it. The hardest part was the Notch which is a 1 mile section that took us nearly 2 hours to get through (a quarter of our usual pace). It was relatively flat, but the whole section was covered by huge boulders that we had to scramble over, around and under. I was tedious, but fun. This was our last section in Maine and tomorrow we will be crossing the border into NH. Yahoo!
Date: 2005-07-24
From: Calso Col Shelter

To: Rt.2/Gorham, NH
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: few clouds

Sunday, July 24Day 23. Caslo Col Shelter ¢ Rt. 2/Gorham, NH (17.5 mi.) Finished my first state today, one down, 12 to go. On to NH and the White Mountains. We hiked into Gorham so we could relax and take a day off. It was tough getting warmed up after what we did yesterday, but we made it with time to spare plus a chance to pick some blueberries on top of some mountains with great views of the giant Mt. Washington (6,288 ft.), the highest mountain in the Northeast.
Date: 2005-07-25
From: Rt.2/Gorham, NH

To: Gorham
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Monday, July 25Day 24. Gorham, NH (0 mi.) Taking a zero day today. Just relaxing in the motel room and buying our food for the next 4 days (3 for Greg). It¢s nice taking time off and letting our bodies relax. We¢ve met some Southbounders who¢ve taken more zeros than us and we¢ve been passing plenty of people, so we figure we¢ve been going at a good pace and have earned this break, food, sleep, and TV¢¦mmmm.
Date: 2005-07-26
From: zero

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

Tuesday, July 26Day 25. Gorham, NH/US 2 ¢ Carter Notch Hut (14 mi.) Pretty uneventful day, as eventful days go. Got a late start today because we were trying to spend as much time as possible watching TV in our room, but we eventually got started. We got some really great views of the Presidential Range which is where we should end up tomorrow. I started having some problems with my left foot half way through the day. Nothing serious ¢ I could still hike. It just hurt when it twisted on roots androcks and sometimes if I bent it too much. Tonight we¢re staying in our first hut. The White Mts. have a hut system which are basically hostels in the mountains. Unfortunately you need reservations and that doesn¢t work forthru-hikers, so they offer work for stay. Good thing for us this is a self-service hut, and so there was no work to be done. Free bed!
Date: 2005-07-27
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut 
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: fog

Wednesday, July 27Day 26. Carter Notch Hut ¢ Madison Springs Hut (13.5 mi.) Today was the approach and initial ascent of the Presidential Range. In the morning we heard of the probable thunderstorms that would hit which is not something you want on open rock faces 5,000 ft. up. We didn¢t, fortunately, get caught in lightning, only some rain. And then there was Mount Madison¢¦for two miles we were above treeline with no cover whatsoever as we were hit with 40 mph gusts of wind and rain that was coming at us sideways. It was an adventure and a fun, exhausting, scary experience. Our goal was another hut and as we were coming down, the thought seemed more and more appealing but since visibility was only at 20 ft., we didn¢t know we were close until we were there. But now we¢re relatively warm, relatively dry, and very well fed by the hut crew. Tomorrow morning we have to work and help clean up to earn our keep, then it¢s on to Mt. Washington where we¢re taking a train to a hotel where I will leave Greg with his mom and be on my own.
Date: 2005-07-28
From: Madison Springs Hut 

To: Mt. Washington
Miles today: 5.0

Thursday, July 28Day 27. Madison Spring Hut ¢ Mt. Washington (5 mi.) The itinerary for today: hike to Mt. Washington by 12:30, get a lunch at the visitor center on top, then take the old-fashioned log(?) train down the mt., and get shuttled to a hotel where we¢ll meet Greg¢s mom so he can go back home. It was a very nice trip on the Presidential Range for Greg¢s last day, which was unusual for that area. In fact, there was record visibility - 210 miles (in contrast to the 20 ft. of yesterday). So it was a nice relaxing day, but I¢m a bit nervous for my first day on my own.
Date: 2005-07-29
From: Mt. Washington

To: Crawford Notch/AMC Lodge
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Friday, July 29Day 28. Mt. Washington ¢ Crawford Notch/AMC Lodge (12 mi.) Today marked part II of my trip because it was my first day on the Trail alone. I had a good breakfast with Greg and his mom, then they drove me to the cog train station up Mt. Washington and said goodbye as I boarded the train. Onboard, during the 1 hour and 15 minute ride, I met some nice people who were very interested in my thru-hike. The subject came up since I was the only passenger with a frame pack and a one-way ticket up the mountain. It was through this that I learned you can find Trail angels in the most unexpected places. I got another day of great weather in the Presidential Range, excluding the 1 or 2 clouds that floated across the mountains. So in these conditions I finished up the Prezzies and hiked down to Route 302 and hitchhiked to a lodge where I could get into a bunkhouse and continue to spoil myself with real meals, which turn out to be well deserved as I found out from a Nobo that I¢m one of the fastest Sobos out here. Hopefully I can keep it up.
Date: 2005-07-30
From: Crawford Notch/AMC Lodge

To: Galeshead Hut
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

Saturday, July 30Day 29. Crawford Notch ¢ Galeshead Hut (15 mi.) A Nobo I was sharing a room with and I managed to get a ride back to the Trail from another guest staying at the lodge. The hike today was not too difficult, but I got a bit of a late start ¢ 9:30. This ended up being a problem since my goal was a hut and when I got to it at 6:15 there were already 2 thru-hikers working for stay, so no room for me. I ended up having to pay a reduced, because I¢m a thru-hiker, but still a considerable price for a bunk and I opted not to pay an extra 30 dollars for the meals. So it¢s Ramen for dinner and dry cereal for breakfast.
Date: 2005-07-31
From: Galeshead Hut

To: Rt.3/North Woodstock
Miles today: 13.0

Sunday, July 31Day 30. Galeshead Hut ¢ Rt. 3/North Woodstock (13 mi.) This morning was tough because as I was packing and eating my cereal, I could smell the fresh blueberry pancakes and bacon that were for breakfast at the hut. The only thing that stopped me from busting out my wallet was the thought that 13 miles away was a town where I could eat to my heart¢s content. Today I also hike on the Franconia Range, a mt. range whose popularity is only second to the Presidential¢s. This is because of their spectacular views and the fact that the mountains are all on a ridge line so you can see the open peaks ahead of you. I found out first hand how popular the area was because despite the not so nice weather, there were at least 50 people that I passed. Supposedly there won¢t be crowds like these again until the Smokies in the South. Eventually, I got to the highway, had a tough hitch into town, got myself a motel room, cleaned up, and treated myself to a big meal. (This is the usual routine when getting to a town.)
Date: 2005-08-01
From: Rt.3/North Woodstock

To: Eliza Brooks Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Monday, August 1Day 31. North Woodstock ¢ Eliza Brook Shelter (10 mi.) I took it kind of easy today out of town because soon I¢ll be making some big miles since I only have two big mountains left, one of which I did today. In fact, tomorrow will be the last time I¢ll be above tree line in the alpine zone. So I¢m almost done with the hardest and one of the most beautiful parts of the trail. Today was the first time since I¢ve been alone that I¢ve been able to keep up a good pace. That is until there was another thunderstorm and decided to wait before becoming the highest, most conductive object in the area. Today marks the first time a shelter has been full by the time I¢ve gotten there. So I get to practice setting up my tent.
Date: 2005-08-02
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Glencliff, Hikers Welcome Hostel
Miles today: 17.0

Tuesday, August 2Day 32. Eliza Brook Shelter ¢ Glencliff, Hikers Welcome Hostel (17 mi.) Bouie, Puck and I decided to do a big day to a hostel. They started off ahead of me, but we met up at a road at Kinsman Notch to go to a visitors¢ center cafeteria a 12 mile down the road. When I met them there I received my trail name, HeeHaw. It comes from my name, Buck Owen(s) who was someone on a TV show called ¢The HeeHaws.¢ Puck picked this up. So I am now ¢HeeHaw¢ and no longer Bucko. The cafeteria ended up being not so good, just microwaveable cheeseburgers. So after eating 2 we headed back to the Trail where Puck decided he was gonna call it a day, head in to town, and catch up to Bouie and I at the camp. So we went up Mt. Moussilauke, our last mt. above treeline, and aside from feeling the cheeseburgers sitting in my stomach the whole way up, it was a good hike with a good view. The hostel ended up being nice with a very big movie collection. I watched ¢Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels¢ and ¢Super Troopers.¢
Date: 2005-08-03
To: Rt.25A/Camp Pemigewasset
Miles today: 10.0

Wednesday, August 3Day 33. Glencliff ¢ Rt. 25A/Camp Pemigewasset (10 mi.) Today was an easy day, so we took it easy in the morning, watched Mallrats and left by 10:45. Bouie and I were aiming for the camp that the kids from the Eliza Brook Shelter were from and hoping that at least Puck would make it too. I made the 10 mi. in under 4.5 hours (no more big mts.) and Bouie took an hour and a half longer because he took a nap. Finally we got to walking to the camp and made it just in time for dinner, Mac & Cheese and ice cream sundaes. After dinner we saw Puck and Steiner coming towards us, so we all went and got set up in the Pine Forest where they were putting us for the night and went with Puck and Steiner to get some food, but all they got was PB&J. Dinner was followed by showers and TV (the best of Christopher Walken SNL). It was 11 when we realized we had no light to get back to the Pine Forest so a counselor led us to the edge of the forest but without a light it took forever and a lot of scrambling to get to our site. This pissed Puck off and he didn¢t want to stick around ¢til morning so he left and set up somewhere down the road.