morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-08-25
From: Route 302

To: Route 302
Miles today: 0.0

I tried to sleep in today, but I just couldn¢t. So I got out of bed and started working on our chores. Moose and I skipped breakfast, so we were pretty hungry for lunch. Jeff dropped us off in Lincoln at the restaurant called Gypsy. Everyone (Bandit, Bob Ross, Toaster, Stogie, and Moose Jaw) except me got lobster rolls. They said they were delicious, and apparently we bought the restaurant out of lobster rolls! From there, we dropped brave little Toasted off at the bus stop. Well, technically she walked a quarter of a mile there. So, the rest of us went to the outfitter. I got a matching beanie so Moose Jaw and I could be twins. Yes, we are that couple. And yes, other hikers tell us how disgustingly cute we are. HA! From the outfitter, we went to the Price Chopper to resupply. They didn¢t have much there. It was an extremely small store. So we weren¢t in there long before we walked to the Purple Tomato so Bob Ross could get his second lobster roll. He¢s trying to eat as many as he can so he can find the best one! When Jeff picked us up, he had another hiker in his vehicle. So we fit four of us in the backseat and one in the trunk. That was Bandit. The first go around, Bandit and I were both in the trunk. Good thing the trunk was not a typical sedan trunk, but an open one like a SUV. When we got back to the ski club, we started laundry. I felt so exhausted from the day. My feet were so swollen that my toes doubled in size, and my feet were throbbing. I was dealing with some bad news, so we decided that tomorrow we should zero as well. Everyone was on board. Plus, it¢s one less day toaster will need to make up to catch up to us once she¢s back on trail. The ski club did a hiker feed/dinner. For ten bucks we got all you can eat Alfredo with grilled chicken, garlic bread, salad, and cookies. We didn¢t want to go out to eat, so this was perfect for us! And oh boy, it was yummy!! There were 35 hikers in the basement of the ski club eating dinner. It was so much fun! This isn¢t a normal thing, 1) to have that many hikers at a hostel and 2) to have that many hikers eat together. This place is hoppin¢!Before we went to bed, we made root beer floats and played around with some brain puzzles that were sitting by the couches. Masters (that we haven¢t seen since Virginia) and Day Walker joined us. I soon went to bed. I¢m happy to crawl into bed and have some time to myself. That¢s not common to have on trail. Today was emotional for me, so I am relieved I get to sleep in tomorrow.
Date: 2023-08-26
From: Route 302

To: Route 302
Miles today: 0.0

I got to sleep in until 9:15 today!! I can¢t remember the last time I slept in so late! It was really nice. When I work up, I got a chai tea and mailed some items home (mostly stickers). Then we walked back to the ski lodge and hung out. I showered and packed up our resupply while listening to some music. Then I joined bandit and moose jaw for lunch. We ate pizza rolls and pizza bagels. After lunch I decided to de-funkify out tent by spraying it with a laundry and disinfectant mixture. It needed something! It was smelling pretty ripe. I let it dry on the clothes line outside. For dinner we went out to eat with the typical crew plus day Walker (minus toaster). Before we left we saw electro and dos Entrados!! We haven¢t seen them for awhile so we are glad they are doing well!! We also heard that Sherlock was in town. We were happy to hear that too! We miss him! At dinner we saw drunken monkey and she who sits and frowns (now her name is kaleidoscope). We haven¢t seen them since Georgia!! Small world at this ski lodge! It seems to bring everyone together!! Stogie and Bob Ross saw Oppenheimer during the day while I just laid on my bunk uploading journal entries to trail journals. When we got back from dinner, we made a round of root beer floats. Moose Jaw and I have been on a root beer float kick because you get the best of both worlds,¢¦ soda and ice cream!! We all ate them together. They were scrumptious!! Then we all crawled into bed. We were exhausted and we wanted to get enough sleep for tomorrow. I hope that trail doesn¢t kick our butts tomorrow!
Date: 2023-08-27
From: Route 302

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut - Dungeon
Miles today: 11.1

Today was a good day! We woke up early so we could get back to trail by a certain time, however the clouds this morning were stunning! They hugged the mountains, and in one area it looked like a cloud waterfall. It was beautiful!We had quite the incline today, but the views were incredible. We were above the tree line for most of our day. We stopped at the Mizpah Hut today for lunch, and Bandit, Moose Jaw and I ate lunch with Shit Water and Love Child. They are a lot of fun to talk to. I had to cook our food outside though, because open flames are not allowed in the building¢¦ because the building is made of ¢wood.¢ Which confused me. Houses are made of wood and so are the shelters¢¦ but oh well! The huts are really nice but way out of our price range. The bunks go for $147 per night! That¢s ridiculous!! The huts offer work for stay, but it¢s not necessarily a good deal. You don¢t get a bunk when you work. You actually have to sleep on the floor in the dining room. But it¢s nice that they-hikers are allowed to sit inside at the tables for lunch. Bandit, Moose Jaw, and I hiked out from there over part of the presidential mountains to the Lake of the Clouds Hut. We will be summiting Mt. Washington tomorrow! At this particular hut, they have work for stay but they also have the grungiest concrete vault with a steel door they call the dungeon. This dungeon is less than 10¢x10¢, and it smells so musty. I¢m sure someone will get breathing problems. Shoved inside are two bunks that have three beds in each bunk. The ceilings aren¢t high, so each bunk is more like a tiny cubby hole. For only $10 (I hope you can sense my sarcasm) you get the opportunity to stay in this place. Of course, that¢s where we are staying. I asked moose jaw if he was proud of me, because this is way outside my comfort zone. Absolutely disgusting. I must have been on a ¢surprise myself¢ kick because when I put my sleep clothes on, I didn¢t wipe down my legs (I do this every night to clean the feet off of me along with the mud) and I put my sleep socks on. I didn¢t do either. I¢m disgusting. Who have I become!? Us thru-hikers ate our food outside the dungeon. It didn¢t smell good because it was near the privies, but we had an amazing view and a good sunset. Plus we could see mt. Washington!! Later that evening, as we were brushing our teeth we saw Firewalker and Captain Fantastic! Apparently they were guided to the dungeon to sleep on the floor!! I was appalled. There were six hikers doing work for stay at the hut so I couldn¢t understand why they couldn¢t stay inside on the floor as well. I said something, because the floor can¢t fit two hikers and it¢s absolutely disgusting. No one should be sleeping there!! We are not trash. We are humans too. Too many times people look at thru-hikers as hiker trash instead of humans. It¢s so sad. So thankfully, they got a place inside after we talked to a Croo member (and yes, croo is spelled weird here). Outside of that, today was a great day!! I¢m very happy to be here!
Date: 2023-08-28
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut - Dungeon

To: Bluff Campsite (Stealth Site)
Miles today: 10.7

We woke up and hung out outside of the dungeon while we ate our breakfast. This was a lot of fun, and it was the first time we have done this in a long time on trail. Usually, everyone wants to get after it in the morning. So, once we had enough of hanging around, we hiked up to Mt. Washington in mist. I felt like a warrior! It was only 46 degrees out with 15 mph winds, and I was wearing a t-shirt. This is a big deal for me, because this is not normal! Moose Jaw would always call me a lizard, because I love the heat so much. It¢s amazing how the body adapts to weather over only 5 months! We got some photos at the summit and at the weather sign. It was eerie in an amazing way, because there was no one up there. A cog usually takes people to the top, but the first cog doesn¢t arrive until 10, so we got an hour at the top to ourselves and only a couple of other hikers. We walked into the gift shop, and the lady behind the counter gave us protein bars! She was so excited because it was her first time giving trail magic! The protein bars were quite delicious! We also saw Oil Change and Loaf here!We then walked to the cafeteria to get a soda. The clouds started to dissipate, so we were getting some great views. Inside the cafeteria, Fire Walker and Captain Fantastic. Once we felt like we had taken a long enough break, we hiked on. Bandit and I really had to pee, so we took turns keeping watch while each of us peed on a cairn. The trail, was extremely rocky and completely open leading up to and six miles past Washington. The rocks continued once we made it to the tree line as well. Moose Jaw mooned the cog, because it¢s thru-hiked tradition apparently. He thought it was hilarious. The rest of the day was painstakingly slow, due to the rock hopping and steep descents we encountered. We met some trail runners running across this section and I was amazed! I asked the couple if they were ultra runners, and they said yes. So, I said, ¢Daayyummm!¢ Then they asked me if I started hiking in Georgia, and I said, ¢Yes!¢ Then they replied, ¢Daayyummm!¢ We all laughed! We were both impressed with each other, and I thought that was just awesome¢We stopped at hut to eat our lunch. For a dollar, Bandit purchased some coffee. It apparently was so awful, that as soon as Bandit tasted it, he got up and poured it out. We all started laughing! Even though we are hikers, we still have standards!We made it to a stealth site right off trail that used to be an existing camp spot. We were surprised it wasn¢t on our app FarOut, but we knew it was there because someone had made a comment that it was. The water nearby tasted dirty, so I added some drink packets to the water in order to cover up the awful taste. We all ceased into our tents and decided not to socialize. It¢s been getting dark early and we were all exhausted. Plus it started to rain. So we just crawled into our to go to bed. Today was a good day!
Date: 2023-09-01
From: Trident Col Campsite

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 14.5

This morning we left camp late, because Moose Jaw was fixing Stogie¢s backpack. While they were working on his pack, Bandit and I jammed to some throwback tunes. We had a blast! When we finally left camp, the first four miles weren¢t bad, but then it got sketchy and tough after that for the rest of our hike to the shelter. I fell three times today, and Stogie broke his trekking pole. In fact, he didn¢t even make it to the shelter today. It was going to be too tricky to hike in the dark, so he decided to cowboy camp up on a peak 2.3 miles from the shelter. You may think 2.3 miles isn¢t far, but it would take him about 2 hours. There were a lot of steep rock scrambles up and down the sides of the mountains we climbed today. Plus, there were a ton of mud bogs that were extremely challenging to figure out how to cross or get around. Today was just a really tough day. I know southern Maine is challenging just like the Whites, but I¢m ready to be done hiking. I¢m even worried for Katahdin, because I¢m just tired of my legs being exhausted every day. Every time we go uphill, my legs burn and I¢m out of breath. You¢d never know that I have hiked 1900+ miles!! The good thing about today was,¢¦ WE HIT MAINE!!! FINALLY THE LAST STATE!!! I am so absolutely happy!!!Lunch was pretty good today. We packed out some frozen burritos yesterday, so they were thawed for lunch today. With some hot sauce, they were actually delicious!! Although, Bandit did not like that Moose Jaw kept farting. Then he blamed me for being guilty by association!! I laughed so hard at that!! Burritos and uncrustables are the way to go for lunch nowadays. They aren¢t too bad!!Today was okay. We met a lot of SOBOs today that enjoyed giving unsolicited advice¢¦. So that was annoying. I¢m glad today is over. Happy first of September! Last month on trail (and not even a full one)!
Date: 2023-09-02
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 9.7

We woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise. As we started to get up and around, we chatted with the couple and their friend from Maine on the platform right beside us. They are so cool! They all go sail around the world, and they were sharing their stories with us! These three are so metal. Not long into hiking, we finally arrived to MAHOOSUC NOTCH! This is either the most challenging or the most fun mile on the entire trail,¢¦ and I have to say, it was EPIC!!! We had so much fun going through this section! We had to take our packs off and climb through small tunnels in the rocks, we swung between large boulders in order to land on other boulders; it was a large adult jungle gym!! We laughed so much going through this section! We almost wanted to scramble through it again!! Right after we completed this section, we met two day hikers: Austin (Pound) and Liza (Cannibal). Austin thru-hiked the AT SOBO back in 2020. Up next, we climbed up the Mahoosuc Arm, which is supposed to be the steepest incline on the AT. However, it did not feel this way!! After the incline we had lunch on a rock. It was super comfy and peaceful. We had Uncrustables and candy for lunch. This was fun!It was a rock scramble up Speck Mountain. As we were heading down, we ran into Ice Cream Man! I met him back on Max Patch, when he made me an arrow head out of an old bottle! He gave us some trail magic¢Oreos!!! We were so excited! It gave us the energy we needed to make it to Grafton Notch. When we arrived there was trail magic, and our shuttle was there!! So, we got some soda and a burger and headed to the car!We were picked up by Kevin. He helps out at the Bethel Village Motel owned and ran by a woman named Ruthie. Kevin says she¢s a real Mainer, and even though he has been in Maine for 30 years, that he¢s still a Mass-Hole. We laughed a lot about that! As he drove us to the Motel, he told us the history about the town. When we arrived, we were given trash bags for us to put our dirty laundry in. Ruthie does laundry for the hikers that stay here! We showered and then walked to Suds Pub for dinner. While Moose Jaw was playing Galaga, Bandit and I were seated (Bob Ross and Stogie didn¢t make it into town, because it took them awhile to make it through Mahoosuc Notch). I order for Moose and I, and the waiter was appalled. He didn¢t know my husband was eating with us, so he thought at first that I ordered all of the food for myself! It was hilarious!! The food was scrumptious!We walked back to the motel and relaxed. I love it here!
Date: 2023-09-04
From: Grafton Notch

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 0.0

Mood: °I finally got to sleep in today! That was really nice! Then I just laid in bed uploading journal entries and photos to trail journals. After I finally completed that, I showered and headed to the grocery store to resupply for our next stent. It was a small store less than a one minute walk down the road. After I got our groceries, I went back to the motel to pack up our food. That¢s when toaster called. It was so nice to talk to her!! She working so hard to catch up to us!!Toaster asked Bandit to make her a food-drop for her resupply to drop off at the gap the next morning. So I went to the store to help him. We bought Toaster all sorts of goodies in addition to the items she asked for. As we were checking out, the cashier asked if we were hikers. I said, ¢Yes! Can you tell by how we are dressed??¢ The gentleman bagging our groceries said, ¢No. We can tell by the food you¢re buying.¢ That just made me laugh! They asked if we were thru-hiking, and we were like, ¢Yes! We are headed to Maine!¢ The cashier replied, ¢Darlin¢, you¢re already in Maine.¢ I always forget that, so I correct myself and said Katahdin! After we completed Toaster¢s resupply, I laid in bed watching Law and Order. I never watched this show until trail. It¢s weirdly relaxing to me. Bandit, Moose Jaw, and I met up with Stogie and Bob Ross for dinner. We all had a good time together! It was nice to hang out again. We all got brownie sundaes for dessert. They were delicious!! Back at the motel, I FaceTimed my Parents to talk about Maine, and that was about it! Today was a chill day! My feet were swollen and throbbing by the end of the day, but I¢m glad we took two zeroes!!
Date: 2023-09-05
From: Grafton Notch

To: Hall Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 16.3

Kevin gave us a ride back to trail a little after seven in the morning. When he dropped us off, we had a hard time getting motivated to get hiking. So, we just hung out in the parking lot, because we didn¢t feel like hiking. We also dropped off a bag full of food and other resupply items for toaster. She was going to be hiking through the gap later today. After we started to hike the big incline for the day, I felt out of shape. My legs were burning and I was breathing heavy. I¢m not sure if the terrain has been tough or if I¢m so beat up for trail that I¢m just lagging behind. Maybe it¢s a little bit of both. We stopped at a lean-to for lunch. I ate a cold hot pocket that I packed out. It actually tasted really good! I was impressed. We also had some chili cheese Fritos. We all hiked to a beaver dam next to take a break and to determine whether we should hike on. We decided to hike on to the shelter nearby. Of course there weren¢t many good tent sites. All the good ones were taken, so we just had to make do with what we had. I made moose and I a ramen bomb for dinner. It really hit the spot. It was dark while we were eating, because it gets dark so early (around 7:30).We were all pretty exhausted so we soon went to bed after cleaning up our meal. One more day closer to summiting Katahdin.
Date: 2023-09-06
From: Hall Mountain Lean-to

To: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 12.8

I was grumpy today. The trail is just really wearing on everyone. It¢s been hard, because Katahdin still feels so far away. But I know we will make it before we know it! I think we are tired of hiking all day just to get to camp and it already be full. We woke up early this morning and was walking by 7:30. We took our time today, meaning we took lots of breaks. It was shockingly hot, so we were all drenched in sweat all day long. At lunch I could wrong sweat out of my tank top! It was pretty disgusting. We had to big climbs today, and even though we walked less miles today, we felt beat. We think it was the heat. Of course less than a mile before we get to camp I went to step on a log in the middle of a big mud bog, I soon found out that it was a floating log and my leg sank down into the mud up to my knee. All I could do was laugh. So, I walked to camp with a muddy and squishy shoe. I can¢t wait to get new shoes in Stratton (about 50 miles from here). Toaster isn¢t far behind us. We are hoping she will catch up tomorrow or the day after. We are trying to encourage her to keep up the good work, but Bandit says it¢s mentally exhausting hiking along. I hope she¢s okay. Bandit is torn about trail. He hopes to be done, but he¢s going to miss us. I gave him a big hug. We are going to miss him too!! We will miss everyone!!
Date: 2023-09-07
From: Bemis Mountain Lean-to

To: Little Swift River Pond
Miles today: 12.9

Today we woke up to a sunny day. As we were tearing down our tent, Toaster arrived!! she finally caught up!! We were ecstatic to see her! She crushed it! We couldn¢t believe how hard she had been pushing herself! We were all so happy!! However we didn¢t exchange hugs, because she said she was feral (hadn¢t showered in 8 days)! HA! I didn¢t even care! We were extremely sad and upset when we found out that someone stole food out of her food drop. Someone took all five of her protein builder bars, 2 of 3 ramen packets, all of her candy (snickers, m&ms, and 3 peppermint York Patties, her peanut butter packet, etc.). I was so angry when I found out. When someone leaves a package for another hiker with their name on it and it says food-drop. Just don¢t touch it! We got her enough food for 3 days. When that hiker stole her food, she had to ration what was left. Absolutely disgusting. I can¢t stand thieves. She was a good sport about it, but that¢s just messed up. About 3.5 miles into our hike we ran into some amazing trail magic! Bacon cheese burgers, pasta salad, chili, sodas, muffins, etc. We all engorged ourselves. Unfortunately, my stomach wasn¢t feeling the best. I had to leave the trail magic to go dig a hole. I ended up digging 4 holes in less than our hour so I took some Imodium. It¢s the worst when you get stomach issues on trail in the middle of nowhere. I was just thankful I didn¢t poop my pants. However, I still enjoyed myself at the trail magic, and we were all so thankful for everything! The crew putting it on where so kind! We loved chatting with them. After staying for our an hour, we continued our hike. As soon as we left, we had to fjord a stream. Of course I slip off of the first rock,¢¦ so I just crossed the stream in my hiking shoes. They were squishy for the rest of the day. We kind of moseyed along today. We didn¢t push ourselves too hard to get into camp. Once we got into camp we had family dinner (where everyone makes their own dinner but we all sit and cook by each other). This was so nice! We heard thunder and felt a couple of rain drops, so we were worried that it was going to rain. But then it didn¢t! But for the past 1.5 hours we have been listening to thunder off in the distance and seeing lightening. I just hope we stay dry tonight!! We are all over the rain! All in all, today was a good day. Not bad. But not spectacular. But good!
Date: 2023-09-09
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Perham Stream & Barnjum Road
Miles today: 13.6

This morning I woke up again to my hands being numb/cramped. I couldn¢t believe how much they hurt! They have been doing this for the past two weeks! It¢s so odd! I wonder if it¢s from having a death grip on my trekking poles going down these steep descents. Hopefully nothing is permanently wrong. I still have numb big toes, my knees hurt chronically (sitting too long with my legs bent hurts so much), Achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, back pain, etc. I can¢t wait for my body to finally have time to heal! It¢ll take a month or more, but I can¢t wait to be pain free! Moose Jaw agrees. We also can¢t wait to be clean!!Today was such a great day! Unfortunately, I did wake upon the middle of the night to blow up my sleeping pad. It¢s either leaking in the existing patch or in a new spot. But that¢s okay! I only need it to work 14 or so more times!! Today, we took two long breaks, which were so nice. The first break we had lunch (hot pockets,¢¦ yum!), and the second break we just sat at the top of a mountain peak and enjoyed the sun and the mountains. This was just so peaceful!! It was finally cool today (it¢s been so hot the past few days) and the weather cleared up after lunch! This morning we hiked in the fog/mist. We couldn¢t see any views off the mountain much less 100 feet in front of us! We all had a great day today, though! We hiked into camp which was a grassy road near a brook. The water is gushing! Plus, the water was clear when we filtered it, so we were all happy about that!! We all ate dinner together and laughed a lot. I showed Bandit and Toaster the comedy skit ¢the machine¢ since I had a single bar of service! Moose Jaw and I quoted this bit several times, so we finally showed it to them. They laughed! It¢s a great bit! We all can¢t believe we are almost done with trail! We all have really pushed ourselves beyond what we thought we were capable of. I¢m really proud of all of us! We just have to keep trekking along. So, today was a good day! Especially since I didn¢t fall or get my shoes soaked!