morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-07-25
From: Elm Street - Norwich, VT

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 2.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We made an amazing breakfast at the house and Plunger, Mr. Right, Wags, and Gangsta left to run errands in town. I stuck around the house for a little while longer until Linda's friend Deb arrived. Deb is so sweet and made us a chocolate cake to eat on our day off. Linda and Deb dropped me off in Hanover, NH (home of Dartmouth College) where I ran errands, saw a movie, and walked around before walking the 2.3 miles (all on the AT) back to Betsy and Bill's. On the way back I stopped at Dan & Whit's in Norwich, a grocery store that has everything and whose motto is "if we don't have it, you don't need it". I guess you can say that I "slackpacked" those 2.3 miles since I was sans pack, however I was wearing my crocs, carrying 3 bags of groceries, and it was about 100 degrees. But I was glad to do that roadwalk today so we can all get dropped off in Hanover tomorrow and start hiking north from there.So something embarassing happened today that I'm still laughing about 12 hours later. While in Hanover I visited the food co-op to buy a couple things for the next few days. I was standing in the checkout line and as I waited I flipped through my thru-hiker handbook to see how many days of food I would need for this next stretch. It was busy and loud in the co-op and as I was placing my items on the conveyor belt I could barely hear the girl about my age working at the checkout counter ask me, "Are you a thru-hiker?". I wasn't in my hiking clothes and had showered recently, but thought maybe she had seen the cover of my thru-hiker handbook, and I nodded, smiled, and said "yes, I am". To which she replies, "Do you happen to know your number?" I thought for a second and said "No, but when I was in Harpers Ferry I was number 162". She kind of looked at me a bit funny and said "ooohhh...um, it's ok" as she started scanning my items and I immediately realized she had asked me if I was a co-op member, not a thru-hiker. Ha!I finally got to meet Betsy and Bill back at the house and Betsy whipped up some delicious pizzas and blueberry tart for dessert. We exchanged hiking stories around the table for a while and then hit the hay around 11.Back to the trail tomorrow as we start tackling New Hampshire!
Date: 2009-07-26
From: Hanover, NH

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

I woke up early because I had a lot to do before we hit the trail - organize my food, pack up my backpack, shower, etc. We ate a big breakfast on the porch - fresh bagels that Betsy and Bill brought back from their trip, eggs, and the chocolate cake Deb made us. Thewas so rich and tasty and I was surprised to find out that it had chickpeas in it. Big thanks to Deb - the cake was a huge hit!I got in touch with Hot Sauce before leaving Norwich. She is about 3 days behind so I'm sure she'll be able to catch up with me soon with all the short days I'll be doing. I haven't seen Hot Sauce since CT so I'm looking forward to hiking with her again. She also said that there are probably 30 hikers just 1-2 days behind me. I'm hoping that if I continue my current pace and don't take any more days off that the masses won't catch up. It's nice being in this little hiker lull right now. Bill and Betsy dropped Wags, Gangsta, Plunger, Mr. Right, and I off on the trail in Hanover around 11. It was great to meet them and hopefully I can meet their son, The Brain, some day. My pack was ridiculousy heavy considering I only really needed to be carrying 3.5 days of food to get me to Glencliff. I bet I could get through the entire 100-mile wilderness with all the food I'm carrying. At least I know I'll be eating well over the next few days. The hiking today was pretty uneventful and the climb up Moose Mountain wasn't too bad (except for the deer flies and blackflies). I'm glad we all decided to only go 11 miles today - usually my feet feel pretty good after a zero day but today they were killing me for some reason. I'm planning on having a humungous dinner tonight to decrease my pack weight and hopefully my feet will feel better tomorrow.We got to the shelter at 4pm after only 5 hours of hiking - I could get used to these short days and arriving at camp before 5. This evening Wags did a demonstration for all of us on how to use the wag bag. For those who have never heard of a wag bag (I didn't before I met Wags), google it. Wags received a wag bag from a friend and is planning on carrying it all the way to Katahdin. It was a hilarious demonstration and I'm glad I caught it all on film. The giggle fest continued as Plunger took photos of Wags, Gangsta, and I making funny faces. We get entertained easily out here in the woods. Lots of laughing tonight - I'm exhausted!
Date: 2009-07-27
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

It poured early this morning and I was glad to be dry and cozy inside my tent in the shelter. The rain had stopped before we woke up which I was relieved to see. I was unsure how far I would hike today - I was just going to play it by ear and see how my feet felt as the day went on.The trail was wet and muddy this morning and I was sliding all over the place. I caught up with Wags, Gangsta, Plunger, and Mr. Right at Dorchester Road, where we stopped in to visit Bill Ackerly, also known as "The Icecream Man". Bill is a retired Harvard professor and gives out free water and icecream bars to hikers as they pass by his house. I was psyched to see that he has a mowed croquet field in his backyard and we all spent the next 2 hours playing croquet. Bill doesn't like to see anyone lose or for any one person to be far behind the rest, so he kept letting us take "do-overs" if our shots were way off. Mr. Right ended up winning and I came in 2nd to last. Bill gave us all lemonade afterwards and even brought out some red wine. He invited us to stay for dinner and camp out in his lawn, and although it was tempting, we had only hiked 6 miles and knew we should move on or else the hiker bubble would gain on us.Wags and Gangsta hiked 11 more miles, however Plunger, Mr. Right, and I only went 6 more to the Firewarden's Cabin on top of Smarts Mountain. I have a feeling that I won't see Wags and Gangsta for the rest of this hike since they are summiting Katahdin a week before I plan to. However, the trail is full of surprises so our paths may cross again when I least expect it. The climb up Smarts Mountain was grueling because of the 100% humidity but not as steep as I was anticipating. There is a firetower on the summit although the views were hazy and I couldn't see too far. The Firewarden's Cabin is on the summit of Smarts Mountain and is a little dilapidated. We set up our tents inside the shelter because the bugs are pretty bad here. We made dinner then crawled into our tents right after - it's hard to hang out outside when the blackflies are gnawing through our clothing. The sky looks really pretty from inside the cabin, but I'm feeling a little too lazy to go back to the firetower to see the sunset. There are some strange noises we are hearing (mumuring, scurrying)- I'm hoping this cabin isn't haunted or rodent-infested.
Date: 2009-07-28
From: Firewarden's Cabin

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 12.6

I was only planning on hiking less than 13 miles today so I had a nice, leisurely day with lots of breaks. The weather was perfect and today was the first day in a long time that we didn't need to worry about the threat of thunderstorms in the distance. Just blue sky for as far as you could see. I enjoyed the climb up Mt. Cube and it gave me a good warm up for what's to come in the Whites. My feet are feeling much better because my pack weight has probably dropped 8 pounds since leaving Hanover, however I'm resupplying in Glencliff tomorrow so the light pack won't last too long. Today is the first day I really wished I had a head net. The bugs were all up in my grill - the blackflies and no-see-ums were flying in my nose, mouth, and ears, and were even geting caught in my eyelashes. And a deer fly must have followed me for at least 5 miles. Listening to music helped a little bit because they couldn't fly in my ears and I couldn't hear the deer flies following me and buzzing around my face. The deet seems to work great for the mosquitos, but not for everything else.I'm at the shelter tonight with Plunger and Mr. Right, a couple section hiking that we've been with for the last few nights, and two NOBO brothers from Holland. I am tenting tonight in a leafy area behind the shelter, I am really hoping it doesn't rain overnight.I'm looking forward to hiking Moosilauke tomorrow - I've hiked it before and it feels good to be in familiar territory!
Date: 2009-07-29
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up early in order to get into Glencliff and have enough time to pick up my maildrop and sort through my food, shower, do laundry, and lounge around for a couple hours before hiking up and over Mt. Moosilauke (the first mountain above treeline on the AT heading north and the first 4,000-footer since central Virginia) later this afternoon.I got to the Hikers Welcome Hostel around 11am, and was able to get everything done, including watching the entire Borat movie. A few other hikers were there and planning on spending the night, but Plunger, Mr. Right, and I were still planning on hiking on. A tiny baby bird had fallen out of a tree and lost its mother and the hostel workers have been feeding and taking care of it. I got to feed it with a pipette and it was adorable, I really hope it makes it.We hiked out from the hostel around 2pm and immediately entered the White Mountain National Forest and started climbing Mt. Moosilauke. I hiked this mountain this past October so I knew what to expect and how amazing the views would be from the top. I love being above treeline but storms were approaching as the sky got darker and darker. It started drizzling lightly but luckily the views were still nice (although menacing) and it didn't start pouring until after we got to the shelter.In addition to the 3 of us, there are 2 SOBOs, 3 section hikers, and The Hulk staying in the shelter tonight. The shelter is crammed packed and the smells are intoxicating, WOW! The 2 SOBOs told us that they had seen Wags and Gangsta and that they are tenting tonight aout 2 miles north. I didn't realize how close we were to them - maybe we will see them tomorrow.
Date: 2009-07-30
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Lonesome Lake Hut
Miles today: 15.0

I don't think I've ever seen it rain harder than it did last night. It sounded like it could have rained 10 inches, it was crazy. I slept horribly...the shelter smelled awful, the sound of torrential rain hitting the tin shelter roof made it hard to fall asleep, I was worried that I was ill-prepared for the Whites with only 3 days of food (and no lunches) to get me to Crawford Notch and only $5 cash in my wallet, and I was worrying about Wags and Gangsta tenting 2 miles north of us in this weather. Luckily the rain had stopped by the time we woke up around 6am, although there was water everywhere. I didn't even have to go to the brook to get water for breakfast; I could just place my water bottle on the trail just a couple feet from the shelter and it was full in 3 seconds. I left the shelter shortly after Plunger and Mr. Right around 7. The trail was ridiculous - waterfalls cascading down the trail, overflowing rivers that made crossings tricky and almost impossible, totally submerged bog logs, wet rock scrambles, and the steepest ascents/descents we've had so far. But luckily the rain held off. The climb up Kinsman kicked my butt in a serious way. It took me 11 hours to hike 15 miles, my feet were water logged, and I had a few falls. My wrists and knuckles were so sore from relying on my poles so much and from clenching them so tightly, my neck ached from staring down all day, and I was mentally exhausted from trying so hard not to fall down the slippery rocks. But the views were amazing. I was so caught up in the day that I failed to realize we had crossed the 1,800 mile mark!   I made it to Lonesome Lake Hut around 5:30pm which was a glorious sight. I was the first thru-hiker to arrive and was able to do a "work for stay", meaning I could sleep there and eat the leftover food cooked up for the paying hut guests in exchange for some work around the hut. Mr. Right and Plunger arrived shortly after me and were also doing the work for stay. Gangsta and Wags never showed up so I figured they stopped at the shelter a couple miles back.Lonesome Lake Hut is in a great spot, situated at the base of Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette, with a full view of the Franconia Ridge. The lake is just below the hut and was the perfect spot to rinse off my muddy legs and feet. The 3 of us were called into the dining hall after the guests had finished eating, and we ate leftover lentil soup, veggies, cornbread, and chocolate cake. Afterwards, I was given the task of cleaning the stove which wasn't that bad. We hung out with some of the hut croo (yes, "croo", not "crew") for a little bit, then spread out our sleeping bags in the dining hall after lights out at 9:30. This is the latest I've been up in a while! I'm looking forward to another day in the Whites even though I will barely be able to walk tomorrow!
Date: 2009-07-31
From: Lonesome Lake Hut

To: Franconia Notch - Lincoln, NH
Miles today: 2.9
Weather: moderate rain

We had to wake up around 6am to clear out of the dining room so the croo could start setting up for breakfast. I took a walk down to the lake - I was hoping to see a moose since they usually are out around dawn and dusk, but no such luck. Instead I saw an amazing reflection of the mountains in the lake which was picture-perfect. It looked like it would be a nice day.The guests ate breakfast and afterwards we were called in to eat the leftover pancakes and oatmeal. I looked out the window and it had started to rain lightly, and I noticed the mountains I could see so clearly from the lake were slowly getting socked in, and 30 minutes later had completely disappeared. I had found out there was a 24-hour severe storm warning for the Whites, which is not ideal for hiking across Franconia Ridge.I wasn't planning on heading into town, however zeroing at the hut unfortunately wasn't an option. I really want to enjoy myself as I hike through the Whites, and I told myself early on that I would wait out bad weather. There would be no views from Franconia today and the weather was horrendous, so Plunger, Mr. Right, Gangsta, Wags, (they arrived at the hut this morning, drenched) and I decided to hike 2.9 miles to the road where we would split a room at the Comfort Inn in Lincoln. The Hulk and Shenanigans also went into town but are staying at Chet's (a trail angel).We spent the afternoon watching TV (a 2-hour True Hollywood Story on Full House - amazing), eating junkfood, and doing the rouine town chores. We went out for dinner at a place called Gypsy's Cafe and the sky was clearing as we came back to the hotel. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and nice (and crowded, I'm sure, with it being a Saturday), and I can't wait to get back into the mountains. Hopefully the weather will stay nice for more than a day
Date: 2009-08-01
From: Franconia Notch - Lincoln, NH

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was one of my favorite days on the trail. We hiked five 4,000-footers throughout the day and had great weather from beginning to end. The mountains climbed today included the following (in order): Liberty Mountain (4459') - The summit of Liberty isn't actually on the AT, but I'm trying to check-off as may 4,000-footers as I can as I hike through New Hampshire. I dropped my pack at the trail junction and hiked the 0.6-mile roundtrip off the AT to the summit which was well worth it. It is above tree-line and I could see the entire ridge that we would be hiking today. The weather was perfect and I immediately realized that the impromtu town stay last night was the best decision I've made on the entire trip. Hiking in this area with 20-foot visability would have been depressing. Little Haystack Mountain (4760') - Between Liberty and Little Haystack I took a really bad fall on a wet, slippery log. I fell sideways and scraped and banged up my leg pretty badly, and ended up lying totally horizontal across the trail. I was glad no one was behind me because I'm sure it was a pathetic sight as I tried to stand up with my pack on. I was shaken up a bit but brushed it off and continued hiking, but felt a sharp pain in my leg with every step. I actually don't even remember going up and over Little Haystack, but I think it is the peak that I met back up with Wags and Gangsta. Mt. Lincoln (5089') - Lincoln was incredible and was one of my favorite mountains so far. I must have taken 50 photos from the summit and ended up spending an hour or so there with Wags and Gangsta, and eventually Shenanigans showed up and joined us for lunch. There were tons of day hikers out and most asked us questions as they walked past us - it's amazing how day hikers can quickly boost one's ego and make thru-hikers feel like top notch celebrities.   Mt. Lafayette (5249') - The ridge between Lincoln and Lafayette was fun to hike and I stopped every 10 feet to take another photo. I loved being able to see Liberty, Little Haystack, and Lincoln in the distance along Franconia Ridge, and the Presidentials to the north. We (along with at least 50 day hikers [Gangsta claims that there were 75 million]) spent some time watching two gliders fly along the ridge and around the mountains.Mt. Garfield (4488') - Since we climbed Garfield towards the end of the day, it was the hardest part of the day for me. The views were once again incredible and it was cool to see how much ground we had covered today. The descent was super rocky, wet, and steep and I was psyched when I finally made it to Galehead Hut where I was spending the night. I made it to the hut around 6pm and was able to do a work for stay, along with Plunger, Mr. Right, Wags, Gangsta, and Shenanigans. The hut was full with it being a weekend, but there was a lot of leftover dinner and one of the croo members even whipped us up a huge pot of spaghetti. I had to wash a bunch of dishes after dinner but was in bed at 9:30pm (lights out time).I love the Whites!
Date: 2009-08-02
From: Galehead Hut

To: Ethan Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: broken clouds

The croo (and all their friends visiting for the night) were up partying in the hut last night until 11pm, even though they had instilled a 9:30 lights out for the guests. They were slamming doors, running around, and talking and laughing loudly. Some of the guests made comments in the morning asking if it was us thru-hikers making all that racket last night. I couldn't believe it! The 6 of us were nestled in our sleeping bags at 9:30 trying to fall asleep as the croo drank beer and partied for the next couple hours. We all awoke groggy in te morning and had to wait around for 2 hours to get breakfast. I wish I had just eaten breakfast from my food bag when I woke up because waiting 2 hours to eat cold oatmeal and cereal that looked like kibble just didn't seem worth it. I ate some dry kibble (which tasted like cardboard) and ended up making my own instant oatmeal. We were already grumpy from being kept awake so late, and the lousy food and the fact that the croo was! whipping up pancakes for themselves and eating lucky charms didn't help. I'm glad I had such a great experience at Lonesome Lake Hut so I know they are not all like this one. We all left around 8:30 and quickly summited South Twin Mountain which had an incredible 360 degree panorama of the Whites. It was overcast out which made the mountains look dark and dramatic. The views immediately improved my mood from this morning - how can one stay grumpy when surrounded by such beauty? The hike to Zealand Falls Hut took no time at all and we arrived shortly after noon. There we ran in to Frank, who has been trying to find me and Wags. He and his wife Jean tried to meet us around Kinsman to give us some trail magic but missed me at the road crossing by just a couple of hours. Jean and Frank have been following our trail journals and it was great to meet one of our readers.I ate some pumpkin soup, cake, and bread at the hut, and had found out that Mr. Right had gotten sick somewhere between South Twin and the hut. He thinks it was either food poisoning or dehydration, and took a nap at the hut for an hour or so. Wags, Gangsta, and I left the hut and walked the very flat 5 miles (possibly the flattest 5 miles on the whole trail - who knew there would be FLAT trail in the Whites??) to Ethan Pond Shelter where we are staying the night. Mr. Right and Plunger showed up an hour after us - apparently Mr. Right was feeling better so they decided to hike on from the hut.The caretaker here said there was a 90% chance that we'd see a moose on the pond this evening around dusk. We went down to the pond around 8pm just as it started to pour and unfortunately there was no moose Maybe we'll be lucky in the morning.Today is my 5 month anniversay on the trail and in exactly 1 month I hope to summit Katahdin. I am starting to realize that my trip is almost over.
Date: 2009-08-03
From: Ethan Pond Shelter

To: Nauman Tent Site
Miles today: 9.3

I woke up around 2:30am because I heard someone stomping around in their boots out in front of the shelter. I briefly looked out to see who it was and didn't see a headlamp and just assumed it was the caretaker checking on something so I went back to sleep. In the morning Gangsta and Wags spotted some big muddy tracks in front of the shelter and realized I had heard a moose walking around just outside the shelter, not the caretaker.I was meeting Dom at Crawford Notch around noon and only had a few miles to hike, so I slept in a bit and left the shelter around 9. Besides falling in a river up to my knees while filling my water bottle, the hike down was super fast and flat and I ended up getting to the road at 10:30. I ate the entire contents of my food bag while waiting for Dom because I knew he was bringing me food for the next 3 days.He hitched a ride with a Russian family and met me at Crawford Notch shortly after noon. We organized our food and hiked up Webster Cliffs which had great views of the notch, where we had been just an hour before. We met up with Plunger, Mr. Right, Wags, and Gangsta on the cliffs and hung out enjoying the scenery and perfect weather. Dom and I got to Nauman Tent Site, which is adjacent to Mizpah Spring Hut (where the other 4 and Sir Richard are staying), and were able to do a work for stay instead of paying $8 each. Our task was surprisingly easy - we collected and spread 2 buckets of soil from the composting toilet system (sounds gross but wasn't at all since it was the last stage of the composting process). After dinner we were able to hang out in the hut, where Dom beat me in a game of rummy 500.