morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-09-25
To: Andover, Maine
Miles today: 69.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Sept 22The picture above shows what type of trail I have been walking on. The picture shows exactly the way the trails are here in Maine. The roots and rocks make hiking a slow process as well as dangerous. That is one reason that I keep falling. One miss step and down you go. You just hope you don't hit anything that will hurt you. Also forgot to mention the other day while hiking up to Saddleback Mt., I heard a noise off to my right about 10 yards away. I stopped to get a better look through the trees and was able to see a huge bull moose. He had no idea I was there. I did take a few photos of him, but he wouldn't smile for me. That would be my 4th moose siteing since I've been in Maine.Hiked 14 miles and only fell once today. The terrain was mostly level allowing a little bit better pace. They say that the southern part of Maine is much like the Whites and maybe a little worse. I guess we will see. Temps are on the rise which I guess is unusual for this time of year. Leaves are starting to turn, and I'm looking forward to hiking through the colors. Should have some phenomenal views.Sept 23Hiked 12.1 today through some pretty tough mountains. Two major ups and downs. The ups are nice because you get to climb up and your leaning into the Mt. But coming down is quite a bit harder as I always feel like I'll miss step and tumble forward down the incline. Consequently I move much slower going down those steep declines. I do enjoy the views though. Leaves are now about 40% turned. I do think that these mountains are an extension of the Whites. There definitely has been a change in terrain from a few days ago. Certainly more rocks and and bigger size. I'm now having to use all fours to go up some of these mountains. Also I think summer has returned, along with the 80's and 90's temps.Sept 24Took to the trail early today to avoid climbing in the heat. Expected temps near 90. Hiked 11.1 miles but now the mileage will go down a little because of the rough terrain. When I came out to the East B Road, there was a van parked on the side of the road waiting to pick up 2 hikers and shuttle them into Andover Maine , to a hostel called PineEllis. I asked if they minded if I were to ride into town with them. They agreed and so came to the PineEllis, Hostel. I think I wimped out in light of the heat today. Got into the hostel and the first thing I did was to shower. It was a cold shower, my choice, as I was so hot. My clothes were totally wet so it felt good to get out of them, shower and put on some dry clothes. After the shower, I washed my wet clothes and then hit the general store for a bite to eat. After that came the Packers football. What a way to spend the evening on such a hot day. Tomorrow I will slack pack ten miles to Grafton Notch and resume my normal hiking on Tuesday. Temps tomorrow will again be in the 90s. I will figure out mileage tomorrow to get the figures correct. Again I find it difficult to figure out exact mileage except for the dailies. Should be near 1932.00
Date: 2017-09-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Sept 25Lost my hat so I had to improvise. Woke up at 5:30am, got dressed and headed over to the General Store here in Andover. In the back of the store is a little restaurant, deli with table service. Ate here last night and had a great steak sandwich, a plate of fries and a pint of Ben and Jerry's cherry ice cream, not to mention two bottles of ginger ale and a pint of chocolate milk. Also bought some resupplies. They open at 5 am to serve breakfast so came over for a great breakfast. Also I had to order my favorite, cheese, egg and sausage on a Kaiser bun. I saved that for lunch today. I ate my lunch on top of Baldpate Mt. at 3,810 feet and enjoyed the panaramic view. Again the weather has been hot but still enjoying the fine fall weather. I know one of these days it will turn for the worst and then it won't be fun. Will spend tonight at the PineEllis Hostel again and then will be driven to Grafton Notch to continue toward the Whites.
Date: 2017-09-28
From: Campground

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 43.0
Weather: clear sky

Sept 26. After slack packing yesterday, my pack seemed a lot heavier today. I woke up at 5:30 again, so got up and walked the half mile to the Andover General Store. They open at 5am and have a really good breakfast special of coffee, 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties and 2 French toast. After breakfast I was shuttled back to Grafton Notch where I started hiking at 7:30. I knew today would be a hard one as it's still very hot out plus I have a 3 mile, 1500 foot climb right away. Once I got up to the top though the views were fantastic. It just seemed like I was in slow motion today. The ups were very steep and the downs were even steeper. All I was able to do was 7.0 miles. Tomorrow I will wake up and do the Mahoosuc Notch which will require about three hours of rock scrambling to cover 1 mile of ground. AWOL says this can be the hardest 1 mile on the whole Appalachian Trail or it can be the most fun 1 mile of the Appalachian Trail. Since I like a good challenge I will look at this as being the most fun 1 mile of the Appalachian Trail. Tomorrow we will see. Sept 27. Did the "Notch" this morning. It was actually fun and challenging, but boy am I beat. Took over three hours to get through the boulders that make up the Mahoosuc Notch. The picture above was done in the Notch. Black Sheep would have enjoyed that challenge as he has done a lot of rock climbing himself. There were a couple of times where I wondered if I would ever make it through the boulder field without getting lost or getting hurt.The rest of the day was spent going up one mountain after another. Finally be 6:45 I came to my destination for the night. It's called Carlo Col Shelter and campground. Distance traveled today was only 7.1 miles due to the difficult terrain. Temps are still hot but it's suppose to cool off tonight finally. Hope it doesn't get too cool.
Date: 2017-09-28
From: Carlo Col campground 

To: Trident Col Campground 
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: few clouds

Well the weather has definitely changed. Woke up this morning to 50 degrees. Also the wind has picked up. After leaving my campsite I headed south to Success Mountain. Upon reaching the summit I found out what it's like being in 50 mph winds. I had to be very careful not to get blown off the mound of rocks I was on. The wind kept buffeting me as I tried to stand still for a photo. The winds had been gusting all day. Now in my tent at the campground and slowly starting to warm up as I am quite cold. Tonight I will put on my cold weather gear and even sleep in my puffy jacket and cover my head with a stocking hat. My sleeping bag is a 20 degree bag so with all my clothes and jacket on I should sleep well. The wind is still howling here at 8 pm. I am glad to be done with Maine. I crossed into NH this morning and now look to the White Mt., with great anticipation. Hiked 10.1 today over many boulders and mountains. Tomorrow I will make it to Gorham, NH. Time to resupply and plan my approach to the Whites. Lord knows I don't want to be up there on a windy day such as today.
Date: 2017-09-29
From: Trident Col Campground 

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, I knew it wouldn't last and I was right. The temps turned a total 180 degrees. Woke this morning to 38 degrees and fog. This morning was the first time in quite a while that I slept in till 7 am. I had a quick breakfast of pop tarts and special K bar. Packed up and started walking by 8 am. Today would be an easier day as I only have 7 miles to go to get to Gorham, NH. The sun found its way thru the fog by mid morning and the day turned out to be a relatively nice one. Arrived in town at 2pm and got a quick ride to the "Barn" Hostel on the edge of town. Easy walking distance to down town as I need to resupply and buy a new hat. Many hikers commented on my new style of head gear, but I felt it wasn't becoming for me so will replace it with a baseball cap of some type. Besides, some were worried that I might collect a few extra ladies along the way and wouldn't be able to finish my hike. I should be so lucky. LOL. Tomorrow will be a zero here in town and some friends of my daughter and her husband, (trail names Little Eagle and Big Dumper), will be meeting me for breakfast. By the way, a trail name is given to you by others around you and you have no say in the selection of names. Little Eagle was given to Jenny, due to the fact that her dad has a big nose like an eagles beak, so little eagle. Now big dumper is a different story. As many of you know, I am an avid canoeist and have built many birchbark and wood canvas canoes. We as a family spend two weeks every year canoeing in Ontario's Quetico Provincial park. Well last summer was the first trip that Peter, my favorite son-in-law, could join my wife, myself and two girls we call our adopted girls, on a 10 day trip to the Quetico. By the way the girls trail names are Little Elk and Little Duffer. Anyway, while we were landing the canoes on a point of land to take a break, Peter was the first out of their canoe, or should I say the first to try to get out of the canoe. Suffice to say he manage to get one leg over the side of the canoe but it never found bottom in the shallow water. In his attempt to reach bottom he tipped the canoe and ended up falling out of the canoe in a not too graceful manner. Thus Big Dumper. I LOVE All my family including our "adopted girls". Tomorrow I relax and shop. Good night to all. Huck
Date: 2017-10-02
To: Slack pack to Gorham
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Oct 2Sat, Sept 30th, I decided to zero here in Gorham and give this old body a break. Met up with Russ and Jo, friends of my daughter and her husband, for breakfast. We had a great morning together talking over breakfast. Then they were able to give me a ride to Pinkham Notch so I could check on getting gloves and hat for my climb thru the Whites. Otherwise I just laid low. Had a steak supper at Mr. Pizza.October 1st.I decided to slack pack from Pinkham Notch back to Gorham, a total of 21.1 miles. I think I was feeling so good after a relaxing day that I could do that stretch without a problem. I was wrong! I have had some bad days of hiking but this takes the cake. It started out by waking up Sunday morning with a sore back. Nothing unusual about that and all I do is stretch out to loosen up the back muscles. I have my whole life had a problem with my lower back. Evidently I have a bulging disc back there. Anyway, every now and then I will do something to throw my back out of whack. Then I stay in bed and live on Aleve for about a week till it starts to feel better. After a quick breakfast, Paul gave me a ride out to Pinkham Notch. 8 am, my first challenge was all rock and I started hiking north straight up for 2000 feet. Just after starting my climb I realized that my back was getting worse. Now I had to decide to continue or quit and go back to the hostel. Quitting was not really a possibility because Paul would not be available as he left to drive 3 hours to visit his aunt in Massachusetts. She fell and broke her hip. I decided to take 3 Advil and continue slowly. As the Advil started to work, I was able to increase my pace after reaching the top of the mountain. I was told before starting the hike that it would take 12 hours to complete. I started at 8 am which means I'll be hiking till 8 pm. I did bring food, water, jacket and a headlamp for the night portion of the hike. I was well prepared except was not figuring the lower back issue. Also was not prepared for the strenuous ups and downs. This day I would climb up and down 6 mountains that were over 4000 feet or more. It was a good day to hike as the temps were in the low 50s. There was a hard frost last night. By 6 pm I was still 8 miles from my pickup point and the sun sets at 6:10 pm. Started using my headlamp at 6:30 and now, because it was dark, my pace slows considerably. Finally arrived at the parking lot at 10:45. What a relief. Got back to the hostel, took a long hot shower and in bed by midnight. I'm very thankful for my knowledge of hiking and ability to hike at night. My back still hurts but once back at the hostel I immediately took 2 Aleve tablets. Slept like a baby all night.
Date: 2017-10-09
From: Liberty Springs Campground 

To: North Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Oct 9. The picture above was from Mt. Washington and shows me hiking up the mountainside and a cog railroad train in the background carrying tourist to the top. The train engine pushes the passenger car up the mountain. The people on the train have no idea how hard I had worked to get up there. Woke to to the rhythmic sounds of petter patter on the tent this morning. It started around 4 and continued ALL day. At one point it turned into a downpour that lasted 30 minutes. I had to walk three miles down the mountain to a visitor center where I would have cell service. There I would call "The Notch Hostel" and arrange for shuttle pickup to take me to their place to dry out. On the way to the hostel we made a detour to McDonalds for a lunch time meal. Here at the hostel now and have showered, did laundry, and resupplied all while the rain continued. It is now 10 pm and still raining. Tomorrow I will attempt an 8 mile walk followed on Wednesday by a 9 miler. The rocks are likely to be pretty slippery, and the trail will be full of water. Should be interesting.
Date: 2017-10-10
To: Elisa Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

Tuesday, October 10th. Had a very relaxing evening at the "Notch Hostel" here in Woodstock, NH. Last night. Met an interesting hiker from Michigan by the name of Kelsey. She's 25 years old and works for an ocean dredging company. They go to ocean front areas that have been destroyed by hurricanes and study the ocean area and make proposals to change the ocean front properties so the homes will be better able to withstand other hurricanes, but still working to protect the natural aspects of the ocean. After breakfast this morning, "Bookie" drove me and another hiker back up to the trail head where we could continue our treks. Shortly after starting I came across a vast area of blackened earth. I had heard there was a wildfire in the area and that we may not be able to hike through that area if it was burning. Luckily with the help of firefighters and the rains, we've been having, the fires were almost out. At least enough that I was able to hike through the burned over areas. Some spots were still smoldering as I walked by. Today the sun actually showed itself and it was a pleasant day temperature wise. Wish I could say that it was a pleasant hike, but I cannot. There were a lot of PUDs, (pointless ups and downs), that took quite a bit of energy and time to complete. Only traveled 7 miles in as many hours. I arrived at Eliza Brook Shelter at 3 pm, and decided to call it a day and relax the rest of the afternoon. Tomorrow will be another grueling day as I attempt to cross over the Kinsman Mountain Range. There will be a lot of almost vertical climbing. North and South Kinsman Mts., are again over four thousand feet high. I'll be glad to be done climbing these 4000 footers. Good Night.
Date: 2017-10-11
From: Elisa Brook Shelter

To: Back to the Hostel 
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

October 11, Wednesday.   The picture above is taken from South Kinsman Mt., and shows the Franconia Ridge. I traversed that ridge line last Sunday, in 70 mph winds, fog, sleet and rain and never saw the views that could have been spectacular. I had a hard time just seeing the next cairn as my guide. Mileage today was about 10 miles total. Started the day at 6 am, by eating a healthy breakfast and hitting the trail at 7 am. Followed a beautiful river, full of little cascading water falls, for the first mile before heading away from the river and toward climbing straight up about 1500 feet on rock faces. It started out sunny but then the winds came and the sky clouded over. Before long I had to put my puffy on to keep warm. Climbing like I was, requires total concentration and consumes a lot of energy not to mention time consumption. I just like to take my time to make sure every step is the right foothold and not to slip. Finally after about an hour I broke out of the trees and into the open alpine area above tree line. What a view! It all seems worth it when you break out at the top and can see forever. I found a nice area in the sun for a mid morning snack. Time to give these old feet a rest. After that I headed down the other side of South Kinsman only to go up again to North Kinsman, both above 4000 feet. Finally I headed down to Lonesome Lake Hut. This is another Hut run by the AMC people. I stopped in for a bowl of soup and coffee before continuing down the mountain. Next stop would be the Visitor Center at highway 3. There I was able to get some chicken tenders and fries to eat while I called "Bookie", from "The Notch Hostel", to come and pick me up so I could spend one more night at the hostel. Tomorrow I will climb my last 4000 footer.
Date: 2017-10-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 45.8
Weather: clear sky

October 12, Thursday. Actual mileage today was only 8.4 due to the rugged terrain. The reason the number is higher on the tally above is to catch up to the actual mileage that I have walked so far. Left the hostel at 7:30 and was dropped off at the parking lot for hiking up to Moosalickee Mountain. The first part of this days hike was basically straight up. It would be 12:30 by the time I broke out of the tree line and summited Moosalicki at 4802 feet. Beautiful 360 degree views. I sat down out of the wind to eat my lunch while many other hikers showed up. After a few pictures I headed south and down off the mountain. Now it was all down hill for the next 4 miles. The first two miles were very steep boulder covered and slow going. By the time I had reached Jeffers Shelter my knees were hurting and legs were a little unsteady.
Date: 2017-10-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

October 14, Saturday. Walked a total of 14.7 miles today and stealth camped next to a beaver pond. Today was another good day of hiking as the terrain is starting to level out a little more. Also I hiked with three other people and their yellow lab for most of the afternoon. There are quite a few people who are hiking South on the Appalachian Trail now. They ,like myself, have done a flip somewhere along the way. Tomorrow I'll be out of New Hampshire once I cross the Connecticut River at Hanover, New Hampshire. A new problem has cropped up during my hiking in the last couple of days. That problem would be leaves falling on the trail covering up the trail so that I cannot follow a natural path. Also all the leaves make going downhill slippery compounded by the fact that there are a lot of acorns in areas where there are oak trees. The acorns become like marbles when you're going downhill. I have fallen a couple of times,gently, due to these acorns and leaves. Most hikers have. Usually your legs go out from under you and you land on your pack.
Date: 2017-10-15
From: A beaver pond

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 13.9

October 15, Sunday. Today was another gorgeous day for hiking. The leaves down here have turned 100% and a lot of the leaves have fallen making it slippery for a walk on the slopes. Unfortunately the pictures I have taken of the woods, do not show the golden glow that existed when I took the picture. A friend of mine once commented on how beautiful it was too be in the woods in the fall when all the leaves have turned color. He said "it was like hunting in a golden room", and I am reminded of that every day now as I walk in sunlight through the trail. The smell of fall is in the air, and I love the rustling of the leaves under foot as I walk down the trail. Today I made it to Hanover New Hampshire the last town in New Hampshire. Tomorrow I'll cross the Connecticut River and be in Vermont. Looking forward to a little bit more Level land for hiking. After checking into a hotel for the night, I went to a place called the Canoe Club for supper. There I ate my usual steak supper and consumed several cokes, followed by an ice cream dessert.
Date: 2017-10-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Oct. 15, Sunday. I am trying to send out another journal report today. We'll see how it works. While hiking today I came across a stream that had a little wooden bridge across it. I thought this would be a nice place to stop and have a break, and filter water for the next couple hours of hiking. While sitting there on the bridge I've befriended a ruffed grouse. He seemed to enjoy my company as we carried on a conversation for 15 to 20 minutes. At one time he even jumped up onto my back while I bent over to get water out of the stream. I felt sad when I started to walk away as he started running down the trail after me for about 50 yards. I finally picked up the pace and got out of sight so that he could not follow any further. I sorta miss the little guy. As he walked up my legs or around me he would be making short little vocal sounds as if to ask "can I go home with you?"
Date: 2017-10-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

October 13, Friday.The photo of the heart of stone is for my lovely wife. She loves hearts and this one I found along the trail. I miss her so much. Woke at 6 am but it was still dark out so went back to sleep till 7am. Packed up after consuming a cliff protein bar and was walking by 7:45. It was a cold morning with frost on the ground. Fall has come now for sure. Suppose to be cold now for a few days. Today was a fairly easy hiking day and I covered 15.7 miles before calling it a day. For some reason I just felt good about walking. I am glad the days are cooler now but hope we don't get too cold and rainy. I noticed on the last entry that the photo of Mt. Moosilauke said My Moosilauke. The phone thought I meant to say my instead of mt. so it corrected it and I didn't catch it. Sorry.
Date: 2017-10-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

October 16, Monday. This morning I ate breakfast at Lou's restaurant, which has fantastic home style food. After that I packed up and hit the trail around 11 AM. It's been a rather chilly day with no sun and a little breeze with a high of 50°. I left Hanover, NH., and crossed the Connecticut River into Vermont. It was a pretty uneventful day which allowed me to walk 12 miles today. Now stealth camped on top of a ridge facing east for the morning sun. Suppose to be a low of 28 tonight. I will be wearing all of my clothes as well as my puffy jacket to bed tonight. Pleasant dreams everyone.
Date: 2017-10-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Tuesday October 17. Spent Monday night on top of a mountain with a great view of the valley below. Temps last night reached 26 degrees but I remained comfortable in my tent and 20 degree sleeping bag. I walked 16 miles today due to the more forgiving terrain. Went to Wintturi Shelter. It's getting more difficult to hike through all the leaves on the trail. Met a group of 5th or 6th graders out for a field trip. I was asked to talk to the kids about my hike for just five minutes. 30 minutes later I was on my way again. Not too many people on the trail today. Also came across trail magic left by the school kids at the bottom of a mountain. A cooler filled with apples, candy and bottled water. I helped my self to two apples, a dozen pieces of Carmel candy and filled my water bottle before leaving them a note of thanks. The day warmed up nicely.