morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-07-27
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Smarts Tenting
Miles today: 12.3

12.3 miles4236 ft up 3132 ft downNot sure why, but I had a ton of energy and motivation in the morning, so I hiked very fast. What helped was that it was pretty chilly, not hot at all (yet).Lots of flies out around as usual, and today they seemed to want to fly right into my nose. They really enjoy flying into all orifices... I¢m just happy to be wearing pants.Also over the past few days I have seen these big spiders on the ground that resemble daddy long legs, except with a yellowish brown body. They feel me coming and scramble to get out of my way... and I try not to step on them...Made it up to Holts Ledge. It was Saturday and this seemed to be a popular day hiker destination. One lady seemed to be struggling, and had some legs that seemed enlarged somehow. She said that she was doing a section hike from Mt Moosilauke to Hanover, and after completing that she will have completed the entire AT south of there in sections. She also gave her opinion of some peaks up ahead - said that Mt Cube was more technical than Mt Moosilauke. That was good to know (little did she know I would strongly disagree with her in a few days).Made it up Smart¢s Mountain. It was quite windy and there weren¢t as many bugs, which was nice. However, this last stretch to get to the Smarts Tenting Campsite turned out to be very difficult. Maybe part of that perception was due to this being at the end of a long day, with probably the most uphill ascent I¢ve done I a day on this trail...Not many good trees to hang my bear bag from, so I actually had to hike the trail a bit north to find anything decent. Took care of that and setting up my tent before running out of daylight. And anytime I have time to do that is a good day...
Date: 2019-07-29
From: Ore Hill Campsite

To: Hikers Welcome Hostel
Miles today: 7.5

7.5 miles1397 ft up2185 ft downWas running low on food, so I had a limited breakfast with some meal bars. I know this was not a good habit, but erred more on the side of conserving my food stash.Luckily today was just a small summit - Mt Mist. It was hardly anything - not even a sign or a view at the top. All the sudden the trail just started descending, and that was it...Not too bad. Made it to NH 25 and walked a bit to the Hiker¢s Welcome Hostel, maybe around 2pm. Walked in and immediately another hiker gave me a freebie Ben and Jerry¢s ice cream, which was wonderful. Another hiker offered one of his beers from his giant pack of beers as well.Drank four Pepsis and hopped on the 5pm shuttle to the market, where I bought too much food and beer, and a big deli sandwich. Relaxed on their hammock and overheard someone playing banjo, as well as the old timers there telling stories of their old hiking days, and chatting about Earl Shaffer and old hiker gear, and also overheard about Shaffer calling Grandma Gatewood a ¢yellow-blazing fraud¢. Apparently they were hiking nearby one day - Shaffer passed up Gatewood earlier in the day and hiked till the end of the day without seeing her, until at the end of the day he came across her ahead of him, sitting on the steps of someone¢s home drinking sweet tea. I guess hiker drama has always been around...Hostel stay was pretty relaxing and peaceful. A bunch of hikers were going to take the shuttle and slack pack Moosilauke in reverse the next day. I still wasn¢t sold on doing this southbound, and wasn¢t sure what the big deal was about going northbound. I would definitely find out the next day...
Date: 2019-07-31
From: Inn 32

To: Inn 32
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day today. The only thing I really needed was to pick up my packages. Mom sent me a nice big package of Mountain House meals, perfect because this whole area seems to be a difficult resupply area in general.Tried out the Woodstock Brewery, which has a ton of house made beers on tap. Great stuff!
Date: 2019-08-01
From: Inn 32

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

7.5 miles2412 ft up1909 ft down-Trail was unbelievably messed up and Unmaintained, looked like it was being reclaimed by nature-descent was way tougher (a continuing theme). Technical challenge. Mud hell, thigh high bogs, boulder and roots hell, random sections that don¢t like look any sort of trail at all. Slow going for about 1.5 miles, then when you get within 1.5 miles of the shelter the trail seems to go back to normal. -shelter with a bear box! Nice campsite
Date: 2019-08-02
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Stealth campsite 1819
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: overcast clouds

8.9 miles2253 ft up3237 ft down-started after 9am, should probably have started earlier-ascent somewhat technical but manageable. Very steep -deep mud bogs. Submerged boards-snacked on South Kinsman mountain-descent was scary in places - went VERY slow and cautiously. Way out of my comfort zone. Held onto trees as much as I could, but they weren¢t always available. Some slick surfaces, some footholds best used descending backwards, some wooden steps, including some missing...-garter snake-didn¢t fall or even slip today. Good day!
Date: 2019-08-03
From: Stealth campsite 1819

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 10.2

10.2 miles5314 ft up 2714 ft down-started before 8am-lots of folks on the approach trail from parking lot where I camped. Could tell it was a popular hike-ascent wasn¢t too bad, felt nice with chill morning air. Thankful it wasn¢t a hot day-managed to pass about 5 people on the way up. Could tell how that raises morale-stopped at Liberty Springs Campsite for water-Mt Liberty side trail. Set my pack down, didn¢t go all the way over-Little Haystack, Lincoln, Lafayette all crowded with people. Franconia Ridge range. Nice views, fun walking between peaks
Date: 2019-08-04
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 9.7

9.7 miles2459 ft up3771 ft downSkipped breakfast, wanted to get out of the shelter. Super crowded and overwhelming. Didn¢t sleep too well. Crowded in shelter but I¢ve experienced worse-hard 0.1 downhill from shelter-felt tired, going super slow-foggy, chilly day-Galehead Hut - took forever to reach. Got in around noon. They had free oatmeal and pancakes courtesy of Jubilee (gf of a caretaker at Zealand Falls Hut)-food gave me an extra push! Felt better.-Zealand Falls hut WFS. Agreed to help clean out bunks in morning.-dinner - one aspiring thru hiker gave me a glass of wine. He hauled 4 liters of it up the mountain. Another lady, past thru hiker, gave me a slice of cake. I shared with another hiker.
Date: 2019-08-06
From: AMC Highland Center

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 11.1

11.1 miles5067 ft up1296 ft down-enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast at highland center, headed out. Got the AMC shuttle-Webster Cliffs. Shuttle driver said it resembled Tinker Cliffs-Mt Webster climb north was challenging rock scramble uphill, but with plenty of foot and hand holds-Mt Jackson... last 0.1 uphill was another challenging rock scramble-Mizpah Hut - break. Got some soup. Interesting hut with a library upstairs?-Lakes of the Clouds Hut - got a work for stay! Washed dishes. Dinner was not so great. Slept on big dining room floor. Space for 96 bunks here!
Date: 2019-08-07
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Valley Way Campsite
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: scattered clouds

7.1 miles2404 ft up2650 ft downLeft T 6:30am before breakfast. Wanted to get out before thunderstorms.Got to Mt. Washington before they opened, decided not to wait around for hot food (not coming till 11am)-shuttles and cog railway were too expensive, decided to push on before thunderstorms-to Madison Hut was a pile of rocks, slow hiking-everything bare. reached Thunderstorm Junction while thunderstorms were brewing in the distance.-each step very painful, pins and needles. Something not right with feet..-Madison Spring Hut. Grabbed some free oatmeal and a paid breakfast sandwich. Rested and relaxed before heading down 0.5 miles to the campsite-campsite was a slow descent, each step painful going downhill. Way linger distance than I thought. Paused halfway and rested at a stealth site.-saw a few AMC volunteers hauling up supplies-made it farther to the campsite, grabbed spot #4. Saw a trickle of water on the way in.-setup camp and slept the best I could through a big lightning storm. Heavy wind!
Date: 2019-08-09
From: Valley Way Campsite

To: Joe Dodge Lodge
Miles today: 7.8

7.8 miles1301 ft up4039 ft downLate start. Bandaged up my feet.Hiked back to hut... felt good! Got a bfast sandwich and oatmeal and baked goodsStrong winds seen outsideAscended Mt Madison partly in clouds. Very windyDescent was crazy... piles of rocks. Technical. Especially one rock pile in particular. Slow, not fun. All the way to treelineAfter treeline the trail got much easier. Picked up speed especially on the last 1.5 stretchGot lucky, one room left at Joe Dodge Lodge. Dinner wasn¢t too great
Date: 2019-08-13
From: Gorham Motor Inn

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 5.9

5.9 miles3027 ft up1764 ft downTook the Concord Bus from Gorham to Pinkham Notch for just $8.Today I tackled the infamous Wildcat Mountains. Immediately noticed a less crowded trail compared to previous days, which made things a bit scary just in case something went wrong and I needed help.The climb was challenging, and one spot in particular was very technical to get up. It was a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure, with two paths: a route on the left that made you ascend up a bare rock face, with no handholds or footholds and no branches or anything else to grab onto. I may have been able to do that, but then again I may have slipped and fallen right off trying to gain my balance.The path on the right was the more obvious path: a wedge between two giant rock cliffs, with some rock steps in between. This looked doable, except that first step was kind of impossible to reach. My first attempt had me hanging on this step and finding no footing or handholds at all, then starting to shake as I realized I had to back down and try another attempt. It was here that I seriously considered turning back the way I had come, but that was also quite a daunting challenge in itself, definitely harder than my ascent.My second try was a success: some sort of impossible hold, with one leg pushing up on the rock to the left, with barely anything carved out for a reliable foothold. I had to trust the sheer grip of my shoe here, then I pushed up and crawled onto my knees for the first step. I was shaky for sure, but I made it up each subsequent step also on my knees. What hell! Finally made it to the top of that section and prayed that the trail wouldn't get that gnarly after that, and thankfully it didn't.But the rest of that section was definitely a challenge, and here more than ever I thought the trail wanted me dead.Made it to Carter Notch Hut, the eastmost hut in the AMC hut system. I was depressed at my low mileage for the day, but the "croo" there seemed to think it was decent for that stretch.This was a bit of a special day for this hut: the entire hut was closed to public bookings and the night was dedicated to the education of the Fall "croos" for each hut. For a while I was the only thru hiker there, so it was a bit of a rarity but I got to eat dinner as an "equal" with everyone else, getting the full dinner experience. In return I was a bit of an "AT thru hiker representative", even though I had only come from West Virginia. Later on some more hikers arrived, Poetry and Harmony, a quiet couple who ended up doing some morning chores. I ended up cleaning up and de-icing the fridge, then it was all done and around 9:30pm it was finally time for bed!
Date: 2019-08-14
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Rattle River Shelter
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: overcast clouds

13.3 miles3730 ft up5778 ft downDid the Carter Peaks and Mt Moriah today. Maybe not as crazy as the Wildcats, but still crazy in sections, with plenty of somewhat "normal" trail in between to get my hopes up. As always the descents are a nightmare - not even hiking, more like rock climbing. Found myself grabbing onto boulders and using my upper body as much as my lower body, which would be a recurring theme in the next days, leading to my entire body aching...Mt Moriah felt a bit like the north side of Mt Wolf: a bit of an undermaintained trail with overgrowth, tree falldowns, and the like. Since both of these sections lay outside of the hut radius, they bring no money to the AMC, so I suspect they care less about trail maintenance here...Didn't quite make it to the other Gorham road, so I stayed in the Rattle River Shelter. The hike down to it was pleasant and unusually nice. Not super easy - plenty of slick rocks, rock steps, and roots and such, but it was a nice easy departure from bouldering and climbing and such.Saw Poetry and Harmony there tenting. I came just as the last light was fading, so I hung my bear bag and resigned myself to the shelter for a change, which only had one other hiker. Not too bad!
Date: 2019-08-15
From: Rattle River Shelter

To: Rattle River Hostel
Miles today: 2.0

2 miles19 ft up478 ft downSlept for 12 hours... stayed at the shelter an extra long time in the morning. Lots of hikers passing by that also looked worn out. Poetry and Harmony from Carter Hut also stayed a long time in the morning. The Whites seemed to suck all the energy out of us, and we were all showing the wear and tear.Really easy slow downhill from here to town, seemed to go by pretty fast.Made it to Rattle River Lodge and Hostel, which is right on the trail. Stopped in and stayed for the night.Lost my Fitbit there... ended up getting a new one from Walmart the next day.
Date: 2019-08-17
From: Rattle River Hostel

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.7

11.7 miles4141 ft up2765 ft downStarted before 9. As always, overly loaded with a ton of food which weighed me down.Ascent damp but not bad. Lots of roots. Just one rock wall that was kinda damp and iffy after the recent rain.Lots of blueberries on the peaks. This would be a recurring theme on the peaks here - a nice little snack stolen from the mountains that are trying to kill me.
Date: 2019-08-18
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 5.2

5.2 miles2379 ft up 1362 ft downCrossed over the Maine/New Hampshire border today.There was rain overnight. And as I was leaving the shelter I was surprised to see a larger garter snake. Haven't seen one in a while, and I have lost count of how many snakes I've seen in total. The count must be nearing 40 now.Headed up Mt Success. The descent after a while got tricky and turned into some bouldering.Right before the Carlo Col Shelter was an insane steep bouldering descent, where I was sometimes spread-eagle on rock faces hoping to create more traction while I tried to find footing for the next step down. This was a nightmarish section, and I swear I will have nightmares about that descent in the future. Despite the circumstances I somewhat calmly, slowly, and safely made it down. Somehow these things always work out.Saw some sort of wild brown chicken or something (??) on the left of the trail. It just froze as I passed by, and somehow it caught my eye and seemed extremely unusual. I kind of stared at it a bit and calmly talked to it, and it eventually budged a bit and walked closer to what I took to be its nest. Then I walked away and let it be!Was beat and decided to call it quits early at the Carlo Col shelter. It was truly wonderful to have time to read some of my book (about midlife crises, appropriately enough...) and not to rush my dinner. It was nice to have time to take time for a change.
Date: 2019-08-19
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 4.4

4.4 miles1498 ft up1687 ft down Each day it feels like the trail is trying to kill me, and today was no exception. There was light rain overnight, and that meant most of today's trail would be wet.I enjoyed my long morning and left around 10am. Thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon meant I probably wasn't doing Mahoosec Notch today, so I didn't have that far to go to get to the next shelter.I think I am starting to understand Maine's trails. They are trails which are somewhat ok, though rocky and rooty, and then out of nowhere, with no warning, the trail can become terribly technical and scary. Today was filled with rebar handles, wooden ladders, and perhaps scariest of all is when these things were missing and it was just rock walls. More rock climbing than hiking... and all on mostly slick rocks.Of course downhills were the scariest. A big slip and slide of a rock face descending downwards - maybe ok when dry, but it wasn't dry. Luckily many of these had side paths where I could grab onto trees and such, and slowly work my way down.This is no doubt a challenging section of trail... just when I thought I was out of it with the challenge of the Whites, Maine rears its head. It's not all supposed to be like this, right?
Date: 2019-08-20
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: clear sky

5.1 miles2103 ft up1643 ft downGot quite a late start today, and left after 10am. Today I did the infamous Mahoosec Notch, supposed to be the slowest and hardest one mile of the entire AT.My approach to the notch was filled with anticipation - I wasn't sure whether it would be obvious I was entering the official "notch" section or if the change in terrain would be gradual with me not noticing, like a frog in slowly-boiling water. It was definitely noticeable! At the start I had to pause to consider the safest approach. I climbed up a big rock face to consider an alternate route, just as a tough looking southbound (SOBO) girl came out of the Notch. I thought I was in a safe spot, but I somehow was distracted and lost footing, falling somehow backwards and to the right, banging up my right arm and elbow a bit. I felt around to make sure I didn't break anything.All these sorts of accidents happen when we are not paying attention, and think we're safe... Lukily I didn't have any other incidents after that.The notch itself was more fun than terrifying. Definitely scary and challenging though. What a rough ride through some crazy tunnels and a variety of paths in a maze of boulders.I soon caught up to the Doddering Duo, two older ladies, who were going slowly and methodically through. I liked their pace and stayed behind them for a while. They even helped me lift my pack through one of the tunnels. I was able to keep my pack on for most of the time, except for once in a very narrow tunnel...Surprisingly, looking down into some crevasses you could still see some lingering ice blocks leftover from winter! I grabbed a few photos.In one tunnel in particular, the Dottering Duo seemed to be having trouble ascending, so I had some time to look for some alternate paths. I found a path to the right that looked like it went up and over instead of down through the tunnel. It involved hopping over a steep crevasse, but I was able to do it, and it seemed way easier than the tunnel route! I met up again with the duo on the other side, and soon after that the entire notch was overwith!Just after the notch was a tentsite, where I had a break and a quick snack before continuing up the next hill (up hills and down hills, that is basically all I do everyday).Mahoosec Arm was a slog of an uphill climb after the notch, but I did it, sweating profusely!Made it to Speck Pond Shelter, the last of the pay AMC sites. There was a beautiful pond nearby with lillypads, similar to Carter Notch Hut. You could just see the pond through the trees from the tentsites. I setup my tent, ate my Knorr pasta sides in the little covered eating area by the bear boxes, and then crawled into my tent and called it a night!
Date: 2019-08-21
From: Speck Pond Shelter

To: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles today: 6.9

6.9 miles2132 ft up2888 ft downClimb up to Old Speck wasn't bad. Descent was way easier than any recent descent as well!Started raining mid afternoon, so I retreated in early to a shelter Noisy group, one person with Noro symptoms, and the rest of the group laughing about it. Note to self: don't touch anything around here...
Date: 2019-08-22
From: Baldpate Lean-to

To: Pine Ellis Lodging (Andover Hostel)
Miles today: 8.0

8 miles2258 ft up3436 ft downRain overnight. Baldpate East south side dry by steep open rock face with no hand holds. Descent slick, had to slide on my butt a few times. Rope and ladder! And a few more ladders8:30am start, excited to get into town todayBaldpate West Peak - not too bad, nice views from here.Baldpate East Peak - ascent on mostly dry open rock face. Too steep in many places. The cairns directed me on what looked like a more dangerous path, so I found some safer alternatives on the sides.At 2pm I made a call to the hostel and scheduled a 4:30pm pickup. The hostel folks said it should take about 2.5 hours and I somehow agreed, despite them knowing nothing of my pace and me knowing nothing about what could lurk in that terrain. Maine has a habit of giving you these nice relatively normal hiking areas with areas that suddenly become crazy.Luckily the terrain was great, so much so that I picked up the pace confidently downhill. Then, with my relatively lighter pack, decided I could actually run down this, so I did for a ways. Suddenly I saw some familiar hikers ahead. A startled Gomer Pyle up ahead looked back at me like I was some psychopath. I blurted out "I don't usually do this, I just don't want to be late for my shuttle". Turns out they were heading to the same place I was.I got to the trailhead around 3:40pm and hitched a ride on their 4pm shuttle. Poor Gomer had to ride in the back trunk area of the truck.An interesting native Indian guy named David drove us and told us about his weird hobby of fashioning things with moose poop... and he couldn't resist all the associated dad jokes, like telling his kids "One day when I'm gone, all this shit will be yours"
Date: 2019-08-24
From: Pine Ellis Lodging (Andover Hostel)

To: South Arm Road camping
Miles today: 10.1

10.1 miles3256 ft up3327 ft downGot a 7:30am start, which is pretty early for me. This was mostly motivated by the fact that the morning shuttle out of the hostel was at 7am!This morning was a great gradual uphill up Wyman Mountain. Passed Surplus Pond and saw what was apparently an old abandoned cabin there. Up the road in its direction was a little trickle of a water source. Lots of moose scat all around... but I still have yet to see one.Came down the mountain and again went up another - Moody Mountain. These are climbs but they seem to be getting easier... nothing like the insane NH climbs.Made it to South Arm Road and found Old Buzzard camped out providing a ton of great trail magic. Cowboy Up with a southern accent was settled in there drinking plenty of beer and tasting lots of great stuff, like corn on the cob and their great homemade mac and cheese.I sat for a while, and soon the older Lost and Found showed up and grabbed a beer. Soon we all found ourself staying later than we all expected, and we eventually just gave in and setup tents all around the area.I felt I didn't make much progress because I arrived just after 2pm, but it turns out I went a decent distance for the day. Sometimes you have to just give in to the moment...
Date: 2019-08-25
From: South Arm Road camping

To: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 8.7

8.7 miles3293 ft up1877 ft downNothing much eventful today. I woke and left late and thanked Old Buzzard and his son for the trail magic. He told me to look for his cabin when I got up to a certain viewpoint on Old Blue, and sure enough I saw it - the only building in the area, nestled in the trees.Made it to the Bemis Mountain Lean-to and waited forever for my water bottles to fill up from the sad trickle at the water source. I really miss spring... summer and fall are too dry :(Later the elder Lost and Found showed up. We chatted a bit, and soon I retreated to my tent and passed out... the best part of the day.