morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-08-18
From: East Carry Pond

To: Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 9.9

Hello.I am at Northern Outdoors in Caratunk, ME. Stopped here to eat some food and get some food supplies. I crossed the Kennebec River today by canoe. Just over 150 miles to go. I will be in Monson in two or three days and try to get another entry in. I am doing well, I seem to run out of energy the third day out of town now. I eat lots when I get to town. I should finish before Labor Day weekend. I am tired these days and ready to finish. I am writing daily journal entries and will upload them and pictures whenever I can get access.Thanks for reading.The rest of the story:The sky was clear and I could see many stars last night. I thought about cowboy camping, but decided to put up my tent near East Carry Pond. I heard wolfs, coyotes, dogs, or something howling into the night. When I awoke this morning it was raining and I could here the loons on the pond. I was glad I had decided to put up my tent, but now I didn't want to get up to face another rainy day. I knew I needed to get moving so I could catch the canoe ferry across the Kennebec River. I put on my wet boots and started hiking at 7:45. I was dragging today. I had used up all my energy hiking until 9:30 last night. Then I had skipped dinner because it was late and just ate a couple snacks. Now I was paying the price. At least I only planned to hike 10 miles today. 357 Magnum passed me around 9:30. He was the only hiker I saw on the trail today. I slowly made my way towards the Kennebec River. The weather changed constantly. It would be cold, windy, and cloudy so I put on my rain jacket and a little later the wind would stop, the skies would clear and I would start to sweat. It seemed to change every 15 minutes.I eventually reached the Kennebec River at about 1:00. 357 Magnum was there waiting. The canoe ferry only runs 9 to 11 AM and 2 to 4 PM. We were glad to see Steve Longly arrive on the other side about 15 minutes early. He took both of us across the river at the same time.We hitched a ride up to Northern Outdoors Resort. I paid for a campsite, set up my tent, took a shower, and headed to the restaurant. 357 Magnum had gone straight to the restaurant. He was still there when I got there and John Knee Mud had also arrived. JKM decided to eat and run. After eating he caught a ride with Steve Longly to Steve's campstore to resupply and then he was going to hike another 5 miles north. I probably should have done the same. 357 Magnum is planning to zero here tomorrow. I am planning to get breakfast at 6:30 in the morning and then start hiking.It has been a long journey and my body has grown weary. I have greatly enjoyed this journey and am now ready for it to end. I am exhausted physically and mentally and am ready to relax for a while. In someways this journey has been what I expected, in some ways better and in other ways worse. I am glad I took this adventure and will have great memories forever.
Date: 2007-08-19
From: Caratunk, ME

To: Moxie Bald Lean-to
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

The group of about 20 college age people in the campground, stayed up until 1 AM making lots of noise last night. I didn't get much sleep as a result. I got up in the morning, packed up, and went across the street to the restaurant by 6:45. They had an all you can eat breakfast buffet for $8.50. It was very good.I headed out to the road at 7:10 and tried to hitch a ride back to the trail. No one stopped, so I walked a mile to Steve Longley's place. He said he would give me a ride from there to the trail around 8:00. I got there at 7:30. I dug my hat and gloves out of my pack and put them on. The thermometer read 46 degrees. I waited about 10 minutes and then decided to walk the mile back to the trail. I reached the trail head at 8:00. I warmed up quickly once I started climbing uphill. The trail was not bad today. There were some rocks and roots, but I was able to keep moving most of the day. I reached Pleasant Pond Lean-to and took a break for about 45 minutes. All Right and Chop Sticks arrived. They are nobos who started in May. This is the first time I met them.From there the trail went up and over Pleasant Pond Mtn. I passed about 20 day hikers on the way up the mountain. It was not as steep as most of the mountain climbs in the northeast. It reminded me more of the climbs in Georgia. From the top of the mountain you can see Mt Katahdin off in the distance.It was a great day for hiking. It was cool and partly cloudy. The temperatures up here are in the 40s at night and upper 60s during the day. Is this August?The trail was not bad today, but I seem to be hiking slower these days. I averaged about 2 mph earlier in my journey and now seem to only cover about 1.5 mph even when I think I am moving faster.Today marks the end of my fifth month on the trail. Tomorrow I should reach Monson, ME. From there I will plan out my final 115 mile section of trail. It includes the 100 mile wilderness and Mt Katahdin.
Date: 2007-08-20
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: Monson, ME - Shaw's Lodging
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: broken clouds

I was the last one to arrive at the shelter last night and the last to leave there this morning. I woke up to another sunny 40 something degree day. I ate my poptarts and packed up my gear. I hit the trail at 8:30. There were no big hills to climb today just a gentle rolling trail. Most of the trail in the morning followed the rushing sounds of the Piscataquis River. There were a few rocks and roots along with an occasional mud pit or stream crossing. For the most part I was able to relax and enjoy the hike instead of concentrating on where to put my foot next all day. It reminded me of hiking in Virginia. In the recent weeks it seems like I have been pushing to get miles completed and worrying about falling and my physical fatigue, but today I was relaxed. I spent most of the morning reflecting back on my journey and thinking about the people I have hiked with and met in towns along the way. I wonder where they are, what they are doing this morning, and if I will ever see or here from them again.The trail crossed the Piscataquis River. Blue and Squeeks were taking a break by the river and had decided they were going to have to ford the river. I didn't want to stop and take my shoes off, so I looked around and found a way to hop across on the rocks and island. There were a couple of long jumps where I could have fallen short and ended up very wet, but I didn't and my socks were dry when I reached the other bank.I reached the Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to at 12:30. 8.9 miles in 4 hrs! John Knee Mud was there getting ready to leave. I went down to the spring and saw Blue and Squeeks on the trail. Someone had left a pair of Levi's 505 jeans at the shelter. Hmmm....size W 32 L 30. Those might fit. I wore W 36 L 30 before I started this trail. I tried them on. They are a little baggy, but they will work. A new pair of jeans and its not even my birthday until tomorrow.I left the shelter at 2:00 after a hour and a half break. The trail remained pleasant in the afternoon and I reached hwy ME15 at about 6 PM. I tried to hitch for a few minutes and watched a dozen cars go by and decided I would probably have to walk the 3.5 miles to town. About a mile up the road, Arthur stopped and gave me a ride to Shaw's Lodging in Monson. I checked in for 2 nights. I will take a zero tomorrow and plan the last section of my hike.John Knee Mud, Blue, Squeeks, Alright, Chop Sticks, Hangman, Castaway, and a sobo are here tonight. Most of them are leaving tomorrow.
Date: 2007-08-22
From: Monson, ME - Shaw's Lodging

To: Long Pond Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: broken clouds

I was up at 6:00 this morning. I had 4 of everything for breakfast and then headed up to the post office at 7:30. Today they had my package it had taken 4 days even though it was sent by priority mail. I opened the box and saw that Jess had found my SD / USB adapter and put it in the box. I took the box back to Shaw's and pulled out the things I needed. I had extra food and other things, so I let John Knee Mud, 357 Magnum, and Batman pick through the stuff before putting it in the hiker box.I took my SD card out of my phone and headed up to the municipal office building and they let me in the library before it opened again. I plugged my card reader into the USB port and started uploading 3 weeks of journal entries and pictures. It took an hour. The mileage is off about 10 miles. I'll figure that out later. I headed back to Shaw's and Dawn took me and Batman back to the trail head. We started hiking about 10:00. We entered the 100 mile wilderness section of Maine. Batman and I were like the turtle and rabbit race today. He would take off fast and then I would catch him kicked back taking a break. I wish I could be the rabbit.We reached Big Wilson Stream and for the first time I found myself at a stream crossing that I couldn't cross by rock hopping. Batman went first and made it look easy. There was a rope tied to trees and stretched across the river. I took my boots and socks off. I strapped my pack to it and tried to slide my pack along as I walked across. About a third of the way across the pack was almost dipping into the water, then I lost my balance and pushed it into the river. Just some stuff on the outside got wet. Batman got back in the river and held the rope up so my pack would stay above the water. My feet hurt on the rocks in the river. I should have gotten my sandals when I got to Maine. Hopefully I won't have to ford too many rivers. I finally reached Long Pond Shelter around 8:00. It was getting dark. I put up my tent, walked about a half mile to get water, cooked dinner, ate, and now am going to sleep. I have planned 20 miles for tomorrow and will need an early start.
Date: 2007-08-23
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to - camped 0.5 mile before 
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I had planned to hike 20.8 miles today. I knew I should get up early to accomplish this. I heard Rodeo Clown, Trashbag, Ben, and Amanda stirring around around 6:00 and they left the shelter around 6:30, while I was still enjoying laying in my warm sleeping bag. I finally got up and hit the trail around 7:30. John Knee Mud left a few minutes before me and Batman was still sleeping.John Knee Mud and I leap frogged through out the day. I saw about 20 southbound day and section hikers on the trail. One guy who looked like he might be a through hiker asked in a frustrated tone: How many more miles of these rocks? I told him they stopped in a couple hundred yards and the trail leveled out. I didn't want to tell them there was about 500 miles of rocks a lot worse than these.I passed JKM about 6 PM coming down Chairback Mtn. That would be the last time I would see him today. I reached the West Branch of the Pleasant River. The guide book says to ford, but I was able to step across on rocks without getting wet. There was a family out for a day hike on the other side of the river and they were interested in my hike and asked questions for a while. I filtered some water and ate a power bar. I thought JKM would catch up to me there. I didn't see him and the bugs were bad so I moved on. I think he may have decided to camp along the trail.I tried to hurry along, since I still had 5.5 miles to go to the shelter. It got dark a little before 8:00 and I put on my headlamp. I was tired and just started looking for any place I could put up my tent. Finally at 8:30 I found a small space where I could sleep. I put up my tent, cooked mashed potatoes with spam, and retired to my tent.I think I am within a mile of the shelter, but I am very tired. I'll figure it out tomorrow. Tomorrow is another long day with more mountains to climb. Good night.
Date: 2007-08-25
From: Jo Mary Rd - campsite

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 11.1

It rained again last night, but it had stopped when I woke up this morning. I packed up and hit the trail at 7 AM still thinking I was going to hike 26 miles today. I reached Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to at 11:00. I was hiking about 2 miles per hour. I was starting to feel a little run down again. It is my fourth day out of town. I met 3 day hikers taking a break at the lean-to. We talked for a few minutes and then they asked if I was hungry. I replied: "I am always hungry." They gave me a turkey sandwich and some cookies! I ate them right away. I thought about my plans and decided it would be best for me to stop at White House Landing and eat lots of food. It had clouded up again and sprinkled off and on. This was another good reason to stop since my boots had still not dried out. I walked another two and a half miles up the trail, then took a 1.2 mile side trail to a dock on Pemadumcook Lake. There are signs that say to give one short blast with the air horn and someone will pick you up. When I reached the dock, I could see a boat on its way so I waited. Bill arrived in his boat and dropped a hiker off and gave me a ride over to White House Landing. I decided to stay the night. I had a one pound deluxe cheeseburger for lunch. I put my stuff in the shore cottage. It is set up to hold eight people, but I am the only one here tonight. There are three section hikers in the bunk house. I went swimming in the lake, took a shower, and washed clothes. I set my tent up to dry for the first time in three days.Thunderstorms moved through with heavy rain around 4:30. I was glad to be here instead of on the trail. The rain is suppose to clear out tonight and a cold front should move in giving me at least three days of clear, cool weather to finish up. I bought enough food supplies to make it the rest of the way, except for a lunch I plan to buy at a campstore near Abol Bridge.I was tempted to try and push the miles today, but I am sure I will be in better condition and enjoy the end more after stopping. I had a pizza for dinner followed by a pint of ice cream. The thunder, lightening, and rain have returned along with some strong winds. I guess the cold front is on its way. This camp has propane light fixtures and no electricity.I am going to eat my homemade zucchini bread with pineapples and drink my rootbeer and then go to bed. The all you can eat breakfast starts at 8 AM.
Date: 2007-08-26
From: White House Landing

To: Rainbow Springs Campsite
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

The rain had cleared out by this morning. I packed up my stuff and went to breakfast at 8:00. I ate with the three section hikers that had arrived yesterday. We had eggs, bacon, toasted English muffins, and blueberry pancakes. After breakfast Bill took the four of us back to the other side of the lake. I almost fell in the lake as I climbed out of the boat. I hiked back to the AT and headed north. I saw a few section hikers a flip-flopper, and a sobo. It is hard to believe there are still sobos starting as I am finishing. I caught up to John Knee Mud. He along with most hiker's had been caught out in the wind and rain last night. I found him on the beach of Nahmakanta Lake with all of his gear spread out on the beach drying in the sun. We discussed hiking plans and were both on the same page. Twenty miles today, twenty miles tomorrow, and climb Mt Katahdin on Tuesday. We hiked about the same pace the rest of the day. I am slightly faster, but only get a few minutes ahead of him every couple miles. We reached Rainbow Stream Lean-to and took a break at 6 PM. Rodeo Clown and Trashbag arrived for the night. Amanda is ill, so Ben and Amanda stopped at White House Landing for a couple days. It is unfortunate. Those four have been hiking together since Virginia.JKM and I headed 3.6 miles north to Rainbow Spring Campsite. It was dark by time we arrived. Blue and Squeaks had arrived just before me and were setting up their tent. There are also some section hikers here. Squeeks went in the lake and got leeches on here feet. I was standing near Blue and Squeeks and felt somethin brush against my leg. I looked down and saw a mouse had run up my boot and was sitting at the top of my gaitor. The mouse ran off when I moved. The mice have been especially aggressive here in Maine. I haven't slept in a shelter recently so they haven't bothered me.I wondered how I would feel towards the end of this journey. Would I wand to go slow and make it last or would I want to rush to Katahdin? Now I know. While the trail has been an incredible journey, I am ready to finish. Me and my gear are on our last leg. My feet, knees, and legs are hurting with every step. It is not like the pains I had early in this journey. Those were muscle and tendon related pains. Now it feels like more stress on the bones and joints. I am glad there aren't 500 more miles left. I only have to make it 26.3 more miles and then walk 5 more down off Mt Katahdin. My pack only has to make it through 21 miles tomorrow. The state park has day packs for thru-hikers to use for the final climb. I only have to take food and water.
Date: 2007-08-27
From: Rainbow Springs Campsite

To: Baxter State Park - Birches Lean-to
Miles today: 21.1

Johnny Knee Mud and I had agreed to get up early and hike 21 miles to the base of Mt Katahdin in Baxter State Park and stay at the Birches campsite, which is reserved for thru-hikers. It ended up being 7:00 before we got hiking. We talked to Blue and Squeeks before we left. They were still eating breakfast and were only planning to hike 11 miles to the Abol campground.We hiked 8 miles to Hurd Brook Lean-to and took a break. The ridge runner, Blueberry showed up along with a couple section hikers. I saw Blueberry back in Stratton. She was stopping to pick up Blue and Squeeks at the trail head and ended up in an automobile accident. Blue and Squeeks arrived a few minutes later.JKM and I headed up the trail another 3.6 miles to Abol Bridge. There is a campground and campstore there. I got there first and went in the campstore to buy lunch. Blue and Squeeks were at the picnic table when I came back out and JKM arrived a few minutes later.We all ate and discussed plans on finishing the hike and getting back home. Blue and Squeeks decided to hike up to the Birches and summit Katahdin with JKM and me. They had heard the weather tomorrow would be good and it might rain the following day. We all agrees to stay at the Appalachian Trail Lodge in Millinocket tomorrow night. From there a friend was going to pick up JKM and take him to the airport, Blue and Squeeks had arranged a shuttle back to their car in Gorham, and I would take a zero at the lodge and figure out how I will get home from there. I was about to go call the Appalachian Trail Lodge and arrange for them to pick us up at Baxter State Park and I looked up and saw a big SUV with the Appalachian Lodge logo on the door. Jamie (NaviGator) pulled up by the picnic table and told us they would pick us up at 4 PM at the ranger station. We finished eating and headed into the state park. I hiked with JKM for about 5 miles and then pulled ahead. I reached the ranger station and signed in. I am number 123 to reach there on a north bound thru-hike this year. I went back to the Birches campsite and found Rockman and Wolverine. Wolverine slowed down and enjoyed the end of his hike after speeding ahead from when I met him in Gatlinburg and last saw him on the trail in Damascus, VA. Hangman and Castaway had taken a campsite in Rainbow Stream Campground up by the ranger station. There would be 7 of us completing our thru-hikes tomorrow. Squeeks hiked the last few hundred miles w/ Blue.I set up my tent for my final night on the AT and fixed some Lipton Spanish Rice for dinner.
Date: 2007-04-03
To: The Goal & The Plan
Miles today: 0.0

Well, here I am with a little over a week to go until I leave for my AT NOBO thru-hike. It was around December 2005 that I decided it would be a good idea to do a thru-hike when I retired sometime after 2010. I grew up in Colorado and started backpacking in the late 60's all over in the Rockies. After moving to California three decades ago, I managed to continue backpacking with many High Sierra trips. So, a nice long backpacking adventure over some new terrain sounded like a good plan. However, after doing a bit of online reading and visiting some of the good web pages (whiteblaze.net, for example), it occurred to me that the little problems with the aging carcass like knees and such would only be much more of an issue for a long distance hike if I waited. I guess sometime around last June, I decided to see if I could pull if off sooner and went about making arrangements at work to do it over the spring/summer of 2007. Obviously, for the most part, it all came together and I will be hitting the trail on 12 April 2007. So I now have a goal of hiking from Springer to Katahdin, but my plan is to keep hiking as long as it is a positive experience.
Date: 2007-04-05
To: Getting Educated
Miles today: 0.0

I can say that over the past several months, I got a real education on the advances in backpacking gear since I bought all my original equipment. My first few years of backpacking were using a homemade pack. It was a simple frame that various duffle bags were lashed to. At the time, Gerry (still in business?) had a similar commercial version and the current LuxuryLite is a modern high-tech take on the concept. Sometime around 1971, I bought Colin Fletcher's "The Complete Walker" that had a lot of useful info that helped with better gear choices and reduce weight within the available equipment alternatives at that time (and my meager budget). My backpack purchased that year was a nice red Kelty BB5 single compartment ¢expedition¢ pack similar to Colin¢s Trailwise pack. I picked up a freight salvage 3lb/-20F down sleeping bag for $30 and have used it ever since. Probably have more than 350 nights in that bag all together including 3 months straight over the summer of '76 in Alaska. What I could tell from all the online info was that my odds of success would be greatly improved if I replaced all my trusty old gear and did some serious load reduction. I decided that I needed to drop the pack weight by at least 15 pounds. No problems there¢¦ just take out a second mortgage and go shopping.
Date: 2007-04-06
To: So Much Help
Miles today: 0.0

¢¦So many offerings and a gear education from many sources¢¦ There sure are lots of online opinions and reviews out there. I also got a tremendous amount of valuable feedback from many of the manufacturers and several friends I met on the net. Even though I did not necessarily decide to get stuff from all the vendors I talked to, I must say that a few outfits really seam to bend over backwards on responses to e-mail questions. The following were especially responsive and helpful: Nunatak for down products, Six Moon Designs for tents & backpacks, Ultra Light Adventure Equipment for backpacks, and Jacks-r-Better for down products. The good news is that with all the help, I was able to get my base weight (pack plus contents but without food & water) down to 14 pounds. Not quite the 15 pound reduction I was shooting for, but half of my original base weight and close enough! Also, did not have to spend a fortune. I have decided to start the trip with the Six Moon Designs Starlite backpack and Gatewood Cape for shelter/rain-wear. For my sleeping bag, I picked the Big Agnes Horsethief. Total cost of the big three was around $450. Not too bad. The ¢minor¢ gear/clothing was accumulated over the past several months from eBay and various retail establishments and typically on sale as there was plenty of time to wait on a good price. Some of other stuff, I made myself, like sil-nylon stuff sacks, a TYVEK ground cloth/bivy combo, etc. Will have to see how it all plays out with so many changes from the gear I have been using for decades.