morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-18
From: Monson, ME

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Phil woke us at 4 AM. We were on the road a little while later, with a quick stop for breakfast at the gas station in Monson. After arriving at Baxter State Park, Phil drove us to Katahdin Stream Campground (KSC), where we would be staying the night. We can't thank the Baxter State Park rangers enough for allowing us (and other AT hikers) to leave our fully loaded backpacks with them for safe keeping while we hiked Katahdin with small daypacks.After registering and dropping off our packs, Phil shuttled us over to the Abol Campsite, so that we could take the Abol Trail up to the summit, and the Hunt Trail down, thus allowing us to see the mountain from different perspectives.The Abol Trail is the shortest way up the mountain at only 3.8 miles, but it is also the steepest. Phil warned us that the day would be difficult. He said to expect to cover less than 1 mile/hour for much of the day, and to be prepared for a lot of agony and pain but an exhilarating day in return for it all. He wasn't kidding.What a mountain!!! The base of the mountain is a lush, densely covered forest, and I couldn't help wondering if it qualified as a temperate rain forest. After approximately a mile, the lush forest gave way to a brutal rock scramble all the way up to Thorough Springs, where we refilled our water bottles and continued through the windy beautiful Table Lands up to the summit. We reached Baxter Peak at 12:40, where we relaxed, and savored the views and the accomplishment for a bit before deciding to head out and explore a bit of the Knife Edge Trail. We went slightly less than halfway on the Knife Edge (which was thrilling, but far less scary than I imagined) before deciding to save our legs for the descent. Good decision.Although the Abol Trail was the steepest way up the mountain, the Hunt Trail (aka) the AT, also is quite steep; coming down the Hunt Trail was actually scarier than ascending the Abol Trail. I spent much of the time sitting down, and either jumping or sliding from one fridge-sized boulder to the next. (Fortunately, my shorts withstood the abuse, so I fared a bit better in that sense than a fellow hiker who later confessed to us that Katahdin split her shorts wide open and the only 'good thing' was that she didn't realize it until she arrived at her campsite later that night. We survived the descent, and happily arrived at the Katahdin Stream Campground at approximately 7 PM. We headed to the ranger station where we donated the daypacks we brought with us to Ranger Betsy's supply, picked up our full packs, set up camp, and chowed on a couple of naproxin with our dinner.
Date: 2012-07-19
From: Katahdin

To: Abol Bridge
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

Although we had booked two nights at the Katahdin Stream Campground, we decided to 'check out' a day early. After a relaxing morning, we headed out on the AT at 11:30 and headed out for a mostly flat or down hill hike to the Abol Bridge.The entire hike was beautiful, and we both agreed that one of our favorite parts of the trail was the " High Water Trail" alternative we took to avoid a crossing the Nesowadnehunk Stream a couple of times. (Another hiker, later told us that we'd made a good decision there, as the second crossing was pretty hairy.)We arrived at the Abol Bridge at 5:15, hungry, tired, and with legs that were still aching from yesterday's grueling Katahdin climb. Knowing this would be our last bit of civilization before we completed the 100 Mile Wilderness, we decided to stay at the private campground instead of the state campsite nearby. Another good decision. We devoured two absolutely delicious burgers (each!), a 6-pack of Sam Adams and 3 Angry Orchard Hard Ciders, and enjoyed beautiful views of Katahdin from the campsite.
Date: 2012-07-20
From: Abol Bridge

To: Rainbow Spring Campsite
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Before heading out into the 100 Mile Wilderness, we both indulged in the campground's 50-cent/6 minute showers. I highly recommend it to anyone entering or exiting the 100 MW. We headed out on the trail at 11:30, and arrived at our Rainbow Springs Campsite at approximately 7:15 after another beautiful day of hiking. When hiking the AT in Maine, it seems impossible to avoid thinking about the geologic history of the Applachian Mountains, which were once larger than the Himalaya's and have been worn down over the millenia. Evidence of that history is everywhere along the trail. The trail in Maine is just spectacular: incredibly beautiful and equally rugged (which I have decided is a polite word for "brutal").   The footpath of trail seems to be mostly composed of large and small boulders, and those parts of the boulders that manage to excape most of the foot traffic are covered with moss. The other predominant feature of the footpath is the maze of thick tree roots that are often the only thing that provide a foothold on long stretches of granite. Mud and dirt fills in the smaller patches between the boulders and roots. Ocassionally, the rock, roots, and mud give way to a soft patch of forest floor that provides welcome relief to sore feet and aching legs.   It's grueling but gorgeous.Along the way, we stopped at Hurd Brook, just south of the Lean-to, and had lunch in a lovely little patch of forest where I fully expected to be greeted by a Hobbit or fairy. Instead, we met Robert, from Alabama, starting out on a Southbound (SOBO) thru hike. This is his first long distance backpacking trip, and in addition to hiking the entire AT, he plans to continue his hike all the way home to Alabama once he arrives in Georgia. Wow!We later stopped to enjoy spectacular views of Katahdin from the Rainbow Ledges. Just before we left, Robert arrived, so we took a few pictures of him on his camera and he returned the favor for us. We ran into Robert again that night at the Rainbow Springs campsite, but we suspected that was the last time we would see him, as he was planning to move at a much faster pace than us.
Date: 2012-07-21
From: Rainbow Spring Campsite

To: Crescent Pond
Miles today: 8.0

Another beautiful day in Maine! We ended up doing a short 8 mile day today after arriving at Crescent Pond in the late afternoon. (We saw our first moose of the trip here at Crescent Pond). We found a lovely little campsite up on the hill above the pond that seemed to good to pass up, especially given the general fatigue in our legs and the alternative of dry camping on Nesuntabunt Mountain 2 miles ahead or going another 4 miles to the Wadleigh Stream Lean-to.
Date: 2012-07-22
From: Crescent Pnd

To: Pemadumcook Lake
Miles today: 12.0

Left Crescent Pond at 9:30, and stopped on Nesuntabut Mountain for nice views of Katahdin, where we also encountered our first of several groups of scout troops who were doing portions ofthe 100 MW. (This particular group flew in via a plane that landed on Nahmakanta Lake.)Enjoyed a nice lunch at the Sand Beach on Nahmakanta Lake, and I later saw my second moose of the trip standing in the Nahmakanta Stream. She was quite cooperative and posed for several nice pictures. Unfortunately, Dave was slightly ahead of me, so he missed out on the experience.We continued hiking and made our way down to the edge of Pemodumcook Lake just past Tumbledown Dick Stream. (insert your own joke here) The maps indicate that there is a state campsite down in the area, but if so, it was too poorly marked to find despite wandering up to 1/4 mile down various potential side trails. By then, both my knees were throbbing, my legs were aching, and I was too tired to eat or care. Luckily, I'm married to Super Dave, who set up the tent and boiled water for some peanut soup that I managed to eat before crashing quickly into a deep sleep.
Date: 2012-07-23
From: Pemadumcook Lake

To: Cooper Brook
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Broke camp without breakfast at Pemondumcook Lake to escape the bugs, and hiked about a mile up the trail to a nice wooded glen just past Deer Brook, where we hung our sleeping gear out to dry and enjoyed some coffee and breakfast.Had lunch at the Antlers Campsite on Lower Jo-Mary Lake- one of the prettiest campsites we've seen (wished we'd made it there last night). We stopped fairly early in the evening where we found a fantastic spot in a pine forest along Cooper Brook, just past the Jo-Mary Road. We picked up the resupply we had arranged with Phil before leaving, ate dinner, enjoyed a bit of Phil's Little Debbie trail magic and went to bed on a bit of a sugar high. Thanks Phil!!!
Date: 2012-07-24
From: Cooper Brook

To: East Branch Lean-to
Miles today: 11.6

Had a bit of rain last night, but it had stopped by morning, so we were able to get pretty dry. Set out with heavy, re-supplied packs and very full bellies for a fairly easy hike along Cooper Brook to lunch on Crawford Pond-- a beautiful little spot with some welcome cool breezes after a humid, buggy morning. Before heading out, we met a single woman named Crystal, a SOBO that we were pretty sure was the first person we passed while hiking up Katahdin.After lunch,we hiked over the relatively easy Little Boardman Mountain, and refilled our water at the Mountain View Spring, where we caught up with Crystal, the SOBO we met that morning. Hiked with Crystal to the East Branch Lean-to, where we set up tent and she stayed in the shelter. Had a nice hike with Crystal, got to know her a bit, and confirmed that she was indeed the woman we had passed on Katahdin. She's 29 years old, was recently laid off from her state-funded job doing social work research (state budget cuts), and sold her car to pay for the trip. Not only is this her first extended backpacking trip, it's her very first backpacking trip ever. Holy cow!!! She has until the end of the year, and she plans to go as far as she can until her time, money or body gives out. I'm really pulling for her, especially as she's overcoming even more challenges than most. She was quite happy to see us as it was getting late in the day and she'd lost her flashlight. It seems she had bought a solar powered one, and strapped it onto her backpack to re-charge but it fell off somewhere along the way. (Why do Outdoor Gear stores insist on selling people gadgets that sound good in theory but are usually too heavy or complicated to be worthwhile?) She also was suffering from some pretty bad blisters, and happily accepted some moleskin I could spare and the Body Glide I wasn't using anyway. (I promised to take it back if she didn't want it b/c I really didn't want to add to her pack weight, but she was very happy to have it.) Crytal's old job seems like one of the best examples of good government and it pains me to see that type of job get cut... Specifically, in her area (Chicago), if a child dies, the government agency she suported researches the death to see if there was anything they could have done differently that might have prevented the death. If the answer is yes, then they identify and implement the changes. Crystal explained that only a handful of places in the country do this (DC is not one). Tragic to see the funding cut. Anyway, we set up our tents outside the shelter, on the flattest site we could find. The big roots running across the site would normally have been a huge bummer, but our wonderful 16.2 ounce, Exped sleeping pads absorbed it all. I love sleeping on 2.5 inches of air!! Thank you, Exped.
Date: 2012-07-25
From: East Branch Lean-to

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Awoke and broke down our campsite a little earlier than usual, thanks to the scary 'bearbag' tree creaking above us. When we scouted the site last night, we didn't think much of it, and in fact, hung our own bear bag on the tree. But after a few others did the same thing, and we heard it (or perhaps a nearby tree?) creaking, we started to wonder. By then, however, it was dark, and we managed to convince ourselves that the leaning tree was wedged in securely enough to withstand the wind and the weight of the bags. We grimly laughed ourselves to sleep at the absurdity of the situation, joking about the headlines ("Other hikers say they never even had a chance to scream").Needless to say, we survived and were on the trail by 9 AM. We hiked up White Cap Mountain, where we enjoyed beautiful views with our lunch and a delicious bit of trail magic in the form of a giant molassas cookie courtesy of a wonderful local woman we met on the summit. She was out hiking with her dog, Brady, which (of course) reminded me of Emily and her recently completed book on the sublime in the environment. Em-- I'm living it now!After lunch, we hiked down White Cap Mountain, then up and over Hay Mountain, and West Peak (three peaks in one day!), before arriving with seriously sore knees at the Sidney Tappan Campsite at 5:30. We called it an early day, set up camp, gathered water (from a perfectly good water source, but the least desirable of all the ones we'd drawn from thus far), built a fire, and turned in fairly early.
Date: 2012-07-27
From: West Branch Pleasant River

To: base of Fourth Mountain
Miles today: 8.5

Awoke early along Henderson Brook in Gulf Hagas. My knee was a bit less swollen and painful so we decided to keep moving on. It seems that our two biggest planning mistakes were critical ones: whisky and toilet paper. The TP situation is now quite bleak... in order to preserve our limited supply for the 'really important needs', I'm reduced to using my bandana and washing it out. YUCK.We had a hard but beautiful hike up and over Chairback Mountain, Columbus Mountain, and Third Mountain before camping for the night in the gap between Third Mountain and Fourth Mountain.   Arrived near dark after enjoying the sun and views too long on the summit of Third Mountain and making our first contact with civilization there. (We turned on my cell phone and mad reservations at the Lakeshore House for Monday night, texted Phil to arrange a shuttle on Tuesday to Stratton and texted my dad and Mark to let them know we were safe.
Date: 2012-07-28
From: base of Fourth Mountain

To: below Segundy gorge along Long Pond Stream
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

I had a pretty rough night with little sleep thanks to a huge lump under the tent that it made it hard to find comfort for my aching knee and tired back. (My exped has been fantastic at mitigating roots and rocks, but even my miracle sleeping pad couldn't help me pretend a huge hump wasn't there.) I was also a bit thirsty since we dry camped and wanted to conserve our limited water supply. Needless to say, I was pretty cranky this morning. We had a long wet, (and for me, fairly miserable) hike up 4th mountain and much of Barren Mountain before deciding descend 0.4 miles off the trail to the Cloud Pond Lean-to. We had the lean-to to ourselves, and took the opportunity to dry out, rehydrate, and feast on some noodles, thanks to Super Dave, who can build fire in the rain.Proposed motto for the State of Maine, "Caution Slippery When Wet. And its all wet".The sun came out towards the end of our wonderful and much needed rest at the lean-to, and we climbed back up the mountain to the trail. We finished our ascent up Barren Mountain, where we enjoyed spectacular views and dreaded what we had heard would be a very tough hike down. The presence of Barren Ledges on the map (including an ilustration on the profile map) seemed to confirm what other hikers had warned us we'd find here back when we were coming up the hard rock scrambles on Chairback Mountain. But to our surprise, we never really encountered any part of the descent that was unusually difficult. We made our way down and stopped briefly at the Long Pond Stream Lean-to where we found a large group of Canadian teenage girls. They were quite cute, providing their own stuffed mascot and writing love letters from it to the AT Chicken (a rubber chicken making its way along the AT). We continued on to a lovely campsite below Segundy Gorge and falls, along Long Pond Stream. If there really is such a thing as heaven, it has a place for whoever made the little rock benches at this site. One even had a back rest. Oh, the luxury!!
Date: 2012-07-29
From: below Segundy gorge along Long Pond Stream

To: Stealth Camping near North Pond
Miles today: 10.5

After breaking camp, we hiked up and over two really tough climbs that people in Maine don't call a mountain, but sure felt like mountains to me! I'm starting to think that if the hill isn't big enough, the Maine AT designers decide to run the trail straight up it just to ensure you remember you're in Maine. :-)We stopped for a quick lunch at the Wilson Valley lean to before heading up the second painful non-mountain and continued to a little campsite near North Pond. We joked that it would be cool if Crystal walked by, and sure enough, she did just that right as darkness was starting to settle in. Poor thing was so tired and relieved to see us, she literally fell over when we called out to her. She had been tracking our shelter entries and checking with other hikers trying to catch us, and decided to do a 15 mile day today in hopes of doing so. We had a nice dinner and camp fire with her that night-- our final night in the 100 Mile Wilderness.
Date: 2012-07-30
From: Stealth Campling near North Pond

To: Route 15, Monson and Greeneville, ME
Miles today: 4.0

Dave, Crystal and I broke camp early without waiting for our tents to dry out because we all wanted to get into Monson as early as possible for showers, meals, and indoor plumbing. We were all tired and looking forward to a big comfy chair, toilet paper, and real beds. We met an interesting NOBO hiker named Lonestar on our way out. My knee is still an issue and I limped quite a bit those last few miles but I made it to Route 15 intact. We arrived at the Lakeshore House to some disappointment. We didn't realize it but the famed bar/restaurant was closed on Monday as was pretty much every other dining option in Monson. The hostel was pretty crowded with everyone hanging around as there really wasn't any other place open. Since we had our car and were dying for some real food, the town of Greenville, 15 miles north was a good option. At that point, it was a no brainer... we should just head that way and find a place to stay there. Rebecca at the Lake Shore House was very understanding and before we even knew what was happening, she had made arrangements for us to have a private suite at the Black Frog Inn up in Greenville. The name sounded familiar, and we realized it was the very place that a local had previously told Crystal was THE place to have dinner in the area. Crystal decided to join us. We drove up, and found that Rebecca had arranged for us to stay in a delightful 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath suite, complete with kitchen, sun room, living room, and a great deck over looking Moosehead Lake. Lake Shore House Rebecca-- you are my kind soul!!! We all enjoyed showers (probably the best shower of my life) and a fantastic meal at the Black Frog Inn.
Date: 2012-07-31
From: Route 15, Monson and Greeneville, ME

To: Greenville, ME
Miles today: 0.0

We took a zero day today, and will be taking another one tomorrow to do laundry, organize our resupply, and get some much needed rest for my knee. We had a great day in this beautiful town. We just relaxed, enjoyed our wonderful suite, did some shopping, and ate a LOT of wonderful food at the Black Frog. If you're ever in Greenville, ME you've got to stop in at the Black Frog. The place is wonderful!
Date: 2012-08-01
From: Greenville, ME

To: Greenville, ME
Miles today: 0.0

We contacted Phil yesterday, and learned he wouldn't be able to help us shuttle our car until today, so we enjoyed another zero day. We spent the morning relaxing, eating, resting my knees and watching sea planes and boats come and go from our wonderful deck at the Black Frog. That afternoon, Dave and Phil shuttled our car down to Stratton, while I went to the library to start posting journal entries. I can't say I was too disappointed about another day in town; Greenville, is fantastic!
Date: 2012-08-02
From: Greenville, ME

To: stealth camping 1 mile south of Horsehoe Lean to
Miles today: 10.0

We met many wonderful people and staff at the Black Frog, including Seth who runs the place with his father and two of our favorite waitresses, Shelby and Katrina. Before leaving, we exchanged contact information and promised to send fellow Dead fans, Seth and Katrina, copies of some Furthur shows we'd seen. Shelby kindly offered to shuttle us back to Route 15 where we'd gotten off the trail on Monday.We had a relatively easy 9 mile hike to the Horseshoe Lean-to where we met Angry German (AG) and Spools, two SOBOs who had been reading our jounal entries along the way. Spools had done GA-VA and was now doing ME-VA (he's from Richmond). We also met "Stripper," a solo NOBO and Cliff, another solo NOBO. I enjoyed reading the journal entries at the shelter (I always do), and was happy to see that Crystal had picked up a trail name after leaving Monson... she is now called "Fugitive". (She also gave us trail names of "Right On" and "Babe" thanks to Dave's propensity to use both terms frequently.) After a brief social stop at the lean-to, we headed another mile down the trail until we found a nice campsite along the West Branch of the Piscataquis River. The frequency of thunder and lightning had been picking up throughout the afternoon and was starting to look ominous, so we set up our tent, made dinner quickly, and prepared to hunker down. I guess we prepared ourselves right out of a storm because it never came. We've been really lucky on this trip in terms of storms. I was a little less lucky crossing the East Branch of the Piscataquis River, when I picked up my first leech. BLECH.