morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-09-29
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Imp Campsite
Miles today: 7.2

I made it out of Gorham today! Unfortunately, I had to leave some food there, as it was too much to carry, so I'll have to go back in tomorrow...but it will only be a short trip in, I swear. It felt good to be back out and hiking today. The trip back up the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail was a nice way to ease back into the hike...it's just sad that it's 3.8 miles for nought (sp?). We did 1.5 miles per hour up to Carter Notch Hut, and took a lunch break there before starting up Carter Dome. I was worried that I would change my mind and decide to head back down the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail...I had been having some mental battles with myself on the way up. It comes down to this now...I am physically tired, but mentally exhausted. So it's really more of a mental thing as I near the end. I always have such a difficult time finishing things that I start...for my own well-being, I NEED to finish this. And I know I will. Today was a good beginning toward that end. Big Bird a!nd I were both able to push ourselves to complete the miles we'd planned to, and were able to hike a full day. We'd gotten used to finishing the day by 4 or 5, and we can still hike till at least 7. So...we made it up and over Carter Dome in good shape and good time. There were few views on our trek today. The most vivid one was of the evil Mt. Madison...bleah! We moved on...the hike over the Carters was rather uneventful, fairly easy, even. That is, till we started the descent to the Imp Campsite. It took us an excruciatingly long time to come down approximately 5/10 mile. It was full of slick rock faces that I needed to do a lot of five-point crawling down. We had been doing really well with time till then. We ended up having to use our headlamps for the last 1/4 mile...not too bad. Chafe Master J was at the shelter when we got here...he's heading south to complete the Whites before joining us in Andover for the flip. There are also 4 section hikers. The best! part of my day happened soon after we arrived at the shelter. I was saying that we should be excited because we'd made it to our destination in good time and had technically done our longest day since leaving Glencliff. Big Bird said we should celebrate...it was too bad we didn't have some whiskey. Now this has been a standing joke since we started...one of us says we should break out the whiskey, and the other says something to the effect of "well, didn't you bring it?" I was prepared for it tonight, though. I had picked up a small bottle of Jack Daniels in Gorham. Soooo...when I asked him if he brought it and he told me no, I pulled out the bottle. It was a perfect moment...he never thought that I would actually have some. So, we had a few sips with dinner to celebrate (I have to hike tomorrow, I can't go overboard!), then set up our stuff in the shelter. Everyone else is already asleep as I write this. It's getting very cold, though, so I must stop typing and put my hands inside my sleeping bag! It's been a good day...I look for!ward to more tomorrow...
Date: 2003-09-30
From: Imp Campsite

To: Route 2, Gorham, NH
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Wow, I had a great night's sleep last night! I was toasty warm, despite the cold temps outside...it was hard to leave my sleeping bag this morning. I've decided that a few sips of whiskey make for a good way to end the day...maybe Baltimore Jack has the right idea... I went out to the bench with a view, which I hadn't noticed last night, and chatted with a couple of the section/day hikers. Then I went back and got my act together. By the time I'd had breakfast in bag and gotten packed up, it was 9:30...not a bad starting time, but not as early as I would have liked. The hike today was quite nice...terrain that wasn't too tough, and gorgeous weather. We were hoping to get to the road fairly early, but that wasn't to be. Despite the nicer terrain, we still seemed to go slower than we used to be able to. I was enjoying the day, however, so it didn't matter. As we approached the shelter a couple of miles before the road, I had an urgent need for a privy, so I sped up. ! Big Bird was about 15-20 minutes behind me. Right after the first crossing of Rattle River, he saw what he thought was a mule on the Trail. As the two neared each other, he realized it was a bull moose coming toward him, and the moose had no idea he was there. When it was about 10 feet from him, he said that he let out a Scooby-Doo sort of "Moose!", and the moose tensed up, then left the Trail. It sounded so comical a meeting that I regretted missing it. We had a good laugh when we were talking about it at the shelter, though. We realized, at that point, that we were not going to have enough time to go to town, get our food, get back out of town and still make the miles we needed. We decided to stay one more night at the hostel, get showers and do laundry. It was all good...Puff Daddy, Bluebird and Espy were still there, heading out tomorrow as well. We had a mellow night, watched sitcom reruns and the Cubs/Braves game and I caught up on some e-mail. I'd like to !say I made an early night of it, but I was the last person to head upstairs...I'm sure I'll get a good night's sleep...
Date: 2003-10-01
From: Route 2, Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: light rain

Another month, another anniversary...six months on the Trail today. It's kind of bittersweet...my Seester told me on the phone that I should be home. In a way, that's all I want to do right now. It's Puff Daddy's anniversary, too. And here we are, still in Gorham. Well...we are getting out today. I called Grapenut to set up our transfer to Monson, then Big Bird and I started hitching. It took at least 20 minutes before we got a ride. He was a hiker, so was willing to pick us up. We got started, and I must say, the terrain was lovely...not like NH at all. We had heard that, but seeing is, of course, believing. We were able to get several miles in at a pace of 1.5 miles/hour...blazing speed for us, lately. Puff Daddy, Espy and Bluebird caught up with us...they weren't overjoyed at the showers that had begun. We all set off, after a break, for the shelter. It started full out raining, which gave me motivation to move. We were up to my usual speed of 2 miles/hour !for the last section. The shelter was pretty packed, but there was room for us. I saw a dog that looked familiar, and I realized that it was Yoni, the dog that slept in my face at Four Pines Hostel. Windsong, Trauma, Yoni and their new dog, Ottie, had flipped up to Canada from Bear Mountain, and were on their way back through. It was good to see them! We set up and had some dinner, then made an early night of it. Hoping for clear skies tomorrow!
Date: 2003-10-05
From: Mahoosuc Notch Trail

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It was a pretty mellow day today. I had done okay sleep-wise last night, although I'd had a little too much at the Chinese buffet. My stomach was a bit overly full. It wasn't as if we were hiking, anyway. We had to be out by 10, so we packed our stuff and headed over to the laundromat. We had finished our laundry by noon, but weren't meeting Grapenut till 2:30 or so. The laundromat was very warm, so I got a deck of cards and we stayed and played a game of 500 rummy. Then we went to the park, our meeting destination. We had some hot dogs and soaked up the sun for a bit, although the air turned a bit chilly after awhile. Grapenut showed up, and we drove to The Cabin, in Andover, to pick up Chafe Master J. Oops...forgot to say that while speaking with my Mom this morning (my very STRONG-WILLED Mom, that is), she decided she was going to see me today. While we were at The Cabin, we figured out that Skowhegan would be the best place for us to meet. Mom treated us to d!inner (thanks, Mom!), and I think I passed inspection...she let me continue on. I should see her again in less than two weeks, but it was really great to see her, especially as it wasn't planned till this morning. We moved on to Shaws, in Monson. Riff Raff was there watching TV, then Taba showed up about a half hour later. Sadly, I missed both Blip and Deacon Blues, who both left this morning. Deacon Blues and Little Bear may be going a bit slowly through the Wilderness, though, so I may be able to catch them. I sat up watching mindless TV with Riff Raff and Taba till about 1...after the more sensible people had already gone to bed. S'okay, though...I wasn't really sleepy till then. Today was all about Trail Angels...first Grapenut driving all over the place to get us to where we needed to go, then my Mom feeding four hungry hikers/support people. Tomorrow...into the Wilderness!
Date: 2003-10-06
From: 15, Monson ME

To: Leeman Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up this morning to the fabu smell of bacon, sausage and other things cooking...yum! Unfortunately, it was only 6...It seemed as if I'd just gotten to sleep. There were several snorers in the bunkroom, and it took me a little while to get to sleep. Oh, well, nothing to do but get up and eat. They feed you very well here! I got a "two", which is two of everything...bacon, sausage, eggs, french toast and home fries. Coffee and orange juice completed my meal...although I could have had several more pieces of french toast. We sat in the tv room chatting for awhile till Grapenut left...what a wonderful Trail Angel he is, carting my butt all over NH and ME! Thanks so much to both him and Bandaged Heart, yet again! The first bunch of hikers left...Riff Raff, Scabs, Monk and Indiana Ben. Chafe Master J and I went uptown to get my mail drop. My drop box is HUGE, yet I know I'll need almost everything in it to get through the 100 Mile Wilderness. I packed my food bag! and snack bag and sent old maps and things I wouldn't use home. Chafe Master J went shopping with Keith Sr., and promised to bring back a bottle of J.D. for us, so Big Bird and I waited for him to get back. We were just heading uptown for lunch when they returned, so Chafe joined us. We had American chop suey and garlic bread at the general store. Chafe bought a 6-pack of Guinness, I'm sure just to torment me. He was staying at least one more night to wait for his Leki poles to be delivered, as he'd forgotten them in Andover. We were sitting around talking with Taba and Keith Jr. for awhile longer...the inherently evil Chafe Master J was trying to get us to zero with him, but I wasn't going to succumb to his evil ways. We did all have a beer (except for Keith), then I stood up, trying to get people motivated to go. It was almost 3 when we got into the truck...we'd only be going 3 miles today for sure. The terrain was flat and lovely, albeit a bit muddy, and we arr!ived at the shelter in an hour and a half...we were actually hiking ata 2 mile per hour pace! It just felt so good to be able to do that. We set up in the shelter and Taba built a lovely fire. We had dinner around the fire and had some J.D. It's good to be back out in the woods.
Date: 2003-10-07
From: Leeman Brook Lean-to

To: Long Pond Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I couldn't believe it! I slept until 9 this morning...I don't ever sleep that late out here. As a matter of fact, all three of us slept in. I guess we needed it. Of course, my only problem is that it takes me forever to pack up. So, by the time I was ready, it was almost 11. Not a good time to start if you want to make some big miles. We had planned to do either 12 or 16 today. The terrain was really quite nice...it's so good to be actually hiking again, rather than rock climbing. And, of course, the Maine woods are beautiful, especially on a partly sunny, fairly warm fall day in October. Today was the first time that Big Bird and I had to ford a water crossing...as a matter of fact, we had three streams to ford. For anyone who is not familiar with this term, it means that you need to get wet to cross the body of water in front of you. Some people leave their boots on and cross that way. We all took off our boots, Taba and I donned our camp sandals and Big Bird !went barefoot. The first and second fords weren't bad...just up to our knees. And the water wasn't dreadfully cold. I just kept reminding myself that I go swimming in the ocean on January first. Actually, the best part about fording a stream is getting out...the air is warmer than the water, so you have the illusion of being warmer when you emerge. The final ford of the day was through a much swifter, and, as I discovered, much deeper stream. We approached it just before sunset. Taba had already crossed and had fallen in. I was nervous, to say the least. But, I sucked it up, changed my footgear and followed Big Bird out into the water. It was fine for the first few steps. Then, the water got deeper, and the current grew swifter. I could see Big Bird struggling to stand up. I had to work very hard to stay upright...it was over my knees, then, up to my waist. Slowly, we made our way across to the other bank. Whew! No mishaps! We put our boots back on and donn!ed our headlamps. Taba had already gone ahead so that he could build a fire to warm up and dry off. We did a good 20 minutes of night hiking before we arrived at the shelter. I dried off over the fire, then cooked dinner. We all at around the fire for awhile and got toasty warm, while sipping some whiskey to warm our insides. We may be able to get away without fording anything tomorrow, if we keep our mileage at 12ish. However, Big Bird and I were quite happy and proud of the good job we did with fording today. Under 100 miles to Katahdin...
Date: 2003-10-08
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

Another day in the 100 Mile Wilderness...what a beautiful one! I had set my alarm this morning, so I wouldn't sleep in again. We got going a bit earlier...10 instead of 11 today. Maybe by tomorrow we can start hiking at 9. We had a couple of big ups to start with...1000 feet to Barren Ledges, then another 700 to the top of Barren Mountain. The sunshine just felt great...what a morale booster. Big Bird and I took a nice, warm, sunny break on the top of Barren Mountain. We kept expecting Taba to show up, but he didn't...we'd left him on the Ledges. The rest of the day went rather slowly. We didn't have any big climbs, but the ones we had were rather slow and tedious...rock climbing again...we'd hoped we were done with this. Big Bird was having a hard time getting going right from the beginning of the day, and the climbs didn't help. We'd been hoping to push a bit beyond the shelter at 10.9 miles, but it just wasn't happening. We were getting close to the shelter, a!nd were starting to worry about where Taba was, when he came up behind us. He'd stayed at the Ledges for close to 3 hours, soaking up the sun and drying the rest of his clothes after his fall in the stream last night. We got to the shelter, followed by a section hiker who had tented with us last night. Taba built a fire, which, unfortunately, is smoking out the shelter right now. It's not supposed to get that cold tonight, which is great, and it's also supposed to be nice again tomorrow. Looking forward to getting over most of the rest of the mountains in this section. NOT looking forward to fording the west branch of the Pleasant River tomorrow. Here's to low water and not too slick a walk through. Onward through the Wilderness!
Date: 2003-10-09
From: Chairback Gap Lean-to

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up before my alarm went off...5:00...bleah! Had to go to the bathroom, though, so rather than have the urge to go keep me awake, I got up. Figured I'd be able to go right back to sleep, but no such luck. I've started thinking/dreaming about going home. Once my mind got going...it took forever to get back to sleep. Then my alarm went off soon after, anyway. It had been really windy all night, but the wind seemed to dissipate by the time I got up. Taba had slept out under the stars...a good night to do so, as it was pretty warm. I had breakfast in bag...Carnation instant breakfast, Raisin Bran and Froot Loops. An interesting combination, but one that I would pay for later on in the day. We got going today by 9:30...woo-hoo! We were going to get as far as we could, but were trying for around 12 miles. We had a ford at 5 miles out today, and we weren't looking forward to it. It's the only one that's listed in the Companion in this section..."wide, deep and swif!t during spring, slick footing at all times". Yeah...couldn't wait to get there. When Big Bird and I arrived, Taba and the section hiker, Craig, were sitting there with beer...apparently someone left them in the river. We shared them before fording...also had a sip of J.D., pouring a bit into the river to appease the river gods before fording. Craig went first...it was only mid-calf on him, and it didn't take him long at all. We kind of stopped worrying and all made it across easily. The ford across the stream two days before was much worse than this! We sat on the benches that were provided to put our boots back on, and gloried in the warm temperatures and fabulous sunshine. We had another 7ish miles to go, so we got hiking. That's when it hit me. I had to run into the woods to avail myself of a cathole. I had no sooner gotten back on the Trail, hiked another mile, and had to run into the woods again. Note to self...Carnation Instant Breakfast and Raisin Bran t!ogether are a BAD combination while hiking! Most of the rest of the day's hike was easy...nice terrain with a very gentle incline. And, of course, we couldn't ask for better weather. The last 1.8 miles started out with a straight uphill...exhausting at the end of the day. We were very happy to arrive at the campsite for the night. We got water, dried out my tent (which I'd forgotten to do after the night at Full Goose Shelter), set up camp and cooked dinner. We sat around the campfire for awhile, telling stories and just enjoying the company. The full moon rose while we were sitting there, just adding to the ambiance of the night. We all agreed that it was good to be here in Maine tonight...it is the way life should be.
Date: 2003-10-10
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite

To: Stealth Site, Mountain View Pond
Miles today: 11.0

Another day in the Wilderness...and what a FABU week of weather we've been having! The temps dropped a bit last night, but have been in the 60's and 70's all week during the day. Today featured the last of our big climbs before Katahdin, and even the three that we did this morning weren't that big a deal. The first ascent was a fairly steep 750 feet, but we were at the top of our second "peak" when I was wondering when our second climb was going to start. At the top of the third, we took a lunch break in the beautiful sunshine, and I didn't even have to don a jacket. I could have stayed there all day, basking in the sun...however, we had some more miles to do. At the rate we are going, we should be summitting Katahdin on either the 14th or 15th of October. It's hard to tell how many miles we can put in over the next couple of days. The terrain is basically flat between here and Katahdin, but it's been so long since I've done a 20 mile day, I'm not sure I can still do! one! We'll need to stop to resupply either at Jo-Mary Road or at The White House Landing in the next day or two, then just another couple of days to Katahdin. Can't believe I'm almost there, and almost finished...what a trip it's been! Anyway, I digress...we leapfrogged with Taba today, and he decided to push on further. He has always done big miles, so I was surprised he stayed with us as long as he did. We thought perhaps he was tired, and we gave him an opportunity to rest up a bit before pushing on. We left Craig, the section hiker, at the last lean-to. It was early when we were there, and it would have meant only doing 9 miles today...we had time for more. We actually could have moved on further than we did, but we got to Mountain View Pond, and it was just beautiful. There were a couple of spots on the far shore that were perfect for camping, so we chose to stop for the day. As we were coming around the pond, Big Bird noticed a moose standing in the water a! ways down the shore. She stood and looked in our general direction for awhile, then drank some water and went back into the woods. This was my longest moose sighting on this trip...unfortunately, she was too far away for me to take her picture. We set up camp, went to find the nearby spring, came back and cooked dinner. The moon rose over our site...shining quite nicely through the trees. Our only worry now...if a moose comes to visit, will it know enough to go around the tent? Or will we become part of a lurid tabloid headline..."Hikers Trampled to Death by Wandering Moose"? Tune in tomorrow!
Date: 2003-10-12
From: Antlers Campsite

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 6.3

Woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise over the lake. I got some sleep, but it was drug-induced (yes, last night was a vicodin night), and therefore not as restful as I would have liked. I think, also, that I can't stop my mind from going a million miles a minute when I lay down to sleep...the last few days, what I need to do when I get home, etc...It's enough to drive me nuts! As if I wasn't there already. Anyway, I felt better this morning than I did yesterday, so that was good. We needed to get to White House Landing by lunchtime today, as Big Bird had completely run out of food and I was sharing what I had left with him. We could get hamburgers and pizza there, as well as supplies to get us the rest of the way. The coolest thing about the place is that you go to a boat dock and blow an air horn...then they come over in a boat to pick you up and bring you to the camp. I was so looking forward to the novelty of it! We got going a little before 9:00, our earli!est start yet since we left Monson. The terrain wasn't quite as easy as yesterday's, yet we continued to move at a 3 mile per hour clip. The day was another beauty, although a little cooler than yesterday. We got to Pemadumcook Lake, which smelled a lot like the ocean...very peculiar..., and had a wonderful view of Katahdin. It was the first time Big Bird had seen it. Having now seen Mount Washington from every angle, and at many different distances, I could see some similarities. The sky was totally clear, and I'm hoping that Blip and perhaps Deacon Blues and Little Bear were summitting today...they would have had an awesome day for it. I'm wishing for such a day myself, but it's not sounding good right now. We kept on, arriving at the side trail that would take us to the White House Landing...it's located 1.2 miles off the Trail. Kind of a pain to get to, but we had no choice. We got to the dock at about noon and blew the air horn. I thought that Big Bird and I! were going to have a fist fight over who got to push the button, but he let me do it. I now have reduced hearing in my right ear, but I'm sure it will go away soon enough. We got picked up and ordered up some lunch. We each ate a cheeseburger (they were HUGE!), split a pepperoni pizza and each had three sodas. I guess we were hungry. We took showers, and debated staying or going. We had decided to go, then were just enjoying hanging out...it's beautiful here...and seeing some other hikers. Flying Bear, Laughing Bird, Curly Dan and Seamus had flipped up to Katahdin and are now headed south. This was their second night here. We ended up staying...and are glad we did. It's pouring out right now. It's supposed to stop before morning, but it's nicer being in a bunkhouse than a tent tonight. Early tomorrow, we will resume our trip northward!