morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-07-22
From: Katahdin Streams Campground

To: Abol Bridge
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm so sore!!! Well, it's the morning after Katahdin, and I've learned my lesson. I mean, going up the mountain was fine, but it was mighty treacherous on the way down. Either way, I'm still sore as hell. I knew I should have stretched my quads. That's the one muscle I forgot. Wonderful.Man, and I even went to bed at 8 pm last night. I don't think I've gone to sleep that early since I used to get grounded all the time in middle school. Huh. I slept in my tent last night, and didn't really sleep at all. I had this dream that my tent collapsed on me and I was starting to suffocate. I screamed (audibly), and alarmed TNT sleeping in the shelter beside my tent. It was also raining really hard, so from about 2 a.m. onwards, I was wide awake. Oh well, could be worse. Like today, hiking 9 MILES to the Abol Bridge campground. OH man, my freaking legs were in so much pain. Every single muscle was aching and completely unwilling to move on its own. We got to the end of Baxter State Park, and there was this kiosk thing, and a bench. Well I sat on the bench and after about 5 minutes, I really felt like I couldn't move. I would have stayed there if TNT didn't convince me that I could make it another mile. Shit, I hope my legs get used to this hiking...I called home at Abol, and I also ate a delicious ice cream sandwich. Is it possible to already have a ravenous appetite? It's all in my head, I know, but man I could have eaten 20 of those ice cream sandwiches.I'm going with the trail name "Fluffy Bunny," because I have a fluffy bunny approach to this stuff. I mean I just laugh at all the ridiculous things that happen to me, and don't really complain. Yet. Oh, and today we forded two rivers, and I'm soaked! But that's cuz I jumped in the river with my boots on, attempting to save Tic's fuel bottle. But I saved it! So it's fine. The mosquitoes are bad, but Amazon mosquitoes could kick these mosquitoes' asses. I have to hike 15 miles tomorrow....yikes...
Date: 2009-07-24
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: moderate rain

Man, I was too tired to write yesterday. The 15 miles killed me. The only way I got through it was because I put on my iPod for the last 4 miles and forgot that I was hiking. My last reserves of energy came out, and I made it through nasty swampy trail, covered in mud and roots, to the lean-to. Just before I got to the lean-to, I could smell campfire smoke, and I got super amped because I knew I was close. That made the last few steps a bit easier.I got to the lean-to and there were a million people there. An outward bound group, some northbound thru hikers, some southbounders from Maine, and the 2 flip floppers that I met in Baxter State Park (Squatch and Swamp Cricket). There were also a bunch of other people. It was all pretty packed so I pitched my tent up the hill. I made dinner by the stream, after going for a dip. That was nice! But I don't think I ate enough. Just Thai noodle soup. Meh, I'm too lazy to cook more. Apparently we are in 100-miles of Wilderness now. This is so ridiculous. I hope I have enough food. It weights about 30 pounds so I'm guessing I do.My tent is awesome. It's so spacious. I sat in here playing guitar with incense burning just a bit ago, and it was nice. I like camping!So today it rained ALL day. I woke up this morning to the sound of TNT's voice outside my tent, asking me if I was ready to go. "NO, go without me," I said. I think it came out sounding like I was irritated, but I was just half asleep. I hiked alone all day and got to the Wadleigh Stream lean-to at 1 p.m. (8.5 miles). Everything is soaked, so I'm staying here. I've been relaxing all day, trying to dry out my sleeping bag. Well, my sleeping bag is wet because I'm a dumb shit and I sat on my camelback while reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime," and it emptied underneath me and into my sleeping bag. I'm a genius.Etchasketch and Infomaniac stopped here for lunch and kept hiking. So did Squatch and Swamp Cricket. Probably never see them again. Etchasketch taught me about Woopie Pies.Tomorrow I am paying $50 to stay at the Whitehouse Landing place, so I can dry out. I'm treating myself to an early birthday present!Fuck, TNT keeps hitting his head on the shelter ceiling and it's so annoying.
Date: 2009-07-25
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to

To: Whitehouse Landing
Miles today: 7.7

Phew, a breath of fresh air! I'm staying at Whitehouse Landing tonight. It costs a pretty penny, but its worth it. I got to wash all my socks in the lake today, and now everything's drying out. I broke my vegetarianism today with a 1 lb burger, and I ate it in less that 4 minutes. It was DANK! Then I napped all day, until TNT woke me up for dinner. I got a pizza with all the toppings. Only ate a slice, but I'm going to bring it on the trail with me tomorrow and give it to other southbounders. Some Nobos showed up around dinnertime: Lunatic, Snowbeard, and Alf. They're fun to talk to, and have a lot of great trail stories--getting picked up hitching by drunk hillbillies, trudging through snow when they started the trail, people making and selling jewelry made out of moose poop, etc, etc. Anyways, this place is great. I'm relaxed and happy. I'm looking forward to the days to come! I have hell ahead of me, I know: rainy Southern Maine, and then I will probably die in the Whites. So I don't have to worry about the hell past New Hampshire because I'll be resting in peace. Kidding! Hopefully...Gahhhh I'm tired. PS: SENT HOME MY BEAR BARREL! Wahoooo
Date: 2009-07-27
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Slept at Cooper Brook Lean-to last night, too tired to write.I hiked alone today, and passed Tic and TNT. I summitted White Cap in a lightning storm, and shit. I'm really tired. I hiked a LOT today. I don't know how far, but I'm knackered. There are mad thunderstorms tonight. I'm at a shelter with Etchasketch, Infomaniac, Squatch, Swampcricket, and a new southbounder named Bobby, from Texas. They were amazed that I caught up 3 days to Monson.
Date: 2009-07-28
From: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I hiked with the 4 southbound guys, and I was super slow. We did an extra 5 miles of trail to go to the Gulf Hagas loop, which is a really cool trail that leads to "the Grand Canyon of Maine." We ate lunch by this waterfall called Screwhager Falls, and we all jumped off the cliff into the waterfall. It was SO MUCH FUN!! I had a really great time...Until...we got to Chairback Mountain. First of all, there was a sign at the bottom of the mountain discouraging people from leaving "trail magic" (candy, sodas, etc) for hikers. So that was discouraging, because there was a bag by a tree that had trash from trail magic that someone got to before us. Anyways.CHAIRBACK MOUNTAIN WAS SO INTENSE!! It was a badass rock scramble. Me and Infomaniac took it slow in the back, and Swampcricket hiked slowly with me for a bit, too. It was pretty at the top, but shit, it was straight up! TNT showed up at the shelter just a bit ago, bleeding from the elbow. He needs stitches!It was so sunny today! How nice!Oh, and the boys changed my trailname, they said Fluffy was lame. Swampcricket named me Miss Step while we were hiking on slate in the Gulf Hagas. I kept falling and hitting my elbows, face, knees, etc, and bleeding profusely. He said, "If you keep doing that, we're going to have to start calling you Miss Step." I like it, I think I'll respond to that.
Date: 2009-07-30
From: Long Pond Lean-to

To: Hiker's Haven
Miles today: 10.9

MAN TODAY WAS SO CRAZY!!!!Craziest day so far, no joke.We had to ford 4 insanely raging rivers. I mean, fuck, I thought I was gonna die. Last night it rained from 8 pm to 8am, and my oh my were the creeks/rivers swollen! I was planning on getting to Monson tonight, but that didn't happen. I hiked with Bobby, Swampcricket, Squatch and TNT, and it took SO LONG to get across the first 2 rivers. I mean, we had to string our packs across the lines, and pulley them across. Then we went over one by one, rambo style, hand over hand. Squatch and TNT almost died. Seriously! Shit's intense! Both those guys got serious rope burn on their calves.So after that, we were mad tired, and 3 miles before getting to the road that leads to Monson, we saw a sign for "Hiker's Haven." They advertised 25 cent beer, so we were sold immediately. We took a left down this side trail, and arrived at a cabin. The guy there was suprised to see us, I guess not a lot of people stop there. It was awesome, though! The guy had an extra cabin, and rented it out to us. He got us a 30-rack, steaks, potatoes, and corn, and then for breakfast, eggs, milk, and bacon. We ate so well, and had a warm dry place to sleep. We all stayed up playing Kings, and Swampcricket gave me a massage because he's a massage therapist. Amazing!
Date: 2009-07-31
From: Hiker's Haven

To: Monson
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: mist

Did 3 miles to get out of the 100-mile wilderness today! Man it felt good to see a road. I'm so proud of myself for feeling so positive! I had pretty shitty weather, but I managed to really enjoy the 100-mile wilderness. The guys I hiked with really made it fun.We got to the road and called Shaw's to come pick us up. They came and got us and took us to the hostel. It's great.I went to the post office, sent home my ridiculous Backpacker's guitar, and received a box of homemade cookies from Mom. Everyone loved them, even the lady at the post office. I went to the library, and set up an appointment for a phone interview for the Peace Corps. Hopefully I can make it to a town by the 6th, because I made the interview for that day... Now time for dinner!PS:I just found out that Tic got off the trail for good, because he broke 2 ribs. How awful is that? It really sucks because he was awesome. He knew so much about the trail, too. I talked to him on the phone and he seemed bummed to have to be going home
Date: 2009-08-01
From: Monson

To: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Fuck, I'm really sick.Last night right before dinner I started feeling nauseous, and after dinner it got really bad. I got woopie pied at dinner, which was fun, but I was just on my way back to Shaw's because something nasty was brewing in my stomach. I won't get into details, but lets just say both ends were spewing liquid. Man, that's pretty graphic. But I mean, it's the truth. The $7 all you can eat breakfast was miserable, because I couldn't eat anything. I met 2 southbounders, Chomp and Half Full, though and they seem really cool. They're a couple from Maine. They seem like they know what they're doing out here! They've already hiked a lot of Maine.Well, we hiked to the shelter today, and I walked up the trail puking every 10 minutes. It sucked. I should have taken the day off, but I don't want to have to ford rivers alone. TNT and Bobby (Possum) just got in a fight because Bobby wanted to put a fuel can in the fire and TNT said he'd beat his ass if he did....Bedtime, I hope I feel better tomorrow.PS: Huge load of moose crap near this shelter. I mean, like it looks like a raised gravesite, its that big. I wonder how many moose all got together and decided that that was the privy.
Date: 2009-08-02
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0

August! Whoot!Hiked Moxie Bald Mountain today, and it was really cool. Rocky on the top. I fell into a mud pit up to my thighs and it smelled like festering poo doused in cat piss and vomit. I imagine it could be worse, though, so I'm fine.The shelter is packed: Chomp, Half full, 2 new southbounders named Jeremiah Johnson and Barfight Brittany, Squatch, and a northbounder named Jeremiah Johnson. I cooked nasty risotto, and traded a cigarette for some powdered milk with Jeremiah. There was only one tentsite left, so I set it up, and am sharing it with Swampcricket.
Date: 2009-08-04
From: Caratunk

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We left town really late today, because the 12-person hot tub was begging us to stay. We hung out by the pool all morning, and it was relazing. We left around 2 to get back on the trail, and to ensure that we would catch the ferry across the Kennebeck River, which runs from 2-4. We got to the river crossing and met quite a character! I forget his name, but he was funny. He took Squatch and Cricket across first, then came back and got me. I got to paddle in the front of the canoe! It was really hot outside, so I hiked slow. We only did 4 miles, but I took my time, stopped in a stream and went skinny dipping, and then got lost trying to find the shelter. Jeremiah, Barfight, Squatch, Swampcricket, and Bobby were all at the shelter, and a summercamp group of French Canadians were there too. Someone left pink underwear in the shelter...I went swimming in the pond, and it was great! SO nice, and calm. I swam pretty far out. No one would come in with me because of leeches. I didn't see any leeches. Squatch and Cricket made Whip, and gave me some. Too much coffee taste, but good otherwise!Shared a tent with Swampcricket again...but the shelter wasn't full
Date: 2009-08-05
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It's my 22nd Birthday, kids! Yay!We hiked Bigelow today, and it was fun. I was tired when I got to the shelter though. I stopped for lunch at a shelter, and the French Canadians were there. They gave me twizzlers and truffles for my birthday. The counselor overheard me talking about how he was great eye candy. Embarassing.Birthday cake = smooshed up woopie pie, with a snickers on top. And a candle of course. They sang happy birthday, and it was sweet! Didn't get much sleep in the shelter, though.
Date: 2009-08-08
From: Stratton

To: Stealth Camp
Miles today: 0.5

We are ridiculous. We zeroed in Stratton, because we were having too much fun. Finally we got out of town this afternoon, after taking naps on the floor of the hostel living room (Squatch's boot was my pillow), and here we are 0.5 from the road. We can hear the road!Well, what happened was, we were walking up the trail (Squatch, Swampcricket, Ol' Yeller, and I), and we saw a note in the middle of the trail, pegged to the ground with a stick. It had pictures of us, and all our names. It said "Turn left, yell, and wait." So we did that, ans sure enough a few seconds later, we hear Jeremiah's voice, "Hey guys come over here, I found a sick stealth site!"We flipped a coin to decide whether or not to stay, and well...we stayed. It was fun, we made a fire, Swampcricket got chased by angry bees, we drank coconut rum and red wine, and stayed up all night talking. Good times!
Date: 2009-08-09
From: Stealth Camp, half mile from Stratton

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0

Great day!! Highlight: taking the .5 side trail to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain, the highest mountain in Maine! It was AWESOME. 360 degree views out the windows of the ski lodge that's been abandoned because of mold problems. Swampcricket and I went up there alone because the others were behind us. We left our packs at the trail intersections, but the others passed by it. We night hiked into the shelter and it was my first time night hiking, 3 miles. I didn't like it. Got here and there's a northbounder named Redline. Anyways, I've just been taking my time, doing small days because I'm enjoying the company of the group. I know I have to pick up the pace, but these guys rock, so I don't know...Song of the Day: Return to Innocence, EnigmaDinner: potlock with SC. Tortillas filled with mashed potatoes, pepper jack cheese, summer sausage and mac and cheese! So dank!
Date: 2009-08-11
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Rangely
Miles today: 0.0

This morning I hiked with SC because he was sick. We had to go over the Saddleback Junior, The Horn, and Saddleback. On top of the first mountain, I waited for SC, and I had made him a milkshake of instant breakfast and instant coffee (given to me by Greenlite in Stratton). It totally picked up his spirit and made him feel better!I hiked alone mostly the rest of the day, ahead of the group, and SC caught up to me on the downhill side of Saddleback. We hiked together the rest of the day, and took the side trail to Piazza rock. It was sweet! Looked like pride rock.Got to Rangely, and hung out at the outfitters and at the post office for a bit. Then we chillen in the park by the lake, and I climbed a birch tree and got covered in white birchness. Tonight we are sleeping in a parking lot on a guy named Poge's property...he thru hiked a couple years ago!
Date: 2009-08-12
From: Rangely

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today I did not feel like hiking. Not one bit. I don't know why. We got to a good lunch spot near a lake, and the guys found a canoe and took it out into the lake. I kept walking. Felt like complaining all day. But I don't think I did, really. Hope not! We got to Sabbath Day Pond pretty early, and its a nice shelter. We made a fire, and Jeremiah cooked a huge biscuit and shared it with us all. Ole Yeller, SC and I went swimming to clean off, because we didn't get a shower or anything in Rangely. It was awesome! There were 2 loons in the lake that swam RIGHT up to us. Some nobos here, Tumbleweed and Bushwacked and Hardcore. I'm tenting a couple yards down in front of the shelter.
Date: 2009-08-13
From: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

To: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We heard there was going to be a meteor shower tonight, so we (SC, Ole Yeller, and I) cowboy camped on a rock outcropping near the shelter. Well, it's like half a mile up the trail from the shelter, but we saw it coming into the shelter and decided to go back and sleep there under the stars. It was really pretty, and definitely worth it, but we didn't last the whole night there. We just woke up and Ole Yeller was gone, so we went back to the tent. It's about midnight, and now I'm wide awake! Wahooo. Hopefully Kevin will be meeting me tomorrow in Andover to come hiking with me!
Date: 2009-08-14
From: Bemis Mountain Lean-to

To: Andover
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Woke up this morning to white chocolate truffle being put in my mouth, and my back being massaged. What could be better? These guys treat me well. They look after me, it's sweet.After packing up my tent I went up to the shelter and the boys had made a fire. This made for a late start out of camp. But it was OK because we discovered that we can hold out our hands and these birds (apparently named "Gray Jays") will fly down and eat out of our hands! It was awesome!! We fed them for a while before setting off today.So, Squatch is the resident Shrink. He talks all day while we're hiking and analyzes our problems. Today, he asked me what my biggest fear is. I have to think about that...I really don't know. The views have been great lately. Today, getting to the small town of Andover, I climbed up the scaffolding of a church, which was under construction. I could see the sun shining through the clouds right above a mountain range, and it was gorgeous. Lovin life.
Date: 2009-08-15
From: Andover

To: Surplus Pond Campsite
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Well, leaving Andover today was slow. I was pissed off, because the guy at the High-Five hostel was a bit inappropriate... but I got over it. We got to the trail around 10 and started hiking. We ran into some people that told us some hiker had gone missing. Hope they find him!We got the Hall Mountain lean-to for lunch, and Squatch and Jeremiah caught up...but then after we hiked on, we never saw them again today. We are camping near Surplus pond, and we just made a fire. In Andover we got some SERIOUS TRAIL MAGIC. I'm talkin about 50 steaks, a huge tray of mixed vegetables, and another huge tray of buttered potatoes! All for free! SC and Squatch walked up the road to find the high-5 hostel, because dude wasn't answering his phone, and on the way back they saw some horse enthusiasts packing up some horse show. They went over to talk to them and they said they had all this extra food from a catering company or something. They said that if we went to the general store around 7-8 they'd drop it off and we could eat for free! We stuffed ourselves and still packed out 6 steaks and 2 huge bags of the veggies. So anyways, we're cooking that now, and I wonder if Squatch, JJ and Yeller will show up. They didn't seem like they wanted to hike today. It was hot. There was a rock slide and the trail took a detour. Fun..Well this pond is really pretty, and there are massive bullfrogs producing a massive amount of noise. We have a beer to drink, and a steak to eat! I'm sleeping with my food in the tent tonight for the first time, I hope I don't die.
Date: 2009-08-16
From: Surplus Pond Campsite

To: Mahoosuc Arm Summit
Miles today: 0.0

AWESOME DAY.Damn. It was really really cool. Ok, so we got up really early and packed up. It felt good to be efficient with time, because we really haven't been in the past few weeks. Anyways, so we hiked all day, over big ass mountains, namely Baldpate. We got to the base of Old Speck mountain at 5:30, and decided to go up it..mind you, we haven't seen mountains that look like this yet (other than the big K). We got to the road that's right before the mountain, and I looked up at the top thinking "this is gonna suck..."As SC and I were heading up, all these day hikers were coming down, looking at us like we were crazy. We probably looked crazy, and indeed, I felt crazy. It was a climb. Well, we entertained ourselves walking up the mountain somehow, and got to the top just as the sun was setting. It was a gorgeous sunset. We got to Speck Pond Shelter just before dark. We had already done 17.5 miles, but we were not about to spend $8 to stay at a shelter, so we decided to cook dinner and move on. TNT and Barfight were there, all cozy in their sleeping bags. We caught up to them, and were now going to pass them...at 8 pm...We cooked an ass of Mac and Cheese, packed our bags, strapped on our headlamps, and headed out under the stars. The stars were so so bright. We started hiking up the Mahoosuc arm, and decided to find a camp spot. The sky is so clear, it's probably not going to rain. So we're cowboy camping on this rock, which may or may not be a cliff, we don't know because it's dark. Hope I don't roll off in the morning. I've already seen 3 shooting stars!!