morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-08-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.6

Absolutely beautiful day today! Took many breaks because the terrain is getting to be more ups and downs. (Not that it wasn't before, but the trails are missing switchbacks!) May of the mountains had grassy fields on top which allowed for great views! Saw a porcupine today too! :-) Even got a picture! In the West Hartford camped in a trail angel's back yard. Went swimming under the bridge and even checked out the rope swing... NICE! Some people were jumping off the bridge, but that was too much for me! set up tent and now exhausted. Can't wait to get to Hanover tomorrow not only do I have boxes there, but it also means we'll be in New Hampshire, State #13! Thanks so much to the family here, my legs were not feeling the 1.4 miles more we would have had to do. :-) G'nite!
Date: 2005-08-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.8

Left Linda's house this afternoon and headed for the hills. Nice gradual hills today!!! I believe this might be the section of the longest road walk also. We popped out of the woods into the neighborhood where "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" must have been filmed. After living out of my back pack for 4.5 months I find all I need is 3,750 cubic inches, and the mansions with car 5 car garages just disgusted me. Oh well... Life goes on. :-b Got to Hanover and hit up the PO for our boxes. The guy recognized my name and called me a delinquent as he trudged my 4 boxes 'o stuff out to me. Hahaha, best moment of my day! Radio grabbed one of my boxes and headed down the road to the co-ed frat to reserve us a spot on their basement floor, and I sat on the bench trying to figure out how to carry the rest of the stuff. Well, I switched out parts on my poles which got rid of one box and shoved the other stuff into one box, but I still didn't want to carry it and my poles. So, I miraculously fit it under the lid of my pack (after extending it out completely). Now I know that some folks might not be able to get a mental image so let me detail this a little better. The lid of my pack, which is usually pontail height at the highest point was now so far above my head that I could barely touch the top of it with my hands. Radio got a picture, so it will be up soon. I only caught a couple tree limbs on my way down the sidewalk. hahaha Anyways, went out with Clockwork Orange, Motorin', Free Heel, Dillinger, 3 Cats, Retro and Dr. Nick to a bar downtown. What a trip! I hope we keep with those guys! Now we're in the basement of the frat house getting ready to crash out. On a down note, I called home and heard that my Dad is in the hospital. :-( He's OK and should be getting out tomorrow, my thoughts are with him. I wish I could've been home, but he reminded me that it wouldn't have helped and encouraged me to keep trekkin', so I continue North.
Date: 2005-08-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.0

Got a realy late start after bumming around town. Most everyone in the group we were with last night kept going today, so they are all ahead of us. Thought today as going to be super hard (maybe it's the NH mentality), but it wasn't too bad at all. Got a cool view today and we were able to spot a mountain above treeline, it was really cool! I'm soooo excited to be above treeline!!!! :-) Just a few more days! Other than that, no big news today. My pack was super heavy coming out of town because of all of the awesome goodies from JP, Tricia and my Mom. Of course it is well worth it when I pop a handfull of snacks into my mouth. Ahhh.... FOOD! Well, enough for now.
Date: 2005-08-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 17.7

Left late this morning with thoughts of stopping at the firewarden's cabin atop Smart Mtn., but no water up there. :-( We kinda knew going into it, so we carried enough water to cook diner and get us to the next water. We were going to camp but lack of level ground and the short distance to the shelter stopped us. So we did a long day, we're exhausted and I want to sleep. Must mention the very cool guy in Lyme, NH that gave us ice cream and let us fill out water bottles. There was a long stretch without water today, I hope that gets better as we mover north. Just are extra granola & candy bars and I'm crashing out. Very tough day!!!
Date: 2005-08-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.9

Slept in until 8:30 or so and finally started hiking at 10. I love lazy mornings! Took a long break at the brook, then on top of Mt. Cube. Shocking to see the firetower on Smarts Mtn., it looked so far away, yet it was only 7 or so miles. Beautiful day! Visibility was incredible. :-) I hope the weather continues to be this nice as we go through the White's. Planned on a longer day, but decided to camp near the stream and call it a day. We're planning on being on the trail by 7 tomorrow to take advantage of the cool morning. We'll see if it actually happens! Can't believe we're just a day or two away from the White Mtns.! I've been excited for this since Springer Mtn.! Radio & I are doing great, I wouldn't have made it this far with out him. Well, I'm crashing out! Meeting Julie and Adam tomorrow and haven't seen either of them in 2 years. This should be exciting!!! :-)
Date: 2005-08-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 4.8

Wahooo! Treeline tomorrow! Short miles after some local yocals woke us up at 5am. Oh well. Met Julie and Adam today, it was great! Caught up on old times and still laughing about Maine memories! Great day today! Got a loaf of bread and a pound of turkey, cheese and salami; chips and soda; a head of lettuce and mustard... yummmm! Watched Lion King's documentary on the AT and thought it was a good perspective of trail life. Now we're all in the 10 person tent that's set up here and about to crash. Big day tomorrow, hopefully it's nice weather.
Date: 2005-08-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 7.9

Got my mail drop early this morning and ate boiled peanuts for breakfast. Got my vest too! Weighed my pack and it was 31.5 pounds with water and food for 3 days. Left at about 9 and headed up Moosilauke. Julie and Adam did excellent on the uphill. It was a really tough one! Made it to the top and the view was incredible! Looked south to see gentle mountains, and look north to see jagged, tall mountains... Wait... Aren't we headed north? Oh well, less than 400 to go! :-) Sitting in the Beaver Brook Shelter with a great view of Francania Ridge (which we'll be going over on Thursday) Can't wait for more beautiful views! I hope the good weather continues!
Date: 2005-08-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.1

Started the day off by going straight down. Followed a cascading waterfall on the way down that was beautiful. Saw 3 Cats on the road, he took yesterday off and is now ahead of us. Just the fantastic four at the shelter tonight, so we can gear sprawl. :-) Didn't get very many views, but the climbs weren't that bad either. We'll be meeting up with Emily in a few days, so we'll have 5/12 of the BSP Crew together. Not sure if we hit treeline tomrrow, but we'll be hitting Franconia Ridge Thursday. Town tomorrow for some McDonalds. :-) and to resupply for Gorham. Just ate dinner and we're about to crash.
Date: 2005-08-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.7

Got a crazy start this morning with Pacman, Beantown and Knees. Lots of technical rock scrambling to get up to the Kinsman Peaks and the same for going down. Stopped at our first AMC hut and filled up on water. No AYCE snacks left though. :-( Got a beautiful picture of the Franconia Ridge from Lonesome Lake. Got to 93 and got a sweet hitch! A couple that was on their way home from kayaking (that hiked the AT in '97) gave us a ride to the PO and McDonald's. :-) Tight fit with 4 in the back seat but it worked. Ate tons of food then called home. Stuff is the usual there. My Dad is doing better. :-) JP keeps winning stuff from the radio station (surprise surprise) :-) Got groceries and sweet-talked our way into a hitch out of town from a father & son from MA. I hope they found their way back OK. Now we are camped at a stream shy of Franconia Ridge. We'll be at Galehead Hut tomorrow night hanging out with Emily, I can't wait!
Date: 2005-08-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.1

Long day today! Got to the top of Franconia Ridge and we were surrounded in a fog. Very windy and cold going across the ridge. As soon as we started to descend, it began to clear up. By the time we got to the top of Garfield Mtn it was sunny and beautiful! Got a view of Franconia from the back and moved on. Got to Galehead to discover no room for tired hikers. The CROO told us where Emily was working and we decided to go camp with her. (Eventhough the trail to 13 Falls campsite was 2.6 miles off the trail... Longest Blue Blaze yet!) :-) Tons of fun to see Emily again. We're planning on taking it super easy tomorrow, most likely giong swimming early afternoon. :-) Well, it's getting late and I'm getting sleepy.
Date: 2005-08-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.2

Super short AT day today. Got up and hung out with Emily and Jay for a while then went swimming. We went to a waterfall and jumped off of some rock ledges into the pool below. That water was ICE COLD! But the sun came out and dried us and warmed us. It was great to hang out with Emily again! We plan on meeting her on Tuesday for some pizza & beer. YUM! We did the 2.6 miles back to the Galehead Hut after much delay. Knew that there was a "camping" spot close by, so we snagged it and are chilling out now. I just got waxed by some blackflies and took some Benadryl... Feeling really drowsy... bedtime.
Date: 2005-08-13
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.1

Had a good climb first thing this this morning but the remainder of the day was gradual ups and downs. Stopped at a nice vista and we were able to see Mt. Washington. We hit the Zealand Falls Hut for the AYCE baked goods for $1. They had great bread and a great cake too. Eventually we got going again... The trail followed an old railroad bed so we were cruising! :-) Got to Thoreau Falls and went swimming and lazed around on the rocks in the sun once again. Eventually we got going. We were planning on stopping a little ways back but there weren't any good sites. I think we are just shy of the Ethan Pond campsite and we are camped a little ways away from the stream. Took longer than usual to find a good flat spot for the tent but it was found. We've got two hard days coming up back to back so I need my rest. :-)
Date: 2005-08-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.8

Started off cloudy this morning, but turned to rain when we got to Crawford Notch. Got cool views from Webster Cliffs of clouds in the mountains and also of the road we just crossed thousand of feet below us. We are at the Mizpah Hut now. We scored 4 Work-For-Stay positions so we could get out of the rain. Julie and I washed dishes for an hour or so and Radio & I are doing a Q&A talk after dinner. It's great though 'cuz we've got bunks with pillows! Wahoo! :-) It's nasty outside, cold & rainy so I'm really excited to be inside. We're hoping to make it across the Presidentials tomorrow. There's a phone on top of Mt. Washington, so I may try to get the news from home. Pizza in 2 days!! :-) Told our stories from the trail for about 40 minutes afterwards a really cool guy handed me some ice cream "dough." It's awesomehow kind people are out here!
Date: 2005-08-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.8

Five months on the trail! Waahoooo!!!Ate a huge breakfast of pancakes and oatmeal and cinamon apples this morning. Got some McDonald's $ from some guests at the hut... Wow, the north is really cool! Set out for the Presidentials and accomplished our mission. Cloudy/misty this morning and on the summit of Mt. Washington. Mailed some postcards, drank soda and ate pizza at the top. Even bought a shot glass because I'm missing NH in my collection at home. :-) moved on after much laziness. Radio and I did not participate in the thru-hiker tradition of mooning the log-railwasy. :-( Sky cleared up and had beautiful views from the rest of the ridge walk. Mt. Washington was still in the clouds though. Now we're at a USFS (No fee!) campsite .6 off the trail because the hut was full. This place is packed! We managed to find a small spot just big enough to set our tent down. No stakes & no rainfly... No room! Crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain!
Date: 2005-08-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 7.8

Climbed up Madison Mountain and got a cloudless view of Mt. Washington. It was a really steep descent into Pinkham Notch and took a little while. We hung out on a porch & waited for Emily... It took a while, but she arrived and we went out for pizza and beer! Julie just let us know today that she is going home tomorrow, so it's down to the three amigos. This is an incredibly rough section to be starting on and I think Julie did awesome. Hopefully I'll see in the CO next winter. Now it's later and I'm really sleepy...
Date: 2005-08-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 5.9

Emily let us use her car today so we could get groceries. We dropped Emily off at RTE 2 so she could hike back to Pinkham Notch, so we'll be seeing her tomorrow. Said goodbye to Julie. :-( She had an awesome run!!! We'll really miss her! We are at the Carter Notch Hut where we did work-for-stay. Met up with Yardsale and we are sharing a bunkroom with him. Looks like a steep up first thing tomorrow morning. Getting super tired so I'm sleeping now.
Date: 2005-08-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.3

Left out of the Carter Notch Hut and had a steep climb to the Carter Dome. Beautiful granite rock outcroppings that provided 360 degree views. Mt. Washington is still really close. We figured out that we probably did an "s" shape just so we could hit all of the high peaks. :-) Saw Emily just before we hit the IMP Shelter. It was great to be able to see her so many times! We wished her luck on the fall AMC Employment that she was applying for and we continued on. We hiked with Yardsale all of today. We haven't seen him in a while and it was great to actually talk to another thru-hiker (haven't seen too many lately). Now we're at the Rattle River Shelter just 2 miles shy of Gorham. Ate some "apple cobbler" that a hiker had left at the last hut. Yummmm! McDonald's tomorrow! :-)
Date: 2005-08-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.8

Short miles into town this morning. Scored a beer in the stream just before town¢¦ it was great! Got a ride into town by some tourists from England that were really cool. Ate McDonalds (surprise surprise!), washed laundry, and got maildrops. Thanks soooo much to my mom and JP, the boxes have been awesome! We stopped at ¢The Barn¢ to see iif we could take showers, and partially because we were feeling the pull of town vortex, but the guy there was rude to us, so we left without showers or a stay. Oh well, now we can stay in Andover. ? Pushed out of town to a tentsite and we¢re aiming for bigger miles tomorrow which may or may not happen. Here with Yardsale, Free, Andy, and some other hikers. Off to sleep soon. Radio says: Thank you to JP for the goodies and McDonalds cards. I don¢t think you can know what a help it is. Also thanks to Katie¢s Aunt Tricia for posting journals so that the ¢fam¢ in Michigan can read about our adventures. Thank you!
Date: 2005-08-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.5

Tons of stuff to write about today. We¢re keeping pace with Yardsale, and we¢ve camped twice with Free. Saw our first moose that was wading in the far end of Page Pond. Then we did it, we got to the Maine border!!! Sad to have crossed our last state line though. We pushed an extra 4.4 to put us at the Full Goose Shelter so we¢ll get an early start on the Mahoosuc Notch (toughest mile on the trail). I fell twice today because of the steep ascents/descents on the super slick rocks. I¢ve been impressed that the stuff we do IS actually the trail. Andover in a couple days! (I still can¢t believe we¢re in Maine!)
Date: 2005-08-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.0

What a long day today! Started raining early this morning, and our tent got soaked (I hate platforms). The thought of pulling a zero in the shelter crossed my mind, but we decided to move. The rain continued as we entered the Mahoosuc Notch, and let up after a while. It took me and Radio about 2 hours to do 1.1 miles. It was really slick and the opportunities to injure yourself too numerous for a speedy hike through. Saw ice which was really cool! Had to take the pack off 3 or 4 times to crawl under then through some house-sized boulders. We pushed on to Speck Pond, and after hearing from Emily how good the swimming is, we all got in (even though it was cloudy and chilly). Got all of the mud off my legs though! ? Pushed on to the Baldpate Lean-to which was where we camped. Hoping the tent will dry out tonight. Today has been one of the roughest 12-mile stretches on the trail. We¢re heading into Andover tomorrow for some R&R.
Date: 2005-08-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.0

Today is the first day of realization that we have almost walked from Springer to Katahdin. Did I really walk all of the way here??? (My mind questions, but my body KNOWS!) The mountains are becoming less challenging, and I¢m beginning to smile more and more. What an accomplishment to make it here! It is a bitter-sweet thought though because I¢m also realizing that the real world is quickly approaching. I can see why people make a living out of backpacking, it¢s just so simple. We¢re at Pine Ellis B&B tonight, then back on the trail tomorrow. Great people, and food, here in Andover. I can hear Katahdin calling!
Date: 2005-08-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.0

Hard time leaving town this morning. My shoulder started hurting real bad, and we almost convinced ourselves to zero, bur after some ¢vitamin I¢ and Icy Hot, we were good to go. dMet some strange characters and have some good stories for when I get home. Andover has the toughest hitch yet. A partially gravel road with traffic that is almost non-existent leads into town. It all worked out though! ? The six miles were mostly a gradual up which was excellent. Hope to see m ore miles like today up ahead!
Date: 2005-08-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.8

Tough day with a few good climbs. Went over Mood Mountain and the Bemis Peaks to get to this shelter. Crossed a road that could have taken us back into Andover, but decided to try and stay ahead of budget. ? There is a huge group of college kids here as well as a big group of hikers. We were disappointed when there were no camping spots or shelter spots, but we ended up finding some stealth spots across the trail. The thru-hikers here are: Thumper, O¢Connor, Snowyman, Vapor, Yardsale, Pacman, and Free, and I think there are some section hikers here as well. Pacman went into Andover and got a ride with the Wandering Bull, and he gave Pacman some trail magic to bring back which consisted of brownies and banana bread! ? Onto a tentsite tomorrow: which should be more gentle terrain than today.
Date: 2005-08-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.9

Easier grade today, but more little hills. Stopped just out of the shelter and ate tons of blueberries. We also stopped just after ME17 where we found cokes, cookies, and doughnuts¢¦ YUM! Got going again and came upon a sandy beach with a picnic table, and we couldn¢t resist the urge to swim. Shortly after that we almost ran into a moose on the trail, it was SOOO close! Now we¢re at a campsite about 5 miles shy of Rangeley. Played a game of cribbage with Yardsale and Radio came out ahead. Just saw another moose in this pond; they are big cool animals! Town tomorrow¢¦
Date: 2005-08-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.6

Beautiful day! Great day for a lazy stroll / food frenzy in town! Got to Rangeley early and had breakfast, then checked email and made calls home. We had a big lunch, made more calls home and hit the grocery store before heading out for a few more days on the trail. Now we¢re at the Piazza Rock Lean-to with what is becoming our usual group of Vapor, Yardsale, and Pacman. Just missed Kineo Kid who was here 2 days ago looking for us! ? Hopefully we¢ll find him. Also discovered that we won¢t be able to play the Odd Couple in cribbage again! ? To quote Ed, at least we have a chance of playing in Heaven. Played a moon game with everyone here and it was really fun. Off to sleep, Saddleback tomorrow.
Date: 2005-08-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.9

Short (but hard) miles today. Climbed Saddleback (and it¢s 15 or so false peaks) and the Horn, then Saddleback, Jr. Now we¢re camped at the Poplar Ridge Lean-to. Still hiking with the same crowd, kind of like a roving family. I hiked 12 a mile up the trail to check out the vistas from Poplar Ridge, and it was worth it! No one else was down for the walk, so I¢m up here alone, which is kinda nice. I can see the ridge we¢ll be hiking over tomorrow. Well, I¢m going to enjoy the quiet time now. Back to camp, feeling lazy, so I¢m going to crash out early.
Date: 2005-08-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.9

Super crappy weather today. We got to the first shelter just as it started raining. We spent about 30 minutes or so trying to get motivated for hiking in the (cold) rain. Eventually we decided to head out. Now we¢re at the ¢sugar-shack¢ on top of Sugarloaf Mountain. It is a big warming room with a working radio and microwave. We¢ve played a couple cribbage games with some section hikers and it has been fun. Yardsale, Vapor, and Cookerhiker are here along with 4 section hikers. This building is huge, but there are leaks everywhere. Might storm all night, so I¢m glad we¢ve got shelter. On to food tomorrow! I¢m starved.
Date: 2005-08-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.6

We got a slight view from the ¢sugar-shack¢ this morning, which quickly turned to rain. Topped the Crocker peaks and made it into Stratton in time to get a room at the White Wolf Inn. We ate 2 bags of chips and salsa for lunch (with Magic Hat #9 beer) and then ate dinner later at the Inn. We got Wolf Burgers which has 12 lb of beef, bacon, sausage, cheese, and mushrooms. It was excellent!!! Captain Caveman and Out of Step caught us today and are heading out tomorrow too. Saw news on Hurricane Katrina and now can¢t complain about a little rain. We¢re supposed to catch leftovers from Katrina starting around Wednesday or so. Hopefully this stretch of rain will come to an end before hitting the fords in the 100-mile Wilderness. Enough for now, pillow calls.
Date: 2005-08-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.0

We didn¢t leave town until 11 or so. I ate 12 a box of doughnuts, a chaco-taco, and a quart of chocolate milk for breakfast¢¦ YUM! Saw the weather forecast¢¦ rain for the next 3 or 4 days.   Hoping this system blows through quickly. Talked to a good friend of mine back home that is in the hospital, she isn¢t doing very well, but I¢m hoping she gets better. My thoughts are with her. The hiking was a little rough, and we stopped short of what we¢d planned, but after this range of mountains, the terrain levels out a good bit. Met a cool caretaker at the Horns Pond Lean-tos that told us some stories. Well, it¢s windy and cold, I¢m out.
Date: 2005-08-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.6

What a crappy day! Woke up to discover a wet tent (I REALLY hate tent platforms!) and some gear inside was also wet. Just as we were about to take the tent town, a pole snapped.   Still trying to figure out how to deal with that. Don¢t think we can get new poles by Monson, so we might just mail the whole thing home. Got to walking, and slid on a root, rolled my ankle and on the way down, I managed to catch my trekking pole in the eye¢¦ OUCH! Still swollen, maybe I¢ll get a cool shiner from it! Fell a couple more times, thankfully not as dramatic as the first. Heavy rains prevented us from getting the camera out for the ¢2,000¢ mile marker on the road, and now we¢re at the West Carry Pond Lean-to, yup, it was full, so we used a repair sleeve and here we are. Like I said, crappy day, but on the brighter side, it is supposed to clear up on Friday! Sad to think that only 13 days remain, but kind of happy to know that if it rains at home, I can just go inside! G¢nite!