morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-06-06
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Backpackers Campsite outside Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 18.7

It was nice sleeping in a bed but my parents wake up too early. They were up around 5. I tried to sleep some more and I ended up laying in bed till about 645. I took another shower and we went down to breakfast. It was the most amazing breakfast I've ever seen at a hotel. It had real sausage links, real eggs, sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy. Coffee, chocolate milk, danishes, breads and bagels, fruits, waffles and so much more. It was so freaking good. I wish I could have ate more than I did. They dropped me back off at the trail about 830. It was tough saying goodbye. But I headed on out. It was a cool morning, breezy and storm.clouds were moving about. I really hoped it wouldn't rain. I just got everything dried out. It was a pretty easy walk. Most of the day I had no idea where I was...I crossed like 10 roads and none had any markers. I just hiked and figured I get to the shelter eventually. I made it to the shelter about 3 o clock. It was still too early to stop for the night. I decided to move on to the backpackers campsite on the edge of boiling springs. Before I left I chatted with a flip flop hiker named roaming john. He started in Harper's Ferry a week or 2 ago. Pretty nice guy.It was a quick hike down to the campsite. I ended up walking through fields of wheat and corn for a while. Super nice. The campsite was a Pretty decent one! Nice fluffy grass to lay on! And it has a Porta potty! However there isn't any water here. I had to hike .5 to the ATC headquarters to get water. Not a big deal the trail goes along the lake. It's beautiful. The book also says that you'll here the trains all night down at the campsite...that's because the tracts are about 75 feet from where we are tenting. It's insanely loud when the trains go by. I'm really hoping they don't go by at like 3 in the morning.
Date: 2015-06-08
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Peters Mountian Shelter
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: broken clouds

I had a decent nights sleep. The bed was comfy. I still woke up at the crack of dawn. I washed my clothes in the shower yesterday, thankfully they were dry this morning. I got dressed and ran across the street to Goodies Cafe. My parents dropped off my resupply box there the other day. Between what I had in that box and the box that Sunny Smiles sent me (Homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Absolutely amazing!!! Fruit snacks and some cliff bars) I didn't have to go to the grocery store. Once the peeps across the hall got up we all went to Goodies Cafe for breakfast. They had some great food. I ran to the post office to mail some postcards after breakfast. After that I finished packing up my stuff and hit the trail. There really wasn't anything in Duncannon to do and I wanted to get out of the Doyle. I walked out of town with Duct Tape. We chatted for a bit. We even walked by the strip club that a bunch of the guys went to last night. It looked like a pretty classy establishment, lol. The climb out of town wasn't too bad. Then it was ridgewalking the whole way. It's always hard leaving town. Mt pack is super heavy with resupply and I always feel sluggish. I had a hard time keeping moving. Plus it was pretty warm. I ran out of water before I hit the shelter. Super irritating. It was really early when I made it to the shelter. Like 2pm. But the next shelper was a other 18 miles. And there didnt look to be much opportunity for camping or water between the two shelters. Plus we heard some really bad storms were moving in. Damaging winds and hail. The shelter was huge and I picked my spot out. I hate sleeping in shelters but with the storm coming it would be safer. I went to get water which was an adventure. 300 steps down to the spring. I washed off down there and by the time I got back up to the shelter I was hot and dirty again. The shelter kept filling up. Soon people's phones started going off with NOAH alerts. Tornado warnings!! About 5ish the storm hit. A lot of wind and rain, thunder and lightening. It was pretty intense, no tornados though! It lasted for about an hour maybe less. Not much to do but read. A lot of people were annoyed at the short miles for the day. I was fine with it. Safer to be in the shelter during that crap.
Date: 2015-06-09
From: Peters Mountian Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: few clouds

I actually slept pretty decent last night. We were crammed in like sardines. There was only 1 consistent snorer through the night and it wasn't too terrible. Everyone was up early. There was no way I was getting back to sleep so I was up and out of camp by 615.It was a hot and humid day. I was struggling again today. Just didn't feel much like hiking. About 6 miles after the shelter was a spring. I filled up and grabbed and extra liter.of water. My book said the next 13 miles were devoid of any water. Ha, what a lie. There were springs and creeks everywhere. Ones that should have been listed in the book because they would have still been running even if we didn't get all that rain. The terrain hasn't been too bad. Flat ridge walking with some rocks. Everyone says PA is so rocky. Well, there are rocks but it's nothing we haven't seen before. I've heard it gets worse...we shall see. I made it to camp about 3ish. Really early. I checked the shelter log. Salmon, the smokes and ninja had pushed on to the next shelter, they were doing over 30 miles. I didn't want to. It was a bit too late to try and make it to the next shelter. Plus I feel like 18 miles is enough for one day. I can do the 30 miles but I don't feel like it's necessary. The shelter was a really nice one. There was grassy at spots for my tent. Monk was already at the shelter. Sweet Eyes, Duct Tape and Ambassador all showed up later. We sat around the fire and chatted for a bit. It was fun. And I was glad I stayed instead of trying to catch up with the others. Stayed up way too late again, lol.
Date: 2015-06-10
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: Hertlein Campsite
Miles today: 23.1

I was up and out by about 730. Later than I had planned. I wanted to do a bigger Mike day so I would have a shorter day into Port Clinton tomorrow. It was a pretty easy walk again. All along the ridgeline. It was rocky in spots which is irritating but I was still moving pretty good. I was feeling a lot better too. I was excited to hike and seemed.to be over the funk of the past two days. I stopped for a quick lunch after a some rock scrambles. Another hiker passed by. Her name as Miles. We chatted for quite a while. She started April 16th and has been just whizzing through the trail. She was pretty cool and I'll probably never see her again, lol!I made it to the 501 shelter about 3. I was originally going to stay here. It has a bunk house, a Porta potty and a solar shower. All the guys were planning on staying here because you can order pizza and have it delivered to the shelter. I just popped in for a shower. It was a hose hooked up to 2 barrels and it was cold. But it was great! There was even shampoo and conditioner! I showered and changed clothes. I snacked and hung out for a bit.I left about 4. A mile or so down the trail I came across Ambassador! Lol! He was suppose to go to the 501 shelter bit walked right past. Haha. He ended up going to the campsite with me. I was told the rocks get bad right after the 501 shelter. There were rocks and it was annoying but nothing too crazy yet. The campsite wasn't too bad. It was right next to a creek. Quite, secluded and we had it all to ourselves. Which was so nice. We cooked dinner and chatted for quite a while. Again I went to bed way to late. We were going to try for an early start to get to town early.And as a side note: this is when we start counting down the miles to Katahdin. Under 1000 miles left to go!
Date: 2015-06-11
From: Hertlein Campsite

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: scattered clouds

I didn't get up as early as I planned. I hate getting up early. But I was still out of camp a little before 7. Ambassador was still packing up, I told him I'd see him down the trail.Decent hike again today. Mostly flat, some rocks but nothing too crazy. It did get pretty humid, I feel like a storm may be moving in. On the way into town I pretty much talked myself into getting a room for the night. Orginally I was just going to shower and do laundry at the Port Clinton hotel and camp at the pavilion in town for free. I think Sweet Eyes, Duct Tape and Ambassador were going to do the same. But I kinda wanted to be in a bed with air conditioning. I made it into town A little after 3. I walked to the hotel/resturant and checked in at the bar. The room was a bit more expensive than the book said. But oh well. I went up and showered quick. I was scheduled to meet up with JoAnn. JoAnn has been following my hike and she works in the area. She messaged me the other day and said she could give me a ride into town if I needed it. So we met up this afternoon!!! She was awesome! She took me to Walmart to resupply and then to Red Robin for dinner. (I love red Robin ) It was such a blessing! And I am so thankful. Ambassador was suppose to tag along, he said he needed to resupply as well but i have no idea where he is. He should have made it to town a bit after me but I couldn't find him. I felt bad so hopefully he was able to hitch into walmart and doesn't think I ditched him. After dinner I went over to The Peanut Shop, which is right next to the hotel, and got candy. They sell it by bulk and they have every candy imaginable. I got a bunch of different gummis and spent only 3 dollars. Now im just relaxing in my room on a super comfy bed watching tv. And drinking orange juice, lol. Suppose to be pretty hot tomorrow. I have a climb out of town but then more ridge walking. Not sure how many miles I'll do. Either 15 or 22. The shelter at 15 has a shower...
Date: 2015-06-12
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Had a great night in the hotel! Live having a bed with air conditioning. Plus there was a pretty hefty thunderstorm last night, so pleased to me inside. I got a pretty late start. I didn't hit the trail until about 9am. I met a guy at the trail head and he gave me a gatorade. Score! It was a super humid day. The climb out of port Clinton wasn't too bad. I was sweating like crazy but it was doable. Not too steep. I met Duct Tape at the top. He and some of the guys were slack packing today. We chatted for a bit. The hike wasn't too bad today. Aside from the humidity. Actually had some views today for the first time in forever. Toward the end of my hike I came across some hikers at a stream. It was Mighty Mouse, Heisenburg, Mr. Clean and Pinnocho!! It was awesome to see them!!! They were going to a campsite a little bit past the shelter I was staying at. Im glad I finally caught up with them!I made it to the shelter about 330/4ish. I was cruising right along today. Duct Tape and Sweet Eyes were there along with some section hikers. I took a nice cold solar shower and set up my stuff in the bunk house. We were suppose to get more rain tonight. A bit later I turned on my phone and I had a text from JoAnn. She said she was thinking about me all day in the humidity. She invited me to grab some pizza with her and her husband. She also invited Duct Tape and Sweet Eyes to come as well. It was amazing!! The resturant was outstanding! Real Italian food and they had an acordian player floating around. After pizza we went to the dairy bar. Ice cream made on site from local dairy cows! It was so good. I never thought I would eat ice cream again but it's not so bad when you eat it in an enjoyable amount. JoAnn and her husband were great! Such fantastic trail magic and completely unexpected. It was so awesome. After JoAnn dropped us back off at the shelter I was taught a German card game. Sweet eyes, Duct tape, sugar mags and I played. Interesting game but kind of boring. All and all a pretty good day.
Date: 2015-06-13
From: Eckville Shelter

To: George Outer bridge Shelter
Miles today: 24.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I had a pretty decent night in the shelter. No one snored, lol. Abother humid day. The hike today was rough. The morning went pretty smooth. I met a woman giving out oranges for trail magic, it was delightful! I ate that right away. Mr. Clean and the group came up. We chatted and we're all ending up at the same place tonight!After lunch the crazyNess started! All you here about PA is the rocks. We'll it's been rocky, but nothing we haven't seen already. Although, the consistant rocks is starting to get irritating. I got to Knifes Edge. It was crazy. Crazy bouldering while balancing on a knifes edge of rocks. Going up and across isn't too bad. Going down is a nightmare. After that the giant boulders continued for a bit. It's very wearying. Eventually I made it to the first shelter for a break. I was going to get more water but one of the guys there said the source was .5 down a very very steep hill. So not interested. I still had a liter which I felt was enough to get me to the next shelter. It was a pretty rough rock day. I came across some trail magic at a road crossing. There was a few gallons of water, thank god and a bin full of snacks. Yummy donuts! It was a great pick me up for the end of the day. As I was crossing the road I saw Squabbler! He and Shit to Do were slack packing. We chatted for a bit. Since he came south I could find out about the terrain coming up. Thankfully the next 4 mikes to the shelter was normal ridgewalk. I couldn't take anymore rock crap. I made it to the shelter after 7. There was no camping. I went right to the water source, cleaned up and filled up with water. I needed enough water for not only tonight but tomorrow as well. That spring was the last reliable water source for about 17 miles. I walked down hill for a bit until I found a nice stealth campsite. A little but later Mr. Clean, Mighty Mouse,Heisenburg and Pinnocho showed up. It was a tight squeeze but we got everybody's tents in the stealth campsite. It was nice not having to camp by myself. It was a good night. Long long day.
Date: 2015-06-14
From: George Outer bridge Shelter

To: Wind Gap, PA
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: few clouds

Pretty decent nights sleep. Was woken up my an animal chewing on something outside my tent. Mr. Clean got up and threw a rock at it. Turned out to be a porcupine! I left camp about 7. There was a pretty hefty climb first thing. I passed through Palmerton, PA and then the climb starts. Very steep and all rocks. Poles are useless you just have to use your hands and hope for the best. It's definitely a rock scramble and difficult to do with a pack. I'm glad i got there early in the morning. It was much cooler making the climb much more tolerable. The views from the rocks were pretty amazing. You look down and it's a straight down to the ground. It's a bad place to trip. It took about an hour to navigate through, I think. It was intense and tiring. I packed out 3 liters of water that morning and I could feel every bit of it. After that the trail followed the top of the mountian through the Superfund site. The EPA shut down the zinc smelting site in 1980 and they are working on revegetation for the mountian. About lunch time I found a random flat place to sit. It was another warm day and I was ready for a break. PA was turning out to be a pain in the butt. I was down to my last liter of water and I still had 6 miles to the next shelter. A rocky 6 miles. There were 2 springs listed in my book along the way but they were listed as unreliable and it's been hot. Hiesenburg came up while I was finishing up lunch. He lost a bottle of water so he hasn't drank anything all day. I was out so I couldn't give him any water. I felt bad. We moved on. More and more rocks. Sure enough the springs were dry. Finally made it to the shelter about 4. We had to go .5 miles downhill to get water. But it's not like we had a choice. I drank 2 liters once i got it filtered. Eventually the others filtered in and we made plans on what to do...stay or go. So far we'd only gone about 17 miles.We decided to push on into Wind Gap. They all needed to resupply. I tagged along because I wanted to shower and make tomorrow an easier day. We hit town and got a hitch. Mighty Mouse, Heisenburg and I were dropped off at Wendys. While we were debating whether to find the hotel or wait a guy asked if we needed anything. He offered to go back and pick up Mr. Clean and Pinnocho. He brought them to Wendys. We scarfed down a ton of food and and once that guy was done with his shopping he came back and picked us up to bring us to the hotel! So awesome. We rode in the bed of the truck and it was pouring rain! Thankfully we were getting rooms and didn't have to tent in this. It would have been a wet night. We relaxed in the room and watched the hobbit on tv. My feet were super sore. The rocks are killing me! Hiesenburg had a few blisters that he popped. The rocks were killing everyone. We were all getting pretty frustrated with it. But only a few more miles till were done with PA!
Date: 2015-06-15
From: Wind Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 15.7

Lovely night in the hotel. Slept pretty good. I got a shuttle back to the trail. Everyone else was hanging around to do town chores. I needed to get into DWG to the post office for my resupply. So I said goodbye. I hit the trail about 815. Rocks galore and climbing. All I kept thinking about is that I was almost done with PA. Everything was damp from the rain last night. I kept slipping and sliding all over the place. Super irritating. I stopped for lunch at the last shelter. It was a nice place. Actually had piped water.As I was making my final decent into DWG it started to rain. Of course. As if climbing down the rocks wasn't hard enough now we have to add a downpour. For an hour and a half. I hit town about 330 and it finally stopped raining. I headed over to the church hostel soaking wet. There was one bunk left inside which I grabbed for good or for bad. I ran to the post office for my box. Then showered. The hostel got crazy after that. Tons of people showed up. It was stressing me out for a bit. I took my laundry to the motel down the street where they had coin laundry. They let we use the machines. I grabbed a few snacks for the hike at the gas station and just chilled in the quiet stairwell of the motel while my laundry did it's thing. After that, I dropped my stuff off at the hostel and went to dinner. I went to a place calley the Fusion Grill. It was awesome! I had a crab cake sandwich with fries and coleslaw. For dessert I had snickers pie. So freaking good. I was able to get my miles for the next week or so and a tentative schedule for when I'll be in CT. I went back to the hkstel. It calmed down some. So I am just sitting and relaxing. Smokescreen, Smokebreak, Ninja and Salmon are in town as well. Nice to catch up!Sooooooooo glad to be done with PA. It wore me out and it hasn't been fun anymore. Im sure that will change. Off to bed. Getting back on trail tomorrow. Suppose to rain, hope it doesnt. My pack cover has a huge rip in it so it's pretty useless at keeping my pack dry.
Date: 2015-06-16
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: AMC Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5

It was pretty darn hot in the hostel last night. Thankfully, they had some fans going or I probably would have melted. I got a late start. About 745 I hit the trail. I really wanted a zero but I just couldn't stay at the hostel another day. So I hiked on. They were calling for thunderstorms today. Yippee. My boots were still wet from being rained on yesterday. I crossed into New Jersey! Whoot! Into my 8th state. It was a pretty humid morning. I was watching the clouds and I could see the storms moving in. I really hoped in could get to camp before the skies opened up. I was told by multiple people that once you hit New Jersey the awful rocks stopped. Yeah right. Tons of rocks and boulders. New Jersey was letting me down big time. About 1130 the first rain bubble hit. It was a torrential down pour for about an hour. I was completely soaked but a lot cooler, lol. I splashed through the puddles, my boots were soaked so it didnt matter. The trail was a giant river anyways. I hit the road about 1230 and it pretty much stopped raining. Up a few yards was the AMC Mohican Outdoor Center. I decided to go check it out. It was a pretty nice place and i got a bunk. Another hiker named Voltron was with me. We were given keys and we went over to the cabin. The place was really nice. We each had our own rooms! The rooms had bunk beds in them so there was a possibility that I may get a roommate at some point. But there were still 5 empty rooms too. The place had 3 bathrooms with showers, a full kitchen and living room. It was fantastic. I took a shower and layed all my stuff on the porch to dry. Voltron and I went back to the vistor center to eat. I got a pretty amazing sandwich and a giant bowl of chili. It was so freaking good and so filling too. I found some trail mix in the hiker box, I grabbed that and snacked on the couch while I read for the rest of the afternoon!! Fantastic.Hikers came in and out of the center all afternoon. It rained on and off all afternoon as well. Squabbler, Papalu and Shit to Do stopped by. It was great hanging out with then for a while! After the last rain storm ended they moved on. Later that evening Heisenburg, Mighty Mouse, Mr. Clean and pinnocho showed up. They ended up staying at the outdoor center as well. Everyone still had thier own rooms in the bunkhouse! We stayed up way too late chatting on the couches!
Date: 2015-06-17
From: AMC Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: clear sky

Had a great night sleep in a bed. Last night I brought in my wet boots and clothes and draped them over the folding chair in my room. I then turned the box fan full blast on them. Worked out great because I had dry boots this morning!! My room smelled horrible though, lol. I took another shower and packed up my stuff.I hit the trail about 7/715 this morning. It was a nice cool morning. No humidity for a change! Makes hiking so much more pleasant. I had a really great hike. The terrain wasn't too bad. Some ups, some downs. It was really rocky in places but I didn't mind too much. The new jersey rocks are much better than the Pennsylvania rocks, lol. I guess changing states made a difference, lol, such logic. New Jersey has had some beautiful views as well. Its much prettier than I was expecting. I've been enjoying myself a lot. I saw 4 bears today! That 2 were about 5/6 feet from me and we eyeball ed each other as I walked past down the trail. They weren't kidding when they said New Jersey has a lot of bears. There are a lot of bears! As I was getting close to the shelter I ran into Squabbler and his group again. We chatted a bit while we hiked. Those guys are a hoot. Camp was pretty nice tonight. Crowded, tents everywhere. I met Catnapper. I've see his journals before. I also met snores. He's up here doing trail magic. He offered me some soda and whiskey! A few other thru hikers that I met in Delaware Water Gap came in. As well as Mighty Mouse and that group. I crawled into my tent about 730. I had some phone calls to make and I'm going to try to go to bed early, lol. We'll see how that goes. I just got a bunch of new books on my nook. Headed to a nice spot tomorrow with showers!! It may rain tonight, hopefully it will be dry by morning. Oh yeah....864 mikes until in get to Katahdin. And I've been on the trail 3 whole months now. Good grief how time flies!