morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-06-12
From: Turner's Gap, Dahlgren Backpack Campground

To: Devil's Racecourse Shelter
Miles today: 18.6

The trail passes through Washington Monument State Park. There is a stone monument in honor of George just off the trail. I couldn't resist climbing up and looking around. It was a nice clear day and the view was good.I saw quite a few deer today. Four of them watched me walk up the trail at the state park.Just before I 70 the trail is on a strip of land only a couple of yards wide between two houses. At one of the houses was a register to sign and a box of snacks for hikers. There was even a bench to sit on . Nice trail magic. Right after that the trail passes over I 70 on a footbridge. Some drivers wave and honk at the hikers.I saw Pumpkin at a shelter, but he did not want to walk another 5 miles to the next shelter. I did, and ended up being the only one there.
Date: 2006-06-13
From: Devil's Racecourse Shelter

To: Tumbling Run Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

I did not enjoy my stay at last night's shelter (Devil's Racecourse.) You have a .3 of a mile downhill which would be ok but you end up close to a road. First there were fireworks going off, and then I woke up to yelling and screaming at midnight and again around 2 A.M. I'm not sure what was going on. It sounded like someone was being killed. That was my worst shelter experience. I definitely would not recommend staying there!I stopped at Pen Mar State Park for a break. I called Judy from a "sunset pavillion" with views of Maryland and Pennsylvania farmland. After I left the park I hiked into Pennsylvania, the seventh state. The second part of the Maryland trail was a lot harder than the first part. The Pennsylvania trail went through a pleasant forest.Pumpkin and I are the only two at the shelter. This is a nice shelter and the PATC member who looks after it was very nice. He showed up with cokes and apples. He does this most days during the hiking season. More trail magic.
Date: 2006-06-14
From: Tumbling Run Shelter

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

A lot of nice smooth trail today with lots and lots of flowering mountain laurel. I took a break at Caledonia State Park, very pretty and pleasant. Pumpkin and I thought about tenting but decided to do the almost 20 miles to Birch Run Shelter.We saw a rattlesnake at the Quarry Gap Shelter.The first few shelters in Pennsylvania have been exceptionally neat, clean, and well-maintained.
Date: 2006-06-15
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: Pinegrove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I saw another rattlesnake near the trail today. There was also a deer who paid us a brief visit. It was an easy 10 mile hike to the store in the park, and I was there by 11:00Today we passed the halfway point in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. It is a hiker tradition to eat a half-gallon of ice cream after completing half of the trail. There were four of us at the store who started eating ice cream at the same time. I ate about 3/4 of my half-gallon, and Bison didn't eat that much. Pumpkin and Bogeyman finished theirs. Two days ago there was a new record set by Mystic - 2 minutes 37 seconds.We are staying at the Ironmaster's Mansion, a hostel here in the park. Constructed in 1927 through 1929, it was part of the Underground Railroad. There is a secret room underneath the main floor where the runaway slaves would hide.
Date: 2006-06-16
From: Pinegrove Furnace State Park

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 19.4

Pumpkin and I left the hostel at 5:30 this morning. I wanted to get to Boiling Springs to meet Judy. We saw a doe on the trail in the park. At a road crossing, Slim yogied some drinks for a bunch of us from a couple who were waiting for their daughter and son-in-law who were day hiking. It was hot and they felt sorry for us. Slim told them they were now considered trail angels. I hope their daughter and her husband didn't mind waiting until they got home for their drinks.Pumpkin stayed at a shelter and I hiked into Boiling Springs. It was hot crossing farmland for the two or three miles before town. I anxiously waited at the ATC office about an hour before Judy, and Hal and Alice arrived around five. It was fantastic to see Judy (Hal and Alice, too.)
Date: 2006-06-17
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: PA 944
Miles today: 12.3

Judy and Alice dropped us off at the trail-crossing at PA 944 so Hal and I could slackpack the 12 miles back to Boiling Springs. The trail was flat and easy and went through farmland and forest. We heard, but never saw, a Civil War Reinactment.It was nice hiking with Hal again, but unfortunately his hip started to bother him. We had all hoped that Hal could hike with me again but it's not going to happen.This evening, Alice and Hal treated Judy and me to dinner in a nice French restaurant in Carlisle to celebrate Judy's retirement and our 40th wedding anniversary. Dinner was excellent.I took another fall today. No, not on the trail. I was coming down the stairs from the upstairs dining area of the French restaurant, and didn't realize there was one more (short) step. It was not a pretty sight as I crashed to the floor. But, what the heck, 99% of thru-hikers fall on the trail, but not many get to fall in a fancy restaurant and land on a soft carpet.
Date: 2006-06-18
From: PA 944

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: clear sky

Judy, Hal, and Alice drove me back to the trail so I could hike the 13 miles to Duncannon. It was hot and humid but on the steep downhill into town there was a cooler filled with cold drinks. Thank God for trail angels!When I got to town I went to the Doyle Hotel. It is right on the trail and is a favorite place for hikers who stop there to eat, drink, and spend the night. I was having a cold beer with some of the other hikers when Judy, Hal, and Alice arrived. After having a drink, we left for dinner.
Date: 2006-06-19
From: Duncannon

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: broken clouds

Judy, Hal, and Alice drove me back to the trail at the Doyle Hotel. They were going home and that made it hard for me to hike on and leave Judy. I walked through Duncannon, across the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers, followed by a long climb up to the ridge, and then some rock climbing. It was very hot and although there was some rain, it did little to cool things off.I stopped for water and on the trail down to the spring I saw a large turtle. Just another backpacker.Three of the Jersey Boys showed up late at the shelter. I hadn't seen them in a long time because they got so far ahead of me. They were off the trail for awhile in Wawshington visiting girlfriends.
Date: 2006-06-21
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: broken clouds

Today I walked by a stand of rhododendrons with white flowers. A large part of the forest in this area is full of ferns - very pretty. In Swatara State Park there is a wide grassy stretch of trail that I shared with a lot of rabbits and groundhogs.The trail goes through an area where Rausch Village, a coal-mining town of 1000 people, once stood. The town has now been reclaimed by mother nature.I walked past the shelter and had to double back about a half mile. It was worth it because the shelter was actually a cabin with bunks and a table inside. It also had a cold shower which felt good since it was so hot and humid. We were even able to get pizza delivered, which we picked up at the road.
Date: 2006-06-22
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I was hiking down the trail and walked out onto this huge boulder field. When I realized the trail did not go that way I backtracked a short distance to where I had missed a turn and resumed hiking. Over an hour later Mystic, who had stayed at the shelter with me, came walking down the trail towards me. He said "something isn't right here" (because we should be walking in the same direction.) Then it dawned on me, I had been walking in the wrong direction. I later figured out that I got turned around when I walked out onto the boulder field. I walked an extra 5 or 6 miles today.
Date: 2006-06-24
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I met Pumpkin at a restaurant where we had breakfast. He is taking a zero day here and I decided to do the same. A group of Mennonites is having a barbeque for hikers today. Besides that, they are calling for 2 to 5 inches of rain starting today.The barbeque was great. They slaughtered a pig for us! There were all kinds of side dishes, desserts, and drinks to go with the barbeque. There was no charge - more trail magic.I got my second haircut/beard-trim since I left home last March from the local beautician. She was very nice, and interested in the trail.
Date: 2006-06-25
From: Port Clinton

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: moderate rain

I met Pumpkin as I was walking out of town around 6:30 AM. It started to rain very hard not long after we started. The trail turned into a river. We stopped at the first shelter after going only 6 miles. It continued to come down in buckets, so we decided to stay here even though we arrived around 9:30.One hiker named Brave Foot came into the shelter. He said he wasn't having fun anymore and for several days had been thinking about quitting. That evening a guy from New Jersey walked up to the shelter looking for his glasses he had dropped while hiking this section. After he found his glasses, Brave Foot asked him how he had gotten to the shelter. It turned out there was a road a short walk away. Brave Foot asked him if he would drop him someplace with a bus station. He said no problem. Brave Foot was packed up and out of here in record time. Another thru-hiker was history.
Date: 2006-06-26
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: moderate rain

It rained most of the day as hard as I have ever seen it rain. The trail was flooded most of the way. I had to wade through water over my boots for miles. In one place the stream had swollen so much that I walked in water up to my knees to get to the bridge. The water was deep and it was difficult to hike through for quite a distance on the other side of the bridge. The trail goes over a ridge where you step from rock to rock. Fortunately, it was not raining when I did that section, but the rocks were still wet and it was not fun.The only wildlife I saw today was one turtle and one good-sized deer. I'm not sure, but I don't think the turtle was upset with all the rain.
Date: 2006-06-27
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: moderate rain

More rain today and the trail was still flooded. There was more tough scrambling over boulders on ridges. I wonder what genius decided to call this a trail. Pennsylvania has some of the poorest excuse for trail I have ever seen.The only wildlife I saw today was a large black snake guarding the way to the spring.
Date: 2006-06-28
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 6.8

One of my legs has been bothering me. Today the pain was bad, and there is no way I can continue hiking. I'm glad I only had to do 7 miles to get to town. As it was, it took me most of the day to get here. Judy will pick me up tomorrow (if the roads are not flooded) and I will decide if I can (will) continue my hike.
Date: 2006-06-29
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Erie, PA
Miles today: 0.0

Judy could not drive here because of all the flooded roads, but I was able to get a flight out of Allentown. I got a ride to the airport with J&G Limo Service (a lot better than those rides in the back of pickup trucks.) I will get to Erie today thanks to my wife Judy, sister-in-law Patti (who is a travel agent for AAA), daughter Lisa, and son-in-law Paul, who researched and made the arrangements. Then it will be wait and see.
Date: 2006-07-24
From: Erie, PA

To: Danielsville, PA
Miles today: 0.0

This is the 26th day I haven't hiked since I got off the trail, but today I'm on the way back. When I left the trail to go home I had a lot of pain in my right leg. I never did find out what was wrong with it, but it feels fine now. Also, when I got home I discovered I had a nasty insect bite (spider, I think) on the back of my other leg. I realize now that the infection from the bite was making me feel run down. I know I had a fever the last couple of nights before I went home. I was on antibiotics for 10 days to kill the infection. I feel good now so I have decided to give it another try. Hal has volunteered to drive me back to the trail. He is a really good friend.We are staying at the Filbert B&B that Kathy and Terry Silfies have renovated. It was a Victorian farm house and general store built in the early 1800s. The general store still has the original counters and some of the merchandise is still on the shelves.After we met Kathy, Hal and I drove to Jim Thorpe, PA and spent the evening there. We drove around the downtown which is very old. It was built when coal-mining was in its heyday. Also we saw the Jim Thorpe Memorial. It was all very interesting.
Date: 2006-07-25
From: Leigh Gap

To: Little Gap
Miles today: 5.0

Hal drove me to Leigh Gap where I had stopped hiking when I went home for my R&R. The trail out of Leigh Gap is very steep and you have to climb up large boulders using both your hands and feet. Hal did the climb with me and I was really glad to have company on this treacherous stretch. When we finally got to the top we said good-bye and Hal took the blue blaze, bad weather trail, down to avoid the steep trail we had just climbed up.I can't thank Hal enough. Without his and Alice's help I don't think there is any way I would have gotten this far.The top of the ridge is a wasteland due to a zinc plant that was in Palmerton for years. Pollution from the plant killed all the vegetation leaving a rocky, barren mountain. It's really sad, but after years the vegetation is starting to come back slightly. Hopefully mother nature can heal herself with time.Just before the road at Little Gap the trail leaves the rocky ridge and goes into forest. There I saw two deer, a welcome sight after all the ugly, barren trail.
Date: 2006-07-26
From: Little Gap

To: Smith Gap Road
Miles today: 7.3

I had Kathy from the B&B drive me to Smith Gap Road so I could hike back to her place, spend another night there and not have to carry a full pack.Most of the trail was easy walking, but the bugs were annoying. The only hard part of the trail was a steep, rocky climb down to the road at Little Gap, but this was PA and they love their rocks here.After I got to the road I walked the two and a half miles to the B&B like I did yesterday.
Date: 2006-07-27
From: Smith Gap Road

To: Wind Gap, PA, Gateway Motel
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

Had another great breakfast by Kathy at the Filbert B&B. The Filbert is much classier than the normal hiker lodging, but they do treat you well. I was beginning to feel like family. Kathy even said I seemed like her brother. I thought that was a nice thing for her to say.Terry drove me to Wind Gap and I left my pack at the Gateway Motel. Then he drove me back to Smith Gap and I hiked without my pack to Wind Gap and the motel - another night inside in air-conditioning.The trail today was easy but rocky. There were even switchbacks hiking down into Wind Gap. I did not see any hikers on the trail today - very unusual. Thunderstorms came through tonight, but I was safely inside.I've been back on the trail three days now. I'm doing low miles and without a heavy pack, but so far my leg feels good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Date: 2006-07-28
From: Wind Gap, PA, Gateway Motel

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a rocky climb out of Wind Stair Gap. I left early and was caught in a thunderstorm around eight. I saw a doe and her fawn. The fawn watched me as I walked down the trail. I stopped at the Kirkridge Shelter for a break, and it really poured after I got there. When the rain let up I hiked another 6 miles to Delaware Water Gap. The trail was rocky most of the way with a section of boulder-hopping on the ridge.I'm staying at a free hostel run by the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain. (Thanks Pastor Karen and the rest of the congregation.) There is a whole different group of hikers here. All the hikers I've met initially are far ahead of me now.
Date: 2006-07-29
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I took a zero today. It's really hot, and I don't have the drive I had before I took off to recuperate. I'm not sure if I care that much if I finish or not. I'm just going to take one day at a time, and if I decide I've had enough and quit, I'm ok with that. I realize the break I took was needed not only to recover physically, but also to spend time with my family.
Date: 2006-07-30
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Camp Road, Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: few clouds

Today I hiked across the bridge over the Delaware river, out of Pennsylvania and into New Jersey, the eighth state so far. The trail went uphill to Sunfish Pond (a beautiful glacial pond), and then along a ridge with nice views. Pretty country, not what I think of as New Jersey. It was very hot today. They had to send a rescue team up the trail for a young girl who had heat exhaustion. I passed them on the trail, and when I got to the road there was an ambulance, state police, national park officers, EMTs, and more rescue personnel. One of the rescue workers who I talked to quite a bit because he was at the camp where I'm staying, said the group was not properly prepared for the hot weather, and the leader didn't know what he was doing.I'm staying at the Mohican Outdoor Center run by the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club). When I went to the cabin there was a family from Israel (three generations), the trail maintainer who was on the rescue squad, and hisgirlfriend there. But they all left this evening, and I have this huge place to myself, with indoor plumbing, refrigerator, stove, and microwave. I paid $12 for a bunk and shower. Turned out to be a good deal.Today I told Judy that I wasn't going to finish the trail. I'm just not having fun anymore. When I told one thru-hiker (TI85) that I was thinking about quitting he got very upset and said, "If I didn't quit in Pennsylvania (with all the lousy, rocky, tough trail) I sure can't let you quit in New Jersey!" The people working here at the center are telling me I'm almost there (I have 885 miles to go) so don't quit now. The father from Israel wasvery interested in how and when I would end my hike. He had met someone who had gotten as far as Mount Washington in New Hampshire, who said he wished he had never started, but he was so close now he had to finish. Anyway, everyone seems more concerned than I am over my leaving the trail.I met a guy named Nicholas Philliou who's a teacher and works here in the summer, but wants to be a writer. He has finished one novel and is working on another one. I enjoyed his company, so of course I had to buy his book.
Date: 2006-07-31
From: Camp Road, Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Brink Road Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

The heat and humidity are still terrible. A lot of the trail was along the ridge with nice views. There were some boulder scrambles and a rocky trail, and some easy parts where the trail followed old dirt logging roads. I passed a pond with hundreds of water lilies blooming.The mosquitoes are terrible at the shelter. I should have hiked another three or four miles to Culvers Gap, but I was just too tired.
Date: 2006-08-01
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: Culvers Gap
Miles today: 3.6

Mosquitoes got bad again as soon as the sun started to come up. I got up and left as fast as I could. I wore my jacket and a bug net over my head for the first hour in spite of the heat. Finally, the bugs thinned out and I stopped to take my jacket off. Then a strange thing happened. I heard a voice saying hello, but there was no one there. It sounded like Judy, and her voice was coming from my pack. I thought it might be the heat, but then I realized it was my cell phone. When I moved my pack my phone must have been bumped and it speed-dialed Judy's number. At least I wasn't cracking up.There were a couple of nice overlooks along the way. It was really hot for early morning, and it seems that you are exposed to the sun a lot because the forest is not as dense as other forests on the trail.When I got to the road I had lunch, and then walked another two miles on the hot pavement to the Forest Motel. I'm glad this is the end of my hike. I can't wait to get home. I may never put on a pack again.
Date: 2006-08-02
From: Culvers Gap

To: Erie, PA
Miles today: 0.0

I rented a car for the drive back to Erie. Yesterday I said I may never put a backpack on again. Today, on the ride home, I was thinking about how and when I could finish the trail. Once you've hiked on the AT for any length of time it seems to get a hold on you and won't let go. It's hard to continue hiking, but it's also hard to stop. Right now I feel like I've been away too much and should be home with Judy and the rest of my family.The best part of my hike was meeting all the really nice people, both the hikers and the others who helped us in a thousand different ways. It makes you feel good to know there are so many people who care about others and want to help them. I want to thank everyone who helped me, and everyone who gave me words of encouragement. These acts meant more to me than you will ever know.I hope to be back on the AT next year. Only 867 miles to go.
Date: 2005-01-03
To: So Much Gear, So Little Time...
Miles today: 0.0

I must say, I haven't had that "kid in a candy store" feeling in quite some time. So, when I had the chance to go to a REI store for the first time this past week, I had no idea! Sure, I've been in sport mega-stores before, but hiking gear always seemed to be an after-thought. Needless to say, after several hours of trying out just about everything in the store, Dad was finally able to drag me out of there. But not before I nearly completed my gear list. Only two things I have left to purchase are my pack and my filter. I'm having trouble on the pack issue only from a monetary standpoint. I have two in mind and one I know the quality is great but is more than I really want to spend. The other, seems to be quite good but I do not know first hand and the price is excellent. either way, I have given myself to the end of this week to decide.My filter, I have picked out, just waiting to see if it goes on sale in the near future.As excited as I have been the last few months after deciding to take the time to hike the AT, it was nice to take a few days and put the planning and preperation on the back burner. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in things, I forget that you do have to take a step back every now and then.