morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-20
To: Gold spring
Miles today: 11.9

By Righty We went to a local restaurant, the 3 C¢s, for breakfast. We were able to get a shuttle to a big sporting goods store called Cabella¢s in a nearby town. It was very much like the Bass Pro Shops, but even bigger if you can imagine that. We picked up a few things; but we went mostly to just look. Lefty, Skywalker and I started hiking out of Port Clinton about noon. OF COURSE, we had two tough up hills to get us back up on the ridge. And. OF COURSE, it was very rocky. In addition to that, the temps were in the high 90's with the heat index right at 100 degrees. It was so humid out, you felt like you were going to melt. Such fun, this hiking thing !!
Date: 2006-07-22
To: Top of Lehigh Mt
Miles today: 16.0

by Righty It rained all night so we had to pack away wet tents which weight at least twice as much as dry ones. OK, now we really need to talk ROCKS!!!! Today we hiked over something called "The Cliffs". Sounds charming, doesn¢t it? It¢s over a mile of just huge boulders at the top of a mountain. There¢s one area the locals call the ¢razors edge¢ which was something else. It¢s where this humungeous boulder has split and left a 2¢ to 3¢ crevice down the middle with rocky drop offs on either side. We had to walk across it. You couldn¢t use your poles because the sides dropped off so severly and I just literally prayed that I wouldn¢t loose my balance. This was NOT fun! In fact, it was really scarry! Then a little later we had to climb over another mountain of rocks called Bear Rocks. I actually got tense because the rocks were still wet from the rain the night before. Once you tense up, it makes it even harder to make yourself go on. I realized then that if I were to slip and fall on these boulders, I may not be picking myself up. When we got to the shelter and took a break, I realized we had yet another set of boulders to go over, In fact, the book said this was the most difficult climb south of NH. I gave it some thought and told Lefty that I didn¢t think I was going to do them. The AT Guide offered a ¢blue blaze¢ or winter trail where you could avoid going across the ridge. As it turned out, the blue blaze was longer and a real hard climb up the side of this rock field mountain. It took me longer to do it than it took Lefty to go straight up the ridge. She said it wasn¢t any harder than anything else we had been across; but I¢m still glad I didn¢t take a chance. Skywalker left us at that shelter to go into Pemberton to see if he could get different shoes. Hopefully we¢ll catch up with him again soon. Lefty, Ramps and myself camped out on top of this rock mountain. In it¢s own way, it was really beautiful. We could see the valley below and enjoyed a nice sunset sitting in lounge chairs someone had built out of the rocks.
Date: 2006-07-23
To: Wind Gap (PA33)
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

by Righty I personally had a miserable night because I found I couldn¢t sleep on rocks after all. I don't know what ever possesed me to think that I could in the first place! Also, the weather had taken a turn, some rain early in the night then much wind. It was actually cold during the night and I was cold sleeping. It was an easy 17 miles today even though at least 16 of them were rocks. We hiked into the town of Wind Gap about 5pm and went immediately to the Travel Inn where we¢re going to stay and take a zero day tomorrow. Ramps was with us and we all went out to dinner at J & R Smokehouse. We had ribs and ate way too much.
Date: 2006-07-24
To: zero day in Wind Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

by Righty Today we¢re taking a much needed zero day. We only have 15 more miles to Delaware Water Gap and the end of PA; but we needed the zero day NOW. This town doesn¢t have as many facilities as we thought, but we¢ll make do. Need to do laundry, go to drug store, grocery store and get on the internet.
Date: 2006-07-24
To: Pennsylvania RECAP
Miles today: 0.0

by Righty I can sum up my experience in Pennsylvania in two words. IT SUCKS! Or, if asked to describe PA in three words, it would be ROCKS, MOSQUITOS and TICKS. After tromping through 229.4 miles of rocks and boulders, I¢m happy to put PA behind me. The biggest challenge was definitely the rocks. Don¢t know which was worse, the boulder fields or the smaller rocks that riddled the trail. It made every day very tough and unpleasant as you had to concentrate on every step you took. Your feet were just black and blue at the end of the day. You were lucky if you got through the day without twisting your ankle or worse. I¢m not sure WHY every section of the trail HAD to go over huge boulders. Sometimes you could tell that the trail had been rerouted to take you over yet another boulder field. We actually did more rock climbing here than hiking. When we¢d go into shelters, we¢d read the journal entries of other hikers and one fellow (Minnesota Smith) would always write long dissertations about the perils of rocks. What he wrote about the ¢razors edge¢ made me chuckle. He said he¢d rather walk down the median on I-95 than do the razors edge again. Another serious problem, or maybe just a nuisance, was the mosquitoes. They were insidious. You couldn¢t keep repellant on because you would sweat it off. They created a danger, too, because you¢d catch yourself swatting at them and then take a mis-step. I actually hit myself in the face with my poles more than once trying to swat at them. We learned that some people actually went off the trail for a day or so becausethe mosquitos were driving them nuts PA also is the home of the tick. Every day, I would find several on me. They seemed to be attracted to my legs. I wear shorts and sometimes the trail is very narrow or very overgrown and your legs brush up against a lot of shrubs and grass. Or it could be because my legs are so scraped up and they can smell the blood. Any way you look at it, they are nasty little critters and can do a lot of damage. As I said, PA SUCKS!
Date: 2006-07-25
To: News from Righty and Lefty
Miles today: 0.0

by BuoyI just got off the phone with Lefty. She said that for the next 2.5 weeks she and Righty won't be hiking together. Since Lefty needs to be back to work sooner than Righty she needs to make some miles up so that they can finish together and finish in time. Righty will remain with Skywalker hiking very respectable miles. Miles that I do not think I could do even though I must admit I am a few years younger than the both of them. Not many years. Well maybe 20 years younger. I am still tearing my hair out thinking about the fact that this super tough woman can outhike me any day. You know. My macho pride is hurt and all that stuff.While Righty will hike with Skywalker, Lefty is trying to find out what she is made of. She hopes to hike at least 20 miles a day. She will be hiking solo. Their plan is for Lefty to jump ahead enough miles over the next 18 days so that when Righty joins her (after the party on 8/13) some of the pressure to do big miles will be lessened. They hope to summit Katadhin in Maine together by late September. Righty will then go back to finish up the 100 or so miles she had to skip over.In the meantime the reader will get updates from both of them separately. Hey that means you the reader will get to hike every section twice. We do not charge extra for it. Promise.
Date: 2006-07-25
From: Wind Gap

To: DelawareWater Gap
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

by RightyToday Lefty took off on her own. It was very sad! She wants (needs) to hike some big mile days and I can't do it....at least....don't feel like I can. I guess if I HAD to, I could do it. I'm going to be hiking with a friend, Skywalker, who is my age and hikes at about the same pace. We left Wind Gap at about 8:30am to hike out of town. We were able to get a ride to the trailhead from the hotel guy; fortunately because it was 1.8 miles UPHILL and on the highway and not the way you want to start your day if you can avoid it. The first part of the hike was pretty miserable. We had to walk along I-80 across the Delaware River in scorching heat, with trucks racing by at 80 miles an hour. Other than that, it was a fairly easy 16 miles. We still had to contend with 16 miles of rocks and boulders so it was slow going. The only hard part was over Wolf Rocks, a half mile stretch of boulders across the ridge. We got into Delaware Water Gap at 5:30pm and went to the Presbyterian Church Hostel. It was very nice. A cousin of Skywalker's wife, Anne, surprized him and stopped by to take him out to dinner and to do his (and our) laundry. Possum and I wnet out to dinner together. Marco Solo and Dogwood were staying at the hostel too. DWG is a mess because of the flooding back in June. Many of the businesses were closed down. The outfitters had not reopened yet; but they were able to fix Skywalker's hiking poles and find me a few used tent stakes.
Date: 2006-07-26
To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

by RightyWe slept in this morning at the hostel till about 7:30am. We went to breakfast at the Delaware Water Gap Diner. We left DWG at about 10am. We either had to hike 11.4 miles today or 24 miles; so we chose to do the 11.4. I had an upset stomach during the night and early morning so I was in no rush. We still had lots of rocks to contend with; but it wasn't too difficult a day. We had really nice views of the Delaware River valley from the top of the ridge. We camped at the Mohican Outdoor center and it was very nice. Skywalker cooked dinner and it was quite good. He does amazing things to Ramen.
Date: 2006-07-27
To: Brink Road Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: haze

by RightyWe were up by 7am and left the MOC at 8am. It was overcast out. We were hiking on the ridgeline and we would have had great views, if we could have seen anything. There were rocks and more rocks, much as PA. The sun broke through by noon and then it was HOT. We saw Waterfall and his friend and also Minnesota Smith today. Our destination for the night was the Brinks Road Shelter. It was very old and very dirty. Add to that, it was swarming with mosquitos. We set up our tents and got into them simply to get away from the mosquitos. This was at around 4pm! You really couldn't come out of your tent... you got eaten alive if you did. About 6pm, thunderstorms rolled in and lasted for an hour. You would think the rain would have run the mosquitos off; but, NO, they were still there. It was a very long and unpleasant night cramped inside my wet tent with nothing to do.
Date: 2006-07-28
To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

by RightyIt rained all night so we had to contend with wet tents and a muddy campsite when we arose. Not much fun! We finally got packed up and left about 8am for a long 20 mile day. After about 5 miles, we crossed a road and found a little store with soda's and breakfast sandwiches. That improved my mood considerablly. After that, we had a long, hard climb over rocks and boulders but as it cleared off we had beautiful views from the top of Sunrise Mountain. There was actually a beautiful stone pavillion at the top which made a great place for a lunch break. When we left there, we stopped by a shelter with no water. Then we were caught in a thunderstorm and hiked in heavy rain for another 7 miles. We were alone at the High Point Shelter and there were NO mosquitos. We were wet and tired; but it was a good day.
Date: 2006-07-29
To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

by RightyToday we had 12.4 miles to go and we woke up to clear skys. YEAH!!! The first 7 miles to Unionville, NY were pretty easy and we got into town in good time. We had heard that there was a great breakfast/lunch place there. We stopped at Sara's and had a sandwich and milkshakes. We also had to stop at a store and get more bug repellent. We had both gone through a bottle of 100% deet in the last 3 days. By the time we returned to the trail, it was scorching HOT and Skywalker decided he didn't want to hike all the way into Vernon, NJ that night even though the trail hadn't been too difficult. We were just exhausted from the heat. So, we stopped at the Pochuck Mountain Shelter which didn't have any water. We set up our tents so they could dry out and tried to get our boots less wet. Possum came into camp and tented with us. Had another nice dinner. Needless to say, Skywalker cooked. I was in bed and asleep by 8pm.
Date: 2006-07-30
To: New Jersey Update
Miles today: 72.4

by Righty What can I tell you about New Jersey except it was much (way too much) like PA! We were told that the rocks and boulders would disappear after a few days. Well, we hiked four and a half days in Jersey and they never disappeared. I personally think that they got less difficult and the boulders were more manageable; but Skywalker still thought there were too many. There was a half a day where there were hardly any at all.The other thing that was much like PA were the mosquitos. I think maybe they followed us from PA! They have been unbearable!! I never knew that New Jersey had so much bottom land; but a great deal of our hiking was through marshes and bogs where we actually hiked on boardwalks. Some of the ponds were so stagnant that they must be breeding grounds for mosquitos. You literally could not stop walking or they would just swarm around you. It really gets to you after a while. I went through 2 bottles of 100% Deet in 4 days. My skin is now probably very toxic.The shelter system in NJ is a bit different from other states. Different BAD, not good. First off, most of the shelters DO NOT have water near them; so from my point of view, are almost useless. The ones that do have water are down in a gully where the mosquitos are as big as birds. We tried staying at one the first night and actually had to hide inside our tents the whole evening. Also, the shelters are almost all road accessible so the locals tend to use them for their outings and partys. Even though the thru hikers are supposed to have seniority, that's not enforced.There have been some nice highlights in this area though. `We camped at the Mohican Outdoor Center the second night and it was very nice. They had soda, candy and chips you could purchase. You could stay in a hostel with showers for $12 a night or you could tent free. Sunrise Mountain had a beautiful pavillion on top and you could see NYC 30 miles away to the east and you could also see west. In Unionville, NY we took a little side trip into town and had a great lunch at Beth's, a small cafe. It was great! What a treat. In Vernon, NJ we stopped for the night at the Episcopal Church Hostel and had a nice shower, did laundry, went out to eat and got on the internet.When we leave here tomorrow we have a few miles left in NJ and then 88.5 miles to do in New York. Can you believe how far we've come???
Date: 2006-07-30
To: Church Hostel, Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

by RightyWe only had 6.5 miles to do today to get into Vernon, NJ where we were headed to a church hostel we had heard about. It was a fairly strenuous hike out from the shelter, then it was a nice walk along a LONG (several miles) boardwalk through some beautiful protected wetlands. When we came off the trail and to the road crossing, we decided to try hitch into town since it was almost 5 miles. We lucked out and a farmer with a truck picked us up. We were all able to load up into the back of the pickup once we got the water and muck swept out of it. (That's one way to get your pickup truck cleaned out). First stop was a Burger King on the corner. Next stop, the church, to see what the facilities were like. Pretty nice set up. Hikers were allowed to sleep on the floor in the fellowship hall in the basement. There was a kitchen, laundry facilities and hot showers. Felt like we were in a 5* hotel. Well, almost! Maybe 1*. It amazes me how generous these chuches are to the hikers. Tomorrrow when we hike out, we'll be hiking into NEW YORK.
Date: 2006-07-31
To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

by RightyWhen we got up this morning it was sunny and warm. The temperature was already 72 degrees. We had trail magic first thing when Dave, a retired cop, and a thru-hiker groupie, brought us coffee and donuts for breakfast. What a treat! We had 17.3 miles to do today to get to Wildcat Shelter. We hiked out with Possum and Jericho. We figured we could manage OK since we had just had a nice zero day at the Hostel. Were we in for a surprise! By the afternoon, the temperature was in the high 90's and it was HOT and HUMID. We had one hard climb up and over Wawayanda Mountain. Then there were lots of ups and downs and lots of rocks and boulders. Much of the time we were hiking on the ridges and exposed to the full force of the sun. I can't even describe how miserably hot it was. So hot, you could hardly breathe. We had to stop and take breaks every half hour or so. It was impossible to stay hydrated. It took us 11 hours to do the 17 miles. We had no idea that it would take us so long. We would have stopped sooner; but there was no where to camp and no water to be found.When I was younger (a lot younger) I used to like to jump from rock to rock and climb over boulders and balance on the side of a cliff. Of course, I also used to race cars and sky dive; but I don't do these things now and I don't think we should have to mountain climb on the AT. I'm too old for ledge leaping, rock climbing and boulder bashing. OH, the fun just never ends here on the trail. WELCOME TO NEW YORK!
Date: 2006-08-01
To: Lefties Update
Miles today: 0.0

by Buoy I just talked to Lefty. She is 2 days short of Kent, Connecticut. This morning she got up at 4 am to hike during the coolest part of the day. The heat is really tough. She currently features 8 very painfull blisters. That has slowed her down a bit. I actually talked to her twice today. In the morning she was in pretty low spirits. Tonight she was doing a bit better.She will be hiking right through CT without a break. I hope to join her on August 8th. On Sunday August 13th she and Righty will come to Ned's Farm in CT for the party. The party will start in the afternoon right after the tubing eventShe says hello to everybody.
Date: 2006-08-02
To: William Brien Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 0.99
Weather: few clouds

by RightyI did not have a good night. It never really cooled off. Plus, I drank so much gatorade (caffeine) trying to hydrate that I couldn't sleep. We were up at 6:30 and started hiking at 7:30. It was already hot and sunny and the temperature was supposed to go way up. I was still very tired and weak from the heat the day before. I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to hike at all. I considered going to the first road and hitchhiking to the nearest town and an air conditioned motel. First thing, we had to go through a really tight place in the rocks called the "lemon squeeze". Just what I needed, another challenge. It was tight and uncomfortable and you had to take your backpack off and hand it to someone else, otherwise, you couldn't squeeze through. I was able to "deal with it" because I could see through to the other end. Probably a pretty neat little challenge; if I hadn't been so dead on my feet and not in the mood for a challenge. The trail wasn't too difficult today, just SUPER HOT. The temps were in the upper 90's with the heat index at 116 degrees. We took a 3 hour break mid-day to enjoy swimming in a lake at a state park that was only .3 of a mile off the trail. It was a nice reprieve from the heat. We all went in with our clothes on and just sat in the water until we started to wrinkle. We had to do something to bring our core temperature down. We only did 8.0 miles today but it took all day with all our breaks.Today was my daughter, Shana's birthday. Jericho let me use his cell phone to leave her a birthday message. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, baby.
Date: 2006-08-03
To: Bear Mountain Bridge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

by RightyThis morning we got up real early. We're trying to beat the heat!! We started hiking before 7am and the temperature was already in the 80's. The trail was real steep in places and we had to climb Black Mountain and then Bear Mountain. The trail goes right through Bear Mountain State Park and thur-hikers don't have to pay an admission fee. Of course, the trail took you through the park whether you wanted to see the exhibits or not. And, believe me, when it's 100 degrees out, you really don't want to be up close and personal with bears. Besides, looking at bears in cages was a little melodramatic after seeing them in the wild. The temps got up to 105 with the heat index and I don't know whose idea it was for sure, but we all agreed that we had had enough of the heat and needed to find a room with airconditioning. We ended up paying BIG MONEY at a Holiday Inn Express; but it was worth it just to get out of the heat. We had to walk to the Motel. The desk clerk said it was a 10 minute walk. What a CROCK. Never ask a civilian how far a walk it is. It was even HOTTER walking on the sidewalk with the heat reflecting off it and both Skywalker and myself were lightheaded and sick feeling. It took us about 40 minutes to just get to the Post Office. I went in with Skywalker who had to pick up a mail drop. I guess the combination of the cold air and my over-hot body was not good and I felt like I was going to pass out. A customer saw my condition and offered to give us a ride to the hotel even through it was now only about 1/8 of a mile away. Jericho, who had walked on, stopped at the police station and asked if someone could come and give me a ride because he didn't think I would make it. I actually doubt if I would have. We had a great room. Cooled off, took cool showers, did laundry and then went out for a nice dinner. We talked about taking a zero day the next day but decided to wait and see how we felt in the morning. It's amazing how quickly the body starts to recover once you get out of the elements and take proper care of it.
Date: 2006-08-04
To: Party at Ned's on the Thirteenth
Miles today: 0.0

by RightyHey, all my Connecticut friends. Lefty and I will be in New Hartford, Connecticut at Ned's farm late Saturday, August 12 and all day Sunday, August 13. Ned is hosting a rafting party for his ski club on Sunday 8/13 and we're also having a get together at the farm (1170 Litchfield Tpke.) in the afternoon. I hope that any and all of you will be able to stop by and say Hello to Lefty and I. I miss all of you and hope to see everyone there so we can "catch up".
Date: 2006-08-04
To: Curropus Hill
Miles today: 0.0

by RightyWe decided to take advantage of the nice surroundings; the cool air, and we slept in this morning. Then we went down and had AYCE breakfast. We stuffed ourselves. I think I personally drank a whole pitcher of orange juice. We woke up to very cloudy skies which made me very happy. It still felt humid; but at least it wasn't so hot. We walked over to the nearest gas station and managed to get a hitch to the trail head right off. We walked across the Hudson River, pretty neat. We had a big climb right off in order to get us back up on the ridges. We stopped at the Graymour Franciscan Monestary to get water and cook dinner at 3pm. The rest of the afternoon was easy, it was mostly small, fairly easy ups and downs. It was mostly sunny and in the 80's but it felt like the heat had broken.