morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-06-14
From: Signal Knob mile 985.5

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 17.1

I was up and out of my camp before 7:00am. That is the earliest I have left in the morning. It was another great day. It did however warm up in the afternoon. I hiked alone and the only person I saw all day was After. I saw him several times as we took breaks. I entered a section of the trailed named The Rollercoaster. It is a thirteen mile stretch of trail with continuous ups and downs of between four hundred and six hundred feet. It is pretty step in places and there is a lot of uneven rocky parts. Like I said earlier it warmed up quite a bit in the morning and I did a ton of sweating. I drank over four litters of water on the day. It was also a milestone day as I passed the 1000 mile mark. I stopped and took a picture and reflected on all those miles. It has been two in a half months and I am still here, still moving north. After I got back going I ran into After again and he said he was staying at The Bears Den Hostel and he had heard a lot of good things about it. I decided part way into the Rollercoaster I did not want to finish it today and I decided to head to the hostel as well. The thought of a shower and a pint of ice cream was too good to pass up. I made it to the hostel at 5:30pm. It is suppose to be nice out so I paid the twelve bucks to tent rather then stay inside in a twenty dollar bunk. Some of the other hikers here are Romeo, Johnny Be Good, ETA, Sole Asylum, Spicy, and Mocho Bear. After a refreshing shower I sat with them and chatted and had my ice cream and watched part of the movie Stripes as my phone charged. Before I headed to my tent I walked down the hill to an overlook and watched a beautiful sunset. Life is good. Now I am in my tent and hoping for a quiet and peaceful night here.
Date: 2016-06-15
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Campsite at mile 1019.0
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

I slept really good last night in my tent at the Bears Den. The night air was awesome. Summer is here and it feels really good at night now. I am starting to like camping a little more now that the warm weather is here. I awoke to the sound of very light rain coming down on my tent. Combined with the mild morning air it was all very soothing. The rain did not last very long and I was up and in the hostel for all you can eat pancakes sometime after 6:00am. I met ETA in the house and he made the pancakes which were very good. All in all this is by far one of the best hostels I have stayed at, plus they were very reasonable with the cost of everything. I was on the trail around 8:00am. It was cloudy, but the air felt amazing. We had a few light showers which also seemed to refresh me more then anything. I finished the last four miles of the Roller Coster and was very glad that was over with. It is just another obstacle completed successfully. The afternoon hike was much easier. My plan was to make it to Harper's Ferry, but I soon realized I could not make it there for early afternoon. I have a lot to do there so I decided to camp a few miles away from town and tomorrow I will spend the better part of the day in town. It is a big day as Harper's Ferry is the unofficial halfway point. They take the halfway picture at the ATC which is really cool. I have to hit the outfitter for a few things along with a trip to the post office. It is a historic town so it would also be nice to just look around at things before heading back out later in the day. I am camping with ETA, Sole Asylum, Jersey, Boston, and Paul. I got here very early around 4:30pm. I never stop this early. We all just hung around the fire. Jersey, Boston, and Paul got here around 7:00pm. I also saw Thin Mint as she passed by our camp area. I have not seen her since Hot Springs. It was awesome to see her. We talked for a few minutes and the she continued up the trail. She is heading in to Harpers Ferry tonight. I know I keep saying it but the people out here are so nice.
Date: 2016-06-16
From: Campsite at mile 1019.0

To: Compton Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.5

Last night was very muggy and it rained. I did not sleep very well. It was just too soupy. I was up at 6:00am and had everything loaded by 7:00am. The thunder started as I was packing up and I was wishing I had not already packed up my tent so I could get back in it. Jersey, Boston, and Paul were all still in there tents and the rain was coming. They were going to wait out the rain. They were the smart ones. I headed down the trail as the rain started and I quickly put my rain gear on. It was the first time I have had a chance to use it. I was happy with how it performed. I made the three plus mile trip into Harpers Ferry and arrived at the ATC right at 9:00am. I had my picture taken for there yearbook and I saw Scorpion there which was a total surprise. She is further back on the trail but had gotten off again for another event. I am sure she will catch me quickly when she returns for good. She flies and does big mile days. It was nice to see her and chat a little. After the ATC I spent close to an hour at and outside the post office. I had three big boxes to go though. It all worked out great in the end. I was resupplied thanks to my awesome big brother. I can not thank that guy enough for doing all this resupply stuff for me. After resupplying I had lunch in town before heading back on the trail. It was a very hot and humid day today. The walk along the river was nice and it was flat for three miles but I still sweated like crazy. I debated getting a room and staying in town but in the end I choose the hike north. I hiked up to the first shelter and got there at 3:30pm. The thunder could be heard in the distance. I checked the radar on my phone and decided to move on to the next shelter which was four miles away, but a flat easy hike. The thunder got loader and loader and I picked up my pace. I made it to a beautiful picnic area just as the rain hit. I sat under a huge pavilion and watched the rain and aired out my feet. I would have love to pitch my tent right under that pavilion, but there was a big no camping sign. I waited a half hour for the rain to stop and then hiked the last half a mile to the shelter. Sole Asylum was the only person there. The weather called for severe thunderstorms and two inches of rain so for the second time on my trip I am sleeping in a shelter. It is almost 8:00pm and it is just the two of us. It is now raining like crazy with thunder and lightning. It would be great if no one else showed up, but a lot of times hikers come in late to shelter so we will see. It should be interesting night. The thunder is really load and cracking like crazy! There is one other big thing that happened today. I left Virginia for the last time. All I can say is thank you Virginia. You were awesome. Very hard and very challenging and I feel very rewarded for having hike all the way through you. A quarter of the entire AT goes through Virginia and it is a darn tough state.
Date: 2016-06-17
From: Compton Gap Shelter

To: Ensign Cowel Shelter
Miles today: 20.7

Well last night it was good to be dry in a shelter. We did end up with one more hiker who came got there at 8:00pm in the pouring rain and thunder and lighting. It was Romeo who is a very polite and kind twenty two year old young man. I met him several times throughout the Shenandoah's. I did get some sleep, but I did a lot of tossing and turning also. I was up and on the trail a little before 8:00am. I passed by a campground at 11:00am and I talked to Muffin Man, another guy I met in Shenandoah. He said there were free showers with hot water at this campground. I decided to take one even though my clothes were very dirty and I would have to put them back on after. I also was able to take all my gear out of my pack and lay it in the sunshine so it could dry out. It all worked out good. I spent about an hour there and then I was on my way. The theme of the day was historical sites. I passed battlefields from the civil war, plaques along the trail and the first Washington Monument. I felt like I was on a field trip back in school. It was weird. I read all the plaques and walked to the top of the Washington Monument which offered nice views. The afternoon hike was highlighted by several areas with a lot of rocks that were a pain in the butt. I guess it is a good prequel to Pennsylvania, which is well known as the rockiest section of the trail. I hiked alone today and did not see many hikers. That is until I got to the Ensign Cowall Shelter. The place was packed with thru hikers and the shelter was taken up by a group of kids on a field trip or something. I found the last spot and it is pretty slanted. I really like hiking in the evenings, but it makes it hard to find a camp spot sometimes. I am in Maryland now, which is only about forty miles of the trail. In Maryland you have to camp at the shelters or designated campsites. You are not allowed to stealth camp. I do not know why because the landscape is ok, but it is nothing like Shenandoah. It does not matter Because I should be out of this state tomorrow. Pennsylvania here I come.
Date: 2016-06-18
From: Ensign Cowel Shelter

To: Rocky Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 24.7

I slept pretty good last night for the first time in the last three nights. I was also awake at 5:00am. I got up at 5:10am and I was on the trail at 5:55am. It was a really nice summer morning. The hiking was nice as I went through some hey fields as the sun was rising. For the last few days however the quiet times in the forest are being overtaken by the sounds of nearby roads and highways. Yuck! There have been a ton of road crossings. I am not a big fan of all that. Hopefully it will not last. I passed through Pen Mar County Park around 11:00am. It was big and it was nice. It looked like they were getting ready for a wedding. I stayed there for a half hour on a bench just resting and relaxing. It warmed up quite a bit in the afternoon. The sun was out all day again. I was about three miles from the shelter I am at now when a man in a truck at a road crossing asked me if I would like a ice cream sandwich. I said I sure would. He gave me two. They were really good and I thank him. It is always nice to get a little trail magic near the end of the day. His name was Jim and he is the caretaker of this Shelter, which is the Rocky Mountain Shelter. I also made it to Pennsylvania around noon today. I now feel like I have left the south and now am in the north country. Tomorrow I should pass the official half way point. Pretty cool.
Date: 2016-06-19
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter

To: Stealth camp mile 1103.4
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: clear sky

I was up and out of camp early again today. I was on the trail at 6:10am. It was nice and cool in the morning, but it got hot in the afternoon as expected. Today's terrain was the best. A lot of flat and a lot of soft packed dirt, and even pine needle paths. It is pretty easy to make good time with these conditions even in big clunker boots. I made my way past two parks today. Parks are great because they have bathrooms with running water. It is so nice to just clean my face in the sink and just wash up better in general. I hit the official half way point early in the afternoon. 1094.55 miles. It is hard to believe I have done that many and also hard to believe I have that many more left to do and the hardest parts are yet to come. This is one tough trail. Nothing seems to come easy, but I guesst that makes it what it is and why only twenty five percent or so who start the trail actually finish it. I made my way to the Pine Grove Furnace State Park just before 5:00pm. This is where the famous half gallon ice cream challenge takes place. It was getting to be dinner time so I forgo the challenge and instead had two very big loaded up cheeseburgers. I know I can eat a half gallon of ice cream so to me that is not much of a challenge. If anyone doubts me just ask Val. She is the person who I have shared a house with for the past three years. After I finished eating I went to the lake area and took a free shower. I also washed my gross disgusting shirt in the sink. I am going longer and longer between showers me laundry now. It is just the way it is going to be on the second part of my journey. After I left the park I hiked a few miles and am stealth camping alone. A lot of people stayed in Harpers Ferry for a few days and there are several AT festivals in the immediate area. I am not crazy about the festivals because there is usually a lot of drinking and other stuff I do not care for. All that stuff is just not for me. I am here for the trail and to be with nature. I did not see many hikers today or yesterday. Tomorrow is Monday so and there will most likely be more people back out here.
Date: 2016-06-20
From: Stealth camp mile 103.4

To: Boiling Springs mile 1120.8
Miles today: 17.4

So last night was not so good. My air mattress sprung a leak and I had to re blow it up twice during the night. Of course I do not have a repair kit like I should. I just found the two leaks and put some super glue over the holes but I really am not confident that will hold. I have a different one at my brothers so hopefully he can get it to me at my next town stop. I will not be able to sleep on the cold ground. I guess I could go back to my hammock. It is always something out here. Anyways, I was on the trail at 7:00am. I had a shorter day planed as I was only going seventeen miles to the town of Boiling Springs. I had a pretty down day today. A lot of doubts, a lot of soul searching. I was just really down on myself. It was hot again and the terrain had more ups and downs. I ran into Nature, Spaghetti Legs, Shiv, Betsy, Joker and Umgalla. I saw them yesterday as well. All super nice people. I made it to Boiling Springs at 3:30pm. The lodging options are very limited around here. No camping on the trail for the next fifteen or so miles. There is a free campground in town, but it is right next to the train tracks. Because of my poor mindset I decided to check into a motel which was reasonable priced. I got cleaned up, ordered pizza and afterwords walked a mile round trip to the store to get some resupply items. I just finished working on my sleeping pad. Tomorrow I start one hundred and fifty miles of rocky trail. They refer to this part of the trail as Rocksylvania. It is just another challenge. I think this is how it will be all the way to Maine. One challenge after another.
Date: 2016-06-21
From: Boiling Springs mile 1120.8

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: scattered clouds

I was up pretty early and on the trail before 7:00am. It a was breezy and warm start to the day. It was good to feel clean and have clean cloths on, but as usual it did not last long. About a half hour into my day we had a thunderstorm with heavy rain. I put my rain gear on. However I forgot to dry it out from the last rain event so it was all wet and it smelled really bad. My feet got soaked and my cloths and body no longer felt very clean. The rain only lasted a little over a half hour. I should have checked the weather before I left and then just waited for the rain to pass and then left for the day after the rain stopped. One of these days I may figure this out. The day turned out to be a nice one. Still warm but not as warm as the last few. I am still not feeling quite like myself. Things just feel very different out here since Harpers Ferry. My energy level was low. The terrain however was super easy with a lot of flat walking. I went through a lot of fields and meadows. I also spent a good amount of time on the pavement and crossing highways, yuck. The bugs were pretty bad today. They are not biting too bad yet, but they are buzzing all around my eyes and ears. I think if it is like this again tomorrow I will put my ear buds in and listen to music. The sound of those buzzing bugs right at my ear openings is awful. I took lunch at the ATC crew headquarters and another break at the first shelter. I took a bunch of water up to it because I had thoughts of calling it an early day and there is no water at that shelter. When I got there it was only 2:00pm and I seemed to gain a bit of energy. I took a break, had a snack and talked to cousin Jimbo Pierce on the phone. It is always good to talk to him. At 2:30pm I dumped out all but one liter of water and then hiked the next seven miles to the Cove Mountain Shelter where I am now. There is only three people here tonight. Denim, Skibkow and Me. Denim has the shelter all to himself. Skibow is hammocking and I am tenting.
Date: 2016-06-22
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Camp site mile 1162.7
Miles today: 20.1

Today was a very up and down kind of day. Last night was not the greatest as my attempted fix of my sleeping pad did not work. I had to re inflate it twice during the night. I was up and on the trail around 7:00am. It was a very odd early morning hike as I had Pete on my mind. I think about him everyday but this morning was something different. It felt like he was here with me and he was helping me down the trail. I decided to use my Nano iPod and listen to some music to keep from hearing the bugs and all the traffic from town. I really enjoyed the music. I have about three thousand songs on it. I have it set to shuffle so I never know what song will play. The second song was from an eighties band named "The Outfield" Pete and I would often listen to there songs regularly back in the day. It was surreal and I could not help but get a little emotional. It was only a four mile hike to the town of Duncannon. The trail goes right through the town. I stopped at the Post Office and picked up my bounce box which had my food for the next four days in it. As I walked out of town I enjoyed looking at all the churches and houses. I had a really good vibe about this town. It felt like real America to me. The train went right through town. I just liked it. I also crossed the Sasquehanna River, which I was just totally fascinated by. It was so wide, yet very shallow. It was beautiful in my eyes. The last thing I did before getting back on the trail was to walk about a quarter mile off the trail to a truck stop Subway. It was the best Subway Turkey Club grinder I have ever had. I think I irritated the lady working because I kept saying extra baby spinich, extra tomatos, extra green peppers. Oh and do you have avacodo. She said yes and I said I would like extra of that too. It was awesome. I ate the whole thing with a large Sprite and then I was off and on the trail shortly after 11:00am. I had a short uphill hike to get back up on the ridge line. The weather today was much better with lower humidity and a nice breeze. The terrain was easy as well and I made very good time. I hiked with Joker for a bit until we got to the first shelter. The water in this area is hard to come by. I decided to carry three liters which would last me the rest of the day and night. It made for a rather heavy pack. I also had the four days of food. The easy terrain made it not too bad though. After loading up on water I hiked on alone. I put my iPod back on and was really feeling good and enjoying the afternoon. I stopped several times for breaks and to air out my feet. I met a few new guys. Cherokee, McCuber and ET. I also had my first encounter with a Porky Pine. I was listening to my music when I looked up it was waddling down then path in front of me. I took my phone out and videoed him and then I was on my way. I got to the spot where I am camping at around 7:00pm. IPA was here along with Sunny Side Up and Husker. I made dinner as we talked. Tomorrow is calling for rain. I am hoping they are wrong
Date: 2016-06-23
From: Camp site mile 1162.7

To: stealth site mile 1183.9
Miles today: 21.2
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain that was suppose to come early this morning never came. We had a really light shower for about twenty minutes but it was so light nothing really even got wet. I was on the trail a little before 8:00am. I was out of water so that was my first objective of the morning. The water situation in Pennsylvania is not good and not very reliable. Both yesterday and today I got stuck hiking without water for much too long. When I am thirsty I like to drink. The good sources are few and far between. They also seem to make you go far down a hill to get it. It is a little frustrating. I will be glad to be out of this state. I am camped on a ridge line tonight and all I can hear is the highway traffic, yuck. So today I hiked through the woods for over twenty miles. No views, some road and bridge crossings as seems to be the standard lately. I had lunch with ET and saw IPA on and off this morning. Other then that I was on my own. I saw my first Copperhead snake. I was getting water out of a creek and the thing took off in front of me. Scared to living daylights out of me. I got my water and moved on quickly. We also had a late day shower just as I was getting to a bridge crossing. I took advantage and went under the bridge and used the time to make my dinner while it was raining. It was nice to find cover and keep myself and my gear dry. After dinner the rain stopped and I hiked several more miles and I got a decent size climb out of the way coming out of Lickdale. It will be nice not to have to do it first thing in the morning. The rocks of Pennsylvania started yesterday and continued today. They do not seem that bad to me. Maybe it is because I routinely hike Mount Monadnock at home and it is a lot of rock. I am assuming it will get worse. I guess time will tell.
Date: 2016-06-24
From: stealth site mile 1183.9

To: stealth site at 1210.7
Miles today: 26.8
Weather: light rain

I am writing this entry a day late because last night ended up being a late one and I was too tired too write. I ended up hiking around thirty miles however five of those were backtracking up the trail at the end of the day. The rocks, as I expected, got much worse today. They really do slow you down, but I go pretty slow to begin with so it was not that big of a change for me. I also am somewhat accustomed to them because I hike rocky terrain quite a bit back home. I saw my first Pennsylvania bear today. That was exciting. I came out into a clearing and it was checking out a stealth camp site. When it saw me it bolted into the woods. I also saw a half dozen deer and the deer in this state are very big. He was biggest I have seen so far by a lot. I saw a turtle in the trail too. Oh, I also saw bugs, tons of them. They are a big pain. The hiking is not the greatest. I want out of this state. I want mountains, not low rocky ridge lines. I stopped at a shelter around 7:00pm and got water and made my dinner. I carried my dinner out while it was rehydrating. I stopped about fifteen minutes later and ate it and then made my way down another few miles to where I would camp. It was a long day as I hiked well over twenty miles. I took my pack off and went to put my crocks on, but there was only one crock on my pack. I must have lost it when I stopped to eat. Dang! It was 8:00pm and I decided to hike back up two in a half miles and get it. It was there right on the trail and I again made my way back to may camp. I was back around 10:00pm. I was beat and went right to bed. I was very happy to have my crock back though.