morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-06-17
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter 

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park 
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We left our tenting site at Rocky Mountain Shelter around 8am. The weather was partly cloudy, guessing mid 70s. Not many views again today just In a green tunnel. The elevation is low, nothing over 2,000 ft. Around 3 miles in we went through Caledonia State Park and took a short water break. Very nice park. We hit the official halfway point today for 2015. I took a picture of the sign. About a half mile later we came across a permanent sign for the midway point for 2011. The mileage changes slightly every year due to rerouting of the trail. We continued on to Pine Grove Furnace State Park where we got a tent site for the night and a shower. The trail was fairly easy today and we hiked 22.8 miles today. ~Robi1Today's Milestone - We have officially hiked more than half of the AT.We are feeling stronger now that we added more fat to our diet. The trail was fairly easy today and we got in 22.8 miles. There were some rocks but not too bad. We got some trail magic near the end of the day when someone left some ice cold sodas in a cooler for us. Robi ate his normal 2 suppers and I enjoyed a nice chicken teriyaki with rice. We showered at the campground we are at and feel good about tomorrows 19.3 miles into Boiling Springs. Our goal is to beat Claire and Lorraine there. Wish us luck.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-18
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park 

To: Boiling Springs 
Miles today: 19.3

We left our tent site at Pine Grove Furnace SP at 8:00am. I stopped in the general store on the way out and got a muffin and a apple for later. It rained most of the night and was still showering off and on. No views again today as we are not much higher than a 1,000 ft on the trail. We had a few climbs 500ft to around 750ft. The trail was Rocky and slowed us down a bit after lunch. The rain stopped and the sun came out but it was very humid. We continued on and went through a few corn fields before reaching Boiling Springs PA. Hoodies wife Clair and her sister Lorraine came to Visit with us for a couple of days. They will be doing trail magic tomorrow at one of the trail heads north of Boiling Springs PA. They will be grilling cheese burgers plus snacks. We hiked 19 miles today before meeting them. ~Robi1Best day on the trail so far. We did 19.3 miles into Boiling Springs. The trail wasn't too bad except for the rock mazes we went thru. The rocks were tall and close together. I don't have a problem with that except our packs were rubbing against the rocks and we had to squeeze thru a bunch of spots which made me worry that my pack was going to get damaged. I don't want to have to buy a new pack to finish the trail. We made great time besides that and were in town by 4:45. Oh ya it was the best day because Claire met us on the trail about a mile from town and finished off the hike with us. It doesn't get any better than that. Staying at a hotel for a few nights while Claire and Lorraine are in town. -Hooti
Date: 2015-06-19
From: Boiling Springs 

To: Boiling Springs 
Miles today: 0.0

We spent the day doing trail magic for our fellow thru-hikers. Hooti's wife and her sister Lorraine came to PA for a visit. They wanted to give back what people have been doing for us on the trail. We set up at trail crossing PA 641 (Trindle Rd) and cooked cheeseburgers, gave out sodas & snacks. There were 30 or so hikers that passed through. We had a great time and I think everyone that passed through appreciated cold drinks and food. Tomorrow we will get back on the trail. ~Robi1Today we took a zero day and provided trail magic for some of the other hikers on the trail. We cooked hamburgers for about 25 to 30 hikers. Most of them we knew from the trail and some we hadn't met before. We also gave out sodas & water, chips, crackers, and apples. We had a blast doing it and it seemed like everyone enjoyed the food and cold drinks. On our end it was payfoward for all the trail magic we have recieved. It felt good to be able to do this and we enjoyed hearing other hikers' stories. Thanks to Claire and Lorraine for bringing all the supplies down and helping us out.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-20
From: Boiling Springs 

To: Millers Gap Road 
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: few clouds

We picked up where we left off at the Bucher Hill Rd iron works parking lot. We left most of our gear at the motel and slack packed for the day. We got dropped off at our start point and got picked up 16 miles later in the afternoon. We went through a few fields of corn and Soybeans. We crossed over PA 74, (York Road) PA Turnpike and I-81 at Bernheisel Rd. We had one climb with a view. We got done around 3pm. Bad weather is on the way (remnants of tropical storm Bill) and we will be spending another night in the motel. Sunday is suppose to be clearing in the morning and we will head back out to the trail. ~Robi1Today we hiked with Claire from Boiling Springs 16.2 miles north to a road crossing where Lorraine picked us up. We walked through some corn fields and I think barley fields, along a riverbank, did an 800 foot climb and then past Darlington Shelter before heading down to our planned pickup location. We saw a beautiful patch of tiger lilies in the woods along the way. It was a very fun day for us to have Claire with us especially since Robi1 and I can now finally keep up with her. We are having a real bad thunder storm tonight so it is awesome to be in a hotel and not a tent. The trail will be a mess tomorrow so we'll see what we can do for mileage.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-21
From: Millers Gap Road 

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter 
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

Glad to have been in the Hotel last night. Bad thunderstorms and a few inches of rain overnight. It cleared by morning and we got a ride to where we left off at Millers Gap Rd the day before. The trail was very wet and muddy. Trail was also very Rocky for 6 miles. We went by Cove Mountain Shelter as it was to early for a break and we had enough water. We continued on to Hawk Rock where there was a great views of Duncanon PA and the valley below. We made our way down into Duncannon and had lunch at a little park. The trail goes through town and over the Susquehanna River for a very hot noisy road walk for 3 miles. Right after that the trail went up 1,000 ft. It was Rocky on the ridge and finally made our way to Clarks Ferry Shelter 13.7 miles later. The next shelter was 6 miles away but may have no water. The next water is 13 miles from here so we decided to stay here for the night and load up with water and head out in the morning. ~Robi1Tough day today. Claire and Lorraine left to go to Hersey and then start their trip home. It was not easy to walk away!!!!!!. The trail was very very rocky today. Our plan was to do 20 miles but we only got in 13.7. Both of us have sore feet and when we got to a shelter we were told the next water source was not reliable so if we continued on we may have to go 10 more miles for water. That made our decision to stay alot easier. It turned out to be smart because it started raining about an hour and a half later. I know I mentioned it a couple of days ago but I want to give a huge THANK YOU to Claire and Lorraine for all there help. Trail magic would not have happened without them. Robi1 and I really enjoyed their company and ongoing support. Thanks again. Love you guys.Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. -Hooti
Date: 2015-06-22
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter 

To: Campsite 
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We left the tent site near Clarks Ferry Shelter around 8am. We filled up with water. Hootis wife and sister in law Lorraine would meet us one more time 4 miles in at the trail crossing at PA 225 before heading home. They had water and we refilled what we had drank. The next reliable water was 9 miles away. After 9 miles there were several nice springs for 3 miles. To bad they were not spread out more along the trail. We had a 1,100ft climb and had a couple of nice views. The weather was partly cloudy high 80s very humid. We came across too Snakes. One was a Black Snake the other was a diamond back rattler. The were both big. We made our way 20 miles later To a primitive campsite at mile 1,171.1 ~Robi1Another good day today. We got in 20.1 miles. The trail was much less rocky in alot of spots but it was still pretty tough in the parts where the rocks were. The highlight of the day was meeting Claire again because some idiot forgot to take the insoles out of his old boots when he got his new ones. Oh ya that was me. My feet got sore today but felt much better after I rubbed them. Then about an hour later we soaked our feet in a river for 20 minutes which also helped. We are at a campsite on the side of the trail about 4.6 miles south of Rausch Gap Shelter with 2 other hikers. Should be a nice quiet night.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-23
From: Campsite 

To: Campsite 
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We left our camping site around 9am. I didn't sleep very well because a very friendly deer was looking for acorns all around my tent. I guess that's what I get for setting up under a large Oak tree. I was away from all the other tents.The first time I woke to scratching leaves it scared the heck out of me. I grabbed my headlamp and aimed it out my open vestibule. There she was, 3 feet from tent starring at me. She jumped away when I moved but not far. After the 3rd time I put the light on her and said we need to talk. I need to sleep. I got out of the tent and she took off a ways. I heard her a few more times during the night. When I got up there she was again. As soon as I moved she jumped away some. The trail was fairly easy flat but lots of rocks. We had one climb of 1,000 ft that got us sweating because of the humidity and temperatures in the 80s. We continued on and could hear loud explosions which we thought might be blasting. As we got closer we could here some sort of missile being launched and about 30 seconds later you could here them explode. They shook the ground. Pretty wild. Turns out there is a very large military training facility nearby. Must have heard at least 30 of these take off and explode. We crossed a few roads and went under I - 81 and up into the1,000 ft climb. At one of the crossings we came across a lady giving out cold sodas and snacks. Very much appreciated! We continued until the weather looked nasty and set up at a camp site just before thunderstorms hit. They were not real bad but by the time they ended we just stayed put for the night. We got 15 miles out of today and will head back out in the morning. ~Robi1Today was very hot and muggy and the trail is still pretty wet from the rain on Saturday night. All morning into mid afternoon the military training base down here was firing some sort of missles that when they fired them off we could feel them like fireworks and 20 to 30 seconds later they would hit their target with another very loud bang. Some of them made the ground shake. You could also here them going through the air so they must have been powered by something. I'm glad they didn't miss. We got some trail magic from Melody at a parking lot we passed through. Cold drinks and chips and grapes. It was very much appreciated. We had a 1000 ft climb right after that and we were soaked in sweat from the humidity. Then a thunderstorm was coming at us and of course we were on a ridge so this time we set up our tents to ride it out. It didn't stop raining until 5:30ish so we called it a day. We only got in 15 miles so tomorrow will be a big day.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-24
From: Campsite 

To: Eagles Nest Shelter 
Miles today: 22.5

We left our campsite around 8am It was a bit cooler and drier today guessing mid 70s the trail was wet/ muddy and very Rocky. The trail is living up to its name here in Pennsylvania ( Rocksylvania) we find the rocks to be very annoying. They are 6-10 inch high pointy tombstones side by side and you have no choice except to walk on them. I can't tell you what the forest of Pennsylvania looks like. My head is down looking at the trail constantly making sure each step is a good one. If you fall on these it will hurt. We struggled with the rocks most of today. We had lunch at the 501 Shelter and got water. We made our way to Eagles Nest Shelter at 7 pm after 22.5 miles for the day. We have 9 miles left to get into Port Clinton PA tomorrow where we have a mail drop. ~Robi1Today was a tough day on the trail. We did 22.5 miles and probably half of that over some pretty tough rocks. When there weren't rocks alot of the trail was puddles so it wasn't a boatload of fun. Had to stare at the ground all day so I wouldn't trip. There weren't too many views anyway so I guess I didn't miss much. Heading into Port Clinton and Hamburg tomorrow to go to the biggest Cabellas store in the world. Need to get my poles fixed.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-25
From: Eagles Nest Shelter 

To: Port Clinton PA 
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: broken clouds

We left Eagles Nest Campsites around 8:30 with clear skies warm and humid. We were the last ones to leave the site. Not a bad thing. The first hikers out get to break all the spider webs on the trail. They can be a annoying when the go across your face. Rocks most of the 9 miles into Port Clinton again today. The trail is mostly flat but slow due to the terrain. We dropped into town a little after noon. I say dropped because the decent into town was more than a 45 degree slope for about 3/4 of a mile. Nice on the knees. We are at the Port Clinton Hotel and we got a ride into Hamburg PA a few Miles down the road to Cabelas the largest one in the world. Hooti needed new tips for his trekking poles. They didn't carry them. We then walked to the next shopping center where there is a Super Walmart and picked up a few things to go with our food drop. We are resting now and will hard back to the trail tomorrow. ~Robi1Easy day today, a lot of rocks but short miles. We did 9 miles into Port Clinton and got a room at the Port Clinton Hotel. Its very old and not too pretty. Went to Cabellas to get my poles fixed and they had nothing to help. I will have to wait until the next outfitter we come to to get them fixed. It's raining and is supposed to rain all weekend according to the locals. It's not going to be fun walking on wet rocks all day but we'll do what we can. Slow and easy.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-26
From: Port Clinton PA 

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter 
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We left Port Clinton around 1pm. after waiting for the post office to open @ 12:30. I needed to send my Jet-Boil stove home. It's falling apart and I'm working on getting it replaced. We had a good climb out of town to get back on the ridge. Still Rocky on the trail,warm and humid today. We went 5.9 miles to Windsor Furnace Shelter where we will spend the night tenting. ~Robi1Had a fantastic day today. We needed to hang around till 12:30 for the post office to open so Robi1 could mail stuff home. We went right next door to the barber shop which is super friendly to hikers and allows you to stay as long as you like. The barber plays guitar and has 4 of them in his shop. One hiker who was getting a haircut asked if he could play when he was done. Not only did he play but he has a band in western Mass and he was very good. The barber grabbed his guitar and joined in. The hiker played songs he had written and the barber didn't miss a beat. Then the barber started playing the harmonica with the hiker singing his song. Music at its best. What a great morning. Oh ya we did get to hiking but only did 6 miles. The weather was going to turn bad and the next shelter is 9 more miles so we stopped for the night. We will be hiking in the rain tomorrow.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-27
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter 

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter 
Miles today: 16.5

We left the Windsor Furnace Shelter tent site at 7:30 in light rain. Nothing really good about today. We hiked 16 miles in the cold (54degrees) wind and rain. Still lots of rocks. Lots of rocks! We made it to Allentown Shelter and we are in the Shelter with 9 others. It sleeps 6. Raining to hard to set up tents. It is suppose to clear up in the morning and get to the mid 70s. ~Robi1Today was just one of those days. It started by some hikers waking up most of the camp by yelling and laughing at 5:30 in the morning. Then just as we started hiking it started raining. It rained all day as expected but was much colder in the afternoon than they said it would be. Low fifties, rain and 20 mph wind makes for a cold day. Oh ya and we are still on very rocky ground. 16.2 miles in miserable conditions is not too bad of a day. Hoping for dryer conditions tomorrow.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-28
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter 

To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

We left the Allentown Shelter around 10am. Took a while to get going, everything was wet from the day before. It was not raining today but very overcast. We hiked about 4 miles where the trail crosses PA 309. There's a restaurant in site of the crossing and we had lunch there. The rocks were very annoying again today. Trail is pretty flat but the rocks slow us way down. The sun poked through a couple of times but it really was not the nice day they had forecasted. Late afternoon we had a few light showers before reaching a tent site at George W. Outerbridge Shelter. We hiked 16.8 miles for today and will hike 3 miles into Palmerton PA tomorrow to pick up a mail drop, do some laundry and head back out on the trail. ~Robi1Today was rocky. It feels like the movie groundhog day. Rocks and wet rocks, sore feet everyday. We did 16.8 miles to Outerbridge Shelter just short of Palmerton which we need to go to for our maildrop. Today I walked right into a 9 inch tree branch which I didn't see because I had my head down and a hat with a visor on. It almost knocked me out. Luckily it hit my head so no damage. This is one of the dangers of walking with your head down all day for many many days in a row. Tomorrow we go into town for the maildrop and to do laundry. Claire informed me there's a steakhouse right next to the laundromat. Guess where we plan on going.-Hooti
Date: 2015-06-29
To: Palmerton PA 
Miles today: 1.3
Weather: broken clouds

We left our tent site next to the George W Outerbridge Shelter around 9 am. We hiked about 1.2 miles down to the 2 mile side trail that leads into Pamerton. We did laundry and had lunch and picked up a couple of things from the grocery store. On the way back to the trail we stopped at the Creamery for ice cream. I had a banana split. While looking at the trail book we realized that we would not make it to the first water source 10 miles away, which by the way was more than a half mile off the trail. We ended up staying at Mooney's Motel in Lehighton PA. The owner picked us up and gave us a ride back to where we left off this morning. ~Robi1
Date: 2015-06-30
From: Palmerton PA 

To: Leroy A Smith Shelter 
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: light rain

We got dropped off at the trail head around 8am. It was a very steep climb getting out of Palmerton. The day was cool with showers now and then. We walked the deforested ridge due to Zinc smelting that went on here for many years until 1980. It is now called the Palmerton Superfund site. It started raining steady by early afternoon and then thunderstorms 4 miles before our goal Leroy A Smith Shelter. We got soaked. We set up tents in between rain drops and we are here for the night. Still raining off and on. ~Robi1Got up early today to get to the trail to get some miles in. A ride from the owner of the hotel got us to the trail head just about 7:30. The trail was very steep and nothing but huge rocks for the first 3/4 of a mile and then smaller rocks for 3/4 of a mile. The trail was probably a 65 to 70 degree angle. It took us 2 and a half hrs to go the first 4 miles. Our normal pace is almost 3 mph. Then it started to rain so the rocks were wet the rest of the day . We hiked 15.5 miles in drizzle and downours.-Hooti
Date: 2015-07-01
From: Leroy A Smith Shelter 

To: Campsite 
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: light rain

Ok, so it rained all night with with rumbles of Thunder around 1am. The rain stopped around 6am and we waited till 7:30 before venturing out of our tents. We had breakfast and slowly started packing up. Most everything was still wet from the day before. It looked like the Sun wanted to come out so we hung stuff out to dry. We finally got going around 11am in sunshine and temps in the 70s Rocks are still horrible. Most of the day we walked like we have been drinking heavily staggering from side to side, stubbing our toes at least 50 times a day. Heads are down looking where to place each foot. We finally made it to a campsite with a great view around 5:15pm We hiked 14.1 miles in rocks. We thought that we did well with the late start. ~Robi1Today we got going late. We let things dry out a little before packing up. It was a great weather day with low humidity and temps in the high 70's. You can guess what the trail was like, very rocky again. I don't think it bothers me as much as Robi1. I am not saying I like the rocks but Robi1 is getting frustrated with them. Its tough to see things around you when all you do is stare at the ground. We hiked 14.1 miles and got to the campsite just past Kirkridge Shelter that we had planned on. We head into Delaware Water Gap tomorrow to resupply and eat.-Hooti
Date: 2015-07-02
From: Campsite 

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: light rain

We left the campsite at 9:15. We waited for the sun to dry the dew off our tents. We hiked 6 miles into Delaware Water Gap ( the trail goes through town) where we picked up a mail drop at the post office. We then went down the street to the outfitter where Hootie got new tips for his poles. We then went to the Church Hostel where we sorted out our mail drop. While there a lady, Pat drove up with cookies and asked if we wanted any. We said sure. Her son is hiking the trail. We said we were going to try and get to Stroudsburg 3 miles away because there was no place to stay or do laundry in DWG. She offered to give us a ride and we were on our way. We checked into the Pocono Inn by 1pm. Got the laundry done. Went to eat. Shortly after had a very good Banana split. At the outfitters the scale said I weighed 162lbs could be off a few pounds but I can afford to eat all I can while in town. I started the hike weighing 200 lbs. we will take a bus (The Pocono Pony) back to DWG where we will walk a mile back to where we left off. ~Robi1 Easy day today. 6 miles into Delaware Water Gap. Got our maildrop and got new tips put on my poles, thanks Savana, and got a hotel room all by 1:00. Thanks to Jesters mom for the cookies and the ride to Stroudsburg. Got laundry done and had lunch. Then we went for ice cream. 2 hrs later we went to McDonald's for a snack. I've lost a few more lbs so I'm trying to eat more. Had my green drink and am I am going to bed.-Hooti