morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-05
From: crescent rock campsite

To: harpers ferry, wv
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: clear sky

The cowboy camping worked, no rain or even dew last night. The stars weren't that great since we are so close to DC. Some sort of large animal came close to camp and then ran off during the night.We had a final descent and climb to finish off the rollercoaster today. Overall it wasn't too tough, mainly a psychological challenge as we had heard people complaining about this section all the way back in Georgia.After the rollercoaster the terrain was pretty awesome. Flat with a couple rocks. Some dayhikers we passed warned us the rocks were bad, but like always they didn't know what they were talking about. We cruised for a while between 3 and 4 mph.The high point of the day came a little while later. We passed a magic mile - mile 1000. Usually we blaze past the x hundred mile markers, but this one was obviously a little special. Quite an accomplishment if you think about it. To finish my quote from 500 miles..."well I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more...to be the man who walked a thousand miles..."Still hard to comprehend. Still less than half way done with the trail though.More easy trail for the rest of the day. We flew around 4 for a while.As we were approaching Harpers Ferry, we crossed the Shanendoah River on a highway bridge. Then it was just a short walk into the historic city and the ATC, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the headquarters for the Appalachian trail.Explored the headquarters for a while and had our picture taken for their book. We were northbound hikers number 40 to 43 this year. Not a race, but not bad, we all thought there would be more in front of us.Got my water bladder from the PO, will be nice to have it.Outfitter for replacement Leki tips. Between the four of us there were two good tips left. This last section was brutal for some reason.Hummus and I tried on some...alternative...hiking gear. I succumbed and picked up an item, I'll see how it works out.We decided to stay at the Comfort inn. The price isn't bad split 4 ways. Originally we were going to try the Maryland Challenge, but we decided no to so we don't hurt ourselves. It really is a stupid thing to do, and relatively pointless. For those who don't know of it, the challenge is to do the 41 miles of MD in a day. We could do it at this point, but you can easily get injured doing that.Met up with the Auburn boys and met their dad and went to dinner. Lots of places were closed today, so we ended up walking most of Harpers Ferry and the neighboring city before we found a pub. Ate lots of tacos and had some beer.Hit up 7-11 for some beverages and chips. Back to the inn to watch some TV and chill before bed.
Date: 2008-05-06
From: harpers ferry, wv

To: dahlgren camping area
Miles today: 17.3

Got up at the usual time so we could hit up the continental breakfast while the pickings were good. Couple bowls of cereal, couple yogurts, some donuts, the usual. Showered, packed up, and checked out.Stopped by the ATC again on our way out. Used the computer and asked a few questions we had been pondering.Hit the trail and headed out of town past a bunch of historic stuff. Crossed the Potomac River and entered Maryland...another one bites the dust.The trail followed the old C&O Canal towpath for a few miles. Flat trail with swamp where the canal used to be. Easy walking.We got off the trail to attempt to resupply at a supposed grocery store. Walked a couple miles there and found out the book lied and it was a gas station. The book said there was another store. Walked there and it was very closed for a long long time. Went back to the gas station and got enough food for the day and headed back to the trail. Wasted time on useless detour: 2 hours.Climbed up to a ridge and stayed up there for the rest of the day. Harpers Ferry is really low at around 260 feet. By far our lowest elevation so far.Stopped by the first shelter for a break and met the Auburn boys there. Minivan's dad had hit the trail in the wrong direction so they were waiting for him. We chatted for a bit and Aaron and Laura joined the party. They hiked the PCT last year and we have bumped into them a few times.Really nice trail aside from some rocks in places. We were cruising around 4mph for most of the rest of the day.Anecdote: Stovie took a vitamin today, and shortly thereafter he mentioned that his feet weren't hurting anymore. A little later he said he felt high. A little later he realized that he put his Vicadin in the same bag as his vitamins. He was entertaining for a while.Saw a lot of civil war monuments and location plaques today. Still aren't too far from DC, so there was heavy fighting around here. We were heading up the trail near where we are camping and a large sign was in the middle of the trail. It talked about Michigan's role in the Civil War. Michigan had 90,000 residents fight in the war. They marched from Detroit to DC in two weeks to join in the effort. It talked about specifics, and I took a picture of the sign so I had the wording. The sign was actually put there by the state of Michigan.We stopped for the day at a backcountry campsite that just so happened to have electricity, showers, and flushable toilets. Sounded like a winner. Gonna cowboy camp again. Hope the weather holds.
Date: 2008-05-07
From: dahlgren camping area

To: devil's racecourse shelter
Miles today: 20.6

Cowboy camping worked out good last night. It was pretty bright out because we are close to some big cities, so we couldn't see the meteor shower. Or we just weren't looking at the right time.Up with the sun since we were out in the open. Short hike to the road for resupply attempt number two.Pretty quick hitch into town. Paul fit all of us in his car and took us straight to the grocery store. Bought our stuff and had a breakfast of a box of little Debbie's and an apple on the lawn furniture outside the store. Were finishing up when the manager kicked us out. Just before we left, Paul showed up at the store and said he could take us back to the trail. Easiest hitch ever.Back on the trail with heavy packs to Duncannon. We came upon the original Washington Monument. It was built by the citizens of Boonsboro and reconstructed by the CCC. Those guys get around. Got pictures with it and basked in its glory for a while. Its really cool how the trail goes by so many historic places.Some more flat trail until we crossed I-70. There was a footbridge and everything for this one. Always nice not crossing under one with traffic blazing by you.Hit up a shelter for some privy bombing and a break from the sun. The shade on the trail from the trees is welcome, but they hold in some humidity.Stopped by Annapolis Rocks for lunch. High rocky outcrop. Ate with my legs dangling off a high cliff. Can't complain about that.Flat and rocky trail for the rest of the day. Some ups and downs but we were moving good despite the rocks.Came to a shelter with 5 miles left and took a break. Looked around some and found a jar of 'shine. Mostly empty and we thought it would be better if we didn't try it. Smelled like everclear. Probably corn whiskey.Got to the shelter and a sectioner was here. A little later a ridgerunner arrived - Erik. Good conversation and we stayed up past hiker midnight. Almost done with MD. Tomorrow.
Date: 2008-05-08
From: devil's racecourse shelter

To: quarry gap shelter
Miles today: 25.4
Weather: light rain

It rained last night while we were sleeping, and luckily the roof didn't leak over me. TB and Stovie weren't as lucky. The sectioner was a loud snorer. Always bothers me a little, one person keeping the entire shelter awake.Late start because we were being lazy since it was raining early. Got to the trailhead at about 8:15. Rocks were a relatively constant theme today. Not all the time, but large amounts in segments.Took a blue-blazed loop to an overlook. Also a hang glider launch point. That would be so much fun, along with sky diving. Another time.Rocky downhill, we almost ate it on the wet rocks a few times. I pretty much slipped and skied down some rocks but managed to stay upright.We came to Pen-Mar Park; the name makes sense, think about it. The facilities were closed, but a nice overlook.On a couple more tenths across the railroad tracks and to a beautiful sign: Mason-Dixon Line MD/PA. Woot, I'm finally in the north and making progress. I'm in PA. We whistled Dixie {I've taught myself to whistle on the trail} because it seemed appropriate, and Hummus was looking forward to it. From here forward, we will be traveling the Appalashun Trail instead of the Appalachin Trail.Looking back we could have done the Maryland Challenge. It was an easy state, but we could have hurt ourselves and it wasn't really worth it.We did some booking for the rest of the day, though we took plenty of breaks, probably between 2 and 3 hours worth for the day. Lazy days are awesome, and we can get away with it more with this flat terrain.We leap frogged with Strides for a while today but he stopped short.Got to the shelter, and as I suspected we finally caught up with BareFodder and Brakeman and Grasshopper. Really nice to talk to them again. We've been chasing BareFodder for more than 700 miles trying to catch back up with him. He was 10 days up in Hot Springs and it took this long to catch him. Not bad for a 70 year old. Had a good time and talked a bunch.The shelter is amazing. Two sleeping rooms connected by a pavilion of sorts for cooking. Stream directed in front of the shelter for water and a bear box. There's even flowers in pots and a small garden. We picked the right spot to stop tonight.Came across some rhododendrons again today. It had been a while but they are still nowhere close to flowering. Oh well, probably won't get to see them flower. Good day and a nice night.
Date: 2008-05-10
From: pine grove furnace state park

To: alec kennedy shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: light rain

Slept well last night. Woke up a little late to the sound of rain again.Started the process of throwing all the gear back into the pack.I bought a box of pancake mix for breakfast. We had an assembly line going. BH was cooking the pancakes using tons of butter. He was making them pan-size. They were absolutely infused with butter, we used over a tub for the batch. We buttered them up and added liberal amounts of syrup, and it was very good. Filling too.Cleaned up and dawdled to try to let the rain stop. Finished boxing up my stuff to have BH mail home.Bad Hummus is officially off the trail. He was only planning on going to this point this year and finishing next year. We said our good byes. Very sad to see him go after hiking with him for the last 5 or 6 weeks. We are around each other 24/7 out here, so it will be weird to go on without him. Good luck at Med School Hummus.Started around 10 but we weren't going far today. Stopped to take pictures at the half way sign to make it official. Flat for most of the day until we got towards the end.There were a couple bumps at the end of the day. At the top there were larger boulders and rock piles. The trail took a ridiculous and useless route around and through them. There were arrows painted all over the rocks showing us where to go. At one point we saw a white blaze about 20 feet away straight in front of us, but the trail wanted us to go back through the boulder some more. We skipped that and cursed the trail blazers.Stovie decided that the trail was blazed in this section by someone with a can of spray paint and a case of Steel Reserve. TB and I agreed.Totally stealthed Barefodder. We caught him and snuck up behind him and got within a couple inches before he spun around and was startled. I'm sure he will get us back.More of the same to the shelter. Got in really early and relaxed. Not much else. This could be our last night with Barefodder. We are going farther than he is tomorrow. May never see him again, sad how that happens. Fun hiking with him and he is very good company.
Date: 2008-05-11
From: alec kennedy shelter

To: cove mountain shelter
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: overcast clouds

It got cold last night, about 40 degrees. A great first night to have my summer bag. I was a little chilly, but I made it alright thanks to my thermals and liner. Should work alright until I swap back for the Whites.Up and out with no breakfast because we were planning on hitting a restaurant in Boiling Springs four miles up the trail.There were some sinkholes on the way in. We had seen some before, but here there were a lot of them, six in one hundred yard section of trail. I think I recall there was some coal mining in this area. Wonder if that was the cause or if there are caves down there.We finished the hills and did some field walking the last couple miles into town. We discovered to our dismay that the only restaurant that served breakfast was closed today, and our only option was the gas station convenience store. Well, better than nothing. A foot long sub, cinnamon roll, and half gallon of sweet tea later we were ready to hit the Cumberland Valley. We said goodbye to Barefodder because we presumed this would be the last time we saw him and hit the trail.The trail across the Cumberland Valley looked flat on the elevation profile. Turns out it was, and some really easy walking. Skirted a lot of farm fields and cow pastures. Made good time. We also crossed the PA Turnpike, US 11, and I-81 once again.We decided we were going to experiment with a new method of weather forecasting explained to us by Biscuit since the weatherman seems to be high while making the forecast. When you see cows, the chance of rain is proportional to the number of cows laying down. Well, there were lots of cows laying down, and it looked like rain so we assumed rain was on the way.We crossed the valley and reached the other side after crossing a river. Of course there are mountains on the far side of the valley so we climbed them. In the middle of nowhere we came across an old car that was flipped and wrecked. Looked like it had been there for years. No roads, just sitting there on the side of the mountain.Higher up the mountain we came across what I think is our first view in PA. We were able to gaze out across the Cumberland Valley and see the mountains on the other side in a haze. We were there four or five hours ago.Another valley crossing and some ridge running and we came to our shelter. Got a little rocky the last few miles but it didn't really slow us down much.Lots of warnings about porcupines at this shelter, and lots of signs of them attacking the shelter. We are armed with lights, cameras, rocks, and trekking poles. We will see how it goes.As we were finishing up dinner, who should roll up but Barefodder. He had missed the turnoff to the last shelter so he kept going and arrived here. Great to see him here and we will probably have another couple nights with him now.Started raining shortly after we got to the shelter. I guess the cows were right. The weatherman said 1-2 inches of rain tonight. We'll see if he's smoking again.
Date: 2008-05-13
From: peter's mountain shelter

To: william penn shelter
Miles today: 30.8
Weather: few clouds

I'm exhausted, so this will be short.It only hit 45 last night and I was comfortable in my bag. I guess that is the rating of the bag, with my liner and tights on. Slept well, and got up early to get an early start.Said our possibly final good-byes to Barefodder once again. I think that is the third time for me. Oh well, We don't mind him showing up.Blue skies this morning. Its nice to see the sun again. The rocks were still slippery, and we had to cross a fair number of them. As TB and I were crossing some slabs, he ate it. Fell face first and was sprawled out on the ground. He was alright, so we got a good laugh.Got off Peter's mountain and transferred to the next ridge. The climb up was on rocks. No dirt, just climbing up rocks. When we got to the top, there was apparently some military fighter jet exercises going on. Lots of flybys maybe a thousand feet overhead. Lots of noise too, sounded as if they may have had one of those mock carrier decks nearby. TB thinks the planes were Warthogs. Two engines on top of the wings, fixed wing, two vertical rudders on the tail.There was about ten miles of no landmarks, though we are pretty good at judging distance by time by now. Passed some old piles of slate, and later learned this used to be a big coal mining area. Took lunch by a creek. 17.5 miles before lunch. That's a first.Hiked on and crossed some roads. Went under I-81 once again. We then hit a sadistic climb. It was just about 25 miles in and it was steep and rocky. The sun was trying its hardest to stop our ascent, but we made it and separated along the way. The top of the hill greeted us with rocks aplenty. Stovie startled a rat snake sunning on the trail. It was literally around 6 feet. The largest snake I've seen in the wild.By this time we were all tired and out of water. The rocks were killing us and we just wanted to be done. We couldn't duck out early because we were on a ridge and there was no water.The rocks got worse, like crossing a rock slide for a couple miles. My feet hated me. I was frustrated and sat down in the middle of the trail. TB came along and we resumed hiking.Eventually made it to the shelter. We were encompassed in joy when we saw the sign for it. When we arrived, Stovie was laying on his mat in the fetal position whimpering. We all immediately agreed that this was our first and definitely last 30+ mile day. We did it, but it almost claimed us.Sore, tired, thirsty, hungry, glad to be done at the end of the day.
Date: 2008-05-14
From: william penn shelter

To: eagle's nest shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Surprisingly I didn't sleep well last night. Still a little sore this morning, but nothing unusual. Haven't felt my feet for a couple months.We slept in, no hurry today, low miles. Finally made it to the trail at 8:30.The good thing about today is we stayed on the same ridge for the entire day. This means that the trail was essentially flat {a four letter word out here} the entire day. The downside was there were lots of rocks.Stopped by the first shelter because it was supposed to be great. Was pretty nice, a domed skylight and fully enclosed. The solar shower wasn't cranking yet unfortunately. Dawdled a bunch.A couple meh views today, just wide expanses across the valley. Not much to say. Flat and rocky. That was today.We got into the shelter really early because of the short day and it was pretty much full already. Its supposed to rain so we will fit 8 of us in there and its designed for 6. Got some good info on the trail ahead from a southbounder.
Date: 2008-05-16
From: port clinton, PA

To: eckville shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: moderate rain

As the weatherman predicted, it started raining last night around midnight. It was still raining hard this morning, and we didn't want to get up. Headed to the breakfast place again and tried the Big Big Sampler breakfast. Lots of goodness like yesterday, and I think this one had more food.We were soaked before we even hit the trail. Crossed the river and headed back into the hills. Rainy and windy all day today. The wind was gusty at times, especially when we were at the top of the hills. Almost moved me a couple times.Did some ups and downs and came to a high pile of rocks the trail went right over. It led to a high overlook and the wind and rain became ferocious. Couldn't see a thing off the overlook while being battered by the weather, so I shouted insults at the storm.Cruised on. We didn't really stop the entire day. Never took our packs off. 15.2 miles in less than five hours. Good trudging weather, and we did well on the rocks too, noone fell.We got to the shelter. It was like an old shed behind a caretaker's house. The shelter had lights, electricity, flush toilets, running water, was fully enclosed, and was dry. Got inside and shed our wet gear and got into our dry stuff. In really early, but it was a good day to get out of the weather and chill. There was a pack explosion in the shelter and there is gear hanging from every nail and clothes line in the place. Nice place.
Date: 2008-05-17
From: eckville shelter

To: palmerton, pa
Miles today: 25.1

Well, it finally cleared up last night, the total rainfall for the day was 1.5 inches last night before it even stopped {there was a rain gauge at the shelter}. The ground was still saturated though and all the wet weather streams were running.Only climb of the day was the one up out of the shelter. I could really get used to this PA terrain.The highlight of the day came early. We were just cruising down the trail and TB was in the lead. He was just coming to a tree when a bobcat darted out from a hole in it and bounded across the forest. It happened really quickly, no time for cameras, and TB about added a few pounds to his pants. It was incredible to see a bobcat. They are very shy animals, and aren't often seen in the wild. One hiker we talked to that has been an outdoors person her entire life has only seen one. Very exciting.Flat and rocky at times terrain. Easy rolling. As we moved along, we came to a lot of weekenders and dogs. At one point I was leading and two german shepherds took off towards me. Luckily they rushed past. Most people with dogs out here stop and hold them as we pass, but plenty are irresponsible like that.We passed a family before lunch, said the usual hellos and continued on. About five miles later we heard a whistle and shouting for us to stop. It was the same family and they had taken their car ahead to catch us. They told us that they should have given us their extra food when we first saw them, but weren't thinking. They proceeded to give us a ton of snack food, literally throwing food at us. Not often I get to shower in food. We talked a bit and thanked them and returned to the trail.The weekenders were petering off because the sky was darkening once again. Passed lots of blueberry bushes but way too early. Got to the end of the hill and headed down to Lehigh Gap and the Lehigh River.We got there and crossed the river and the road. We ran across the road ahead of some cars and when we got to the other side we began to extend our arms for a hitch. I literally didn't even get my arm fully out before a truck pulled over and offered us a ride; in the cab even {8 days without a shower, we smelled good}.The driver took us into town and gave us a tour. He dropped us at the police station and called the cops so we could check into the jail for the night. Free hostel. Turns out it is like a city building with showers, bathroom, and bunks. Free too. Can't beat that.Ate dinner did laundry and took a long hot shower and washed the best we could with hand soap. Chilled and went to bed.