morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-09-23
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Hosner Mtn. Rd.
Miles today: 22.1

Am I boring everyone to tears yet?? Y¢all still with me!? Awoke at 7:30 to dark skies- so dark that I actually thought it was the middle of the night still. Hurriedly packed up realizing that 25 miles would be tough- even if it stayed light past 6:30 pm. Having a nice evening with Mr. Natural and Buddha gave me the attitude adjustment I needed to be my normal positive self again. Despite the rain I LOVED this morning¢s hike across pastures with cows looking at me as though I were a crazy person. Hit Pioneer Telephone Shelter for lunch where I hoped to duck out of the sprinkles for a minute. When I got there though there was a guy/girl sleeping on the picnic table underneath the shelter overhang. No one was in the shelter, mind you., and in truth this REALLY pissed me off but I tried to reason that he/she was sick or something and that there MUST be a good reason that they were sleeping on the table. I backtracked to the bridge before the shelter where I ate lunch in the rain next to a nice stream.        Ran into a ¢city dwelling¢ couple Jeff and Amy after lunch who were moving along at thru-hiker speed- most impressive! I cruised along at a pretty good clip, singing, listening to tunes, and stopping only 1 more time at Morgan Hill Shelter for water(the most mineralish water, ever!) At Morgan Hill I began to really doubt that I¢d make RPH shelter until an AMC group convinced me otherwise. All I really wanted was a place to camp with water but according to that data book there was no such place until RPH. I began to run the last 9 miles finishing the first 4 in about 45 minutes. Suddenly around 6pm when I still had 3 miles left I came across a stream crossing at Hosner Mtn. Rd Hmmm¢¦ camp here or end up at RPH in the dark. I¢m definitely not a fan of the at dusk hike. My eyesight sucks but my friend Richard said, ¢You should never wear those glasses again.¢ And so, I haven¢t, cause I trust him. Anyhow, I set up camp and had the BIGGEST pot of wheat pasta with fresh garlic and olive oil ever! It was yum!
Date: 2006-09-24
From: Hosner Mtn Rd.

To: Dennytown Rd.
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Again way shy of the 22 miles I¢d planned to go to Graymoor but¢¦here¢s what happened. Went to bed at 7:30 last night. How awesome is that? Slept unbelievably well until 6:30am. It was still dark out but I thought I¢d get an early start on the day. Made a quick stop to sign the register at RPH and then took a second breakfast at Shenandoah Tenting Area, vowing to stay there next time I come through. Texted back and forth for awhile with my friend Jamie, which was nice, made me feel not so alone for a minute. Clouds were rolling in quickly so I figured I¢d better get while the getting¢ was good. The hike through the Canopus Lake area was nice with a mile or so of flat that was built on top of old rock wall. I stopped to cook up some beans for lunch hoping to get enough energy from them to get to Graymoor. At Dennytown Rd. I made yet another stop for water. The faucet was just at the right height to stick myhead under. It felt great to cool off from this crazy humidity. I sat down for a minute and just as I did a man pulled back around. ¢Can I offer you a cold iced tea or a beer?¢ he asked. Um¢¦yeah, like I¢d ever turn down a free beer. Plus, I ONLY had 9 more miles to go to reach Graymoor¢¦pshaw¢¦I laugh at you 9 miles. Until I had a second beer. OK, I¢ll run to the bathroom and then move on. Except that when I returned from the ¢restroom¢ Florida was at the faucet washing his face! I¢d caught him! He was camped just across the street, done for the day at 3pm, and quite frankly, I was too! I quickly set up camp before it started to pour down rain. Florida and I decided to see if Dennytown Rd. lead to any deli¢s¢¦afterall, they don¢t call NY/NJ the deli states for no reason. We waited under the shelter of a trailhead sign in the parking lot, trying to look pathetic, hoping someone would stop. It worked! My beer guy came back and we were able to yogi a ride to the nearest deli (and back) for pizza and beer. The pizza slices were as big as my head¢¦The rain only lasted about 20 minutes, while we were at the deli. Off to bed with me.
Date: 2006-09-26
From: Fort Montgomery

To: Island Pond Outlet
Miles today: 16.9

I give this day a mega thumbs up! Great friggin¢ day. Didn¢t sleep well, of course, never do in town, but awoke excited to get my hike on. Oh and the fact that I got to start my day with coffee and an egg and cheese bagel Sammie didn¢t suck either. Our motel owners brought us right to Bear Mountain Bridge at 9am. The only problem there was that the zoo didn¢t open until 10am. Great. Was this going to be a stupid continuation of yesterdays¢ frustrations? Whatever, so I sat and journaled for an hour. No big deal. We could have walked around the zoo but, it¢s the zoo! At 8 after 10 when no one came by to tell us it was ok to walk through we went ahead and did it anyway. Got some funny pix of the bears.       Now came the climb up Bear Mtn. which I skipped in 01¢ by taking ski trails to connect the dots (trail 1777W, check it out, yo). Got slightly turned around at a road crossing and ended up retro-blazing to the top. Poor Florida followed me. I LOVE the retro blaze so bad! He was likely ready to kill me at this point. The views from the top did not disappoint on such a crystal clear day. I stopped just below the summit on the decent at a rock ledge for an early lunch. Made my way down to and loved the half a mile or so of road walk. Lots of ups and downs today though none were PUDS (pointless ups and downs).       Enjoyed the ridge walks on West Mtn, Black Mtn, and Goshen. Something about having eaten 14,746,297 calories yesterday made hiking today a pure joy. Big groups today at William Brien and Fingerboard shelters. Clearly these kids were from Inner city schools, which I love to see! These kids seemed really psyched to be out hiking. I couldn¢t stay where a group was at this point, too overwhelming for this SOBO. Was very happy to arrive at Fingerboard right at 5 because it meant there was still time to move on.       Had 2 really weird animal experiences today. One was that I was chased by a whitetailed deeer. At first I thought she was just curious but then for real she was running next to me, then stopping and staring, then running again. I think she wanted my salt, but it was creepy. Next I saw what seemed to me to be a grey fox chasing some smaller animal. Is this possible? I thought foxes only were around at night. Am I crazy? Wait, don¢t answer that. It could have been a dog but there were no humans visible anywhere.         Now I am camped out pretty close to a group of guys who have hiked in all of the comforts of home. Thought first of going over and attempting to yogi some food or beer but then realized that I am a single woman, alone. I could lie and say that my friend Florida is on his way but ¢¦.better safe than sorry, I¢ll just stay where I¢m at. Huh. That¢s funny the data book doesn¢t list any roads nearby yet apparently I¢m camped just feet from one. Awesome. That¢s safe. I love hiking alone, I really do, but I have to be careful still and that pisses me off. Hope their radio doesn¢t keep me up all night.      Update: 12:30am and the dudes are still going strong. Jerks. At least they¢re listening to Motown. I¢m starving.
Date: 2006-09-27
From: Island Pond Outlet

To: Long House Creek
Miles today: 20.7

Forced myself up this morning as you can imagine after so little sleep. Stuffed down as many mini wheats as I could before heading out. Remind me not to get the mini-wheats ever again¢¦My hope for the day was a 20 with a stop at the Creamery.        This mornings¢ hike was nice- I again enjoyed the challenge of the ups and downs with the benefit of the rewarding views at the top. I did stop about 2 hours into the day to cram in as many calories as I could spare. I was dragging a bit and was REALLY hoping to get to the Creamery, 13 miles in for my main break.         Fitzgerald Falls was pretty, though narrow and I loved the Lakes Road area-anything flat, I¢ll take it. Both Cat Rocks and the Eastern Pinnacles had nice views. I especially liked that you could look back to Cat Rocks from the Pinnacles. Finally I reached the Creamery- a mere.2 down the road. I got a waffle cone with a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of pumpkin. I was going to go back for more but was talked out of it by Nabor J, who I chatted with on the phone while I ate my ice cream. His logic was that I would then have a major sugar crash.         Oh how right he was, and I didn¢t even go back for round 2. The last 4 miles of the 7 I had left to do for the day Teatree took a break and out came Miss Crankypants. I kept thinking how cool it was the first time they took us up and over slabby rocks with a nice view but did they need to do it 14,683,742 times? And all in 4 miles with 200ft of elevation loss between each slipperyass slab? It¢s too bad I was in that frame of mind because otherwise I am sure I would have appreciated the views and enjoyed the hiking. GD sugar, ruining 4 miles of my day! I have been careful about eating too much sugar this hike because I am beginning to believe that it is the culprit for my long distance hiking weight gain (17 pounds on the PCT, 18 on the AT in 01- true story). I do know when I eat it I crash quickly and must eat more food¢¦HMMmmmm¢¦coincidence?         Thank God I found a decent camp tonight. The mosquitoes are out and but they couldn¢t penetrate the banana suit! HA! Showed them! Tomorrow back into town- Vernon- and then off to meet Northener on Saturday. Lovin¢ makin¢ miles and the time alone¢¦though I do chat with friends on the phone frequently. And my Dad. I am enjoying my Fall on the AT. Now to bed at 7:30. Sweet.
Date: 2006-09-28
From: Long House Creek

To: Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 8.2

¢Don¢t go breakin¢ my heart! I couldn¢t if I tried!¢ I sang cheesily as I hiked hungrily toward Vernon. Food that I hiked in with this time? A box of cous cous. Hungry. ¢Woo Hoo, nobody knows it!¢ I continued. My singing was abruptly interrupted by a loud scuffle off to my right. Apparently I scared someone with my singing. As I looked over 3 bear cubs scattered, leaves flying into the air. ¢Oh so cute! I want to keep one and hug it and carry it in my backpack. ¢ Isaid aloud as if some nonexistant friend would agree with me. They were fuzzy and soft and¢¦hey, wait a minute¢¦if there are 3 cubs¢¦where¢s there¢¦mama, I looked to the other side of the trail, my left. Shit. Suddenly hiking North for a minute doesn¢t seem like such a bad idea. She¢s pissed, even though I tried to reason with her that I wouldn¢t hurt her babies I just wanted to hike South and sing my terrible Elton john song. She crossed the trail over to them and I shouted to move on, that I needed to get to Vernon before I wasted away to nothing. Together they ran over the side of the hill. Whew.Anyone know why the hell there are so many bears in Jersey? I saw more here in 01¢ than anywhere else on the AT. I hiked on grateful to have had the opportunity to see these creatures up close.         My hitch in took little time and dropped me right at the church hostel. This is one of my favorites. $10 gets you a shower w/ towel, soap and shampoo, laundry, internet access and a place to sleep. I quickly made my way through my chores. Fisherman Tom was here and had been for 5 days with a sinus infection. Super nice guy with a great sense of humor. We went for lunch where I had a ginormous salad. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the phone as usual.         Fisherman and I were up late watching Family Guy. Love that show. Hopefully I will awake rested and ready to go- even if it¢s raining. I gotta meet Northerner 20 miles from here at 10am Saturday. Can¢t wait to hike with him! North is not just a friend, he¢s a soundingboard for me. He will allow me to ramble all of these thoughts and worries aloud that have been rolling around my brain for days on end now. And he¢ll tell me ¢No Teatree, you¢re not crazy.¢
Date: 2006-09-29
From: Vernon NJ

To: The Secret Shelter
Miles today: 14.0

Today I thought all day about how lucky I am to be out here doing this. Luckiest girl alive.         Awoke to rain- of course. Walked to breakfast and then to resupply in the pouring rain. When I walked out of the grocery store it was still raining, but the sun was out. Rainbow. Smile. I got packed up but became hungry again so Fisherman Tom and I went back to the restaurant I had left only 2 hours before, this time for lunch.         Hitching out took like 2 minutes and I was hiking by 1pm. What beautiful, amazing trailwork here! There were boardwalks to hike on for miles! I had missed this section in 01¢ because I was stung by a bee. When I got stung I wasn¢t sure what sort of reaction my body would have to it since I am highly allergic. I raced down off of Pochuck Mtn. and straight to a house where a great family, The Tandbergs helped me out. Today I stopped by their house hoping to say hi, but it was pretty clear that no one was around so I left a note. Great people. I truly appreciated their kindness because I was pretty freaked out!        Moved on and eventually took a 40 minute break to decide where I was headed and to lighten my load(aka eat some food!). I don¢t know what crackhead resupplied for me this morning but there is NO way I have enough food for 4ish days. Well 3 and a half really¢¦something will work out. I remembered that the Secret Shelter was coming up and decided that is where I needed to end up for the day because it¢s AWESOME! It¢s a heated cabin that a past thru-hiker built on his land for other thru-hikers.         I just finished watching the sun go down and the sky turn a bright pink. I¢ve got the whole cabin to myself. There were about 6 white tailed deer in the pasture when I arrived. Clear, sky, full of stars now in the crisp Fall night. Yes. True. Luckiest girl alive.
Date: 2006-10-01
From: Brink Rd.

To: I-80 overpass
Miles today: 23.2

It was pouring rain when I woke up-I mean POURING. So I made up a new F-troop rule. It¢s OK to leave town in the rain as long as you hike to another town.       After a run to the bakery North and I caught a cab to Brink Rd. Seeing the roadwalk we had done the night before by vehicle made the walk seem even longer. The rain slowed and then stopped as we got moving. The day ended up being gorgeous and it was wonderful to share it with The Northerner. All of the conversations I¢d had in my head for the past two weeks I finally got to share aloud. Poor North, fortunately he¢s used to it by now. There were quite a few nice views today though my favorite was Sunfish Pond.      We arrived there just as the sun was setting and¢¦ some big ole¢ Thunderheads were rolling in. huh.      The lighting was too cool and we decided there was no way it¢d show up on film as cool. As we reached the northern end of the pond the rain started to fall. We still had 5 miles to go back to North¢s car. We noticed a mother with 2 kids- probably a 3yr old and a 7 yr old that also had that far to go. Oh, did I mention that she also had a puppy to carry with her back as well? ¢¦ And no headlamp¢¦and no raingear? I told North that I didn¢t feel comfortable leaving them. She was carrying the 3yr old on her shoulders and the puppy in her arms and hiking over some pretty slippery rocks. It made me cringe to watch. The 7 yr old slip-slided her way and honestly, they were moving!       Eventually when it got too dark to see w/o a headlamp North gave his to her so that she could see. He also handed over his raingear to the 7 yr old. This rain was so cold that I couldn¢t feel my hands! I worried for their safety in all cotton clothes that had to be soaked!       Around the 2 mile mark we stopped to check on everyone¢s condition. I offered to carry the puppy. Poor thing was shivering! I held it close and talked to it, explaining that everything would be ok(as if this puppy understtod a word I was saying...). Holding the puppy reminded me of carrying my nephews. Made me a little homesick... Even though it was a wet, slippery, shaky puppy it felt good to hold a warm being that close to me.       We made it back to the cars and she thanked us over and over. Turns out she thought the hike was 5 miles round trip- not one way¢¦I decided not to do the bridgewalk into DWG since it was pitch dark and pouring by this time.      North and I went for pizza and I had a Yuengling to celebrate my entrance into PA before heading to the hostel. It was 9pm when I finally showed up there yet Alan(a brand new section hiker) and Kevin (a NOBO!) and I managed to stay up until 2am chatting. I¢m def¢s taking a zero tomorrow. What a fun and exhausting weekend! I wonder how North will be at work tomorrow?!
Date: 2006-10-23
To: An update
Miles today: 0.0

Dear Readers, I just wanted to let you know what is going on. First I should let you know that my journal will be updated from 8/31 until present very soon. I hope that you will return to read the remainder of my adventures as they are posted! On October 12th I hiked into Duncannon PA. From there I attended the Gathering. On the final evening of the Gathering I learned that my Father had taken a turn for the worse. With the help of Jester I manged to make it to Baltimore on Monday the 16th and then caught a flight to St. Louis on the 17th. As I boarded a plane for St. Louis I learned that my Dad had asked to be taken off of life support. He would now breathe on his own for as long as he could. Fortunately he waited for me to get there. I reached his bedside around 11:30 pm. Even though he could no longer respond to me in any way I know that he knew I was there. He passed away at 2:30am...peacefully. Being there was perhaps THE most important moment yet in my life. My Dad loved my very frequent phone calls from the trail. It was as though for a half an hour a day he wasn't fighting cancer at home but instead was out on the trail with me. Saying that I will miss him very, very much is like the understatement of the year. My Dad was always proud of my hiking. The last time I spoke with him he told me to be sure to enjoy every day and well...I intend to.
Date: 2007-10-02
From: DWG

To: DWG
Miles today: 0.0

Note from Teatree: This day to shall be known henceforth as the day of the Tastykakes. I won¢t even try to explain.        Ah! A much needed rest! Not only did I hike 50+ miles in 2 days, I also stayed up last night until 2am-what?! Just before I went to sleep I helped gong show Alan¢s pack. Alan is hiking the section that I just completed in 3 days over a 2 week period of time. Needless to say, he had WAY too much stuff. He¢s new to hiking but seemed pretty giddy over it. His enthusiasm was contagious!        This morning Alan, Kevin and I went to breakfast. After that I kept my day as simple as possible. That is to say that I moved as little as possible and ate as much as possible. Greek salad, grilled cheese, pizza¢¦(not Tastykakes).
Date: 2007-10-03
From: DWG

To: Leroy A. Smith Shelter
Miles today: 20.2

After not a lot of sleep last night I awoke eager to get outta dodge¢¦er uh, Delaware Water Gap. After 1 more breakfast w/ Kevin and Fisherman Tom, I was moto. Although it was quite humid out I sped my way quickly up Mt. Minsi The energy level I have after town food is pretty awesome. The famous Penn. rocks got started after Wolf Rocks ¢ but I only noticed them on occasion. Sure they make you walk like a drunken sailor and sometimes it would be nice just to put my foot flat on the ground, but it didn¢t slow me down too much.         In fact I¢m trying to figure out how I¢m going to take until next Thursday to get to Duncannon to catch a lift to The Gathering. People say- just slow down- but the truth is, I enjoy hiking fast and far. If I weren¢t alone it wouldn¢t be as hard but¢¦ I am alone! Cruising along listening to tunes(I heart you Justin Timberlake!) I made good time to the shelter. I considered getting water and moving on but tomorrow am only headed to Palmerton to get some more food and hopefully I will stay outta the rain.         I hiked down hill to the 2nd spring which was flowing madly with sweet, cold nectar of agua. Man, it¢s hot! I found a beautiful spot just up from the shelter and nestled down in the Fall leaves. Talked to my friend Andy about the final arrangements to finish this year- where? when? I can¢t imagine leaving the trail¢¦
Date: 2007-10-04
From: Leroy A. Smith Shelter

To: Palmerton PA
Miles today: 16.0

Oh so nice to get 10 hours of beautiful, blissful, peaceful sleep- even if it means having a dream about my highschool boyfriend- Ass! Packed up and got moving around 8:20. The miles flew by today and I had done 10 miles by 11am. Slow down, Teatree!       Took a nice lunch and determined that, yes, I do have to go into Palmerton to resupply again. The good news is the free ¢jail¢ hostel at the town burrough. Loved the flat road like section just before the climb down into Lehigh Gap despite being rattled terribly by a Rattler! Easy miles make Teatree smile. I¢d forgotten how treacherous that climb in is. Much easier heading north here, that¢s for sure. Certain spots I had to completely focus or else quickly fall to my death, much like hiking in NH.       Once down safely I decided to do the blue blaze walk into town rather than try to hitch alone. Now on any other hike I¢ve done an extra 2 miles that doesn¢t count would have been out of the question but when you are a woman hiking alone, it¢s only 3pm and you feel up for the extra miles, why not?!       The blue blaze trail into town hikes above Rt 873. It¢s actually pretty interesting because of all of the graffiti and the views didn¢t suck either. Once in town first on the agenda was something to rehydrate with. The heat and humidity had about killed me. Now I know that I in fact overdrank Gatorade once on the PCT- this illness was deemed gatoridosis, but here Gatorade was like the nectar of the Gods.       I checked into the jail hostel- the only one in for the night, showered, in the world¢s strongest shower, which practically tears your skin off, and made my way to the Laundromat. I was STARVING by the time I swapped my banana suit out for my ¢real clothes¢ again. The Palmerton Hotel was a great choice for dinner. I opted for the salad bar and a veggie panini- really good. Of course I had to have a yuengling or 2. Today marks the anniversary of both the completion of my AT hike in 01¢ and the completion of my PCT hike in 03¢.          There were creepy thunderstorms while I tried to fall asleep, alone, in the basement of the old town burrough, which is already creepy enough. Don¢t think about ghosts, don¢t think about ghosts, don¢t think about.....Damnit!
Date: 2007-10-05
From: Palmerton PA

To: PA 309 Blue Mountain Summit
Miles today: 13.4

I was successful in slowing down the hike! It¢s tough to slow down when you¢re alone out here. Here¢s how you do it. Step 1: Start with a big hearty breakfast. Take your time here and be sure to drink at least 3 cups of coffee. Step 2: Stop at the library on your way out of town. Try to window shop as much as possible on your way out of town. Step 3: Don¢t hitch back to the trail, instead hike the 2 mile blueblaze trail back, afterall, it truly is lovely. Step 4: Once you finally make your way back to the trail (1pm!) stop at each shelter that you see. Have an hour lunch. Stop at some of the many views to see the Fall colors and surrounding farmland. Finally, Step 5: Remember there is a restaurant at 309 and stop in for a bite.        Once I got there it was all over. Screeching halt. Lisa and Ken the owners of the restaurant offered to let me camp out back behind the B&B/restaurant. I had a great salad and enjoyed the happy hour beers. I chatted with locals and eventually EVERYONE talked me into staying for tomorrow night¢s bluegrass music. Hey, I said I needed to slow down, right? Lisa and Ken ended up offering me a room in the B&B for FREE!! It has a shower and everything. Crazy! What trail magic!