morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-06-23
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Mohican Outdoor Center, NJ
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 102Start: DWGFinish: Mohican Outdoor CenterMileage: 10.5Weather: goodI had a good bit of errands to complete in the morning... not my favorite thing to do. My pocketmail device broke the night before, so I had to call those guys; PA destroyed my shoes, so I called those guys as well. Cell phones are nice because pay phones eat up the minutes on your phone card incredibly fast. I ate breakfast at the bakery and had some lunch there as well.It was a nice day to sit around and, while sitting around, Yardsale and I heard about a dinner at the church that night - hikers invited. After much indecision, we decided to stick around and hike out that night. The dinner was amazing and I had to practice great discipline not to gorge myself before we went hiking. We left at 7pm and soon crossed into New Jersey. This was my first time stepping foot in this state as it will be for all of the states north of here. I pulled ahead of Yardsale but soon had to answer nature's call. While off in the woods, I heard a large animal and looked to see a bear about fifty feet from me. I promptly finished my business and creeped back to the trail. Yardsale arrived and we watched the bear play in the low bushes for quite a few minutes before he wandered out of sight.Before dark, we passed Sunfish Pond which was beautiful. I wanted to go swimming, but we had hiking to do. The night hiking was very frustrating as my headlamp batteries were low and I kept tripping over rocks. We got into the place late and I slept great.
Date: 2005-06-24
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Branchville, NJ
Miles today: 17.9

Day 103Start: Mohican Outdoor CenterFinish: Branchville, NJMileage: 17.9Weather: hotYardsale and I were moving slow today, but we had to get to Branchville to meet Yardsale's Dad and brother-in-law. Actually, I didn't have to get there but I thought it would be nice to meet some of Yardsale's family. Shawn caught up to us after seven miles at a water pump that provided copper-tasting water. Yardsale and I took an unmarked side trail to a beautiful pond and an old broken down summer camp. Hopefully the camp didn't close due to pollution in the pond, because we swam there for quite a while. We caught back up to Shawn at Brink Road Shelter after spotting our first porcupine of the trip. Those guys can move pretty fast when they feel threatened. The shelter was overrun with mosquitoes, so we didn't stay long.We went to the road and called the motel to come pick us up.While taking a shower, Yardsale found a "bullseye" on his right hip. This distinctive rash is a sure sign of bacterial infection from a tick that, when left untreated, will lead to Lyme Disease. It was certainly by God's grace that Yardsale found this when he did so that we could get to the hospital that night after his Dad arrived. So within the next hour, we were sitting in the waiting room of the ER while Yardsale was being treated. While he was being treated, a nurse came out and called me back to see Yardsale. I was confused as to why he would want to see me instead of his Dad, but it turned out that the nurse was a climber and was moving to my area soon. He just wanted some information on the climbing in NC.We got back late and went to bed. The positive surprise of the day is that Yardsale's dad had an extra ticket to the Red Sox vs. Phillies game that they were going to the next day and I was now invited. Talk about uncommon trail magic.
Date: 2005-06-25
From: Branchville, NJ

To: Branchville, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

Day 104Start: Branchville, NJFinish: Branchville, NJMileage: 0.0Weather: hotWe woke up fairly early so that we could get to the game on time. We stopped for breakfast at this diner that seemed to be constructed exclusively of chrome; but the food was good. I fell asleep during the car ride to Philly, but there was apparently some traffic and we had a difficult time finding the stadium.Once we found our way we met up with Rick's (Yardsale's Dad's cousin), her husband and their friends. I haven't been to a MLB game since August of 2002 when my Dad and I stopped in St. Louis on our way back from Colorado to watch the Cards beat the Expos. So this was a real treat. The game went well (Sox won) and I think there were more Sox fans there than Phillies fans.After the game, we went back to Ray and Joanie's (Rick's cousin's) house for dinner and to spend the night. The food was great and I enjoyed getting to meet some of Yardsale's extended family.
Date: 2005-06-26
From: Branchville, NJ

To: Rutherford Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

6/26s: Branchville, NJf: Rutherford Shelterm: 11.7w: very hotWe had breakfast at Ray and Joanie's house before heading back to the trail. Ididn't sleep during the car ride this time and realized that it was a bit of ahaul, even without traffic. We stopped for lunch on the way back at the samechrome diner that we had eaten breakfast at the morning before. I guess we'reattracted to shinny objects, but the food was once again good. We started hiking during the hottest part of the day and it was a very hot day. We met a southbound section hiker on Sunrise Mountain who had an incrediblynegative attitude. I almost laughed at his surly reaction to my telling himthat a group of Boy Scouts were waiting for him at the shelter he planned onsleeping in that night. We hiked on to find tons of water trail magic pastMashapacong Shelter. We arrived at Rutherford shelter around dusk to the excitement of 122,000,000hungry mosquitos. A couple of people were already in their tent and one guy wasin the shelter covered with bug netting. I wasted no time getting into myhammock but was unable to sleep very well as the mosquitos were buzzing aroundmy head all night long.
Date: 2005-06-27
From: Rutherford Shelter

To: Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 23.2

6/27s: Rutherford Shelterf: Vernon, NJm: 23.2w: hot, humidWe hiked past the trail to Highpoint Monument inadvertantly and only saw it froma distance. But thatwasok with me since we had a good bit of miles to do today. Yardsale and I took a really nice break sat the secret shelter where I had awarm outside shower that was very relaxing. We experienced some really nicehiking today on boardwalks and through farms. I saw Quarter-of-the-Way for thefirst time since Kincora Hostel in TN. He was struggling with an injury anddidn't know how much longer he'd be on the trail. We also saw Shadow at thelast shelter before town.In town, we stopped by the Methodist Church Hostel where we met Thunder andHot-n-Sweaty. Thunder was hurt and had been there several days and Hot-n-Sweatywas getting off the trail for a few days to visit with family. We didn't wantto pay for the hostel so we went over to the fire station pavilion and sleptthere to the sound of lots of rain.
Date: 2005-06-28
From: Vernon, NJ

To: Wawayanda Shelter
Miles today: 5.3
Weather: light rain

6/28s: Vernon, NJf: Wawayanda Shelterm: 5.3w: am rain, pm sunIt rained into the morning, but stopped after I woke up. We hung out at thehostel for a while and tried to figure out how to spend the weekend in NYC. Iprimarily wanted to go to church at Redeemer Presbyterian (I've listened totheir pastor on CD quite a bit) but was interested in sight-seeing as well. Wewern't able to work out an inexpensive overnight trip, so we dropped the ideaand went about our normal town chores. Yardsale and I bought a tray of lazagnaand a half gallon of ice cream for a late lunch.I left town late and was greeted with a pretty big climb. The view at the topwas somewhat rewarding, however, and I pushed on to the shelter, arriving afterdark. Two people were in the shelter. I pitched my hammmock and slept like arock.
Date: 2005-06-29
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

6/29s: Wawayanda Shelterf: Wildcat Shelterm: 12.0w: torrential downpourI woke up to the sound of a person (who I later found out to be Tri-guy) packingup his stuff, but I quickly fell back asleep. I woke up again later and piddledaroundbefore Yardsale woke up. Just about the time we were ready to hike therain began to fall. So we stayed in the shelter and read for quite some time. By the time the rain subsided and we began hiking it was 1:15 in the afternoon;we must have slept in later than we thought.Our attempt to outsmart the rain was unsuccessful as the thunderstorm resumedwithin an hour after we started hiking. The rain did not quit at all this timefor the majority of the day. There were several sections of significant sizewhere the trail strongly resembled a river, and we were often hiking throughankle-deep water.The worst part about today's thunderstorms is that the trail took us overseveral exposed ridge sections. Fortunately, each time one of these sectionemerdged the oscelating thunder and lightening seemed to be at its most distantpoint. I thanked God for such timing.We crossed into New York (my first time ever in the state, as it has been andwill be from NJ to ME) on one of the previously-mentioned exposed ridges andchecked out the trail register for familiar names and to sign it ourselves. Wesnapped a couple of photos pretty quickly as the storm was blowing back in andwe wanted to get under tree cover. New York greets hikers with some immediateups and downs, which I did not consider too welcome on this already exhaustingsoggy day. To top things off, Yardsale was attacked (sort of) by an owl towardthe end of the day - an expected NY welcome.We arrived at the shelter to find Shadow (the other mysterious shelter dwellerfrom the night before) and Chessmaster Jay, a seemingly reclusive fellow stowedaway in his tent. I tried to set up my hammock in the shelter to no avail and,thus, slept in the hammock outside.
Date: 2005-06-30
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Black Mountain
Miles today: 21.0

6/30s: Wildcat Shelterf: Black Mountainm: 21.0w: overcastChessmaster Jay emerdged a bit more this morning and hung out with Yardsale andI as we slowly got ready for hiking. Throughout the day's hike, we discovered afew things about the AT in NY. First of all, there are quite a few ups anddowns; in fact, we basicly were going up and down all day long. Secondly, thereare very few views from any of the tops of these climbs which makes them prettyfrustrating. Finally, we discovered that while the trail passes through somebeautiful landscape, the trail itself is the most poorly maintained section todate. The erosion is a mess and the "trail" is as wide as ten yards in sectionsthat were obviously once a simple narrow footpath.The beautiful landscape climaxed for the day in Harriman State Park, a majesticsetting composed of mature oak forest, uniform green grass and giant boulders. The highlite of the park was certainly swimming in a pristine pond (nameunknown) for an afternoon break. The only downside to the pond was that I cameout with a couple leeches on my feet.I missed this sighting, but both Yardsale and Shadow saw the message "DuBois ishere" written in the sand. I recieved an email from DuBois in Vernon, NJ andtried to call him, but his brother had already droped him off at the bus stationto go back to the trail. I was excited to see that he was apparently close by.Yardsale and I ate dinner at Lake Tiorati around dusk before pushing on to thenext shelter. We night hiked what was only supposed to be a four mile section,but it felt much longer. When we reached the summit of what we discovered to beBlack Mountain, we realized that we had walked right past the stone shelter byalmost two miles. We were able to set up camp on top of the mountain, and wewent to slep hoping the heavy winds didn't blow in more thunderstorms.
Date: 2005-07-01
From: Black Mountain

To: Graymor Friary
Miles today: 13.8

7/1s: Black Mountainf: Graymor Friarym: 13.8w: am clouds, pm thunderstormsWe got a pretty early start this morning, knowing that we had the excitement ofa zoo and possible free dinner before us. When we reached Bear Mountain StatePark, a hundred yard section of the trail was closed for the park's fireworkshow. I regettably got into a little argument with the guy in charge about hisright to close a portion of a National Scenic Trail without proper concent, butit was to no avail. I picked up my new pair of shoes at Lookout Lodge and metYardsale at the Trailside Zoo. The entire zoo was neat, but the highlite wascertainly the river otter who put on quite an aqua-gymnastic show for Yardsaleand me. Passing by the black bear cage marked the lowest elevation on thetrail.Yardsale called his parents to have them look up some information about trainsinto NYC (we were now planning on going after all) and then we crossed themighty Hudson River via the Bear Mountain bridge. Then I realized that FortMontgomery was on the south side of the bridge so I crossed it again. Afterwalking a couple miles to and from town to send off my old shoes and pick upsome mail, I crossed the bridge for a third and final time and was off...finally.I moved pretty quickly over the next few miles and stopped only to pick someChicken Mushroom for dinner. I arrived at the friary along with Grasshopper(former thru-hiker), certainly too late for the dinner. However, I was greetedby DuBois, Steady Step, Bams and Matt. It seems that the fast hiking paid offbecause within thirty minutes ofmy arrival the sky opened up and dropped tons ofrain. Teach (fast hiker) and his girlfriend came in soaking wet.I ate raman and buttered Chicken Mushroom, but the meal did not sit well. I gotout of my hammock pretty soon after I got in and vomitted quite a few times. Ifelt much better after doing so, but I was not looking forward to waking upearly to go to NYC in the morning.
Date: 2005-07-02
From: Graymor Friary

To: Graymor Friary
Miles today: 0.0

7/2s: Graymor Friaryf: Graymor Friarym: 0.0w: niceYardsale woke me up really early to go to NYC. We dropped off our backpackswith a guy in the friary and started walking toward Peekskill. It was aboutafive mile walk into town and it was not fun. I was not excited about this tripat all; since we wern't going to be able to go to a worship service (my originalreason for wanting to go), I saw no point in going into this big city. But Iwas willing to give it a shot.Yardsale went to an ATM and I made some calls from the train station. Mybrother was getting home from Australia this weekend and today was his birthday,so I wanted to talk with him. No such luck. But I did talk with my friendPaige until I had to hang up because the train was leaving. I was glad to hearthat her health is pretty much back to normal.We arrived at Grand Central Station to the expected congestion of people At theinformation desk, we overheard a guy asking how to get out of NY. It seemedthat the man had never left the state (or perhaps even the city) in his life. As we walked around that day, I realized how such could easily be possible.First we went to the Metro. Museum of Art. On the way, we saw a dwarf (I'm toldthat this is the PC term) impersonate Michael Jackson in the subway. I'll neverhear "Beat It" the same way again. We spent quite a bit of time in the Metchecking out only a few of the many exhibits. we marvled at the multitude ofcraftmenship held within that one building. Next we went to Ground Zero whichwas a pretty sobering experience. From there, we went looked at the Statue ofLiberty from the shore (too expensive to take the ferry). Then we went toChinatown where I bought a hat and we ate dinner. We did some grocery shoppingand ate ice cream as it got dark. Once it was dark, we went to Time Squarewhere there were more lights and people than I've ever seen. Throughout the day,I was just amazed by the fact that there were so many people in every part ofthis city. While I didn't dislike the presence of so many people, I did thankGod for the trail.We went back to Grand Central Station and took the train back to Peekskill atmidnight. We then took a taxi back to the friary instead of walking. We wentto sleep late, but I was glad for sleep.
Date: 2005-07-03
From: Graymor Friary

To: NY 301 / Canopus Lake
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

7/3s: Graymor Friaryf: NY 301 / Canopus Lakem: 11.9w: niceI didn't get much sleep since we had gotten in so late and since some guy wasmaking a lot of noise while setting up for a soccer game early in the morning. Before long, not a few Hispanic men were all warming up for the soccer game,making even more noise than before. So I got up and met the Pokie Puppies andanother couple of section hikers. Pied Piper was also there which was a treat. We all sat around and watched soccer for a while before we started hiking.The weather was pretty nice for hiking today - only a little warm. Yardsale andI took a long break pretty early on during which I read and Yardsale fellasleep. We were moving pretty slow today due to our hectic zero day and overalllack of sleep. The terrain was pretty nice though and lacked some of thepainful ups and downs that NY had been providing earlier. There were quite afew day hikers today enjoying their nation's independence. Most seemed tocelebrate freedom within half mile from a major road crossing, so we were ableto determine our location based on the DHD (Day Hiker Density) scale.Yardsale had this crazy idea to stay at Canopus Lake State Park, where they"sometimes reserve a camping spot for thru-hikers". I didn't like the sound ofthis since it was the busiest car camping weekend of the year and the park couldprobably charge $10,000 for the site. Plus, the park camping area was a mileoff the trail and hitch-hiking is illegal (not to mention impossible) in NY. But we went anyways.The park did still have their spot for thru-hikers and they probably always willsince it isn't one of their normal spots but just a corner of woods next to thehighway. But after a mile of off-trail walking, we were glad to take it. Yardsale and I walked around the park looking at everyone's fourth of Julyfeasts and trying to look helpless, harmless, hopeless, homeless and hungry (the5 "H"'s of yogi-ing). No luck. But we were able to talk with a woman and heryoung daughter who were both interested in thru-hiking. The two seemed verythankful for the information and, despite our still empty stomachs, we realizedthat it is more blessed to give than to recieve.We went back to the campsite to find the Pokie Puppies setting up shop. We ateour normal hiker food and hung out for a while before going to sleep.
Date: 2005-07-04
From: NY 301 / Canopus Lake

To: Grape Hollow Rd.
Miles today: 13.5

7/4s: NY 301 / Canopus Lakef: Grape Hollow Rd.m: 13.5w: goodWe got moving at a decent hour and were soon immersed in the croud of folks onthe trail for July 4th. Really, there were only a handful of day hikers, but itfelt like a lot. One of them considered himself the local expert and told methat I was getting pretty close. I asked him what I was getting close to and hetold me "the overlook.. the thing you've been doing all the work for." I toldhim that I'd worked harder than he knew, and he looked at me with a confusedexpression. This wasn't the first time I'd been mistaken for a day hiker.When we did reach the overlook, we saw that the real crowds were directly belowus, and for good reason. About two hundred feet below the overlook was theCanopus Lake swimming area. We took a faint trail down to the lake and swam forabout half an hour before visiting the snack bar for some rediculouslyover-priced ice cream.We continued on to RPH shelter where we took a pretty sizable break. There Icalled my brother Chris from a cell phone that was left in the shelter forhikers' use. It was nice to talk to him since I haven't been able to do sosince I started on this trip. The battery died while I was talking to him, butit was nice while it lasted.Both Yardsale and I were low on food, so we planned on stopping at a storeduring the day. However, we met a jogger (Mary) who let us know that the storewas probably closed for the day. Mary offered to drive us somewhere for food ifthe store was closed and she gave us directions to her house. Sure enough, theplace was closed and we walked through the most typical upper-middle classneighborhood that I've seen on the hike to get to Mary's house. Mary hooked usup; she resupplied us directly out of her pantry and gave us enough food to getto Pawling.After talking with Mary for a while, she gave us a ride back to the trail(twice, actually, since I forgot my water bottle the first time).We walked north for a while before finding a really nice camping spot on a hillto the side of the trail. The breeze was blowing beautifully and I fell asleepto the sound of distant fireworks.
Date: 2005-07-05
From: Grape Hollow Rd.

To: Pawling, NY
Miles today: 10.8

7/5s: Grape Hollow Rd.f: Pawling, NYm: 10.8w: normalWe hung around the campsite for a while practicing killing tree stumps with ourtrekking poles. This survival skill is not necessary for hiking the AT, but itcomes in handy when trying to kill rabbits, tree stumps or time. The hiking forthe day proved to be pretty easy and I was glad to see that the trail in thispart of NY is better maintained than the trail in southern NY.We stopped at Nuclear Lake and I even dared to go for a swim. Yardsale fellaslep on the waterfront and I speared an empty peanut butter jar with mytrekking pole while he slept.After meeting a strange woman in the Telephone Pioneer Shelter, we hiked to theroad that leads into Pawling. Just before the road, I caught a gardner snakeand tried to get Yardsale to touch it (in hopes that it would help him overcomehis great fear of the creatures), but he wouldn't.We had a hard time hitching into town and I finally had to start walking so thatI would be able to make it to the post office before it closed. Shortly after Istarted walking, a car that had picked Yardsale up picked me up as well. Wewent to the post office and then to a very expensive pizza shop. The pizzawasn't even that good but the rerun of Family Feud playing on the TV was aclassic. The pizza purchase was also opportune because it enabled us to meetthese nice young citizens who took us to the next town to resupply (Pawlingdidn't have much) and then to the town park where we planned on camping for thenight. I talked with my Dad on the phone for a while and then set up my hammockin the pavillion and went to sleep.
Date: 2005-07-06
From: Pawling, NY

To: Ten-mile River, CT
Miles today: 12.7

7/6Day: 117Start: Pawling, NYFinish: Ten-mile RiverMileage: 12.7Weather: some rainI had quite a few chores that kept me from leaving town, but we got a hitch easier when we did leave. We started hiking next to the Dover Oak (largest oak tree on the trail) and soon were sifting our way through five foot high grass that covered the trail.Shortly into the day's hike, it began to rain pretty heavily. The rain did not last long and we were essentially dry by the first shelter out of town. There we saw Pied Piper and his friend Ulga who will be hiking with him for the rest of July. They were done for the day as Ulga was still breaking herself in. The water at the shelter was not of the highest quality, nor did we find good water the rest of the day.We got into Connecticut late in the afternoon and immediately appreciated the state's beautiful trail signs. Before long we got to the Ten-mile River where we found a beautiful campsite next to the river. We saw Tripp and Matt there along with a southbounder who was experiencing her first night on the trail. I went to sleep after watching an amazing display of fireflies.