morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-07-11
From: Kinter View

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: few clouds

An early morning, rise at 5:30, and bring my breakfast to the view. A hiker¢s left a large pile of feces here for me to clean up. I took some time to patch up my feet for the day and before I know it Hot Drinks and Dude come up on me, they¢ve already hiked 3 miles this morning.In 2.5 miles I reach the spot from 2000, the beginning of my ¢Long Night¢. The bear was sleeping in a large white oak ¢ perhaps 18 inch diameter. The distance from the oak to my tent was about 20 feet. After cooking supper and bagging my food I was reading in the tent when I heard the bear descend, ass backwards, reach ground and then head towards me. It was nearly dark and my night was just beginning¢¦ In the end I walked out of his territory, food in my pack and then walked 5 miles to Earl¢s shelter.About .5 miles before PA 325 is a good spring of water and we meet Achilles who¢s just breaking camp. Hot Drinks and Dude lag behind here and I move on. The terrain is easier this side of the road, a network of old roads from mining days. I break for lunch and a nap at the junction of Horse-Shoe Trail. It¢s too hot to be inside a tent but too buggy to just lie out. Still the lie-down helps and it is 9 miles more to Rausch Gap Shelter.My   feet are still healing so I¢m not making miles, but the others aren¢t either. We have a pile up of hikers here because we¢re approaching I-81 area near Swatara Gap. We¢ll all be together tomorrow night as well; the shelter distances make it this way. The 2.6 miles I gained on them yesterday is consumed today. They hiked 18 miles. Nor¢easter and Worn Heels are in the shelter. Nor¢easter is pretty funny and makes a joke about hikers using the water trough to wash their balls; it¢s just the right height. I¢m camping on shattered rock and bits of coal near a kid called Buscemi, very clean-cut for a thru hiker.
Date: 2011-07-12
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: broken clouds

The morning has us hike by the limestone diversion wells that treat the acid water of Rausch Creek to support trout life downstream. I reach Greenpoint School Road and then I road walk for about 3 miles to meet the AT near Swatara Creek. The metal bridge here, made at East Berlin, CT, is a match for the bridge on my street, Aiken Street in Lowell, MA. It¢s hot of course, and there are long distances between water sources, and I make 7 miles in 3 hours. This leaves 10.5 miles for the rest of the day. I think about making a side trip to the store at Lickdale, but few cars on this road, and the shelter tonight has food delivery so I move on. We have a breeze today but I¢m even sweating on the downhill. A little way up the big climb I stop for my lunch and the rest of the day is a nice ridge walk, at least I hoped it would be that way. Instead some new blisters have opened up on my feet, not sure why & I have just enough tape, gauze and Band-Aids to cover them. I¢ll have to get more, maybe beg some off the other hikers until I can reach a town. Turtle Feet has warmed up to me after she & Nor¢easter talked. Saw her at the last break ¢ the picnic table at Blue Mountain Spring. Dude offered help with Band-Aids & ointment for my blisters. The remaining 5 miles are a chore for me and I¢m glad to reach this place. A shower feels great, Turtle Feet helps all of us with the phone order for food and right away I¢m feeling a part of this trail family.Dirtnap is here and he shares my pizza, we talk for a long time. He¢s carrying a gallon pot and makes coffee for us, kind of in exchange for food. He has almost no money for this trip but he seems very much at ease out here, living life with whatever is dealt his way each day. There are about 30 of us, 16 inside the shelter, and it is too hot to sleep. Little Bird comes in at midnight.
Date: 2011-07-13
From: 501 Shelter

To: EagleÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: broken clouds

I held back in the morning, waiting for others to leave so I can do my injection, finally I explain to Achilles and then go ahead. I thought it went well but later on I passed out on the trail, about 1/3 of a mile from the shelter. I woke up on the ground with my pack off so I must have sat down first. The trail is mostly flat from here to PA 183, about 8 miles, but the tread way is rugged for all the rocks and especially the rocks that move when you step on them. I looked for the old AT near Round Head but there is nothing to mark the old path. In 2000 I walked the old trail to avoid the drop here; then Round Head was a blue blaze to a lookout & trail to PA 501.Took a wrong turn at Hertline Campsite and went downhill on a blue blaze, my mistake. But it¢s a beautiful spot to camp sometime, right alongside a small brook and reservoir. The first mile after PA 183 is all chewed up from kids on 4-wheelers. They also had reigned in 2000 but then it was dirt bikes that I saw & mountain bikes also. Perhaps they are all out here this year. The 4-wheelers I saw slowed down and gave me the finger as they went by. What a nice ¢welcome to PA¢ attitude, some hikers are calling this state the ¢Mississippi of the north¢.I did an ¢adventure blaze¢ for the rest of the day. It was a long dirt road walk along the county line at the ridge and I use the intersections with Sand Spring and Eagles Nest trails to judge my location. Water is hard to find and all I see today are stagnant pools where the springs should be running. I brought all my water for the day, making my back 5 pounds heavier, just to be certain to make it to the shelter. But here the source is just a dribble, making me have doubts about the quality. I drink it, cook with it, and chalk it up to my own stubborn attitude of not needing a filter or any water treatment on the AT.We have about 20 hikers here, with only a few are in the shelter. OWF and Keeper are here with their new dog. Hot Drinks, Dude, Worn Heels, Turtle Feet, Little Bird, English Chatter, Dirtnap, etc. Johnny-on-the-Spot is a new face; about 17 years old, doing 12 of PA. He has 9 days to reach Delaware Water Gap. He¢s very inquisitive, wants to learn all about doing a thru hike, but frankly he¢s already become a lightweight hiker and has only some minor changes to make. This shelter is the 1200 mile mark for those hiking from GA, and they seem to be very confident now about reaching Katahdin. But some are already tired and even showed some interest in my ¢adventure blazing¢ if it will save them time or energy. In the evening we have a wind come up with some cooling. It even threatened rain, so a front is coming through.
Date: 2011-07-14
From: EagleÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: clear sky

It¢s a short day for walking but also a town stop, so it¢s an official ¢Near-o¢ for me. I have some errands to do: get new boots, resupply and hit a CVS. It¢s chilly this morning! I left the shelter and headed back to the dirt roads and continued as far as Marshall¢s Path. The PA game lands are planted in corn but unmaintained, so I imagine this is all for deer and bird hunters in the fall. Then these dirt roads will have some traffic with hunters moving from place to place. From Marshall¢s Path I join the AT and pass Auburn Lookout and then down to Port Clinton. As I walked I remembered camping at Auburn Lookout near Hook & Ladder in ¢97, and of walking a stretch with Steve; a pharmacist & bodybuilder from PA. The last 12 mile into Port Clinton is greatly improved but the big descent needs to be stabilized again before the trail slides off entirely.At the RR tracks and Schuylkill River I meet a scientist who¢s sampling for black flies (gnats) to evaluate the benefit from earlier spraying. He wants to know what we¢ve had for bugs since 501 Shelter. Worn Heels comes alongside as we chat, and then he & I head to the Pavilion. We quickly get a ride from Can Do, Will Do, a trail angel from Kentucky who pulls duty here for a few weeks each summer. We arrange a ride to the shopping center in nearby Hamburg; a bunch of us need to resupply & I can shop at Cabelas for boots.Supper at the pavilion is cold fried chicken pieces & biscuits; Dirtnap helps me finish them and provides some hot coffee. Squatch, a film-maker on the AT, hikes in from the north and wants help getting home. He¢s got a bad ankle & needs to rest it. Dirtnap wants a ride to Delaware Water Gap to meet a woman hiker. Me and Worn Heels want slack pack help to get our packs to Eckville Shelter. So much happens all at once during these town stops, it¢s a boggle to handle it all. And it all happens with the help of locals & with trail angels like Can Do, Will Do. Some hikers are up until past midnight chatting & drinking. All three are Glen Beck fans & I try to ignore them as best I can, finally they go to bed.
Date: 2011-07-15
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Hawk Mtn Rd/Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: broken clouds

Leave town with Worn Heels, and follow the trail under PA 61 where the bridge crosses the Schuylkill River. The big climb is barely noticed while we talk. Meet Steady, hearing impaired woman thru hiker, at Pocahontas Spring where the water was wonderful. You really start to appreciate a good spring out here; where the water is crystal clear and cold and spouting right from the ground with a good flow. Worn Heels and I stay together up to Windsor Furnace shelter where we lunch and meet English Chatter. I collect some colored slag to send home; in shades of blue, green & gray, it¢s all over the ground and in the streams, sometimes in large chunks. I leave before the others and hike alone to the Pinnacle, about 4 miles away. Before arriving there some local hikers tell me that 4 copperhead snakes are at Pulpit Rock. I hurry ahead but can¢t find them & the rock climbers that located them have already left.Catfish Hunter is out here with us somewhere today. He wants to adventure blaze his way to Eckville, probably via the brook and then the reservoir. He¢ll have some bushwhacking to do but he can cut the distance nearly in half this way. I guess doing the AT just isn¢t enough for him. At the Pinnacle I tried to rest but there are too many kids & dogs here. The views are great & the breeze is a real treat. PA has so few places where you feel that you are on mountains ¢ hardly any exposure or changes in weather. A young guy with a trail running pack comes by and asks for help. He¢s turned around and can¢t find the right trail back to Windsor Furnace. I walk him to the blazes and send him on his way, but I want him to stay and visit with me for a while.Worn Heels finds me at the Pinnacle and we start downhill at 6 PM. It takes us 2.5 hours to do the last 5.3 miles. In 1997 this same day hike was 15.75 miles, now it¢s 17 miles with the added portion all in this last descent. It seems even longer at the end of the day but our conversation helps a lot. I learn a lot about his family life, work life, career changes, and I think this would be a good time to have the ¢I¢m gay¢ talk. But I¢m too tired to handle a lot of questions, and prefer to let him carry the conversation.The best part of the day is the last 100 yards. I can finally make out the road, in the coming darkness, and there¢s a fire ring with people between me & Hawk Mtn. Rd. At first this made me cautious but Worn Heels called me over & I met Y2K (from 2010) and his mom! It¢s late day trail magic: hot dogs, little pizzas cooked on the fire, tasty cakes and sodas. There are so many good people out here!
Date: 2011-07-16
From: Hawk Mtn Rd/Eckville Shelter

To: PA 309/Blue Mtn Summit
Miles today: 11.5

I say hello to Steady in the morning and then have a visit at the hostel. Lazy (AT¢92) is still the caretaker at Eckville and still a gruff character. But he doesn¢t fool me and I am almost certain that the watermelon on the table was bought by him even though the note said from ¢a trail angel¢. He¢s a sweetheart, and it shows whenever a hiker¢s in trouble on the trail. In 2000 I limped in here, injured, and he was a great help.First 7 miles were done in 6 hours, pretty slow for me even with the big climb. I meet a local guy on the ascent, he¢s friendly enough & wants to tell me something useful but he has no idea what we need to know ¢ like ¢where is the water?¢.I reach Allentown Shelter at 4 PM and English Chatter, Turtle Feet and Little Bird are resting, so I¢m not too far behind. I let them know about camping at PA 309 up ahead, the Blue Mountain B&B. Smurf is out here in this section. He and Catfish Hunter make quite a pair. Two miles from PA 309, at a dirt road is Tricks! This is my man in PA! He¢s got trail magic for all of us, with coolers & chairs, fruit, juice, etc. I stay until he wants to leave; perhaps the last time I¢ll see him on this trip, but who knows?Molasses joins the group camping at PA 309. He¢s just getting back to the trail after some time off. He shamed some of us by putting on deodorant & changing his shirt for the nice supper here!
Date: 2011-08-04
From: BelterÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Campsite

To: Riga Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

Played around in Salisbury, met a man who hung out with Arlo Guthrie and Alice (from Alice's Restaurant) during the summer of 1971.
Date: 2011-08-05
From: Riga Shelter

To: Guilder Pond Picnic Area
Miles today: 9.6

Broke a bone in my foot while descending past Mt. Everett in southern MA. I'll be using crutches for 4-6 weeks so this ends my hike for the year. Congratulations to those that are still moving northward on the trail. The AT was very good to me once again.I managed to hike an average of 13.1 miles each day, close to 92 miles each week. This was significant for me after coming back from a long illness. And it was so much better than my 1997 thruhike! When I compare the times for the same section I was 2+ days ahead of my '97 pace, or about 10% faster moving up the trail. Not bad for being an older (and perhaps smarter) hiker.
Date: 2011-04-27
To: home in Orlando
Miles today: 0.0

PREPARATION        We have decided that we will not sit home and mope about the abrupt ending of our hike in Portugal. Instead we are planning an Appalachian Trail hike of about 130 miles. We plan to start our hike where we left off in 2009 at Route 208 in Allen Gap in eastern Tennessee. We will hike to Bob Peoples¢ Kincora Hostel over a period of about two weeks.         We plan to leave home on Saturday morning, May 14th. We will drive to Providence State Park in southern Georgia. This is the site of a ¢grand canyon¢ that we have heard about from other hiker acquaintances. We will hike into the ¢canyon¢ and camp at one of the primitive campsites in the Park. We have already made reservations for one of the campsites.         On Sunday, May 15th, we will leave our campsite in the ¢canyon¢ and drive to Kincora. The next day we will participate in Bob Peoples¢ Hard Core trail work. This is an annual event associated with Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia. The next day, May 16th, after the multitudes of Trail Days depart, Bob will drive us to our starting point and we will head north on the Appalachian Trail, after an absence of over two years.         That¢s the plan, but we still have more of Swamp; Fox¢s equipment to replace. It has been a shock to us when we see what equipment costs today compared to its original purchase prices five or six years ago. Diligent computer searches have yielded a backpack and a 32 degree sleeping bag at somewhat reasonable prices. We still have to buy some more mundane items such as a pen knife, a metal cup, and a few items of clothing.         But we are getting excited again to be getting back on the Trail.
Date: 2011-04-30
To: home in Orlando
Miles today: 0.0

It has been unseasonably hot in Orlando since we got home on April 17th. At least it cooled down yesterday. Swamp Fox particularly is looking forward to getting north to some cooler weather.Our gear is starting to fall into place. Swamp Fox's replacement Granite Gear Nimbus Latitude Ki arrived yesterday. A bargain at $131. It is a woman's model but it fits Swamp Fox perfectly. Its only four lbs. with pockets where needed and can be loaded top, middle, or bottom. His previous pack had been replaced by Granite Gear two times previously for various minor problems. This one is brand new and should be good for his lifetime (and many miles). The replacement Mountain Hardware 32 degree down sleeping bag is on its way. This is a woman's model, also, and for a tall woman at that. But it was the best we could find on the web. Still a few items to be replaced, but we are getting there.
Date: 2011-05-01
To: still home in Orlando
Miles today: 0.0

All our lost hiking gear is now replaced. It's shocking how much it costs when you buy it all at once. Like many Long Distance Hikers, we accumulated our Perfect Hiking Gear over a number of years and after a lot of trial and mostly error. We had the perfect packs for us, the perfect tent, the perfect sleeping bags, and down to such mudane items as the perfect pen knife, the perfect flashlite, and the perfect cork screw (we never leave home without it).Two days ago we dropped $100 to just buy a cup, pack cover, and a tiny can opener. Yesterday, Swamp Fox's replacement Mountain Hardware 32 degree bag arrived. We were quite irritated that there was no stuff sack included. The supplier, Mountain Gear.com, graciously agreed to remedy their error and ship a stuff sack immediately. With out a stuff sack the sleeping bag would have filled up Swamp Fox's entire pack. A sleeping bag without a stuff sack is like a car without tires. We love the Granite Gear Nimbus Latitude Ki so much that we ordered a second one. Rocky may use it, as she did in her 2005-2006 AT hike, or we may just keep it in case something goes wrong with the other pack.We have been listening to Walkin' Jim Stoltz CD's lately and they have put us in the mood to get back on the Trail again. Nine days until we start our drive up north. We will be at Kincora on Sunday night, May 15th. We will be doing Hard Core with Bob Peoples on May 16th, and then Bob will shuttle us to our starting point at Allen Gap in TN. We are looking forward to seeing familiar faces at Hard Core and seeing familiar places after we start our hike.Happy Trails to all those on the Applachian Trail. Hope we see some of you.
Date: 2011-05-09
To: getting ready in Orlando
Miles today: 0.0

Last night Rocky suggested an alternate to hiking from Allen Gap TN to Kincora. "Why not head to New England and start into the last 300 miles you have left on the AT?" The idea is tempting as I could make further inroads into those last miles between Dalton MA and Gorham NH. Also it would be a lot cooler in late May in New England than it will be in eastern Tennessee. I am anxious to get away from the oppressive heat we have been having in Florida. It will be in the 90's for the rest of the week, before we leave on Saturday, May 14th. However, I don't think so. I am looking forward to seeing Bob Peoples and other Friends of the Trail at Hard Core. Perhaps we will also run into members of the Classes of 2005 and 2006 and 2009 that we share Trail memories with. I am also anxious to revisit the places we saw back in 2005. Maybe you can't go back and it isn't the same the second time around, but I am looking forward to memories of Trail Magic at Allens Gap, Beauty Spot, Road Mtn, the balds north of Roan, Overmountain, Mountain Harbour and Kincora. We really don't have to decide until next Monday night after Hard Core with Bob Peoples. Either Bob will drive us back to Allens Gap to start our trek north, or we will drive north from Kincora to New England. We'll see.But at any rate we do hope to see past Friends of the Trail at Kincora and Hard Core.Swamp Fox
Date: 2011-05-14
From: getting ready in Orlando

To: Backpacker campsite,Providence CanyonSt.Pk,GA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rocky was anxious to leave early, so we got up at 3:30 am. We left home at 4:15 am in the darkness, headed for Providence Canyon State Park in Georgia, a 373 mile drive. This State Park contains one of the "Grand Canyons" of Georgia. A fellow hiker on last year's Big "O"Hike recommended it to us. We thought it would make a good overnight stop to break up our drive to Kincora Hostel in Hampton, TN.Our road map showed that Plains,GA, home of President Jimmy Carter was not far from our objective. Now, Jimmy Carter is just about our favorite president, so we had to stop to see his home town. Plains is a pleasant little town with a picturesque "down town". President Carter's birthplace, high school, church, current home and headquarters for his Presidential campaign are all close by. We got a good insight to the life and times of President and Mrs. Carter, whom we both admire. In Plains we also got to sample some delicious peanut ice cream. About 1:30 pm we arrived at Providence Canyon State Park and pulled our back country permit. We first walked into the "canyon" without our packs. The "canyons" are actually man made erosion ruts caused by poor farming practice from the 1800's. The runoff from farming eroded the red silty sand soils of the upper soil horizons. Eventually this exposed the more erosion resistant white clay soils. The result was nearly vertical cliffs about 200 feet high. The area is reminiscent of the Badlands of South Dakota. After exploring the upstream ends of the "canyons" we climbed back to our car and got our gear ready to hike into the back country of the Park. About 3:30 pm we descended into the canyon again. We headed downstream, following a red blazed trail. Eventually the trail turned up hill and followed a ridge line. After a walk of about two miles we stopped at the first campsite we came to. The campsite had a leanto shelter, but we elected to set up our tent to avoid any bug problems. All around us are the sounds of cicadas (locusts) which have just emerged from their 13 year dormant period. We had a simple camp dinner and were in our tent for the night at about 6 pm. The sound of the cicadas ended at darkness. However, during the night we were startled by the sound of an animal screeching and several blurs running through our site. The hoot owls were quite vocal on an otherwise still night in the woods.It is great to be back in the woods after an eight month hiatus.
Date: 2011-05-15
From: Backpacker campsite,Providence CanyonSt.Pk,GA

To: Kincora Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

We were up at 6:30 am on a nice morning. By 7:10 am we were on the trail back to our car. We limited our breakfast to a banana as we expected to stop for coffee during our drive. We arrived at Kincora at about 5 pm. The hostel owner, Bob Peoples, was still out with the Hardcore crew doing trail work. We met some familiar faces from the hiking community at the hostel: Baltimore Jack and Krispy Kritter. We picked out bunks and cooked a simple dinner. Later other familiar faces came back to the hostel: Bob Peoples, himself, Baggins, Origami, and Sam I Am. We enjoyed the company of our fellow hikers and shared hiker stories.