morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-07
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Aqua Blaze
Miles today: 0.0

Actually we did more than zero miles, but they were not white blazed, so I didn't count them. I spent Sunday night in the motel with Bluebell, Moonstone, and Lil Bit so we could leave together when the outfitter came to pick us up. Blaze was not coming but we called to find out for sure. PalmTree decided last minute not to come along . But he left all the items he had bought for the trip at our door. He left to hike first thing in the AM before any of us got up. Chef and James had already driven to the outfitter's to start their aqua blaze early. So it was just 4 of us starting Monday afternoon. But we had fun anyway. Moonstone and Bluebell in one canoe and Lil Bit and I in the other kind of evened out the human weight distribution the best we could. Of course, our gear outweighed theirs and I more than made up the weight difference between Lil Bit and either Moonstone or Bluebell, so our canoe was definitely riding lower than theirs. So, with Lil Bit and her beers, and I and my wine, we managed to swamp our canoe early in the trip! The only time we swamped by the way. But I didn't spill my wine!!! And it was a hot day so I didn't mind at all. Though we did get some very wet items, especially the hot dog buns. We caught up to Chef and James early and coasted down river with them the rest of the day. We set up camp together and had a good night. Lots of fireflies late that night made a nice light show. Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact mileage per day, but I know by weeks end we had paddled 96 plus miles.
Date: 2004-06-17
From: Honesdale, PA

To: Honesdale, PA
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I lost all of my IDs and about $300.00 cash, Debit card, Phone card and any other important or semi important piece of paper I may have had on me in Scranton, PA last night. My first thought is that this is the end of my hike. It is going to take a lot to replace everything.
Date: 2004-06-18
From: Honesdale, PA

To: Honesdale, PA
Miles today: 0.0

I got to see my nephew today. Dillon Jesse James is 8 weeks old today and doing great. He had open heart surgery in his first week of life. How can I abandon my hike after such a minor inconvience when I look at what he has been through and still has to go through. So I will be hiking tomorrow. Thanks to my good friend, Chad, I will get some food and money (from another good friend, Phil) and continue as best I can.
Date: 2004-06-20
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Viewpoint on AT @ 1287.5
Miles today: 8.5

I met Meerkat and Hawkeye in DWG after church service. Meerkat was going home for a few days and Hawkeye was hoping to stay in town tonight. He has a maildrop I think. Hiked up to Sunfish pond. I met Ken on the way up. He was just out for the day. As we chatted the miles went quickly by and the climb seemed minimal. I wanted to stay at the pond and maybe swim so Ken hiked on. I had lunch and filtered some water. A large family group that was out for the day was out of water so I filtered some for them too. As I was leaving Sunfish pond, I spread some of dad's ashes on the far side by the stone structures that people made. Then on the trail I met Milan and Suzan and talked with them awhile. A very nice young couple who were going to Alaska sometime soon. We saw a bear in the woods (too far away and blocked by bushes to get a picture). Then as I was heading on, Milan hands me $20.00! He called it "pass on" money. When he was in Europe (they are from the Czech Republic but living in New York now), he had done some travelling, and strangers had given him money to help with his travels. Then he heard a story from a friend that a man had given his friend some "pass on" money. Instead of trying to pay it back directly, his friend was to give the money to someone else in need at some time in the future. So I am now indebt to give $20.00 to someone in need when I am better off financially. An awesome story and an awesome gesture from some very nice people. Still further I met another couple who were out on a day hike but VERY interested in learning more about the AT. As I was hiking on, I found a wonderful spot among some blueberry bushes where I decided to camp for the night. After setting up my tent and eating dinner I was busy picking blueberries when I met Cool Hand Luke and Ruby. A great day back on the AT!
Date: 2004-06-21
From: Viewpoint on AT @ 1287.5

To: Blue Mt. Lakes Road - Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec
Miles today: 9.3

I started off pretty early today (for me) at 8:00 am. At 12:30pm I wrote: Hard to get motivated today. Have not seen any NOBO hikers yet today. Saw a few day hikers - SOBO. Slept most of the night, but still want a nap. Miss my friends who are at least 2 weeks behind me. I am 300 miles North of Harpers Ferry, WV. I think I should keep hiking and hope they catch up. I will need to stop and work as much as possible. I need to earn money.    Then later I met up with Zach who was hiking with Willie Wallace down in Virginia at the pond South of Chestnut Knob Shelter where we all went for a swim. We talked for awhile and were joined by Slick. Then we all walked down to the road (only about 1/4 mile from where we had stopped for lunch). At the water pump we got water, then Zach was moving on (just then Hawkeye showed up) and I decided to go to the campsite. I had mentioned to Zach about my "pass on" money I recieved yesterday. He liked the story and the idea of it. So when he started leaving, he gave me $20.00 too!! So now I owe $40.00 of "pass on" money! And I have 2 more email addresses for my long list of trail angels, friends and family to keep in touch with. After Hawkeye and I settled in, Homeboy joined us at the camp. It was a nice place. Hawkeye and I went for a swim and Hawkeye spent the night hanging out with the caretaker and friends and some trail magic beer.
Date: 2004-06-22
From: Blue Mt. Lakes Road - Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec

To: Brink Rd. Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: mist

As Hawkeye and I left this morning, we saw a bear cross the road in front of us. Just after leaving the campground road, it began to rain lightly. Within the next couple of hours the rain continued to come down harder. By the time I reached the Brink Road Shelter at 11:00am I was drenched. So I decided to cook a meal and try to warm up a bit. As my clothes dried, I decided not to go back out in the rain. I talked to a few people as they came and went. Mailman showed up shortly after I set up my tent inside the shelter (to fend off the mosquitos who were extracting pints of blood by the minute). He warned me that I may have to take down my tent at any minute, but I was able to stay inside it until around 8:00pm when Bonfire showed up. Chigger had already come into the shelter and we all talked a few hours before Bonfire made it into camp. I was able to disassemble my tent while she was cooking her dinner. This was also my first reciept of Desperado's 32 years of trail magic/shelter maintaining. Desperado leaves many goodies in the bear boxes at his shelters. Lemon cookies and drink mixes were very good for regaining energy levels after a tough hiking day. This particular shelter was very small and only accomodated the 4 of us. We may have been able to squeeze in one more person had we the need.
Date: 2004-06-23
From: Brink Rd. Shelter

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: few clouds

Today cleared up nicely after the downpour of yesterday. I left a little later today, and got to actually meet and talk to Bonfire. She is section hiking. She started last year and hiked to Waynesboro in all the rain they had last year. She was going to thru-hike, but had feet problems with all the rain and such. This year she plans on hiking to Hanover, NH. As we were crossing Culver's gap, we walked to Gyp's Tavern for a quick lunch. The burgers were a bit pricy, but very good. Then I went ahead while Bonfire made a phone call. After reaching the summit of the next mountain, I made a wrong turn on a "trail" that was white blazed. It lead me down the mountain and stopped abruptly in the middle of the woods. A good 1/2 - 3/4 mile detour for me. I retraced my steps a bit to see if I just missed something, but NO. It was a wrong turn. So I reclimbed the mountain and tried to figure out where I went wrong. It seems the AT made a sharp left. Not a right turn as I had thought it did. I did make a note of it in the registers along the trail so that it could be corrected and future hikers would not make my mistake. I did have a lunch up at the Culver Fire Tower. Then when I was arriving at the Gren Anderson Shelter, I tried to get water at the stream just before the shelter path. Twice! And both times, my 4 liter water bag tipped over and spilt all the water out. This however, turned out to be a good thing. The spring just below the shelter was clear,cold water. The water from the stream was orange and warm. It surely would have clogged my water filter had I been able to get it down to the shelter for filtering. So with the events of the day, I decided to make it another short day and stay at this shelter. Good thing! I got to meet Desperado who proceeded to enrich our lives with even more trail magic when Bonfire, Laura and Pablo (who I had met at Standing Bear Farms Hostel in North Carolina just North of the Smokies and again as I was leaving Bland, VA), and I followed him 2 hundred yards down to his car. About an hour later, No Dog and No Beard showed up (I had met them first in Georgia and again at Damascus before Traildays). So we had a good group at the shelter. Laura, Pablo, No Dog, and No Beard made plans to head the 18.3 miles to the Secret Shelter tomorrow. So I decided I would try too.
Date: 2004-06-24
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: Trail to Murray Property - Secret Shelter
Miles today: 18.3

Today was very interesting. No Dog left early because No Beard usually walks faster than her and he catches up for lunch, then they walk together for part of the day. Laura and Pablo also left early (they always do). No Dog, No Beard, Bonfire, and I stopped at the Mashipacong Shelter for lunch and met a SOBO section hiking family (Magic Rat -dad, Beep Beep -8 month old girl, and Tofuti -mom) who are from Tennessee. Very nice people. They told me about a water source just beyond the next road. As I was coming back to the AT from the stream, I saw a bear. He didn't run off. But slowly moved just out of sight for a good picture. Just before reaching the entrance to High Point State Park and the Ranger station, Camel's dad left some nice trail magic of sodas and chocolate donuts. Then I stopped again at the observation platform on High Point to eat some more. And on my way to the High Point Shelter I saw another bear. As I was taking her picture, I noticed 2 cubs behind her. One in a tree, the other getting ready to climb the same tree. That makes 4 bears for the day!!! Then when I got to the High Point Shelter, I ate again. Not used to the bigger days so I had to eat more food. I talked a bit with Bonfire who was spending the night. I didn't want to leave her there alone with the bears I spotted not more than a couple hundred yards from this shelter. Luckily someone else showed up just before I was about to leave. It was after 6:00pm and I only had a little time to hike to the secret shelter before dark... and it was 5.3 miles away. So I started moving quickly! I was amazed at how much energy I had this late in a long day. The terrain was pretty accomodating too. Until I hit the one patch of rocks. And BAM! I took a bad spill and broke one of my hiking sticks I had carried from Georgia!!! I had a nasty gash on my left leg, but I got off easy considering I fell face first. My face and head did not even hit the ground! Even with my pack sitting on my head after my waist belt snapped undone with the impact. So I got up ... not easy to do without unsnapping the chest strap that had me pinned to the ground. I looked around for another hiking stick. Cut it and cleaned it off a bit. Then I continued to hike ... a bit slower than I had started. But still made good time. As I got to the secret shelter I had just enough light to cook some dinner and take a shower (yes, the rumors of facilities at this shelter were true). Then Laura and Pablo supplied a gauze pad and tape, and No Beard and No Dog supplied some neosporin so I could dress my wound on my leg. Still a good day. Lots of miles and some friendly and familiar people! On to Vernon tomorrow.
Date: 2004-06-25
From: Trail to Murray Property - Secret Shelter

To: NJ 94 Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 13.6

It looked like rain would hit most of the day. Except while I was hiking around Walkill National Wildlife Preserve. That was hot and buggy. But lots of raspberries and black raspberries! A nice afternoon treat. Lots of exposed trail (no trees) today with the miles of "boardwalk" and the large amounts of road crossings. I had to walk into town from the road access. But a good group at the hostel! Laura and Pablo, No Dog and No Beard, PA Mule (hadn't seen him since VA), Chigger, met Betty, Jordan, and Marathon. And the church people were awesome. Great facilities: Shower (with soap and shampoo); Laundry ( with detergent); Internet; Cable TV; Full kitchen and a nice carpet to sleep on.
Date: 2004-06-26
To: NJ 94 Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I stayed at the Vernon hostel again. They have a list of chores for hikers to do while staying. With such a large group, all the chores had been done. So I got creative and started scrubbing their gas range. It had been a long time since it was cleaned. It took me about 3-4 hours to scrub and I got 2/3rd complete when one of the church members needed to use it. So I put it back together. I didn't want to leave for the trail so late in the day, so I stayed. I got to re meet Spot, a section hiker I had given some trail magic to last summer when I had flown back to PA for a concert during my hike last summer. He was staying at the church hostel in Delaware Water Gap and needed to buy a tent. I took some hikers to do laundry in Stroudsburg and drove him to a few stores, then K-Mart where he found an inexpensive tent. It took a bit of discussion before we remembered when and where we had met before. I had forgotten about the incident until he reminded me. It was good meeting yet another person whom I had given some trail magic to. (I did run into a hiker during trail days that I had driven to trail days in '95)
Date: 2004-06-27
From: NJ 94 Vernon, NJ

To: Wawayanda Shelter
Miles today: 5.3
Weather: broken clouds

I attended service this morning. Very different from what I am used to. I was fully stocked up on food since I went shopping Friday night, and then No Dog and No Beard had left a lot of food. I also got some oatmeal (I don't usually cook breakfast) from the hiker box and some homemade bread left from a dinner Saturday night. And they had a nice coffee hour after service complete with cheese and crackers, pastries and other nice treats. While there a woman offered to drive me back to the trail. It was after noon when I started the climb over Wawayanda Mountain. I had some nice views and stopped to think about a few things on the way up. I was starting to worry about not having a Drivers Licence or other form of ID, so I decided I would start heading south after a night at the Wawayanda shelter. The only other hikers at the shelter were 30-30 Mouse Smacker and Giggles. They were traveling together and Giggles was not feeling well. So they did a short day to give here a chance to recover. Mosquitos were bad so I opted to set up my tent. They had set up their tent in the shelter (a kind of small shelter) so I didn't want to croud them. I found a nice tentsite anyway. As I got in fairly early, I decided to read the book I had picked up from the hostel selection. Another Robert Ludlum novel titled "Trevayne". One of his earlier works that he had written under a sudonym. Back in the 70s it was not popular for a writer to write more than one book a year. It was tough to get into this book, but once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down. So I read all day Monday and into Tuesday before finishing it. I stopped a bit on Monday because a couple came into the area around 2. Cheddar and Rambeaushambeau were interesting to talk to. Then around 4 or so, Bonfire showed up. She had spent a good day with her family and was still moving slowly north. It was good to see her again. (last saw her at the Highpoint Shelter on Thursday) On Tuesday night, I picked up and started reading 1984. I thought I had read it long ago. To my suprise, I had only read the first couple of pages. I didn't remember any of the storyline. But this book only took me 1 1/2 days to complete. So I was ready to leave on Thursday about 10:00am. On Wednesday, Little Chicken came through and stopped for lunch. I had not seen her since Standing Bear Farms Hostel in NC. (just north of the Smokies) She was doing well and travelling alone. She had a batch of homemade cookies. I accepted a couple from her. They were delicious! My food bag was reaching a manageable weight when I left on Thursday. After a full 4 days of meals I probably got it to drop about 4-5 LBS. And my fuel bottle was still full thanks to Desperado keeping fuel at his shelters (Wawayanda being one of them)
Date: 2004-07-01
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Vernon Hostel southbound
Miles today: 0.0

I hiked up to the Ranger station to see if I could get a map of NJ. They indeed had one and gave it to me. I mapped out my path back to DWG, PA so I could take care of my ID situation and spend the 4th of July with my brother and his family. After a couple hours of road walking on route 94, I finally got a ride into Vernon. I wasn't going to spend the night, but I got engrossed in the movies everyone was watching. I also was in much need of a shower and clean clothes for my hitch to DWG. The hostel had a full house. Flippy (of the offensive 6) was among the crew. It was good to see him again. I asked him about Sunshine (Larrissa) as they had been traveling together the last I heard about her. He told me she had gotten off the trail for foot problems. I later found that she had gotten back on the trail. Bear Behind (carries a stuffed bear behind him on his pack) was also at the hostel. I had not seen him since trail days. First met Bear Behind at Neels Gap in GA.
Date: 2004-07-02
From: Vernon Hostel southbound

To: Cliff's house in E. Bangor, PA
Miles today: 0.0

Had an interesting start today. Dave who runs the hostel gave a bunch of us a ride in the back of his pick-up to a store south on 94. I was getting off there to hitch south on 94. The others were going to the trail head on north 94. An officer saw people in the back of the pick-up and told Dave that they could not ride there. Within 5 minutes, the "stranded" hikers got a ride in the back of another pick-up and were on their way to the trail head. Then I remembered my water bottle I had left in the hostel. I walked back and saw Dave in front of the hostel. He gave me a ride about 10 miles down 94 near his house. About 1/2 hour later, Ishmael (who I had met at the hostel with a different Coyote on 6/27) was driving toward DWG and gave me a ride the entire way. He even drove me to Walmart first and then into the church parking lot. The hostel was still not open, but I helped Karen and a few church members move some tables and things for an hour or so before I gave Cliff a call. Cliff, Marsha and Dillon drove to DWG to pick me up and I stayed with them until Sunday 7/11. I spent a week working with Cliff. He way over paid me so I have some money to hike with. I still have no ID, but I am working on that problem.
Date: 2004-07-11
From: Cliff's house in E. Bangor, PA

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I hiked in from the road with Cliff Sunday night. But I had already hiked this section of the trail on Saturday 6/19. When I arrived at the shelter, there was a young couple who already had a tent set up inside the shelter to fight off the mosquitos. They were only going to be out for a few days. Shortly after I made it to the shelter and was setting up, Beagle, Moo Juice and Slow Poke arrived at the shelter. I had not seen any of them since trail days. They decided to set up tent about 1/4 mile up the trail on a grassy area. So I set up my tent inside the shelter also.
Date: 2004-07-12
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

My original plan had been to hike south from Kirkridge at this point and to check back with Cliff in a short while to see if mom had sent any ID information. But it was raining hard all day today and I really didn't want to go anywhere in this weather. So I stayed. Today I saw Pegasus, Poco, and Podini and someone else who I didn't write down. Willie Wallace came through late and stayed in the shelter. He had hiked with Zach (who gave me money on 6/22) when I met him at the pond south of Chestnut Knob Shelter in VA on 5/9.
Date: 2004-07-13
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Kirkridge Shelter - grassy hill
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, I hiked into DWG today. I stopped at the post office to get a stamped envelope so I could send my mom a birth certificate request form. She didn't receive the one I had left with Chad. While at the post office I saw Jabberwock and Yippee (Mike and Julia I had met down by Blueberry Patch in GA). After I left the post office, I saw Moo Juice, Beagle, Slow Poke, Luna, SaltLick and Willie Wallace. So I got a good group photo. (I had met/seen Luna at trail days, but didn't know her trail name until 8/20 when I got to Glencliff, NH) Then I hiked into Stroudsburg. I went to the library, got the form for my birth certificate from the internet. Checked my email. I called mom because I remembered that I was given my old DL when I got the new one in January. I believe I left it with my stuff in GA at my mom's. If she can find it, I would not need a birth certificate to get my DL back. Then went to the Stroud Mall to call Phil and Andrea at Skytop. Andrea was not in. I talked with Phil and he came down to see me. We had Chinese dinner and went to a movie. Not one I would have chosen. After the movie, he drove me to route 191 and I hiked in the dark to the Kirkridge shelter again. The shelter was full, so I hiked to the grassy hill 1/4 mile past it. It was a clear night so I set up my tent and slept well.
Date: 2004-07-14
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Lake Lenape pond on AT south of DWG
Miles today: 0.0

Hiked back into DWG. The hostel will open 7/15 and have the first hiker dinner of the summer. I saw Bob Hartman and Bob Nickels in the DWG diner yesterday. I had lunch with Willie Wallace. Bob Nickels said the hostel would be open today, but I think he had his days mixed up a bit. I hung around town for awhile. A hiker was struggling with 4 maildrop boxes so I offered to help him carry them to his motel room. He let me wait to make a phone call from the room. I was trying to call Chad. Didn't get an answer. But I got to watch a movie while I was waiting. And I got to stay dry for the downpour that happened while I was waiting. Then I walked up to Lake Lenape pond and set up my tent.
Date: 2004-07-15
From: Lake Lenape pond on AT south of DWG

To: DWG Church of the Mountain hostel
Miles today: 0.0

I got into town early in the afternoon and was able to help move some stuff for the church dinner. I met Apostle Paul, Dr. Spacemonkey 5000, Top Knot, Iron Back, A2 (A-Squared), Archeoptrics (I had seen at Fontana Dam on 4/8/04) and Fugitive. Some others I didn't write down. I think I met Diego and TOM (The Old Man). It was a nice crowd at the dinner. I spent the night talking with a few people. And the food was delicious as usual. I have been to the hiker dinners many times in the last 15 years. It is always better when you are hiking. I was able to get a few pictures. And I found a good book to read.