morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-30
From: Fayetteville, PA

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Birch Run Shelter, MondayThe trail was such a treat today, with pine trees giving more shade than the still leafless desiduous trees. It seemed the path had fewer rocks, too. I didn' follow my own instructions regarding hiking, but instead hiked in boots four miles and my sandals the last six. It was ok! My sandals were never designed for backpacking, that's for sure. They are like a simple two velcro strap Teva, with no arch support, but are a whole lot better than, say, leather sandals. I met no one until I got to the shelter here. As I approached I saw items on the table out front and knew someone was there. Immediately, without thinking about it, I called out the Swahili approach greeting, "Hodi!( a kind of "anybody home?") No answer. "Hodi tena!(anybody home one more time?)". After the third "hodi" without a response, I approached. This Tanzanian "courtesy" allows a household occupant "time" to ready him/herself f or unexpected company. There's no trail protocol for announcing yourself as you approach a shelter, but this Tanzanian tradition would make a good one. What pleasant people my shelter mates are: Karen, mom to 4 boys, and her dad, Dale, are doing a 5 day backpacking section together. An emotional moment came today when I just burst into tears. It reminded me of the time, 12 years ago, that I had a similar outburst for what appeared to be no reason as I was driving back from our newly acquired farm land in Amherst MA to our home in Acton MA. Examined, that outburst represented a cathatic release of resentment I'd been harboring against my body for having gone through menopause a year earlier. This time I think it meant a release of the resentment I've held against Jim for the past year. I think the "how could you do this to me?" phase is behind me. "Its DONE", this release seemed to say. The sorrow is fine, as so much has been lost, but enough with the anger and resentment which are truly only self punishing at this point. This anger is producing just too many "lost" opportunities from positive, productive, hopeful, peaceful, "open minded" trekking/sleeping/looking/ BE-ing along this trail. Jim's decision forced me kicking and screeming from the world that I knew and wanted, but look at me,I am choosing a part of that new world that is a blessing to be in. I don't want to miss it by being stuck back in the hurt of last year. Actually, I know better than to think the thoughts of anger and regret are over, but I think maybe that emotional spasm just moved them from the front burner, where they've been boiling over, to the back burner where they can quietly simmer for stretches at a time. Man, I hope so.
Date: 2007-05-01
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: few clouds

3:30 pm, Pine Grove Furnace State ParkOooh, my aching feet! But here I am, after a lovely five hour walk. This is one of those places thru hikers look forward to because there is a hostel right here at the park. It doesn't open for a few hours so I'm just lying on the grass, soaking up sunshine. A few miles back, I met Carol ("Three Dogs"), who looks after one of the trail sections. She lives a half mile off trail where she and her husband have retired. She says they talk about moving to Florida, but she can't imagine leaving the AT. She hikes in the area almost daily, saying, "I've probably done 2000 miles of the AT - just all of it right around here!"   Today she had a full backpack on - her two year old granddaughter occupied it!
Date: 2007-05-03
From: trailside near Alec Kennedy shelter

To: motel, US RT. 11
Miles today: 11.9

Thursday, 5/3. 6:30 a.m, trailsideIts been about 5 days since I slept "alone on a mountainside" and I'm glad to report that I'm not the fraidy cat I was earlier. Now the problem is more that the pad under my sleeping bag just isn't very comfortable. My little camp site here is sweet: about 20 feet off from the trail my tent sits on an absolutely flat spot. A sizable log serves as furniture. The bathroom is anywhere you like! The kitchen is a spot I cleared next to the log. I brushed away all the dry leaves to get to damp humus below before setting my Esbit stove on it. The humus smell was powerful after a warm sunny day and reminded me of the farm, digging in that rich soil. Its 6:30 am and I've nothing to do, really. My trip to Boiling Springs is a short one - just one peak and a few miles away. These miles in Pennsylvania have been much easier on the feet than Maryland's miles. More mixed visual interest too: parks, streamside, pine groves. The beech and oaks are beginning to leaf out and the understory brush is filling in spaces. All this fresh new green in the morning light is just lovely. I'm kind of just "waiting". On the trail yesterday I'd heard there were two couples ahead of me. One is a couple that passed me without even a hello (which sort of surprised me, given the usual friendliness amongst backpackers). I'm hoping the other is Karen and her dad. They end their trip in Boiling Springs and I'd like to say goodbye to them.The AT altitude profile takes a dramatic change after Boiling Springs. I've been going up and down peaks since I started, but coming up is a 14 mile wide Cumberland Valley. I'll be completing my first 100 miles somewhere along that valley. Ah! Hobbit just walked by. He, Karen and Dale and the other older couple had had a great time at the shelter last night. Darn, I missed it. Motel 6, Rt.11, 10 pm:Boiling Springs is a nice upscale spot with a great sandwich shop. I ate with Moxie and Tecumseh, a couple I'd heard about and am thoroughly enjoying. He is a retired vet and she his office manager. They come from Seattle, did half the AT last year and are back to finish it this year. I expect I'll see more of them the next couple of days as they are just "warming up" and our milage will be about the same. Today we crossed half the valley to a point where they were going to meet an old friend. I continued to the next hiway and called in to get a room at the Motel 6. As I trudged up Rt. 11 towards the motel, Hobbit came out to meet me! He'd been in the office when I'd called in. "Can I carry your pack?" he offered. Man, its been awhile since a man offered to lighten my load in life! Thanks once again, Hobbit.
Date: 2007-05-04
From: motel, US RT. 11

To: Cove Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

8:15 pm and night coming on. A group of 4 men and 3 teenage boys have joined me here. They are from a church group that is similar to Boy Scouts. Naturally the boys are rounding up wood for a big fire. Today's last 5 miles took me four hours! Rocks, rocks, rocks to navigate and I was already tired from two 1000 ft. accents/descents. But all this followed a benign and pleasant beginning. Hobbit and I finished walking through the rest of Cumberland Valley, enjoying open fields with its bright new green grasses, meandering creeksides, and, at one point, a walk through the middle of a cow pasture. This was a unique experience: hikers climg up and over a stile at one end of the pasture, greet the dairy herd in passing, and then up and over a stile at the other end.   Starting the accent at the end of the valley I said a final good bye to Hobbit and stopped to repair blister damage.
Date: 2007-05-05
From: Cove Mt. Shelter

To: Doyle Hotel, Duncannon PA
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: scattered clouds

11 am, across from the Doyle, waiting for it to open.Yikes. A dog just got hit by a car in front of me. Such a bad day to be had by those who cared for him. This is an old, worn down town. Its rather famous for its "Doyle Hotel" amongst hikers, and I'm going to find out why today. Also, Usha and the kids are making another visit today. I'm so happy. 2pm:Hobbit greeted my right after the poor dog scene occured. He's hanging out here waiting for Tecumsah and Moxie who ought to be along soon. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for Usha. We celebrated all this waiting by going for ice cream. Mmmmmmm! This little town doesn't get any more upscale no matter which direction you head in. I feel a little bit like I'm in the old west. The Doyle is a bar plus two floors of a dozen rooms each, one bathroom per floor. Pretty humble digs. At $20 a night, though, its a deal. I walked into the bar to get a room this morning about ll:30. I was surprised to see three guys with tall beers in front of them already. It is Saturday, but I'd have thought people would have something more interesting to do than drink beer at ll am. 11:40 pm and WAAAYYYY past "hiker's midnight! But what fun here in Duncannon at the Doyle Hotel and a Sat. night! Hobbit and I having a couple of beers with local folks and enjoying live music. "Baba Michael", a thru hiker, stopped in too and he and I had fun exchanging Swahili greetings - he's just back from missionary work there and I did my Quaker volunteer work there 40 years ago! What a fun connection that turned out to be. When I signed in for a room this morning at ll:15, there were three guys already set up at the bar. At 2:30, one of them was still there and he thought we ought to dance together tonight. "No dipping me though", he slurred. "O.K." I assured him. So tonight we danced and I learned that he lives at this hotel and just loves this "living room bar". Hey, he stayed on his feet. And no, I didn't risk dipping him. Maybe this isn't my usual "element" in life, but it sure was fun. Daughter Usha and the kids came and brought me supplies today. Such fun taking the tykes for a walk in the park while Usha did a 6 mile jog. We looked at every bug and blossom and just wondered at their every petal and leg. Breakfast at 6:30 tomorrow and then a day's hike. Usha brought me more blister supplies and that's as good as it gets. Boots on, for better and for worse. Here comes the PA we've all heard about. Goodbye Doyle - you rang my bells!
Date: 2007-05-06
From: Doyle Hotel, Duncannon PA

To: Peters Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 11.4

Sun. 5/6. Peter's Mt. shelter. Our little group is all here for the night, including Orange Blaze, a 19 year old I'd never have met had he not been slowed down by his own blister problems. I can't believe the ton of food he carries!I worried about the rocks today (wore my boots!) but it turned out to be a relaxing 10 mile ridge trail. I was the last to get in, as usually. I find I don't like worrying that they are waiting and worrying about my keeping up. On the other hand, its nice to be so warmly greeted. Bad trail moment today. Just burst into sobs, missing Jim. It wasn't about anger or divorce, even, just missed him terribly. Can't seem to shake the depression since.   I wonder if it because I'm starting to relate to a place (AT) and people that have nothing to do with "us" and never will. They are my experiences alone. I just so wished he'd been companionably at my side.Maybe that's all that today was about.
Date: 2007-05-08
From: Raushc Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: clear sky

Today didn't improve my general sadness. At least not until I was almost at the 501 shelter and came out into a clearing to find 4 hang gliders assembled. Wow, guys jumping off cliffs! One was ready for take off. Boomer came along shortly afterwards and we hung about awaiting a launch. At some point, with the wind just enough and in just the right direction, the guy literally jumped off the cliff!   He soared, turning this way and that, taking perhaps 10 minutes to finally land in a horse farm field below. It was another half hour before a second one launched, but I didn't mind waiting in that lovely mountain spot, with the valley below, the sun just thinking about setting, and the serendipidy of finding flying human beings still just tickling my fancy. I think my sobs of a few days ago was a kind of "release" of Jim in my life. I'm letting him go, choosing a path that takes me away from him onto a road of my own. Its such a sad acknowledgement, but a necessary one, of course. I'm not sure how I feel about traveling with a group for such a long time. Its sociable and we watch out for one another, which is nice, but I kind of miss the aloneness of that first week. It's "headlight time", about 8:30. As if on cue everyone's head light blinks on. I think I'll get one too as they leave your hands free. This shelter's close to the road so we were able to order pizza delivery!
Date: 2007-05-09
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: overcast clouds

9:45 am: just did the first two miles of what will be a struggle of a day: rocky trail, 15 miles to Eagles Nest Shelter, and I'm going to be slowed down by blistered feet and my weak knees. Mostly I'm just feeling worn out from the past two days of 17 miles apiece. But I just love the surprises this trail experience brings. I'd just finished my slice of cold pizza, left over from last night's 501 Shelter delivery (now that was a treat: the shelter's next to a main road so one can order up a pizza!) when along came a group of six young men who didn't look at all like the college kids one gets used to seeing on the trail. They had long sleeve cotton button down work shirts on (everyone else wears polyester T's) and dark blue pants that brought to mind the word "breeches". Some wore suspenders, some wore straw hats, all wore leather "work shoes", not hiking boots or even tennis shoes. Greetings exchanged, I noticed a strong accent as well. Most unconventional of all were their hair cuts: all six had "Dutchboy" ("bowl") cuts. They were Mennonites, ages 17 - 29, all cousins, out for a week's worth of backpacking together. They, too, were headed for Eagles' Nest. Re. my feelings of "parting" from Jim. Not only was it a feeling of walking in another direction, it was very much a feeling of "leaving him behind" in my life. I know that's "progress" in my life now, but I'm just stunned and saddened to the bottom of my heart to be leaving my precious Jim. There is no way that this was the least bit "good" for me.
Date: 2007-05-10
From: Eagles Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton Hotel
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Eagles Nest Shelter, amOh my, oh my, what a struggle to get here yesterday. I got to 10 miles and just wanted to crawl int the fetal position - all so rocky, rocky, rocky, except for some blessed softer stretches. But I kept on and somehow plodded through the next 5 miles, arriving at 6:30 here to Moxie's welcoming embrace. The Mennonites were camped a few hundred yards away so the three of us (Moxie, Tecumsah and I) shared the shelter. I managed a yucky mashed potatoe, beef jerky, dried tomato glop and crawled into my sleeping bag thinking I'd get ready for bed later. I fell asleep instead, my feet just throbbing and my emotional state at a pretty low ebb. But here it is morning again, the wood thrush boldly announcing it so beginning at 4:30 this a.m. Both Hobbit and Orange Blaze had breezed on through yesterday at 1:30!! How do they do it??   (Moxie says it takes about six weeks before one is totally in hiking mode. I note today ends my third week.) It was such a pleasure to listen to Tecumsah interract with the Mennonites. He had them comfortably chit chatting about mutual interests (animal health issues, as Tecumsah is a vet; bird calls and which species is making them; the big event of the night before- a racoon trying to steal the Mennonites food bag.Time to head to Katahdin (via the next stop, Port Clinton) today. I need to clean up, soak my feet, re-supply and get some equipment. I think these boots are useless and I'll just have to go barefoot!Well, I'm into the last 75 miles of Pennsylvania's A.T. and the rockiest part is yet to come. I've completed almost a tenth of this trail, which rather amazes me. If every tenth is as revealing and energizing and adventurous as this one I will be so very grateful! I wonder who my next "group" will be and when. Its been such a pleasure to have traveled with Hobbit, Moxie and Tecumsah- that's going to be a hard group to beat!
Date: 2007-05-12
From: Port Clinton Hotel

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Sat., 5/12 pm.Windsor Furnace Shelter.Such a relief to get away from the Rt. 61 traffic noise! Six miles today and my feet are very sore. The sandal "sandwich" didn't survive more than a few miles before the orthodics were moving out of alignment. I removed them and just left the gel insoles ductaped in place.Talked to my kids Christina, Jay and Darden. Its Mothers' Day tomorrow. Do they know where their mother is?
Date: 2007-05-13
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

Sunday, Mother's Day 5/13Pulpit Rocks, 9:30 amMy God, how beautiful! Hiking the AT is a whole lot about putting one foot firmly in front of the other and just moving forward. But every once in awhile the visuals just overwhelm you with delight. I'm looking at farms and small housing groups and hillocks, all surrounded by mountain ranges arar off. Everything is filled in with trees and blue skies frame it all. Its for sights like this that people climb climb coimb. We forget how worthwhile the view from above is, the peace it brings to troubled thoughts, how it smooths out our internal mental and emotional jumbles as it smooths out the countryside below. This is part of the "blue skies" I'm seeking.I left the shelter this morning and immediately fell to tears of sorrow - Jim, David; its Mothers' Day after all. A rough start emotionally. But with a breath taking view like this its hard to feel anything but peace. Thank you, AT, for this lovely moment. Shelter life was disappointing. It takes only one aloof hiker to put a damper on the spirited friendliness of everyone else, and we had such a person last night. If it hadn't been threatening rain I'd have moved out and tented on my own trail side. My feet are closer to their normal size, which is a relief. Blister pain has diminished as well. OK, let's get on with the rocks!Sun. 5/13 7:!30 pmtrailside, about four miles past Eckville shelter13 miles today over some rough bouldery areas. Did fine in sandals though they aren't as firm as boots: foot slipage inside, especially on uneven surfaces (like the AT trail!) Didn't stub my toe though. My feet aren't burning up like they usually are at the end of the day and NO NEW BLISTERS!Well, its a night alone on a mountainside again. I'm more confident about it now. Hope my new sleeping bag is warm enough tonight. I'll be in my tent so we'll see. Last night I verged on "cold". The views today, from 1600 feet up, were all just stunning. The best yet.I'm very tired and very grateful for a beautiful day. Because its Sunday I saw maybe 8 people day hiking, including one guyt who RAN up to the Pinnacles! Didn't meet any new thru hikers in either direction though. This divorce ends the three things I most valued in my life: my marriage to Jim, our unified family, and our welcoming home. These are the things that most clearly defined my life's work up until now. I feel a bit paniced about the notion of trying to achieve something else before I die that doesn't fit into that context. Its been just breaking my heart all day that I've lost my matriachal position. I still have my kids (as Jim has his kids), but I'll have to adjust to just being a guest at Jay's (or Usha's or Christina's) table. (Hey, on the other hand, I don't have to do all that cooking anymore!)
Date: 2007-05-14
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Pa 309, Blue Mt. Summit B and B
Miles today: 11.5

Monday 5/14 Allentown Shelter (a few miles beyond where I slept trailside last night)So, I'm struggling along watching my every step at 8 am when avoice bhind me says, "Blue Skies?" Li, a thru hiker who started at Springer Mt. figured it to be me because of the entries I'd been leaving in the shelter registers. He then exclaimed, "Another sandal hiker!" I told him it wasn't by choice and that I was worried about doing so but that because of my blister problems I just couldn't wear boots. "Don't worry," he said, "I've walked thousands of miles in sandals. I can't wear boots either." I was stunned. I'd never heard that sandals were anybody's shoe of choice. Talk about having the right person come along to give one the information and encouragement needed just then!! He gave me suggestions about what kind of sandal to look for, how to protect toes from being stubbed, and assured me that the "slippage" was something I'd get used to. He concluded that although the danger of serious injury (twisted ankle, say) was higher with sandals, the comfort and flexibility in the shoe had its own advantages. So, I now think of myself (by choice rather than be default) as part of a specialty class of hikers: Sandal Hikers! I just called Usha and she and the kids will meet me tonight, late, so I'll go off trail in four miles to await them. The next hiway has a motel nearby.Monday, 5/14 (pm)So there's this lady, sitting on a quilted bedspread, propped up by half a dozen co-ordinated pillows, drinking a draft Yung-Ling lager and wathcing TV weather reports at two in the afternoon. On a gorgeous, great-day-to-be-hiking afternoon. Go figure. I'm at the B and B/restaurant that I knew would be at the next hiway ("Blue Mt. Summit" restaurant). Actually, its closed today, but lucky for me the owner was around and is letting us stay. He gave me keys to the building and our room, drew me the draft beer, and then took off. We're on our own here tonight. Paying $80 a night instead of $50 (Port Clinton Hotel) gets one coordinated pillows, a bathroom in your own room.... that's sparkling clean.... has lots of towels....even shampoo! Such luxery - and all afternoon and evening to just lounge about.   I hadn't seen my body in a full length mirror since I began this hike: yikes! I've lost quite a lot of weight (which is good), but the hiking isn't doing the sit up or push up kind of work as I'd like. Darn. Hey, I'll just put those clothes back on.
Date: 2007-05-15
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: broken clouds

Tues. 5/15 Bake Oven shelterThe entries in the register here show that my friends all went through three days ago. I'll never see them again!There's one other person here, "Frosty". He hiked half the trail 5 years ago and is now back to finish it. Currently without a job, he's about 10 years younger than me.Usha and the kids got to the Blue Ridge Summit house about 1 a.m. last night and while Usha slept in this morning the kids and I enjoyed hunting down the insects and a cat we'd spotted on the property. Breakfast together plus poking around the nearby l940's style town kept us happy until they dropped me off trailside about 3:30. Back to DC for them and up a mountainside for me. When I did get on trail I FELT NO BLISTERS ANYWHERE! Halleluyah! Whoopee! Hurray!Getting over the "knife edge" today was troubling. Its the first time on this trip that I was uneasy about getting over a section of trail. It took me a good 45 minutes to cross the 200 yards or so, mostly on my behind, pushing my pack in front of me. It took every ounce of concentration to find the path I could manage and to keep either my pack or me from sliding down one side or the other (its not called a "knife edge" for nothing!). When I did finally make it I just sobbed for a good l0 minutes. I'd been on the verge of "tears of relief" once before on a difficult section and did cry with relief once when I finally got to a shelter in an exhausted state, but this was real sobbing. And it wasn't so much about the relief of getting over a physical difficulty as it was about loneliness. I suddenly wished I was with someone, someone who could have offered support and encouragement over that section - a friend, a stranger, but better yet a husband- someone to help me with the rough spots! It just shook me to the core that Jim is no longer near when I need him.I think, too, that just as feeling one loss reminds one of other losses and compounds the grief, so too finding oneself fearful of one thing (the knife's edge passage) reminds one of other fears (being so alone now in the world). Emotions are complex creatures sometimes.