morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-26
From: Wind Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: moderate rain

Today was my dad's birthday. Happy 55th! We slept in and had a nice leisurely breakfast at Perkins. Didn't hit the Trail till 1 p.m. Was great to see my folks. Steep rocky climb outta the Gap. All rocks for 7 miles. Got to be tedious especially with no one to talk to. I didn't see a soul all day. Drizzled on and off. When I hit Wolf Rocks, the rocks turned into slime boulders. Turned into an obstacle course rather than a walk. I fell going downhill and scraped my elbow. Finally the rocks petered out and I was moving strong again. I got to the Gap at 6 p.m. and had a nice reunion with my buddies. We celebrated with dinner at the diner and pints of ice cream.
Date: 2013-06-21
From: port clinton, pa

To: eckville shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Too much adrenaline to sleep after swimming. Decided to try and make a run for a panoramic view called the Pinnacle to watch the sun rise on the solstice. It was about 9 miles in so did some flawed mental math, got up, and left town at 3am and started up the hill by the light of my headlamp. Unsuprisingly, fireflies were the only things awake besides me, but now I know they go all night, not just at dusk. Ok actually I did wake up a large animal once I got just far enough into the woods to be spooky, where a pair of glowing eyes suddenly lit up and went crashing through the forest. Hopefully it was a deer?Fortunately dawn came and I found myself racing the sunlight up the mountain. Of course, it won so I contented myself sitting on the pinnacle an hour later, watching the valley below me slowly wake up. Was really peaceful so it was hard to leave but so many local dayhikers kept coming and going I realized I wasn't really in the wilderness and this was more of a county park with day use parking lots and thus easily accessible. Headed down to the shelter somewhat disappointed in the lack of solitude despite all my effort at getting out ahead of everyone.Towards the end of the trail I met a local girl who had camped out solo the night before. We started talking and by the time the trail split to go off to the shelter and parking lot we had decided to go to a local restaurant since it was only about 1pm and I had already reached my destination for the night. She ended up giving me the grand tour of the county on the way down the mountain, including homestead dutch farms, religious runes on farm houses, covered wooden bridges, and history of the swedenborgian and mennonites in the area. Super fascinating because I thought all that had disappeared and become history a long time ago. I could go on and on, we had tons to talk about, me because it was fun to geek out with a fellow information sponge and her probably because she doesn't get to meet many people from out of town. But by the end of the day she had fed me pizza, taught me how to treat poison ivy using trailside herbs, introduced me to her husband, and thoroughly changed my day for the better. Just amazing hospitality and genuine kindness, something I'm really just not used to. Even gave me a ride back up to the shelter which was full of most of the people from the 501 shelter all meeting again. Several were worried about me for disappearing all day which was really touching, like they actually enjoyed me being around. Setup my tent on the lawn, and promptly passed out.
Date: 2003-05-28
From: Blue Mountain Lakes Road

To: Mashipacong shelter
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: light rain

Didn't wanna get up today. But I had to meet Darci. Coulda dealt with an extra hour or two of sleep. Second night of bad sleep in a row. Got up and out after a commotion. Instant breakfast at 8:30. Had a nice mile walk back to the Trail. We lost Squirts early on after he went to look for an archeological site but apparently never found it. The sun peeked out on and off which was a treat but as we were up on the ridge we got rained on. Got down to Culver's Gap at 12 o'clock and met the guys at Worthington's Bakery, an AT tradition. Had a nice bit sandwich and a fudge bar. Couple of the guys went over to the bar for some beers. Met Darci at the bakery and she was ready to hike. We tried to wait out the rain but ended up just going for it. Got soaked all afternoon as thunder and lightning crashed around us. What a day she picked to hike! We never seem to have good weather for our hiks. Hiked off and on with Flick and Grunt. We took a nice break a the Sunrise Pavilion as the rain stopped. That ball of fire came out again and dried out our stuff. Got to the shelter at 5 p.m. Full house here with the six of us and Darci. A section hiker and his dog are tenting. Miles to Go and Grunt came in at 7:30 and moved on making it a 30 mile day. They've been ahead the whole time but took a couple of days off. This shelter was one of the first built on the AT by the CCC in 1936. It's a cozy stone shelter built for 8. No water here so we were all low. My shins really bothered me this afternoon. I'm gonna see how I feel tomorrow and play it by ear. May go home for a couple of days.
Date: 2013-06-23
From: new tripoli campground

To: palmerton jail
Miles today: 13.4

Todays bug in bed with me in the tent of the day is... millipede!Said farewell and goodluck to the bachelors, who had dutifully impaled the pig head on a pike in front of their camp. Did some fun but painful scrambles over huge piles of rocks jutting out of the top of old mountains called 'knobs" by the locals. Think granite domes, but dynamited into a million jagged pieces each of which wants to break your ankle. Got some spectacular panoramic photos which I still can't find enough data service or battery life to share yet.Checked into the palmerton city jail which is actually quite a nice hostel with gym, showers, bunks, books, fans, really nice place with lots of restaurants in town. Tempted to take a day off and try to address all the blisters I've been acumulating but I feel bad leaving my little group, especially since the two ladies eBB and flow get off in 2 days at delaware water gap.Went out for dinner and icecream and all the senior citizens in town were having a little polka live band in the park gazebo. This whole town could be straight out of the 1950s if it weren't for the cctv security cameras everywhere. We got up in front of the crowd and made fools of ourselves showing off our extremely bad polka moves and dancing with drunk old ladies. got some funny pictures.Back in jail now and the 10pm curfew siren just went off. Curfew... polka... What decade is this?
Date: 2003-06-01
From: HOME/NYC

To: home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Well im still home (2nd day) and we hit the Trail again tomorrow morning headed north. Its been great to come home, but ive been totally overwhelmed. So many people to see and hang with, friends and family alike as well as having my Trail friends around. Recently i've met people on the Trail and now coming home, which has been great, but I need to just walk straight and keep going for awhile. I was looking forward to hitting familiar territory and the home base, but now its almost caused a distraction from the Trail. I don't belive I achieved much "rest". We even walked about 10 miles around the city in the pouring rain yesterday. Really its like being out on the Trail. But oh so different. Taking them to Times Square was insane. Too much noise and lights and action, my senses were going crazy. I need to get back to the quiet woods, the ones that harbored such happiness in me earlier in the trip. I'm looking forward to the New England woods, to escape the roads and cars and civilization. Don't get me wrong, i don't have a problem with the groceries and restraunts in close proximity to the Trail, but it'll be satisfying to once again be tucked away deep in these dense appalachian woods.    I only hope that the next 815 miles is as good as the rest have been so far
Date: 2013-06-28
From: kittatinny mountain summit

To: buttermilk falls campsite
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Couldn't sleep much on the summit, got super hot after sunrise, hurried down to find a better place to crash for sleep. Encountered a wild group of Outward Bound girls and boys out for a hike. These 90 pound kids had huge 45lb packs. They wanted all our stories and to trade trail names with them. They told us all the crude jokes they knew then we start talking about food and one girl brought us a bouquet of blueberries. Once the word got out that the cicadas were edible, this one firey girl grabs one out of a bush and just munches it down. This makes all the rest of the kids run around in chaos chasing cicadas, which start flying everywhere and the kids run up and want us to watch them munch their own cicada. It was horrifically wonderful. They said goodbye and we trudged out into the heat. Kept looking for cool mosquito free places to camp but there just wasn't much and it was super hot. We decided to seperate and I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about everything. The morning watching the sunrise was really intense and had given me a lot to think about. Made up my mind to call a friend I knew would cheer me up, and it worked out even better than I could have ever wished for. I ended up doing several more miles but finally ran into a thunderstorm so pitched my tent at a little campsite with oreo and cohog who had an early start and had passed us earlier.
Date: 2003-06-02
From: NY 17A

To: Fingerboard shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

Didnt get started until 130 today. Its tough getting 6 of us motivated. No one was too excited about hitting the Trail. Frankly I could have dealt with another day off but thats how it goes. Luckily it was a beauty of a day-indeed almost near perfect. It was weird but good to have Redstreak back. Him and Squirts are already back to their old routine, messing around, taking tons of breaks and rolling in late.    Today was such a tough day. The late start didn't help. It felt like i was starting over physically. My joints got tight and i needed to re-find my stride. The term PUDS or Pointless Ups and Downs was created for today. We had a handful of steep and rocky ascents and descents, most of which seemed uneccessary. Later in the day my knee was screaming. Not only did we have to negotiate the climbs, but also had a couple stream crossings due to excess rain. I felt like I was prepping for Maine. Speaking of which, we have just 799.9 miles to go, thats insane. I suppose 800 miles is a lot of walking, but right now it seems like such a short time left. We met up with Moxie, Johny Walker and Shovel and we hiked the last 4 miles with them. We climbed thru the infamous Lemon Squeezer, a rocky crevasse where the Trail goes thru. It involved some tricky footing and upper body strength to lift your body out of the hole. Johhny pulled out his video camera and rolled the film while I completely wiped out! I fell backwards completely and landed on my back. Luckily my pack broke the fall, kind of. I escaped alive but not without some mean scrapes on my knees and elbows.    It was great to walk as the sun dipped behind the ridge. We spotted several deer today, many running off as we hiked by. Pulled in at 830 just before dark. Full house tonight. Squirts, Redstreak and Flick never showed up.
Date: 2013-06-29
From: buttermilk falls campsite

To: mashipacong shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: few clouds

Insane flash flood last night, everything got wet and muddy, large pools in the tent. Got some sleep despite the chaos, woke up early, bug of the day is mosquito, tossed the whole muddy mess into my pack. Found fig hiding out in her tent at a mosquito ridden hell of a swamp. Worst shelter location ever. Rolled out at a near run to escape.   We had a great time talking and she would wait for me to catch up despite being 2x faster. Afternoon got hot, found a fire lookout tower with oreo and cohog drying their stuff. We added our gear and the tower became a fluttering pilar of color. Fig and I hikedthe rest of the day, really easy and fun to talk to her. Found a hilltop lookout and watched birds circle on the thermals. Couldn't find much water, everything was muddy swamp. Luckily found a shelter with huge bottled water jugs and decided to stay. Met an AT ridgerunner that told us stories about his PCT hike and had a good conversation about the book he was reading- guns germs and steel.
Date: 2003-06-04
From: Graymoor Friary

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to cold and rain, never a good combo to find motivation. Poured all morning. The mix of the weather and the ups and downs started today off rough. The miles got easier and rain turned to drizzlel Moxie, Grunt and I flew all day and got here at 3 p.m. Yeah. Cool.
Date: 2013-07-01
From: high point shelter

To: pochuck mtn shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Lots of rain all night and morning. Finally headed out late once it died down a little, admittedly last one out. New Jersey seems to be mostly swampland and the mosquitos are absolutely insane. Lots of miserable trudging thru thick mud and pools. There is humor in the situation though- after spending all of PA trying to avoid rocks, I'm now going out of my way to walk on rocks to avoid sinking into the mud.Stopped for water at a nice spot with an empty but clean cabin left open for hikers. Wanted to get a few miles farther since the rain was subsiding so went a bit further and ended up in unionville, NY. Nice little NY pizza joint with a porch. After resting there a couple hours felt good enough to keep going another 2 miles up to the next shelter. Walked around a nature preserve, dozens of deer wandering around like they knew they were protected. The mosquitos were traveling in clouds of thousands now. Bad enough I kept trying to outwalk them which did nothing but hurt my ankle more. Did a fun little board hop across some more swampland then a long climb in the dark up to the shelter. Long, wet day. Need to take a break soon to let things heal.
Date: 2003-06-05
From: RPH Shelter

To: Wiley shelter
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Long day. Got going early in a downpour. Don't know why I bother mentioning that detail since it's a constant. It's become quite daunting. I try not to let it get to me, but it's been mentally tough. Day after day it rains and it's getting old. Ran into Moses going south who hiked in '81 and '01. He's hiking from Hanover to DWG. Great morning stop at the Mountain Top   . Packed a huge turkey sub and also bought lots of of other good grub. Ate half my submarine at Morgan Stewart shelter. Took another break at Telephone Pioneer shelter with Grunt. Grabbed a Mountain Dew at the hot dog stand set up on Route 22. About 4 miles from Wiley Shelter I began getting excited for a possible 30 mile day. Grunt got psyched and we decided to do it. When we got to Wiley no one was there and we were ready to do another 4 miles. We looked through the register and saw that the next shelter had a full house mostly full of section hikers. With the possibility of tenting in the rain we decided to stay. I knew that after 30 I'd just wanna crash.   Still a good day of hiking. The sun actually poked out for a couple of hours. Flick, Yankee, Squirts and Streak were here as well. Andre, a local guy walked up the shelter and has been here for almost 3 hours hanging out. He'll have a dark walk home. Tomorrow: Connecticut, New England, and the half way point.
Date: 2013-07-02
From: pochuck mtn shelter

To: vernon church hostel
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Rain a bit lighter but all the trails are inexplicably more riverlike than usual. Drop down into a day use area with a beautiful boardwalk, maintained trails, and mercifully no mosquitos and a little sunshine. Totally changed my mood for the better, and finding the Pochuck creek suspension bridge was really neat. Watched a runner fall off the boardwalk into the swamp because a fat very new jerseylike family couldn't make room. Her dog thought this was good fun and tried to join her so she was simultaneously trying to climb back up and keep him up. The boardwalk petered out into a couple random boards then back to swamp and then cow pasture. Right when I thought the mud might ruin my good mood, a main road with a farmers market, ice cream and a half dozen hikers hanging out appeared. Decided to call it a day and hitch a couple miles into town with sunshine and notyet. Great church hostel here with full commercial kitchen, movies, dehumidifier*!*, and a computer. Met back up with panter and one other guy who were at the hostel, and hit the $5 all you can eat pizza place, killed 3 XLs between the 5 of us, did a grocery run, and had a really fun time all night. Stayed up til almost 3am, going to take it easy again tomorrow to heal up. Probably not going to make the bear mountain by july 4th goal, but whatever.
Date: 2003-06-06
From: Wiley shelter

To: Stewart Hollow shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: broken clouds

Crossed the state line early and cruised into New England. There were some beautiful dense stands of hemlocks and a cold brook to cross in the early morning miles. Connecticut welcomed me with a sharp quick climb up Ten-mile Hill before an equally sharp descent down to the river, which is pleasant walk. I stopped in at the shelter where Subman had stayed last night. A couple section hikers were there and gave us some delicious chocolate chip cookies that Subman had brought out from his break in CT. This shelter area is surrounded by a large open field which I always felt would be well used as a wiffle ball field. Getting back on the AT there is a great spot to camp under some pine trees and a majestic bridge to cross the Ten Mile River on. This area is a true gem, one of my favorites from section hiking. I skipped the Deli at Bulls Bridge with Kent on my mind. Grunt and I hiked together and slogged up the long climb of Shagitoke Mt which straddles the NY/CT border. We met Buzz on the way up, a section hiking female. Today was a hot one and I was dripping in sweat. Most of the rest of the morning was chocked with little ups and downs and some very pretty ridgewalking. There is great water right on the Trail so far in CT. Stopped and took a quick break at the Algo shelter, also perched right on a lovely stream and surrounded by hemlocks. We met Snake Charmer, a thru-hiker we've been trailing since Georgia. A quick .3 miles to the road and a half mile road walk, past the wealthy and prestigous Kent School and we were in town. The school looks more like a college than a high school. Yeah this town is made of money. I felt severly homeless in upscale Kent, but none the less it was a successful and productive trip. I stocked up on food for a couple days, did laundry, ate ice cream (twice) and had a nice lunch with the guys. Even hit the pricy outfitter on the way out of town. Got a late start out of town, about 4:30. God, I just love hiking this time of day. The Trail cut through a very hot and smelly cow field and straight up a mountain into the woods. I felt great and I was practically soaring over the ridges. Finally up on the ridge was a peaceful and pretty walk through the forest of the Taconics. Just when I was lost in thought, the Trail makes a b line for the Housatonic river, dropping 1000 feet or so in half a mile down precarious rocks, called St. Johns Ledge. This is the type of place that would be hell if rain was pouring down. Luckily it was a wonderful late afternoon and I took my time, swatting flies and cleaning sweat off my glasses. The rest of the walk was flat as a pancake and totally enjoyable. A mile or so of roadwalking where I ran into lots of couples coming back from the river. Then the Trail goes into the woods again and parallels the Housatonic for a great walk. What a perfect time to enjoy the sun lowering on the water. I rolled into camp around 7 and found Subman who I haven't seen since we left the trail for NY over a week ago. Squirts and Redstreak never showed up. Tomorrow is another day
Date: 2013-07-04
From: cascade brook stealth camp

To: greenwood lake
Miles today: 2.9

Impromptu 4th of july party in greenwood lake. Anton's hotel by the lake let us use their patio grill and firepit, despite being full and us having to stay at the most run down roach motel I've ever seen. We all pooled our cash we planned to spend on dinner and instead hit the grocery store for huge amounts of ny steak, cucumber, mushroom, pepper, eggplant and exotic cheese boats, corn on the cob, and smores. Partied it up, went swimming, got sunburned, and had an amazing day lounging at the marina watching boats come and go.
Date: 2003-06-10
From: Rt 23

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: few clouds

Beautiful day today. Second nice one in a row. took a break at Mt. Wilcox South shelter. Very pretty area near shelter campsite. It was the site of Shaker Village which existed a long time ago. Grunt and I took a long lunch break in silence and shoved snack cake after candy bar into our mouthes. We can't stop eating! It was beautiful just listening to the mosquitoes buzz in your ears. The terrain is slowly but surely getting a wee bit tougher. I as well as everyone else has been feeling pretty drained for the past couple of days. It is not "easy" to do 20 mile days anymore. Luckily the last few miles today were flatish. Beautiful peaceful walk. We skirted Goose Pond for awhile and hit the turnoff to this great cabin. The caretaker is a riot. His name is Slowfoot and he h's just a bubble of energy. He's got a thick Boston accent and curses like a sailor but is a great guy. He's making us pancakes for breakfast. I made dinner on the stove here and enjoyed a plum and some delicious tea and cinnamon cakes made by Slowfoot. Dipped my foot in the pond. Very cold but felt great.Full house here tonite. Goose and Miles to go, Flick, Southern Yankee, Grunt, Moxie, Johnny Walker and two other guys. One of them started April 11! He is averaging 25 miles a day. That's insane, but oh well. Tomorrow, hopefully into Dalton.
Date: 2013-07-08
From: fort montgomery

To: graymoor spiritual life center
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Quick hike across a huge bridge with peregrine falcon nesting site warnings, but didn't see any falcons. Got to Graymoor which had a nice but cold shower, and a little ball field and snack bar with a roof to stay in. Joked around about how it would be nice to have a frisbee and about 30 minutes later a guy showed up with a frisbee. A couple people knew him but hadn't seen him in at least a thousand miles so it was a pretty perfect coincidence. Tried to camp out under the stars but the mosquitos overran me so I had to throw up the tent for a little protection. Still look like I have the measles.
Date: 2003-06-13
From: Thunderbolt Shelter, Mt Greylock

To: Congdon shelter
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to nasty, nasty weather. A cold, windy drizzle with a thick fog. Great, perfect hiking weather. I was on the Trail at 7:20, by myself.I was moving pretty slow over and down the slick rocks and steep terrain. The hill down to Rt. 2 was steep as any. My glasses were fogged over the whole time so it was real slow going. The wind didn't help along with the gunshots I heard from the nearby rifle range. I walked .3 down Rt. 2 to a supermarket to resupply. Grabbed 2 or 3 days of food to get to Manchester. I grabbed a pack of cookies and ate 7 of the 10 on the way back to the Trail. I left the other 3 on the bridge for my fellow hikers.Had a long climb up to the Vermont border. The sign was so faded I didn't bother snapping a pic. I met up with Grunt andYankee and walked the rest of the day with them. Rained on and off all day. Lots of ups and down, rocks and roots and tons of mud. I 'm liking Vermont but hopefully I'll be able to see it in the sunlight. Also passed a big beaver dam with trees nearby that have been gnawed down to a pencil. Got to this cozy shelter at 4. Time to relax.