morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-06-09
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Rocky Run Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: few clouds

This morning we left the Comfort Inn after breakfast, made a quick last stop at the ATC and then continued our hike through the town of Harpers Ferry and over the bridge into Maryland. The trail followed the river for several miles and was completely flat. Interestingly, sometimes I find it more painful to walk on flat ground for awhile than on the usual trail. We saw a lot of turtles and one that we think was laying eggs! Speaking of which, Egg had a friend join us today. Her name is Laura and she is just spending one night out. So we climbed a little and made it to the Ed Garvey shelter for lunch. There were several (really annoying) people already there eating. We left and about an hour later the sky was totally gray and the wind picked up. A day hiker started running past us and he told us we were within minutes of the campground ahead so we booked it. Almost as soon as we took cover under the pavilion the skies completely opened up. So we waited out the storm there. When it stopped raining we continued hiking and the rest of the afternoon went by pretty quickly. The trail was flat for the most part and then we headed down for awhile to the Rocky Run shelter which is SWEET! 2 floors and brand new. It's great. The Condiments are here with us tonight, thankfully, and a whole bunch of other hikers! It's great to be back out after our 2 zeros. Tonight it's really windy out here.Reality changing moment: staying completely dry even though it poured out here for an hour!
Date: 2009-06-11
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter

To: Deer Lick Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: mist

Today was a jam packed day! We woke up and at least the rain from last night had stopped. We packed up and weren't walking a half hour when we got to a road and our trail angel from yesterday, 357 Magnum, was there with coffee, donuts and soda! What a treat! And then he was there at the next crossing too! With twizzlers and fruit. We had a 500 foot climb after that stop and I was soaking wet from the humidity. Ugh. Grommet, Ms. Muster and I hiked together and we hit lots of rocks that really slowed us up. A little foreshadowing to the rocks in PA, I guess. We made it to PenMar park and met up with OG, Prairie dog, Angry Beaver, and sevral others. 357 was there and offered to take us somewhere to resupply so we wouldn't have to hitch. Sweet! We all loaded into the minivan and headed over to the store. We picked up a few beers to celebrate another state line crossing and when we found the mason dixon line we all cracked open a beer to celebrate! I can't even believe that I'm in PA! I walked home from Georgia. It's amazing. Every day I am still so amazed at what we're doing out here! Of course the rain started as soon as we hit PA and stopped for just long enough for us to set up camp and have dinner. It's so great to be back with the Condiments. I hope we can hike with them for a long time.Reality changing moment: getting to state 7: PA!
Date: 2009-06-13
From: Deer Lick Shelter

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: few clouds

Some days out here seem like months, and today was definitely one of those days. We woke up from our sweet tenting area and packed up our stuff to the sound of music courtesy of the Georgia girls' mp3 player. Sweet! We definitely need to pick up one of those speakers the next time we hit a town. So we hiked for a little bit and then came upon the awesomest shelter yet: Quarry Shelter. The privy had air freshener!!! and there were pots of pansies! There was a sweet water source, too. But we pushed on and stopped for a nice snack break in front of one of the cabins that the PATC rents out. So sweet! I would love to rent one of those- a reunion with all our hiking friends next year perhaps!?! So we hiked on and the trail just kept getting more beautiful. And then I met a man out for a day hike who knew the town I grew up in. I really am close to home. It finally hit me today. Wow, I love pennsylvania.We had lunch at the next shelter followed by trail magic like 10 minutes later. Peanut (whose trail journal I totally stalked last year! And Pacer were making burgers, veggie burgers with brownies, watermellon and sodas and beer. It was the best trail magic yet and I was so excited to meet Peanut. And the condiments and Georgia girls were all there and it just felt like a party in the middle of the day. By the time we made it to the next shelter my feet were pooped. But the idea of the official halfway point kept me going. Within minutes we came to a huge 1/2 that someone had made in the trail and we all gathered around for picture time. Half the trail has been hiked. I think we were all still in shock. The girls busted out the speakers and we jammed the rest of the way to Pine Grove Furnace state park where Grommet was the only diva who ate the whole half gallon of ice cream. An A for effort for Storm, though. She really hung in there! Laundry, camping at the campground and some additional drama later and I'm off to bed. What a day! I'm exhausted.Reality changing moment: half way!
Date: 2009-06-18
From: Duncannon

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light rain

What a pleasant day out here. We stopped by the diner and then finished the walk through town. We walked over the Susquehanna River and then along a huge highway. The 1000 foot climb afterwards wasn't bad at all. And there were definitely rocky areas before the first shelter, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. We all met up at the first shelter for a snack break and then continued on. The rest of the day was easy hiking and although it was overcast and humid, it never really rained, thankfully. We're staying at Peters Mountain Shelter tonight which is 2 stories and totally sweet. We're so psyched to be hiking with the Condiments still. But we do miss the Georgia girls who we left at the Doyle because they were waiting another day for Georgia's foot to heal.Reality changing moment: no rain
Date: 2009-06-19
From: Peters Mountain Shelter

To: Rausch Creek campsite
Miles today: 17.4

Today was probably one of the most pleasant days I've had out here in a long time. We woke up a little earlier than I would have liked because some people in the shelter were making noise, but we were on our way around 8. I hiked by myself most of the morning and came to a couple of rocky areas, but for the most part the trail was flat and pretty easy. I passed a huge boy scout troop and then started to go down hill towards the valley. A couple out for the weekend told me about some trail magic up ahead and I practically ran to it! Snack Attack '07 left an incredible bin of drinks and goodies. Old Goat and Check Six were there already and we all stopped for awhile and enjoyed the treats. Trigger came by, too. After we crossed the road the 1000' climb actually wasn't bad at all. I hiked by myself this afternoon, too and was excited to reach the intersection of the AT with the Horseshoe Trail, which goes all the way to Valley Forge which is pretty much were i live! I realized today that I definitely need to hike the whole Horseshoe Trail at some point. It's only 130 miles. Anyway, we all met up for a nice lunch break by a creek and then pushed onwards. Another afternoon snack break was had when I reached a white mailbox in the middle of the woods. Turns out it was a spot where an old coal mining village used to be. We signed the register there. All day the sky was white and it was hard to tell if it was going to rain or not. But then suddenly late this afternoon the sun came out and it became a perfect day out here. For once, my foot wasn't killing me at the end of the day, too. And right before we got to the shelter we found an incredibly sweet campsite with Rausch Creek in the background. Seriously, the creek is beautiful. When we went to get water we soaked our feet and cleaned up. And then we came back to the campsite Leif-e was there! He recognized our tents and met the Condiments. Yay! He pitched his tent with us and we built a fire and had a fabulous evening. What a day.Reality changing moment: still loving Pennsylvania!
Date: 2009-06-20
From: Rausch Creek campsite

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: moderate rain

Surprise! It's raining again! Wow. I woke up at 6 to rain just starting, zipped up my vestibule and went back to sleep. It was actually really nice to sleep in, but it wasn't so nice packing up our tents in the rain. That is definitely my least favorite thing out here. We got a really late start but that kept us motivated to keep moving. We came upon the ruins of another old mining village and even though the trail was a muddy disaster, it was really a pretty walk this morning. It stopped raining long enough for us to eat lunch by the side of a road where Leif-e, Colonel Mustard and Squeegee caught up to us. At Swatara Creek we crossed the coolest bridge yet! And shortly after the rain came back with a vengeance just in time to climb Blue Mountain. It was grueling. The trail at the ridge had a ton of PI and I hope none of us get it! The Condiments and Col. Mustard, Squeegee,and Leif-e took a break with us, then we pushed on to the next shelter to ring out our socks and relax before the final 4 miles. Grommet, Storm and I stopped for a bit at an incredible view of PA because the rain finally lifted. And then we hit the 501 shelter where we were reunited with McBride and had pizza. The sky still seems to be clear and we're all hoping the rain stays away for awhile. Everything I own smells like a dead fish.Reality changing moment: pizza
Date: 2009-06-21
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

The longest day of the year felt like it! I chugged a liter of coke before going to bed last night so I basically got about 3 hours of sleep. Hideous. I woke up to Leif-e informing us of a diner not too far from the shelter. We packed our stuff, hitched a ride and ate a real breakfast. I'll do just about anything to avoid poptarts at this point. Steve from the restaurant gave us a ride back to the trail and we stared walking at around noon. I hiked by myself for the first couple of hours and then everyone caught up at a cool viewpoint that we stopped to enjoy. I missed a baby rattlesnake in Katchup's pack and some hike naked day shenanigans while hiking alone! After the break we found a rope swing that hung above a creek. What a sweet campsite that would have been. Leif-e and Col. Mustard went for a swim, but the rest of us pushed on. The trail then turned into a swamp for several miles and we gave up trying to avoid the water and just walked right through it. My feet were hurting from being wet for so long and I had to tape a bunch of my toes to prevent the skin from coming off. We really need a break with the rain out here. Wow. The condiments stopped with us for a break and then we all pushed on to the shelter. I practically ran the last half hour or so because i just wanted to get there! We had dinner at our own little campsite and then McBride and Leif-e joined camp Diva for some chit cat before bed. All in all, a great first day of summer.Reality changing moment: realizing we hike through all of spring!
Date: 2009-06-22
From: Eagles Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

What a wonderful day out here! I had been eagerly anticipating a visit from my Mom and Sister for awhile now, so when I got up this morning, I couldn't believe the day was finally here! I got up nice and early and we all packed up quickly and were on our way. Everyone stopped for a morning break but I was too excited so I kept going and banged out the 8.6 miles by 11 am. The trail was rocky (as usual) and there was an incredibly steep decent into Port Clinton, but otherwise the trail was not too remarkable. And, frankly, if there was anything exciting I probably missed it because I was so focused on seeing my fam. When I arrived at the outfitters my sister was outside waiting for me. And then my Mom came out a few minutes later. It was so good to see them. We waited for the rest to come and then headed to the Microtel where we cleaned up, did laundry, resupplied and went to the Cracker Barrel. Sweet. We topped the day off with an incredible evening at Pappy T's. Loved it! Seeing my family and catching up with them has been great, but it actually has made me miss them and feel so much more homesick than I did before. Being so close to home is really hard and I just want to keep walking so I won't miss home so much anymore. Thanks to my Mom and Sister for a wonderful time in Port Clinton and for driving us around everywhere!!!Reality changing moment: seeing my Family!
Date: 2009-06-23
From: Port Clinton

To: Campsite past Ecville Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up this morning and had breakfast at the hotel with my fam and then my Mom dropped us off at the outfitters. We sat in the blazing sun for awhile before we got started hiking. We had a nice climb to start off with and then things got a little flatter until we went down for a lunch break at a beautiful stream. I was excited this morning thinking back on what a nice visit I had with my family and also because I was on one of my favorite day hikes before my thru hike. After lunch we stopped at the first shelter where I found a register entry from February that my family and I left when we were there on a hike. Exciting! But also a reminder that I am close to home. Too close! Must keep walking! So we headed up the rocky hill and met the Condiments on the Pulpit rock. It's such a sweet view and is trumped only by the view on the other side of the ridge call the Pinnacle. We spent some nice time at both and then headed on to find the shelter. Except, we never found it! Turns out its on the road up to hawk mountain sanctuary that we crossed. The 4 of us got separated from Ms. Muster and we started hiking south when we realized we missed the shelter. We ran into her pretty quickly and she was glad to have found us because she wasn't sure where we were and she saw a bear!. We ended up at a sweet campsite a little past the shelter and next to a creek. Cozy!Reality changing moment: the pinnacle and the pulpit. My favorite hike before before this one!
Date: 2009-06-24
From: Campsite past Ecville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke up from our sweet campsite and were walking by 8:30ish. We had a 1000 foot climb immediately and we were all pretty much drenched in sweat by the end of that. But at the top was Dan's Pulpit, which was an awesome view of the ridge line that we'd walked the past day or so. We took a nice break there and went a mile or so further to a spring where we got water and decided to have lunch. It was an incredibly rocky walk to the shelter where we stopped for a bit and chatted with Prairie Dog, Angry Beaver, Leon and Col. MustardMost of them called it a day there but we pushed on. Things got a little less rocky but we stopped for a break after an hour or so anyway. And I realized that I left my handbook and maps at the last shelter! Ahhh! Hopefully someone will take it and give it to me...Anyway, I chugged 2 liters of water while sat there because I had a mysterious pain on my left side that Grommet's Mom said might be dehydration. It doesn't help that the water sources have been few and far between lately. Ugh.So the walking remained pretty flat with rocks but then we hit the knife's edge which was like walking on a 2 inch wide piece of rock on top of the world. It was actually pretty scary. And when we were finished with that, we had a flat walk for a bit before hitting bake oven knob, which was an insane amount of rock that made a mile last for 45 minutes. What a way to end the day! When we got to the shelter it was pretty late and the tenting area was so small that we practically had no space between our tents. But we cooked dinner and then hit the sack with no major complaints except exhaustion! Here with us tonight are Leif-e and McBride, Hulk, Leightweight and Mr. Ed and Andy.
Date: 2009-06-25
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: scattered clouds

What a day. Some days you really need friends out here. And today was sure one of those days for me. My hiking partners are incredible and continue to surprise me with their generosity and selflessness. I feel so lucky to have them!But anyway, we did the boiling hot hike down to Lehigh Gap where Grommet, Storm and I hitched into Palmerton to get sandwiches and chips for us and the Condiments. We ate out delicious lunch roadside and then took a nap and waited for the heat of the day to simmer down. Man, it was disgustingly hot today.We finally started the climb, then took another break right before the exposed rocks started. The Condiments went on ahead and we hung around there for awhile. And we finally headed up around 5. It was a cool climb, but really hot and a little scary! I was glad when it was over and we reunited with the Condiments. We hiked a while further, finally got to some water and then found a sweet campsite and called it a day. We have a great view of the valley below and Ms. Muster built a fire. Today was kind of rough, but it feels good to be out here, even when it's 90 degrees, 85 percent humidity and mosquitoes are everywhere. It's all part of it. We've got a long day tomorrow so I'm off to bed.Reality changing moment: porcupine sighting
Date: 2009-06-30
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: YMCA Camp (abandoned and creepy!)
Miles today: 7.3

We woke up this morning, packed up, said goodbye to Lisa at the MOC and were on our way. The sun was shining and we had a little bit of a climb, but really things were pretty flat all morning. We put the speakers that Storm's friend Kelly gave us on the outside of her pack and jammed out for awhile which was a fun break (thanks, Kelly!)We ran into Leif-e and his friends at the water pump after about 7 miles or so. But the skies darkened quickly and we ran .5 to an old YMCA camp to look for shelter to ride out the thunderstorm. This place is creepy! There are a couple of older AT shelters (that are disgusting and creepy) but we found some other kind of abandoned camp to hang in. The storm came and I read some of the NYTimes magazine that my Mom sent me and then I fell asleep for awhile. And when I woke up it was still raining. Wow. Around 5:30 we all decided we would rather sleep in a creepy, abandoned YMCA camp than get soaked another time so we set our tents up inside the cabin, listened to music, made dinner and then went for a little canoe ride on the lake. This place would be so sweet if it were functioning. I wonder why its abandoned. Ah, well. We had a short day today but it was totally sweet to find this place and to sleep along a lake tonight. And staying dry was really a nice change of pace. Storm turned on the Into The Wild soundtrack for us tonight which feels scarily appropriate!Reality changing moment: spontaneous canoe ride!
Date: 2009-07-04
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Greenwood Lake
Miles today: 9.9

Happy 4th of July!We had a vague idea of how we wanted to spend the holiday today, and it involved hiking, ice cream and hopefully finding a vista point were we might be able to see fireworks. We started hiking around 8ish and the trail was still really wet from all the rain we've had. But the weather today was beautiful and it was hard to complain. We made it to the NY state line where we had a nice long (and early) lunch break. The trail got harder than we were expecting afterwards and there were a lot of big boulders to climb over and it took us a lot longer than we thought. Meanwhile, my feet were so wet and my shoes such a mess that my toes and heels were getting completely torn up. Bad. We finally made it to the road where we booked it to the local Creamery for some AMAZING ice cream and relaxation. None of us felt like hiking anymore for the day so we started figuring out what we could do instead. We were considering taking up the favor from a man we just met giving us a ride to the drive in movie, but I think we were all a little luke warm on that idea. And something totally crazy happened. Family that I hadn't seen in 10 years just happened to be buying ice cream too. And it was the most incredible trail magic yet. The Divas and Condiments spent the 4th of July with my family on an incredible lake, with delicious food and showers and laundry. Today reminded me just how special this hike is and how there are no such things as coincidences.
Date: 2009-07-05
From: Greenwood Lake

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 2.1
Weather: clear sky

It was hard to get back on the trail today. As Ms. Muster's Mom put it so well, 'we got a taste of the good life' and going back to Ramen and privies was hard. But, we spent the day on the lake tubing and water skiing in perfect weather. I actually caught some of the Phils Mets game on TV, too! My Uncle took us back to the ice cream place and after we all said goodbye to our newest trail angel, we got some more ice cream and headed back to the woods. We just went to the first shelter, where Storm built us a fire and we listened to some songs while reflecting on the good fortune we fell into and our 4th of July vacation.
Date: 2009-07-07
From: Harriman

To: Black Mountain
Miles today: 11.1

I am exhausted. I think our whole group is right now and I'm having a hard time hiking. I have hit a wall. It feels like I'm getting a cold, too. Well, I'm just going to keep going as best as I can.Today we left Harriman and we immediately met up with Nutmeg and Billy Hoot. It was great to see them again, but within minutes, thunder rolled and the skies opened up. We started hiking and the wind was blowing branches down everywhere, so we headed up the road instead, hoping to find a building. We didn't and Grommet turned around to go back to the AT and the rest of us went on to the lake. We met up with her a few hours later at the lake, which had a lovely swimming area. We would have used it had 3 thunderstorms not rolled by while we were there. I really can't believe this rain. A guy in town told us they got 10 inches more than usual of rain. I think I'm losing my mind.So we waited for the rain to go and hiked a few more miles that were surprisingly enjoyable and pretty. I hope the rest of NY is like this afternoon. We found a really nice campsite overlooking some of the ridges we've hiked and watched the sunset as we ate dinner. And got eaten alive by no-seeums. I'm happy to be in my tent now because of them and yet some more rain that is coming through.