morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-21
From: Annapolis Rocks

To: Raven Rock Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

We all woke up early this morning with the intention to walk another twenty miles today. That idea was quickly tossed out the window by lunchtime. Within our first two hours of walking we had walked a grand total of two miles. A view at Black Rock Cliffs and a couple of trail side logs were to blame, as we took breaks early and often. By lunch we had arrived at Ensign Cowall Shelter, although we had planned to eat lunch at Raven Rock Shelter, another five miles away. We ate and then napped for three hours. A lazy day indeed, but I'll blame it on the rocks wearing me down. When we eventually made it to Raven Rock it was time to stop for the day, the sun was on its way out. Raven Rock is a really nice two story shelter with hardwood floors and windows. I slept outside in my hammock on what would be another cool night.
Date: 2013-06-22
From: Raven Rock Shelter

To: Pen Mar Road
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: few clouds

So today we had made plans to, well, quit making plans. We did wake up early-ish and had a great start to the day, walking five miles in an hour and a half. Then we arrived at Pen Mar Park on the Pennsylvania and Maryland border. I was so thirsty, and I think everyone was, by the time we had arrived. The water source at Raven Rock last night was way off of the trail so no one went down to get any. And today, there was zero water until we reached the park. Upon arriving we immediately sought out the lone vending machine in the park, feeding quarters into it like it was going somewhere. Pen Mar is a beautiful park overlooking the countryside down below. Being a Saturday morning, there was a large gathering at one of the park shelters and what looked to be a wedding reception being set up at another. It was a beautiful day and the park sucked us in for three hours. I think every hiker I have talked to had been sucked in by Pen Mar. Shortly after leaving I crossed the Mason Dixon Line into my seventh state, Pennsylvania. It kind of blew my mind as we were dancing back and forth between the South and the North. Goodbye sweet tea, grits, and hospitality. The town of Waynesboro, PA was a short walk from the border and although we didn't need to resupply, my buddies needed some cigarettes. That turned into a trip to a Chinese buffet, Wal-Mart, and then Applebee's. We were there drinking a few beers until ten when we were offered a ride home from a nice guy who we had been chatting with at the bar. Well, turns out this idiot took us to the wrong trailhead on Hwy 16 while we argued with him that we had left off on Pen Mar. When he dropped us off we immediately hit the tree line and figured out exactly where in the hell we were. 2.5 miles north of where we were supposed to be at. Frustrated, we walked less than a half of a mile up hill and made camp for the night. We would figure out what to do in the morning because you just can't go skipping 2.5 miles of trail. No cheating.
Date: 2013-06-23
From: Pen Mar Road

To: Caledonia State Park
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: light rain

Before we could start hiking today we had to get a hitch back to Pen Mar where we were supposed to be at. Fortunately, it didn't take long to get a ride. A nice older lady pulled over, popped her trunk, and asked where we were headed. It took a minute to convey why we were trying to get back to Pen Mar Road. It was funny when she started taking us on the scenic route giving us a tour of the area. She was quite knowledgeable after all. When we finally got to the Pen Mar trailhead we got serious and started hiking. Today we would take only one break and that was for lunch at Tumbling Run Shelters. There were two shelters, one for snoring and one for non-snoring. Hilarious I thought. It was a really nice place to take a break, picture worthy. Rocks and climbs were prevalent for the remainder of the day as we walked for three hours straight covering ten miles. Caledonia State Park is on the trail just outside of Fayetteville, where I need to resupply. We would stay in the park tonight and get a nice warm shower. There is a huge pool in the park so that looks like where we might be tomorrow because they closed it shortly after we arrived. It feels weird camping out in the open where everyone can see you and what you're doing. But hey, there is a restroom and potable water close by. Funny what you care about after 80 days in the woods.
Date: 2013-06-24
From: Caledonia State Park

To: Stream
Miles today: 2.5

We lounged around this morning until the pool in the park opened up at eleven. This was a very nice pool as well, complete with a twenty foot water slide. You can bet I was in line with little kids to ride that thing. The water was cold but it felt great to get the weight off of my feet. We stayed at the pool until a thunderstorm rolled in, signaling us to go into Fayetteville via hitch. It took probably ten minutes, not bad, for a lady on her way to work in Chambersburg to pick us up. She was a very nice lady, dropping us off at the post office. This was a convenient location to resupply, eat, and get back to the trail before day's end. It was very hot here today, and the asphalt was scorching to walk on. We sought refuge from the heat of the middle of the day in stores and a pizzeria. I killed a pizza, saving a slice for bed time. We easily got a hitch back to Caledonia, taking no more than five minutes before a young couple pulled over. They were headed to the park and figured that we would be too. They were right, and I appreciated it. A great uphill climbed out of the park and I was sweating almost immediately. We weren't on trail long before finding a nice stream to bed down near. Didn't make many miles today, but did accomplish to get ready to make some miles.
Date: 2013-06-25
From: Stream

To: Campsite north of Pine Grove Furnace
Miles today: 19.3

It was a muggy start this morning, not especially motivating because you know a good sticky sweat is coming on. Sometimes I feel good after a good sweat, and sometimes it just makes me feel nasty, until it dries at least. It was a short uphill climb to the ridge line and it was mostly level walking for the remainder of the day. There were a few good ascents and descents and plenty of rocks. Rocksylvania. I haven't even walked in the worst of it yet. We were able to hike for multiple hours at a good pace so the miles came quickly today, allowing for a few good breaks. I would finally reach the halfway point of the trail today around one and it was a great feeling to know that I have walked this far. It is also a great feeling to know that I still have another half of the trail to walk, especially knowing that New England awaits. Shortly after the halfway point is Pine Grove Furnace State Park, home of the half gallon challenge. We had just eaten lunch an hour earlier, but I bought a half gallon of ice cream, Cookies and Cream, and proceeded to destroy it. Or so I thought. I didn't even make it halfway through before I just started to feel miserable. I passed it off and threw in the towel. I would have to be starving to try and finish a half gallon of ice cream. We hung out at the general store there in the park for a bit before walking another three miles to find a campsite. As we were sitting around the camp fire BS'ing, the wind picked up out of nowhere, it was kind of freaky. The trees swirled around above like lassos. It wasn't long before a storm front rolled through, wracking nerves as it made its way. It would eventually settle into a steady, light rain, perfect for sleeping.
Date: 2013-06-26
From: Campsite north of Pine Grove Furnace

To: Stream near Byers Road, Cumberland Valley
Miles today: 20.5

By the time I woke up this morning overnight winds had everything dried out. It is a good feeling when everything is dry, especially your gear and your feet. We walked over rocks for several miles after breaking camp, walking straight until lunch. We stopped at Green Mountain Store for an awesome bite to eat. They had a deli inside and awesome meats. A sub, a few sodas, and about two hours later we left, headed for Boiling Springs. Shortly before reaching town the trail left the Blue Ridge Mountains, which I had been walking since Georgia, and descended into the Cumberland Valley. The terrain was easy enough in the valley, although not the most picturesque scenery. I weaved in and out of corn fields and narrow thickets of woods before reaching Boiling Springs and would do so for multiple miles beyond town. We stopped in at an Italian restaurant in town and feasted on pizza and sandwiches. No free refills though, which was a bummer. A heavy rain storm passed through while we ate, glad to be indoors for a change. It would still soak me, however. As we left town looking for a campsite, the narrow corridor of woods that we walked through was overgrown and sopping wet from the rain. Before I knew it my feet were wet and all of my clothes were wet. The humidity was immensely thick and nothing would dry out overnight, so I just had to put up with being damp. Great feeling.
Date: 2013-06-27
From: Stream near Byers Road, Cumberland Valley

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 22.0

We woke up before the sun came up and hit the trail early this morning. We had 22 miles to Duncannon, rain would be moving in later in the day, and we felt nasty from all the humidity. Thus, we had to get a move on. The trail weaved in and out of more fields before finally moving 800 feet back up into the mountains. We had covered 14 miles by the time we took lunch around noon. I was beat, my feet were wet and sore, and I felt like stopping. We all did. We sat there for an hour eating all of our yummy trail food and drinking all the water that we could. After one last steep climb up I felt like I was gonna pass out so I ate even more food until I felt better. Then came the rocks. The entire trail was covered with rocks all the way down into Duncannon. Big rocks, little rocks, sharp rocks. It was a Dr. Suess book of rocks. I fell twice also, once forward, once backwards. Good times. By the time we finally reached Duncannon, the skies opened up on us. We walked in a torrential downpour for about ten minutes, laughing at the looks people were giving us. The Doyle Hotel would be our destination. The Doyle is well over a hundred years old and plays the part. It's perfect for hikers though, good food and a bar downstairs, beds and showers upstairs.
Date: 2013-06-28
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter
Miles today: 4.9
Weather: overcast clouds

We certainly took our time leaving Duncannon, waking up early to do so. I went with the guys to the Post Office so that they could retrieve their mail drops. We sat on a picnic table outside going through their packages for over an hour. It was hilarious when they found out how heavy their packages were. Julie sent me an awesome care package here in Duncannon as well so I didn't feel left out, only I had gone through mine the previous night. From the Post Office we had to go back towards the Doyle in order to get back on the AT where we had left off. Well, we stopped in the Doyle one last time for lunch and again, it was awesome. It was after four before we finally left town. It's amazing how fast time flies when I'm in towns. The trail crossed over the Susquehanna River before climbing back up into the mountains, drawing a sweat out of me on this humid day. We had decided just to hit the first shelter since storms were rolling in later in the evening, a short walk from town. It wasn't long after we reached Clark's Ferry Shelter that rain started coming down in sheets. By persuasion and the weather, I was convinced to spend my first night actually sleeping on the floor of a shelter. Well, I was in a bunk, but a floor indeed. I had picked up a sleeping pad out of a hiker box back in Harpers Ferry so I thought I would give it a shot. I've just been lounging on it during breaks during the day, so I'll test it out with a nights rest.
Date: 2013-06-29
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter

To: Rattling Run
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: few clouds

I tossed and turned all night, ill with my decision to sleep on plywood rather than in my hammock. I felt like a rotisserie chicken as I spun around trying to get comfortable. I was up early, as you can imagine, and enjoyed the fact that I was off of the plywood floor of that shelter. We got going around eight, a wet trail awaiting us. There were plenty of wet plants that reached out and dried themselves upon my shoes. We walked for a couple of hours through the green, and now rocky, tunnel before stopping at Peters Mountain Shelter for lunch. I would have much preferred to have stayed here last night as it was a fairly recent construction, two stories with a porch. Lunch there was nice enough I guess. After that was more ridge line walking over rocks, the monotony of it broken up by a descent and climb up from a road crossing. The climb was plenty long enough to have me thirsting to death. By the time we made it to Rattling Run we were all thirsty enough to chug down a liter of water and then some. After sitting there by the creek for a while we started contemplating just staying put, instead of pushing on to the next shelter another seven or eight miles away. The longer we sat there, the easier the decision was to stay. Good thing because we found an awesome camp site right in the bend of the creek. The best part, I can't hear cars or trains from where we are. Should be a good nights rest next to another babbling brook.
Date: 2013-07-01
From: Lickdale, PA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Continental breakfast awaited this morning, something I've never been so fond of as I am now. I put a dent in their offerings. The weather forecast was on the television where we sat and it didn't look good. Completely complacent with our dryness we had absolutely no desire to waltz out into the rain today. A zero was in order. It was the most relaxing day I've had in quite some time. We watched probably four or five movies and consumed vast quantities of fast food. It was a great day. I would be itching to walk by the end of it though. Some things I've noticed about Pennsylvania so far. Motorcyclists, not required to wear helmets. Stupid, yes. Bad ass, yes. No free refills! This is disheartening when you come into a restaurant thirsting to death. Trailer parks. Plenty of them to be found here so no, it's not just a southern thing. Rednecks. Yep, those are way up here too. You can't ride in the bed of a truck. I had a state trooper tell me that as I tried to climb I into the back of one. Rocks, everywhere. Humidity. Damn it feels a lot like Georgia here. Snakes are everywhere, watch your step. And finally, it's not "y'all", it's "you's."
Date: 2013-07-02
From: Lickdale, PA

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: light rain

We enjoyed one more continental breakfast before returning to the green tunnel this morning. We were able to catch a ride back to the trail head fairly quickly which is always nice. As is normal, a nice steep climb awaited after Swatara Gap. The humidity was thick and I was instantly dripping with sweat. All of my clothes collect this sweat weighing me down. The humidity doesn't allow anything to dry either so I'm stuck in a perpetual state of dampness. One by one we made our way through the rocks. After a couple of hours entrenched in battle with the rocky trail I came across a view point. I dropped my pack, which by now is also soaked in my sweat, and grabbed my camera. I walked out to a craggy rock that was hanging off the side of the ridge line, bobbing and weaving through poison ivy to get there. I stepped out onto the rock and immediately jumped back. I had almost made a severe mistake. Curled up on that rock was a copperhead, it's eyes fixed on me. My heart tends to skip beats when I walk up on snakes like that. The eyes of this snake are particularly evil. It is a beautiful creature, but scary as hell at the same time. I snapped a picture of him and left him alone, reciprocating his gesture to me. Damn snakes, you never know what they're thinking. We hiked on. The trail was rough for miles after the snake. Rocky and way overgrown, briars reached out into the trail, tugging at my shirt and my sanity. I just pushed through, trying to think of something else. To concentrate on the lack of maintenance would do no good. To complain about it would be silly and worthless. We arrived at a nice view that afternoon where Green Blaze found Shady, a buddy that he had hiked with some time ago. Shady had hiked 36 miles in the rain yesterday to catch up to us, inadvertently passing us on his way to the 501 shelter. We hung out on a rock looking out over rural Pennsylvania for a while, BS'ing as we do. Shady just left the Army where he was a Ranger. He spent some time in Afghanistan and it took its toll on his body. The guy is 24 years old, cannot see out of his right eye and cannot hear out of his left ear. An RPG had done this to him he told me. Despite all of this, Shady is the happiest, funniest guy I've met out here. For him to be so upbeat is inspiring to me. I respect the guy. Also, he had been stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah so we had a town in common. We would find ourselves staying at the 501 shelter for the night which is not your run of the mill shelter. It has four walls, two doors, and windows, wow! Also, a spigot outside with potable water. Such luxurious accommodations for a thru-hiker! As we are sitting inside, the door opens and Bluegrass walks in. I haven't seen him in about a month and it was cool to catch up. We had a good time at the 501 but I was a rotisserie chicken again trying to sleep in there. I do miss my bed.
Date: 2013-07-03
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 24.1

I'll be damned if Green Blaze didn't wake me up at 4:30 this morning ready to hike. Reluctantly, the plywood was comfortable by now, I got up and quietly packed up my things. We were hiking by headlamp by five and it was incredibly humid outside. Shady would be joining us today as well. Slowly, light filled the forest floor exposing the rocks that had been causing me so much trouble in the dark. Sweating this early in the morning is not an especially great feeling. Not because I'm sweating, but because I'm sweating and it hasn't even become "hot" yet. It was nice to get started this early though because we had a lot of miles to cover to get to Port Clinton today. We all hiked separately today as everyone had a different pace in mind. I felt like walking a little slower than I had been so I lagged behind a bit. It was overcast the majority of the day and everything was wet, akin to walking in a jungle. Mile after mile of rocks and green tunnel had me simply placing one foot in front of the other. At some point today, I don't recall exactly where, the trail turned into a creek, and then a lake! Water filled the trail, adding to my frustration. I walked around the water the best I could, bushwhacking through thigh high bushes at times. My feet stayed dry until the very end of this underwater section. I went left and the woods were under water. To the right, much of the same. I gave up, placing my tired feet into the water and trudging along, cursing the trail gods with each step. They were not kind this day. After stomping most of the water out of my shoes I changed socks. Futility. My other socks were wet too. My feet were in rough shape by the time I reached Port Clinton. As soon as I walked into town a white Blazer pulls up, an older gentleman inside. He stops and asks if we need a ride. The trail passes right through Port Clinton, but there aren't any resupply options here. Everything is in Hamburg, several miles away. Finally, something goes well. Frank, the nice man offering a ride, took us down the street to his house first. There he let us hose off our legs, they were filthy from bushwhacking, and offered us sodas. This was a great consolation prize. He let us leave our packs in his garage, gave us his phone number for a return ride, and took us to Hamburg. First things first, we ate at Five Guys. This is the first time that I've been able to eat all the fries that they dump in the bag with your burger. We then went to Wal Mart to resupply which is always funny. I smell like, well, use your imagination, and I'm walking around in a store picking out grocery items. Sadly enough, I'm not the worst looking fellow in this store. We called Frank when we were done and fifteen minutes later he's pulling up to the front of the store. This guy was awesome. He took us to the town pavilion in Port Clinton where we could stay the night. It was incredibly warm this night and almost impossible to sleep, even after hiking 24 miles. Touch© weather, touch©.
Date: 2013-07-04
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: The Pinnacle
Miles today: 9.5

One of the first people I met on the trail was a man who went by the trail name of Mountain Squid. Lord knows where that name came from. He was in the parking lot just down from Springer Mountain counting thru-hikers on their way to Maine. He tallies hikers and compiles a report on White Blaze, a popular forum covering the AT online. Well Mountain Squid had made his way all the way up to Port Clinton to get another count on thru hikers coming through and was staying at the pavilion with us. He was very generous and offered to take us to Cracker Barrel for breakfast to which we graciously accepted. After killing some pancakes and a couple cups of coffee he brought us back to the pavilion where I sat in a complacent misery, my stomach on the verge of explosion. Not long had passed before he offered to take us to Cabela's. I didn't need anything from there, but decided to go. I had never been to a Cabela's before. I didn't know what I was getting into. The place was huge! There were hundreds of perfectly stuffed animals, everything from porcupines to a damn elephant. We were there for hours just gawking at the animals on display. It was a fun little side trip I must admit. After the zoo that was Cabela's we returned to the pavilion and waited out the heat of the day before hiking on. Being July 4th, we had decided to hike up to The Pinnacle, which is a great view point, to watch fireworks. It was still scorching hot by the time we started hiking so the sweat was rolling off of me, again. This is going to be a recurring theme. It was almost dark by the time I made it to The Pinnacle. I took my pack off, sat down, and enjoyed the most amazing fireworks show of my life. I could see dozens of towns in the distance, each one with their own impressive display of fireworks. It was amazing. Thankfully, there was a good wind blowing over the mountain which helped to keep me cool. I was asleep within minutes of laying in my hammock. I forgot to mention that Green Blaze caught a ride with a friend of his to go hang out with him for a couple of days so he would not be hiking out with us this evening. Jabberwocky and Shady joined me at The Pinnacle.