morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-11
From: deerlick

To: caledonia park
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: overcast clouds

i love pennsylvania! (oh yeah, i'm in PA now! crossed the mason-dixon line last night) today's trail magic consisted of a shower, a tentsite and so much delicious food (corned beef and cabbage, bbq chicken, rice with beans and artichoke hearts, bread, peas, lemonade, baked apples and ice cream!!!! i ate two plates of dinner and two bolws of dessert!) after yesterday's long day, it was well appreciated.
Date: 2006-07-12
From: caledonia park

To: ironmaster's mansion
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: overcast clouds

woke up at the trail magic campsite to a great breakfast of eggs with peppers and kielbasa, blueberry pancakes and potatoes) and then got a slack to the halfway point store. that's right - HALFWAY! i didn't do the half gallon challenge, but i did buy a half gallon of icecream to eat over the course of the evening at the hostel. the hostel was pretty cool. an old mansion with a secret room under a secret panel under the stairs. it was part of the underground railroad. very cool.
Date: 2006-07-13
From: ironmaster's mansion

To: backpackers campsite-boiling springs
Miles today: 19.0

today sucked. hot, muggy and utterly miserable. but it wasnt the heat or the humidity that did me in - it was the mosquitos! hoards of them everywhere. buzzing clouds of annoyance and pain. i can't stand it. my arms are swollen with dozens of hot itchy welts. the little f'ers are buzzing in my ears and flying into my eyes. i finally broke down and did the deet, but it only lasts like ten minutes before it sweats off and the bugs are back. but i finally made it to the campsite and then walked into town with snake-eyes aka justinback jim, and walker and pixie and danger. i had a great hoagie at the italian restaurant and a cherry ice cream cone. yum. notice how my life seems to revolve around food now? yeah.
Date: 2006-07-14
From: backpackers campsite-boiling springs

To: cove mountain shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: scattered clouds

day started out great. walked back through town and got a great breakfast sandwich (egg and bacon on a croissant) and really good coffee (finally!) then grabbed another cherry ice cream cone before hitting the trail. the hike was easy - through small wooded areas and then through pastures and corn fields. hot, but not too hot to be miserable, just hot enough to really appreciate every subtle breeze. then after 12 or so miles i started to go up the "mountain" (just around 750 feet of elevation) and met up with chickflick and jamie who were doing trail magic. pretty much the best trail magic ever - a banana split sundae bar! they had a cooler with four gallons of good icecream packed in dry ice, a bag of bananas, like ten different toppings, bowls, spoons everything! so i took a nice break and chatted about the trail and then headed on. i was debating whether or not to try the 22 (it's been a really hard week of long days) but the ice cream helped me on.then it happened. passed the first shelter and then entered the neverending cloud of mosquito hell. ugh. got to the next shelter and just set up my tent and jumped inside. no dinner, no nothing.
Date: 2006-07-15
From: cove mountain shelter

To: DUNCANNON
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: moderate rain

woke up and packed my bag as fast as possible. no coffee or breakfast cause the skeeters are still everywhere. tried to get off the mountain and into town as fast as possible. then it started to rain but not enough to disperse the bugs. but got into town pretty quickly and found relief. had a great breakfast at the diner and then went to the post office where i got a surprise treat from my friend belkys (thanks!)then i checked into the doyle hotel which is my new home away from home. i love it here. but i don't love this internet place because it is full of thirteen year old gamers who are playing computer games against each other and screaming at full volume, i can't stand it - isn't my tolerance supposed to be increasing with all this walking and self reflection?)
Date: 2006-07-17
From: DUNCANNON

To: peter's mtn
Miles today: 11.4

finally hiked out of town this afternoon with eggshells and shortwave. somehow lost a full pack of cigarettes, which was a bummer, and then lost my hiking buddies. got to the shelter and it was packed full of tents, which was nice to see. crutch was also there with his radio, so that was cool. water was really far away but tu-tone volunteered to bring it up. i made some delicious spaghetti (thanks jacob & pooja) and ate in the dark with two-step and AT. still a lot of mosquitos, but whatevs. all in all i guess it was a good day.
Date: 2006-07-21
From: eagles nest

To: port clinton
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

i am so glad i didn't hike into town last night. the descent was awful, really steep and lots of loose gravel and debris. i totally would have wiped out if i was hiking at night. and port clinton pretty much sucks. the outfitter listed in the guidebook had been closed for years. no groceries, no refreshments, nothing except a pavilion that hikers can sleep in, which is pretty cool, i guess. but there were little maggots everywhere and the rain came in. had a burger at the bar/hotel but it made me sick. then we took a shuttle bus to cabela's. like 250000 square feet of gear and not one thing useful for a thru-hiker. the enourmous taxidermy displays were pretty intense. i ended up going to a nearby dunkin donuts and getting coffee and icecream cake, which was amazing. then had to cross a four-lane freeway while talking on a cellphone, smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee and felt like i was back in nyc for a minute. can't wait to get out of here.
Date: 2006-07-22
From: port clinton

To: eckville shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

day started off nice enough. good hiking with tu-tone and two step. great overlooks and tu-tone and i saw a beautiful copperhead. then we accidentally wandered off the trail and didn't realise until a mile or so later, so we had to retrace our steps and that was totally demoralising. as it started to get dark and we were still pretty far from the shelter i decided to skip the next break and go on by myself. i was desparate to take off my shoes and lie down. unfortunately i missed the turn off for the shelter and ended up going over a mile past it. by the time i realised i missed the shelter, it was already dark and i was in a mosquito-infested swamp. it was so miserable i could've cried. there was a little campsite there so i had to decide whether to stay or backtrack. as much as it pained me to do so, i decided to go back so the others wouldn't think i was trying to ditch them. turned out to be the best move ever cause when i got to the shelter, the caretakers had a tableful of food, bbq and beverages out and the shelter was awesome.
Date: 2006-07-23
From: eckville shelter

To: tripoli campsite
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: overcast clouds

team cool breeze is born. such a beautiful day of hiking with tu-tone, two-step and snake eyes. the dreaded pennsyvania rocks were nothing to us with the nice breeze and the beautiful views. we were planning to get dinner at a restaurant right off the trail but were disappointed to find the restaurant closed and the water was shut off. i found a half pint of water under a bench at the restaurant and that was good enough to last me to the campsite.   we tried to hitch to the next town to get a meal but were unsuccesful, so we continued to hike on.
Date: 2006-07-24
From: tripoli campsite

To: palmerton
Miles today: 11.8

camping last night was weird. there were strange noises everywhere, we think it was a bobcat. but woke up with some great coffee and hiked into town. another beautiful breezy day.   i hitched into town with snake-eyes and went to the old jailhouse which has a hostel in the basement. palmerton is the best trail town ever! they greated us with little goody bags made by the girl scouts. free toothbrush, advil, t.p., granola bar etc. then the grocery store gave free apples to the hikers and the library let hikers take a free book from the booksale. everyone was so friendly and amazing! we ate chinese food and made coke floats. i don't want to leave town, but there is hiking to be done.
Date: 2006-07-25
From: palmerton

To: leroy smith
Miles today: 15.8

the hike out of palmerton was awesome! up some huge steep rocks with gorgeous views of the susquehanna river a thousand or so feet below. then through an e.p.a. superfund site. it looked incredible, like the desert or something. i got a big scare when i almost stepped on the biggest rattler i've ever seen. its head was right on the trail and i didn't see it until i was almost on top of it. yikes!
Date: 2006-07-26
From: leroy smith

To: DELAWARE WATER GAP
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

today's the day i get to see aimee!!! she's meeting me at DWG! but it's like 20 miles, can i do it? luckily, tu-tone's bro, scarecrow (GA-ME 04) is with us and gonna slack us half the day. (after taking us into windgap for lunch)we ran into pixie and danger in windgap and they joined us for food and then caught a ride up to DWG with scarecrow. i told them to look out for aimee and tell her i would get there around 6 or so. then scarecrow ended up meeting us at a road crossing and bringing peanutbutter cups and sodas and gatorade. awesome. aimee got to the gap fairly early and decided to hike south to meet me. it was so nice to hike into town with her. we got a room in stroudsburg cause the gap had recently been flooded and the hotel there was closed. anyway, a perfect day.
Date: 2006-07-26
From: leroy smith

To: DELAWARE WATER GAP
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: scattered clouds

tu-tone's brother met us at the shelter last night and we hiked a little bit to his car. he thru-hiked in 2004 and had lots of good advice for us. then he drove us into town for mcdonalds and then slacked us into dwg. he was great! and it worked out perfectly for me because aimee came to visit! she hiked up south from dwg and met me on the mountain and we hiked into town together.
Date: 2006-07-27
From: DELAWARE WATER GAP

To: delaware water gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

spent the day with aimee. we had a wonderful lunch at a cute cafe in the next town. she ended up taking the 4:00 bus back to new york and i went to the church hostel. they had a huge potluck dinner there. it was awkward because i was the only hiker there and they let me to the front of the line and cheered for me. thankfully more hikers showed up later. the food was good, though, i especially loved the whipped cream and oreo pie. i was going to hike out tonight, but it started pouring rain, so i stayed.
Date: 2006-07-28
From: delaware water gap

To: camp ken-etiwa-pec
Miles today: 17.8

didn't sleep too well at the church hostel, so i got up early and went to the diner for some coffee and then ran into fireman who was ready to hike out. i want to hurry to bear mountain so i can spend some time in nyc with aimee and then meet up with two-step and tu-tone and the rest of team cool breeze. it rained off and on all morning but i did a long day with fireman and hiked an extra mile off-trail to get to the camp. it was soooo good - a cabin on a beautiful lake and we got to eat as much food as we wanted after the summer camp kids ate.
Date: 2006-07-29
From: camp ken-etiwa-pec

To: gren anderson
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: few clouds

woke up and got breakfast at the mess hall. so hot today, totally miserable and buggy. stopped at culvers gap for a burger and beer at gyp's tavern then hiked on to the shelter. the shelter was super sketchy. all broken down and filthy with alcohol bottles and whatnot. turns out a road was really close by. fireman and locomotive joe ended up there, too, so i was glad to not be alone.
Date: 2006-07-30
From: gren andreson

To: secret shelter
Miles today: 18.3

there was great trail magic at high point state park. a former thru hiker had a bbq for all the thru hikers. great burgers and salad and treats. then i hiked on to the "secret shelter" on some body's private property. it was amazing to tent out on real lawn. there were fighting donkeys braying all night but it was pretty cool sounding and didn't bother me at all.
Date: 2006-07-31
From: secret shelter

To: st. thomas episcopal church in vernon
Miles today: 13.6

still really fucking hot. stopped off in unionville for breakfast at sara's - the best breakfast i've had on the trail yet. that place was so great, really friendly and terrific food! then hiked on to the "million dollar mile," a long expanse of boardwalk. it was pretty, surrounded by cattails and purple flowers - but the heat was unbearable. finally got to vernon and had icecream at the farm stand. i love icecream.
Date: 2006-08-01
From: st. thomas episcopal church in vernon

To: wildcat
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: scattered clouds

took forever to hitch out of vernon. it was my first time hitching alone and i got pretty depressed after standing there forever with my thumb out. i finally just started to walk when a nice older man picked me up. he missed the trailhead three times but i finally got there and began the long ascent uphill. supposed to be recard heat today, i guess the state of new jersey has declared a heat emergency. but i am on a mission to get to bear mtn asap. the worst part about the heat is the lack of water. of the four streams listed in the guidebook, two are non-existent, one is a brown puddle and the other is a nasty orange debris filled stream. i had no water so i had to take some. i filtered it and treated it and it still tasted foul. thankfully the local trail club put out water at the road crossing. also, a tenth a mile off the trail was an icecream stand with the most delicious ice cream i've ever had!
Date: 2006-08-02
From: wildcat

To: brien shelter
Miles today: 19.6

i didn't want to hike so far today but when i got to the first shelter a creepy guy was there. plus, no water, so i decided to forge ahead, figuring i could make it before dark and then i would be in bear mtn early enough for the 11:30 bus. there was some trail magic when i entered harriman and that was pretty cool. still hating the water situation, after i left the first shelter i had to take a .6 mile side trip to get water. at least i saw some deer, it's been awhile since i've seen any wildlife. i got to my destination and was actually upset to find it full of tents and hikers. i figured they were all southbounders and i was hoping to be alone tonight. then it was dark and turns out my headlight was broken, so i had to set up using only my emergency light. that sucked.
Date: 2006-08-03
From: brien shelter

To: NEW YORK CITY
Miles today: 8.1

woke up and started making coffee and i kept hearing my name! turns out all the other tents were other northbounders that i hadn't seen in forever. that was really cool. then i got moving so as to make the bus. halfway there, i realised the bus was actually at 11:15 not 11:30. it was hard going over three mountains so fast and with only a liter of water. thankfully there was a vending machine at the top of bear mountain so i got some iced tea and a powerade and pretty much ran all the way down to the bus. geting back into the city was pretty surreal. all the concrete and filth and people sorta freaked me out. but aimee was waiting for me at the bus station, so all is good.
Date: 2006-08-08
From: NEW YORK CITY

To: canopus hill road
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: broken clouds

new york was good, but far too brief. my favorite part (not really) was riding the subway home and everybody moving away from me or covering their noses. did i really smell that bad?my friend bonnie lent me and aimee her car so that aimee can slackpack me through new york. i am now in the section that i hiked with some friends two years ago when i first started thinking seriously about doing the trail and when i first learned about slackpacking. it was cool to be walking through there and seeing how far i've come since those days of carrying too much weight and being terrified of everything.   i didn't sleep much last night so i ended up not hiking as far as i planned. aimee and i camped out at dennytown campsite and were the only ones there, just like the last time i camped there. car camping is awesome - good food for dinner and lots of soda and treats!
Date: 2006-08-10
From: NY52

To: duell hollow road
Miles today: 20.7

still slacking. i hiked past the first a.t. shelter i ever saw. funny cause i remember it being a total dump and i was totally sketched out by the idea of sleeping with mice and spiders but seeing it now, it's actually a really nice shelter. ran into green wolf who i met at the hostel in vernon. first thruhiker i've seen in a while. we took him to town for pizza. then aimee and i found a hotel in wingdale. that was nice.
Date: 2006-08-11
From: duell hollow road

To: river road
Miles today: 17.2

my last day of slacking, aimee is going back to n.y. tomorrow. we drove to kent in the morning to see if anybody was in town and met up with like twelve hikers. that was awesome. so i decided to do more miles in order to catch up with them tomorrow. the hiking today was beautiful. especially bull's run. finally i am in connecticut, the states are going by so fast! spent the night at my friend bonnie's treehouse and thought about the first time i ever slept alone in a tent, on her land a few years ago, and how i heard bears in every forest noise and stayed up half the night waiting for the inevitable attack which of course never came.
Date: 2006-08-12
From: river road

To: belters campsite
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

connecticut is beautiful. the day started off pretty easy with a walk along the river and then uphill to some gorgeous lookouts. only saw two other thru hikers who told me that tu-tone was probably ahead a few miles. so i pushed on as far as i could and camped out under the pines at belters.
Date: 2006-08-13
From: belters campsite

To: brassie brook
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

still hiking alone, no idea how far ahead folks are. walked into salisbury, where i got a pretty unwelcome reception, so i left after getting ice cream and a sandwich. stopped off at riga shelter, which was awesome because it looked out onto the mountain lakes that are a couple of miles from my friend's land. we used to hike up to them and swim and collect wild blueberries. then i hiked the mile or so to the next shelter where i slept well, though alone.
Date: 2006-08-14
From: brassie brook

To: great barrington
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: broken clouds

i am so exhausted! even though i slackpacked the majority of the past week, i didn't really get any breaks because i've been trying to catch up with friends. decided to hitch into great barrington for a good night's rest and a shower. ended up at a hotel on the outskirts of town, where i was able to eat and resupply, but nothing else exciting.
Date: 2006-08-15
From: great barrington

To: mt. wilcox south
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

i didn't leave town until after 11. it took awhile to get a hitch and then the woman who picked me up had to drop me off about a mile from the trailhead. i ended up walking that stretch of route 7 three times to find the trail (that was miserable) but when i finally found it, there was snake eyes and two step! so nice to be hiking with people again.
Date: 2006-08-17
From: upper goose pond cabin

To: dalton
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: broken clouds

i somehow managed to talk everybody into taking the canoes out for a ride before starting the day's hike. it was great and relaxing. we were originally planning to only hike about 16 miles, but around lunch time tu-tone and i decided to try and make it into town. i usually hate getting into town late, especially a town like dalton which doesn't seem to have any places to stay, but we had heard rumors about a free hostel in town and decided to go for it. we got to town a little before dusk and on our way in heard people shouting our names! pixie and danger were sitting at a picnic table in front of a house. we went to say hi and ended up staying the night. the owner of the house, tom levardi, is the greatest guy ever, apparently been helping out hikers for over twenty years. he even brought us plates of delicious spaghetti with vegetables and the crispest, sweetest corn i have ever had.
Date: 2006-08-18
From: dalton

To: dalton
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

we were originally going to do a 23 mile slack south from north adams, but ended up eating at the diner and doing laundry instead. but tom was awesome and took us to cheshire so we could at least get a few miles in for the day. then he took us to an all you can eat buffet. yay! food!
Date: 2006-08-19
From: dalton

To: dalton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

wow - three nights in the same place! bananas, i know, but i got sucked in to doing a zero. tom took us to the mall where we saw a movie and i got some great ice cream. i usually feel restless and guilty when staying too long in a town, but the relaxation and rest feels good.
Date: 2006-08-20
From: dalton

To: wilbur clearing
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

finally got out of dalton. snake eyes, two-step and i lost the others. mt. greylock was pretty cool. freezing, though. and raining, too. there was a little store inside where i got some ice cream (i know, even though it was freezing and practically snowing, i have to eat ice cream whenever i can). those section hikers that stayed in dalton with us were there and offered us their left-over food. oh but then we had to night hike until ten to make it to the shelter. but of course by that time we couldn't actually sleep in the shelter. i didn't want to wake people up with all the unpacking and dinner-making and setting up. maybe only mayor turtle was there, but still. i much prefer sleeping in my tent anyways.
Date: 2006-08-21
From: wilbur clearing

To: seth warner
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: broken clouds

went into williamstown for coffee and mail and groceries and then hiked on and up - into VERMONT! how exciting is that!? the excitement lasted about five minutes, cause then the trail turned to mud and misery. the terrain was easy, but so slow-going and exhausting because of the mud. and so many people! a lot of southbounders and longtrailers. still, it feels good to be three states away.
Date: 2006-08-22
From: seth warner

To: bennington
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

why am i so exhausted and miserable, even though the days have been short, mileage-wise? we decided to go into bennington to wash up and eat and hopefully feel rejuvenated, but it ended up being awful. we walked around town for miles to find the supposed free showers which ended up costing a dollar and being an open room with multiple spouts and no soap or towel. then we walked all the way back to the other end of town to do laundry. then, the place that we were hoping to stay at didn't pan out so we had to walk all the way back to find a hotel (which of course had a shower and a laundry facility). but it was nice to sleep in a warm bed with sheets and a pillow.
Date: 2006-08-23
From: bennington

To: caughnawga
Miles today: 14.4

the night in the hotel actually did wonders for our morale. i feel pretty refreshed and ready to hike again. we ended up getting a sketchy hitch out of town, she kept telling us we were in the "devil's triangle" and alluding to different murders that have happened in the woods and talking about the knife in her glovebox, but it ended up being fine, we made it to the trailhead in one piece. i stopped for lunch at a shelter and found the rest of team cool breeze. they had a rough night, apparently (they were just getting up) but we're all happy to have caught up again. vermont is so beautiful. i feel exhilerated to be back in the mountains. there was an incredible climb up to mt. glastonbury that totally blew me away. it was steep and exhausting but smelled incredible - pine and delicious flowers. and then there was a fire tower! i went up to the top and just about lost it - gorgeous mountains as far as you could see. i am so excited!