morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-18
From: Anteitum Shelter

To: Iron master Hostel Pine Furnace
Miles today: 30.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night there was the weirdest sounding owl I have ever heard. Two hoots and a screech of sorts. Then two of them. I love the outdoors.The terrain was mild, even actually flat except for three dips into the valleys. First stop after 10 miles was the Caledonia state park. I had a big cheeseburger with fries and a coke. I met another thruhiker at the concession stand who ordered the same thing, said he was gaining weight. Must be muscle because he was skinney. Said he had chrones disease, that may have played a part.I was thinking of a swim at the pool, but I had more miles to put in. I refilled with three liters of water and took off. The day was getting warmer and muggier as I went on.I made it to Birch Run shelter my planned stop, however it was only 4:30, with plenty of daylight left. I was mulling over another ten miles to make 30 for the day. What the heck, another 3 liters of water and I was off. That was a decision I would come to regret. Ten miles later, I made the official halfway point of the AT. Done with an acheing body, sore thighs, howling dogs, wobbley knees, and a huge welt across my lower back from the friction of my pack belt. And once again no fanfare.Continuing on to the Ironmasters hostel, I was able to get a shower, do laundry and make dinner and a bed to sleep in.Man was I stinky.
Date: 2007-07-19
From: Iron master Hostel Pine Furnace

To: Route 11 Super 8
Miles today: 27.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Man do I ache. My legs dont want to work, my knees are stiff and I have a blister on both heels. I think I'll do an easy day today. With a breakfast of herbed chicken, I was off again. Mild terrain and another map done I was moving OK today. I passed the halfway monument of the AT in a mile but the location is incorrect. It was the halfway point when it was erected, but with trail relocations since then, I really passed the halfway point yesterday.Kind of hilly today, but a wee bit cooler weather I made it Boiling Springs and stopped in at the regional ATC office. I had to visit the springs too. The water does look like it is boiling out of the ground. After a visit to the post office and some pizza for lunch I had to move on.The newspaper this morning and the weather report at the ATC said strong storms this evening into tonight. If I can make Route 11 in a few hours, I'll get a room at the super 8 motel. Supposed to be golf ball hail in this bad boy.The terrain was way to flat. I made 8 miles in 2 and 1/2 hours. A little early, but with the chaffing and my sore legs and the storm brewing, I think this will do. Another shower again tonight....
Date: 2007-07-20
From: Route 11 Super 8

To: Doyle Hotel Duncannon Pa
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I left the motel this morn and there had not been any rain. Go figure. I found a ton of rasberries along the way and theu made for great snacking. The terrain was perfectly flat and hiking was great with the new cool weather.I slipped comming down the hill into Duncannon and thought I was a goner. The rocks along the trail have been very sharp. No worries though, I was OK.Once I was on the road into Duncannon I found clumps of raspberries as big as your fist. Big sweet and juicy. No one here harvests them for jellies or wine. Other than my friend Jim, my mom and myself, I dont know of anyone who collects berries any more.I checked into the Doyle Hotel, Built in the early 1900's by Anheuser-Busch. Its run down now and the owners are trying to fix it up. It has been a hiking tradition to stay here so I thought I would give it a try. After shopping and a shower I was off to sleep.
Date: 2007-07-21
From: Doyle Hotel Duncannon Pa

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 28.9
Weather: light rain

Out early this morning, I stopped at Goodies for a sandwich and was on the trail by 5:30. After a hike thru town, 2 miles of the trail is located on the town streets, I started over the Susquehanna river and over some railroad tracks until I arrived at the trailhead into the woods. Once again, lots of raspberries and then Blackberries. At on point I had handfulls of berries, big and sweet. Hmm, I wish it were breakfast again, I would put some in my oatmeal.The trail was flat with some rocky spots. Halfway thru the day was a gap, a 1000 foot drop and then back up the other side. I missed the spring to fill up on water and ran out about two miles prior to the shelter. I was really parched.Once I reached the shelter, I treated some water and was off to bed. For some reason I was not hungry tonight....
Date: 2007-07-22
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: overcast clouds

The shelter last night was pretty cool. It was a newer holf stone half log cabin built low into the ground. The front apron area had a retaining wall around and the sprin was contained in the wall. With the dry weather no water was comming out and we thought the water in it was from the rain. At about 2:30 am water started dripping and by 6:00 am there was a good flow comming from the pipe. Continuing on the trail, in the morning I saw a sign for some trail magic, a guy was cooking breakfast for hikers comming along the trail. Sure enough, at the next trailhead, Jeff was cooking eggs or burgers for whoever wanted. Pa Jeff is a triple crowner, hiked all three trails. He was helping out the trail community by giving trasil magic. Here I found two of my old hiking buddies, Mellow and Walker. They had hooked up with Rose at HF and were hiking together. It took Walker and Mellow about 10 seconds to recognize me as I had lost about 60 pounds since last seeing them. We hooked up and started hiking on towards the 501 shelter. There were more boulders again. I hate these rocks. They make your feet hurt, ankle ache and tired quick. We arrived at the shelter. There is a solar shower installed but since there are trees around it was still cold. After dinner I was once again out like a light.
Date: 2007-07-23
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: light rain

A sorry day. It rained or drizzled all day. We got to Port Clinton and moved on to the Pavilion run by the local church. It seems that part of the 2007 class is being realy crass. The got really drunk and deficated and pucked in the pavilion and then skinny dipped in the neighbors pool. Police were called and charges were pressed. Dumb kids.We reloaded at the post office and got a room at the River Inn for laundry and showers. A relief for the day.
Date: 2007-07-25
From: Allentown Shelter

To: Palmerton Jail Hostel
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: clear sky

In the morning, I had to hike a half mile to get water. Downhill about 1000 feet. The rest of the day was a combo of rocks and good path, mostly rocks. Places like "the cliffs", "bears rocks", "knife edge". It makes for wearing out your feet.I had a discussion with Walker about getting off the trail. I might stay til afer New York.We stayed at the Palmerton Jail Hostel run by the city. They provide a nice service and even give a few commodities to the hikers.
Date: 2007-07-26
From: Palmerton Jail Hostel

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The start today was OK. I called a guy the was listed that give rides back to the trail last night and he showed up right on time. Thanks Duane. I had gotton an egg and bacon sandwich again from a diner across the street, and it tasted really good. I must be getting my appetite back. The first part of the climb was almost straight up a rock wall. It was actually fun. Parts were really hard to get a grip on. I have some great pictures on the other web site.On top was one of the superfund sites. The area was devastated by zinc mining and is being restored.The trail got really rocky later on and was tireing on the feet and legs. You just have to push on in places like that. At one point near the end of the day, I slipped on a wobbly rock and fell into a poison ivy patch. A good thing there was a motel at the bottom of the hill. I checked in and took a shower real quick. I must of missed a spot and got a small patch of poison ivy rash on my arm. Small enough not to worry about.A rough day again after dinner I was out like a light.
Date: 2007-07-27
From: Wind Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap Hostel
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Starting early again. The trail was really rocky. I mean real rocky. I passed an area called stoney gardens with huge boulders and lots of snakes. Rattle snakes and copper heads.I moved on fast today, I wanted to get to the hostel to take a break and another the next day. I need to rest my feet and ankles.I arrived dumped my pack and headed to the post office for my supply box. I found my lost maps in the box. Dummy me, I sent the maps for Pa in the box that ended Pa. Whoops.The hostel is nice but smells like hikers. There is no ventilation in the bunk room. I wont have any trouble sleeping though. I am beat.
Date: 2007-07-29
From: Delaware Water Gap Hostel

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I started early today, I wanted to get ahead of the storms. By the time I got to the Mohican Outdoor center the thunder was right behind me. So a short 10 mile day. The trail is easier so far, I think I'll try 30 mile days if I can get up early.I passed a glacial pond, Sunfish Pond carved in one of the ice ages. The water was clear and cold and a zillion frogs jumped in as I went by. They say if there are frogs the water is clean. Earlier I passed a stream that was so clean it had natural brook trout in it. You wouldnt think of it for New Jersey.Oh by the way, Pennsylvania is done. Six down, seven states to go. And less than 900 miles to go too.
Date: 2007-07-30
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 20.9
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning when I headed out the door a black bear met me about 20 feet away. I was startled she was curious. I tried to get a picture but it was to foggy. i left a note for my fellow hikers and on the way out again 3 cubs. Then momma came back. Pretty exciting. Further down the trail were two turkeys mulling around in a swamp. Being the first hiker out has its benefits. I came across an old fire tower looming in the fog, like it was trying to reach the sun. The sun was trying to bore a hole thru the clouds. Power line towers appeared suddenly in the low clouds. I could hear a bullfrog sing his serenade and lesser frogs croak like plucking an untuned ukelele. The view was limited but this morning was very interesting. On top of Rattlesnake mountain, one could see an alpine swamp in the distance. There were large non comercial farms and lots of tree space. I never new New Jersey could be so beautiful
Date: 2007-07-31
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: Secret Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: light rain

I had set up my tent last night because of the mosquitos. It was nice and cool after taking a bath in the creek.I heard walking in the woods at night, sounded like a deer. You never know in bear territory.Today had lots to see. First was a lotof ridge walks on smooth rocks on top. On the top of Sunrise Mountain was a large pavilion, that is said you can see NYC from. I couldn't but it was a little hazy. Along the way was a swamp so dark, the water ran out of it almost pure black. After lunch near the High Point State Park Headquaters, An observation platform and the monument of High Point was near the trail. The monument looks just like the Washington Monument in DC.I stopped for the day at The Secret Shelter. An alumni of the trail, Mr Murray lets thru hikers stay in his rustic shelter. It has electric, a fan and hot water and an indoor and outdoor shower. Its really a neat place. Thanks Mr. Murray!I think I'll take a stroll down by the donkeys and have a look see....Well, the donkeys fight alot, one has a bite mark on his neck.Jim came by, we chatted awhile. We talked about how he has been reworking the property. He is an interesting guy.
Date: 2007-08-01
From: Secret Shelter

To: House of Susan and John Trail Angels
Miles today: 35.9
Weather: moderate rain

I started real early 3:00 am. After a double dinner last night, I wanted to make large miles. Right off the bat were long bog boards. Raised walkways over swampy areas. This made for smooth sailing. There were many Turkeys, and fox along the way and I think I saw a coyote. One section was a raised platform that everyone walks their dogs on. About a mile and a half long, it travels thru the swamp and has a great view of the flora and fauna. Most of the day was smooth until I got to rt 94 where I had to go up a mountain and the rocks started again. About 10 miles of this was crazy. When I arrived at Wildcat Shelter near Belvale the rocks smoothed out and were on the trail about 15 percent of the time. This helped with my mileage today. The trees were mostly pine and the trail floor was soft except on top of the mountains where it was smooth rock. I intended to go to Southfield and get a motel but it was full. At the road was a cooler of water and a note to call if hikers wanted to get off the trail for the night. Sweet, a hot shower and laundry. I called the number a John came over and set me up. Just what I needed to end a long day. 809 miles to go
Date: 2013-11-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

It's my turn to thru-hike! Finally!You might say this has been a dream of mine since I was about 10 years old - In 2014, when I start my hike, I will be 60. So that's about 50 years or so. Way back in 1964 (or thereabouts), my mother and father took me and a friend on a vacation to the Smokies. We rented a trailer and stayed at Smokemont and drove all over, visiting Cherokee and Gatlinburg, Maggie Valley and the Blue Ridge Parkway. But what my friend and I really wanted to do was hike, see some bears, and pretend we were really mountain men.So when we visited Clingman's Dome, and discovered that there was an actual trail that went from there back down to Newfound Gap (the Appalachian Trail, naturally, although that meant nothing to me at the time), we begged and pleaded and used every excuse we could think of to be allowed to hike the trail. It was only 7 miles! We could do that easy, we walked further than that at home all the time. Right?Of course my mother was dead-set against it. No way could we do that alone. I'm sure that my father, bless his heart, secretly wanted to go with us. Of course, nowadays, no parent would consider letting their ten-year-old do such a thing, but it was a different world back then. So Kenny (my friend's name - where are you now Kenny?) and I set out from the top of Clingman's Dome on our epic trek down to Newfound Gap. We saw bears behind every tree. We stumbled and slid down the rocky back side of the mountain. We discovered that it was not down all the way, but went back up sometimes. And seven miles was a lot longer than we thought.So, at least on that day, God was looking out for idiot kids and their parents. Maybe He wanted to be hiking too. Somehow we made it down to Newfound Gap right as darkness was settling down in the valley. My mother was frantic, my father swore that he knew we could do it, no rangers had to be called to rescue us.My love of hiking was born.
Date: 2013-11-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Funny to think I might have a hiking resume!"So you are thinking of doing at AT thru-hike, huh? All 2100+ miles? Exactly what experience do you have that might prepare you for attempting such an undertaking?"Let me see if I can list the places I have hiked - this is really going to tax my memory. I think I'll just hit the high points:   AT: From Springer to Davenport Gap (the north end of the Smokies) several times in sections, including the approach trail. The longest sections at one time were all the Smokies, Dick's Creek Gap in GA to Fontana, and Springer to Dick's Creek Gap.   AT: The 100 mile wilderness in Maine in 7 days/6 nights.   AT: The Bigelows in Maine, from Straton to Caratunk.   Alabama Pinhoti: All of it, about 110 miles when I did it, in two section hikes: everything north of I-20, and everything south of I-20.   The Grand Canyon: I did 9 days here, going from south rim to north rim, back to the river, then down the Kaibab Trail, down to the river, then back up to the south rim.   BWCA in Minnesota: Canoe/portage trip. Two trips a year apart. On the second trip I went across into Canada and came back.   Colorado: Hiked in the Lost Creek area and around the presidentials near Buena Vista.   Smokies: In addition to the AT I've done about half of the side trails, mostly on the NC side. Everything down around Fontana and Bryson City, with Hazel Creek being my favorite.   Sweden/Lapland: Spent a week hiking on the Kungsleden above the Arctic Circle in Sweden.And so forth and so on. Seems like a lot, and it's certainly a lot more than most people who start out on the AT with the intention of doing a thru-hike. But I have the advantage of having been at it for a lot of years!The other thing that I love to do is orienteer. I'm active in the Georgia Orienteering Club, making maps for them and designing courses as well as competing. I've orienteered in GA, AL, NC, SC, KY, OH, IL, IN, MO, PA, NY, KS, CO, WY, VA. That's what I can remember off the top of my head. Night-orienteering was my specialty for a while, and I was a US age group champion one year, many years ago - my one claim to fame, quickly forgotten. I also made the maps and headed the course design team for the 2012 US Champs. Also quickly forgotten (What have you done for me lately!?).So that's a pretty good list of positives for hiking the trail. What about negatives?I've been married to "Lovely Laurie" aka "Chatty Cathy" for 33 years. Being separated from her for the 5 or 6 months it will take me to hike the trail will be as difficult as hiking the trail. Hopefully she will see me off and visit me on the trail a few times. Probably about the third week I'll be calling her up, begging her to come and get me!I play piano every day - can't take a piano with me on the trail...
Date: 2013-11-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It has always seemed to me to be a little preoccupied and self centered to share everything about one's life online. I am definitely not a member of the Facebook generation. I have kept blogs before, usually chronicling some project or endeavor, but doing it to just get 15 minutes of fame or for bragging rights is not very attractive to me.Doing it to educate is also not my forte. There are plenty of other places you can go to get better information that I can give you.I am also not a fan of the trail journals that just give a rundown of the miles walked, the food eaten, the people talked to, the sites viewed. They can be so boring.So I see this blog as a way to remember what I have done after it is all over, and as a way to let my wife, Laurie, participate as much as possible in my hike. I hope to focus on things that other hikers might overlook. Yes, there will be statistics and tick-marks as I progress, but hopefully I won't be boring.So if following the steps (five million+ of them!) of a 60 year-old attempting to hike 2100+ miles is fun for you, I'm glad to have you as a reader!
Date: 2013-11-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The length of the trail is 2185.9 miles. Currently. It has a nasty habit of getting a little longer every year as old sections of trail are bypassed with new sections.It's estimated that it takes about 5,000,000 steps (that's five million) to complete the trail.Well, I happen to know exactly what my pace is, courtesy of my years of orienteering experience. When walking normally, it's 61 double paces per 100 meters. That's 122 steps per 100 meters. 2185.9 miles is 3517865.05 meters. So for me, it's only 4,291,795 steps. Whew! Glad I figured that out...So how long is it going to take me? If we use my latest long hike as an example, then I averaged 14.2 miles/day over the 100 mile wilderness. If I maintain that same pace for the entire trail, it would take me 154 days. Starting on July 12th I would finish on December 13th. Just in time for Christmas! But that's with no "zero" days. That's trail slang for a day off. There is also a "nero" day, which is not when you sit around fiddling, but when you do just a few miles. So every day that you slack off has to be made up somewhere. The conventional wisdom is that you need to average about 15 miles a day to finish in a reasonable time, including all zero and nero days.Even though I am playing with numbers in this journal entry, I am not going to set a schedule. I will not, for instance, say that I will reach the Mason-Dixon line in 64.7 days. Instead I will play it by ear as I go along, doing my best to keep my average up.Another topic of discussion that can be all-consuming with hikers is the question of weight, as in how much weight are you carrying? When you consider that I have to carry everything on my back this is pretty important. Decades ago, I would carry 40 pounds or more and struggle to do a mile an hour. But materials and techniques have improved, and my pack weight has dropped to less than 15 pounds with no food or water. How much stuff do you really need, after all? Thru-hiking is all about simplifying your life, reducing your wants and needs to the bare essentials to maintain comfort.I use a hammock (that I sewed myself) and a cuben fiber tarp. My pack has no frame, but relies on the contents to hold it's shape. I use a tiny alcohol stove made from a soda can. I carry just enough clothes to stay warm and dry. I use a kitchen scale to weigh everything, and make the best decisions I can, always weighing cost versus convenience and comfort. There is nothing unique about this - there are many people that carry this to an extreme, in both directions.So playing with numbers can be amusing - and sobering. Enlightening and depressing. Best to keep your eyes on the prize and not get too obsessed with the details.
Date: 2013-11-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Starting date is set: July 12th 2014!And it is carved in stone. That's a couple of weeks later than my shakedown hike of the 100 mile wilderness in 2013. I plan to attend Summerkeys in Lubec, Maine the week before. Summerkeys is an adult music camp, and I'll be playing piano for the last time before my thru-hike. Then travel to Baxter State Park for a very early climb up Katahdin. Probably spend the night in the park in a leanto. The next morning head southbound!By my calculations, that is about 228 days away - yikes! But I am planning another shakedown hike, this time in the Smokies in December, mimicking the conditions I will face at the end of my thru-hike. I'll report when I get back.