morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-07-09
From: Campsite

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

Trail magic root beer and ice pops for breakfast. Passed over an old wrought iron span bridge, under the highway, then up a steep, ugly mountain to a rocky ridgeline. Pissing rain all morning. Slick rocks. The ridge was grown with tall sumac trees, unearthly foamflowers, their foliage creating a thick mat of livid green on the forest floor. Came upon a huge rattlesnake lying across the trail. I waited until Ularu hiked up to show him the creature, then tried to walk around him through the woods off to the side. He coiled up defensively and began to rattle until I stopped and stood still, then he finally coiled away. The rain had stopped, but the wind was blowing ominous clouds, and I hurried to get to the 501 Shelter, arriving around two o¢clock. Johnny Thunder was zeroing there, and I talked to him while waiting for the others. Burrass, Slayer and Ularu, Hell on Bad Wheels, K1 and Thoughtfoot all rolled in one after the other, some in varying states of wetness, as it had finally begun to rain in earnest. We ordered greasy, questionable pizza and had it delivered to the shelter. The pizza place didn¢t seem happy to hear from us¢¦Ularu told them he was calling from the shelter, and their response was, ¢Oh, *##%!¢ How very cordial of them. The shelter¢s lovely, all enclosed, with bunks lining the walls and a skylight overhead. Ularu and I were in rare form, even causing J.T. to tell us that we were ¢too much¢ for him. Our legend of tastelessness will reign forever.
Date: 2008-07-10
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

Cool morning. Don¢t feel like hiking, don¢t feel like much. A bit homesick, really tired of the rocks, constantly turning underfoot, wearing down the ankles. Bad. Good: blueberry patches thick with berries, enough water to get by (just barely¢¦.I only filled up once, at a beautiful little spring-fed stream surrounded by moss and rhodedendrons. The rest of the water sources were too far away to be worthwhile. But I made my liter last), a cool un-humid sunny day, flat (albeit rocky) ridgewalking all day long. Came to a sign "boulder field," marking what was obviously just that, and why it merited signage way beyond me. The trail, remarkably, turned and went around it, but I know of many a hiker who was misled by the sign and ended up wandering around in the boulder field looking for blazes. Startled a rattlesnake that was at least five feet long, a great girthy beast who looked at me unconcernedly, sniffed the air a bit before ever so slowly crawling off into the blueberry bushes. Beautiful animal, liquid steel in its spine, an agonizing grace in its movements. Decided to stop at the shelter, where the water was, a slow trickle ¢piped¢ with a folded leaf. Spent the evening with Thoughtfoot, White Lightining and Motorbutt, who carries a ridiculous variety of dehydrated ingredients and made a much-envied dinner which she shared with me.
Date: 2008-07-11
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 15.0

Easy sunny morning. Rocks are inescapable. Every so often, a short respite, going through a power cut where the ground is smooth¢¦.but always returning to the choppy rock-covered forest. Ridiculously steep downhill into Port Clinton, one slip would have been disastrous on the loose dirt of the narrow trail. Once in town, a local trail angel let us get water at his house and offered me a shuttle into the commercial district to get groceries. The quick trip yielded grapes, bagels, honey, salami, wonderful goodies. Back in Port Clinton, I hung out in the pavilion with Zephyr, Slayer and Ularu, who¢d arrived in town the night before. Slayer and I went to the hotel for a beer, and were joined by Thoughtfoot. The cold, crisp draft was perfect in the middle of the hot afternoon. Stopped at the old-time Candy Shop for chocolate pretzels and candied papaya before hiking out.   It was a hot, steep climb out of the valley to a ridgeline that cooled with the evening, ripe wineberries, delicious cold spring water, easy going to Windsor Furnace Shelter. Saw a small spotted fawn, some baby rabbits. A local woman named Bessie hiked in with delicious Molasses cake. It was a quiet evening, Slayer and Ularu, Zephyr, Serene and Macguyver and Lemur sharing the site. It¢s all a mental game now, trying not to go mad with all the endless same-seeming rocky trail that winds through PA, wondering why I¢m still on trail, hundreds of miles from my ¢comfort zone¢¢¦I suppose that¢s largely the reason I undertake such things: because I¢m afraid of growing too comfortable, of getting soft. Complacency is death. I¢m still chasing some vague idea of ¢freedom.¢
Date: 2008-07-12
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Allentown Shelter
Miles today: 17.0

Woke, hot. Someone had left one of the ¢Hitchiker¢s Guide¢ books in the shelter, so I stayed after everyone else had left to finish reading it. Got on the trail late, hiking was tough, the heat bearing down, sweat streaming, dress soaked, climbing up rocks in a crazy jumble of white boulders to the summit of the Pinnacle, the highest point in PA. A huge cone of stones marked the summit. Beautiful overlook of farmlands, great white slabs of rock. Slayer and Ularu were eating second breakfast, and I joined them, eating all of my grapes before moving on. Daisy¢s pulled ahead of us, and Oats is in Maine for a wedding, so it¢s just been the three of us this week. The ridgeline was flat, and the trail was graveled, almost rockless. I was hiking very quickly, and managed to trip on nothing. I went down hard, the combined impact of the fall and the weight of my pack knocking the breath from me, ripping my knee and elbow open on the gravel. I sat in the trail for awhile, shamefacedly sitting in the dirt in front of droves of dayhikers. Once I¢d regained my breath, I kept going, knee oozing blood, blood pouring down my arm to the wrist. Bloodied, I still kept pace with Ularu, the trail turning off onto a hardpacked and perfectly smooth dirt road for several miles. It was heavenly. We arrived at Eckville Shelter, a residence with a barn that¢s been converted into a shelter, complete with solar shower. The sun hadn¢t done its job, so the shower was quite cold, but I got all the blood cleaned up and took a long nap on the van bench in front of the shelter before heading off in the late afternoon over seven more miles of rocks. Great, mad boulders, red and grey and white, scarred like the back of some ancient saurian. Tiny baseball-sized rocks in between the boulders that turn the ankles and jar the knees, the impact felt in my skull. Arrived at Allentown Shelter in the cool dusk. The water source was a pathetic puddle, stirred up by thirsty hikers. Ularu killed his pump filtering water for us. Made a huge¢and somewhat gritty¢pot of mac n cheese. Slept strangely. Nightmares.
Date: 2008-07-13
From: Allentown Shelter

To: Outerbridge Shelter
Miles today: 16.8

Up late. The knee and ankle are very stiff and painful. Easy ridgerunning, aside from the stupid bloody rocks. Got fresh water from a spigot at the road crossing. Got to the Cliffs, great blocks of white stone sharply jutting out of the forest floor. I was able to move with some agility on the gigantic boulders, and had a good time running across them. First time I¢ve had fun on the rocks in a long time. I tripped along through fragrant pine forests. Stopped at a shelter for lunch. Half Elvis and Cookie were coming up from the spring, told us not to bother with the half mile trek. With the sun blazing down and less than half a liter left for a seven mile stretch, I headed onwards, afraid of running out, already feeling a bit dehydrated. I was grateful to find a water cache at a road crossing two miles later. The trail began to climb upwards through a long alley of perfectly straight trees surrounded by low growing blueberry bushes. It looked a bit artificial, like an English garden, but beautiful. The ride was lovely, scattered with massive chunks of white rock, thick-growing ferns and masses of blueberry bushes. Slayer and I were stopping constantly to stuff ourselves with the ripe fruit¢eventually, we caught up with Ularu, who¢d stopped to gather the fruit. We dropped our packs and joined him, filling bandanas, extra water bottles with the berries. Our fingers were purple-stained, as were our lips and tongues. After a half hour¢s work, we finally picked up our packs and headed on, glimpsing views of the Superfund site in the distance across the valley. Got to Outerbridge Shelter to meet up with Cookie and Half Elvis again. They decided to hike on, in spite of the threat of rain. There was ample water at the shelter, a gushing spring nearbye that was piped into a half keg set into the ground as a sort of trough. Ate a big dinner, complete with blueberries for desert. A huge storm blew in, torrential rain obscuring our view across the valley, blocking out even the lights from the town below. There was a leak in the shelter roof, so I had to move my pad so I wouldn¢t drown. Sat up, talking about food, our craving for grilled cheese. Slept fitfully, the hammering of the rain keeping me awake.
Date: 2008-07-14
From: Outerbridge Shelter

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Up early, the whole world dripping wet and cool. Slick climb down into Lehigh Gap. Borrowed K1¢s phone, tried to contact Mom, who¢s supposed to be dropping off Oats today. No luck, so I continued on across the road, meeting up with Naked Time, Burrass and Chuck as I began the dreaded ascent of the Superfund site. We climbed together, up a crazy jumble of pinkish boulders. It was actually a great deal of fun, scrambling up the bare faced mountain, knotty pines struggling to survive, the river below belching up clouds. Upon reaching the ridgeline, the terrain became perfectly level, almost completely devoid of vegetation thanks to past zinc mining, odd onion-like pink flowers blooming here and there, scraggly white pine, dead grasses. Tree trunks dead and black, looming up from the blasted white rocks. A scene of perfect desolation, stark and strangely beautiful. It is such an alien place, so unlike the rest of the state. Giant puddles in the trail, I slogged right through, soaking shoes and boots. We came across Half Elvis and Cookie¢s campsite¢¦they¢d gotten soaked in the previous night¢s deluge. We talked with them for awhile, enjoying the views off the ridge before heading on, Naked Time and I losing the trail for a bit in a rockfield full of blueberries. We finally reached Little Gap, and stopped to wait for my mother. After awhile, Oats showed up with my little sister, Lydia in tow¢¦she¢d dropped Mom off at Lehigh so she could hike up to where we were. Mom had brought five gallons of water with her, which was a welcomed sight, seeing as we were in the middle of a 15 mile stretch with no water sources. The car was loaded with food: a watermelon, a stove and baked beans, veggies, milk and iced tea, yogurt, cookies and fixings for grilled cheese sandwiches! We started to cook, feeding the other hikers as they came up the trail. Mom finally showed up¢¦it was so good to see my mommy! I miss the family quite a lot. The day was passing by, and we finally had to hike, an 11 mile death march over nasty pointy rocks to the shelter. Shua, Burrass, Naked Time and Chuck had beaten us to the shelter and were already building a fire. We settled in, Oats heading off to the spring, a half mile away, I cooked a massive dinner of red beans and rice with peperoni Mom had given us. Shua had speakers for his MP3 player, and we listened to bluegrass, ¢Promontory,¢ which always reminds me of leaving. There were some candles in the shelter which we lit. A great night of music and companionship by the fire. We watched the moon rise, were up very late.
Date: 2008-07-15
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: DWG church hostel
Miles today: 20.1

Slept in a bit. Chomping at the bit to get out of PA. Scarce water, more endless pointy rocks, hot, oppressive day. Had a bit of a breakdown on the steep climb out of Wind Gap¢I hurt, it was hard to breathe, and we still had 15 miles to hike. After a good cry, I felt a bit better and plunged ahead, tripping over every fourth rock. Ran into Naked Time, who was sprawled against a log, and sat down to talk to him. We hiked on together, distracted by conversation, making good time. Wolf Rocks were fun, jumping between stark white boulders. We stopped for a lunch break at the shelter, finally got some water. Slayer and Ularu were still there. Eventually, we headed in to town, the trail following an old forest service road. Saw a fawn and its mother. Thought I¢d lost the trail somehow, due to the virtual non-existence of blazing. Finally, PA got really pretty, wild rock outcroppings, all spiny shale, views of the blue Delaware River below, tumbling downhill through groves of white rhodedendron, cathedral light streaming through stately pine branches.   Reached Delaware Water Gap, a lovely little town sloping down to the river. Slayer and Ularu had beaten us to the church hostel where we were staying. I happened to arrive just in time for happy hour, so I went to the town bar with them and Cookie Monster, Half Elvis, White Lightning, Cous Cous, Motorbutt and Banjo, who were also in town. The thru hikers took up almost the entire bar. There was a festive air, everyone glad to be done with PA, enjoying dollar beers. There was a little bakery where we got a hot dog and a slice of pie for $1.50 for dinner. Back at the hostel, we stayed up late talking, Cous Cous and Naked Time playing guitar, singing, the rest of us chiming in when we knew the words. There was a real sense of camraderie, connection. It¢s nights like this that make the struggle worthwhile.
Date: 2008-07-16
From: DWG church hostel

To: DWG church hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Up early, spent the morning playing with fingerpaints. Went tubing on the Delaware with Banjo, Half Elvis, Oats, Duck and Buttercup. We tied all our tubes together into one giant flotilla Good day relaxing, cool water, some little rapids. My tube got stuck on a rock, and when I got off to free it, it escaped, stranding me briefly. Got a bit sunburned. Back at the hostel in the evening,Snackies and Barackus had arrived. We had to deal with a strange man who started yelling and swearing loudly in his sleep. Fortunately, he stopped eventually, and we didn¢t have to throw him out of the bunkroom. I slept soundly on the couch in the common room.
Date: 2008-07-17
From: DWG church hostel

To: Campsite
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: clear sky

Up early, listening to John Lee Hooker on Shua¢s speakers, finally hitting the trail, leaving Slayer and Ularu behind, still asleep in their tent. We crossed the Delaware River Bridge, finally passing into New Jersey. It¢s really a very beautiful state, our entry into it greeted by lush moss and rhodedendrons growing alongside a clear, gushing river that carved its twisting channel through the forest. Just as many rocks as PA, but there are, at least, beautiful views. Cresting the ridgeline, the Delaware snaked far below with endless tree-clad slopes beyond. The ridge itself was covered in juniper and ash, with pink rock breaking through the earth, etched with drag marks from ancient glaciers. Reached Sunfish Pond, a glacial seep so acidic that few creatures other than frogs and Pumpkinseed Sunfish can survive in its waters. Blooming yellow water lillies, a tumble of greyish rocks forming a necklace around the pond, cairns built on its edge. Tired, I stopped and took a nap in the middle of the trail. Fat blueberries, bare rock forming a perfectly delineated ridgeline. Came out into a clearing at the base of a fire tower. The lookout was there, and we talked to her and the caretaker for awhile. They gave us some water. The view from the tower was lovely, all small, gently sloping hills all shaded by an approaching storm, a mesmerizing blue. As soon as we¢d hiked away from the tower, the rain started, a heavy summer rain, the sound of raindrops on waterlilly pads in a beaver pond, the world turned drab in the clouded afternoon. The rain finally let up, and we found a cooler full of iced tea near a road crossing. A few little scrambles up short cliffs, pine needles soft underfoot, white aspens in small groves, pump water that tastes of rust. The rush of wind, blowing clouds still threatening rain. We startled a black bear who was climbing a tree, the loud sound of his sharp claws on the bark. Stopped for some food just as the sunset began, everything tinged with rose, cool evening light following its disappearance below the horizon. Passed by White Lighting who¢d made camp by himself in a small clearing. We decided to keep hiking, on into the night, scrambling up pale rocks to see the salmon-coloured moon, nearly full, begin to rise above the trees. The foolish call of the whipoorwill. We met up with Old Man, who¢d pitched camp on a grassy ridge and we cowboy camped near him, rolling out my sleeping mat on a flat rock to be out of the tick-filled grass. There were a few vivid stars that were still paled by the moon¢s steady beacon, illuminating fat ropes of fog in the blue-black valley below. The bugs were bad, and interrupted my sleep.
Date: 2008-07-18
From: Campsite

To: Highpoint State Park
Miles today: 21.0

Up with the sunrise, looked around, then went back to sleep. Awakened by the morning¢s heat. The valley below was still blanketed in fog. Climbed up another mountain to another fire tower, the temperature over 100, sweat drenching my dress, my hair¢¦it was much cooler up in the fire tower where there was shade and airflow. Old Man ate his lunch with us in the tower, then we pressed on while he took a nap. Found some trail magic in a bear box at a shelter where we stopped for water¢granola bars and bottled H2O. The spring was overrun by frogs, who sat on the edge watching me fill my bottles. Macguyver told me about (what appeared to be) a shortcut, the Iris Trail, to the shelter we were aiming for, so we decided to take it. We saw a bear cub standing on its hind legs picking blueberries, it¢s mother nearby. We startled them, and the mother took off running and the confused cub began running at us, then stopped, looked around, perplexed, then bounded off into the woods. After walking a long ways, we realized we weren¢t ever going to get where we wanted to be. Tired and cranky, there was a moment of hysteria before we agreed to continue onwards. The trail finally dumped us out near the AT at the entrance to High Point State Park. We got some water at the visitor¢s center, then climbed to a stony ridge covered with scrub pine and various bushy plants. Startled a turkey, who strutted off awkwardly into the blueberry bushes. There was a viewing platform that gave us a glimpse of Highpoint¢s Washington Mounument, the C.C.C.¢s original, slightly smaller version of D.C.¢s obelisk. The sun set like the apocalypse, violent smears of red cloud, stirred by the evening breeze. Finally reached the shelter in the weak light of late evening. Slept poorly, harassed by bugs
Date: 2008-07-19
From: Highpoint State Park

To: Unionville, NY
Miles today: 7.0

Up early, hiking fast, downhill forever through old groves of oak, past stone walls, tender lavender flowers with fringed blossoms and a sweet aroma, orange beebalm, tigerlillies and goldenrod beginning to bloom. Crossed swampy land on rickety puncheons, skunk cabbage growing thickly right up to the boards. Roadwalked into Unionville, a small town that seemed very friendly, but also very poor. Bounced our maildrop ahead, since we haven¢t eaten everything in our foodbags yet. Stopped in at the local deli for bagels, apple turnovers and SOBE. Sat on the curb eating, talking to T.Bone for awhile. Dick, the town¢s mayor, puts up hikers at his home¢¦one of his ¢associates,¢ Butch, came and picked the three of us uo and took us to the mayor¢s place, or ¢The Outhouse,¢ as it¢s come to be known. Mayor Dick has bunks built in his basement where we crashed. We all did laundry, got showered, and settled in for a laid-back day. Other hikers began to arrive: Serial, Old Man, Snackies, Barackus. We had some beers, and Dick and his ¢associate¢ Bill cooked us a huge dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, salad, watermelon and garlic bread. Once gorged, we sat around watching Batman movies. Burrass, Naked Time, Cous Cous, White Lightning, Motorbutt and Cookie all showed up later in the evening. It was a rioutous full house¢¦sometimes being in a hostel full of hikers is like living in a lunatic asylum. Up far too late for my own good.
Date: 2008-07-20
From: Unionville, NY

To: Unionville, N
Miles today: 0.0

Mayor Dick made us a hot breakfast of coffee, waffles and sausage. We knew Slayer and Ularu would be hiking into town and we wanted to wait until we¢d seen them before we hiked out. Stopped at the deli for pastries with Chuck, who¢d arrived in the morning¢¦.while we were there, the two of them hiked in to town,so we escorted them back to the Outhouse. Turns out that between his foot being messed up and family trouble, Ularu¢s decided that he has to get off trail. It¢s pretty damned discouraging to lose him after so long¢feels like the end of an era. Fortunately, Slayer¢s staying on trail, so we decided to zero so that she could hike out with us. Spent part of the day weeding the garden in the furnace-blast afternoon heat. It was nice to be able to duck into an air conditioned house. We had a cookout for dinner, hot dogs, burgers, fresh beans from the garden, more watermelon. Ularu and I stayed up late, watching stupid cartoons.
Date: 2008-07-21
From: Unionville, NY

To: Wawayanda Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

After breakfast, we said our goodbyes to the Mayor¢s clan and Ularu, which was tough. Butch dropped the three of us off at the trail¢¦it definitely feels like something¢s missing. Grey stones, emerald moss, swamplands greener than you can imagine. Muskrat chewing on something out in the water. Dead milkweed flowers, green pods swelling with seed. Summer¢s far advanced already, and I had hardly even noticed its arrival. Already the year passes, goldenrod and asters, heralding the coming of fall. Long mile of boardwalk winding through cattail marshlands in the hot afternoon sun. Stopped to take a dip in a clear, clay-bottomed creek. A few more miles and we reached Heaven Hill Creamery. Got a huge tomato, which I ate like an apple, ears of corn for roasting in camp, and a pint of ice cream, layered: sherbet, strawberry, coffee and moose tracks. We sat in chairs on the porch and ate and talked with other hikers who were there. Took a long nap, starting to hike again around four o¢clock, when the sun¢s strength had begun to wane. The afternoon siesta break has become all-important to my hiking. Walking worshipfully towards the mountain, its towering edifice of cliffs soaring above, boulders skirting its base in a piney forest. A deep and awesome feeling swelled within me, myself so small in the face of such grandeur. The sky was still a brilliant cerulean, not yet faded to its evening shade of pale robin¢s egg. Garter snakes in the path. The climb was long, but I didn¢t mind. Caught up to Bigglesworth, and we hiked together in to Wawayanda Mtn. Shelter. Barackus and Serial and a rather snotty SOBO shared the shelter with us. I had a stick of pepperoni, Barackus a bottle of whiskey. We passed the two back and forth late into the evening.