morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-26
From: Church fo the Mountains Hostel

To: Church of the Mountains Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Lucy, Rainbow's friend, came to visit so Pokey and I chose to zero one day with Rainbow so she would not have to do big miles to catch up. Pokey, Fancy Free, Rainy, Sweet Leaf, Caveman and I went to the Delaware Water Gap Diner for breakfast. It was awesome. The waitress was super attentive. The portions huge and the meals were very tasty. I had a combination omelet. It was very good and very large. Somehow I finished the entire meal. Fancy Free had a Belgian waffle ice cream Sunday. It was huge. But she ate the whole thing. Amanda stepped on the scales today to find she has lost over 35 pounds. She is ecstatic. She is hiking to lose enough weight for her to qualify for the marine corps officer candidate school. We are all so proud of her. She started her hike in Damascus bearly making it to her next shelter each evening. She was doing low mileage days and struggling. Amanda is a different woman now. She walks with pride and confidence. She can out walk anyone in our group. I won't be surprised when she decides to leave us and speed on ahead to Katahdin. She needs to lose 5 more pounds, but she is getting stronger and more capable every day.We mostly hung out today and ate. Lucy and Rainbow brought our dirty clothes to the laundry. Burnie decided to hike on today but didn't leave here until almost 3 PM. Katie and Amanda went in to Strousburg with Gordie - by the way her name is not Mary it is Rory Carroll - to see a movie. After the girls came back, katie left heading north possibly to catch up with Burnie.   Amanda is staying for the night since she has a bunch of letters to send out. Gordy has a sprained ankle and needs to stay off her feet for awhile. Pokey and I were talking about tubing or canoeing. We didn't do either. We went back to the diner for lunch with Burnie before she left. Later Lucy and Rainbow brought us to their motel room for showers then out to dinner at a Tai restaurant. The food was delicious. The owner stopped by and asked us questions then was very surprised to learn we were hiking the entire AT. He was astounded that we had to walk 2100 miles and carry our food and shelter. He didn't seem to know anyone would do such a think. I guess not many hikers make it to his place.Sad news in my mail. Alice Vernier wrote to me that her husband Dr. Vernon Vernier, aka Del Doc, passed away in May. I hiked for a day with DelDoc last summer along the Franconia Ridge helping him to record GPS readings along the AT. I also had a care package from Moonbow, GAME 2003. Thanks for the goodies Leanna.    Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-07-27
From: Church of the Mountains Hostel

To: Mohigan Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: moderate rain

Got out of the hostel around 9 AM after saying goodbye to Lucy. Rainbow, Pokey and I headed off across the Delaware River on the bridge that carries interstate 80. It was a scary walk across the bridge with 18 wheelers whizzing by within a foot or two of our bodies. We could feel the wind from the vehicles as they screamed by us. We started up onto the ridge as the rain began. By the time we got on top it was pouring hard. We walked past Sunfish Pond. Rainbow pointed out a great place to stop for a lunch break but it was raining too hard to stop. We wanted some nice views but were walking in the fog. We reached the Mohigan Outdoor Center around 2:30 PM and asked if there was a dry place for us to stay for the night. Of all weeks we chose to hit this place, they have booked the entire center to an EMS group. We could set up our hammocks in the rain but that would be miserable. I called Linda McGee who lives nearby to see if she wants a couple of house guests. Waiting to hear from her. Also, the people working here are seeing if there may be space in some of the cabins rented by EMS. We'll just have to wait it out.Around 6:30 PM a worker at the outdoor center informed us there is a cabin available at $12 per person as a thru hiker discount. It includes a free shower but no laundry is available. We agreed to take the cabin and paid for our stay just as the telephone rang. It was Meredith McGee to let me know she and her mother were on their way to pick us up. They did not have room at their home but had made contact with a nearby motel to take us for the night. I thanked them for their efforts to help us but told them a cabin became available and that would be a better situation for me. I hope they had not traveled too far.Fancy Free and Sweat Leaf were hold up in a cabin since yesterday. They had one more bunk available which Rainbow took. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-07-28
From: Mohigan Outdoor Center

To: Brink Road Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

Started today with another shower. You can't be too clean you know. We were slow leaving camp today. I didn't leave until 9:20 AM. Pokey was another hour after me. We ended up together for lunch around noon. I put a call in to Linda McGee who will slack us tomorrow for a few miles from Culver Gap to High Point Park.I tried to swim in a pond but the bottom was covered with construction wood with nails pointed up. I chose to not risk it. On Rattlesnake Mountain we encountered a huge snake that warned us of its presence in the usual manner. It was very large about as thick as my forearm. Pokey asked me to move on so he could get past the snake which was about one foot from my right leg.Pokey got into camp and discovered he had lost his tevas. He is bummed because they had been with him since Springer Mountain GAWe met our first south bounder today, Paisely. He started in early June. There were two hikers ahead of him but their register entries have stopped appearing in the shelter.We are sharing the shelter with 4 people from a nearby boy scout camp. Two young scouts, a female leader and a male leader. The got here just as it started raining so I set up my tarp to extend the shelter capacity. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-07-29
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: High Point Mt.
Miles today: 18.9

Incredible Trail Magic today by a most incredible Trail Angel, Linda McGee. Thanks Linda and Meredith.It was hard sleeping last night. The boy scout next to me kept rolling on to me during the night. He would lift his legs up and move them on top of my legs. I kept moving away from him eventually my sleeping pad was touching Amanda's sleeping pad. At more than one point in the night my body was touching both Amanda and the boy scout.We woke early to hike 3 miles to Culver Gap where Linda and Meredith were waiting for us with bagels and cream cheese, muffins, soda, water, apples, and more. After a breakfast feast we made some bagel sandwiches then prepared day packs putting our big packs in the back seat of Linda's van. I hope the packs didn't smell too bad, Linda. The Fabreeze certainly helped.Linda advised us that New Jersey is tougher than most hikers expect. But we are tough. We should be able to do the 15 miles in about 6 hours. Well, we were wrong. NJ is tough. It was almost all uphill from Culver Gap to High Point. We took two hours longer than we expected arriving after 6 PM. Linda and Meredith were patiently waiting with a mail drop for me that she got from the High Point Office before it closed at 4:00 PM. And a package for Katie. They opened the back of the Cherokee to reveal a very large supply of fried chicken, sliced vegetables, veggie dip, sodas, water, fruit, and ice cream. We pigged out again. Linda and I scouted the area in her car to find where the camping area was located. It turned out to be 1.7 miles away, the same distance as the shelter. We decided to head for the shelter. But it was already 8:00 PM when we left Linda and Meredith at the parking lot. The sun was setting fast and we had 1 hour of hiking ahead of us over rocks and boulders. We reached the observation platform just as the sun set and the moon came up so we decided to sleep on the platform. If we get up early we will be out of everyone's way in the morning. Maybe we will get to watch the sunrise. Hope it doesn't rain. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-07-31
To:  A note from Sue
Miles today: 0.0

If anyone has recently written to Art via his guest book (in the last 2 weeks) could you please contact him at artcloutman-pocketmail.com? He wants to write back and doesn't have everyone's email address and I have not been able to access AOL to get them. Thanks. He especially mentioned Larry Mickel, Sandra Bender, and James Jones.Sue
Date: 2004-07-31
From: vernon NJ

To: Vernon NJ
Miles today: 0.0

After breakfast at a local restauraunt with Fancy Free, Impulse and Pokey we headed back to the Hostel to discover Rainbow had walked into town. Katie and Amanda were at the post office picking up their mail drops. Pokey and I headed in that direction to do some shopping and to send out some mail. This hostel is well organized. The parishioners of St Thomas Episcopal Church have everything in the hostel labeled. There are chore cards prepared for hikers. Each hiker can pick the chore he/she would prefer to do. Everyone is expected to help keep the place clean and orderly.We had a nice lunch at Burger King just across the street then went back the hostel to rearrange our gear. I had my empty pack drying outside when a surprise rainstorm came through. Everyone scrambled to get their gear inside but it was too late. By the time we got stuff inside the rain had stopped.I'm constantly impressed by the way things find their way back to their owners. I've left my water bottle behind on 2 occasions. The first time Travis carried it to me about 7 miles. Burnie brought it to me chasing me for 3 days. Pokey lost his Tevas about 5 days ago. Crazy Legs carried them to the Pochuck Mountain Shelter where Rainbow recognized them and carried them to the hostel this morning. Pokey found the lid to a Nalgene bottle near the top of High Point Mountain. He carried it all the way to the hostel and discovered that Sweet Leaf had lost it when she open the bottle to blow some of the ashes of her dog along the trail She was so happy she had to call home and tell her family. Burnie will carry stuff for days even weeks to return something if she knows to whom it belongs. She also carries stuff that was lost by unknown hikers at least to the nearest town or hostel.It has been so hot here the last few days that people are reluctant to leave the hostel. It was 3 PM before T-Bot got out of town today. Cow Girl and Pippin left around 5 and another couple left even later. We stayed put. Amanda was very upset to discover someone had taken the ice cream she put in the freezer. She questioned everyone including the host parishoner for the day. Impulse went out shopping again and returned with a replacement. Now Everyone is happy.   It is 80 degrees here at 10:30 PM and I've got to try to sleep.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-01
From: Vernon NJ

To: Camp near stream on ridge
Miles today: 12.4

It was very hot all night. Hard to sleep. I woke early, 5:30 AM, then took a shower and cleaned the bathroom. There was no one moving in the hostel when I came back so I got back onto my sleeping pad for a little more sleep. When I woke I discovered that Rainbow had been to Dunkin Donuts and returned with coffee and donuts for everyone in the hostel.We packed and headed out the driveway just as the first church service of the morning ended. The first parishioner out the door offered us a ride to the trail. We were hiking before 9:00AM. The view from the Pinwheel Overlook was so nice that we spent an hour there. Katie and Impulse caught up with us so we waited even longer.We stopped at Parker Lake just after the Wayawanda Shelter. Rainbow kept walking so that she could make the 17 miles to the shelter before dark. The trail went up onto the ridge leading into NY. Pokey, Katie and I stopped at the state line between NJ and NY. Katie walked on to find a water source where we could prepare dinner. We planned to night hike in the full moon the next 8 miles to camp. Sounded like a great plan. At one super overlook we could see NYC. Around the corner I slipped on some ledge. My right leg got trapped under my body as I slid and got hyper extended. I managed to grab a crack on he ledge with my right hand to stop the slide. I got to my feet and discovered my right ankle was hurting pretty bad. I limped on to find Katie sitting on another rock. We finally found the stream and decided to camp there. I hope Rainbow, Amanda and Impulse are not too worried about us. After dinner my ankle is a bit stiff. I think it will be better tomorrow but still hurt. There seems to be only a little swelling.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-02
From: Camp near stream on ridge

To: Rock Out Cropping
Miles today: 8.5

Wonder of wonders. Rainbow showed up at our campsite (Pokey and mine) around 7:00 AM looking for water. She had know idea we were there. She and Amanda were camped about 5 minutes down the trail from us. They ran out of steam and daylight.My ankle is swollen but not badly, my knee hurts also. I was concerned about how well I could hike and whether I would have to get if the trail to recover.   We started hiking carefully. It hurt making some steps and my motion is definitely restricted but I can still move almost 2 miles per hour. We stoppedat NY 17A and ate at the hot dog stand then went to the ice cream stand for a great desert. It was very hot,temp around 93 degrees. We decided to hike to the Wild Cat Shelter, take a long break, cook dinner, then head 4 more miles northward in the evening and camp at a reasonable campsite.While I was trying to dry my clothing in the sun a female hiker came up the blue blazed trail toward the shelter. Pokey started joking that every time I walked around in my underwear a woman would show up. He was totally blown away when she came over and gave me a big hug. It was Mrs. Gorp, Cindi Miller, out doing some section hiking to finish her second hike of the AT. We had lots of fun talking about hiking and getting to know one another. Cindi decided to hike with us to where ever we decided to spend the night. We didn't get to far. We hiked for 2 hours and found a nice ledge to sleep under the stars on. I hope we don't get any rain. I'll keep my tarp handy just incase. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-03
From: Rock Out Cropping

To: Campsite Near Arden Valley Rd.
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

My sore ankle barely slowed me down today. We had some trail magic at several road crossings when people left us fresh water, often still cold to help us deal with the 90 degree heat and spares water supply in this area. We stopped at Little Island Lake to swim and have some lunch in the heat of the day. It felt so good to rinse the sweat off and let our sopping clothing dry out a bit. But a few minutes after we started hiking again we were sweaty. One particularly tough section was the Lemon Squeezer. It was followed by a vertical climb up some rocks. I have some restricted motion still in my right ankle because of m recent mishap. It made it more difficult to negotiate because I could not push off easily with my right leg. So one foot was up near my chest and the other down low as I worked my way through the tight passageway of the lemon squeezer. We walked do Arden Valley Road to Tiorati Circle and the Tiorati lake hoping to get in another swim before going to bed but the waterfront closed down at 7 PM. However, a wonderful trail angel in a red pickup truck was there handing out tons of food. I ate more than my fair share. He then drove the lot of us back up to the trail. We a stealth camping for the night. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-04
From: Campsite Near Arden Valley Rd.

To: Bear Mt NY, near pedestrian underpass
Miles today: 12.7

I woke at 5:45 AM to discover Mrs. Gorp had already left camp. She certainly can move fast. Rainbow and I were out of camp next, around 6:50 AM. We took a long break at the Brien Memorial Shelter for lunch and water. There were some very nice views of the Hudson River but we could not see NYC because of haze. Katie suffered terribly yesterday from a couple of rashes. As I left this morning I gave her my ointment. It seemed to help because she was smiling when she passed us later in the day.We had three big climbs today. My ankle was much better for the first climb but got progressively worse as the day rolled on. It was swollen again by the time we rolled into Bear Mountain State Park. Regan Wendell, f-stop GAME 2003, greeted us as we came near Ft. Montgomery. She spent a little time with us helping us with rides and coming to dinner with us. It was great to see Regan again. Hope she will be able to hike with us in NH or Vermont. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-05
From: bear Mt. Zoo

To: Bear Mtn. St Park
Miles today: 0.0

My friends convinced me to do a zero today to give my ankle a little more time to heal. I iced it frequently in a bucket of ice water. The swelling continues to reduce but I suspect some will come back tomorrow if I walk too long. I got my mail drop at the post office. Spent some time just watching TV. Got my breakfast in the lobby of Holiday Express, the only place that would let us stay. Lunch from a convinience store and diner from the Pineapple Steak House. We thought the steak house would be inexpensive but that did not turn out to be the case. However, the meal was awesome.Pokey decided to walk on ahead and make a trip into NYC. We will leave tomorrow going as far as we are comfortable. I still have to take it easy on my ankle and knee but it feels better each day. A local trail angel named Tim offered to get us back to the trail tomorrow for no charge. He asked if we needed to go shopping or any special things that we needed. People are amazing.Mrs. Gorp headed out this morning after telling us that Chase will not catch us because he had to get off the trail with foot injuries.Watched the USA women's olympic BBall team compete against WMBA. It was fun to see so many UCONN girls out on the court and strange that it was held in Radio City Music Hall. The Rockettes did a half time show. My hiker friends were surprised that I knew so much about women's basketball. Well living in CT for 35 years makes you an expert. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-06
From: Bear Mtn. St Park

To: Graymoore Friery, Ny
Miles today: 6.7

A Holiday Express complimentary breakfast got us ready for a ride from Gene at 9:00 AM. (I got his name wrong in yesterday's post, it isn't Jim.) We were dropped off in front of the Bear Mt. Inn where we were immediately approached by a Latino family wondering where we were hiking. They naturally were astounded to discover we were heading to Maine from Georgia and that the trail ran right through the park and zoo. We had some ice cream out of a vending machine while we waited for the zoo to open. The Walt Whitman statue and poem were particularly moving, especially since we were traveling as a group. Rainbow, Katie and Amanda have been looking out for me because of my injury. It is great to know that they care.Burnie sent me a voice mail message yesterday that I listened to today. She was expecting Pokey to be at the camp ground today to ride into NYC with Mike and her this morning. She thinks we must be ahead of her. She is not aware of my injury and I don't know Mike's cell phone number. We hope that other hikers or we are able to contact her via shelter registers. I hope she is not too frustrated with the situation. We all miss her. We did a short day today to help my ankle heal. Also, the friars served a free dinner. It was very good and was followed by a tour of the establishment. There is a garden with beams from the Twin Towers formed into a cross and an inscription that choked me up. I was surprised by my reaction. So we a camped at the ball field a few hundred feet from the Friery. Hope it doesn't rain tonight since I am using my tarp. It's too cold for bugs.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-07
From: Graymoore Friery, Ny

To: NY301/ Fahnestock State Park
Miles today: 11.9

You never know where the next bit of trail magic will come. Rainbow, Katie, Amanda aka Gorbachov (she has a temporary scar on her leg from poison ivy) and I left the pavilion this morning after breakfast and packed up our gear. The trails through this state park are very interesting. Lots of colonial and later relics of old buildings and iron mines. The trail goes on many old roads including a narrow gage railroad bed used to haul iron ore out from the mines. Many day hikers are out this crisp Saturday morning. Some have been very startled to learn we have hiked over 1400 miles in 4 months. Some are very aware of the trail and hope to do their own thru hike in the future. We stopped at a trailhead parking area on Dennytown Road for lunch and a rest. An AT wannabe dropped by with two dogs. He was out to exercise. We talked with him for awhile. He offered me ice for my ankle an beer for our bellies. Then he carried my pack and Rainbows pack in his car to Fahnestock State Park leaving them at the park office. I got to walk 3 miles without a pack. This helped my ankle tremendously.We are now camping for free in the campground at a primitive area open to thru hikers. Showers, water, concession and a beach are all available to us. The bad part is the park is right next to the Taconic Parkway so it will be noisy tonight. I hope we will be walking into Kent on Wed morning. 8/11/04.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-08-08
From: NY301/ Fahnestock State Park

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

When Rainbow and I left the state park Katie was cooking breakfast and Amanda was at the restroom taking a shower. We headed up the ridge that runs beside the lake for a couple of miles. I kept looking for possible places to go for a swim in the lake but could find none. We finally reached a great view point on the northern end of the lake and decided to take a break. There was a nice cool breeze and no clouds. We could look down on the lake and see a beach with picnickers getting ready for a nice day by the lake. A group of 8 day hikers from AMC stopped by on their way north. They asked us the usual questions about our hike then headed on. Soon Katie and Amanda caught up to us and stopped for a break. They decided to take a side trip to a deli where the trail crosses highway 52. We hiked on together for awhile until we came to the day hikers again. One of them was on the ground with blood on her face. The others were tending to her injuries. She apparently tripped and landed on her face. Her nose was swollen and her cheek and forehead were cut. But the bleeding was under control. We met the trail maintainer for this section as he was returning from cutting grass. He has been doing this volunteer work since 1983. We saw him again at the RPH shelter. The girls hiked on and headed to the Deli while Rainbow and I took a break near Rt. 52 then continued up the trail to the shelter for the night. Several southbound hikers are here. Epiphany offered me the rest of her cajun rice and beans. I finished it off for her but it was tough because they were so spicy. This is the first night in a couple of weeks that we have slept in a shelter. Night all!!Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman