morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-08-01
From: North of Washington Mountain Road

To: Mt. Wilcox South Shelter
Miles today: 28.9

I slept later than planned, and met Many Homes again early (he stopped at the Cookie Lady's place last night). Fairly easy miles today, and I got a honk from a passing motorist as I crossed over I-90; that always makes me smile!The Northbounder bubble is getting thicker - I passed over 20 of them today. Biggest down side to today's hike: I got stung by a bee, right on the top of the head, a little ways north of Upper Goose Pond. There was a nest right above the tree, and apparently they didn't like me walking right underneath it. Luckily I'm not allergic...that would have ruined my day for sure.I was the first one in at Mt. Wilcox, other than the ridgerunner who's tenting. Megawatt (SOBO) and about 5 NOBOs eventually showed up, and there were 4 of us in the new shelter (there are 2 shelters here, and one more about a mile and a half north).This shelter has one of the coolest water sources I've seen on the AT - it's a spring under a big rock. There's a nice pool to dip from, and if you reach under, you can find where the water's spraying out of the rock and fill a bottle from that. Great stuff!
Date: 2014-08-02
From: Mt. Wilcox South Shelter

To: Riga Shelter
Miles today: 29.7
Weather: light rain

I slept HORRIBLY last night, so I didn't mind that one of the NOBOs was up and crashing around before 6am. I got up and out and began my morning break-in hobble down the trail - it didn't take long to loosen everything up today.I made good time down to Great Barrington, passed a few more NOBOs (I'm in the bubble now, for sure), and then slogged across 6-7 miles of valley. All the flat, monotonous walking really starts to wear me down on these long days. It was nice to get to the Jug End, because at least I got some rolling ridgeline to walk up and down.I hit my mid-afternoon slump up on the ridge, but snapped out of it before going over Mt. Everett and had a lovely walk to the shelter. Great views from Race Mountain! I crossed the border into CT (75.5 hours spent in MA!!), got over Bear Mountain (highest point in CT at 2316') and am tented up to avoid the worst mosquitos I've seen since the 100-Mile Wilderness. Boo.Only 1500 miles to go!!
Date: 2014-08-03
From: Riga Shelter

To: Steward Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 28.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Got a wicked early start today thanks to waking up JUST before sunrise and then having the will power not to go back to sleep. It was easy walking down to Salisbury, then after the climb up to Limestone Mountain, pretty easy miles all the way to Sharon Mountain. I had 18.9 miles done by 1:30pm!!I love all the towns in this stretch - it really feels like the AT connects them all, even if most of the people in the towns don't know about it or care. Falls Village even has one of the few stretches of ADA-compliant trail out there (although it needs some love...).From Pine Swamp Brook shelter to Steward Hollow it was a series of short ups and downs, and as I was coming down the hill to the Housatonic River I ran into the two NOBOs I picked up and drove in to Abingdon, VA before Trail Days! Glad to see that they're still at it, and that I actually got to chat with them for a minute instead of missing them on a town stop!It was a couple more miles of totally flat walking along the Housatonic River to the shelter; I could have gone further, but I decided against it at the last minute. It wouldn't really have helped much in the long run, I had some salt chafe on my foot that was pretty sore, and it was really nice to get in to camp before 7:30pm for a change.Heading to Kent tomorrow, then on to New York! I have two more BIG days planned, then one really short one, and then a few zeros - super psyched for that!!
Date: 2014-08-04
From: Steward Hollow Shelter

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 36.3
Weather: broken clouds

Ok, today was a big day. I planned to do a big-ish day today, and it ended up being HUGE...Mom and Dad met me at the road to Kent around 9am, and took me around to do my resupply. It's only 0.8 miles from the trail into town, but it's always nice to have a ride and see family out here! On top of my usual resupply, I wolfed down some peanut chicken Mom brought, then a half-gallon of chocolate milk as I packed, and finally a buffalo chicken sandwich on the way back to the trail. They agreed to slackpack me the 10 miles to the New York border, so, suitably fueled up, I struck off. It took me longer than I had hoped to get over there, but it was hot and I couldn't resist a couple breaks along the Ten Mile River for a swim!When I found them at the next road crossing, they had a steak and cheese sandwich for me, a couple danishes, and a cooler full of ice and cool water and soda; on top of having a shady, comfortable car seat to sit on, I didn't have much of an incentive to head on. I think it was nearly 4pm by the time I headed off into New York; I had only done about 18 miles!The walking up to the AT Metro North stop was nice and mellow, and I made good time. After a brief break in the quickly fading daylight, on I went. At that point, I was about 3 miles from my intended destination, but there was rumored to be no water there...I said, "What the heck, I'll go on until I find a stream and tent next to it."Well, I passed a few streams, and a lake, and some water caches at road crossings, and didn't stop. I was already night-hiking (I really don't particularly like night-hiking...I prefer to see what I'm walking past), so I figured I might as well just walk until I got sick of walking. Eventually I ended up passing the Morgan Stewart Shelter, and decided that enough was enough, 36 miles was about 10 too many to be fun, and I was tired; I found a flat spot, set up my tent, kicked off my shoes, and checked the time...11:59pm. Almost exactly 18 hours since I'd packed up in the morning, and I technically completed it all in one day...probably one of the longest I've ever done, in terms of both miles and hours walked.
Date: 2014-08-05
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY
Miles today: 28.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Yet another fairly long day, but this one ended with a pizza, a shower, and a bed - so it's all good!!I got a pretty late start because I spent half the night walking, but felt good and made good progress throughout the morning. There's lots to see and pass on this part of the trail - I went over I-84, under the Taconic Parkway, around Canopus Lake (did that ever look tempting, hot as it was up on the ridge), and past the Graymoor Friary. My plan this morning was to shoot for the Bear Mountain Bridge, another 6 miles...but as the day went on, I realized that because of the late start I wouldn't make it there before dark, and I really wasn't in the mood for more night hiking. So I called Anna and told her that she could either meet me at the Appalachian Market in Peekskill or I would camp out and be at Bear Mountain early tomorrow morning. She looked at a map and decided that Peekskill was close enough, so she cruised over after work, found a pizza place, and then picked me up!There were about a dozen other hikers at the market...to say they're hiker friendly is an understatement! By all outward appearances, it's just another gas station convenience store. But when you go inside they have a full diner/grill, make some great food, and they're 20 yards from the AT - this time of year they have as many hikers at the picnic tables out front as they have "normal" customers buying gas and waiting for takeout! Great stuff!!I ate the pizza and a chicken parm sub on the way back to Anna's place, then took a shower...I haven't had a proper shower since the first time I went through Killington, VT! I'm planning to take at least 3 days here, hanging around, letting the pack chafe heal, and pretending to be a normal person. Then I might slackpack a couple days to New Jersey, and I'll be back in backpacker mode sometime next week! After 48 days on trail and only 1 zero so far, I think I've earned a little time off :-)
Date: 2014-08-06
From: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY

To: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY
Miles today: 0.0

I did NO hiking today! Woohoo!!I did, however, spend most of the day on the AT... Anna gave me her blessing to borrow her car if I dropped her off at work and made it back in time to pick her up, so I improvised a couple of coolers out of plastic tubs; bought some beer, soda, snacks, and ice; packed up some brownies and cookie bars that she made; and headed down to Arden Valley Road near Harriman State Park to do some trail magic! About a dozen thru-hikers stopped by (and two more who were too cool for me and passed on by), all NOBOs, and spent some time visiting, eating, drinking, and relaxing in the shade. A couple said that this was the best trail magic they've gotten so far...and here I was, feeling sort of bad that I hadn't worked up something more extravagant (like a full-on cookout, which I wanted to do, but didn't want to pay for)! Regardless, it was a lot of fun, and it always feels great to "give back" to the hiker community.
Date: 2014-08-07
From: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY

To: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY
Miles today: 0.0

Another zero day - but I did quite a bit of walking none-the-less!I headed over to Beacon this morning and caught the Metro North train into New York City to visit my sister. I walked down to her office, managed to get past the front desk guard, and spent about an hour and a half waiting for her to solve all the various crises that seemed to pop out of the woodwork as soon as she was supposed to leave at noon.When we finally left we went down to the Pig and Whistle for lunch and drinks, then made our way down to the Financial District where her boyfriend works for some more drinks at Woodrows, then grabbed a bottle of wine to keep us occupied at Battery Park (we made a trip through the Irish Hunger Memorial on the way...a very cool little monument that I've never seen before). Around 5 we met her boyfriend for dinner at a big Mexican restaurant, then went back up to Grand Central so I could catch the train back out to Beacon.I would have loved to stay longer, but a) it gets expensive down there; and b) Brooklyn (where she lives) is a vortex that, once it sucks me in, tends not to spit me back out for 3-4 more days. So back up to the Hudson Valley it is!
Date: 2014-08-08
From: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY

To: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light intensity drizzle

Spent the day today doing what any self-respecting person does on a beautiful summer Friday - we went to the Shore! Ok, not like Atlantic City shore, but Sandy Hook... within view of NYC, and National Park Service owned, but as close as I've ever been!I've never been to the Jersey Shore before, and I was pleasantly surprised. The drive down wasn't too bad (I've seen a lot worse getting to Cape Cod), all the parking areas were open when we got there, the water was warm, the sun was shining, and when I got sick of the beach (my stamina for sitting, hours at a time, in the sand, baking in the sun, etc. is lacking) I wandered around the old Sandy Hook Proving Grounds (the US's first artillery proving grounds) and the lighthouse (the oldest continuously operated lighthouse in the US). Fun stuff.On the way back we stopped at REI and Campmor in Paramus so I could pick up a few things I needed - new Sawyer bags, Superfeet, and so forth. Then we met up with Anna's parents for dinner at a great Indian place in Ridgewood - not only do they have goat on the menu, but their Vindaloo was one of the best I've ever had!
Date: 2014-08-09
From: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY

To: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

A more normal zero day - I ran a few errands, picking up a few more things that I needed to buy, and generally relaxed! It's nice to just sit for a while!!
Date: 2014-08-10
From: US 9 & NY 403, Peekskill, NY

To: Arden Valley Road
Miles today: 25.2
Weather: broken clouds

Wow! I actually walked somewhere today!It wasn't QUITE slackpacking, but I wasn't carrying my full pack...I left everything but the food for the day and my tent and most of my clothes at Anna's place to lighten the load a little bit. The miles on the Peekskill side of the Hudson River were quick and easy; then came the road walk down 9D, across the Bear Mountain Bridge, and through the Trailside Zoo to the picnic area at Hessian Lake. Everything was mobbed on this beautiful Sunday, but at least I finally saw a bear - two, in fact, right on the trail, at the bear pen in the zoo :-) That also happens to be the lowest point on the AT - 124' above sea level. It's all uphill from here I guess!They've done some fabulous trail work on the north side of Bear Mountain - seriously some of the most wonderful trail on the AT now, but, again, on this beautiful Sunday, it was just choked with people. Lots of people didn't take kindly to being passed, and some even went out of their way to get in my way as I tried to make my way up the mountain. Luckily for the rest of the day it was pretty quiet - much more like a normal weekend on the trail.Harriman State Park is one of the most beautiful forests that the AT goes through - it's one of those things that can't really be described without taking you there to explore it. Those of you who live near by, but haven't been there, should definitely go and do some day hiking; beautiful rocky ridges, open oak forests, grassy, shaded meadows - if there's one place along the trail where I'd love to build a cabin and live, this is definitely it!The dash across the Palisades Parkway was uneventful, and other than being incredibly hot and dry (no water for a lot of the day), it was a wonderful walk. Anna met me at Arden Valley Road after work, then I got dinner, a shower, and a bed to sleep in for the night. If this kind of luxury were the norm, I think a lot more people would be hiking the AT!!
Date: 2014-08-11
From: Arden Valley Road

To: Arden Valley Road
Miles today: 0.0

Ok, another zero day. I meant to hike some more, but I just never quite got around to getting back on the AT. Tomorrow though!Instead I did some walking on the East side of the Hudson - along the Dutchess County Rail Trail (brand new, and really really nice), and then the Walkway Across the Hudson in Poughkeepsie (also very cool, and well worth a trip). It's novel, once in a while, to do some easy walking that doesn't involve white blazes...but I'm looking forward to getting back to it. Tomorrow I'm planning on heading to Vernon, NJ (then maybe getting one more house-stay out of it if I can manage a pick-up), then I'll finally be far enough away from people that I'll be on my own...and once again heading south, living out of a backpack!
Date: 2014-08-12
From: Arden Valley Road

To: NJ 94 - Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 27.4

The day started on a good note because as we were pulling into the parking lot at Arden Valley Rd who comes walking across the parking lot? Rough Bananas! I hadn't seen him since I left Rangeley, ME, so it was great to catch up. Turns out he was running low on food, so Anna had him write up a shopping list and went to pick him up some food.Agony Grind didn't stand a chance against my New England climbing legs, and otherwise the miles were unspectacular to the point of making it difficult to tell where I was - just lots of little ups and downs with the occasional rocky ridge.Anna met me at 17A to drop off Rough Bananas' food and get some ice cream, which was good because in the excitement this morning I left my sandwich in her car... It was also nice because it randomly started to rain for a while, so I got to stay dry.Instead of the original plan of meeting me at the Warwick Turnpike, I went all the way to Vernon, another 6 miles. Turns out I walk too darn fast, so I had to kill some time while she left work to get me. By the time we got back to her place it was late and dark; not used to all this extra stuff at the end of a long day!!
Date: 2014-08-13
From: NJ 94 - Vernon, NJ

To: High Point State Park
Miles today: 20.6

Started off the morning NOT getting rained on, but getting soaked by the field crossings and wet branches anyway. Other than Pochuck Mtn., the first 10-11 miles were flat. Like, boardwalk and roadwalk flat. The boardwalk near Vernon is cool, but the road walking around the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge and beyond is monotonous and strangely exhausting. It's like walking in a museum - my feet always hurt when i'm walking in a museum.When I finally got to High Point Shelter, I met Mad Dog and Tater tot and their two dogs. They had a little excitement earlier in the day when an off leash dog attacked one of their dogs (both pit bulls) and then turned on Tater Tot. It tore up her hand pretty badly, as proven by the fact that it was still bleeding all these hours later; the owner finally grabbed the dog and ran away.When they got to High Point, another hiker called the police for them, and a couple hours later two state cops drove out to the shelter - that's right, they DROVE their truck out through the woods - and took their statement. They even offered to take them into the hospital, and when they politely declined, they left a full 1st aid kit behind!I watched the sun set from the observation deck, then went up to Route 23 to wait for Anna. This will be the last pickup from her - it's getting a little far to be driving back and forth every day! It sure has been nice, though!!
Date: 2014-08-14
From: High Point State Park

To: campsite near Rattlesnake Mtn.
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I love this section of trail because it's just really darn easy, and pretty scenic, too. That explains how, right off the bat, I managed to get lost on a ridge line and only just barely (by pure luck) stumble back upon the AT without having to majorly backtrack. Pay attention, bonehead!I took a break at Mashipacong Shelter, where I ran into a guy from Old Town, ME and his Canadian girlfriend (as well as 15 gallons of water cached in the bear box), then had a nice quiet rest at Sunrise Mtn. I didn't want to rely on water being near where I camped, so I went down to the Brink Rd Shelter to camel up. When I got down there I stopped dead in my tracks - the shelter was gone! All that was left was the small concrete foundation. Then I noticed something off in the woods - a newer than new shelter, complete with cantilevered porch, up on the hillside nearby! I almost stayed just to sleep in it, but decided to push on; only 3 small hills to go anyway. Turns out the hills were so small that I didn't even register them as distinct climbs, so I THINK I'm in the right place, but don't really know! Guess I'll find out in the morning!
Date: 2014-08-15
From: campsite near Rattlesnake Mtn.

To: Delaware Water Gap hiker parking lot
Miles today: 22.4

I had geared up for some big miles today, so I got up early and started cruising. I made great time to the Catfish Lookout tower, took a quick break, and kept moving right along. Somewhere along the ridge before the road to the Mohican Outdoor Center I turned on my phone to check the time and had a message asking if I'd passed the Water Gap yet. Long story short: some friends of Anna's, who have been following my hike with their two children, could come out to the Gap with their 5th wheel camper and give me a place to stay for the night and feed me. I did the obvious thing: I put the brakes on my big-mile day, made a few calls, and was told to be at the DWG visitor center around 6pm and look for a blue F350 towing a 5th-wheel. Ok - easily done!On my way down there I ran into the caretaker of The Place in Damascus, VA, and had a nice chat, then ran into Spock, a northbounder I met up near Rangeley, ME. He finished his hike, and was just down day hiking at Sunfish Pond. Small world!!I got to the gap early, so I went across to the PA side, hung around in town, then walked back over the I-80 bridge to Jersey. As promised, there was the truck, so we made our introductions and headed for the campsite. Anna came out too (despite some navigational issues) and we spent a great evening by the fire eating burgers (lots and lots of burgers!!) and making smores and discussing the practical differences between my king of camping and theirs. Great people, and I had a great time!! Thanks so much (you know who you are!!)
Date: 2014-08-16
From: Delaware Water Gap hiker parking lot

To: Mt. Minsi overlook
Miles today: 2.9
Weather: clear sky

Everything was totally socked in this morning when I woke up, and the tent and everything in it was fairly thoroughly damp because of it. Guess that's what happens when you camp down by the river on a beautiful cool summer night!After a huge breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and sausage, we all went for a walk down to the river where we skipped stones for a while, then Anna and I headed off...back to the trailhead? No. To Camden, NJ, of course. As it happens, there's more than just gangsters in Camden - there's an aquarium, too. And in that aquarium are some hippos. Yep, took a day off the trail to spend 4 hrs in the car to drive to the ghetto to chill with some hippos. It rocked We managed to get back to the Water Gap JUST as the sun was setting, so I quickly packed my bag (everything dried out quite nicely after a day in a hot car), and went up the hill. I found a really nice spot looking over the Gap and NJ, and passed right out - a long day, considering it was my shortest yet!
Date: 2014-08-17
From: Mt. Minsi overlook

To: Random campsite on a ridge
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke in the night to some rain, so I quickly zipped up the rain flies and went back to sleep. Amazing how deftly I pulled it off, considering the frantic flailing that took place the first time I got caught by a mid-night rain shower!At 6:30am I woke up to get under way, ate breakfast, was about to let the air out of my mattress, and it started raining again. Nope, no way; not packing in the rain this morning. So I rolled over and went back to sleep. At 8am I woke back up, decided that I had to get going regardless of the weather, and packed up. As I was about to crawl out of my tent the rain promptly stopped, the sun came out, and it was a beautiful day!! Glad I waited it out!Wolf Rocks was an ankle buster with the wet rocks, but otherwise I made somewhat slow but steady progress until lunch at Wind Gap. Someone had left some trail magic Yuenglings at the road crossing that were still cold, so I packed one up to the overlook where I ate. Nothing makes a day more acceptable than a cold beer on a mountain top!At the Leroy Smith Shelter I had to walk .5 miles each way to find water (both closer springs were completely dry). I sort of HAD to do it, too- this is likely the last water I'll see until I get past Palmerton tomorrow. I decided to keep walking until 7pm, and then found the first serviceably flat spot and set up camp; it ended up being a pretty good day after all!