morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-06-06
From: Tentsite at 1311.9

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 16.7

Hiking Day 83, Ending Elevation 1342 feet tentsite at 1311.9 miles to Gren Anderson Shelter 1328.6= 16.7 milesWe made good time today. A good night¢s sleep makes all the difference. This morning, we noticed increased haze in the air and the sun was a red globe in the morning sky. It took us a little while to get our heads around the fact that it wasn¢t just haze but it was smoke from fire, and that the fire had to be in the general area. There was a light breeze which kept the air moving but the smokiness seemed to be increasing.Mid morning we ran into Chance from York, PA again. He¢s the young man who bicycles north 120 miles then walks back to his bike and does it again. We haven¢t seen him since Maryland, I think. He told us that at the next road crossing (Sunrise Mountain Rd), there was a tavern close by and we could get good water there. All Kerry heard was, ¢tavern¢ and that meant, ¢beer¢. When we got to the road the Farout App we are using informed us that the Mountain House Tavern was closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Today, being Tuesday, this was a huge disappointment. Fortunately, it was only a little way down the road so we decided to check it out and lucky for us, this is the first Tuesday they were open for the summer season!We had a lovely meal¢¦lots of satisfying food, including desert. Postman (Recon, who we have re-named) and Popeye were there and worried about the smoke, they had booked a room for the night at a nearby motel. Kerry thought this was a good idea and tried to do the same but they were full. The next nearest motel was across town and the only transportation we could find was going to cost $75 each way, so we decided to walk 3.2 miles to the next shelter instead. That was after happy hour, a beer for Kerry and a glass of wine for me. We had good energy from the meal, so I think it was ok. It turned out the fire was in the Wind Gap area, where we were 3 nights ago. I doubt the smoke will be gone tomorrow but it¢s not practical to wait it out so we¢ll just keep walking and eventually we¢ll get far enough away, or the wind will change directions or they will put the fire out. (Yes, I know, wishful thinking).Meanwhile, the ticks are out in earnest. We put new medicine on Felix 2 days ago and Kerry removed 17 ticks from him tonight. I had 3 on me today and I know Kerry had to pull them off himself too. We passed the most amazing beaver pond and saw where they had gnawed through large trees¢¦I knew they had to do that to build their dams but these trees were quite large. It seems to be a work in progress like the Winchester House in San Jose, it¢s never finished.We would have had some great views from the ridges today, but for the smoke. The wind seems to have picked up this evening so hopefully, things will look better tomorrow. We had some deer excitement today, so Felix didn¢t feel left out! And the ubiquitous blooming mountain Laurels continued to delight us.
Date: 2023-06-07
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: SOLA in Unionville
Miles today: 20.0

Hiking Day 84, Ending Elevation 592 feet Today is our third lunaversary since we started hiking the Appalachian Trail, March 7. We¢ve come quite a long way and Georgia seems a long time ago.We awoke to more smoke, a white sky and the sun a golden orb near the horizon. It was cool and breezy and the views we should have had were mostly white¢¦once in awhile we could see across to the next ridge but frequently we could only see the ridge we were on. When we arrived at High Point State Park HQ, the ranger told me that the fire at Wind Gap had been controlled and that the smoke we were seeing was from fires in Canada. The light was surreal with the sunlight lighting last year¢s brown leaves in a luminescent rose-gold that deepened as the day wore on. In fact, by late afternoon, it looked like someone had splashed a rosey paint around the forest. Kerry said it reminded him of the colors he saw as a child growing up in Salem, Oregon when farmers would burn the fields at the end of summer and the sky had the same haze. This was the overwhelming presence today, but every once in awhile the smell of wild roses would fill the air and I would remember it is spring. Speaking of spring, Kerry noted in the cool morning breeze that it feels like we¢re chasing spring again. I¢m happy to do that, I¢d rather be cool than too hot, and I¢m sure that will happen soon enough.We had a lot of ticks again today, a bunch on Felix and a bunch on us..they seem to be getting worse, and they are painful when they dig into us. Fortunately, we¢ve all become rather good at pulling them off.Tonight we are in New York, our ninth state. Tomorrow, we¢ll return to New Jersey before continuing in New York. New Jersey has been quite gentle, the kindest state so far. More beaver ponds today, what amazing creatures!We¢re staying at Sola (Appalachian Christian Retreat). Banzai (pastor Doug) and his wife Hot Drinks, open up their home to 4 hikers each night on a first come, first serve basis. He¢s the pastor of the Presbyterian Church. We are the only ones here tonight. Banzai says this is very unusual, normally they have to turn people away. I think it may be because hikers are laying low due to the smoke. We¢re happy to be out of it tonight!
Date: 2023-06-09
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Lake Lodging at Greenwood Lake, Route 17A
Miles today: 10.1

Hiking Day 86, Ending Elevation 1139 feetA short day today. We made a reservation at Lake Lodging in Greenwood Lake, New York. It was recommended to me by another hostel because we really wanted a private room. We¢ve been wanting to take a rest day and take care of some outstanding things. For example, Kerry would like to find a new pair of shoes and stay off his feet for a day. The latter is difficult to achieve given that our feet are our only mode of transportation.We had an early start this morning but it wasn¢t long before Chestnut caught up with us¢¦we walked with him for several miles. A section hiker Brian and his 2 friends, passed us a couple of times as we walked along. As promised, we had more rocks and lots of scrambling. Early in the morning, we passed our final beaver pond in New Jersey and had a special moment when a beaver swam toward us across the water to where we were standing in front of the beaver dam. I don¢t think that I have ever seen a beaver in the wild before. He was sleek and graceful in the water and when he noticed us, he turned and swam back into the deeper water eventually disappearing again.At mile 1369.5, we came to the New Jersey/ New York State line for the final time. We have left New Jersey for good. We immediately found ourselves clambering over high rocks similar to those we encountered in Pennsylvania. At one point, steel rebar had been pounded into the rock and we had to climb it like a ladder. I wasn¢t sure how Felix was going to handle it and Brian and his friends offered to carry him for us, but in the end, Kerry lifted him using the handle on Felix¢s saddlebag and Felix was able to clamber up with the assist.The sky seemed clear of smoke and high clouds beginning to gather threatening rain as promised. The Mountain Laurel continues to proliferate along the trail in various states of bloom, but we¢re noticing less buds and more of it in full bloom. We¢ve been following its season as we move north and it seems likely that it won¢t be with us much longer. We saw some hot pink, very fragrant prairie roses, our first, but unfortunately, neglected to take a photo.At Route 17A, Jim, from Lake Lodging, arrived and brought us here to the lodge. We signed up for two nights and went for a hot dog lunch, got rained on, then went to the ¢GWL Ice Cream Shop¢ where we each had a banana malt milkshake¢¦Kerry with vanilla and I went with chocolate¢¦they were wonderful. After dinner tonight, we may go back and have another for desert¢¦still working hard to keep up with the calories!
Date: 2023-06-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

As usual, I didn¢t sleep so well in the bed and sleeping in for me was only until 6:30 a.m. Kerry slept longer so I went to Dunkin¢ Donuts 2 doors down and got coffee and donuts for the two of us. At noon, Jim, the Lake Lodging owner, took us and 2 other hikers, Acorn (a flip flopper from Harpers Ferry, whom we met for the first time and Harrison, ¢Raw Cat,¢ whom we met at the Outfitter (a diner/resupplier) a long time ago, to a shoe store and a grocery store. Kerry and Raw Cat got shoes and I got socks to replace my holey ones. The shoe store did not have the shoes Kerry wanted/needed (altra Olympus 11.5 wide) but he found a pair of Merrills that he hopes will work. They¢re a little more solid than the altras, which may be helpful on the rocks and mountains coming up.At the grocery store, as usual, we had to restrain our urge to buy more food than we need, m, mostly because we don¢t need the extra weight.We spent the afternoon listening to the news and catching up on things we needed to take care of at home (paying some bills, etc.). Then out for pizza and back in to pack up for tomorrow. It¢s hard work taking a rest day¢¦there is so much to do. Felix, at least, got to sleep for most of it!
Date: 2023-06-11
From: Lake Lodging at Greenwood Lake, Route 17A

To: Island Pond Outlet
Miles today: 13.9

Hiking day 87, Elevation 969 feetThis would have been my mother¢s 86th birthday. As I was thinking about her, dead now more than 50 years, I realized that I have now lived longer than the sum of years of both my parents lives! I have a lot of time to think whilst walking so I inevitably come up with oddities like this. I¢m sorry she didn¢t live longer, and I¢m sorry for all the tomorrows we never had.Jim, Lake Lodging owner, took us back to the trailhead at 7 AM so we had a fairly early start, but we had lots of rock scrambling and ups and downs so overall we didn¢t move very fast. Felix pulled me over once, when he didn¢t come with me on a rock jump. This reminded me to cut him loose in these situations. The risk of him chasing a deer, pales by comparison to an injury I might cause him or he might cause me on a rock scramble.Today was an embarrassment of riches in the food department. I went and got coffee, a donut for Kerry to go with his left over sandwich and a breakfast sandwich for me. We carried a bottle of coke and left over pizza for lunch. After which we ran into trail magic from Sunset, NatGeo, his brother Tony and their friend, Joe. Still full from pizza, we declined the grilled ham and cheese sandwiches but had a bud light and water melon instead. Then a couple of miles later we ran into Wedge, who was also doing trail magic. We each had sodas and then he gave us German beers to drink with our dinners. I was worried about finding water¢¦but what we lacked there we made up for in a lot of other liquid!A number of people passed us today at one time or another:A couple named Poncho and Won¢t Get Up..¢Will¢ (man and woman, respectively)Acorn, near whom we are camping tonightSkipper, who we saw early in the day and then again with Wedge¢¦apparently, we met both of them at Stanimals in Glasgow!Dice, a 66 year-old man we had never met before.We also met a small group of Christians from the Bruderhof Community: Steve and Aileen and their daughter, Vernita, as well as Jane Magee. The women were all wearing old fashioned home made looking clothes and they were out walking to see the mountain Laurel which is beautiful at this time of year. Steve told us there are 270(?) people who live in their community, which is very close to the AT. We¢re camped tonight at Island Pond¢¦it looks like a lake and there is a cool breeze blowing. One of the more scenic spots we¢ve stayed at. All the day hikers and family outings have left, so it¢s very quiet and peaceful. It¢s supposed to rain tomorrow, and we made a reservation at a motel about 20.6 miles away. We have more rock scrambling tomorrow, but I hope we can cover the miles as we¢d rather have a dry place to sleep.
Date: 2023-06-13
From: Near Trailside Zoo 1410.3

To: Tent Site at 1426.6
Miles today: 16.3

Hiking Day 89, Elevation 751 feetWe had arranged with Jim to take us and Skipper back to the trail at 7:30, so we went down to Dunkin¢ Donuts for breakfast: breakfast sandwiches and coffee, followed by donuts.Jim dropped us off where he picked us up the night before, near the bridge over the Hudson River. I¢m so impressed with the size and the number of wide rivers we have seen and crossed since we started in Georgia, I think there must be a lot more of them on this side of the country. The sun was shining and the sky looked scrubbed after last night¢s rain. We followed Skipper across the bridge and then said goodbye as he rapidly pulled ahead of us on our way up the mountain on the other side. The terrain was much the same as yesterday: climb up a mountain then down, then repeat. No views today, of course, because the weather was so fine! But it was very peaceful under the trees, lots of grass growing in places and the mountain Laurel everywhere.One unfortunate result of the rain was an outburst of mosquitoes. We¢ve started to have a few, but today my uncovered wrists and ankles were swollen with their miserable bites. They made me miserable too.At mile 1416.3, we took a break at the Appalachian Market on Route 9. We didn¢t know it would be there, or we wouldn¢t have had such a big breakfast! Not hungry, we each had a milkshake and a large bottle of lemonade¢¦that set us up for the next six miles. At the market we met Mary Poppins, a north bound hiker near whom we are camping tonight. A lone woman, she doesn¢t like to camp alone¢¦.she¢s from New York and close to her home here. We also met a Danish man, Lasse, who is here for a month and Goya A South bound section hiker who paints Murals.At Dennytown Rd we met Brian (Soda Bread) from Connecticut who was providing trail magic: drinks, fruit, snacks and other goodies. He told us he comes to this spot all the time. Mary Poppins was there and we sat and talked for a while before moving on. It was getting late but we wanted to go a couple more miles before stopping for the evening.I forgot to mention a couple of days ago, just before we got to Harriman Park, Kerry counted 12 C17 military transport planes flying over about 10 minutes apart. Something must have been going on!After Kerry got into the tent, we heard a fox bark and we almost lost Felix through the tent netting again. Kerry stopped him with his foot and I had to give him a good talking to about not ripping another hole in the tent. Felix looked at me with his soulful eyes, like he was saying, ¢who me?¢ And I said, ¢yes, you¢¦don¢t even consider it!¢ I¢m pretty sure he understood me, at least until the next urge kicks in!It¢s a little after 8 p.m. and still very light, a far cry from when we began in March. I didn¢t get enough sleep last night, so I¢m looking forward to more hours on the ground tonight!
Date: 2023-06-14
From: Tent Site at 1426.6

To: NY Route 52
Miles today: 14.2

Hiking Day 90, Elevation 830 feetWe awoke to a blue sky and the sun shining and were hopeful that the rain predicted for late afternoon would come even later. Instead it came in the early afternoon.We had a good early start and made good miles in the morning. It helped that we saw there was a deli off NY Route 52 that we could get to for a late lunch¢¦the thought of a hot meal was a great motivation. We saw some more amazing stonework today; both stairs and some tall walls holding up the trail. I was struck by the juxtaposition of this obviously fine trailwork and the more neglected look of the generic upkeep of the trail. Although larger blow downs were cleared, the long (tick-infested) grass and shrubs were everywhere. I¢m not complaining, I just found it different from the well-cared for trail that we have encountered since Georgia.One interesting thing we saw today: an unconnected old fashioned telephone on a board near Canopus Lake (see photo). It said ¢Telephone of the Wind¢..for people to call people they have lost. Since we have met several grieving people, I thought this was probably a kindness to them. I later talked to someone who had used the telephone and was appreciative that it was there. We had a few views high up today and we walked above Canopus Lake for a long stretch. This was where some of that impressive stonework was evident. It was a very pleasant walk today. At Hosner Mountain Rd, we were 1.6 miles from the deli off NY Route 52. Our plan was to go and have something to eat and then walk on, but as we started up that last mountain, called, ¢Storm Mountain,¢ (no kidding!} the rain let loose; thunder and lightning right on top of us. Kerry was counting the seconds between lightening and thunder, and the brightest flash was separated from its thunder by less than two seconds with an ear splitting crack. By the time we got to NY Route 52, we were soaked through and through (our rain resistant Packas, it turned out, we¢re not so rain resistant!). We did get a hot meal at the Pizzeria, and then we decided we preferred to get dry instead of walk on in the rain. On the Farout App, other hikers had commented about how much they liked Cathleen and a hotel called, Le Chambord. It was everything that people said it was. Cathleen came to get us, washed our clothes and promised to return us to the trailhead the next morning! People we met today:Skipper passed us again!Poncho and Strawberry Short Cake (Flip Flopping from Harpers Ferry)Uncle Sam, from the UK (also Flip Flopping from Harpers Ferry), an interesting guy who works for, and is on a six month sabbatical from, Channel 4 (an independent tv channel subsidiary of the BBC in London.Mary Poppins (whom we met yesterday) hiked on in the rain.We spent some time talking to all of them, such interesting life stories!
Date: 2023-06-16
From: Tent Site at mile 1459

To: Skiff Mountain Road
Miles today: 18.2

Hiking Day 92, Elevation 777 feetWe awoke to a sunny day, a good beginning to a day predicted for rain. We walked on and past the Wiley Shelter where we saw Poncho. I have no idea how she and Strawberry Shortcake got ahead of us. She told us that Brian, ¢Soda Bread,¢ had come the night before with table cloth, candles, wine and cheese! Very soon we crossed a road and came to a sign that welcomed us to Connecticut. And with that the terrain changed. No more easy hiking!The trail was very steep and rocky and it seemed we had a lot of mountains to climb. I think I have noted the remarkable trail work we have seen¢¦.staircases of stone that I can¢t even imagine what it took to build them. This made the climbing and descending so much easier. High up, the forest smelled of apple cider and tobacco, very different from the sweet wild roses of yesterday.We walked on and shortly we passed a mother and daughter, Helen and Evelyn; they were on their first backpacking trip to hike the AT through Connecticut. We passed them a couple of times and chatted with them. We¢d seen father-son partners but this was our first mother-daughter team.Lots more blooming mountain Laurel today¢¦I never tire of seeing it. Somewhere as we were walking, thinking about the coming rain, we decided to take Brian up on his offer to get us out of the rain tonight, so I texted him and arranged to meet him at Skiff Mountain Road. I thought we might beat the rain, but it came early so we hiked the last 2.7 miles from CT Route 341 in a light rain.Brian gave us a tour of the Kent area and the town of Kent, crossing on roads that we had crossed on the AT. A different perspective on our walk. He lives in a lake community in Danbury and it occurred to me that there might be an urgent care facility, and there is. Kerry has developed some problems (a persistent blister and a corn) on his right foot so he made an appointment for to tomorrow.We had a nice dinner (turkey burgers) and went to bed late, knowing we¢re taking another zero day tomorrow. It was great to be able to relax in a home instead of a motel or hostel. Brian¢s home is across from Candlewood Lake in a very pretty setting not unlike the country we are walking through. The kindness of strangers, what can I say?
Date: 2023-06-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We had not planned to take another zero day so soon, but I¢m glad we did. Kerry got his foot checked and some antibiotics for an infection, which is probably the cause of the pain he¢s been having and I¢m hoping that will help. We met Brian¢s ex-wife, Joni and his grandchildren, James 2, and Madison 10 months, plus the dogs, including Ziggy, whom Brian is dog sitting for a daughter. We went shopping and picked up some needed supplies, especially deet to ward off the mosquitoes, but I forgot dog food. Brian gave me some of Ziggy¢s and hopefully, the Little Prince will eat it when he gets hungry!We¢re going to send home a few more things to lighten our packs but we don¢t have a lot that we might not need later.  It¢s been so nice to sit in a real home¢¦I feel like I¢ve forgotten what it feels like.
Date: 2023-06-19
From: Pine Swamp Brook Shelter

To: Riga Shelter
Miles today: 20.1

June 19, Hiking Day 94, Elevation 1641 feet We started the day with a another profusion of white mountain Laurel: a symphony in white that continued all day at different tempos, sometimes a scherzo, sometimes adagio and at times so quiet we thought it had ended, but it never did and coming into Riga Shelter some of it was pink! (Apologies for taking liberties with the metaphor!).We started our day on a slow note, Kerry has quite a bit of pain in his infected toe. At lunchtime we applied some antibiotic cream and new bandages and that seemed to help. We had a good day, anyway.We arrived at Falls River at lunchtime and made the short detour to the cafe there hoping for a milkshake that we didn¢t get because their machine was broken. We have been looking for a milkshake since New Jersey and have yet to find one! Moving on, as we started to walk into the village, the handsomest black bear I have ever seen walked nonchalantly across the road in front of us, he didn¢t take off until he spotted us and I didn¢t get my camera out fast enough to take his picture. Felix was very excited and would have taken off after him had he not been leashed. I know the bear could easily kill him if he felt threatened but they also don¢t like dogs in my experience, which is why he took off so fast. This is the first and only bear we¢ve seen on the AT, so it was quite a treat. After that we had a leisurely lunch at the village cafe (BLT for me, falafel wrap for Kerry, large cokes and 2 scoops each of gelato) before returning to the trail. After crossing the Housatonic River and walking a little way beside it through the trees, we got a great view of River Falls. The afternoon seemed to fly by. When we¢re walking, it isn¢t always physically easy but we seem to get into a very peaceful mental place, it¢s comfortable. As we were walking along, a middle aged white man with a trim white beard passed us going south and stopped as he said, ¢I know you.¢ He turned out to be Mike 66, whom we met at the beginning of the hike with his wife Diane. Sadly, he is hiking solo as she broke her tibia riding a bicycle in Damascus when a child rode a bike across and in front of her. Now, Mike 66, renamed Manimal is hiking alone in some non traditional flip flops. In the fall, he hopes Diane (aka Better Half) will be recovered enough to join him for a couple of hundred miles through Virginia. It was really nice to see him again!Later, we met 10 Cents Worth, who said he had seen us before. I think people remember us because of Felix. Anyway, he is traveling with a motor home called, ¢our dime¢ and a Jeep and slack packing himself up the trail!. We meet some pretty interesting people every day it seems. We didn¢t see any AT through hikers today, just a few backpackers and day hikers.Riga Shelter, where we are camping tonight, is under construction so there is no shelter right now. That said, there are a lot of people here. Thankfully, we found a spot out of sight and hopefully will be gone early in the morning.Another milestone today, we walked over the 1500 mile mark!