morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-06-22
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Stealth camp mile 1385
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: broken clouds

Didn't wake til 6:30 and left camp close to 9. Guess I needed a slow start after yesterday. The feet seem fine and recover overnight but stink to high heaven. Maybe I'll get used to it eventually. I chat with Birdsong since everyone else has left. He's a casino industry veteran who loves birding and started his hike in Maryland.My goal this morning is a hot dog stand and ice cream parlor at a road crossing ten miles off. They better be open. A few miles in I enter New York , marked by a chalk line on a boulder on the ridge. I pass people from the shelter I hadn't had a chance to meet. A father and son out for a few days, Kool-aid, an older woman thru-hiking taking it nice and slow, and Bloodhound, a 70-year-old Alabaman thru-hiking as part of his bucket list - only he already did it once in 2010!Everyone catches up, include Mr. Shoes and Canal Conuct, at the Bellvale Farms ice cream parlor. The place is mobbed with local families. The homemade ice cream is fantastic. I have a milkshake and want another but feel too full (already hit the hot dog stand). Little Bear and two women Squeaks and Mumbles show up, young kids who started in Georgia. The group splits up. Most are headed a few miles to the next shelter. Mr Shoes and son are meeting relatives up the trail. I am the only one foolish enough to attempt the 16 miles to the second shelter. New York turns out to be a grueling state. In general the trail is less rocky, but when the rocks come they are big and steep and often require hand over hand climbs. At one point steel rebar ladder rungs are installed to get you up a 15 foot ledge. I constantly think how unsafe this whole section seems and wonder how many falls occur. Then I remember that 80 year olds, 6 year olds, and at least one blind man have done this and dismiss those thoughts. Late in the day I realize I won't make the shelter before dark and aim for a closer mountain to stealth camp. But Arden Mountain is in the way and has many tough boulder climbs. The climb down into Arden Valley is far worse. It seems like a 50 or 60 degree slope littered with boulders and every step could be my last. I thank all my experience rock hopping and cry for joy when I reach the I-84 overpass. I make a much more pleasant climb into Harriman state park and find a spot to tent on top of the mountain in a grassy area. I've heard plenty of stories today about bear activity around the next shelter so I hang the food well away from camp, hoping those bears aren't going to bother coming three miles south to my home for the night.
Date: 2017-06-26
From: Wiley shelter

To: Silver Hill campsite
Miles today: 23.0

The trail magic sleeping bag was very comfortable last night, if still a bit damp. I'm out of camp before 7:30. My goal today is to visit Kent and then get to a campsite one day's hike from Salisbury, where I've arranged to stay in a local home for laundry, etc. I enter Connecticut one mile in, my sixth state (WV, MD, PA, NJ, NY) and walk along beautiful Ten Mile River with roaring rapids. I detour to Bull's Bridge to see the covered bridge, the dam falls and the convenience store. Back on the trail Connecticut shows it will not be a state to take lightly. Schagticoke Mountain is steep both up and down. It's followed by numerous other ups and downs. One descent to the Housatonic River is steeper than anything to date, over a jumble of boulders. One wrong move could end the hike. Kent is a mile off trail. I catch up to the group that had moved on last night and spend a couple hours hanging out beside the outfitters and exploring the village. There's a cheese shop so I buy a hunk of aged Gouda (not typical hiker fare!) and snack while I walk up and down Main St. Plenty of restaurants and touristy boutiques, a pharmacy, a B&B. I run into Shop Teacher, who is injured and trying to camp in the park but was told at the town hall they no longer allow it. The outfitter has a poor backpacking selection (no sleeping bags). There is no hostel or motel. Not the most hiker-friendly town, but quaint and worth the detour for the afternoon.Ten miles to the campsite after getting back to the trail. The first four miles are strenuous and include that steep descent. Then five miles of easy level trail along the river. I call home and get to hear from Sara and the boys how art camp and their weekend has been. Then a final uphill to the campsite. It's very busy with many folks I've not met. But my feet are sore, the bugs are biting and I'm not in a social mood. I get water from a hand pump that takes 40 cranks to start. It probably had to come up 500 feet.The day felt longer than it was. I'm glad to be headed for a bed tomorrow.
Date: 2017-06-27
From: Silver Hill campsite

To: Salisbury
Miles today: 22.0

I awake to cool mountain breezes on Silver Hill. Quietly I break down the tent, eat my last poptarts (no more of them please!), and move out to get to Salisbury by 5. Tough hiking all morning. Constant climbing and descending, sometimes very steep. Any one hill is no big deal, but combined they wear me down. Very few views reward these climbs. We call these PUDs - pointless ups and downs. The sweat pours out on the uphills and the feet and knees get hammered on the downhills.My interim motivation is an inn with a tavern in Falls Village for lunch. It's closed. The village is dead quiet but for the auto repair shop where they are rebuilding ancient trucks. I see a beer sign in the window of the "Package Store" and find that this is what Connecticut calls a liquor store. Thankfully they have a cold Coke so the stop isn't a complete loss. Grapenut and another hiker are inside waiting for pizza they've ordered from outside town. The owner is very friendly and tries to answer my silly question on why they call it a package store.Leaving town there's a shower outside of a building for hikers. I wet my head to cool off. Ten minutes later I pass a view of the roaring falls outside town. There are kids swimming and jumping in the deep pool at the bottom. On the spur of the moment I scamper down the steep access trail, tiptoe across the rocks, and wade in. It feels wonderful. I let the falls wash over me. Back on the rocks the sun dries me in minutes. I see crayfish darting in the shallows. Minutes later I'm back on the trail climbing Mt. Prospect.Approaching Salisbury I meet McFly taking in Rand's View, a long western view of several mountain ranges across fields of waving grass. A deer grazes on a distant hill. It's a highly unusual sight. 99% of the time we just see "the green tunnel" and the rocks and roots ahead of us. It's captivating. Grapenut shows up and they discuss his recent gastrointestinal illness in great detail. I decide to move on.A long road walk brings me past typical New England homes into Salisbury. Most stores are closing, but the all-important grocery is open late. I set up in a bunk in the home of Vanessa Breton with 5 other hikers including McFly, Gigi, and Duke. Everyone is headed to Maine. Three of them zeroed here today. Three big dogs wander around too, one belongs to a hiker and two live here. The essentials come next - shower, laundry, and resupply and dinner from the market. The crew I've been hanging with for three days is lounging near the market - Switchback, Buzz, Ounce, Bulletproof, Bill T, and Chili. Salisbury has extremely limited accommodations so they will be hiking out to the first shelter. Back at the house we chat on the back patio. Suddenly we see a gorgeous rainbow fall on a bell tower. It's a postcard picture. Tomorrow I head over Bear Mountain, Connecticut's highest point, and into Massachusetts.
Date: 2017-06-29
From: Great Barrington

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 27.5

I'm up at 5:30 again, even in a motel room with the windows shut. The owner drives me to the trailhead. Along the way he wants to talk Indian and US politics. He's an immigrant success story, came to the US via Canada 17 years ago, got citizenship, now owns two motels in town, kids play soccer, and wants to tear down the old motel and build a nice hotel someday. Multitool is being dropped off at the same time from another place. We talk awhile then he falls behind. Several big climbs today but they are more spaced out. The trail is rooty and covered in pine needles for the most part, with some muddy and rocky stretches. None of the ups and downs are very taxing but the monotony is wearing. I see no other thru-hikers until I reach the shelter at sundown. Only a handful of people are out. At a campsite I chat with a group of four ladies representing - in their words - four different decades. They are hiking to Gorham, NH, on the other end of the White Mountains.I stop at the Tom Leonard shelter where according to the logs nocturnal porcupines have been gnawing on the wood. It looks like they are slowly eating the shelter.The trail is blocked at times by fallen trees. Not just a trunk, but the leafy branches of the crown. I have to bushwhack well around. Trail maintenance is never done. At one point I hear a tree fall in the woods just a hundred yards away. It definitely makes a sound. I thought it was thunder at first. At a back road crossing, a farm across the street has a shed on the road painted "Trail Stand" with eggs, sodas, and sundry snacks for sale on the honor system. What a pleasant surprise, as there is no town or deli today to grab a cold drink. I stash a soda in my pack's side pocket for later. But an hour later I stumble and fall and the soda explodes leaking sugary root beer on me and the pack. I rescue what remains in the can.Another long evening hike over what seems like endless miles. I want to call home but the terrain is too rough to keep walking and if I stop I'll end up hiking in the dark. The shelters are poorly spaced here. Finally I reach the shelter - actually a cabin on a pond with caretakers and a bunkroom upstairs. A trail angel brought in apples and bananas, a great treat. Some wag has posted the "wifi password" on the wall. Tomorrow the caretakers promise a pancake breakfast!
Date: 2017-06-30
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Crystal Mountain campsite
Miles today: 24.8

Up at 5:30 again. I can set my watch to it. There are banana pancakes and coffee as promised, a great start to the day. As I leave, the caretakers are discussing whether the hikers still in bed get to make the pancake batter themselves or whether the kitchen is closing. There's no sleeping in out here.I meet Perfect Pitch over breakfast. She's very young, a bit awkward, out of shape, moves slowly, not what you'd expect of a long distance hiker, but she came out by herself with her dad's old equipment and has been walking a few miles a day from New York, headed for Katahdin. She seems to have incredible resolve and is undeterred by the challenges. I think later that she is undertaking a very difficult and important journey in her life, and of her own choice. Her dad should be very proud. Another long walk in the woods today. It's damp and muggy already. I run into Four Wheel Drive early. He's just taken a dip in the pond to cool off. We chat over much of the rest of day. Originally from Hungary, he and his wife have run a home maintenance business in Tampa Bay for 16 years. Another immigrant success story two days in a row. He also has little charitable to say about the politicians back home. His English is very good, but I still get to try and explain the difference between a bog and a swamp to him (the latter is forested).In early afternoon we reach the famous Cookie Lady's house. She gives out homemade cookies and sells soda and ice cream. She's not home, but husband Roy, the Cookie Man, helps us out. He's looks to be eighty and walks slowly, but when we leave he's taking apart the engine of his ancient rototiller. He has an antique Nash in the garage. A few featureless miles of humid buggy trail later we stumble upon trail magic courtesy of Rob who ran a hostel in nearby Dalton for many years before retiring to Tennessee. He's out here several times a week in early summer to meet all the hikers, including many he saw in Tennessee a few months ago. He wants to meet SOBOs here so he can meet them again back home. The humidity finally breaks when a thundershower hits. At first it's light and refreshing and I pass up a chance to hole up in a shelter, opting to walk the last three miles to Dalton. But then it pours, I'm soaked to the skin, and the trail becomes a slippery mess. We trudge over an hour, looking on the bright side that the mosquitos have gone into hiding. The skies clear just as we reach town.Dalton is not the epicenter of the  Berkshires cultural scene, but they make a decent cheese steak. The trail follows residential roads through this working class town, then climbs out of the valley toward tonight's campsite. But the rain returns well ahead of schedule and makes for a miserable trek to find the campsite before dark. I pitch my tent in the rain and try to keep things dry. Fireworks sound in the distance despite the weather as I turn in for the night.Tomorrow I will head over Mt Greylock, my first 3000-footer, and to Vermont's doorstep.
Date: 2017-07-04
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Manchester Center
Miles today: 21.1

Another good day, but wearisome as well. I am sluggish to get out of my sleeping bag on this chilly morning. The dry clothes I hung last night inside the tent are now damp. No technique has ever dried out clothes in camp overnight. Only sun and wind work.The day starts with a four-mile muck walk, but then a reprieve as I climb Mt Stratton. The fir-covered summit is crawling with thru-hikers, and soon with day hikers. One dad has his infant daughter on his back. There's a caretaker making sure the firetower isn't overcrowded. He's been working the summit for 50 years, hiking up and living in a small shack for days at a time. The door was replaced after a bear ripped it off to find the curry that was cooked there. There's a buzz when the caretaker says a thruhiker passed through this morning attempting to break the speed record (currently 45 days). He started in Georgia 37 days ago. Most of the Georgia guys on the summit started 4 months ago. More fantastic views from the firetower. We can see Mt Greylock, which I left two and half days ago, as a distant light blue double summit on the southern horizon. Mt Washington in NH is visible, 127 air miles away.At the bottom of the mountain the Fellowship group is lounging at Stratton Pond. I take a refreshing dip. So does Long Trail hiker James and his dog Baloo, who shakes it off on everyone's packs.There's another ten plus miles to the road and it's a long afternoon with little to break it up. At Prospect Rock I can see Manchester Center miles off, my destination for the night. Finally at the road, I start thumbing for a ride. The B&B owner and others told me it was easy and drivers always stop. But dozens of cars pass. There's a hill and a curve and little room to slow down, so it's hard to see how this was ever a good spot. A dayhiker, Tom, returning to his car saves me the five mile walk to town. He drops me at a pizza place. I intend to resupply before checking in but Frank the B&B owner is pressed for time and picks me up and takes me the half mile to his place. I shower and lie down for a moment and wake up hours later to the booms of fireworks. I stumble out to the street to watch the spectacle over the houses. It's quite a show for a small town. It reminds me of taking the kids to the fireworks in years past and I think about how they're doing at home and at camp.Four more days and 97 miles to Hanover, where I'll step off the trail to be with the family for awhile. I am very much looking forward to it.
Date: 2017-07-05
From: Manchester Center

To: Greenwall Shelter
Miles today: 24.6

I resupply this morning in Manchester before heading out. B&B owner Frank demurs when I ask for a ride, citing his errands and regaling me on how hospitable people are here and how easy it will be to get a ride. I walk across town and toward the mountain about two miles, thumbing much of the way. A hundred cars must have passed. The good-hearted people in Vermont must sleep in. Finally Cesar, a kid from Buffalo, picks me up. He's headed to the trail head for an overnighter.  I meet Pickles and Highlander there taking a rest.Its already nearly 10 and it's 25 miles to the shelter. I'm not sure I can get there by dark. There are several good climbs in the morning. Mt Bromley, the ski resort, has a bald top with ski lifts approached by a ski run that is a wildflower meadow in summer. A family with 4 kids is there. Not dayhikers, they are backpacking for four weeks from NH to Massachusetts. Things seem to be going well for them. The views are very good and I linger.Mts Styles and Peru are next, and finally Mt Baxter. I pass 4 shelters within 5 miles. The spacing strategy eludes me. At one shelter I finally catch up to Predator who I last saw at Upper Goose Pond, before Mt Greylock. He's been clocking a lot of miles but took a zero in Manchester. At another shelter I talk with German thru-hikers Camino and Member. They met on the trail but have been hiking together for awhile. Camino has hiked several of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, while Member has hiked across the Alps, the Scottish Highlands, Wales, and through Alaskan mountain passes with 20 feet of snow. They make good mileage.The terrain changes late in the day to hills covered by pine forests and jagged white rocks. Hikers have made cairns with them, so many it looks like a city of cairns.Finally at the shelter, Bill T is there along with flip-floppers Honeystick and Chipmunk. A stream tumbles in the background and the mosquitos float around us. I opt to sleep in the shelter instead of tenting for the first time in weeks so I can get an early start for Killington tomorrow. It's almost 30 miles.
Date: 2017-07-20
To: Bake Oven Knob
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Back on the trail, this time with my eleven-year-old son. We hiked an eight mile section as practice for a multi day trip later this week. The trail was mostly level but about halfway in it became extremely rocky, culminating in the hair-raising Knife Edge, a narrow strip of bedrock protruding at an angle with nowhere to go but down if you step off. Soon after we had a spectacular view from the top of Bear Rocks. And we ended the day with another great view from Bake Oven Knob. My son did great throughout, and seemed to enjoy the challenge of the rocks. Met several thru-hikers, most of whom started in April or even May, including Warden. We were shuttled by Craig from the Rock n Sole hostel, a real genial guy retired from 25 years as a state trooper who knows the area like few others.
Date: 2017-07-22
From: Swatara Gap

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 11.4

First day of a four-day trip with my son from Swatara Gap, where I left the trail in early June, to the Pinnacle some 45 miles north. Craig from Rock n Sole hostel again shuttled us to the starting point after we left our car at the Hamburg reservoir. The day started mild but humid as we climbed out of the Gap. Lunch midway up the climb renewed our energy. We talked with some boy scouts finishing up a short outing in training for a trip to Philmont. My son was enthusiastic and energized much of the day. I found myself a little sluggish with the humidity and occasional rocks. With a thunderstorm closing in and starting to wet us down we ducked into the William Penn shelter, thinking we'd stay the night. Our goal was the 501 shelter four miles further, so this was a wrench in our plans. There we met Rocket Man (not the one I met in New York) three months into his thruhike. When the rain stopped the radar seemed to show a big gap so we left for the 501 shelter. We made good time but the rain caught us again. My son remained in good spirits throughout, at one point remarking that rocks make the trail more interesting. Part of our motivation to go the extra miles was the ability to get pizza delivered to 501. So when we arrived, our rain jackets soaked, one of the first things we did was order. We waited out in the rain at the road for the delivery boy with an umbrella graciously lent by another hiker. The delivery boy forgot our drinks, but the pizza and steak were much appreciated. We went to bed in wooden bunks with the rain pounding on the metal roof and giant plexiglass skylight.
Date: 2017-07-23
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1

Day 2 of section hiking with my oldest son. We covered 15 miles and he held up in good spirits the entire way. Plenty of rocks and, thanks to last night's rain, plenty of mud, but it didn't dampen our enthusiasm. Five miles in at Hertline campsite there is a dammed swimming hole. The source must be a spring because the water was probably 55 degrees. But we took a dip anyway and washed and refreshed ourselves.  I tried out the rope swing a few times, plunging into the bracing depths, while my son counted how long he could stay in the water before it drove him out. Another father and son hiked in from the road to jump in as well. We air dried and changed and got back on the trail. We lunched at the Ft Dietrich Snyder monument. In 1755 Ben Franklin oversaw construction of a series of lookout posts along Blue and Kittatinny Mountains to watch for Indian raids during the French and Indian War. This monument marks the site of one. Another was called Ft Franklin, marked by a gravel road of the same name which the trail crosses 40 miles further north.My son chose a trail name for himself - Phantump, a Pokemon critter that lives in the woods in the form of a tree stump.The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully as we hiked along the ridge to Eagle's Nest shelter. We arrived in plenty of time to cook up some mashed potatoes and salmon and some hot cocoa before the thunderstorms rolled in for a second night. This shelter has a huge overhang, new shingle roof, and even gutters so we'll be dry, warm, and safe. All you can ask for on the Appalachian Trail.