morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-05
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Gravel Springs Hut
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, I had just a terrible night last night. I developed this odd pain in my left side...seemed as if it were intestinally related/located. Nothing, however, relieved it. So, my sleep was not good...and when I did sleep, I kept dreaming of hiking and trying to get to the next hut or shelter. It's one thing to spend all day hiking...an entirely different thing to spend the night doing it as well...and not a good thing, mind you. So, I woke up really early, still with this stupid pain. Got all my stuff mostly together, and was hanging out at the shelter talking with Tim, waiting for Randy and Gerri. We were supposed to do 23 miles today to get to a hostel. Randy had figured out, however, that there would be no point in us getting there tonight, as we would not be able to go to the post office on Sunday. We shifted our plans...to a 13 mile day today, and 14 miles into Front Royal tomorrow. Then we can hit the post office early Monday morning and get going to Harpers !Ferry. I was happy about the change, as with the way I was feeling, I didn't think I could manage a 23 mile day. It was quite hot and humid, which slowed us down a bit, as well. We made our way slowly, then, to the last Wayside in the park, at Elkwallow Gap. I had some chicken tenders and fries...yum! We have been spoiled for the past week, with all the food in the park, as well as running water (don't have to treat it) and flush toilets. Don't know what we'll do when we're back to the "real" Trail! We took a little siesta before setting out for our last 5.7 miles. Today was another uneventful day hiking in the park...very few views...lotsa woods. Not that I mind the woods, mind you, I think I just want to be done with the park...done with Virginia. We saw a couple of deer today, two rabbits and a baby black snake. When we arrived at the shelter, we read in the register that many hikers had met an aggressive momma bear with cubs in the last section we had hiked. ! Happy Feet apparently had to whack the momma with his trekking poles (yet another piece of versatile equipment!)...said it happened so fast he didn't know what else to do! We, however, saw nothing. In a way I wish we had...it was Gerri's 63rd birthday today, and she still hasn't seen a bear. We bought her a moon pie and Randy cut off the top of an emergency candle and stuck it into the pie. I got her a postcard with a picture of a bear, in case she doesn't see one tomorrow. She is great...I hope I have the energy she has when I get older. Well, that's all for today...one more day in the park, then we're on our way to West Virginia! :)
Date: 2003-07-06
From: Gravel Springs Hut

To: Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: few clouds

I'M OUTTA THE PARK!!! Yes, that's right! Finally... Today went really quite well and quickly. We started off by 9:00, taking a lunch break right on the Trail. I had to get water which was 3/10 of a mile off. I changed into my sandals to go...downhill, of course. One of the best things about the park has been the springs...all very clear and cold. You'd almost think you wouldn't have to treat them (don't worry, I still do). As I headed back up from the spring, I saw...a basketball rolling down the hill toward me. A group of teens followed it, a ways behind. I said hi, and continued back and had my lunch. Lots of day hikers out today...the weather was gorgeous, albeit very hot. We went on, and not too long after lunch, we passed the boundary to the park. I did a little "woo-hoo" dance right there, and hiked on. We were stopping for one last break at the Tom Floyd Wayside, the last shelter before the road. This was a really nice shelter with a front porch with be!nches. There was a sign at the entrance that had a list of do's and don'ts such as "Stay off the roof" and "Keep the shelter clean". Just below the rules list was a "welcome" sign...not sure how welcoming that seemed! We sat and read the register and discovered that Shankadelic is ahead of us on the Trail! He hitchhiked ahead, spent some time working and is now almost two weeks ahead. We're hoping we'll catch up to him at some point, to see how he's doing. Just as we were leaving the shelter I heard a big crash to the left and downhill from me. I peered through the trees to see, very far away, my second bear...running away. Randy and Gerri missed this one, too. I'm sure that there will still be plenty of oportunities for them to see one. We got to the road by 5ish, and got a hitch within 5 minutes...yay! We settled into the not-so-posh Center City Motel (flashing neon sign!), and got cleaned up. We went to the steak house for dinner, then back to the room. Gerr!i was really tired, so she went to bed while Randy and I went to Kmart. We went outside to discover a HUGE thunderstorm threatening...we walked the half mile verrrry quickly! Rain was spitting at us by the time we arrived at the shopping plaza, and the lightning was spectacular! There's just nothing like a thunderstorm in the mountains, and we were surrounded by mountains. We spent a good bit of time at Kmart. I needed a few toiletry items and a new pair of shorts, as I sent my old pair home...they were way too big. I got a great pair of Joe Boxers that have holey cows all over them, in fond memory of my Davis Farm cow experience. While we were shopping, we could hear the rain POURING on the roof, but by the time we left, it had stopped raining. We went to Martin's, a grocery store, and Randy bought their supplies for the next few days. He and Gerri don't rely on mail drops for the bulk of their food, but buy it as they go along. I got some cheese and jello, and then we went back to the motel. We stayed up late watching "The Panic R!oom" on HBO, which was pretty good, if a bit far-fetched. Time to hit the hay...
Date: 2003-07-13
From: Crampton Gap Shelter

To: Pogo Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Slept really well last night...So glad that we decided to tent. It was a little bit cool...I definitely needed both my fleece bag and my piece of flannel. I have to honest with you all...today was just not that exciting a day. The hiking went very smoothly, although the day ended up being very hot. We were kinda pushing to get to a specific road crossing before 2:00, as we had read about an all you can eat "elegant" buffet place...right on the Trail! I must say, it was food to die for! It was a brunch, so we started with an amazing caesar salad, then filled our plates with eggs, sausage, veggies in a butter sauce, broccoli casserole, lasagna and roast beef. Ohmygoddess! I thought about going back for seconds, but decided that I would just move on to dessert, instead. We still had about 7 miles to hike after we finished! I got a piece of oreo cream pie and a glass of chocolate mousse (I really thought I'd died and gone to heaven with the mousse...my chocoholic taste! buds were ecstatic!). Our waitress was telling us that they were getting ready for a wedding, and they started rearranging tables. She brought out the cake, and Ray, of "Flowers by Ray" started to decorate it. I was fascinated watching him "create". He was, however, unimpressed that I thought his nearly finished masterpiece looked beautiful (hmmmmm...was it the hiker clothing?). Lighten up, Ray! We thought about staying for the reception..."which side of the family are THEY from???"...but thought better of it and put our packs on to leave. We had some more historical stuff to read when we left the building. There was a description and picture of a civil war soldier, and it was interesting to see how much in common we had with him, equipment-wise. Less the guns and ammo, that is! We set out again, really hiking this time. We bypassed the place where we could have gone to the Dogpatch, a biker bar that many hikers hit when they go through this section. We were he!ading to a campsite that we had read about. We passed a southbounder who warned us of a rattlesnake and told Gerri that the campsite was really nice. We arrived to find a privy on a hillside, a sign stating that this was the site and a couple of almost-flat spots below the privy. Hmmm...not what we had expected. Across the Trail, there was an even more dismal and slanted space. What to do? It was too late to go on, so we set up where we could. Apparently, the people who set up this memorial site didn't think too much of this Pogo guy! We ate dinner in the dark, by headlamp, I performed drinage surgery on my now-doubled-in-size blister on my big toe (ow!) and then hit the hay...
Date: 2003-07-20
From: Duncannon, PA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I can't believe I even woke up today...my head was pounding...needed to take ibuprofen. I was fine at the impromptu party till VSA started buying shots. I excused myself at some point...I must have known I needed to get to sleep before I made a fool of myself. JimboTrek woke up soon after I did. We put our laundry in and went to the cafe across the street for breakfast. I had lots of coffee and chipped beef on toast...I don't know why...Snot Rocket had been eating it and it looked good. I was meeting VSA, Dude and Jester to go do some Trail Magic in the Boiling Springs area, and VSA showed up just as we were finishing breakfast. It took us about an hour to get there. We got a cooler together, filled with soda, beer and ice, then went to a Trail road crossing. There were two hikers there, Seamus and Sage, who were very grateful for a cold drink. Jester went to a store down the road to see if he could find Reason and Cruiser while we hung out in the shade. About 15 !minutes later, Jester came back with my "Mom and Dad" in the truck. I ran to give them both huge hugs. It was so amazing to see them! The last time I had been with them was in Erwin, two full months ago...it seems as if it was a lifetime ago. They joined us on the grass, and had a beer. Several other hikers passed through while we lounged there...Tucker, Nuge and Rif Raf. Rif Raf is actually two hikers who go by Rif Raf. If you see one, the other or both...it's Rif Raf. We ended up slacking a bunch of the hikers who stopped, taking their packs for them, then we went to the ATC in Boiling Springs to see if we could find any other hikers. Burger, Pertinax, Little Dirty Barn Monkey and Starburst were there. We distributed magic accordingly, and talked with them for awhile. We then went to see Mother Hen, a Trail Angel in town (she's a U.U.!) She has helped out many hikers, and was putting several people up for the night. We dropped off VSA and the Dude's packs the!re, then went to a last road crossing to meet the hikers we had slacked. It felt so odd...sitting on the bed of a pickup truck at the edge of a cornfield drinking beer and soda, waiting for hikers to come through. Jester said it would be great to someday just go to the edge of a cornfield nowhere near the Trail and set up...if people asked, just tell them we're doing Trail Magic. Everyone came through, a few hikers at a time, then we went back to Mother Hen's house to take packs from people who were slacking the next day. Jester and I then went back to Duncannon to drop off me and the packs. I went down to the Italian restaurant, where Randy, Snot Rocket, JimboTrek and The Viking were. I was lucky...there were leftovers, which I had for dinner. Then I called it an early night...doing Trail Magic can take a lot out of a person!
Date: 2003-07-27
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: broken clouds

I slept fairly well in the shelter last night, until, that is, the bugs started biting. I got up and had some Mountain Dew with my breakfast. I believe in a power start to the day. Shamrock had left at 6:30ish, and the only other peple in the shelter besides Sage, Iceberg Slim and myself were two section hikers. They were sisters who were heading southbound. Slim was still hurting from the night before...he had done something to his ankle that had caused it to swell, and he'd been in a lot of pain last night. He was going to just stay and ice it, possibly heading into town to have it looked at. Sage took a benadryl, and told me he was going to take a nap. I was heading out on my own, but Randy and Gerri came up from the tenting site across the road, and started out at the same time. I hadn't hiked with them for a week, which out here is not that long, so we fell into the same rhythm of breaks, etc. that we'd had during the time we'd been hiking together. It was a l!oooooong day. Can I talk to you about rocks? I know that just talking about it cannot ever convey to you what incredible pain I feel when traversing miles of rocks. Big rocks. Little rocks. Flat rocks. Round rocks. Pointy rocks. Strangely shaped rocks that bite into the bottoms of your feet and throw you completely off balance. I really can't wait to be out of Pennsylvania. It took forever for us to get to the shelter...we had to cross some cliffs...a great balancing act. And of course, a thunderstorm started closing in on us as soon as we were on the exposed ridgeline. I'm not sure what power it is that we exude that can draw that sort of weather to us. After scaling even more rocks, we finally made it to the shelter. As seems to be customary lately, we arrived near dark, and had dinner by headlamp after setting up camp. My nightly foot massage has become an essential, but excruciating part of my trek through PA, and tonight was a classic example of that. Ho!pefully, I can get some restoration through sleep tonight...
Date: 2003-07-30
From: Wind Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: broken clouds

I'm trying to get my journal caught up, so this will be a short entry...I woke up at an ungodly hour...really didn't sleep well, surprise, surprise. I needed to pick up a few things at the store, so went shopping at about 7:00 a.m. Bug spray, and a few extra snack items. I'm hungry all the time now. I eat breakfast, and want more only an hour later. Oh, I stopped on the way over to the store at Dunkin' Donuts to get a Dunkaccino...man, do I miss those! It was sooooo good! My shopping completed, I headed back to the motel. Gerri and Randy were still sleeping, so I crawled back into bed for a nap. It was nice to at least get a little bit of sleep. We got up around 9:00, and Gerri went to McDonalds to get us breakfast. We ate, made some phone calls and packed up. The motel offered a shuttle back to the Trail, so by 11:00 we were at the Trailhead. We could see some hikers...Pushing Up Daisies, Reason and Cruiser! I knew that they'd catch up to us...and I was glad to see that Pushing Up Daisies was still on the Trail. We spent the day !leapfrogging with them on the Trail. I had an urgent need for a bathroom, so went ahead to the hostel in Delaware Water Gap. When I got there, I saw Double A, Free Radical, Emily, Slack and The Dude! Apparently, this was another town vortex...I found out we'd just missed Martin (who has been dubbed with the Trail name: Fluffy Nutter). By the end of the night, there were at least 15 hikers at the hostel. We ate at the local diner, then tented out in back of the hostel. Good thing, too, as there seems to be quite a party going on inside...I need some sleep to help me get out of this state!
Date: 2003-08-03
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Secret Shelter
Miles today: 10.0

The stealth campsite was good for me...I slept well. Gerri was having rock issues, and said she didn't sleep well, but both Randy and I heard her snoring. Viking left before us...he's much better than we are at getting ready quickly. We set out with plans to do at least 15 miles. And we were going to do it, too...really. The terrain was fairly easy...a few rocks here and there, but nothing that difficult. We planned our first break at a road crossing where we thought we could get water. As we approached the road, we could hear a thunderstorm gearing up. It started to rain, and we stayed under the trees at the side of the road, so as not to get completely soaked. After about 20 minutes, the storm passed, we found a spot to sit and we took a break. We couldn't, however, find water. We knew that water would be scarce through NJ and NY, and had been rationing. I hate to be low on water, though. We knew that somewhere soon was...the secret shelter. There was well wa!ter there, and a place to stay if need be. We knew the signs to look for, but didn't know where the road crossing was. Several road crossings later, we found it. We went the 100 yards where we found a gorgeous property with a small shelter, which housed two showers, a big sink and a clothes dryer, a larger shelter, a privy and a spigot. We filled our water bottles and used the privy. We were looking at the shelters and the register when we heard another thunderstorm starting in. The first one had been mild...this one was going to be bad. We brought our packs into the small shelter and laid down in the loft to wait it out. Randy and I witnessed one huge bolt of lightning before we went inside, and I knew staying for a bit was the right decision. As the storm raged, we looked at the time and the mileage still left to do...we decided to stay the night there. It would hurt our overall daily mileage, but the storm was blowing down trees and tree limbs...it was not safe! to hike. As we sat there, I heard a vehicle pull up. I went to see who it was...maybe the man who built this fabu place for thru-hikers? No...it was Jester and VSA! They had packs for a bunch of people who were slack packing. Reason, Cruiser, Bodhi, the Dude and Little Dirty Barn Monkey were all hiking in the storm. It had actually eased a bit, but it seemed pretty clear that we were going to get hit with storms all night. Hikers started coming in...all the above showed up, as well as Burger, Puff Daddy and Blue Bird. It was a very full house, between the two shelters. Puff Daddy ended up tenting...I bet he's the only one who sleeps well! We had a good time just hanging out and talking. Oh, and I almost forgot...the donkeys. There are two of them here. If you've never heard a donkey bray before...well, you've never heard a sound anything like this. Hope they don't night bray...
Date: 2003-08-06
From: Greenwood Lake, NY

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

A zero day at Anton's on the Lake...breakfast brought to us by Violet, our laundry done, also by Violet, lunch at the diner, movies and beer...a lazy day. I don't think I need to say any more. We needed a day off to recharge, and we took it. Tomorrow is another day, and then we will hike...
Date: 2003-08-11
From: Dennytown Road

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 16.0

Today was a really great day! We all got lots of rest last night...I was asleep by 10:30, Gerri had been sleeping both before and after dinner and Randy said he went to sleep some time after I did. I woke up before 7 and was finishing up writing for yesterday's journal when I heard Randy's alarm go off. Gerri had already been up for awhile...I could hear her rustling around. She said she was feeling much better today, and she was definitely looking better. She told us that she had hallucinated yesterday while we were getting water...she saw huge bugs all over her tent. We both said that she needed to drink more water today...she'd hardly touched her water in her Camelbak yesterday, so it was not surprising that she'd had heat exhaustion. With as much as we're sweating (oh, wait...girls glisten, right?) out here, we have to hydrate constantly. Today alone, I drank at least 5 liters of water and Wyler's Light. And today wasn't as hot or humid as it was yesterday. The! hiking today was wonderful! The terrain was great, the weather cooperated and I was able to get into a groove for the first time in a couple of weeks. We made great time...took our first break at about 4 miles. We had decided we also needed to take more frequent, but shorter, breaks. We wanted to make sure that we didn't have a repeat of yesterday. Our next break took us to the place we'd been heading to yesterday. It was a nice camping area complete with water, covered picnic tables and a privy. It's too bad we didn't make it here, but it was nice to break there. And, it started raining just as we arrived, and stopped just as we were getting ready to leave. Now that's my type of rain! We had one big up to do today...but it was rather nicely switchbacked. Still, it was at the end of the day, and our energy was low. Keeping us going was the thought that the place we needed to get water from next was a pizzeria and deli...dinner! It started raining again just as! we arrived. I called in my pocketmail, then ordered food. A meatball parm hero and a small salad, which came with the most delectable blue cheese dressing. We ate, then were able to get a ride back to the Trail from a kid who was hanging out front. It was getting dark, and we needed to find a place to camp. I switched on my headlamp and acted as "scout." We soon found a spot that would suit and set up our tents. As soon as we all had gone to tent, the rain came again. Yup this was a good day. Now I'm going to read a little, then hit the hay...two more days till our next state!
Date: 2003-08-14
From: Kent, CT

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So, at 10:30, when we finally woke up, Randy asked what we all wanted to do. It was unanimous...zero day! We had gotten in so late last night, and still had to do all the things we always have to do when we arrive in town. I went to get some coffee for me and some Gatorade and a sandwich for Gerri and Randy. It was quite hot out already, and I was glad we weren't hiking. I saw Sage at the deli, and he gave me an article for Randy that had been sent here by our Trail Angel, Gene, from NY. The article was about the incident on Palisades Parkway. At the top, Gene had written in that the police suspected that the man who was hurt (we don't know if he lived or not) was shot by his wife. We had also heard something about the weapon being a nail gun...but that may have been just Trail gossip. It's amazing how quickly news spreads both up and down the length of the Trail...I went to the post office, then did some exploring around town. I got a chocolate malt, went to the outfitters, and realized I had forgotten that I needed to get one of my poles repaired. I went back to the Inn to retrieve them. When I returned to the outfitter, I saw a backpack outside, but didn't recognize it. While the fabu outfitter guy worked on my poles, I scoped out the place to see who might own the pack. I went around a corner to see...Laffy Taffy!! I couldn't belive it! I was so psyched to see her...I gave her huge hugs. We caught up on what had been going on...she had spent a week in NYC, and so we had passed her. We talked for awhile...maybe I'll get a chance to see her again tonight. My poles were all better (at no charge...yay!), and I had new socks and more bug spray. I headed back to the Inn. We were sitting around, watching TV, and I was talking on the phone with my sister, when the power went out. We didn't realize till a bit later that it was !as widespread as it is. The AC is gone, and there is no TV to watch...Randy is sad, as he likes to spend his zero days in the AC, watching TV. So we had some dinner, and I'm writing this by headlamp, which is what I usually do anyway. Maybe we'll get to bed early...hopefully the power will be back by morning so we can get our laundry done! For now...good night!