morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-06-30
From: Bears Den Hostel - 1002.6

To: Harpers Ferry- 1022.4
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: clear sky

Today marked the end of the 500+ mile tree canopy that has been the source of "The Virginia Blues" for many thruhikers with the achievement of walking into a Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. For those of you with really bad geography, West Virginia is a different state than Virginia (we had at least one confused reader). Harper's Ferry is the location of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters, and is the unofficial halfway point of the trail. The ATC takes pictures of all the hikers. Unfortunately, we arrived after they were closed so that will have to wait. Our goal has been to reach it by June and we are thrilled to make it, even if it is the 11th hour, figuratively speaking.Thinking back, the reputation of Virginia isn't deserved. It was a beautiful section of trail, including wild ponies on the balds of mt Rogers, the Virginia creeper trail, the cliffs near McAfee's knob, the overlooks of the blue ridge parkway, and Shenanndoah national park. Many miles of beautiful hiking. As for the rest of the trail, we are happy to announce that Porter will be once again donning her backpack! We will be taking the week of forth of July off. and then hit the trail again together. Right now it is looking good for us with about half of the miles complete, half of our time used up, and half of our money spent! Keep an eye out for us, you never know where the hitched hikers might pop up next!And reflecting on the first half of our epic honeymoon, we have had ups (like finishing the Smokies earlier than planned and getting to go to Dollywood before heading to a wedding) and downs (like when Porter sprained her ankle). We have experienced incredible kindness from strangers, like when Martian drove us 2 hours out of her way to a random dirt road trail crossing. We have been able to bless others (hikers love free food).   We have made new friends. We have been able to use the time to establish a deep relationship with each other based on an ever deepening love and submission to out of a reverence for Christ. Have there been sacrifices? Of course! Have there been changes to plans? Sure. We thought we'd have half the gospel of John memorized. And then there were the priceless moments, like the time that we put a new spin on the old saying, 'save water, shower with a friend' when we also saved $1.75 in quarters observing the practice in a pay by the minute shower (well, almost priceless)! And while we might have chosen a different way (like backpacking together the whole time instead of slack packing the last 700 miles) we have seen God's hand at every turn. After all, the great truth in scripture about believers is that the righteous shall live by faith. We don't walk by sight. God guides, and His ways are not our ways. And we trust him for the second half of our honeymoon, and the rest of our lives together, no matter what lies ahead.
Date: 2016-07-10
From: Off Trail

To: Off Trail
Miles today: 0.0

We're back! We had a wonderful time in Florida enjoying beaches for the last week. A highlight was seeing a Manatee in the wild. We also got to see one in captivity during a small town America 4th of July parade where they crowned the contest winner "miss manatee 2016". What an unfortunate but humorous title for a beauty pageant winner. We also met a really nice couple in church that was visiting from Maine. Hopefully we can see them when we get there. Apparently there are plentiful lobster that frequent their dinner table... We had a fun time but were looking forward to getting back to the trail. Upon returning via DC, we got to have lunch with a middle school friend of Sherpa's, visit the air and space museum, and stay with some of Porters old church friends. It was while staying with them that we made an important "investment" decision. Unfortunately, Porters ankle just isn't ready for sustained big days yet. For now, we are still going have to car camp and slack pack. it, which means we needed to replace one piece of gear which has become woefully inadequate for the summer months. The cooler we have been using was missing a latch, had one hinge wired together, had a permanent screw sealing off the drain, and was stamped "Seewald" in honor of its previous owner's last name. All of that would have been tolerable were it not for its poor ice retention characteristics which resulted in daily ice purchases and lots of spoiled chocolate milk. Which leads us to our new ice chest, "Seewald the Second", a yeti cooler! His claim to fame of course is that "you'll never have to buy ice again" or something like that. The only downside of course is that yetis are so expensive, we will be eating rice and beans for the rest of the summer which of ironically requires no refrigeration.While disappointing that Porter is still off the trail, the good news is that we are going to be able to continue visiting churches each week. This week we went with Porters friends to a mega church! The pastor braved the topic of police brutality to a very ethnically diverse congregation which was respectable. We were running a few minutes short of on time, which meant we had to sit in the nosebleed section of the enormous facility to enjoy the fellowship. We were thankful to be in a full church that was alive, and besides, it's better to be a "back row baptist" than a "bedside baptist".
Date: 2016-07-11
From: Harpers Ferry- 1022.4

To: US 40 - 1045.4
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We picked back up today where we left off, at Harper's Ferry. Since the ATC headquarters were closed when we arrived on June 30th, we headed over to explore their visitor center. They take a picture of all the thruhikers and keep them in a book. It was fun to flip through and see all the hikers we have been meeting along the way. Kind of like a high school year book. The trail took us out of West Virginia and into Maryland.On the trail today, met a section hiker going 500 miles from Shenandoah to Massachussetees. Apparently she had gotten separated from her teenage som and daughter and their family dog. She gave this message to pass along "tell him his new trailname is "dead meat"!" Sherpa dutifully passed on the message. The son responded "his name is dead weight, not dead meat" pointing to the dog. I told him that I didn't think she was referring to the dog... in the evening, we hiked together to a monument built in honor of George Washington in 1827. It looked a little bit like a light house. We chatted with a family that was doing a day hike. When they realized we hadn't made arrangements for the night yet, they offered, "you can set up your tent in our yard." What awesome hospitality. They even ordered pizzas to share with us! Yum! The highlight was of course the pets. Two dogs, 5 cats, a tank full of fish, a lonely hamster, and a potbellied pig! While eating dinner, the pig opened the back door and let himself in to join us. This sent the dogs into a cacophony of barking as he raided snacks from their dishes.
Date: 2016-07-16
From: PA850 Valley Road- 1137.6

To: PA 325 - Clark's Valley, Clark Creek - 1,164.3
Miles today: 26.7

There is a Jewish saying that goes something like this: when God created the world, he sent out two angels with buckets of rocks to distribute evenly over the earth. One of the angels did as he was commanded, but the other one was lazy and just dumped all of the rocks in Israel. Having been to Israel and now Pennsylvania, we think there might of been a third angel¢¦. No wonder hikers call it "Rocksylvania"! In the morning, Sherpa traversed a 10 mile section of rocks. It was nice to be back in the woods and out of the exposed sun that came along with yesterday's corn and soybean fields. Presumably, the rocks make farming this part of the countryside impossible which is why there are woods here to hike in. He did get turned around once, which resulted in an extra mile or two, it happens to the best of us. We then saw each other for lunch in the once thriving metropolis of Duncannon. The town could use some renewal and beautification. It was the type of place that would not have felt safe to walk through alone at night. In fact, it has a reputation as the only town along the trail with an operating strip club in walking distance. Hopefully the trail will have a positive economic impact on the town over the coming years. After passing through the town, Sherpa crossed another 6 mile rock patch and had a break with Porter. They both saw snakes on the trail today. To finish the day, there was a 10 mile section with no road access. This section was also a giant rock patch. Since it was getting late in the day, he decided to bring his headphones and do some trail running to finish the week strong. Meanwhile, Porter decided to meet him on the trail, but she accidentally walked north instead of south. Realizing her mistake, she turned around after about a mile going in the wrong direction. See it really does happen to the best of us¢¦ We met each other at the car just before dark. We are both very much looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow.
Date: 2016-07-17
From: Off Trail

To: Off Trail
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We decided to see what simple living was like, so we headed down to Lancaster, PA home to lots of Amish, Mennonite, and other "plain people" communities. We visited a church by one of the groups (hint- they had a website and didn't require the women to wear Victorian length skirts or bonnets). The pastor used the service to report out on a recent denominational conference. Sadly, his takeaway from the event seemed to be that the unrest in the world and the racial divisions in America today were present at the highest levels of his denomination based on insensitive remarks several speakers made that sparked a rebuke from someone and caused someone else to walk out. It was a sad reminder that Christian churches are some of the most segregated places in the United States. A few years ago, Sherpa had two older roommates, one was a Hispanic immigrant of Mexican descent, the other was Caucasian. Both were working as day laborers for industry. Both claimed to be Christian. Sadly, after a while, the white roommate made the Hispanic feel unwelcome to the point where he would just go in his room whenever the white one came home, because the white one frequently turned on Foxnews and lamented the lack of a fence. This behavior sure put up an invisible one. What blatant disobedience to such a simple command "Love one another". Thankfully, there are many good churches where diversity is received with love.Leaving the place of worship, we headed to a restaurant! This place seemed to do a pretty good job when it came to race. We sat at a table with a black family and a Hispanic family to enjoy an all you can eat family style meal. How different that meal might have been if instead of being all you can eat, everyone got different helpings based on their race and if some weren't given any silverware... There probably would have been a lot of tension, and some people might have even started wearing "waiter lives matter" shirts. Ironically, something eerily similar to this actually did happen in a church in Corinth back in the first century. You can read about it in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. Basically, when the church met, some people would eat like gluttons and even get drunk in a perverse celebration of the Lords supper, while others who had nothing would go home hungry and humiliated causing factions and division. Paul rebuked them, saying they weren't even worthy to have communion with that kind of behavior and that Gods judgement would be poured out on them if they wouldn't correct it. Healthy reminders for the Christians of this nation.After leaving the restaurant we passed a lot of buggies on our way to tour the Hershey chocolate factory. We then settled in early for a nice rest.
Date: 2016-07-18
From: PA 325 - Clark's Valley, Clark Creek - 1,164.3

To: I - 81 Underpass - 1,182.1
Miles today: 17.8

Today we continued our northward journey through Pennsylvania where we left off Saturday. Sherpa brought his trekking poles, but thankfully, this section of trail wasn't nearly as rocky as the previous one although it did cross some shale deposits. The highlight for Sherpa was seeing a rattlesnake in the wild!In the evening, there was a powerful rainstorm that caused us to lose satellite signal in our hotel room right in the middle of Melania Trump's speech during the opening night of the Republican National Convention. We don't typically watch TV, especially politics, but the spectacle was irresistible! Where else can you see Calvin Klein underwear models give praise to Jesus and Donald Trump in the same breath on live TV? On second thought, maybe we would have been better off in a tent despite the heavy downpour... While on that topic, we have nothing against TV, the news, politics, etc. just like we have nothing against McDonalds... where a little bit is alright, but it better not be the only thing you put into your belly. And a little bit of the media is alright, but it better not be the only thing you put into your mind and heart. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 6:22-23 when he tells us that "the eye is the lamp of the body, and if the eye is healthy, the whole body will be full of light, but if it is bad, your body will be full of darkness." The basic idea is that our eyes are gateways that let either light or darkness into our lives. If we constantly set them on the cares of this world rather than on the things of heaven, our heart and mind will become just like the world. And he says this a few breaths after telling his followers to let their light shine in this dark world so people will see their good works and give God glory! It is very easy to be influenced instead of being an influencer. It is really critical for followers of Jesus, especially in this age of information saturation, to guard our eyes from being inundated with evil things. If we don't, the things that might once have shocked us become expected, then tolerated, then accepted and sometimes embraced and our light stops shining. But we are called to be ambassadors to a world that is starving for truth. If a powerful nation sent ambassadors to a weak nation with terms for peace, some of the ones dying in the conflict would be glad to know that they could find peace and save their lives. But if those ambassadors got comfortable in the weak nation and failed to relay terms for reconciliation because the terms were unpopular, and instead said everything was ok, they would cause more harm then if they had never been sent. We are responsible for correctly representing Christ to a dying world, so help us God.
Date: 2016-07-19
From: I - 81 Underpass - 1,182.1

To: Shartlesville Cross -Mountain Road - 1,210.1
Miles today: 28.0
Weather: clear sky

Yet another beautiful day in Rocksylvania! The rain last night left everything fresh and renewed, although there were no puddles offering direct evidence since the ground was dry and thirsty. Today we hit several milestones. We got to mile 1200, and even more cool, we passed 1189.1 along the way to it. As of that point, we now have less than a thousand miles to go! Let the countdown begin! At a crossing along the way, we saw "nooner" looking for a hitch into town to do laundry and pickup a package from the post office. We had last seen him on our first night camping in the Smokies. Back then he was taking a zero due to an injury. We are so glad that he recovered and has made it so far. He is a young guy, really nice. He got his trailname because he rarely starts hiking before noon. Porter offered him a ride, which he gladly accepted while Sherpa marched forward. Nooner told porter that yesterday was his longest hiking day yet at 34 miles, 5 of which were attributable to an off trail excursion to Wendy's¢¦. We try hard to resist the temptation to turn our blog into a food diary, but will shamelessly brag about our thruhiking comrades when they go an extra five miles on top of a 29 mile day just for Wendy's. It seems silly to point out, but eating is so much more satisfying when you are hungry! Speaking of longest days, today was Sherpa's longest walk yet. He walked over 30 miles, which includes several miles of approach trails to reach the Appalachian trail from the car and vice versa.A little later, Sherpa saw JT! He is plugging along slowly but surely. Lately he has been hiking in the evenings and at night to avoid the heat of the day. There are some downsides to this approach. Last night during the rain he had trouble seeing and missed the shelter he wanted to stop in. He shared with us that he is reconsidering his future career as a hammered dulcimerist and is instead considering getting involved with a homeless outreach when he finishes the trail! Way to go, bud!
Date: 2016-07-20
From: Shartlesville Cross -Mountain Road - 1,210.1

To: Hawk Mountain Road - 1232.0
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: few clouds

"Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me! Bless his holy name." Psalm 103:1. Mornings in the woods are full of the splendor of creation- renewed overnight, everything is cool, the smells are fresh, the sun breaks through the tree canopy, the birds are busy singing, hikers are stirring, thankful for the privilege to wander one more day in a place that resonates from the echo of God's creative genius! Later on we start to notice the bug bites, blisters begin to remind us of their presence, joint aches and muscle soreness beg for attention, the sun beats down on us, we start to worry about whether we have enough water to make it to the next source, and sometimes all of the hindrances screaming for our attention distract us from the beauty that surrounds us. Thankfully, we don't have to be hiking in the forest to hear the birds, and we can choose to bless the Lord even after the birds stop singing. After enjoying the beautiful morning stroll, Sherpa met up with Porter, who had been shopping for some cards to send various friends. She picked him up in front of a large piece of anthracite next to a sign for a railroad that served reading! Perhaps this was the "Reading Railroad"? They shared a cake batter milkshake which Porter really enjoyed. Ironically, ice cream just hasn't done much for Sherpa since the half gallon challenge... On the trail again in the afternoon, Sherpa ran into a day hiker wearing a bug net over his face. After chatting a few minutes, he declared, "you've found your trail angel for the day" and handed him the net. Thanks trail angel! Praying God will Bless you richly! So the bug headnet seemed pretty idiot proof. Just put it on and voila, no more bugs in your face. Take it off to eat or wipe sweat off your brow. Imagine what would happen if you spit up a big glob of phlegm but forgot to lift it out of the way. Sherpa doesn't need to use his imagination... it probably needed to be washed anyways.
Date: 2016-07-21
From: Hawk Mountain Road - 1232.0

To: PA 873 Lehigh River Bridge East - 1256.9
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: light rain

Another great day! The morning section of trail was about 9 miles, which takes about 3 hours to hike, allowing Porter some free time. After dropping Sherpa off, Porter headed out to Wally World to pick up nail clippers. We already have a pair, but our car has reached a tipping point when it comes to organization. We have been in hotels too long. There just haven't been good places to camp in Pennsylvania. Over the past two weeks, our camping gear has become hopelessly intermingled with the things we use on a somewhat infrequent basis. Looking forward to get to a place where we can really take the car apart!On the trail, Sherpa ran into a hiker we had seen intermittently in the Shenandoah but had never actually chatted with. His name is "Raiden", and he got his name because he wears a distinctive conical chinese style men's hat that bears a striking resemblance to one worn by a mortal kombat character. He had no hope of keeping up with Sherpa's slack packing pace, but caught up to us as we were having lunch at a road crossing. We did our best to load him up on goodies from the car. He had been really discouraged, with thoughts of quitting even crossing his mind. He was so reenergized after chatting with us that he told us he will see us on Katadyn! We sure hope he keeps pushing ahead. He supplied lots of reasons for being down- a pesky blister, the constant access to restaurants due to urban encroachment making him out of the woods mood, etc. He seemed lonely and confessed he had fallen in with the wrong crowd. Whatever the reason, he had the twinkle back in his eyes when we said our "see you later's" (there are no goodbyes on the trail, you never know when you might see someone again).
Date: 2016-07-23
From: Wind Gap - PA 33 - 1277.5

To: AMC Mohican Outdoor Center-Camp Road - 1303.5
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: scattered clouds

On the way out of Pennsylvania today, a Porcupine poked his head out to say goodbye. He (or she) was the only one that we saw on the trail so far. He was an appropriate ambassador for the state's final section of the trail. They look friendly from a distance, but if you dare get close, you will discover another side. While Pennsylvania might look easy if you just check an elevation profile map, once you step foot, you discover that it has a different side- infrequent water and rocks more suited for a mountain goat than a mountain man. There are state flowers and birds. If states had ice cream flavors, Pennsylvanias would be "Rocky Road." The views from overlooks were pastoral or industrial, a kind of beauty the trail would be incomplete without. The kindness of the hiking community was present at nearly every road crossing, where gallon jugs of water were lovingly placed. We of course didn't touch this precious commodity, since we have our car with, but for the backpacking thruhikers, the trail would have been impossible without it due to long sections without springs. We did our best to zoom through the area with most days exceeding 20 miles. Next up- New Jersey.After setting foot in New Jersey, we soon crossed the 1300 mile mark! New Jersey really greets you with a spectacular view, with the trail leading through the Deleware Water Gap, where a river cuts right through a mountain leaving steep rocky banks that rise up for hundreds of feet. Contrary to the wisdom of a college friend from "Longg" Island who liked to trash talk the state for an aroma originating from a landfill somewhere on the Jersey side of the Hudson, it actually smells pretty good here (except of course for the occasional thruhiker). Combined with the weekend and proximity to major population centers, it also made for crowded trails, complete with several bus loads of Asian tourists sporting fancy cameras. In their honor, Sherpa used a digital filter on his iPhone to shoot today's pictures!Sherpa ran into dead weight, dead meat, his sister and the mom section hiker family again. This time, they were hiking together. Unfortunately, even section hikers aren't immune to the pressures of the world to quit. The mom was excited to share that she got a job, which was going to truncate their original plan to reach Massachussettes by a couple states. Great for her, and great that she was spending so much time creating memories with her kids while in between!