morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-05-15
From: (55) Trail Days 2

To: (56) Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

Kyle Downs and I packed in the morning, loaded up the car, and hit the road. On the ride back I asked him whether he still wanted to do the 4-state challenge with me when I got to the Virginia border, but he said no. I told him I understood, and that he would have had a heck of a time keeping up with me anyway. (Before I left for the AT in March, Kyle Downs had said that he was going hike the state of Maryland with me, and that he was going to show up wearing sports goggles, a pair of bright yellow rain boots up to his knees to keep his feet dry, and holding an umbrella so that he would always be in the shade. He also said that for cooking he was going to pack a cast iron Dutch oven, and eat peach cobbler every night.) After a dull ride back, we parked at Rockfish Gap where I had last gotten off the trail. I shook Kyle Downs¢s hand (a firm grip), and resumed my hike. The new tips of my Leki poles felt great, as did my shoes, an old pair I had used to run in that Kyle Downs had brought along to replace my cut-up trail runners (which by the end were 90% duct tape and super glue).I had barely entered the woods when I saw a sign announcing the start of the Shenandoah Nation Park. At long last I had reached what is said to be the easiest section of trail on the AT, and over 100 miles of it! Already I was envisioning doing some big days through the park, and why not? I wanted to be home in Maryland by the end of the week anyway, was in terrific shape, and my feet had stopped hurting completely. Clearly it was time to drop the hammer and see what I could do! But it was late, so my plans would have to wait. I hiked 7 miles to the first shelter in the park, where I called dibs on top bunk (strategic high ground should bears or Creepy Jay show up). At the shelter sat the same group I had hitched into Waynesboro with two days ago. They had taken a zero in town, and so it was as though I had never left. There was also an older gentleman thru hiker named Deadman staying the night, a diabetic who had basically told his disease to take a hike while he did his own.I went to bed early, with thoughts of the back to back 30 milers I had promised Helm I would work my way up to running through my head. I had no doubt that it was going to be a beastly couple of days¢¦
Date: 2011-05-16
From: (56) Calf Mountain Shelter

To: (57) Man Week, Day 1: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 26.2

~ MANWEEK DAY 1: LEMUR GETS WET ~Today marks the beginning of MAN WEEK, an entire week of pure manliness where I will push myself to do the most miles possible through the remaining flat sections of trail. During this week I will attempt to do back to back big days, complete both the 4-state and Virginia Challenge, and make it home in time to see my family.I woke up today and was feeling great. It rained on me some in the morning, but not too hard, and the weather was warm enough that I did not mind. While hiking, I met a woman headed south who knew me from my trail journals and had been following me since day one! She is the third person who has recognized me this way, and it is always a surprise to meet a stranger who knows me.That afternoon my legs were still strong, and I began to think about doing another 50 mile day or even the 30 hour challenge (hike for 30 hours straight), but to do so I would need more non-cooking day food. I took a park side trail to a camp store, and went inside as it started to rain again. I picked out enough high calorie snacks to get me through the park (assuming I about to pull some enormous days), and went to the counter to pay for them. The lady working there rang up my total: 25$. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest and slapped me across the face. 25 dollars!?!?! I had bought 10$ at the most! For 25 I could have gone to a grocery store and bought twice as much food! I regretfully paid. When I exited the store I found that the weather had become foggy and cold. The grass quickly soaked my shoes, and I had to put on my trash bag to shield me from all of the wet branches and undergrowth. It was miserable.I reached a shelter a few hours later, and stopped to have supper with a thru hiker named Delaware Dave and another guy who was section hiking Sobo (South Bound). They were superb conversationalists, and the shelter was open, so I almost called it a day. But I had my goals, and began packing up. While I was doing this, the rain started up again, cold in the night air. I headed out into it. Immediately the rain intensified, the worst it had been the entire day. I got so wet the first 100 yards of hiking that if you saw me you would have thought I had been swimming. The rain turned frigid and it began to thunder. I kept at it for a while, but then stopped in the middle of the trail to stare at my feet. I am a tough guy, but there was no sense in continuing. The weather had become potentially life threatening, especially at night, and I had already done a big day. So, I surprised myself by turning around and heading back to the shelter. ~The first day of MAN WEEK was 26.2 miles, cut short by abnormal weather and overpriced camp stores!~
Date: 2011-05-22
From: (62) Man Week, Day 6: Mason Dixon Line

To: (63) Man Week, Day 7: Home
Miles today: 0.0

~ MAN WEEK DAY 7: LEMUR KEEPS A PROMISE ~Before I had left for the AT over a month ago, my Grandmother had asked me to try and make it back in time for my Grandfather¢s surprise 90th birthday party. I had promised her I would. On my first day back I went to my Grandfather¢s 90th, an event I had been able to make thanks to my consistent big days. All of my relatives were there, and I had a great time. It was Sunday, so I relaxed and enjoyed my zero. (Men don¢t work on Sundays)~The seventh day of MAN WEEK was zero miles, because men don¢t work on Sundays!~This concludes the epic saga of ¢MAN WEEK¢, the manliest week known to man; a week of nonstop rain, mud, overpriced camp food, roller coasters, 50 milers, sleeping in the mud, hiking backwards, challenges, Sunday, and other manly things!!!!! Stay tuned for other exciting journal entries by: Lemur!!!
Date: 2011-05-29
From: (63) Man Week, Day 7: Home

To: (64) A Vacation from my Vacation
Miles today: 0.0

Being in the woods for so long made home seem like a distant memory. Like remembering a dream or a book I had read. To me the trail had become the real world, and everything else was the past. Once home I experienced a slight culture shock as I reintegrated with the old world. For maybe a day I was overly cranky and irritable, but after that I was fine.         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I spent my first couple days off being unproductive. I sat around, searched the web, watched TV, saw a movie, was visited by one of my old college roommates, and more.Then eventually I got to work. I started by buying a new iPod with more storage capacity (but less weight) and filled it with audiobooks and music to listen to while I hiked. Then I began typing up my trail journals, which took me days to complete (I had filled my notebook, a total of 30 entries). I gave them to Kyle Downs and asked him to upload a couple every week to take the pressure off of me while I hiked. (Most resupplies do not have a library nearby, and also most library computers have a time limit, which is what caused me to fall so far behind until reaching home). I returned to Harpers Ferry one day with my mom. Together we hiked the Maryland Heights, and then went into town to get my picture taken at the ATC Headquarters as a thru hiker. While in town and the Headquarters I ran into tons of hikers who I knew, including Portrait, Mofo, Porter, Pace, and Buffalo! I caught up with all of them, and hope to see them again when I start out (they should be reaching the PA border at about the same time I get back on). I can¢t wait!And so here I sit, in my room the night before heading back out. I have taken 8 zero days, which is more than I wanted, but I had to in order to catch up on my journals. Hope you¢ve been enjoying, and I¢ll do my best to keep up with them from here on out.
Date: 2011-06-02
From: (66) Pine Grove (Tammy's House)

To: (67) Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Finishing in August only requires that I average 18.3 miles a day for my remaining two months. I feel that this will be fairly easy to accomplish, and look forward to the days where I will no longer be walking from dawn to dusk. The others, who are also considered pretty fast by trail standards, are especially enthusiastic about lessoning their grueling pace. Buffalo even changed his trail name to ¢Buffaslow¢, and the group as a whole are calling themselves ¢The Slow Train¢ (when hiker¢s hike in a line down the AT it is often called a hiker train, hence doing small days means getting on board the slow train).In the morning we joined Tammy for breakfast at a nearby diner, and then returned to the trailhead at Pine Grove. The others started hiking, but I went back to the general store first to get my prize for finishing the half gallon challenge, a wooden ice cream spoon. It was there that the lady running the store told me about a reporter who had been waiting around for hours looking for thru hikers to interview about the challenge, and who had not as yet found a single one. They called him over from the parking lot, and the next thing I knew I was being interviewed! I told the man that ice cream was the toughest thing I¢d faced in the woods, and that I would never be able to look at chocolate the same way again. I then recapped some of the highlights, from trying not to puke to sobbing and curling up into the fetal position (only in America would people consider getting sick off of ice cream a news worthy feat). A now famous thru hiker, I returned to the trail and continued my hike.I hiked through the last of the AT that had made up my practice hike months before. What I had then considered to be towering mountains I now considered as hills. Needless to say it was an easy hike. Had I not been thwarted by ice cream related incidents, I could have easily covered the distance of all three days of my practice hike in one. It is amazing how things change when you are thru hiking.I wanted to catch up to my friends and stay with them at Kennedy shelter for the night, but I missed where it was and ended up hiking several miles farther until I was almost in Boiling Springs PA. Not wanting to stealth camp, and afraid that I would never see them again if I decided to do a larger day tomorrow to make up for today, I turned around and hiked south. When I finally found the shelter it was empty, but in the shelter log I read that Buffaslow had been there already. I was confused by this and ended up deciding that they had gone into town after all. It was getting dark by this time, so I spent the night alone in the shelter. I had not gone far that day because of my backtracking, and Buffaslow would later tease me of hiking ¢a big small day¢.
Date: 2011-06-03
From: (67) Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: (68) Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: clear sky

I woke up today and saw that Portrait was walking towards the shelter. This confused me, because I did not understand why he was there. Eventually I learned that the group had tented at a trail campsite a mile before the shelter. The reason the shelter log had been signed by Buffaslow is because he had used the shelter¢s privy in the evening and then returned to the campsite. I had hiked past the shelter while Buffaslow was there, and returned after he had left leaving me to believe that they had all gone ahead. Now reunited, I hopped back on board ¢The Slow Train¢ for another smooth day of hiking with Cayenne, Buffaslow, and Portrait (German Shepherd had gone ahead). We arrived at Boiling Springs that morning, a small town that the trail goes through, and had breakfast at the Caf© 101. I ordered the eggs Benedict and French toast, which I then proceeded to hungrily obliterate.The rest of the day we hiked together in our hiker line. The trail led us through several farms, often along a grassy fence row or boundary. Towards the end of the day the trail ran parallel with a river, and Buffaslow, farther down the trail, jumped in and floated down to us. It was a nice day, and by evening we reached Darlington Shelter for a solid 18.2 mile day. (Darlington shelter is home to the famous Tajmahal Privy). The weather was nice, so we all set up our tents or tarps at a nearby tenting area.
Date: 2011-06-04
From: (68) Darlington Shelter

To: (69) Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up today and checked out the privy at Darlington Shelter, nick-named the ¢Tajmahal¢ after its abnormally large size and fancy mechanics (you could live in it and a rock tied to a string over a support beam insured that the door would close itself). I then hiked alone to the trail town of Duncannon where I met Portrait and Cayenne at the Doyle Motel. The Doyle is famous on the trail for being a dump, and many thru hikers choose to stay here. (Why? Because hikers are cheap and love to tell stories, that¢s why) My friends were planning on spending the night themselves, but I could not stand hiking such a small day. I was restless from the slow pace, and so I said goodbye to the slow train and proceeded to ¢hike my own hike¢.Hiking my own hike did not have a great start. While crossing a bridge out of town I came under attack by two large birds of prey (falcons I believe) who were screeching and diving at me until I had hiked out of range of their nest. Then I was about to go into the mountains when a train cut me off. I had to sit and wait a good 15 minutes while it thundered past before continuing down the trail. Then it rained on me, sealing the deal on another perfect day. While thoroughly enjoying all aspect of today¢s hike, I also realized that I missed my friends and the slow train. No experience is as good when shared alone, and though I hike ahead I leave my heart behind. But it is the way of the trail, and I must go my own pace. There is much trail ahead, and I am sure I will find many others to hike with. I reached the shelter after 22.6 miles and found Padre and Deadman there. Padre (whom I had met before) asked me if I was hiking fast again and I said sure, and then he asked if I would deliver a book to Fuzzy Navel. I told him I would be happy to, and he thanked me saying that Fuzzy Navel had really wanted to read the book and had kept reminding him to let her have it when he was finished, but now that he had she was (according to Padre) a week ahead on the trail. I told Padre that I was up for the challenge, and went to bed with a big day in mind.
Date: 2011-06-05
From: (69) Peters Mountain Shelter

To: (70) 501 Shelter
Miles today: 35.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up at 5am and packed. As soon as there was enough light I launched out, hitting the trail while all others still slept. It was a long morning, during which I caught back up to Gingersnap. She told me that she had gotten lost the other day while night hiking through a swamp. Unable to sleep on the ground and ignorant of where the trail went, she ended up climbing a style and sleeping on it, which is equivalent to falling asleep on a 1x3 foot board suspended in the air. I laughed about that for a long time. Later I passed Thinmint and Lizard, and then a kid named Raisons. It hurt to be doing such a long day, and I wanted to stop, but my mission was to deliver Padre¢s book to Fuzzy Navel, and so I kept going. Wherever she was ahead, bored and bookless, I would catch her.The transportation of literary works was not my only motivation today. When I passed Raisons I learned that the 501 shelter was near a roadway and that if a hiker can make it there before 8pm, that hiker can order a pizza and have it delivered to himself on the trail. Raisons did not think that there was time enough to get there, but I had nothing to lose so I went for it. At the worst I would get a few extra miles in.After traversing several fields of Pennsylvania¢s hazardous rock fields (while texting, I almost walked off a cliff) I reached the 501 shelter at 7pm (I killed it) for a total of 35.5 miles. At the shelter was German Shepherd, who I was thrilled to see again, and I was able to fill him in on where I had last seen The Slow Train before leaving them, as he had left their ranks a few days before me. Then, using a menu I found inside the shelter, I ordered a pizza to myself and went out to the roadway to wait for it. My pizza arrived just in the nick of time, as no sooner had I returned to safety of the shelter then it began to hail! Tiny balls of ice hammered off of the roof with tremendous force, and the noise was deafening. Inside German Shepherd and I marveled at the tremendous storm and our luck of not having to tent outside.
Date: 2011-06-10
From: (74) Delps Trail

To: (75) Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 26.1
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke to discover that the rock that had been digging into my side all night was actually my cell phone, having slid off of my stomach, and my trail journal. Extremely dehydrated, I packed my wet gear and started hiking. It was a hot and muggy day, full of rocks and biting insects. I arrived at the first shelter to find that German Shepherd had not signed the logbook, so I assumed that he was still behind me. My plan was to simply hike all day and wherever I end up I end up. Therefore I did not expect to see German Shepherd again. In one day I had lost both of my friends and was alone again. I filled my water at the shelter and moved on.The rest of the day was a bore, and I spent it listening to audio books and sweating profusely. At another shelter I stopped to eat with an English hiker named Puddle Jumper (he jumps puddles), and finally looked in my book to see what was ahead of me. A town called Delaware Water Gap was within range, just before the New Jersey border, so I hiked a few more miles and the trail took me down a mountain and into the gap. I walked the main street of the town to the Mountain Church Hostel. At the Hostel I found the same bubble of hikers as before, including Charlie, Pajamas, Bud Heavy, Cactus Jack, Estereo, Spoon, Downhill, Tigerlilly, Fuzzy Navel, Dreamwalker, Colonel, Jukebox, Burly, Gas Cap, and many others. Most of them are planning a zero day for tomorrow, and I may join them for fun. I had done 26.1 miles today, which is well over the 18 mile a day average I need to finish in August, plus I am getting hungry for another big day attempt that will more than make up for a zero day if I take one.
Date: 2011-06-11
From: (75) Delaware Water Gap

To: (76) Mountain Chruch Hostel, Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I fell asleep last night on the porch of the church hostel. When I awoke it was raining, which solidified my desire to take a zero day. I did the math and found that I am perfectly on track to finish on August first with 18 mile days. This being the case, I can slow down or take a zero whenever I like and then simply make the miles up later with a big day (maybe even another 50 miler). After stopping by the local outfitter for some new socks, I emailed my mom to tell her of some supplies I needed and then asked her to mail them to the post office in Dalton, Massachusetts where I would pick them up. Dalton is 275 miles away, so I should need the gear by then (shoes, rest of my guidebook, plastic bags, hiking pole tip, new book, etc). It would be my first mail drop on the trail.Back at the Hostel I sat down with Colonel (because his parents bought him and all his hiker friends Kentucky Fried Chicken), Jukebox, and Maniac for a game of Monopoly. It was an abnormally long game, full of deal making and cartels. I ended up dying to save Maniac (we had a brotherhood going), simultaneously giving him control of half the board, but then the Colonel and Jukebox teamed up against him. Jukebox, an economics major, kept sweet talking the others into crazy and complicated deals that nobody could keep track of, all the while curling his mustache evilly. Needless to say he won (after several hours of playing, a day well spent). That evening I ended up outside a gas station on a bench talking to Charlie and Pajamas about other hikes like the PCT and CDT (Charlie has hiked both, in addition to biking from the top of Alaska to the tip of South America) then I got some food. My diet today has been especially grand. For breakfast I had a one pound bag of pretzels, for lunch I went to a local hotel with some other hikers and had a gourmet ice cream sundae, and for supper a hot dog and a slice of apple pie (And yet I am in the best shape of my life).Having rained the entire day, hikers continued coming into town but very few left, causing the total number of hikers crammed in the hostel to grow to around 22. German Shepherd had caught up, and some guys I had not met before such as Gas Cap and Indy (wears an Indiana Jones hat).After a fun night of hanging out with all the other hikers, I returned to my spot on the porch of the church and went to sleep.
Date: 2011-06-13
From: (77) Branchville NJ

To: (78) Port Jervis/High Point State Park
Miles today: 14.5

When I woke up my tarp shelter was full of mosquitoes, but none of them seemed to be biting me. My side ached, and I reached under it to pull out my trail journal (I really need to stop falling asleep on top of my gear). My sleeping bag was damp, as was my tarp. They would both have to be dried out later. I groaned.After packing up, I hiked south back into Branchville to resupply. I ran into Cactus and Bud Heavy along the way, and they told me that they had been hit by the rain at nightfall while hiking, and that a half blind Cactus Jack (his glasses were fogged) lost the trail and went straight down the side of the mountain through a jungle of plants until he popped out onto the road. The two had sat in town under an overhang to get out of the rain until a guy passing by saw them and offered them free housing at a nearby camp. They accepted and spent the night sleeping in beds. I laughed; things always work out for them, and according to Bud Heavy they had showered every night of the week thanks to the kindness of strangers.I walked down the road until I arrived at Dale¢s Market, where I purchased the food necessary for another 50 mile day, which I planned to attempt as soon as the opportunity arose (For fun). Then I caught a ride back to the trail in the bed of a pickup (a woman in the parking lot had grumpily told me to ¢get in¢).During the Day¢s hike I was endlessly pursued by a cloud of mosquitoes. I finished my audio book ¢1984¢ and started listening to ¢The Bell Jar¢. The water along the way was entirely undrinkable, so I had to ration out what I had left from town, and hope that I would stumble across a clean source while hiking. Eventually I did; several gallon jugs full of water that had been left as trail magic (water cache). I passed Bud Heavy and Cactus Jack in the evening, entering a park ground (High Point State Park) where a middle aged woman approached me. Her name was Alice and she offered to take me back to her place for supper, ice cream, soda, bed, shower, and clean clothes in exchange for ten dollars. Naturally I was terrified of her, but her price was a fair deal for what I would get out of it, especially with the promise of food included (And a shower to take the itch out of my mosquito bites). I told her that I had some friends behind me, and when Bud heavy and Cactus Jack showed up we all went with her to her home in Port Jervis, NY. (Once again my two companions had lucked out). Once at the house, we showered and then ate pizza, ice cream, and watched TV. Alice and her husband owned a dog named Bud Light, and he kept jumping all over Bud Heavy, an irony that I thought was hilarious (The dog was literally slamming into Bud Heavy trying to knock him over). It was a very enjoyable night and I appreciated being out of the ever present mosquitoes and rainy weather. I contributed my luck to Bud Heavy and Cactus Jack, whom everything seems to work out for.