morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-06-26
From: Rocky Run Shelter

To: Ensign Cowall Shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

6/26/2015 Day 85 - It rained pretty hard last night and I was glad I was in a decent shelter. It was a pretty easy morning with relatively flat terrain. I visited the first Washington Monument that was erected by the townsfolk of Boonesboro, MD beginning July 4th, 1827. The small stone tower was closed so I couldn't go up in it. Rumor has it that 3 hikers were nearby when lightning struck. One of the hikers was injured so they closed the tower. I took a break for lunch at Pine Knob shelter and met Prayer, and Waldo joined us a short time later. A ridgerunner showed up a short time later and gave us a few tips on water sources and told us about a hiker feed in a nearby town on Sunday. It's too far to go, but it I told him I would pass the word. I moved on to the Ensign Cowall shelter, getting there a little before 4. The shelter filled up by 7 with a lot of hikers I haven't seen in a while like Hardwear, Clown Car, Bro Crow, White Wolf and others. A total of 15.7 miles today.
Date: 2015-06-27
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter

To: Tumbling Run Shelters
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: heavy intensity rain

6/27/2015 Day 86 - It rained a lot today. I left Ensign Cowall shelter around 7 am. It wasn't raining too bad when I left, but the wind was blowing pretty hard. I had a couple of branches fall fairly close, but it just made things a bit more exciting. I stopped at Raven Rock shelter for a break and Hawkeye was there. He said he had shin splints and was going to zero at the shelter. A couple of others said they were going to zero to avoid the rain. I hiked on and reached Pen Mar Park and ate in a pavilion with a half a dozen other hikers including Corky and Scientist. Corky had a friend pick her up, she lives fairly close, and Scientist and a couple of others caught a ride with her to town. I hiked on and crossed the Mason-Dixon Line shortly after lunch. It was raining pretty hard by then. About 14.5 mile into the day I stopped at Deer Lick shelters (one shelter is for snorers and one for non-snorers) where I had a snack and let my feet de-wrinkle a bit. I shared a small shelter with a thru hiker, Blastoids, and his dog, Dante. I was initially going to spend the night there but the rain stopped around 4 so I decided to move on a bit. The stream was flooding close to the Antietam shelter so I passed by it and hiked further to The Tumbling Run shelters. A total of 18.1 miles for the day. These are a nice pair of shelters with a small pavilion covering a picnic table. There were several thru hikers and section hikers here for company and, amazingly, someone was able to start a fire. I saw PBJ and Hammertoe, and met Wild and Boy (together - wildboys), a hiker named Joe, and a couple that were hiking a section to Harper's Ferry. I was only a little damp when I crawled into the sack. I actually enjoyed hiking in the rain today. It was just a little cold when I stopped for breaks. While hiking through the worst of the downpour, I wondered what made me enjoy it when so many other found it miserable. I got into a philosophical line of thought about nature and nurture, and imagined my ancestors and the hardships they endured. Yea, I know, but when you're hiking 8 to 10 hours a day you have a lot of time to think.
Date: 2015-06-28
From: Tumbling Run Shelters

To: Fayetteville, PA
Miles today: 9.6

6/28/2015 Day 87 - I was getting low on food so I decided to hit the hostel in Fayetteville, PA. I hiked the 10 miles or so to the US 30 trailhead and then the 0.8 miles to the hostel. The name of the hostel is Trail of Hope Ministries and it's located next to a church. Patrick showed me around and introduced me to two ladies who were recently at the church service, one of whom was Sandra, their minister. The great thing about this hostel is they won't let you go hungry. Patrick was cooking, doing laundry, making beds, and keeping the place running smooth. Junker, a former through hiker is actually in charge of the place and gave rides to slack packers and took us on a grocery run to Dollar General. They had good bathrooms, laundry facilities, and a nice common room. Good Day and good people at the hostel.
Date: 2015-06-29
From: Fayetteville, PA

To: Tom's Run Shelters
Miles today: 16.2

6/29/2015 Day 88 - had a good breakfast at the hostel then got a ride back to the trailhead where I left off. The sky was blue, the temperature cool, and the trails nice to hike on. I passed by Quarry Gap shelter and have to say it is one of the best kept shelters I've seen. It even had a sun dial. I hiked 10.0 more miles to Birch Run shelter and it was a nice one as well. These Pennsylvania caretakers are doing a great job. I ate lunch there with Jokes and a couple named Fit and Fabulous. I asked who was who and the lady in the relationship told me to choose. I chose not to, but eventually she called her husband Fit which got me off the hook. After lunch I hiked 2.4 more miles to Dead Woman Hollow Road, the official halfway point at 1094.6 miles. I took a selfie next to the sign and put my name in the log book.I hiked a little further to Tom's Run shelters logging in 16.2 miles for the day. Scientist was the only person at the site and he was napping in his tent. It was only 3:45 pm, but I felt I had gone far enough for the day and there weren't any convenient places to camp for the next couple of miles. After an hour or so the shelter started filling up as well as the remaining campsites. I tented in a nice spot. Scientist made a fire which helped keep the bugs away. I'm pretty excited to make the official halfway point. Good day.
Date: 2015-06-30
From: Tom's Run Shelters

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

6/30/2015 Day 89 - Just a few miles to get into Pine Grove. I thought about stopping there for the Half Gallon Challenge but Scientist said their was another place about 8 miles further that does it as well. He said it might be better to eat a half gallon of ice cream later in the day, and I couldn't argue with that. I stopped by Pine Grove and visited the Appalachian Trail Museum and the Pine Grove Furnace. The museum was small but interesting, it had information about the founders of the trail, exhibits showing Grandma Gatewood's gear and that of other famous hikers. I was a little early and the volunteer attendant was a little late, but that's ok, it gave me time to walk down and check out the furnace. I really didn't know what it was until I got there. It's a very large stone and brick structure that was used to smelt iron. It's pretty cool and I know It's something Jared would be interested in. I left Pine Grove a little later than I expected to but the trails were good and I made good time. I had hoped to see Scientist at the Green Mountain Grocery store, about 12 miles into the day, but I just missed him. He did the challenge and left right before I got there. A group of hikers just leaving said he was looking for me. I asked if he did the Half Gallon Challenge and they said he did. I was thinking of skipping it but now I had no choice, if Scientist did it, I had to as well because he would ask me about it later on. They don't sell ice cream by the half gallon anymore so you have to get a quart and a half container, as well as another pint. I got Neapolitan for the large container and vanilla for the small. In retrospect, I should have gotten all vanilla, it was easier to eat when I started getting full. Two young hikers, a brother and sister named Tumbles and Scout showed up while I was eating and gave me moral support. They were very cool. They called home while I was eating and we're giving their mom and younger brother advice and support. Mom's pregnant and younger brother was bumming a bit. We need more like them. I finished my challenge and started hiking very slowly. After an hour or so I felt better and picked up my pace. There were some challenging boulder obstacles that were kind of fun later in the day. I got to Alec Kennedy Shelter and there was still room so I threw down my pad to keep a spot. I seem to have fallen into the large part of the bubble and there are quite a few people in and around the shelters at night. It's kind of nice for the company, but you better get there early to get a spot if you want one. If the weather's going to be fairly clear I prefer to just put my tent up and sleep in it, but if it's going to rain, I'll try for a spot in a shelter. Packing and carrying a wet tent is kind of a hassle. Scientist, The White Wolf, Hardwear, Slackpack, and many others were staying in or near the shelter. What a good day.
Date: 2015-07-01
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 3.9
Weather: broken clouds

7/1/2015 Day 90 - It was a quick 3.9 miles into Boiling Springs and then another 0.4 off the trail to the Allenberry Resort Inn and Playhouse. I called before I left the shelter and the lady at the inn said it was first come, first serve for the lower rate hiker rooms. She said that there was one left and I could check in right away. Otherwise I would have to wait until 3 pm to check in. I got there in time to get the room and had plenty of time to shower, wash my clothes and eat lunch before Cayce showed up. I actually got done around 12:30 pm and decided to go see the theatre performance. They performed Damn Yankees! and it was excellent. I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. It was a musical comedy about baseball and a deal with the devil in the 50s. Cayce showed up around 5 pm, an hour early which was perfect timing. The bar tender at the Allenberry said their cook hadn't showed up and they didn't know what they were going to do about dinner. He recommended we go to the Boiling Springs Tavern, so we did. Cayce and I both had the Fillet Mignon, and it was pretty good, but a little pricey. Cayce took me to the grocery store so I could buy my resupply, which was very helpful. We went back to the hotel and talked until after 9 pm. Cayce had to go because he had a pretty long drive and had to work in the morning. It was really good to see him again.
Date: 2015-07-02
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

7/2/2015 Day 91 - I left the hotel at around 8 am and walked for about 4 hours on level trails in and around Pennsylvania farmland. When I was filtering water at a stream Scientist showed up with his friend Nick and his dog. They hiked on to the Scott Farm Trail ATC Crew HQ for lunch. I bumped into Red Pepper and we showed up shortly after and joined them. Tex and Hellbender joined us a little later. After lunch I hiked to Darlington Shelter where Nick and Scientist had already settled in with another hiker. Several others stopped by to rest and moved on to a shelter further on or to Duncannon.
Date: 2015-07-03
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 11.3

7/3/2015 Day 92 - Sometime during the night Prayer came the shelter, set up his pad and bag, and crashed there. He didn't wake us up so he must have been pretty quiet. Nukon's dog, Yukon, went over to Prayer in a friendly manner in the morning, but it became clear that Prayer didn't want his company that early In the morning, or he doesn't care for dogs. No major issues though. I hit the trail and got a taste of the rugged Pennsylvania rocks before I hit town at about noon. I went straight to the Doyle Hoyel and there was Scientist, Nukon, and his wife, Vicky at the hotel bar. Good people. Nick (Nukon) offered to come back later and take both myself and Red Pepper to dinner at his home. I gladly accepted.The rooms at the Doyle weren't exactly clean and you had to share a bathroom with everyone else on the floor, but hey, it was only $25 for the night. The bar is pretty cool though and the bartender, another Vicky, was easy to talk to and get along with. Dinner at Nick's place was excellent. He and Vicky have a really nice old house on the river. Nick is an avid hunter and showed me his trophy room. He's done a lot of hunting and has full taxidermed deer, bear, sheep, boar, and heads of a huge elk and other animals. He eats what he hunts, and we had some sample of it at dinner. We had venison steak, deep fried alligator, boiled turtle and some spicy sausages. It was founded out with a good salad, chips and fresh fruit. Everything was delicious. Nick is an interesting guy. He was a baker but since retiring sells duck decoys on line and take hunting trip all over. He recently bagged a brown bear in Alaska and will be going to Newfoundland later this year for another trip. I said goodbye to Nick, Vicky and Scientist who is now off trail. He say he's no longer Scientist, but back to Derek. He bring Scientist back when he finishes the trail next year. He's now off to visit relatives in Canada.
Date: 2015-07-04
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Unofficial Campsite
Miles today: 16.1

7/4/2015 Day 93 - Independence Day! It rained most of the day but I hiked a little over 16 miles to an unofficial campsites at 1163.0. I was pretty much by myself until Red Pepper showed up around 6 pm. He wanted a fire so we gathered wood, built a fire ring with rocks, then Red Pepper got it started with a candle. We were joined by Tinker, a section hiker, at around 7, and then Bigfoot and Micro at around 8. Bigfoot and Micro are doing a week of marathons to see if they can do it. The rain stopped a little before the end of the day which was good enough for me.
Date: 2015-07-05
From: Unofficial Campsite

To: Unofficial Campsite at 1184.2
Miles today: 21.2

7/5/2015 Day 94 - They shelters are spaced out a bit here, and not In line with my planned days, so it's going to be tenting where I can for be next couple of days. I ran into Red Pepper a couple of times this morning. He caught up to me twice when I thought he was ahead of me. The first time he went on a blue blaze trail for water, and the second time he took the wrong trail. I've done that my self a couple of times and had to backtrack. We hike together for a little bit and talked about climbing when we were younger. Red Pepper is probably over 10 years older than me and has a pretty good pace. I took a break and he moved on. I stopped just short of Rausch Gap Shelter at a campsite that overlooked a large stream and cascading waterfalls. Big foot and Micro were already there eating lunch so I joined them. They are both in the restaurant industry and plan on getting work in a Vermont resort for the winter and then maybe hike the AT again SoBo next spring. They seem like good people. I hiked a few more miles than I probably should have and tented solo at a campsite at 1184.2 miles. I started at 1163, so that gives me 21.2 for the day.
Date: 2015-07-06
From: Unofficial Campsite at 1184.2

To: unofficial Campsite at 1202.3
Miles today: 18.1

7/6/2015 Day 95 - I got up and hiked the 5 miles or so to the William Penn Shelter in just under 2 hours, which work out pretty well because I was out of water. I had just enough for the dry campsite I slept at last night and a little for this morning. The shelter is an older one, but is pretty big and well taken care of. There was only 1 person there, a section hiker named the Kilted Man. He was a pretty young guy still in his sleeping bag in the shelter. He was hiking southbound and was telling me I should take side trails if it rains in some of the really rocky section in northern PA. I haven't done that yet and don't plan on it. He was pretty young and was being a little negative, so I said goodbye and left. I hiked another 4 miles to the 501 Shelter. This is more of a cabin than a shelter. It has 4 walls with doors, 12 bunks (I think) and a huge skylight in the middle of the building right over a picnic table. I met a few new hikers who were flip-flopping. I wish I could remember their names, they were pretty nice people. I joined them for lunch and they told me how they are going to visit the Yeungling Brewery when they get to Port Clinton. I left and hiked another 8 plus miles and luckily the rain was very light and stopped while I set up my tent and cooked dinner. I ran out of peanut butter so I'm using the empty container to soak dehydrated refried beans. It's pretty handy.I finished at mile 1202.3 which gives me a total of 18.1 for the day. The rocks on the trail are getting a bit rough in patches, reinforcing the states Rocksylvania hiker nickname.
Date: 2015-07-07
From: unofficial Campsite at 1202.3

To: Hamburg, PA
Miles today: 15.5

7/7/2015 Day 96 - It rained off and on all night last night, but I stayed dry in my tent. I slept pretty well, too. The rain stopped by the time got up at 5:30 am but the wind was still blowing a few rain droplets out of the trees while I ate breakfast. I don't mind it though, the weather's warm enough to let me ignore it. The rocks on the trail are definitely becoming more abundant. It alternated mud or rocks for the better part of the day. I have to say that I prefer the mud. The rocks are pointy and beat your feet up after a while and by the end of the day they're quite sore. The weather improved and gave me a bit of sunshine off and on for the rest of the day. While the rocks are a bit annoying, the forest is still as beautiful as ever. I walked through a lot of bright green ferns that blanketed the forest floor. They're beautiful and rather soothing. When I stopped for my mid morning break I met a section hiker named Miles to Go. She was slack packing and going to meet her husband in Port Clinton. Nice lady. I saw a couple of day hikers as well when I got closer to town. It was about 2 miles from the trailhead to the Microtel Hotel so I just walked down the road and hoped someone might stop and give me a ride. No one did. As I got closer to town I noticed police at intersection and met Hawkeye coming out of town. He said that the power was out and places were closing because of it. By the time I got to the hotel, the power was back on and I soon got a room. I washed myself and my clothes, went grocery shopping at Walmart, then packed my food bag. Walmart was a bit of a walk so I didn't get everything done until around 10 pm. I hiked 15.5 AT miles today and a few more to get to and around town.
Date: 2015-07-08
From: Hamburg, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

7/8/2015 Day 97 - I didn't sleep well last night, there was a repetitive thrumming noise I could hear coming from outside my window. I have no idea what it was but even my earplugs couldn't block it. At about 1:30 am, I finally blew up my sleeping pad and slept on the bathroom floor. I slept good after that. I hiked the distance back to the trail head and finally got to hiking at about 9:40 am. I stopped by the Windsor Furnace Shelter for lunch. Hot Pants and Crumbs were already eating there when I arrived. It started raining shortly thereafter but I kept dry while I dined. I was clumsy and broke my spare pair of glasses. Eric is being a champ and sending me some reading glasses. I used some duct tape in the meantime and patched my current pair. The rocks were getting pretty rough after lunch for a few miles then a nice smooth trail for about the last 5 miles or so. The Eckville Shelter is more of a little cabin located behind a house owned by the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club. Hardwear, White Wolf, Hot Pants, Crumbs, Micro, Bigfoot, Boy and a few others are here. Pretty good day.
Date: 2015-07-09
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shleter
Miles today: 17.4

7/9/2015 Day 98 - Rocks and rain today. The trail was nice and the weather overcast when I first head out this morning, but that was before we hit our first boulder field. I usually hike anywhere between 2 and 2.5 miles per hour, including short breaks, but these boulder fields really slow you down. Bigfoot and Micro passed me up and we both took pictures of each other. They are a cool couple from Indiana and did a week of marathon hikes last week. That 26 miles or more a day for 7 days. Pretty impressive.I hit the Allentown shelter in a little over 4 hour and it was only 7.4 miles from where I started from this morning. Slow. You have no choice but to take the rock fields slow, though, or you risk serious injury. We have a pretty large group that's loosely staying together. Hardwear, the White Wolf, Bigfoot, Micro, CousCous, Mantis, and Powers are basically hiking the same miles right now. After lunch we hiked another 4 miles and ate lunch at the Blue Mountain B&B restaurant, which is pretty much a bar with a kitchen. I had a barbecue and blue cheese burger with sweet potato fries and 2 Murphy Stouts. The barkeep was a trip, but entertaining.After 2nd lunch, the trail was real nice for a few miles then hit us hard with 2 serious rock formations, Knife Edge and Bear Rocks. Knife Edge was a little nerve wracking, but kind of fun too. It started raining when I hit Bear Rock And it ceased to be fun for the afternoon. Those rocks get slippery when wet. I made it through with out hurting myself and got to Bake Oven Knob shelter around 6 pm. There were already 5 people in the 6 person shelter but they all made room for me. It was a tight fit. The rain started coming down hard and the rest of my lunch group started showing up. We made room for a couple of them to sit and get dry, but they all had to set up tents in the rain. No fun. Even on hard days like this, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else right now.
Date: 2015-07-10
From: Bake Oven Knob Shleter

To: Delps Campsite
Miles today: 17.5

7/10/2015 Day 99 - Woke up to a sunshiny day this morning. A little excitement last night. One of the guys in the shelter woke everyone up around 1 or 2 by flashing his headlamp around and saying, there's a porcupine attacking the shelter." He scared it off before I got up and looked. Everyone grabbed their stuff that was on the step on the open side of the shelter and went back to sleep. The trail went from nice and smooth to a bunch of little sharp rocks to huge boulder fields for most of the day. There was a section that I hit around lunchtime that was almost vertical and you had to use both hands to climb up. It was pretty intimidating because there was a lot of exposure and one slip would mean serious injury or worse. I was glad to be done with that. I came across some trail Magic a couple of times as well. The first was donuts and the second was ice cold water in the middle of the afternoon. Very much appreciated. I camped at the Delps area campsite and was joined by the rest of the group later in the evening. They had a later start. Good day.
Date: 2015-07-11
From: Delps Campsite

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: broken clouds

7/11/2015 Day 100 - It was a long hard day, but a good one. The trail has pointy rocks so close to each other it's difficult to put your foot down without having to step on one. I got pretty good at hopping around them by the end of the day. I did 19.8 miles in just under 12 hours. That's typically slow, but with these rocks, not too bad. I debated stopping at 11 miles and going into Wind Gap, but I wanted to get to Delaware Water Gap for a Nero tomorrow. We hit some big rocks at Wolf Rocks, but they weren't nearly as difficult as yesterday's. They were actually kind of fun. I got to Kirkridge Shelter by 6:45 pm and met up with CousCous, Right Click, and Just Doug. There were a few section hikers there as well. They were pretty cool and gave us some liquid refreshment.