morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-07-02
From: Stealth camped south of PA 72

To: stealth camped south of Hertline campsite
Miles today: 18.0

The start of today is one of those days in which I wondered how well I would fare if I had menstruation cycles.Felt like 80 degrees when I woke up at 6 and it was so humid overnight that I slept just in my briefs. Unfortunately I was sticky all over with the usual grime and than plus bug spray. It never thunderstormed yesterday despite the clouds and rumbles overhead at 6pm. May have missed some trail magic because I stopped short of my original intended destination. Eventually I got my head right as I progressed through the morning. It took no time for the sweat to come pouring out and when you're saturated in sweat, it doesn't matter anymore. Just go hard. Dug a mental fox hole and moved onwards and forwards. Passed several people that were sitting on the trail with such a look of defeat/pain that I initially worried they broke a leg or something as I neared. The first was just done with this and asked how far the nearest road was. The others asked similar questions involving how close/far the next landmark would be. These Pennsylvania rocks, flies, and humidity is no joke but I guess my trail legs are at their best. I flew past all the nobo day hikers and sectioners dripping tremendously with sweat and feeling really strong. I actually soaked my shoes with sweat dripping off my chin. The thunderstorm washed away my sweaty grime in the evening. Dam that felt good. Actually sitting in my dry tent right now feeling clean. Before the rain started, I stopped by the 501 shelter to assess how far I wanted to go. If I didn't procrastinate long, I could haul my butt over for a potential 30 something mile day to be just a few hours outside Port Clinton, PA. But Apple showed up shortly after and we agreed that this was a good opportunity to have pizza delivered to the AT trail head parking lot right on the 501. The water source here was less than tempting so I also ordered a soda (something I haven't drank in years) but they didn't have anything else and they didn't have anything smaller than 2 liters. Guzzled it down with an entire medium pizza pie, Apple only had about 2/5s of it because he doesn't like Mtn Dew apparently. But he does love pizza and he ate an entire 16" pizza to himself. We sat on a log watching traffic fly by and talked about future goals in between waiting for trucks to pass by so we can hear again.I gotta get some sleep and scrape out some stinging nettles from my arm. Life is good though!Hugs to all the females PMSing right now.
Date: 2014-07-03
From: stealth camped south of Hertline campsite

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

My total mileage is all jacked up even if I got completely up to date on my journal entries. Whatever it doesn't matter. I have to guesstimate sometimes like for this one.Morning started okay. Went out of my way off trail to use a privy. It was closed. Poop alert color system went to code yellow. Found a broken shovel and learned why it was broken. Rocks beat not only scissors but also shovels apparently. It was at this point I officially decided Pennsylvania is my least favorite state of the AT. There's too many rocks, thorns, and flies. While trying to dig a cathole I got eaten up by Mosquitos because I was no longer on the move. Almost all of the bites were spread out on my back. I got a few more bites on my butt when I eventually resorted to popping a squat in the root cavity of a fallen tree. Someone please give me a back massage with cortisone.No one took up the offer to give me a massage even though I wasn't going to charge. Common guys, it would have been win-win. Fortunately we can all pretend laughter is the best medicine so I retold the tale hoping the placebo effect would insta-cure all my itchy bites. Hiking went okay overall. Been seeing a lot of rattlesnakes and copperheads but at least the trail is relatively flat. Of course you're rarely stepping with a flat foot because of all the rocks. When I got to Port Clinton I reunited with some hikers; some I recently met and some that I go way back with such as Wild Turkey. Even her grandma knows who I am since we've been in the same relative vicinity since Georgia. We basically took over the bar at the PCFC and kind of had a celebration. Food, beer, and shots were cheap! At the end of the night my tab was $19.55 for 6 beers, a Stromboli, 3 shots of honey turkey, popcorn shrimp, and 4 shots of jack. I only know this because the bartender read it out loud trying to make sure she got it right. I got a few impressed looks and I suppose this is another sign that college is just an expensive way towards alcoholism. I thought my tolerance was supposed to drop significantly while on the trail?
Date: 2014-07-04
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It was still raining when I woke up. Flung out my sleeping pad under the hiker pavilion though so all my stuff was dry. At 6am people were only just starting to wake up. I packed up quietly and headed out towards Hamburg, PA for a resupply, a buffet for breakfast, and to stroll through Cabelas. Didn't bother waiting to see if anyone else wanted to come with even though it was a 2-3 mile walk to town. Next thing I know, it's already afternoon! I didn't feel like hitting the trail because I was stuffed and generally feeling a little crappy. Think I had some bad water yesterday or something when I drank out of a spigot (probably shouldn't do that in these small towns). It was a good hiking day with the winds though so I took my time hiking my butt to the first shelter out of town. Going to read till I fall asleep and get up whenever. A grip of thrus are launching fireworks off the Pinnacle view area just a few miles ahead but meh. I'm just going to relax. Happy 4th!
Date: 2014-07-05
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: New Tripoli Campsite
Miles today: 22.5
Weather: clear sky

This morning when I caught up to wild turkey, potatoes, and the rest of the group, I learned that Moca Pot had fallen last night. He had to get airlifted out with 6 broken ribs, fractured vertebrae and a concussion. Meanwhile I was just 4 miles back enjoying a restful sleep in my tent tucked away in solitude. Was in such a deep sleep that I didn't even hear the helicopter. Everyone was bummed out since it was obviously a trail ender for Moca Pot.But our journey continues and after eating my 2nd breakfast with the gang, I headed out solo. The weather was ideal all day and the day ended perfectly. Sunset view and cowboy camped on a nice perch where I can also watch the sunrise. Apple caught up to me when I was finishing dinner and he was swayed into doing an extra 6 miles with me when he saw my reasoning for pushing to the next campsite. He's not a fan of 20+ milers but it's such a good hiking day and tmrw puts us in an awkward stretch with no water or places to stop anyway. 2 miles before we reached our destination we unexpectedly hit a road crossing and saw a restaurant to our left. We shrugged and headed that way on a whim. It sucked. We walked in with good spirits and instantly hit a wall of deuschebag. Guy working there obviously didn't want any hikers around even though we were clean, polite, and courteous. So courteous we ignored every one of his slights and said thank you.Wasn't worth it at all. That was the least amount of time I have ever spent in a restaurant ever, same for Apple. We didn't linger one bit once we got our food between the deuschebag and not being impressed by the food. I mean we're hungry hikers - we'll eat anything and we weren't impressed. That's saying something. Whatever. Looking forward to hammering out tomorrow to take a rock climbing break in Wind Gap!
Date: 2014-07-06
From: New Tripoli campsite

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was hard. The rocks were like nothing we have ever seen anywhere on the trail prior but that was only a small part of the difficulty. I had no motivation or simply did not feel like hiking today. The hiker hunger has finally gotten to me. Yesterday I was eating every 2-3 hours and today I was stuffing my face every other hour. Luckily I packed out way more food than I needed from Hamburg, PA so there was plenty of goodies to throw into my mouth. But today was an excellent day in regards to having hiker hunger. Came across a great stash of trail magic left for hikers after I had already had 2nd breakfast and that made up lunch #1. Had lunch #2 at the George Outerbridge shelter where I almost considered staying for the evening even though it was only 3pm (I was that low energy). I made my way down the mountain nonetheless and ran into Noodge who thru hiked last year and is being an awesome trail angel this year. Instead of taking advantage of snacks, I gladly had a beer and we all shared hiker stories before inching away towards Palmerton. So much for making it to Wind Gap tomorrow morning. This was not turning out to be a 27 mile day like I originally planned. This was way better because instead I'm going to jail (the jail house hostel which is not a jail at all.) But there's a shower too! The AT is only as hard as you make it nowadays. And today turned out to be quite awesome.In order to get to Palmerton, Stevie Wonder, Rowdy, and I had to get crafty and take an adventure route. A gate was closed which blocked our only walkable option to town without walking on the highway shoulder. We climbed a billboard, tossed our packs to the other side, and hopped over a barbed wire fence. We truly felt like hobos at this point and had a high five moment.
Date: 2014-07-07
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Wind Gap, PA
Miles today: 20.1

Had a 6am wake up. Mad jack had gotten up to take a crap or something and left his phone in the bunk. I think there was about 10 of us dead asleep and then we hear church bells. I actually thought it was a PA system as if it was set to wake up hikers and let us know it's time to leave. Everyone started packing up and I hear Stevie Wonder get up from the other room and stand at the door. I could feel his glare at the back of my head but I didn't know why he was looking at me. Turned out that the alarm was mad jacks phone who was bunked right below me. I didn't find out til later that I wasn't actually hearing a PA system! Haha. Oh well, I packed up quick and hit the diner across the street. From there on out I hit the trail.the superfund site was first thing in the morning which required an ass kicking uphill rock scramble first. Beyond that, same old Pennsylvania for ya... our current hiker bubble all met up at the Beer Stein in Wind Gap, PA and boy was I happy to come here. It's a bar that lets thru hikers camp out in the grass out back. Had .50 cent wings, watched Apple eat an entire watermelon to himself from the grocery store, grabbed ice cream from across the street and then there was trail magic! Local guy in a purple shirt named Louie bought all of us drinks. We were rolling deep too (about 10 hikers?) Before we know it, he picked up our tabs. Than he bought Wild Turkey's dog a steak. And more drinks for us. He was unbelievably cool. We were told he owns race horses or something. What a rewarding end to another brutal day (for our feet at least.) we sat outside holding "office hours", talking, and watching a lightening storm brew off in the distance. Was a great light show. Just as I walked to my tent to get ready for sleep, strong winds suddenly ripped through our tent city. I had to hold my tent down since I half assed putting my stakes into the rock grass and didn't even cinch anything down. Yep - we all put our rain tarps on or made appropriate adjustments for a wet night. I'm sleeping with a smile on my face tonight either way. Turkey is sitting in her tent right now marveling over how she is feeding steak to her dog in her tent at 11pm right now (Louie bought another one for Cormic the dog since he's such a good boy.) It's pouring rain now. G'night!Zero day tomorrow to clean up and rock climb!
Date: 2014-07-08
From: Wind Gap, PA

To: zero
Miles today: 0.0

This morning bobcat, apple, and I lingered around the beer stein because we were told someone comes by at 9am to open the door to let hikers in to use the kitchen. By use, I mean they let us have full access. The food, the stove, the produce, EVERYTHING. Apparently the owner has been opening his doors for thru hikers for decades now. I couldn't believe it. The rest of the bubble slack packed forwards getting an early start. Wild Turkey was looking out for her big dog trying to avoid hiking in the heat of the day because it gets pretty brutal. So she was gone by 4:30am. The 3 of us that stayed (because we're taking a zero to go rock climb) had giant smiles on our faces as we decked out our own omelets and salads with cheese, tomatoes, avocados, portabello mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives, and probably other stuff we forget we tossed in the mix. I still can't believe it.On top of that, last night after a local cleared our tabs and bought drinks for us all, the generosity continued! When I stepped away to prep my tent for a stormy night, I ended up just crawling in and using my phone until midnight. I didn't bother going back to the bar through a downpour to see what was going on and apparently I missed out. A second local besides Louie started buying everyone even more drinks and the party went on. I expected rock climbing to wreck us though since 3 months on the trail basically sapped our upper body. I mean, I've got princess hands now. All the calluses are on our feet. But it went well and we took a break to marvel about the Brazil vs Germany World Cup game... We thought we were getting trolled.
Date: 2014-07-09
From: Wind Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

So there has been an emergency siren in test going on in Wind Gap. Heard it wailing when I first got into town. Last night I woke up to it. Took awhile for me to fully realize there's a really loud disruptive emergency sounding siren going off but it kept going and going and going. I heard someone mutter something in a tent next to me. Think I also heard Potatoes a few tents over as well. I started getting frustrated myself. There was nothing anyone could do about it but i found myself sitting up, unzipping my tent fly, sticking my head out in protestful anger, and not knowing what to do next so I shook my fist into the air at nothing. I don't think anyone witnessed it, but I felt quite stupid doing that. Didn't even think about what the siren could mean. But it's not like we could have done anything anyway - we were in tents.Meant to leave camp early to get to Delaware Water Gap but it was only 15mi so I kinda slothed a bit until I hit the trail at 8am. We're almost done with these Pennsylvania rocks! And word is that there's a hiker feed right off the trail entering DWG. Additionally, there is a lot of talk about a delicious bakery in town.While hiking to DWG, I got stung by a bee. If you follow this journal closely, you may recall how I have an allergy to bee stings and I've already been stung on the trail before. Surely I was going to go through anaphylaxis this time so I called Bliss since she was right in front of me and explained the situation. I'm a calm person but I put in extra care to try and not freak her out because just 5 days ago was the incident of Mocha Pot falling off a cliff. She was part of the group hiking with Mocha Pot that night and they go way back on the trail.While explaining the situation I just took a Benadryl and said, "well this trail isn't going to hike itself! Let's keep going!" If I went into shock, I ha my epipens at the ready. If I didn't go into shock with a few minutes, well I guess I got lucky. I got lucky but my hand swelled up so much that I couldn't make a fist. 2 points for me, zero for bees.When we got to DWG, we met Sug, the trail angel Goonie who provided the trail magic. There's nothing more welcoming than food right when you get to town! Storm clouds creeped towards us though so I made my way over to the church hostel. From there I scored a shower and headed to the local tavern to watch the Argentina vs Netherlands game. Not much to note about besides confirming the pies here are delicious. Yes. Yes they are.
Date: 2014-07-11
From: Rattlesnack Spring

To: some stealth camp
Miles today: 27.0

I don't remember this morning. Seems like I had a hiker black out where I just trudged through the miles and partially turned off to get it over with. By the afternoon I kept on running into different locals, day hikers, or sectioners. If they managed to pop off some questions towards me, they all inquired about how far I was going. If Golly was around, they would also ask if we were traveling together. All were surprised by the Georgia to Maine concept and all were confused by how we happened to be hiking together (ish) but we are not hiking partners. Sometimes we mingle into hiker bubbles, sometimes we hang out with different hiker groups, we hike solo a lot, and at this point if it looks like we're hiking together it's because we have the same short term goal or we happen to be doing an organic leap frog kind of thing. Typically if people are hiking with others, it would look a little more like they are almost attached by the hip. Bigger groups often disperse into mini packs that may stretch apart by a few mere minutes or sometimes days apart. But unless something iffy is going on, hikers tend to know nearly every hiker within their current "bubble" and often who may be in the bubbles ahead or behind.Made me think about "the grapevine" and reminiscing the days when you play with Dixie cup walkie talkies. I wonder what kind of conversations you'd tap into if Dixie cup telephone lines stretched from Mt Springer to Mt Katahdyn. How far would your voice travel down the tube?Mosquitos were swarming around me like never before last night. My stealth camp was tucked right around a rock outcropping that shielded all the wind from my tent. I was safe once I got into my tent though. Golly passed through about an hour later still concerned he wasn't going to make the post office in time before noon. We were less than 10 miles... I was 98% certain we would make it with at least an hour to spare but the more miles he did tonight, the less he'd have to do tomorrow. Since I'm in no particular rush or would care if I had to wait until Monday, I enjoyed my little pop up sanctuary. Accept for when I went into hyper alert listening mode when I heard a very large animal stumble/crash through the woods nearby. Was something getting at my bear hang? Clapped, yelled, cursed, and shook my fist at the noise from my tent without risking another second of exposing myself to the Mosquitos and listened for a half hour before I was content to let myself fall asleep.Btw - just ignore the miles. I don't know where it got so wrong and couldn't care less to fix it. When I'm done with this I'm going to consolidate this journal into one long google document or something and fix it.
Date: 2014-07-12
From: some stealth camp

To: Pochuck Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

The first thing I did in the morning was pluck a tick off my shin with tweezers even though I had done a full check last night. Couldn't help but notice the ever increasing amounts of mosquito bites I had everywhere. This has become normal. Not cool. Oh yeah, that's also normal; it's not cool out. It's a relatively short hike to town today though so I didn't slack around once I woke up. Hiking faster was only inspired by trying to outpace the flies. I was at the post office before 10:30am which means I averaged over 3mph.Highlight of stopping in Unionsville was visiting the Wit's End Tavern. Air conditioning, the humorous owner, and great food tempted me to consider spending the night camped out in the village. Also, I wish I took a picture of a previous thru hiker's Katahdyn post card. He hiked in 2013 under the trail name Chin Music. His postage stamp was a spectacular picture of his face. I got a kick out of it and hope I remember to make a stamp like that as well. I set my intent to hike only 6 more trail miles from town though. This was so I would hit a difficult stretch of trail first thing tomorrow morning and relax at a drive in movie theater tomorrow evening. Golly hooked me up by giving me a bunch of dehydrated food he didn't want to carry. Saved me a trip to the grocery store and it saved him from having to deal with a few extra pounds from his food drop.Now that I'm sitting in my tent, I'm glad I stayed up to read a couple chapters before falling asleep. Found this tiny little deer tick crawling across my hand. That would have been troublesome to spot when it attached to my body overnight.
Date: 2014-07-13
From: Pochuck Mtn Shelter

To: Warwick Turnpike
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Was up by 7 but didn't leave camp until after 10. It's a short day and the drive in movie does not start playing until 8:50pm. On top of that, I'm only going 40 more miles by Friday when I will get to see family I have not seen in a long time or have yet to meet! Golly was one of the last ones still hanging around with me because he's kind of in the same boat. The drive in movie boat. I made breakfast with his extra dehydrated food: lentils, quinoa, peanut butter, and grits. Awesome. The day was not going to hike itself though and I suspected this portion of trail was going to be brutal. Plus showers were expected.The trail was not half bad as it turned out. Partially because a large portion of it went right through a swamp. Since this is 2014 and not 1954, we got to hike on boardwalks, I will not complain! On the mountainy parts, I felt the eyes of day hikers glaring at the back of my head trying a burn a hole with their eyes. They were jealous of my youth, strength, and endurance that allowed me to fly past them up the hills wearing a pack larger than their kids. I don't think they understood that this is what I've been doing with the last 3 months of my life.When I reached Warwick turnpike I hiked the 2.7 miles to the shop rite which was next to the drive in theater. Took me an hour but as I set my pack down, Golly gets dropped off right in front of me. I had passed him in the middle of the day but he was offered a ride. Son of a bitch! The turnpike was really busy but the way people were flying past me I didn't think my chances were good. It's illegal to hitchhike in NJ anyway so I didn't even try thumbing it. Turns out every hiker that made their way here got a ride. Oh well. We mostly kept to ourselves distanced away on a hill overlooking all 3 screens. Made a nice hobo camp and chatted up a few locals who we thought were staff but were just girls who happened to be hanging out with some people who worked here? That's how we ended up with a humongous back of popcorn. Watched planet of the apes without a problem but decided to just hop into my tent when the rain started coming down harder. The screen for 22 jump st started getting massive water streaks and I couldn't hear over the sound of rain pattering down on the tarp I was sheltering myself with. It was past 11pm anyway and i basically knocked out right away once I was laying in my tent. I guess we didn't finish our popcorn challenge...