morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-31
From: Winchester, VA

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: few clouds

Note to all following Porter on his journey: The scribe a.k.a. Porter's Mom received a bunch of entries in the mail two days before her mom died and she has been out of town for two weeks. This entry resumes the adventures of Porter now that the scribe is back.Woke up at Matt's house, got out of bed around nine, read the sports page, checked the internet. Eventually set out back toward the trail again. Short hiking day again. My knee was feeling a little shaky still, so I was moving slowly. Okay on the uphills, but not so much the downs. Just my luck, this section of the trail is called the "roller coaster". It's full of ups and downs, and on the map it looks like the humps of a roller coaster. There was even a cheesy little sign to remind you that this was the "roller coaster". The coaster was all hype. Yeah, it was a little annoying going up and down and up and down, but it wasn't nearly worthy of a reputation. Were my knee feeling up to it, I'd have had no problems. But it was slow going anyway. Ran into Figaro and Tofu on the way up to the Bears Den Hostel. I got there aorund 7:45, which was late, and the other two were behind me. When we got to the hostel, dinner was over. But we scrounged the remains and before we knew it, more food began appearing. Queen Diva, the caretaker and all -around great lady, started emptying out the fridges and piling a microwaveable feast before us. Tasty. Took a look around the place after dinner. It was a really nice place. Nice big sitting room, couple of bunk rooms, kitchen, dining room, etc. Went to the basement bunk room for a shower, then stayed up late playing songs with Figaro, Tofu and Vapor. Bears Den was a great place. Definitely one of the best stops on the trail. I am surprised I hadn't heard about it before a few days ago, actually.
Date: 2005-06-01
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Keys Gap, VA
Miles today: 15.9

Slept in late at the sub-terranian bunk room. No rush, though. Got up and trolled the fridge for leftovers from dinner. Drank some coffee and sat around in the sittin' room with Figaro. He played guitar for a bit, a little piano, and did a fine job of it. Sun was shining outside too. I read a little bit of Time magazine, sat on a couch some more, then forced myself to leave. Finished up the last couple of humps on the "roller coaster". The sun was out, the breeze was up and it was a nice day. Took my time even though the day was running short on me. Crossed over into WV. There's just a little bit of VA left, but it's cool to be almost done with the state. As it got late, I found Hike-ku and Dr. Chickadee camped out on the side of the trail. I had ambitions of going farther, but it was getting dark, so I camped with them.
Date: 2005-06-02
From: Keys Gap, VA

To: Crampton Gap Shelter, MD
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning to overcast skies, but no rain. Packed up dry. Did the short run into Harpers Ferry, WV. Stopped into the ATC HQ to be photographed and put in "the book". I'm thru hiker #164. Just missed 151, should've been here day before yesterday. Spent some time dicking around Harpers. Went to the P.O. to mail off my old maps, then to the outfitters, then lunch at a pizzeria. Picked up some Aqua Mira water treatment. I've been thinking I should switch it up from the iodine treatment I've been using. Hell, on the Polar pure bottle it even says "not for continuous use". Lots of folks don't bother treating their water anymore, but I'm not one of those. I'm just paranoid about that. Anyway, Harpers Ferry is all historical, so I took my time going through. Stopped to look at buildings, read placards, etc. The trail goes right through it all. It was pretty cool to see the place. Definitely not what I had pictured in my head. Out of town and over to Maryland I went, across the mighty Potomac and along the old C & O Canal towpath. They say Harpers Ferry is the "psychological halfway point" of the trail. OK. Now, I'm not entirely sure what the total mileage is at this point in the journey, but I am sure of this: 2174/2=1087. And I'm not there yet. For those unsure where I'm going with this, 2174 is the total AT mileage count. I think for me, the "psychological" halfway point will be a lot like the actual halfway point. Halfway. Sure, I could tell myself I'm halfway now, but whilst I'm busy lying to myself, I might as well say Katahdin is just around the next bend. And the earth is flat. And the moon is made of cheese. Mmmm.....cheese. But at any rate, I'm over 1,000 miles traveled and that itself is pretty freakin' cool. Reminds me of that song by the Pretenders. But, now I'm finally out of Virginia, and that rocks. I didn't really get the Virginia Blues for quite awhile, mostly this past week. VA is a big state, spent the last month and a half there. While it was nice and all, another state line seems like progress.But anyway, the hiking up to the shelter was not so bad. Flatish, with a soda machine on the way. Passed the war correspondents memorial arch (civil war) and shimmied on to the shelter. Played Hike-ku's guitar while dinner cooked and annoyed the other hikers with me singing and playing. I was having fun. It just so happens the shelter has a porch on it. We were sitting on it. Dinner was cooking over fires, albeit alcohol stoves. I just did what comes natural in such a situation, eh.
Date: 2005-06-03
From: Crampton Gap Shelter, MD

To: Ensign Cowall Shelter, MD
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: mist

Rain came in last night. Glad to be a shelter rat, as I stayed dry. Last one out. Drizzle and tree-drip by the time I set out. Today was to be a test for the knee. These shorter days plus the day off have the knee feeling good, better each day, in fact, so that's good. Felt like I needed to get a long day in to keep to this week's schedule. Terrain was flatish with small ups and downs. There was a nice boulder field or two hidden in there as well, and that slowed me down, but I got some good speed through the flat and rock-less section. Scared up about 5 deer today, more than I've seen since the Shens. Passed by several markers for civil war battles/people/places today. I stopped to read some of them before I would get cold and set off moving again. Passed by the original Washington Monument too. Big stone tower, but rounded and only about 40' tall. When I got to the shelter finally, there were lots of folks gathered around. Some trail angels had brought up dinner (we're close to the road tonight) and I managed to score a little bit of the dregs. Somethings better than nothing, right? Sat around the fire and played Hike-ku's guitar while the sun went down. Then on to the business of catching up with the journal.Bizarre moment of the day: So there I was hiking in the woods when all of a sudden I'm dumped out on to a neighborhood street. The trail goes through the yard in between these two houses and behind one of them and then across it's own little bridge over I-70. Then I'm right back in the woods again. I guess you could say it was a suburban experience sandwiched in between wilderness experience.
Date: 2005-06-04
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter, MD

To: Antietam Shelter, PA
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning, looked out the shelter, and what did I see? Clouds. Short day on tap, so I laid in my bag for awhile. After the long day, I had a lazy streak in me. When I finally did set out, it was after 9. The trail was nice and wide, trail in this state seems to pretty much be a ridge walk. Had some ups and downs though, and a good bit of rocks. And they say PA is rocky.....Ran into Vapor, he was in the middle of what's known as the 4 State Challenge. Start in the very tip of VA, then run through WV and MD and stop when you've crossed the border into PA. It's 40+ miles in 24 hours. I can't be bothered with a 40 mile day, so needless to say, I did not attempt it. I wonder if there's a reverse-challenge where you have to take as long as possible to get across MD. That's more my style, but nevertheless, I got places to be. There was an annoying boulder scramble down the hill before PenMar Park that almost ate me a couple of times. I go pretty slow down that junk though, so my not-so-cat-like reflexes can keep me on my feet. At one point I ran into some weekenders that knew someone on the trail this year. "Oh yeah", they say "she's near Pearisburg, so she's pretty close, right?"   Not so much. I find that whenever people talk about places on the trail behind me, especially the ones far off, I say to myself, "sure glad I'm not there anymore". Not sure what that means other than I suppose I'd like to finish at some point. But it's so automatic I almost feel bad for thinking it...on second thought, nah. Be that as it may. When I got to PenMar it was a-bustlin' with folks out for a Saturday in the park. Spotted a soda machine and fed it my change. A couple Mountain Dews later, and some sitting around in the park, I was off again. Oh, and I'm not sure what it was, but half the time I spent sitting there, I was talking to people about the trail. Four pods of people stopped to ask questions and what not. I guess of the few hikers there, I appeared the most approachable...fancy that. Porter the AT ambassador. I don't mind at all, but I am somewhat amused that I'm always "that guy". Next stop for the day was the Mason-Dixon line. Goodbye warm, friendly south; hello cold shoulder of the north. No more sweet tea, grits, proper BBQ, confederate flags, ya'll, fixin' to, and Appa-latch-in. It's pronounced Appa-layshun now, so they say. No pun intended.Pulled into Antietam shelter round supper time. Planned on going a mile further, but it was a nice spot. Old shelter, right by a stream, grassy in front. So I stopped. The crowd was ahead, but Happy and GG were there so I had folks to chat with. We were close to the road and a park, so it being Saturday night, I was somewhat concerned about 2 legged drunken visitors in the night ala the D-ville pipeline. But, no one had showed by dark other than a handful of teenagers that moved off to set up tents. Took the chance anyway and slept in the shelter. No visitors. Score another for the home team.
Date: 2005-06-07
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter, PA
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Left the hostel round about 10:30. Most everything was dry from the rains of yesterday. Didn't get very far until I ran into another hiker. Shadow and his family. They were having a picnic and invited me over to join them. Well, maybe lured over with chocolate chip cookies and iced tea would be a better way to put it. Sat and snacked with them for a couple hours, then left to go hike some. Probably best that I didn't get right to hiking as the after-effects of the half gallon challenge were still with me. I have since vowed to never again eat an entire half gallon of ice cream. Be that as it may, it was nice and warm out. Temps were creeping into the 80's and it was a little humid. Took me the rest of the day to make it to the shelter. Took lots of breaks. Terrain was easy grade early on. Had some steep ups and downs at the end of the day, and a boulder scramble for what seemed to be a mile. I cursed at it. Pulled into the shelter just before dark. Cooked, ate, and hit the sack. Only Blue Eye and me in the place.
Date: 2005-06-08
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter, PA

To: Rte. 11, Carlisle, PA
Miles today: 11.9

Slept horrible in the shelter last night. That should teach me. Every time either of us rolled over, the other heard it and woke up, it seemed. Blue Eye was in on my evil plan to hike into Carlisle and split a motel room. Hiked down out of the forest and into a corn field. The trail went across the valley, weaving around and through farmers' fields. Sometimes through little swaths of trees, sometimes out in the open under the sun. It was mid-morning, but hot walk. Stopped to take a break at Boiling Springs. The trail goes right through the town park along a lake. It was pretty, so we stopped to take a break on a park bench. We then swung by the ATC office for a bit. Dropped our packs and made a goody run down to the convenience store. Walked over to look at the "boiling" spring. It was an impressive spring, but nothing to write home about. So back we went. Park Rangers were hanging around the ATC office, no doubt waiting to see if a certain hiker or hikers were going to turn up. We, of course, were not the droids they were looking for, so we took off. Heat of the day, and eight miles of walking through fields was in between me and vacation. It was a hot walk, half in trees, half in the open. Lots of road crossings - one every mile or so. When we got to Rte 11, we pulled off and walked down the road to a diner. After lunch, it was over to the motel. Shower, beer run, swimming pool. In that order. Glad to have had Blue Eye along to share in the fun. He seemed to enjoy it.
Date: 2005-06-09
From: Rte. 11, Carlisle, PA

To: Pensacola, FL
Miles today: 0.0

6/9-6/12Off to go be a groomsman in my friend Chris' wedding down in Pensacola, FL. It has little to do with the trail per se, but I'll record some of it for posterity. First, getting to Harrisburg Int'l Airport was fun and exciting. A combo hitchhike/cab ride got me to the airport in time for the flight to be cancelled. So off I'm sent after some shukin' n' jivin' on a plane to Philly. Run through the Philly airport OJ Simpson-style only to have a gate agent there look at me and say "Sorry, flight is closed" as he shut the door. It was around this time that I dropped my camera, shattering the LCD display. By "dropped", I mean that I just so happened to chuck the carry-on stuff-sack that it was riding in. Camera no-workie. That's what I get for my fit of rage, I suppose. But I did get on the flight eventually. Now, had the flight from Philly to Charlotte not have sat on the runway for an hour before taking off, I might have made it in time to get on my plane to Pensacola. So, stranded in Charlotte that night I was. At least on the plane I had good company. Definitely helped me not to go crazy too. Thanks Hanna. So I got out the next afternoon and made it down to FL just in time for the pre-wedding whirlwind. Got my beard trimmed back a little too. Hey, I didn't want Natalie (bride) to be too mad at my grizzleness. But that turned out to be the least of everyone's worries since tropical storm Arlene was bearing down on us, set to make landfall the next day during the wedding. So questions like "is it going to become a hurricane" or "are we going to have to evacuate the hotel and leave town" and "is there really going to be a hitching" were floating around. But alas, a hitchin' we came to see and a hitchin' there was. Just a lot of wind and rain on the big day. Arlene cooperated. In the meantime though, I did a lot of eatin' and drinkin'. It was good to see some of my friends again, but at the same time I felt a little out of place. Heck, I probably looked out of place as well. It was a good trip nonetheless even though it was entirely too short. I probably didn't need to take any more time off, though I could have done with less time in airports.
Date: 2005-06-13
From: Pensacola, FL

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Slow to get back on the trail. Hit the diner for breakfast, then walked down to the truck stop for supplies. Got to walking once the heat was up. Ran into Fatty and got the lowdown on who was on trail nearby. Ran into Yardsale and hiked a ways with him. Still walking through the fields of the valley, melting in the sun. It seems I've come back to the same heat I left, with a touch more humidity. Weather this morning said high 80's with the heat index pushing up over 90. All technical terms aside, it was dang hot. I soaked all my clothes with sweat. Took breaks at every water source to drink a quart and sit. Late in the afternoon we had some clouds roll in that cut the sun. Got a little bit of drizzle to cool things down. I thought about heading to the shelter before Duncannon, but I heard my old hiking buddies were there, so I did the extra miles. Got down to the famous Doyle Hotel around eight and stumbled into the bar. Saw Matt and Bams sitting there, and they poured me a glass. Good decision to come in. Threw my stuff in their room and took a shower. The Doyle is an old Anheuser Busch hotel. Nothing fancy, just cheap rooms and a bar downstairs. Took my shower and didn't get back down before the kitchen closed. Had to eat from the food bag for the first time in awhile. Stayed up late at the bar with Sean, Caroline, Matt and Bam Bam. Funny how we all met up there after not having hiked together in some time. Figured I'd be behind when I got back. Guess not. Also thought I'd get back on trail and get back into the woods where there's no beer and you get to sleep at sundown. Guess not.
Date: 2005-06-14
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter, PA
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, one glimpse at the mileage today might could say quite a bit about what I was up to last night. I'll let you think about it, but I will say I wasn't thrilled to get out of bed. Ate breakfast at the diner, then off to the grocery store for supplies. Half mile road walk was dicey at times. Packed up slowly and went downstairs to the bar. Lunch time was upon us (as well as the 90 degree heat of the day) so we drank ice water and ordered some lunch. Didn't get moving on until two-ish. The walk through town and then over the Susquehanna River was a killer. I cooked out in the open. When we got to trail again, we climbed only a short way before Bams, Matt and I stopped off to lay around and wait out the heat. I wasn't feeling so hot by that time, so the rest of the hike up the hill was awful. Something about that lunch... Stopped at the first shelter for the day. Still had plenty daylight, though. Matt and Bams stuck around with me there. I was glad they did. Drank water and wound down for the night. The air was still and hot, so the shelter was like a sweat lodge all night. Slept in just my silk liner and even that was too much. Restless all night, which takes us to tomorrow.
Date: 2005-06-15
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter, PA

To: Yellow Springs Village Site, PA
Miles today: 19.7

Got up early to try and get some miles done before the heat became oppressive. Hiked along on top of a ridge, as will be the case for most of this state. Took a long break at a shelter palace, then pushed on. It was another scorcher. I slowed down quite a bit in the heat, but managed to still keep a good pace.
Date: 2005-06-16
From: Yellow Springs Village Site, PA

To: William Penn Shelter, PA
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: light rain

It was nearly cold this morning. Great for sleeping. Started out late. The trail followed an old stagecoach trail, so it was pretty much flat. Some rocks here and there but nothing ridiculous. Even still, though, I managed to break one of my trekking poles. That made me mad. Then sad. So I spent the rest of the morning looking for a good stick to replace the broken pole. Tried combos of hiking without poles, hiking with one pole in left hand, hiking with one pole in right hand, hiking with two sticks, etc. Couldn't find a great combo, but I went through several sticks. I'd either break one or trade it out for some other stick as I hiked along. It was a real pain in the butt. But, I finally decided to go with one pole and one stick as soon as the rains came. Mainly because my pack cover wouldn't fit if I had the unbroken pole strapped on to the pack. When the rain did come, I tried to wait out the storm under some trees. After a little while getting dripped on, I said to heck with it and hiked on. Shortly thereafter, the rain quit, but the grass lining the trail made sure my shoes were good and soaked. Oh well, can't win 'em all. Crossed over an old footbridge that looked like it had been made from giant erector set pieces, then a short detour around construction around the millionth trail crossing of I-81. After the rain, things were nice and cool. On a side note, the trail runs right along a military reservation and I could hear the military's games all day. Guns, helicopters, and things that go bang in the night. Even got buzzed by a chopper as I was climbing up to the top of the ridge. Narrow trail, lined with poison ivy. Needless to say, that made me a little nervous. Up top, it was smooth sailing. Ferns lined the trail mostly, and it was nice and flat. Got to the shelter later in the day and found a group of Boy Scouts there. I was a little leary at first about staying there. Almost hiked on, but there were only about 6 of them and they looked to be older. I vaguely remember being loud and rowdy in a shelter back in my younger days so I figured karma would ensure I got no sleep that night. They happened to be a pretty good group, though, so no worries.
Date: 2005-06-17
From: William Penn Shelter, PA

To: Eagles Nest Shelter, PA
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Surprisingly, it got cold last night. I slept like a rock, too. Radio said down in the 50's, but I didn't look at the thermometer. It's June and we just got over 90 degree days with humidity, now we're 20 degrees colder all around. Nuts. I was up and out this morning before any of the scouts stirred. Me, first out of a shelter... Practically unheard of, but now for the second time this week. Today the rocks finally got to me. Before, the stretches of rocks were spaced pretty wide and were short-lived for the most part. Not today. They were everywhere. Spent the entire day if seemed on uneven footing. Throw in a couple boulder fields too. But the weather was gorgeous. Sunny and in the 70's. Don't think I broke much of a sweat. There were a few view spots along the way, and there were clear views of the plains below the ridge. Lots of farms and roads all around. Oh, and before I forget, the privy at the shelter last night came with it's own rattlesnake. Big fella lived in there on the floor. Imagine the surprise. But, back to the hike. I cruised by the 501 shelter where there was a mirror on the wall. Seems I've got a nice little stripe of poison ivy on my cheek to treat now. Busted out the techno and found a hose. For those of you counting at home, it's outbreak #4. The hiking in the afternoon went pretty slow. I had a hard time keeping any kind of pace up because of the rocks. Didn't look around a whole lot either. Take your eyes off the trail for a second and BAM, you're on your face. Got a rogue shower in the evening. While it was raining, I was walking on some narrow, winding trail. About 20 feet away, I see this large black mass come around the corner, on the trail headed my way. So there I was, face to face with a black bear. He didn't see me at first. But he looked up at me, jumped, turned right back around and hauled bear tail off into the woods. I didn't go chasing after him, I lost him in the mountain laurel lining the trail. It was an exciting moment, though. It all happened really quickly, so even if I had a camera right now, I wouldn't have been quick enough on the draw to get a picture of the bruin.As for me, I finished out the day and pulled into the shelter about an hour and a half before dark. Late dinner, then right to bed.