morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-26
From: Lambert Meadow Shelter

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

Oh crap!! I'm gonna be stuck in town until Tuesday! Everything is closed for the holiday and won't be open until Tuesday morning. Poor planning on my part! I need to get to the Outdoor Outfitter to purchase some much needed gear and go to the Post Office to send some stuff home. Both of them are closed for the weekend! Arrgh !! Nothing to do but bear up and make the most of my circumstances. I heard rumors that other hikers are in the same predicament as I am and are trying to get a slack pack worked up. I should hear more at dinner tonight. Stay tuned...I don't think the slack pack is gong to work for me. The shuttler is not picking everyone up until 11 am tomorrow, which means we would not be hiking until noon! Maybe in my younger years but not now. The slack is for 20 miles and I don't think I want to put myself through that much strain. An earlier start time would help, but hiking is hard enough as it is without adding to the pressure of trying to get through before dark!I'm going to have to start looking farther ahead and planning my day(s) better!On-On
Date: 2003-07-23
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: light rain

Wed 23 July 2003      Kirkridge Shelter to Delaware Water Gap      6.6 miles Today was the next best thing to an actual zero day. Up at 6, as everyone else stirred, 2 14 hours walking an easy 6.6 miles to town had me there by 10:20. A foggy morning, really no views to stop for. Hit the Trails End Caf© first for a second breakfast, which was great. The food is mostly from home-done things, like home-baked bread and home-ground sausage. The sweet butter for French toast was awesome. When French toast disappeared I dipped the regular toast in the butter/syrup, and when that disappeared I used the fork till the butter disappeared. Phlegm & Pipes were a bit aghast at that, but I¢m sure they¢ll get used to it. Hit the outfitters then got the mail and took a shower at the church hostel. Killed time till Joli & Jon arrived at 2pm and we did some miscellaneous chores of laundry, hitting the bookstore, and groceries. Saw Superman? At the bookstore and gave him a ride to the Laundromat. Had a half-gallon ice cream on the ride back toward the campground, a state campground which name I don¢t recall. It¢s real nice, though, a site right on the Delaware River and a nearby shower house that doesn¢t cost extra. We mostly chatted and kept a campfire all evening, and they treated me to fantastic eats- marinated grilled steak, baked potato, green beans, cookies, blueberries & whipped cream, it was great! And I¢ve got 2 thermarest mats to sleep on! Now I just need to try to convince Joli to visit me once a week for the next few weeks that I¢m in range of her home state of Jersey¢¦¢¦.   -applejack-
Date: 2013-05-27
From: Daleville, VA

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero day in Daleville. The guy who arranged the slack pack was having the shuttler pick us up at 11 am. After mulling the situation over I elected to skip on the slack pack because I was afraid it would just be too much strain on me,, 20 miles is a VERY long distance even if you are only carrying lunch and water. I went ahead and paid him my portion of the ride though, fair is fair. I told him originally that I would participate and backing out did not relieve me of the responsibility of my share. As luck would have it, the day was not a loss at all because the local outfitter was open today and I was able to make some much needed purchases. Tomorrow I will ship some winter gear home that I replaced today. I should drop my base pack weight by about three pounds. Oh that pack is gonna feel so goood now!!!The rest of the day was spent resupplying, relaxing and repairing gear for the hike out tomorrow...on schedule! On-On
Date: 2003-07-24
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Thurs 24 July 2003   Delaware Water Gap                     0 miles You know what really annoys someone like me who pretty much is living rather well? Know how once in a while you¢ll accidentally grab the ¢diet¢ soda in the store? Well that¢s the worst thing that happened to me all day! I bought a half-gallon of cookie dough ice cream and was halfway through before I realized it was ¢lite¢. Nooooo! Had a comfortable and fun zero day here with Joli & Jon. We cooked bacon and pancakes on the fire this morning before we went tubing on the Delaware River supported by Pack Shack Outfitters. It was a lot like past days on the Saco River in the White Mtns, relaxing, chill, I with a few beers. Jon went up the bank once and stepped on a big snake. We had pork chops, chicken, rice, and yellow squash and a nice campfire. Too bad, though, a dj¢d party on the other side of the river tonight with karaoke is so audible. Tomorrow morning it¢s back to her life at home for Joli, back to my summer walkabout for me. This is only my third zero day, it really seams like a vacation from my vacation. But I look forward to continuing my travels tomorrow. Here¢s hoping its yet another heavenly day weather wise! -applejack-
Date: 2013-05-28
From: Daleville, VA

To: Bobblets Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: clear sky

This morning, instead of wet weeds brushing against me, I got to walk on a newly mowed path that reminded me more of a cart path than a hiking trail. Kudos to whoever is responsible for that!I hotfooted it down to the UPS store at 7:45 to ship my winter gear home, total came to 5.14 pounds!! But,, some of that was miscellaneous gear that went with my new sleeping bag so it was probably closer to 4 pounds. I know my 10 degree bag is 2.2 lbs and my Puffy jacket is right at a pound so that was a significant part of the weight reduction. The rest was just stuff I had not used in a while such as long johns, so that went home too. No use carrying something you are not using. I started walking at 8:30. I could really tell that I had had a day off, I believe there was actually a spring in my step and I clicked off today's miles as if I was just walking down to the corner store. I arrived at today's destination in a hair over 9 hours and that included lunch. Not bad for me!My youngest son emailed me yesterday to remind me that I would be going over the 1/3 mark of the trail at 728 miles today, and I did, at around 10:30 this morning!!! The section of trail I'm hiking right now parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway. In some places I can watch cars passing by. This section is also popular with motorcycles, I guess because of the winding road. Sometimes the trail passes through the tourist pull-offs and it's so funny to see a car pull in then slow-roll through the parking lot without ever stopping then zoom away to the next pull-off. Now that's some real tourism right there!!Temps are climbing. I don't know how hot it got but I consumed three liters of water today because of the heat. I also keep a 20 oz coke bottle with me now that I mix some MIO drink mix in. It tastes good and makes me drink more because of it. I drank three of those today too. So far water sources are still plentiful because of the wet spring. Hope they stay that way.On-On
Date: 2003-07-25
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Fri 25 July 2003   Delaware Water Gap to Mohican Outdoor Center   10.3 miles Well, this was it. Today is the first day of my new schedule, revised from averaging 20 miles/day to doing 13-14 mile days with about one zero a week. Today I lived up to 10.3 miles from Delaware Water Gap to the AMC¢s Mohican Outdoor Center, where thru¢s can tent for free, showers are available, and my food goes into a metal bear box locker. I¢ll probably camp mostly where bear prevention utilities are, like shelters, while I¢m in New Jersey as this state is well known for heavy bear presence. My Aunt Joli dropped me off at the Post Office this morning where I went to sorting my mess out in the parking lot. When I was done the food I received and bought, and what Joli gave me probably had the pack at 40+ pounds! Maybe with this shorter miles/day I should add new resupply points rather than compile mass food rations at the original resupplies. I walked out of town eating a lot of food to avoid carrying that much more. So I¢m crossing Delaware River on I-80 Bridge eating pork chops and chicken legs under a beautiful blue sky. Got to the woods, now in the state of New Jersey, and a few miles in saw a ma & cub bears. Six miles in, at Sunfish Pond- a glacial pond, some other thrus were swimming despite a ¢no swimming¢ sign posted. But of course they talked me into it and I swam for the first time this trip. It was nice, and when everyone had gotten out I noticed a water snake enter the area. Another few miles and I had my first panoramic view in Jersey. It¢s kind of mean, the mosquito situation here at the Mohican O.C. I had dinner- a pack of hot dogs- and jumped into nettent to write journal and perhaps read the book I bought in town. As for the large change in my itinerary, I¢ve been doing much serious thinking and though I¢ve much enjoyed the trip thus far, I feel there are aspects that I would do myself wrong to pass up, and I love New England and would like to learn from this whatever I can. I am particularly fond of the autumn season, and if I¢d kept on the original schedule my whole trip would be green, as summer, kind of one-sided. Other thrus doing larger miles have asked me if I am beginning to feel as they do. Kind of that it¢s becoming routine to get up early, walk 8-12 hours, do misc. chores, sleep. I want to be able to have campfires as I used to for like a few hours into dark. Read a book an hour or so a day, not get up as early as I did back in the ¢real¢ world. Linger at points of scenic or cultural interest, and generally relax more. I¢ve always been one who has a hard time relaxing. I¢m always go, go, going, and may be learning how to relax and take my time. Which just may come to be the most valuable thing I take home from this. In summary, I suppose the only reason I do anything is, to borrow words from G&R, I¢m ¢just trying to get it right¢.   -applejack-
Date: 2013-05-29
From: Bobblets Gap Shelter

To: Jennings Creek, VA614
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

Only 9.7 miles today. Pathfinder invited me to participate in a slack pack tomorrow and I readily accepted so I could have a short day and get out of the heat. It was a sweltering, humid 88 degrees. I can remember when 9.7 days was a good day, now it's an "only." When we got off the trail we took our shoes off and waded in the ice cold waters at Jennings Creek until our feet and legs ached then we road walked the mile to a campground that will shuttle us 15 miles up the trail tomorrow. We took showers, washed cloths and jumped in the pool, nearly freezing again, but boy did it feel good.Dinner was Cheeseburgers and beer and we put in a order for breakfast in the morning too. Our shuttle is supposed to arrive at 7 am. Gonna be hot day again tomorrow but with lightweight packs it should be a breeze,,,,, I hope On-On
Date: 2003-07-26
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Brink Road Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Sat 26 July 2003      Mohican Outdoor Center to Brink Road Shelter   14.3 miles Ahhh, what a fine second day on the new schedule. The only things I¢d rather different would be my pack weighing much more than usual, and the presence of mosquitoes. Put your hands together now for blue sky days! 14.3 miles of New Jersey that weren¢t as bad as the New Jersey everybody¢s come to know and loathe. There was ¢Catfish Firetower¢ that had no trespass written all over it. What does a catfish have to do with a firetower on top of a mountain anyway? Had a pleasant lunch of a few MRE things, thanks again to Ma¢s friend Ella. Which I casually prepared in a nice wooded area on a boulder along the AT, whilst reading from the book I recently bought, Walden and Other Writings by Henry David Thoreau. I¢m at Brink Road Shelter, my food is in the bear box, and I¢m in my nettent for the night. There is a chorus of mosquitoes singing in my ears; they¢re wicked here! Much worse than last night! I had a can of clam chowder that Joli gave me; that was good. Now I write my entry with a flashlight after a couple drinks of Chivas and water and some fig newtons. Yet even through rain, mosquitoes, humidity, discomfort, and other I still am thankful to be here, now.   -applejack-
Date: 2013-05-30
From: Jennings Creek, VA614

To: Thunder Ridge Overlook
Miles today: 15.4

A fun day even though we endured temps into the high 80's. We, Pathfinder and myself, were picked up at 7 am for a shuttle to Thunder Ridge where we were walking by 8 am in nice cool temps. That only lasted until 10 am when the heat and humidity took over and made the day almost unbearable. The best part was that we only had food and water in our packs which helped with the workload. Several highlights of the day included the Thunder Ridge Overlook, Black Rock Overlook and the Guillotine, a rock wedged between two others that resembles a guillotine. We met lots of hikers we knew who were hiking with full packs and felt sorry for them because they looked like they were suffering in this heat. The same heat, by the way, that we will be hiking in tomorrow, along with everyone else. On-On
Date: 2003-07-27
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

Sun 27 July 2003   Brink Road Shelter to High Point Shelter   19.6 miles Well, I only intended to walk 15 originally, but 19.6 miles is what came out of today at the end. The shelter last night was so mean with mosquitoes, and I didn¢t care for a similar night tonight. On a map there was a swamp next to the 15 mile shelter, Rutherford Shelter. It was a 12 mile from the AT down to it, and it looked like it would be another mosquito catch basin, so I didn¢t even approach it and went on to High Point Shelter in High Point State Park. Getting here I found many people, and with rain soon to come I just went and pitched my tarp. Didn¢t rain long, though, and I ate dinner while reading. The bear box is full, and I¢m not about to try to hang all my food, so I just put it in my pack beside me. If a bear gets nosey I¢ll kick him in the nose. Baloo and Skidmark from last nights shelter had planned the original same as I, but when we all met at Worthington¢s Bakery, Baloo felt ill, and I don¢t know if they did stay at Rutherford if they even went that far. -applejack-
Date: 2013-05-31
From: Thunder Ridge Overlook

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

Part of today's hike took us along a mile stretch of the James river. I was thinking about the River Walk in Little Rock and how cool it would be to see the walkers and runners in this stretch. But,,, no, I may as well have been on a ridge walk for all the good it did to walk along the James. It is undeveloped and you can only see a teensy bit of the river. Such a shame!A routine day except for the drama of one of our "own" getting ticketed for jumping off the James River Footbridge! We had all been talking at the shelter previous to the footbridge, while eating lunch, about whether anyone was going to jump, something that we had all heard and read about. The only problem? There has been an ordinance passed, unknown to us, prohibiting jumping. Several of us sat on the bank of the river, waiting for our group to arrive while watching some locals jumping. Jigsaw got tired of waiting for everyone and decided to jump. I had walked over to the jump spot with her and proceeded to take pictures when a National Park Service Officer corralled everyone and herded them to his vehicle where he proceeded to write them tickets. I thought Jigsaw might only get a warning since she is not local and could not be expected to know about the ordnance, but, no, she got a ticket along with everyone else! When the officer was herding everyone off the bridge I, at first, thought he was going to include me in the ticket party but after everyone was off the bridge he bid me good day. Whew!!The most excitement I have had since I fell off the mountain in North Carolina!On-On
Date: 2003-07-28
From: High Point Shelter

To: Pochuck Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Mon 28 July 2003   High Point Shelter to Pochuck Mtn Shelter   12.4 miles I suppose if I haven¢t used insect repellant by now, I¢ll make it all the way without. The past couple of days (Brink Road Shelter, SWAMPS, this afternoon¢s Walkill Nat¢l Wildlife Refuge- a former sod farm turned mosquito sanctuary) have been mean with the pests. It makes it tougher to sleep at night when the fellow next to you is twitching and scratching while you¢re in your nettent. Well, no it doesn¢t. An easygoing 12.4 mile day under great blue sky country, that turned overcast about 5. Insects buzzing all day, of course, hurrying you along. Woke up easy, people told me of heavy rain that woke them up. I¢m dry and well rested. Here at Pochuck Mtn Shelter I¢ve been for a few hours, reading, eating. Just closed the bear box for the night and then, 50 feet behind me, a bear! He played around the bear box a minute and scampered off. Stocliff is the only other one here right now as sunlight fades toward dusk. The wind shifts and more mosquitoes can make it up the hill. Stocliff is to be plagued by them tonight. -applejack-
Date: 2013-06-01
From: Johns Hollow Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

Awake at 5:30 to get an early start and take advantage of the cooler temps, but it was so humid this morning I was drenched in sweat within 30 minutes and the first climb of the day was a brutal one of 600 feet in just a smidge over a mile. I was dismayed to find I had only gone 3 miles in 3 hours. Not so great for my average mph,, but that improved somewhat over the length of the day because the trail became a little more gentle. As the day grew hotter I would dip my bandanna in the creeks and springs then squeeze the cold water over my head. This helped me cope with the heat but also drenched my cloths to the point I had to change when I got to camp. 800.3 miles!! WOO HOO!!Meredith: where is Cabo? I haven't seen him since Woods Hole.
Date: 2003-07-29
From: Pochuck Mtn Shelter

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: broken clouds

Tues 29 July 2003            Pochuck Mtn Shelter to Wildcat Shelter   23.8 miles Woke up to an amusing situation this morning. That bear from last night had just hung around. About disk Spitz and Moo & 42 showed up and Moo & 42 tented. Moo woke up; looked out the tent and 3 feet away the bear was snuggled snoozing. Then it pawed at the tent and 42 scared it away with her trekking poles. So the bear was around, and Stocliff saw it climb under the panels of the privy, sat up on the seat, and opened and exited through the door! I¢m glad it didn¢t come back around when we¢re all around the picnic table eatin breakfast. I didn¢t plan to be rising early but you can¢t have fires in Jersey. So you go to bed early anyway. And Stochiff leaves about 6-6:30 so if someone wants to walk through spider webs early I don¢t mind leaving after! About 6 miles out hit a farm where I had some of the best ice cream this whole trip. Mmmm. Strawberry Cheesecake flavor. So I originally intended to do only 15 miles, but I kinda thought it¢d be good to make it to a shelter for a likely water source and to keep my food safe from New Jersey¢s bears. So rather than stop at short miles I decided to do extra and I¢m in New York where they don¢t have bearboxes but they do allow campfires. So at least the next 2 days will be easier than I originally planned. So after 23.8 miles I¢m at Wildcat Shelter and there¢s an amusing crowd here. Dirty Frank, Night Owl, Chilly Willy, Spitz, Widget and Chilly Willy¢s friend I don¢t recall his name right now. Topics that are coming up are things like flipping golf carts; trail leprosy, and one-breasted Wanda. Keeping me entertained!   -applejack-
Date: 2013-06-02
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Spy Rock Road
Miles today: 18.1

More of the same ole up and down and up and down. Boring, I know. But that's about it when all you do is walk. Ran across a rattle snake today! See the picture attached. We have been hearing Cicadas for the past few days and I thought the rattler buzzing in the grass was some of the Cicada courting...until it moved. I jumped five feet high and ten feet backward when I saw what it was. It cooperated with me to get a good picture though. Classic pose, don't you think?Got some rain this afternoon that helped cool things down. Little things like that make life a lot more tolerable. Got off the trail this evening to stay at a B&B. the Dutch Haus in Montebello, VA. Nice to have clean sheets and a pillow,, not to mention a clean body, for a change. I plan to take a zero day tomorrow to rest up a little then resupply for the four day trek to Waynesborough. On-On
Date: 2003-07-30
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: William Brien Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

Wed 30 July 2003   Wildcat Shelter to William Brien Memorial Shelter   19.6 miles I¢m a little disappointed. I¢d of planned on two easy days to get to the Graymoor Monastery after today but everyone at last night¢s shelter talked of doing 19.6 today and 15.2 tomorrow to the friary, so I thought I¢d join them a night early and do the mileage. Well, out of 6 that said they¢d be here, I haven¢t seen any at this William Brien Memorial Shelter. That¢s weak! I was the one planning to go easy miles and I¢m the only one here1 Oh well, getting here a day early will mean more time to chill in MA, which is where I¢d like to. I thought Spitz would be here but I saw him hitchhiking. Walked with Greenman and Mtn Dew for a few miles but they¢re not here. Neither is Dirty Frank, who left before most of us were awake. Saw Night Owl 4 miles back, he¢s not here. I don¢t know of Widget, he could be camped here somewhere. I got close to the shelter and there¢s a massive family with many kids and I was frightened so I pitched my tarp a few hundred feet out. Who knows, maybe I¢ll see some catch up tomorrow.   ¢applejack-
Date: 2013-06-03
From: Montebello, VA

To: Montebello, VA
Miles today: 0.0

I arrived late yesterday afternoon and the first order of business was a hot shower and clean clothes. The B&B provided laundry service and I jumped in the shower so now I am squeaky clean and no longer smell like a thru hiker. Dinner was a huge plate of food and desert was apple strudel topped with ice cream. Enough food to fill up any hungry hiker. When I got here Lois was showing me around and when we got to the bunk room there was a dog on one of the beds. I promptly announced I did not care to be in a room with a dog. Lois was not fazed and showed me to the "storage shed/tool room" that contained a queen size air mattress. She opened the door and pointed then said nothing but had a questioning look in her eye. I jumped at the chance! Pure bliss,, a room of my own at the same hiker rate as the bunk house!I am having an issue with my left foot. Good thing today is a rest day. I have developed huge calluses across the whole bottom of the ball of my feet and the left one hurts like crazy if I step on a rock in just the right spot. It sends a jolt of electricity into my third and fourth toes,, yeowww!! Talking to "Hobo" I discovered he has the same problem and we both figure it is caused by the braking action of going downhill. Hiking is hard. Back to the trail tomorrow. On-On