morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-09
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Campsite above Crater Lake
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Pleasant sleeping weather (Brighty even broke out her liner). We both slept well. Broke camp and went over to the camp store/dining hall. Neither of us were hungry enough for the $13 AYCE breakfast (boy that will change in time!) so we had our breakfast bars (and a coffee for Brighty) on the picnic table outside. Great morning - cool enough to be pleasant without needing fleeces. Probably lazed around a little too long but by 9:30am we were ready to hit the trail. Nice trail, nice woods, great weather most of the day. In this snapshot tour the the AT we¢ve hit the mountain laurel in NJ at its high point. Beautiful again today. Not an abundance of flowering - but still, saw false Solomon seal, hawkweed, Canada mayflower, several iris (yellow and purple, cinnamon fern, maple leaf viburnum, sarsaparilla and rattlesnake weed among others. Speaking of rattlesnakes, others are seeing them among a bunch of snake sightings. We just saw one black racer early in the day. Had some nice views from Catfish Lake fire tower this morning. Had lunch above a mountain laurel lined swamp serenaded by bullfrogs. Trail was especially nice - flat and smooth - after lunch for awhile which Brighty¢s feet really appreciated. Lots of lakes in this area. As afternoon progressed it seemed like mosquitoes became more abundant. They¢re remained just below the deet stage through the evening. Our campsite has a nice view of Crater Lake. We¢ve cooked, eaten, hung the bear bag and as the sun sets the mosquitoes have finally driven us into the tent. It beginning to cool off nicely. Here¢s hoping for another good nights sleep.
Date: 2018-06-10
From: Campsite above Crater Lake

To: Gran Anderson shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Went to bed last night thinking there was about a 10% chance of rain so it was a surprise to hear rain drops fairly early in the night. We closed our flaps and thought a passing shower. Well that ¢shower¢ lasted the rest of the night. Not a hard rain just a very light but constant one. A check of the weather forecast this morning showed our 10% of rain today had turned into 100% all day. It was time to adjust one¢s expectations. Luckily, the rain nearly stopped for awhile giving us time to pack and eat and hit the trail. For most of the morning it was more ¢spitting¢ than a rain. Seemed to keep the mosquitoes down especially if you kept hiking. We had our first fall today and it was . . . . Wreck! Early on he stepped on a slanted, wet, and extremely slick rock and was sent flying. Luckily (he says deftly) he was able to twist around so his pack absorbed most of the impact with the nearby rocks. Bruised upper leg, bruised ego and he was up and hiking although both of us went more carefully afterwards. We been passing quite a lot of hemlock the last two days. 15 years ago we never would have thought so many would be still alive but, up and down the AT you see them. Some of today¢s were quite healthy looking too but mostly pretty young trees. By afternoon the weather had transitioned to a light rain. We decided to go into Gyp Tavern for a second lunch(0.2 m off trail - one of the nice bonuses of the trail through NJ and NY). Wreck had been to Gyps in 2015 for a burger and fries and we both went the same route. Okay food, interesting patrons. You definitely know it¢s a local clientele when folks are wearing ¢I¢ve been Gyped¢ sweatshirts! Still raining as we left much to Brighty¢s dismay. Rain though pretty much stopped by the time we reached the Culver Mtn fire tower. Ham radio convention there - the second weekend in June everywhere in the US. They were talking to Arizona as we went by. Had interesting conversation with several folks. You have to admire their passion. Plus their dedication - had three 30¢ antennas plus countless other antennas attached to the fire tower. All brought up Thursday and coming down with them tomorrow. Got into this campsite about 7pm. Our ¢second lunch¢ is turning into our dinner as neither one of us is too hungry. Chiller tonight (supposed to be 45 tomorrow night!!). Haven¢t seen any of the notorious NJ bears yet but bear bags way way up tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow and another day on the trail!
Date: 2018-06-11
From: Gran Anderson shelter

To: Rutherford shelter
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: clear sky

We like New Jersey! In general, pretty woods (much less disturbed than much of PA), pretty ponds and lakes (although the streams so far have been slow and tannin colored brown), and pretty trail (some rocks but not like PA). And today¢s weather was fantastic! Cold front passed by last night so we had a low humidity, sunny day in the 70¢s. Perfect for hiking. Stopped for an early lunch on top of Sunrise Mountain (elevation 1653 ft - this is Jersey - they don¢t get too much higher!) We haven¢t seen as much hiking activity as we thought we would - well fewer than a dozen folks/day and then mostly section hikers. Don¢t know if the torrential May rains we had caused a lot of thru hikers to drop out or if we¢re just between bubbles right now. This afternoon we were prepared to face the mosquitoes (we¢re packing 100% deet) as Wreck¢ journal from 2015 mentioned this area as having ¢clouds of mosquitoes¢. Fortunately, not this year - at least today.  Got into this beautiful campsite about 6 pm - got water ( the stream was slow but not brown -Hooray!), and prepared ¢our house¢ for the night. Supposed to be chilly (Brighty thought last night was more than chilly) so we¢ve got all the clothing we¢ve brought handy just in case. Tomorrow we¢re going to have a short day (to give Brighty¢s feet a rest) and go to the Jersey shore!!! - at least the shore of the lake at High Point State Park. Let¢s go surfing! - but first the Thermarest are calling.
Date: 2018-06-12
From: Rutherford shelter

To: High Point shelter 
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: clear sky

Today was a beach day!! Woke up to more fantastic weather. Yahoo!! Walked through some more nice Jersey woods to the High Point State Park visitor center. Chatted with the Park Ranger there. We had met him and a colleague on the trail yesterday and thought they were State Police (still not quite sure the relationship between agencies is as one patch on their uniform says State Police and the other patch says State Park). Anyhoot, nice folks. Then it was time to head down to the Jersey shore albeit the shores of Lake Marcia. Nice little sandy beach, picnic area, bathhouse, and quite a few beach goers already there. Unfortunately the concession area was closed (only open on weekends until July). Suddenly our vision of hamburgers, Dr Peppers, and ice cream vanished! Oh well, we had a lunch of Peanut butter and Wasa crackers with M&M¢s for dessert and still enjoyed the afternoon. Brighty dipped her toes in the water, Wreck eventually plunged in and we enjoyed the blue skies and light breeze. Took advantage of some hot showers in the bathhouse and then hiked up to this shelter (Wreck took the side trip to the monument on top of the highest point in New Jersey - 1811 ft). Another nice camping spot, really nice stream. We still like New Jersey!
Date: 2018-06-13
From: High Point shelter 

To: Pochuck Mtn shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Not all the AT is mountain ridges and majestic views. The continuous nature of the trail necessitates that some sections of trail are there to connect the mountains together. In some respects, the whole MidAtlantic region connects the Blue Ridge of Virginia with the Green Mountains of New England. So it was that today we came off High Point Mountain this morning on an AT section looking to connect us with another mountain. And we enjoyed it! Hats off to the folks that established this lowland corridor we hiked through. It had some pretty woods, pastoral fields, beautiful wetlands, a couple scenic creeks. In short - a nice walk through the woods ( and fields). Light rain started shortly after we got started today and continued most of the morning. Not enough to don any more protection than a pack cover. Stopped in Unionville,NY for lunch at Unionville¢s finest Italian restaurant. ( for much of the day we were tiptoeing the NJ/NY state line, mostly in NJ but occasionally in NY. ) Stuffed ourselves with spaghetti and a shared 2 liter Dr Pepper. Got a few resupplies next door at the grocery, hung out on their front porch for quite awhile charging our phones and watching life in Unionville pass us by. This afternoon we passed through Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. Enjoyed the wetlands and the bird life. Finally found our connecting mountain, Pochuck Mountain late this afternoon. Wreck went and got water from the outside spigot and an abandoned house at the base of the mountain (go figure, but it¢s been a great water source for years) and we climbed up to this shelter site. Hadn¢t seen more that a handful of hikers all day but this site was full of folks ( with more still coming in). Weather improved this afternoon and just high clouds right now. We¢ve stuffed ourselves again and are about ready to call it a night. A good night.
Date: 2018-06-14
From: Pochuck Mtn shelter

To: Wawayanda 
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

Brighty loves boardwalks- and we went over the AT¢s finest today. First though we had to negotiate a couple steep mid- size climbs on Pochuck Mountain. Yesterday the AT spend all day finding Pochuck but this morning we parted ways as the trail went up, over, and down the other side of Pochuck. That brought us to the fantastic boardwalk through the wetlands of Wawayanda State Park. 0.7 m of elevated boardwalk with a fine suspension bridge over Pochuck Creek toward the north end. Brighty who has always loved marshes was in her element (the flatness of the walking didn¢t hurt). After another mile or so of lowland walking (and some more conventional boardwalks) we reached NJ94. A short walk down the highway to Heaven Hill Farm for some lunch (and ice cream!). After lunch the trail abruptly climbed 1,000 feet up Wawayanda Mountain. It was our steepest climb in New Jersey. Lots and lots of steps (and to Brighty¢s dismay - they were monster big steps). Nice views though from on top. The rest of the afternoon was a nice rolling trail. Reached this campground around 6 pm. Met the same nice ridge runner we saw down at Sunfish Pond our first day out. Had nice conversation. Pretty big crowd here but we found nice flat site. Weather was fantastic again today. Seems like it might be even a little warm out tonight. Tomorrow we leave New Jersey for good and enter New York. Wreck really liked southern NY last time so we¢re looking forward to that. First we¢re looking forward to a good nights sleep.
Date: 2018-06-15
From: Wawayanda 

To: Greenwood Lake
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

As mentioned yesterday, Brighty loves boardwalks. Rock outcrops that required all four limbs to climb? - not so much! Yet that was what the trail provided today. Last night was a cooler night then we expected. Brighty broke out both her liner and emergency space blanket during the night. Wreck looked over and thought a large baked potato had invaded the tent. We¢ve been camping with an ¢early in, early out¢ group the last couple of days. By 7 am most folks are on the trail. Despite this being a ¢town day¢ we slept in (maybe the coolish weather had an influence?) and didn¢t start hiking until 8:30 am. The last few miles in New Jersey were uneventful. Never did see a bear although New Jersey has the densest population of bear along the AT. The New Jersey/New York state line has to be one of the most modest on the trail. White paint on rock with NJ on one side of line and NY on other side. Immediately upon entering New York we hit the rock outcrops. Wreck really likes this section - particularly on a nice day (and the weather once again was fantastic!). Brighty not so much. Next couple miles were  near constant outcrops. Trail weaved it¢s way over them with the occasional need to use all four limbs to climb over the rock (one section aided by a ladder of iron rebar). Several great views to the east of Greenwood Lake. Eventually the outcrops ceased and we hiked the rest of the way to the Vista trail which took us down into the village of Greenwood Lake. Down being the appropriate adjective ( steep down, toe punishing would be even better according to Brighty). A treat for Wreck coming down was, while waiting on a rock for Brighty, he had a scarlet tangier whizz right by him and perch on a log about 10 feet away. Beautiful birds! Hiked the last bit into town with young couple that we¢d seen off and on the last couple of days. They¢re hiking the trail on their honeymoon! Got to the Breezy Point Inn about 5 pm and after hot showers and great dinner and a chance to elevate our feet all is good. No laundry so we washed clothes in the tub. They¢re drying in a line we strung across the length of the room. We¢re pooped but content. Time to sleep in a real bed for a night. Life is good.
Date: 2018-06-16
From: Greenwood Lake

To: Wildcat shelter
Miles today: 4.1
Weather: scattered clouds

A restful night at the Breezy Point Inn. Clothes weren¢t real dry in the morning so we tried the hair drier with minimal success (putting them on worked much better - when backpacking your body is the best heater/drier). Had brunch at the Salt and Pepper cafe. New place, very friendly, good food. Got some resupply items at the little market and while Brighty headed up the Vista trail Wreck headed to CVS for some foot supplies for Brighty and then a large cherry slurpee like drink at Cumberland Farms. By the time he reached the Vista trail he still had half the drink to finish so he watched an inning or so of a 6-7? year old baseball game at the Lions field. Coach pitching to players. Wreck saw only one player actually hit the ball. Finished the drink and up the Vista trail he went to rejoin Brighty waiting at the AT intersection. First couple of miles to Hwy 17A were a pleasant walk in the woods. Went to the Bellvale Farms Creamery (0.3 m West) - possibly the best and most popular creamery on the trail. Place was packed on a Tuesday night when Wreck stopped by in 2015 and it was packed this afternoon. We got fantastic milk shakes (vanilla and coconut with chocolate covered almonds - those who know us can figure out who got which) and headed back up the trail. Climbed two rock outcrops with great views - the Pinnacles and Cat Rock. Got to this campsite before 5 pm. Small crowd so far. Big crowd of mosquitoes. Wreck looked down at his leg while at spring getting water and counted 12 mosquitoes on them. We¢ve deeted up and they¢re keeping their distance so far. Think it will be an early exit into the tent tonight. UPDATE- Well, we¢re in the tent BUT we are willing to do an advertisement for Deet. Lots of mosquitoes here but Deet got us through a pleasant dinner, etc.
Date: 2018-06-17
From: Wildcat shelter

To: South of the Lemon Squeezer
Miles today: 12.0

Up early this morning and on the trail by 7 am. Had a good nights sleep last night serenaded by a bard owl. The family that slept in the shelter had a rougher time - again, the mosquitoes were bad last night. Once we got walking we really weren¢t bothered by any bugs. Stopped early at Fitzgerald Falls. Small falls but very picturesque and great tasting water. From the falls, even though it was Fathers Day we had a lot of ¢Mom basha ¢ going on. Went over Mombasha High Point, past Mombasha Lake and crossed both East and West Mombasha roads today. Of special note, there was trail magic in the form of drinking water at 5 different road crossings today. Thanks so much!!!!! Weather was hot! Sunny and high around 90. Still, in the shade which we were much of the day it was bearable. Hiked past a number a pretty ponds today. Ran into quite a lot of long distance hikers today - over a dozen? - and maybe because of the weather but most folks didn¢t seem to be having much fun. Since Wreck really likes southern New York, he finds this somewhat disappointing. Did a lot of lollygagging this afternoon, got to this site about 6 pm and Brighty was finished for the day. Saw a nice sunset. It has cooled off nicely and there¢s a pleasant breeze blowing through the tent so we¢re hoping for a good night sleep. Supposed to be even hotter tomorrow so we going to try for an early start. For now, the thermarest are calling.
Date: 2018-06-18
From: South of the Lemon Squeezer

To: West Mountain shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Pleasant breeze all last night. Brighty was asleep within a minute of lying down. Woke up this morning and we could tell it was going to be a hot one. At 7 am it was pleasant going over the open rock outcrops, by 9 am it was pretty warm, by 10 am it was oven like and stayed that way much of the day ( Temp in mid 90¢s) . The saving grace was wind and shade and today we needed both. Luckily we had a fair amount of both. First thing this morning we squeezed thru the Lemon Squeezer, a short but really narrow path between two rock walls. Wreck had to take his pack off and carry it in front of him. Brighty managed with pack on. Right after the Lemon Squeezer is The Wall (okay that¢s what we named it), a 10 ft rock wall that¢s about the hardest climb on the AT. Wreck did it in 2015 and thought ¢that¢s crazy¢. Then he found out there was a bypass trail. Oh. Naturally he had to do it again this year. Went right instead of left this time. That was slightly better. Going left IS crazy. Much of the day was walking in Harriman State Park and much of the day we walked through a savanna type setting. Large trees with some space between them and a grass/sedge ground covering. No understory. We can¢t figure out how it maintains itself. Lots of tree seedlings around but no small trees. We¢ll investigate. Tons of blueberries especially on the outcrops (ripe next month). Actually we haven¢t had a day since Delaware Water Gap that we haven¢t had lots of blueberries. Wreck saw a pileated woodpecker this morning and a large turkey this afternoon. Had two draining climbs late this afternoon up Black and West Mountains and an exciting crossing of the Palisades Parkway (wow - lots of fast traffic). We took a blue blazed trail 0.6 m across West Mountain to this shelter. Has view of NYC skyline in good weather. Got here with thunder in the distance. Able to set up tent and cook supper before it hit. Had to eat in the tent and found out this tent spot (looks like the most used around) doesn¢t drain well. By the time the rain stopped our tent was in the middle of a lake. Finished supper and changed locations. Hopefully a better draining area. It¢s getting dark now and clearing up a little so we¢re going to try and see if we can see the lights of the Big Apple. Then to bed we go!
Date: 2018-06-19
From: West Mountain shelter

To: Bear Mountain Inn
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: few clouds

Well the lights of the city were impressive. Actually most impressive were some far away lights down the Hudson. Not sure where they were but they outshined Manhattan. Another storm rolled in last night. Our second tenting area drained much better. A slower start this morning but we had a shorter day planned. Back across West Mountain before 9am to the AT and then down West Mountain and up and down Bear Mountain. Weather slightly cooler today (mid 80¢s). A constant theme all day today was small arms firing and much larger explosions. At first we thought the explosions were thunder (and, in fairness the weather did cloud up for awhile). Wreck twice checked the radar on his phone. No storms around. The second time he checked he noticed we were just down the Hudson from West Point and the US Military owns a large chunk of land south of West Point and adjunct to Bear Mountain. Thought the explosions had stopped for the day around noon but they must have been just taking a lunch break as it started up again this afternoon. We¢re guessing summer training for the cadets (or we¢re getting ready to invade Canada!). stopped at the top of Bear Mountain and climbed the Perkins Tower (stone tower), named after George Perkins, visionary for this park back in the early 1900¢s. (The state of New York had actually started building an addition to Sing Sing prison in this area before Perkins and others stepped in.) The trail up and especially down Bear Mountain is probably the most engineered along the whole AT. Over 1,000 stone steps just on the way down. Wow! (And they¢re proud of it too. Over a dozen signs at the bottom about the trail construction). Beautiful large rounded rocks all over Bear Mountain also. Very nice. Got to Bear Mountain Inn early this afternoon. We¢re staying at one of the stone cottages. The main inn is a beautiful stone and wood structure, not unlike the lodges found in some National Park areas. When Wreck went by this area in 2015, he thought that Brighty would love it. Brighty loves it and her feet have asked for a ¢zero¢ day tomorrow so we¢ll stay an extra night and explore. Although the Inn is really nice, we¢ve noticed that not a lot of people are staying here. Ate dinner (off kind of a lunch menu) tonight and only three other tables with people eating (and it¢s a huge dining room). Oh well, we¢re back in the cabin. Brighty is vegging on Gomer Pyle, Wreck is dozing off. Life is still good.
Date: 2018-06-20
From: Bear Mountain Inn

To: Bear Mountain Inn
Miles today: 0.0

A good nights sleep last night. We¢re at one of the stone cabins, our breakfast, a complimentary deluxe continental breakfast was at the Inn, about a 0.7 m hike around the lake. Weather was great, path was paved, breakfast proved to be very nice. Afterwards, Brighty treated herself to a massage, Wreck wondered around the lake, we met up for lunch, then unboxed and packed our food box (Brighty was unsupervised while packing our food shipment and slipped in a 2 lb bag of gory / we will probably leave much of it here). The excitement of the day was probably Wreck going to get dinner. After last night at the Inn, he was in the mood for something else and found Barnstormer Barbeque 1.6m away. Barbeque sounded good to both of us so Wreck volunteered go get it. Unfortunately he didn¢t check the map and hiked about 0.8m down the wrong road before recognizing his error so the original 3.2m round trip became a nearly 5m hike. Good barbecue chicken though. We¢re fed, semi packed and ready to hit the trail in the morning. Really looking forward to crossing the Hudson and getting back on the trail!!