morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-06-07
From: Clarks Creeks

To: Campsite beyond Swatara Creek / Old State Road
Miles today: 18.1

We got up at 6:30am. We had to fill water this morning. We usually do it the night before but it got to be too late last night to do it. The mosquitos would have eaten us alive. It was not worth the bug bites so we decided to fill water this morning.The hike today was relaxing knowing we were only doing 17m. The day started out foggy and misty. We saw a lot of cool spider webs through streams of sunlight. It got hot today, 85 degrees, but we hiked mostly in the shade.We made sure to take our morning snack break. It is easy sometimes to skip it, but then we end up carrying the extra food for days. That happened yesterday and we are determined not to do it again. We had a nice long relaxing lunch break on the bank of Rausch Creek. Beautiful water. Water was rushing by, and spilling over boulders. It was very nice to stop and enjoy the surroundings.There was an AT detour just after Waterville Iron Bridge. We got water there and then headed up the hill to "dry camp" about .5m further.Waterville Iron Bridge was built in 1890 and relocated to it's current location in 1987. It is a nice old ornamental bridge reassigned to trail duty, great repurposing.We set up our wet tent and it dryed in 5 minutes. We ate dinner right away and cleaned up. Cubby started a small fire in the fire ring, but there was too much smoke going directly onto our tent, so no little fire tonight. We will try for a fire some other night.OldYeller is still hiking with us. He is tenting here tonight also.We went to bed early. It should be a nice night for sleeping, since as the sun is going down, so is the temperature. Is a small cool breeze too much to ask for?We did hear some "military noises" today during our hike. They were probably from the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation near the trail.
Date: 2005-06-08
From: Campsite beyond Swatara Creek / Old State Road

To: Black Swatara Spring
Miles today: 21.6

We got moving early today to beat the heat. We left camp at 7am and made it up the first hill before the sun hit hard. It was mostly rocky trail today.We saw a birdie sitting on the trail. It was resting during it's first day of flight. It was no bigger than a golf ball. We hope it caught it's breath and got airborne again before some other critter found it. We also saw toads and a 6 foot long black snake.It was very hot today, about 86 degrees. We hiked through long sections of rocks.We took our first break at the William Penn Shelter were we celebrated having less than 1000m to go. We hiked onto the 501 shelter, with the intention of breaking for lunch there. Just prior to reaching the shelter, we were intercepted by a guy and his 6 year old son. They said there were cold sodas in a spring .5m up the trail. So, instead of heading to 501, we headed for the Pilgrim's Rest Spring. We found the cold sodas and had lunch there. They guy we met, had driven down the highway and met us at the spring. We are certain that he was the one that put the sodas there, but in keeping with tradition of trail magic, he did not admit to it.We met Farther Al, a section hiker, who told us not to camp at the place we had intended to because it was swampy and buggy. He suggested Black Swatara Spring, and we agreed. He was a nice guy, great conversationalist and he is from Boston. He is section hiking and has over 900 miles on the trail.Boston pitched the tent at a campsite just off the trail near Black Swatara Spring, while Cubby went for water. The bugs are definately out, so we ate quickly and got into our tent by 7:30pm.
Date: 2005-06-09
From: Black Swatara Spring

To: PA 16
Miles today: 13.9

We got up and going early again. Up at 5:30am and on the trail by 6:45am to beat the heat. The hike today would have gone quicker if not for the rocks.We saw an Eastern Box Turtle again.We took a break at Auburn Vista and then into Port Clinton, PA. We went to the Outfitters to discover that they are only open 1 day a week and that day is Saturday. It is not Saturday today. So we continued up the street to the Port Clinton Hotel and Bar for a cold soda. The hotel and bar is NOT hiker friendly. We had a few sodas while the rain started, it poured for about 10 minutes and then cleared.We got back on the trail and hiked to PA 16 and then walked towards Hamburg, PA to the Microtel at the interchange. The interchange is supposedly 1m off the trail, but it seemed longer. It was hot hiking on the roadway and semi's whizzing by us was not good.At the hotel we showered and did laundry. We then went to dinner with OldYeller. We went to the Shell gas station foodmart to resupply while some dark clouds were fast approaching. The storm hit while we were in the gas station. We stayed there for about 30 minutes until it blew over. As the rain let up, Cubby hitched us a ride back to the hotel. We dropped off our snacks and then Cubby hitched us another ride to the Cabela's Superstore across the highway. This ride was in a 20 foot commercial truck. The three of us were all crammed into the cab with the driver. It was kind of fun(ny).While browsing the Cabela's store we met a father and son, Jim and Ryan, who will be starting the trail from Maine in two days. They had many questions and were eager to get started on the trail. It was fun to talk with them. They ended up giving us a ride back to the hotel. They also offerred to give us a ride in the morning back to the trailhead.Back at the hotel we were relaxing when there was a knock on the door and it was OldYeller. He suprised us by buying us each a pint of ice-cream. After the ice-cream, we finished packing up our packs and went to bed.
Date: 2005-06-10
From: PA 16

To: Dan's Spring
Miles today: 18.6

We got up at 6am and took showers in the hotel room. Oh so nice to start the day with a hot shower. We went down to the lobby to eat our free continental breakfast. Very good. We ran into Skeeterfeeder and Chairman at breakfast. They are heading out today also.At 8am, Jim picked us up and brought us back to the trailhead where we had gotten off yesterday. We were hiking at 8:15am. It was so nice not to have to walk the mile plus on the busy highway back to the trail just to get started for the day. Jim also brought us donuts from Dunkin Donuts, thanks.As usual, today's hike started with a climb. There were three big climbs today and numerous little ones. We climbed to Pocohontas Spring, then up to Pulpit Rock, then to The Pinnacle. We hiked onto the Eckville Shelter. We considered staying here, but it was too early in the day. Instead, we just enjoyed some ice-cream sandwiches and gatorade and then moved on. The Eckville Shelter is actually a residential shed turned into a shelter. It would be kind of cool if more people who lived along the trail did this.We hiked up to the top of the next big climb. It is always good to get the climb out of the way instead of staring at it first thing in the morning. We topped out and hiked to Dan's Pulpit and enjoyed a nice snack break with a terrific view, shade, slight breeze, and large birds soaring overhead. We hiked down to Dan's Spring. Boston set up the tent and Cubby went down the blue-blaze for the water. We cooked dinner and then the rain came as we finished dinner. We quickly hung up our food in a tree and climbed into the tent. 8:00pm and in for the night.
Date: 2005-06-11
From: Dan's Spring

To: PA 248 / PA 145 Lehigh Gap, PA
Miles today: 20.9

It was foggy this morning when we got up. We got going on the trail by 7am. The trail was very rocky today with some sections of dirt. We got to PA 309, Blue Mountain Summit B&B Restaurant at 10:15am. We filled up our water at the back of the restaurant and waited for the 11:00am opening of the restaurant. It was a good lunch and worth the wait.We headed on at 12:00pm. The sun had heated things up a bit, 85 degrees. The trail over Knife's Edge and Bear Rocks was just plain silly. It was unnecessarily risky. We climbed on huge boulders up on a ridge having to use our hands to assist with climbing. It is not that we are opposed to difficult terrain, but it seems this section of trail required excessive risk.We got six miles from town and the thunder started to roll and gray skies moved in quickly. It threatened to storm for about 2 hours, but the storm skirted around us and we did not get any rain. We met up with Raz at the George W. Outerbridge Shelter. It was just .9m from town. Raz was staying there, but we moved on. We headed on to the road. Within 5 minutes we had a ride to Palmerton, PA. The road to Palmerton is hazardous to walk on and the town itself is almost 2 miles away.We checked into the Parkside Inn / Palmerton Hotel and cleaned up. Unfortunately the laudromat in town was closed for the evening. We went down for dinner at the hotel restaurant. We barely made it through dinner due to being very tired. Immediately after dinner we went to bed. It had been a long, hot day.We saw our first BEAR today. We saw it about 2 or 3 miles before PA 309. It was about 40 yards from us and was a large adult. It was eating and when it heard and saw us, it took off. We heard a ruckus and looked to the vegetation, just in time to see it scurrying away from us. It was quite impressive.
Date: 2005-06-12
From: PA 248 / PA 145 Lehigh Gap, PA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day. We relaxed at this fine establishment, the Parkside Inn/Palmerton Hotel.   This was not much of a hotel room, it was more like a furnished apartment with no kitchen. It is very old, which is fine, but it would have been better if the carpet had been cleaned in the last millenium. We wore our Crocs at all times. Actually, the room did have one redeeming feature: the chirping bird clock. It is a clock that chirps a different bird chirp every hour on the hour.We did get to relax today. Most zero days don't seem like zeros due to chores and resupplying. Cubby got to watch Nascar on TV. It was nice to actually have a TV in our room. Not every place we stay has a TV in the room.We did laundry this morning at the laudromat. We then had breakfast at Bert's Restaurant. It is a good place to get breakfast. Dinner tonight was across the street at Tony's Pizza. It was good pizza.We packed up our bounce box and our packs. We plan on starting out early tomorrow to try to get a jump on the heat. It is suppose to be 95 and humid tomorrow for our climb up the rocks on the north side of Lehigh Gap.
Date: 2005-06-13
From: PA 248 / PA 145 Lehigh Gap, PA

To: Wind Gap, PA
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: overcast clouds

We went to breakfast at Bert's and then hooked up with Terry for a ride back to the trail. Terry lives at the Hotel and we talked with him last night. He agreed to give us a ride this morning.Thankfully we were on the trail by 7am and made it up the exposed rock climb before the sun got too hot. It was cloudy for most of the morning, which we were thankful for also. There was a desolation of vegetation for the first 5 miles and it was quite a climb the first 2 miles.There was no water for us to refill during our hike today. We got to Smith Gap Road, about 3.5m from the next shelter. There were 10 gallon jugs of water there for thru-hikers to refill their water. We filled our water and was very thankful for this trail magic.We got to the shelter at 2pm and decided to head onto Wind Gap, another 5 miles. It was hot, and we were sweaty and stinky, but what is another 5 miles? We got to the motel that is left .2m on the road and found that it was full. We called another hotel and they came and shuttled us. They also said they would bring us back to the trail in the morning.We took showers, did laundry and had some ice-cream.During the hike today we met English Bob and Biscuit. Biscuit's dog, Cola-dog, had the day off. Biscuit and Bob were slack-packing today.
Date: 2005-06-14
From: Wind Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

We got shuttled back to the trail by the owner of the motel. We were on the trail by 7:15am. After climbing up from the road it was mostly flat today. The trail was littered with lots of small rocks, but nothing major. When it comes to PA and "the rocks" it seems that it is "all talk and not too much rock." Don't get us wrong, there are rocks in PA, but it seems that their reputation is blown WAY out of proportion. There are rockier and more difficult sections of trail elsewhere.Now that we are in Delaware Water Gap, we are done with PA! We are now sub-900 miles to go. We are staying at a hotel here, but if we had to do it all over again, we would take and $8 taxi ride to the next town of East Stroudsburg, where we would have had full services such as a laundromat. There is no place to do laundry in Delaware Water Gap. There are no real groceries, just gas stations snacks. The only Outfitter is a BIG disappointment. Do not count on this Outfitter for backpacking supplies.When you get to Delaware Water Gap, get a taxi, get a bus (yes, there is a bus), just get out of here! We will be leaving this town tomorrow.We saw our SECOND bear today. It was just a young bear, maybe a year old, so it wasn't very big. It was about 60 yards from us, and it took off running as soon as it heard us. Boston wasn't quick enough with the camera.
Date: 2005-06-15
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Mohican Outdoor Center / Camp Road NJ
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: few clouds

We slept in today. It was 8:50am when we got up. We knew we were going to have a low mileage day so we were in no hurry to get up. We met up with OldYeller on the street near the hostel at 10am and then headed back on the trail.We walked across the Delaware River on the highway bridge. The truck traffic on the bridge was fast and furious, very aggrevating.We hiked up to Sunfish Pond and had a nice snack break at the Pond. Sunfish Pond has crystal clear water and is beautiful. It is the southern most glacial pond on the A.T..We hiked on to Camp Road. At the road there was trail magic. There were some sodas and chips. After enjoying one of each, we hiked the .2m on Camp Road to the Mohican Outdoor Center to spend the night in the bunkhouse, Black Oak Lodge. We ate dinner early and then spent the evening around the table chatting with other hikers. Billy Tree and BaseCamp went into town to buy a few gallons of ice-cream for all the hikers. We all sat around and talked and ate ice-cream. It was a good evening. Some of the hikers there were Raz, Skeeterfeeder, Xenon, SweetFern, and OldYeller.
Date: 2005-06-16
From: Mohican Outdoor Center / Camp Road NJ

To: Culvers Gap / US Rte 206
Miles today: 17.9

We got up early this morning and on the trail by 6:40am. A cold front blew in last night. The last few days have been in the 90's but today was in the 70's, a nice change. It started out with overcast skies, but no rain. It was nice to hike without the heat. We caught up to Skeeterfeeder in the morning and hiked with him for about an hour.We heard a little thunder rolling in. During the day we had three short 5 minute rainstorms. We stayed mostly dry, but shoes and socks were squishy.We had great views of Long Pine Pond, Fairview Lake, and Culvers Lake.We got to the road / Culvers Gap at 3pm and went directly to Sunset Grill for an early dinner. We got there just before the BIG rains hit. We stayed for a while, ate, and had some drinks for a few hours. Raz showed up and joined us for dinner just as the big rains came down. Skeeterfeeder wasn't so lucky. He got soaked in the pouring rain.Due to the rain and tonights forecast, we all are going to a motel tonight in Branchville, NJ. Not the best motel, but it is drier than the great outdoors.
Date: 2005-06-17
From: Culvers Gap / US Rte 206

To: NJ 23 / High Point State Park, NJ
Miles today: 14.3

We got a ride to the trail at 8am and started hiking at 8:15am. Weather wise it was a good day, sunny and 63 degrees. We hiked for a few hours and took a snack break overlooking a beautiful New Jersey landscape. We then finished climbing up Sunrise Mtn and there was a Pavillion with a wonderful view. We should have waited 3 more minutes to take our break, because then we would have been at the Pavillion for our break.We headed on to Mashipacong Shelter for lunch. At the shelter we met up with Coredump, Raz and Foxy, Xenon, BillyTree and Skeeterfeeder. We headed on to High Point State Park Headquarters.We got in about 3pm and JerzeeJudge picked us up and we went back to his house for dinner and a zero day tomorrow. We met his wife and had some wine and a wonderful grilled chicken dinner. We got to bed around 10:30pm. It was good to catch up with JerzeeJudge and we talked with Acronym on the phone while we were with Jerzee.
Date: 2005-06-18
From: NJ 23 / High Point State Park, NJ

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We zero'd at JerzeeJudge's place. Got to sleep in today and went to breakfast with Jerzee. We then ran errands for food resupply, downloaded digital pictures and had lunch. We planned our next section and got caught on our trailjournals entries. Nice to be in a real house for a while. Although, the culture shock and speed of life is unreal. "Re-entry" to "civilization" is hard to handle. We felt very overwhelmed by the speed of traffic and people, the concrete, the number of people, and just the over-all chaos and "hecticness" of it all.As much as we look forward to completing the trail, we also look forward to the "real world," but at a pace that is slower, and more quiet than the "big city buzz."Jerzee Judge took us to dinner at a fabulous restaraunt in South Jersey. It was great food and good drinks. We had a very good evening visiting with him. Thank you so much for all your kindness.We are looking forward to getting back on the trail after a day in the big city. We hope to be in CT by the end of the week. We will see. We did update two of our earlier journal entries, 5/31/05 Washington Monument, and 6/4/05 Woody.
Date: 2005-06-19
From: High Point State Park

To: Stream prior to Luthers Rock
Miles today: 22.5

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!We woke up this morning at Jerzee Judge's house at 5:30am. Hit the road, literally, at 6am. We drove 3 hours and 20 minutes to get back to High Point State Park. We said our goodbyes and thanked Jerzee Judge and his wife for their hospitality. While at their house we ate well and it was nice to stay in an actual house.The weather was good for hiking, overcast and 60 degrees. The trail was rocky to start, but it was great to finally hike on some dirt again after hundreds of miles of rocks.We met two other thru-hikers today, Laurin and Tomcat.The first "landmark" on the trail was a viewing platform that you could see Highpoint Monument from. We hiked up Pochuck Mtn.. Before topping out their was a vista with a wonderful view of Highpoint Monument in the distance. It was hard to believe that we had hiked today from the monument in the distance all the way to this vista. We then continued and topped out on Pochuck.We hiked on the Pochuck-Quagmire Boardwalk, then walked over the new Pochuck Creek suspension bridge. Jerzee Judge helped with the building of these.We got to Rte 94 and went left .1m to the Heaven Hill Farm Fruit and Produce store. We had some cold sodas, milk, brownies, and ice-cream. We then filled up our water and headed on.We climbed up to Pinwheel Vista and Waywayanda Mtn.. We started to look for a campsite. We found a place just beyond a stream and near Luther's Rock. It was a nice evening, nice night for sleeping in a tent. We have been in motels quite a bit recently. Actually, we can't remember the last night we tented. Maybe Dan Spring?We set up the tent at 8:30pm and in bed by 9:15pm.
Date: 2005-06-20
From: Stream prior to Luthers Rock

To: East Mombasha Road
Miles today: 22.1

We woke up this morning at 5:30am, but it was just a little chilly (53 degrees), so we slept in until 6:15am.We hiked past Luther's Rock, then hiked over Bear Fort Mtn. We then crossed the state line from NJ to NY! Shortly there after, we met up with Skeeterfeeder on Prospect Rock. There was a great view from there overlooking Greenwood Lake.We hiked A LOT of rocky ridges. Some of the rock walking and boulder climbing was insane. One section even had a wooden ladder just to get up it.At NY 17A road crossing we read a faded sign saying "Ice Cream Stand .1m" with an arrow pointing left. Which way do you think we turned? Left of course! We each had a big banana split and some sodas. We then filled our water from their spigot. The name of the ice-cream stand is Bellvale Creamery.We hiked over Cat Rocks where we encountered our first SKUNK! It was 18 inches off the trail to the left of us. Cubby saw it first and just said quickly, "Ou, ou, skunk, go, go, go!" It had it's back to us with it's tail up and twitching. It's head was turned looking over it's shoulder at us. Boston said she even saw it's butt hole. That baby was ready to fire!We saw Fitzgerald's Falls. It was very pretty, but the trail next to it was straight up. We climbed up to Mombasha High Point. New York City is suppose to be visible from here but we didn't see it.At West Mombasha Road there was trail magic left by the Tuxedo Hikers. It was a cooler full of water jugs. We refilled our water. We now had enough water to dry camp. We hiked another 1.7 miles, including Buchanan Mtn. We cooked dinner right away. The mosquitos were fierce and ferocious. We wore our rain gear as we set up tent, cooked, ate, and got ready to get into the tent.In the tent at 8pm. The mosquitos were outside trying to get in. We think that if it were not for this tent, there would be no trace of our bodies in the morning -- all eaten by mosquitos.
Date: 2005-06-21
From: East Mombasha Road

To: Hudson River, Bear Mtn. Bridge
Miles today: 21.8

Today was "Hike Naked Day". We did not.We got up early, we had a long way to go and a short time to get there. We had to make it through the zoo at Bear Mtn. before closing time of 5pm. We ended up getting there at 4:20pm. We found out from Park Service workers that the back service gate is locked closed prior to 5pm, so we had to hurry through the zoo. We took pictures in the zoo in front of the bear exhibit, this is the lowest point on the entire A.T. at 124 feet in elevation.The mosquitos were terrible this morning.Deer followed us on the trail twice today. It is interesting to see how they are not afraid of us, more curious than anything.We met two section hikers, Wave and Water, today.We did a LOT of CLIMBING today. There were steep ups and steep downs. We walked around Little Dam Lake, but the lake wasn't so little. We crossed the NY state thru-way and entered the Harriman State Park where we went through the infamous Lemon Squeezer. The Lemon Squeezer is a narrow shoot through rock with rock wall sides. All the climbs today were steep and rocky and too numerous to count.Started off the day with trail magic. We found jugs of water first thing this morning at the first road crossing. Thanks again to the Tuxedo Hikers. We also had another trail magic, a can of soda at Harriman State Park.It was not our best day on the trail today due to long, hot, ups & downs, and rocks, topped off with a zoo closing time.On the top of Bear Mountain we discovered that the water fountain is out of commission. Fortunately a couple of workers gave us a bottle of water.Just before getting to the zoo we walked through Bear Mtn. State Park. It looked like a nice place to DRIVE to and enjoy the day.Cubby hitched us a ride from the zoo's back service gate to the Bear Bridge Motel in Fort Montgomery, NY. It was nice to finally get off our feet. We did our laundry at the Holiday Inn across the street. Cubby then hitched us a ride from a motel guest to the Key Grocery Store to resupply for our next days into Kent, CT.