morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-20
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: broken clouds

5 things that a thru-hiker is concerned with before starting their hike. #1 Weather ¢ today was a blessing compared to yesterday, from 90 degrees to 65 degrees with a breeze, Sweet! #2 Where¢s my next meal or re-supply town ¢ I have 1 ounce of fuel so I¢m forced to go into town day after tomorrow. #3 Distance how far I can/will hike today. How far is the next shelter? #4 Water availability ¢ Today I went down a blue blaze thinking it was a spring, only I didn¢t see the sign on the tree that was unusually high up on the tree (about 20 ft.) that said it was a side trail. #5 Terrain/Elevation ¢ Today was a lot of loose rocks up a long climb. It was tough on both Bono and I and we took a break once at the top, or so we thought it was the top!As I said, today was such a nice day for hiking. Nice cool air, slight mist at 6 a.m. leaving Clarks Ferry Shelter. The next shelter we passed sat next to the original shelter built by Earl Shaffer (¢The Crazy One) who was the first to walk the AT from end to end. Next we came upon these crazy rocks with loose leaf notes on them. Upon closer examination, I saw it said ¢Beware of Rattlesnakes!¢ Just then I remembered ¢Diamo¢ saying that it was also warned in the thru-hiker companion! I grabbed Bono¢s pack and made him walk behind until we got through that section. Some hikers said they did see rattlers today! Just what I need.The hiking was fairly easy until we crossed PA 325. The trail then climbed up for 550 ft. to 1650 ft! It was 3 miles of loose baseball sized rocks! Poor Bono, his paws had it so rough 2 days in a row. I felt so bad I kept contemplating ¢Should I put his mittens on or let him go?¢ He seemed like he was making it okay, so I left well enough.Took a break right before topping out. Shoes off to air out the feet. Saw another hummingbird, but wasn¢t quick enough with the camera. Put in our biggest day yet at 24.3 and 14 hours of hiking. It usually gets tough right at the end of the hike to the shelter. I thought this time would be no different. It started to get ¢sloppy¢ towards the end, but suddenly opened up to the smoothest trail with grass growing on each side ¢ kind of like a scene from the Wizard of Oz! I felt bad for Bono, so I took his pack. Had I known the trail was going to go smooth, I would have kept it on him. Had his pack on my shoulders with my hike sticks. He was spooked by this and started playing around. Guess he¢s okay.
Date: 2007-06-21
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

501, here we come! Pizza, burgers, jalape±o poppers!!!!! Real food, the kind that I don¢t have to cook, can be ordered at this shelter. That was what I heard before I went to bed and that motivated me to get up at 4:30 and out by 5:30 to finish at 2 p.m. for a 17.4 mile day.First section wasn¢t too bad, some ups and downs, some road crossings, creek crossing for Bono to take his ¢daily dip.¢ Then came probably the worst part of the day that was poison ivy alley! A narrow corridor of Ivy with rocks under foot that you couldn¢t see. I thought all along it was poison ivy, but now I¢m not sure. I stepped along to try to avoid it all day long. If it was ivy I will catch it, no doubt! Next was boulder alley, loose boulders on edge. It really gave my hip and Bono¢s paws a grueling test! And then of course it was right at the end that it went from pleasant flat rock hopping elevation, but all in all I can¢t complain. Done by 2 instead of 8 p.m. like the night before. 12-15 even 15-18 is a doable day where it doesn¢t totally wear you down like 24 miles does.Today everyone reported snake sightings. Knock on wood, Bono and I didn¢t see one! Every time he turned back to investigate with a sniff, I would grab his attention back to the trail. He¢s exceeded my expectation for performance these past 3 days! His pads are actually only 1 year old even though he will be 3 years in July. Last year he tore all his pads off after he water logged them and ran on a rocky graveled road. I have to watch them close and I wanted to put his ¢mittens¢ on, but thought I should see how he¢s fair against the rocks early on in the journey. Tomorrow it¢s the ¢Clinton push¢ which will be 23.7 miles. I might have it in me to get up early enough. I am going light with hardly any food as is Bono. Also bought a roast beef for a lunch. It might give me a slight push.
Date: 2007-06-22
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: broken clouds

¢24 Miles of Rocks¢Boulders and rocks - both are your friends. Don¢t fight them ¢ you can¢t beat them. Be flexible, don¢t cuss because if they hear you, they will become many and make it more difficult for you! They said (whose they?) that the PA rocks are notorious ¢ they (who ever they are!) are right, no doubt! It started at 5:30 a.m. ¢ ¢Ah, this ain¢t so bad¢ and it didn¢t let up. Not for a moment. But at least there is variety. At first they were big and set apart so you could do long strides. They were close and you had no choice, you are going to step on one of them. Loose rocks almost got me once or ¢Trice.¢ But there¢s nothing to do but go forward! I wondered how they stood on edge and how good it felt when I felt them pushing through my sneaker ¢ boot. Sometimes the rocks were rubble and going uphill made it ¢not fun!¢ Going down made it even less fun! How did they get sharp ¢ is someone sharpening them just to make life difficult? My poor dog blew out 2 tires and cut up his paws. It hurt me watching him make his way through the boulder mine field.The beginning of the day started with a positive sign ¢ a Papillion landed on my shoulder, did the sign mean step lite or was it my GF saying hi? Boulders, rocks ¢ blah, blah, blah. Can¢t say much more about how looooong the day was. My last chance for water saw me come upon ¢Sniper¢ ¢Gameon,¢ and ¢Trail Blaze¢ sitting next to a sign ¢Dry Spring¢ after I ¢yogied¢ some water for my dog; it was 4 miles in with dry mouth. Coming down into Port Clinton was steep. I¢m talking loose marble rocks and high drops of some 3 ft! But after a long day and the promise of free food and drink ¢ you somehow find strength in your legs and your step quickens. If it was 90 degrees I would have never made it!
Date: 2007-06-24
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

Even though I was the first one to leave the pavilion, I had to wait up for the others because I couldn¢t find my way out of Port Clinton. Once I knew where I was going (North!), I was on my way. Took some time to let Bono swim in the river, then we climbed up Pocahontas Spring. Once there, I came upon ¢Bocephus¢ who was ready to cook, but had no spoon. I lent him mine and as I walked away I turned ¢Don¢t lose it¢) and continued on through the rock jungle. I helped Bono with his pack over the rough stuff, hoping it would help with the healing of his gashes in his paws. Passed ¢M&M¢ about 4 times throughout the day. Took a break with ¢Game-on,¢ ¢Sniper,¢ ¢M&M¢ and ¢Bocephus¢ on Pinicle Rock at which point I was out of water again! Last time it wasn¢t my fault. The spring was dry. This time it was my fault. I neglected to pick some up and also forgot to fill Bono¢s pack with water. Other hikers shared with Bono. I waited until I made it to the spring 2 miles away.We took a lot of breaks as Bono doesn¢t seem to have it in him these days. If we can just make it through the rocks! I remember what the guy at Trail Days said, ¢If you can avoid PA all together with your dog, do so. Not much water. Rocks and snakes! With new rubber for my feet and his paws being sent to Wind Gap post office, we should be okay.I noticed the other day after looking in the mirror for the first time in a long time that I look like an Amish! Fitting since I¢m hiking through Amish country. Met a couple hiking who fell in love with my dog. They ended up giving me a ride to Eckville Shelter, .02, but what the heck, it¢s .02. I don¢t need to hike! They gave me a sourdough muffin (Banana nut) which was good and wished me good luck. Nice shelter by a road with a caretaker, Mick< who right from the get go wasn¢t friendly to hikers? Everyone pitched at the tent site across the street. I was able to get a shower in, which felt good even though it was cold. Some guy came by with free ice cream, nice surprise. Cooked, did chores and the like and went to bed. Not very exciting. Maybe I¢ll have more to write about tomorrow?
Date: 2007-06-25
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Blue Mt. Summit B&B
Miles today: 0.0

Roll away the dew ¢ everything is wet, yet it didn¢t rain. I slept alright since it was nice and cool. Now do I put his booties on or let him go without? I keep playing this mental chess game with myself and I continue to think it¢s a hit or miss either way I go? It¢s very frustrating because I want to do the miles, but I can¢t carrying his pack along with mine. I guess I¢ll have to take it slow and play it smart. Not too high mileage until his paws heal. Darn ¢ Darn ¢ PA!Walked down to the spring at Allen Town Hiking Club Shelter, walked way down, 17 min. roundtrip with no water to show for. Left a message in the shelter journal, ¢No water at spring¢ and pushed on. Took a break from carrying Bono¢s pack on a nice flat rock. Boy that was a nice rock! The rock was the length of my body and it felt nice to lay on it and look up at the trees. It was a cool rock, I mean the rock was cold and it brought my body temp down as I lay there. Just then the silence was broken ¢Bowleg!¢ It was ¢Highlife¢ who had left the 11 or so others who all went to a brewery tour of the Yueng-ling brewery. I guess it¢s the oldest Brewery in America since 1829? Once I came to PA 309 there¢s the Blue Mt. Summit B&B that¢s only open Thur ¢ Sun, so I sat on the porch and had a late lunch at 2:30. The thru-hikers companion says you can pitch out back if you ask, but there¢s no one here to ask and Bono is not walking right. Short day today, 11.5 and tomorrows going to be 90+. Guess I¢ll give him another 0 day. My mail drop coming on Thursday to Wind Gap, so I would have to stop and wait somewhere for it. I figured why not right here. So I decided this was the place, little noisy with the 18 wheelers going by every 5 minutes, but no complaints from Bono. He slept a lot and licked his ¢pitty paw,¢ the paw that got ¢crimped¢ between two rocks. I doctored it up with Neosporin and put his booty back on so he wouldn¢t lick it. Hope he comes around. I don¢t want to do this journey without him. We¢ve come so far together and I hope we can make it over these little setbacks.
Date: 2007-06-26
From: Blue Mt. Summit B&B

To: Blue Mt. Summit B&B
Miles today: 0.0

Sometime in August of 07, the Anctil¢s (Bowleg and Bono) and The Dubes will be hosting Food and Spirits Reunion Festival.The official date will be August 18 and 19. There will be free transportation for hikers from Rte 25 (Glenncliff, NH), where the AT crosses right from the hiker hostel. This event will be open to all family, friends, AMA students and the class of 07 thru-hikers.Activities and spirits will be included. Food, spirits, activities for kids (including water baby catching contest), music, kite flying, martial arts demonstrations, fireworks and girls! Lots of them with no teeth! And much, much more! So bring your tent. Times will be start time on the Saturday at 8 a.m. and will end ¢ pack up and leave time for all non hikers is Sunday at noon. The setting is a lot that overlooks the Vermont countryside with beautiful sunsets and a church bell that sounds quite often. Plenty of tent space. Tunes and a porta potty ¢ no showers!It will be great to see everyone again and to spend some relaxing time ¢ some R&R is well deserved by everyone! So keep your eyes and ears peeled for a definite date for the event.I¢m just sitting here writing, sweltering, and contemplating my next move. ¢M&M,¢ ¢Tom B,¢ ¢Sniper,¢ ¢Game-on¢ and ¢Driftwood¢ all just came through for water and a food break. They are carrying on another 6 today in this 90 degree weather. I think I made a good call for once with taking another 0 day. Hasn¢t seemed like much mileage, but I guess it has been. A guy just drove up in his car. I asked him for a ¢paid ride.¢ He wasn¢t able to, but he said I could take a bike with low air in the tires ¢ 3 miles to town. I¢m thinking about it, but coming back up the hill will be the tough part. I will see how motivated I get. I pulled a couple ticks off Bono that was my excitement for the day ¢ actually another bit of excitement is I think I do have poison ivy. Just in time with the 90 degree weather ¢ YEAH!
Date: 2007-06-27
From: Blue Mt. Summit B&B

To: Porch of the Palmerton Hotel
Miles today: 13.6

70 degrees at 7 a.m. and only climbing on the Mercury scale! Sent $15.00 with ¢Caffeine Junkie¢ and he never showed back up! Talk on the trail is that he¢s known for this kind of stunt. Oh well, he¢ll have to live with it. We headed out, Bono¢s ¢slack packing,¢ me carrying his pack. Guess what the trail conditions were? Exactly! Rocks, rocks, and more rocks! Only this time there was a bit more variety with ¢The cliffs Knife Edge¢ and ¢Bear Rocks.¢ Good test for things to come. Like tomorrow at Lehigh Gap and NH with Wild Cat. Bono worked hard today with his busted booties slipping and sliding all over the rocks. The first shelter we got to had water half a mile down, so I elected not to go since I had still some left. Then we were exposed for 4 miles on Lehigh Furnace Gap and it was 90 degrees this day! Walking through Game Land they decided to mark hunting zones with white, just like the AT, only a slightly (and I emphasize ¢slightly¢) different shape! Talk about trying to confuse people! Made it to George W Outer Bridge Shelter at 2:30. Ran into some Trail Magic hanging there ¢ Gatorade, granola bars, tobacco (tobacco didn¢t help me, but the Gatorade did) and decided to stay then changed my mind and decided it was too early to stop and packed it all up. Bono wasn¢t too happy with me, but I wanted to get close to this 1,000 vertical rock scramble so I would be ready first thing in the morning.Crossed the Lehigh Gap River and looked for a place where Bono could go down and swim no luck. Started up to the base of the climb, but then turned around back to the road to civilization and some food. I was feeling shaky. Got a ride from this guy Dave who just finished his day of sanding, drywall. Saw he had a case of 10 oz ¢soodas¢ and commented ¢those look good!¢ So he ended up giving me 1 then 5 more when he dropped me in town by the pizza joint. As I was eating pizza in the parking lot with Bono ¢Slinky Dog¢ saw me and came over to chat. They asked where I was going to sleep; ¢No clue¢ I told them and said I was hoping to get back to the base of the trail for a fresh start tomorrow. As I ate my pizza (sharing with Bono of course) and talked with people as my phone was charging, ¢Slinky Dog¢ came back and said I could stay on the porch of the hotel. Since there was an electrical storm coming through, I thought that was a great idea, so here I am 5 p.m. writing in my journal.
Date: 2007-06-28
From: Porch of the Palmerton Hotel

To: Leroy J Smith
Miles today: 0.0

After my noisy (but dry) night on the balcony of the Parlmenton Hotel, I decided breakfast was a good idea. So me ¢Slinky and Dog¢ walked up the street for some French toast, hash, eggs, toast, coffee, OJ and a water. We all decided the energy would do us good for our climb out of Lehigh Gap. The start of the near vertical rock scramble started with a steep climb on loose gravel and then the slabs of rocks came. From the start I knew I had a challenge on my hands as I lifted Bono by his harness and he lost footing! I held him pinned to the rock as I searched for higher hand and foot holes. Once found, I could press him up to the next ledge. Another time I squatted down and scooped him up and threw him to a rock ledge! All in all, he did great, but boy was he tired! Earlier on during the sketchy stuff, I stayed to help ¢Slinky Dog¢ get their poles and pack up to a shelf rock. It was a team effort. Passed some graffiti on the rock, one was an American Flag; the other stated ¢Osama Must Die.¢ After the vertical challenge, I stopped to pick blueberries to leave for someone as Trail Magic and it was continued onward and upward.Once on the top, it looked like an atomic bomb went off! It was desolate and exposed, thankfully it was slightly breezy. Picked up some extra water someone left at a road crossing and that helped us out. Another short climb on Big Boulders and an encounter with an angry black snake that Bono caught wind of and it was on to more rock trails ¢ what¢s new ¢ till the bitter end. When you do 14 hours a day, the morning seems so long ago that you begin to think it was yesterday.Bono is definitely breaking down as well as my sneakers. It will be good to each get new rubber in Wind Gap tomorrow. Laundry and rest with a shower, but mostly rest for my hiking partner. Made it to the shelter by 5:30 and just beat the rain. Was undecided whether to pitch or not. Two section hikers pulled in later, so now we are kind of cramped in, so I¢m glad I have only 4.6 to hike into town tomorrow. I¢ll get my sleep then and sort through my mail drop. Quote, ¢You¢ll have good days; you¢ll have okay days, but never a bad day on the trail.¢
Date: 2007-06-30
From: Leroy J Smith

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: broken clouds

Left Room 114 at the Travel Lodge in Wind Gap at 9:40 a.m. ¢Tom B¢ had used M&M¢s car to get me there, ¢Good timing¢ I think were his words when me and Bono showed up. That was the previous day and it did a world of good for Bono getting some quality sleep in an AC room. As I walked toward the trailhead with packages in hand to send back to Nashua, I thought ¢how nice it was to have been to have a ride back to the trail. Guess I¢ll try thumbing. Tried for about 5 minutes and BINGO! This guy named Chris pulled over with his truck and offered to take me to the PO and the trail! IT was a good way to start the day with some luck! Once to the trail I thought how good my feet felt in my new boots. That good feeling lasted for about 5 miles when my feet started to scream! I thought I broke them in good, but obviously not good enough! I never thought I would be so happy to leave a state. PA took its toll on my dog and me and tons of other hikers to sign the last shelter journal before leaving PA. I knew NJ would have similar terrain for awhile, but at least it¢s not PA! I even turned on my camera and did a ¢leaving PA¢ segment! Pulling down the mountain and seeing the Delaware River was an awesome feeling. 7 states down and 7 to go! Stopped at the Deer Head Inn for a bite to eat. You know something different and then proceeded across the Delaware River Bridge PA/NJ state line with both our heads held high! Once in NJ we stealth camped right inside the parking lot by the Bridge. Since I had already eaten I didn¢t have to cook, so I caught up on journaling and got to bed fairly early.
Date: 2007-07-01
From: Wind Gap

To: Crater Lake Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 19.6

¢Agony of D¢feet!¢My feet were in so much pain today! I ended up taking out my inserts to make more room for my mashed toes! It worked to an extent, but since I didn¢t have my insert, my right hip began to feel the pounding of the trail, but it was a pain I was willing to deal with, anything but screaming swollen toes!The beautiful weather made up for all the rocks and anguish normally associated with a hike on a trial made entirely of rocks ¢ seems there is no escape from these rocks! After the no insert attempt I tried insert with no socks. That lasted about 5 miles and then it was back to no insert/sock mode. I¢m definitely lopsided when I have no ¢lifts¢ in my right shoe, so I have to tighten my pack tighter on my left shoulder to put more of the load on my left. So far it¢s been 2 days of nonstop adjustments to try and get around the pain from the new shoes. I went back to no socks with ¢glide¢ between by toes. Again, 5 miles accomplished.Hiked with ¢Gandolf¢ a hiker who has done the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Continental Devine Trail (CDT). Once he does the AT, he will be a triple crowner. Quite an accomplishment. Earlier in the day I hiked .5 miles up to an outfitter for a sandwich and some fuel. It was a nice stop, well worth it and the sandwich was not bad. Off to the trail again. I recounted the Korean guy I met. He asked a lot of questions. He didn¢t seem too impressed with my Korean. Every time I said something in Korean he wouldn¢t respond. I passed him and he and his wife caught up to me and I told him I had sore feet, he said soap. He said, you know soap. He then spelled it s-o-u-p! I started to explain there come up with something better than soap- I just agreed with him.
Date: 2007-07-02
From: Crater Lake Stealth Campsite

To: Mashipacong Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: broken clouds

The birds and daylight couldn¢t get me up this morning as I rolled over back to sleep ¢ a 7:30 a.m. start ¢ kind of late for me, but it was cold last night and the sleeping bag was very warm. Finally on the trail and not much further on I passed ¢Gandolf¢ who was just packing up. We hiked together for a bit then I went ahead.Fast Forward to Bear Encounter¢¦¢¦..The weather couldn¢t have been better with a cool breeze and 70 degree temps. The trail, as usual, had been scattered rocks with some smooth trail. As we (Bono and I) hit this ridge, the wind was blowing nice and strong and I thought about kite flying last summer up north on a similar day. As we headed down this trail, the other side of the trail had the same features with both sides coming down to meet. As we made our way down, I noticed this dog coming down the other side to meet us. I thought, ¢That¢s cool, someone else is out walking their dog today!¢ When it finally dawned on me, there is no owner, this is a bear! Coming right at us! Just as I realized what was about to happen, I called out to Bono and got his attention before he saw who was coming! Bono turned and came back to me and the bear (he had a nice dark face, different from the bears in VA) turned 180 degrees as well and kind of went back to where he came from. As he did that, I saw a shadow off to my right side peer up from the tall shrubs. Another bear. This one only 20 yards away! Both bears were not in a hurry to leave ad Bono was starting to sniff them out. At least 1 min. past and finally they both took off running. The problem was it went down below me parallel to the trail. I saw one bear pass and stop behind me; the other bear was just below me. They pretty much has us pickled! The one that was close obviously wasn¢t going to be scared off, so I took Bono and scurried away up the trail looking over my shoulder. It was an intense moment, one in which I didn¢t even draw out my camera.