morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-18
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Yellow Springs Village Site
Miles today: 24.2

Day 97 -- We got up early, had another great breakfast at Goodie's (A lo Hawk, Red Dog, and Lucky Dog were there too, but left before us), and headed out of town. After crossing the Susquahanna (we forded it...just kidding--it was a car bridge), we had a great climb. At the top, we stopped in Clarks Ferry Shelter where Hot Cheese, Birdbath, and A lo Hawk were. Dude (saw him in town yesterday, but mostly kept to himself as far as I could tell, so I didn't get to talk to him) came in for water and was gone. This was probably the last time we'll see Hot Cheese and Birdbath for the rest of the trip since they are getting off for two weeks for a wedding. We had fun chatting and then moved on, knowing we were going for high miles today to try to make up for our zero yesterday. We are still trying to meet my cousin, Angela, at the same spot as was planned before the day off. We need to do 45 miles in two days--do-able, but long tiring days for us--but worth it. It was a pretty quick hike to Peters Mountain Shelter where we had lunch with Dude (who we actualy got to talk to) and A lo Hawk. After lunch, as we were hiking through lots of rocks of all sizes, Wrongway spots a black snake which we check out. As it slithered under a rock, Wrongway crouches down to see better and comes nose-to-nose with a rattlesnake. He was really lucky it just checked him out and decided not to give him the time of day. Well, he decides he wants to play with it, so I, of course, step back, say a few prayers, and take a picture of him going after it. It rattled at him, but not once did it strike. He got the snake's head with his trekking pole and replaced the pole with his hand, and then proceeded to come over to me. I took a few steps back, but I did eventually pet it--its skin is much rougher than the others I've felt so far. As Wrongway was letting it go, A lo Hawk came around the bend and checked out the rattler. Wrongway tried to catch it again so A lo Hawk could pet it, but the sneaky guy slid under a bunch of rocks. Our first rattler of the trip! We ended up doing 22-24 miles today and will have to do around the same tomorrow--glad it'll be a short day after that for some rest. We stayed at Yellow Springs Village Site (tenting) tonight and enjoyed a nice fire in the cool evening.
Date: 2008-06-19
From: Yellow Springs Village Site

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 98 -- Up and out fast and early this morning to do the long day to 501 Shelter to meet my cousin, Angela, at 6:30 for dinner. It only took us a little less than 1 and 1/2 hours to get to Rausch Gap Shelter, which made us believe the Companion's mileage was off between the camping area and other places. Other hikers commented on it too. So we think yesterday's mileage was higher than I wrote, and today's is lower. Anyway, we stopped there and said hello to Billy, Filadelfia, Ellie, and Loveboat and headed on. We leap-frogged with these friends as well as A lo Hawk and Blake, the latter of whom was camped at the last shelter and we didn't see him. We ran into people, talked, rested, ate...it was nice to have a bunch of people around again that were going similar distances and enjoying each other's company. The trail between lunch and the William Penn Shelter seemed to take forever. Our guide said there was a woods road one mile south of the shelter so that is what we were looking for. Eventually we ran into a clearing and it was the shelter--yea! A pleasant surprise! Blake, A lo Hawk, Geezer, Helo, and Miyamay were there, some resting, some in for the night (and Filadelfia came in, too). The last four miles went by fast with A lo Hawk with us talking, and after Ron's apple trail magic at the road, walked and talked with Blake. Billy and Barefoot Sage were already there, and after finding out Angela couldn't make it, ordered pizza for dinner since we were so close to the road. The whole crew eventually got in and most had their fair share of pizza. We met Ron, the caretaker. Some played Hearts and Poker. I'm beat from the second 20 in a row--looks like another tomorrow to get close to Port Clinton to get in to the Post Office before it closes (on Saturday).
Date: 2008-06-20
From: 501 Shelter

To: Auburn Lookout
Miles today: 22.5

Day 99 --Yes, folks, you read that correctly...this is our third 20 miler in a row! This is a first for us! OK, so we got a late start (being lazy after pushing so hard the last two days). We met Danger Danjo and Site passing by from the previous shelter and we actually kept up with them for a couple of miles and then later stopped to rest with them at an overlook and blue blaze to a spring. A young backpacking group had passed us earlier and told us the spring was dry, and we relayed the info to Danger, but he was all out and decided to check it out anyway. While he was gone, Dude stopped by, too. We left before Danger returned, but they later caught up to us at another view and told us about his 500 rock step descent to a dry spring. That stinks. Well, we all filed in and hiked around all the tons of rocks to near a creek where we found Blake a little flustered from a close encounter with a rattler. Of course, Wrongway raced over, caught it, and everyone got to pet it. After filling up on water we hiked a few more miles before having lunch and hiking on. It seemed to take forever to get to Eagle's Nest Shelter, where the other guys were resting and fueling up for their hike all the way into Port Clinton. I snacked, laid down, and dozed off. On our way out (though neither of us felt like moving on) we met mother/son section hikers getting water and then Ellie and Loveboat at the trail junction. These two were going to try to make it into town and we joined them for the first few miles. Ellie was leading and she had us flyin'! Thank goodness for them and their company--they really raised our spirits. We made it to Auburn Lookout just after the sun slid behind some clouds--I love the lining the sun makes on the clouds. We camped across the way. Great day!
Date: 2008-06-21
From: Auburn Lookout

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 1.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 100 -- We slept in a little this morning and descended to Port Clinton--a pretty steep downhill, too. At the bottom of the hill we had to wait for the train to pass before crossing and went straight to the Post Office for my maildrop. Then we went to the outfitter to try to get Wrongway a new pack or refit his current one--no luck either way. After checking in to the Port Clinton Hotel and showering, we went down to the Pavilion and talked to Bag of Tricks and Pack Animal (with whom we had hiked down). We had a huge lunch at the Hotel with Filadelfia and after browsing, but not buying, at the Peanut shop, I hung out in the room and watched TV. After some issues we finally found a pizza place to deliver to us, so we had Pizza Hut and watched "Longest Yard" on TV.We're standing here waiting to cross the tracks (at Port Clinton).
Date: 2008-06-22
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

Day 101 -- Slept in this morning, leftover pizza for breakfast, checked out, headed to the outfitter one last time, and hiked north of town. We saw both a water snake and a garter snake before lunch at Windsor Furnace Shelter. We climbed up to a rock outcropping called "The Pulpit" and talked with a local couple and their visiting son from Colorado, and we officially met Cranky Pete (saw him yesterday in town). We hiked around the ridge to The Pinnacle, another rock outcropping with great views of the countryside below. For most of the day I wasn't really into it...the hiking thing...but I know I'll have those days. I still love it out here--so on I go. There was no room at the inn at Eckville Shelter, but there was tenting space, so we stuck around. I ate a lot out of my food bag tonight for dinner--hope I can feel the weight differnce tomorrow!
Date: 2008-06-23
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 102 -- I was up early this morning, but Wrongway wasn't feeling this getting up early thing, so we didn't leave until after 8. It's a good thing we did, though, because on our way back to the trail we ran into Hot Cheese and Bird Bath, who we didn't think we'd see again on the trail. They were hot on our tails and apparently got up early to try to catch us! What great people. We stood there and caught up (and showed rattlesnake pictures) for almost an hour. We hope to see them in Delaware Water Gap on Thursday before they get off for a wedding. We started up the trail about 9-ish and I had a great climb. We stopped at Dan's Pulpit for a while, as well as lots of other places. We made lots of stops for views and talk and rest. We lunched at Allentown Hiking Club Shelter with Danger Danjo, Site, and Blake coming in to join us for a while. In the afternoon the trail switched between really clear and flat to really, really rocky. We got into camp after sunset and just before it got pitch dark. We had to use headlamps for the last few tenths. I hope the other hikers aren't too annoyed with our late arrival while they are trying to sleep. PS...We met Christian and Mike, dayhikers, close to the shelter. Nice guys!
Date: 2008-06-24
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: about 1.5 mi south of Leroy A Smith Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: few clouds

Day 103 -- We got up early thanks to Turtle D. and Turtle M. and their early rising--we were hoping that would work that way. We knew we had a long day ahead of us and geared ourselves up for it. The Turtles headed out before us as did Pack Animal, who had tented. We passed Red Dog and Lucky Dog, packing up, on our way out. Even after a mile I was glad we didn't night hike last night like we contemplated--it was pretty rocky...both small ankle-twisters (as Blake calls them) and medium and large-sized boulders. We passed the Turtles and Pack Animal in a larger boulder field and leap-frogged with them throughout the morning. On the last part of the ridge for the morning we stopped and took a pack-off break to pick blueberries--yea! We've been waiting for them! Yum! At the George W. Outerbridge Shelter I camelled up with four liters of water--yes, all you bakpackers know that's a lot to carry. Well, we've been informed by multiple reliable sources about the lack of water on the next stretch--about 16 miles. I knew we had a climb ahead of us, too--a steep one. We met Sailor (SOBO sectioner) on the way down the gap who warned us about the rocks coming up. Anyway, at Lehigh Gap, Wrongway called a pizza place in Palmerton and they delivered us some lunch to a parking lot near the trail. Why do we always think pizza is a good idea? Of course, we ate too much and had a heavy stomach for our big climb--oh well--it was good and we had leftovers for snack and dinner. The climb out of Lehigh Gap was very steep and rocky and TONS of fun. There were a couple of miles of large boulder-hopping with a few places where we needed to climb up with both hands and lift ourselves up! I kinda wished there had been more of that. As we were climbing we could see Site, Danger Danjo, and Blake hundreds of feet down, at the bridge, and then on their way up. After that rocky climb and a long, exposed ridge walk (all very hot with the sun beating on us, draining us) the guys caught up to us, breaking in the shade, and told us they could see us, too. Both parties have pictures of the other. (Aside: I accidentally left my phone on, got a call from Fivel, my cousin, who is going to finish her New Jersey AT section on Saturday and I'm going to join her--fun!) So we kept chugging, enjoying the clouds blocking the sun and the couple of rain sprinkles (although quite cold). As of this point though, as much as we love the rocks, they were definitely starting to take their toll on us. We just tried to race through to the shelter, but we had a ways to go. A few miles after seeing Lucky Dog and her camp, and a couple of miles before the shelter, we stopped to camp. We needed a break--we'll just tack the extra two miles onto tomorrow to go to town.
Date: 2008-06-25
From: about 1.5 mi south of Leroy A Smith Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: broken clouds

Day 104 -- We weren't up as early as we hoped...guess we were really beat from all the rocks yesterday. When we got to the Leroy A. Smith Shelter we figured out that we only had 1.5 miles to go to get to the shelter last night when we stopped. We pretty much raced through the day...Wrongway wanted to get to the Post Office before it closed. We didn't stop much or for long. There were rocks EVERYWHERE! :>) You know I love the rocks, but I was pushing so hard it didn't feel like I was getting anywhere, tripping over rocks left and right...but it was all good...we made it to town on time and headed to the hostel where we met Caveman, Tenderfoot, and Christian (day-hiking from Switzerland). Billy was hanging around waiting for his dad and dad's friend, Lou, both of whom we met when they came to pick him up. RJ also came in. On the way to dinner we saw Scrabble, Scooter, and Partygirl coming back from pizza after their tubing expedition. We went to the Water Gap Diner and I had a fantastic seafood bisque, French fries with gravy, and a great shrimp scampi. We also had fun conversation with Matt and two of the employees. We saw Barefoot Sage at the Pizza Place and met Smokin' Joe there, too. Everyone was hanging out when we got to the hostel...Bill and Hammerdown were also there. Filadelfia Greenberg night-hiked in later, too.
Date: 2008-06-26
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Day 105 -- We slept in...yea! Breakfast at the diner was, of course, fantastic. We stopped at the outfitters but they didn't have what either of us were looking for. I got my food resupply taken care of and we took a trolley ride around the area...fun stuff. Red Dog, Lucky Dog, Elli, and Loveboat all came in this morning. When we came back we walked to the gas station and got some Powerade and chocolate milk. On the way back we saw Loveboat and Elli sitting at a picnic table near the pie shop along the creek, so we went over to join them. We chatted about the Long Trail, rocks, and other fun stuff. Heading back to the hostel for a free dinner by the church members, we saw Hot Cheese, her sister, and Birdbath, who drove from Wind Gap today to leave the trail for a couple of weeks--we're going to miss them! They drove through town just to find us...how awesome is that! Five steps later Blake pulls up in his convertible, cotton street clothes, and a haircut/trim and we talked to him for a while. By the time we got back to the hostel it was dinner time--and what a dinner it was. Hot dogs, chicken and peas, salads, veggies, fruit, desserts gallore! What great hospitality! New hikers into the hostel: Recurve and a SOBO woman and her dog.
Date: 2008-06-27
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Blue Mountain Lakes Rd. (YMCA Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec)
Miles today: 22.6

Day 106 -- I got up at 5 a.m. because I luckily heard Barefoot Sage trying to track down a mouse that had tried to get her food. I packed up, said goodbye, and headed out to the trail, solo. (Wrongway was taking another day off.) I crossed over the Delaware River on a walkway on the I80E bridge, which I could feel moving/swaying underneath me. As I entered the woods on the other side of the highway, Caveman passed me. When I caught up to him he was talking to Blake about a third of the way up the climb. Blake was getting slackpacked by his brother, Chris, and he and I hiked the entire rest of the day together. Near the top of the climb we saw a medium sized bear. By the time I saw it, it had already seen us. It crossed over the trail in front of us, poked around and then started walking down the trail towards us. We slowly backed up and it crossed back, but it seemed like it was going to end up where we were and by that time Caveman had caught up and the three of us decided to walk by it on the trail. The bear then walked fast away from the trail--cool bear sighting. We had a gorgeous hike around Sunfish Pond. There was another bear sighting--this one was significantly larger and ran off, which caused us to notice him. A few miles from the end of the day we saw another medium-sized one, eating, and who, like the first one, didn't seem too concerned about us. We arrived at the Blue Mountain Lakes Road and sat around chatting until Blake's brother picked him up. Our day went by so fast, with chatting, bear sighting, and a cooler temperature than expected. I'm really glad I ran into Blake this morning. Barefoot Sage came up and after deciding to go to the YMCA's Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec for the night, Chris and Blake gave us a ride there. We got in the water, had a fabulous dinner, great conversation, and enjoyed the bullfrogs' calls and the gorgeous pond in front of us.
Date: 2008-06-28
From: Blue Mountain Lakes Rd. (YMCA Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec)

To: US 206, Culvers Gap
Miles today: 10.6

Day 107 -- I was up at the crack of 5, :>), enjoyed a beautiful sunrise over the pond, and headed up the 0.8 mi. back to the road. It was definitely worth the extra mileage. Barefoot Sage and I passed Caveman and Tenderfoot camped by the road, and hiked along the ridge. I felt like I was dragging all day, probably because I had a lot of stuff on my mind and was also achin' to see Fivel, who I was supposed to meet at Brink Road Shelter. She only had the four miles from there to Culvers Gap left for her New Jersey section. (We took one break during the day, after following my lead on the wrong trail, but it did lead back to the AT.) After I hiked back to cover the trail I missed (yes, I'm a purist) we sat down for a snack. When I went to go "use a tree" I scared a bear away. Later in the day, near a gorgeous view of the clouds lower than the mountain tops, we spotted a mama bear and two cubs--pretty cool. Around 10:30 (at least fifteen minutes late to meet Fivel), Barefoot Sage is convinced that we missed the shelter...I wasn't so sure since I felt like I was dragging. We later stopped and called Fivel and she started hiking north. Barefoot Sage called me as she was going down to Culvers Gap, so I started hiking south to meet her. We had a great short hike to the Gap, and stopped at a store for grilled cheese, chocolate milk, and a Sprite (not all at the same time). We sat around and talked to Barefoot Sage for a while, and then we headed to the parking lot to wait for Bandana Man (my uncle). We spent the rest of the evening catching up and eating at Bandana Man's home. I sat with Bandana Man while he captioned my new pictures and learned about the program my cousin, John, wrote to help out the process. I heard about Kevin's camp at a fabulous dinner of tilapia, rice, and broccoli. Brian joined us for part of the meal since he wouldn't be around tomorrow for dinner when his family was coming over for dinner. He's driving to the Whites to hike some of the Presidentials. Aunt Judy told me about work while I had a banana split at Friendly's. I used the internet for a while trying to catch up on emails and then we went to bed--I'm beat!
Date: 2008-06-29
From: US 206, Culvers Gap

To: US 206 (my aunt and uncle's house)
Miles today: 0.0

Day 108 -- Slept in--yea!! Aunt Judy made some great bacon, eggs, and muffins for breakfast--wow, how I miss eggs! Around noon we headed to Blue Mountain Sports in Madison for fuel and new trail runners. They didn't have my size, so later in the evening I ordered the shoes from Camp Mor on-line. Aunt Judy, Laura, and I resupplied and then I called home to touch base. Aunt Mary, Uncle Jeff, Pat, and later Danny came over for a dinner of BBQ chicken, potato salad, green beans, and cheesecake and key lime pie for dessert. I spent the day relaxing and enjoying everyone's company. Thanks everyone!!
Date: 2008-06-30
From: US 206 (my aunt and uncle's house)

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: few clouds

Day 109 -- I wasn't really wanting to get out of bed this morning, but alas it was time to return to the trail. I had a banana, packed up, and talked with Aunt Judy. Aunt Mary picked me up, we stopped at Noah's for bagels, and she graciously drove me back to the trail. I stopped at the Culver fire tower before heading to the shelter where I was to meet Wrongway. I met Loveboat and Kanati on their way out, and then Wrongway and Mountain Mic at the Gren Anderson Shelter itself. Wrongway and I talked while he packed and we didn't leave until 12:30 pm. We had nice, fluffy-cloud-filled views all day. We had lunch on some rocks and freshly picked blueberries for dessert. We hiked off that and up to High Point and met Butch and John, who drove their bikes up there. No bears or snakes today--bummer, but I saw two rabbits, an orange salamander (or whatever they're called), birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and a turkey. When we got to High Point Shelter, Caveman was there and two others. We can only guess who by their tents. We think one is Mountain Mic (later found out the other was Rabbit). Tonight is the first night I noticed lightning bugs. PS...today was pretty rocky--my feet are sore.
Date: 2008-07-01
From: High Point Shelter

To: NJ 94..Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 18.9

Day 110 -- Wow! It's July already? Where did June go? We got up early and headed out towards some relatively nice terrain. The only large elevation gain was going to be towards the end. There were a bunch of small ups and downs in between a ton of road crossings. We enjoyed a lot of raspberry breaks and one mulberry break. Rabbit, who we met yesterday, passed us a few times and we ran into Caveman before he went into Unionville. Our hike today included lots of puncheons through swamps. We hiked through Walkill River National Wildlife Refuge where we saw a Blue Heron, ducks, a very dead turtle, and lots of other birds. While walking through this area and the roadwalk before this, we were feeling the harshness of the sun. As we were walking the puncheons after the Refuge we heard the thunder threatening in the distance. We picked up our pace knowing we still had 7ish miles left for the day and I was thinking ahead to summitting Pochuck Mountain in a thunderstorm. We made a quick stop at the shelter and kept climbing. We kept a good pace to try to get as far as we could without getting rained on (I like the rain, it cools me off, but my feet don't like it). Luckily we got to do our big climb with a lot of wind, but never got rained on. When back at the bottom we started hiking across a long boardwalk through the Pochuck Swamp--very cool! Then a suspension bridge, more boardwalk and what seemed like 20 more miles to NJ 94. "Stick a fork in me, I'm done!" I told Wrongway. Luckily, as we started heading towards town, a man (AT ME->GA '80) and his dog gave us a ride into Vernon, NJ and dropped us off at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church Hostel where we showered and cleaned our clothes, went food shopping, and had a great dinner at RigaTony's. We met Pack Mule here and he showed us around. During dinner we see that Loveboat made it into town! He ate our leftovers while we all hung out.