morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-06
From: Hamburg 

To: New Tripoli 
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: broken clouds

I made my way back to Port Clinton with hours to spare before the post office opened. So I went and got a second breakfast with the twins (I forget their names, but I think one of them is Axle). The twins made arrangements for their first slackpacking experience to Eckville Shelter, where I had a shuttle taking me after the post office opened. But now I had two phones (my working/fixed phone and Galia's old one that I still needed to sync) and two sleeping bags (instead of none, which was my goal weeks ago).I hiked along Rocky terrain in decent weather, but less than a quarter mile from the campsite, quite literally two minutes away, it starts to pour.Tunes and Arrow were setup, but I get soaked and my tent wet while trying to setup. Once I did have everything setup, it stopped raining. My shoes were soaked as well as other things that were wet but shouldn't have been. Tunes had stashed some wood to keep it dry so we had a fire going, and Songbird, Detox and Hulk joined us for a cozy campsite.Fitbit-------------Miles: 17.4Calories: 4500Stairs: 230
Date: 2015-07-07
From: New Tripoli 

To: Danielsville 
Miles today: 16.7

There were occasional burst of rain during the night, but it was mostly dry. That didn't help from all my stuff being wet this morning. Of course all the rocks and the overgrown plants on the trail were wet. And when I slipped on a rock, my hiking pole conveniently went under my foot and snapped like a twig. I broke a pole again, this time I'm not going to even bother contacting Black Diamond.There was a brief moment where I got rained on, when I was less than a mile to the next shelter of course, but otherwise I did well to avoid rain. I reached the road crossing where I had arranged to meet Fat Man Walking; he was on his way when it started raining again, so I hid out at the auto repair shop. Then after swapping gear with Fat Man, he also lent me a hiking pole so I didn't have to use a heavy stick, I hid out from more rain in his RV.Palmerton, and particularly north of, is where the rocks reportedly get bad. And the hike out of Palmerton is steep and bouldery which actually makes the climb fun. What I didn't prepare for was after the rain the sun came out and this was the first long stretch of non canopy hiking. I didn't get sunburn, but I did darken up. There was also no water along this stretch, which made the cooler of ice cold water at the road crossing so great. Possibly the simplest and therefore best trail magic yet.From the road crossing I walked down to the Blue Mountain Drive In. I got a burger and fries for dinner, and for ice cream I got it on a Belgian waffle with peanut butter sauce, Reece's pieces and whipped cream. I was joined by Hulk and Songbird, and we setup camp in the pavilion behind the restaurant.Fitbit-------------Miles: 20.6Calories: 5100Stairs: 230
Date: 2015-07-08
From: Danielsville 

To: No name campsite 
Miles today: 3.8

The forecast called for chance of rain all day; I decided not to go anywhere. Hulk and Songbird hitched back to the trail early, and I just hung out reading my book (Fifteen Lives of Harry August) waiting till the restaurant opened for breakfast.When I went in to eat, my phone turned off and wouldn't turn back on. I used Galia's phone to chat with Sony support, only to be told I need a computer to download some software to update my phone. Of course I don't have a computer while on the trail, which makes this whole process a mess.I went and took a nap, and when I woke up the weather looked good, and my phone started working. I went in to the restaurant for lunch and it started raining, and my phone turned off again. I took the opportunity to go back to my tent and read. A few hours later the weather turned good with it being unlikely for any more rain (also, my phone turned on and stayed on). I decided to eat dinner and walk a few miles along the trail to get a head start on tomorrow.I wasn't going far, so when a day hiker passed and offered me water I turned him down. By the time I got to camp I decided never to do that again. I had enough water to get by, but I would have felt much better if I didn't feel thirsty and need to limit how much I could drink and still have enough for the morning.Fitbit-------------Miles: 4.8Calories: 2400Stairs: 67
Date: 2015-07-09
From: No name campsite 

To: Delaware Water Gap 
Miles today: 27.5

I'm done hiking Wetsylvania, I mean Pennsylvania. I made it into Delaware Water Gap before the rain came down and arrived just in time to eat at the hiker feed. Back in the first few hundred miles of the trail, when I went through a bit of "rocky" terrain I would enjoy stepping from rock to rock. Or, if it was better footing, stepping from dirt to dirt. Then as I hit northern Virginia I noticed I needed to modify this technique because sometimes the rock and dirt combo doesn't allow for stepping on just one. But that was more challenging because the brain looks for the pattern of just one option so as you scan for good rocks in stride and don't find one you then scan for good dirt in stride. But now in PA, there's large stretches of trail where there isn't either within stride and you have to rescan for anywhere to step within range. It slows down the hiking pace, but since I expected this in Pennsylvania I wasn't too upset by it. Toes' toes hurt. The big toe on each foot is getting painful, which I think is primarily due to kicking rocks. Today the pain in the right toe got so bad I needed to take some ibuprofen. I've been trying not to hike on Vitamin I since my shin splints in Marion because it masks other issues. The ibuprofen worked great at lunch time, but when it started wearing off later in the afternoon and I took some more it messed with my head, but did enough get me to town. Fitbit-------------Miles: 26.8Calories: 5600Stairs: 280
Date: 2015-07-10
From: Delaware Water Gap 

To: Chicago 
Miles today: 0.0

Back when I was offered the option to join Timothy and Kevin slackpacking, I also had the option to join them on a road trip to Chicago. They offered again and while I was trying to decide Songbird convinced me with a simple question, "have you been to Chicago before?" I'm taking a vacation from the trail. I made sure to turn the camp stove off and zip up the tent doors. Looking forward to a different pace with different things to do.
Date: 2015-07-13
From: Chicago 

To: Rattlesnake Spring
Miles today: 13.5

My time in Chicago can mostly be summed up by: good food; wandering around the city center; lots of people. One of the meals Kevin and I ate was at the Purple Pig. I recommend going there if you pass through the city. The Taste of Chicago was going on so we walked all around the Millennium Park area. At one point Kevin pointed out that standing in that spot and looking around, you could see more people than we've seen on the whole trail since we started. We stayed at Timothy's parents house and Sunday morning before we left his mom helped me poke/prod/drain my big toe. The symptoms of an ingrown nail were clear and by that point the general throbbing had stopped.Our departure from Chicago got delayed and we didn't leave the city till 6pm. The plan before that had changed and we would drive half way, get a hotel room, and finish the drive early Monday morning. But since traffic was bad, we weren't gonna reach the half way point till 3am, thereby making the hotel room pointless. I was advocating for a closer hotel, but got out voted for driving straight through the night. That meant I would need to drive some, so I just volunteered for the full post midnight driving.We arrived back at the hostel in Delaware Water Gap at 6am. I was dropped off (the other guys went back to the hostel where they were on the trail). Because there weren't any bunks yet available, I passed out on the couch. Once people started waking up and causing a commotion I woke up and moved to a bunk, and slept till 10:30.I went to the Farmers Bakery for breakfast, showered and packed up, mailed stuff at the post office, and then got some ice cream before getting back on the trail at 1:30pm.After a few miles I passed a few other thru-hikers who had just been swimming in a lake that was posted no swimming. It looked like such a nice swimming lake and when they described how nice the water was I had to give it a go. The water was indeed "optimal".As I came to a fire tower, one of maybe a dozen on the trail, I climbed to the top to check out the view. Well it turned out that this fire tower was manned and operational. It's one of 21 operating fire towers in NJ. The guy running it was very informative and made the climb up the stairs one of my highlights of the hike.Fitbit-------------Miles: 17.6Calories: 4500Stairs: 248
Date: 2015-07-14
From: Rattlesnake Spring

To: Gren Anderson Shelter 
Miles today: 17.9

After eating breakfast and packing up, I walked about 500 yards and came upon some trail magic. Some nice ladies from the Hutchinson Hiking Club were out to provide us thru-hikers with trail magic, but didn't quite have the grill ready yet. I wasn't especially hungry, but it was hard not to wait a bit for a cheeseburger.Even NJ rain is better than PA. There was some light rain for briefest time. It made the rocks a little slippery, but again, not as bad as in Pennsylvania.I stopped and got lunch at the deli which just opened yesterday. There had been a deli in that place before that was in the guide book but wasn't very hiker friendly. The Guthook app had a comment about the old place being closed, so I added a comment that the new place was now open and is hiker friendly. I also sent an update to Google maps to have the name changed.I got to the next shelter and stopped for water. I wasn't able to leave. Mostly cause now my left toe was hurting due to an ingrown nail (not as bad as the right toe but could get worse). I also didn't leave because of the poor water sources ahead, and an opportunity to shower nearby. After setting up camp I walked the mile and a half to free shower at the State Park visitors center. Then I air dried on walk back and saw my first NJ bear.Fitbit-------------Miles: 23.6Calories: 5400Stairs: 316
Date: 2015-07-15
From: Gren Anderson Shelter 

To: Liberty Corners Rd 
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: scattered clouds

There was a chance that it'd be raining when I woke up, but it wasn't. I had actually been thinking that part of the reason my toe got so bad was because of my feet being wet so much. But anyhow, it was dry and I was up for the challenge of a 25 mile day. While I was eating breakfast at the picnic table in front of the shelter, I had a great moment of "oh yeah, I enjoy this". Pennsylvania had been so tough at the end that I lost focus on the fact that I'm doing this because I enjoy it.I passed by a shelter that had a side trail in the direction most would assume the AT went. But along with the lack of white blaze, there was a small sign that said "this is not the AT". I meant to take a picture cause such a sign could be useful in most circumstances.I stopped at the High Point State Park headquarters. I was going to throw some trash away and get water, but mostly I was going to try to avoid the high chance of rain in the next hour. While sitting outside, with no rush to do anything, some other hikers, including Micro & Bigfoot, arrived. They went in and came out with cans of soda that were free for thru-hikers. My lack of urgency quickly changed. Since the rain started then as well, I went in to join them while watching a video on black bears. A key takeaway of the video is that black bears are opportunists when it comes to food, very much the same as thru-hikers.The rocks were a bit annoying as I approached the State Park, but afterwards they finally began to dissipate. I reached Jim Murray's place, a small private cabin that is open to thru-hikers, and it was a really nice place to stay. But I was scheduled to meet with my uncle's friend, Hiker Biker, who has section hiked many miles with my uncle and lives in the area. He offered to take me in for two nights and slackpack me the day in between. One of the best parts, once again with the simplicity, was that he picked me up from the trailhead with ice cold Gatorade. Although the equally best parts were the shower, the beer, and the spicy curry. As well as calling my uncle on speaker phone and sharing hiking stories.Fitbit-------------Miles: 25.3Calories: 5600Stairs: 305
Date: 2015-07-16
From: Bellvale 

To: Liberty Corners Rd 
Miles today: 22.0

Before dropping me off at the trail, Hiker Biker took me out to breakfast at the local Mexican restaurant. Then I went to the trailhead in Bellvale to slackpack south. It was a beautiful day with great views. In fact the weather was so nice it may have been the best I've had on the trail. I even got a nice view of the NYC skyline over the hills.I crossed the state line in the opposite direction. So while today was my last day in NJ, I still had the rest of the day to hike in NJ (I started the day in NY).There is a stretch of trail that goes through some marshland and is traversed via boardwalk. The ATC and volunteers did a lot of work to make that mile of boardwalk quite nice. I'll bet there would be a lot more people out hiking the trail if more of it was covered in such a nice walkway.Hiker Biker picked me up, again with ice cold Gatorade, and I took a shower, started laundry, went to dinner, then got ice cream from Bellvale Creamery. My tastes are a little biased at this time of constant hunger, but that may have been the best ice cream I've ever had. Ever.We ended the day with another call to my uncle to talk hiker talk for a little while.Fitbit-------------Miles: 23.2Calories: 5500Stairs: 436
Date: 2015-07-17
From: Liberty Corners Rd 

To: William Brien Memorial Shelter 
Miles today: 21.7

We went to a different restaurant for breakfast this morning, and I was excited to see they had cherry pancakes, but disappointed when they came out as canned/candied cherries. The warm apple fritter and tasty bacon made up for the disappointment.I may have over did the carbs at breakfast, cause I was really slow and dragging when hiking. There was a nice benefit to find there was water placed at all the road crossings. As pleasant as that was, the real trail magic came at Harriman Park. Paddy-O provided me with two hot dogs, two little calzone things, and two cups of soda. It motivated me to hike on another 9 miles to the second shelter. Of course while heading that way I went through some beautiful terrain that may have been a potentially good camping spot. Even worse, I was getting low on water and arrived to find there was no water at shelter. But in exchange for hanging their trash on my bear bag line, some locals gave me about three liters.Fitbit-------------Miles: 24.0Calories: 5400Stairs: 532
Date: 2015-07-18
From: William Brien Memorial Shelter 

To: Graymour Monastery 
Miles today: 16.6

Since I wasn't in a rush to do many miles, I was still in my tent when it started pouring rain out. It only lasted about twenty minutes, but I got to stay nice and dry.While hiking up a steep climb I walked past a group of Chinese tourists. It was a clear indicator that I was no longer in the rural wilderness of the South. There were heaps more city folk as I got closer to Bear Mountain, and one hiker I passed commented that I would be "walking through a jungle of people, then a zoo." It was really crowded when I got down to the lake and I contemplated how I might be able to get food from one of the many tables of people grilling. But I took the easy option and got lunch at burger stand, then got some ice cream for my walk through the zoo. There was a black bear exhibit and I felt bad for any hiker who had that as the first bear they've seen on the trail.I walked into Peekskill with Detox, got take-out from the deli, and carried it out to the monastery. Apparently since 1972 the monastery has opened their doors to hikers, and at the present allows us to camp at the pavilion in the ball field. They also have a shower structure which only provides cold water. But on a hot day like today, it was startling at first but becomes one of the best showers ever after a few seconds. Similar to swimming in a cool lake.Fitbit-------------Miles: 19.4Calories: 4700 Stairs: 357
Date: 2015-07-19
From: Graymour Monastery 

To: Clarence Fahnestock SP 
Miles today: 13.8

Before packing up all my gear, I managed to hitch a ride back to the deli for breakfast. Upon running over to the car to get the ride, I tripped over Yonder's tent chord. When I got back I learned that I broke a tent stake in that action.The monastery ball field had been rented out to a group of Ecuadorians for the day. During the morning they began arriving and setting up tents, music stages, and cooking areas. Things were getting hectic and I left before the party kicked off fully.I started listening to an audio book, The Count of Monte Cristo. I was totally enthralled and therefore was generally ambivalent to the hot and humid weather I was hiking through.I got to a road crossing, but just before the road there was a T in the trail, and so I wasn't too sure I took the correct direction when I got to the road. While standing there uncertain, a day hiker I had seen earlier, Blue Dot, came up and confirmed my choice in direction. He also offered me a beer. I accepted, but was then worried that it'd be crappy and warm. I asked him if it'd be cold, but he didn't have much confidence. It turned out to be a Sierra Nevada and was still floating in a bit of ice in his cooler.I took the side trail down to the beach/campground but when I got to the end of the trail and beginning of the beach I was again unsure where to go. When I stopped next to a picnic table, the guy standing there asked me where I started from. I told him Georgia and his mind was blown. He immediately offered all the food they had left and translated my "amazing" story to his family. Eating with his family meant that I didn't make it to the concession stand before the grill closed, but I did get there in time to buy three ice cream treats.Fitbit-------------Miles: 19.2Calories: 4600Stairs: 356
Date: 2015-07-20
From: Clarence Fahnestock SP 

To: Telephone Pioneers Shelter 
Miles today: 21.8

Walking and listening to an audio book is an entirely different perspective on hiking. This is the second day listening to The Count of Monte Cristo, and it is the second day that I've been oblivious to the terrain and the heat. I find myself walking over hills, climbing over rocks, walking for miles with my full focus devoted to the story being told.I stopped at a deli for lunch and water. The taste of the water I've been getting from non-springs lately has not been very good. For example the water at the State Park was funky, and I try to mask it by adding some electrolyte powder, but it doesn't cover it enough. I even tried running it through my filter but it still tastes funky. It takes a level of nearing dehydration to manage to drink the stuff.Once again, the simple trail magic of cold bottled water wins the day. Well, there was also packages of cookies, which will always be a win for me.I passed by, and took a lovely swim in Nuclear Lake. The water temperature was ideal and I didn't seem to get any super powers. Back in 1972 there was a chemical explosion at a nearby nuclear facility but after being closed off for some time, in the 80s it was tested clean and the AT relocated to go alongside the lake. I wanted to camp there, but the only good spot was directly below a sign which said no camping, so I hiked on. Less than a mile before reaching the shelter I came upon a big black bear that had no interest in acknowledging my presence. But he didn't stay nearby for a good picture either.The shelter water source was dry, but there were no other options going forward. There was however a tiny puddle remaining in the stream that turned out to be satisfactory. The stagnant water certainly tasted better than some of the "clean" water I've been getting.Fitbit-------------Miles: 25.7Calories: 5600Stairs: 473
Date: 2015-07-21
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter 

To: Pawling 
Miles today: 3.1

I completed my day's hike in a short 3 miles. Mind you, 90% of that distance my head was covered in deer flies. They rarely found purchase to bite me but man they were so annoying. I had a partial solution by putting my visor on backwards so they seemed to land on the brim instead of my head.When I got to the Pawling road crossing I stopped at garden center to relax (they're very hiker friendly and only within the past weeks did the stop allowing hikers to camp there). While I was taking my shoes off I saw Fatman drive by in his RV. We had plans to meet at the pub in Pawling but since it wasn't even 10am yet I was surprised to see him. I called and he came back to pick me up.In town Fatman and I went to the bakery and walked around till the bar opened. He brought me back my broken pole and I gave him back his pole that he leant me. Once the bar opened we had a few beers till he went back to manage the slackpacking operation of Timothy and Kevin.After spending a few hours in the library escaping the heat, I went and got a lemon sherbert and vanilla ice cream milk shake. It tasted like a Creamsicle only with a bit more citrus tang.The town of Pawling allows hikers to camp at the pavilion in the town park. I expected I'd be the only hiker there, but I was joined by Still Candace who spent a zero in Pawling waiting on friends. After it got dark I took an outside shower at the bathrooms by the playground. I would have rather taken the cold shower earlier in the day when it was hot, but being naked next to a playground could lead to some big trouble.Fitbit-------------Miles: 8.3Calories: 3100Stairs: 50
Date: 2015-07-27
From: Ten Mile River Shelter 

To: Kent
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: light rain

Today's post is written by my friend John, who came out to start hiking with me yesterday.-----------------------At the start of my second day on the trail I had the intentions of doing a 16 mile day finishing at the next campsite after Kent Connecticut. It became apparent at the first big elevation change that it was going to take me longer than anticipated. For the next few hours we meet seasoned hikers flying up the trails while I rested. Hikers are very friendly. Splitter informed us on a place to camp while in Kent. The biggest obstacle was getting there by the end of the day, my body had about had it with between the changes in elevation and the rocks. I hobbled into Kent with a humbling experience of what it takes to do the Appalachian Trail. Along the way I meet a lot of nice hikers and settled on the trail name Georgia Legs, on the account that all the through hikers went through the same initiation in Georgia. I was glad to make it to Kent and have an ice cream cone courtesy of Toes.Fitbit-------------Miles: 14.8Calories: 4100Stairs: 168
Date: 2015-07-28
From: Kent

To: Sharon Mountain Campsite 
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: broken clouds

I spent some time this morning making phone calls. I called my health insurance to find out what is covered. The simple answer is that I can go to an urgent clinic anywhere and it'll be covered, otherwise I first need to see my primary care physician and get a referral. Next was calling my primary care physician who I have never seen let alone talked to. And of course they aren't able to set up an appointment for three months. So I called my insurance back again to change my primary care physician, and eventually arranged to get an appointment for Monday.John made arrangements to be picked up this morning. During all my phone calls his parents arrived and were nice to drop me off at the trailhead.It didn't take long till I was back to listening to The Count of Monte Cristo. Other than ankle pain, the hike flew by.When I arrived at the campsite, I lit some incense to keep bugs away. It works, but doesn't produce as much smoke as required.I slept for first time without the rainfly. There was a swarm of mosquitoes outside my tent at dusk, and they continued to create a cacophony all night long.Fitbit-------------Miles: 22.7Calories: 5100Stairs: 472