morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2022-07-06
From: Mohican Outdoor Center at mile 1307.5. 

To: Brink Road Shelter 
Miles today: 14.96
Weather: scattered clouds

Mohican Outdoor Center to Brink Road Shelter Hiked 14.96 miles with 3,557 feet of elevation gain. At the Brink Road Shelter at mile 1321.8. Sleeping in my tent. Supposedly no rain tonight.  Lots of people here. I think more than 10. Supposedly lots of bears in this area and I put my food in the bear box. One tiny bar of service.Trail was better today but still not very nice. I¢d say 65% was difficult rocks. 10% easy rocks. 5% scrambling and the remaining 20% was nice relatively rock free trail. Got a good picture of a fawn. Had some nice views.  Went past two beaver dams.  Saw trees that beavers were in the process of chewing through the base of the tree.
Date: 2022-07-07
From: Brink Road Shelter 

To: Rutherford Shelter 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Brink Road Shelter to Rutherford Shelter Hiked 15.68 miles. 3,443 feet of elevation gain. Very rocky still. I would say 60% very difficult rocks, 20% less difficult rocks and 20% good trail.  No scrambles today. Pretty hard day. Had two sessions of trail magic today. The first was by a guy named Moose. He had the most opulent spread I have seen yet. He had three folding tables set up with all kinds of goodies, including a great selection of fresh fruit, which I took advantage of. He had a cooler full of sandwiches and two other coolers with pop and Powerade. He had Girl Scout cookies, every kind of pop tart imaginable and nuts and M&Ms and more. The second spread was also awesome. There were two ladies and a man. I couldn¢t figure out how they got there. One of the ladies lived in Indianapolis and had Indiana plates on her car. The other lady lived in Illinois, just across the border from Terre Haute. She seemed to be with the guy. The guy was from the state of Washington and had Washington plates on his truck. Why they were doing trail magic in NJ was never made clear. They had fried chicken, potato and macaroni salad, fresh baked cookies (a huge bag of them) and drinks and snickers bars and more. Had some good views from Sunshine Mountain and views of Culver Lake. The trail is very busy right now. I bet I saw 15 new thru hikers today. Most are young people in their mid 20s doing high mileage.  At least 4 older thru hikers too. I think this is the bubble, or what is left of it. Water is a hassle. A lot of the streams are dried up or stagnant and unappealing. At the Rutherford Shelter tonight. 2 other tenters here so far. I am in my tent. There is a stream here for water, and it is barely flowing. I had to scoop water out from pools.  There are rabbits here that are not afraid of humans. I set my tent up and there was a rabbit about 10 feet away that watched me while eating clover.
Date: 2022-07-08
From: Rutherford Shelter 

To: Liberty Corners Road
Miles today: 16.93
Weather: scattered clouds

Rutherford Shelter to Liberty Corners RoadI had to resupply so I went into Greenwood Lake, NY. I am at an old motel here called Lake Lodging. It is run by a retired carpenter named Jim and his wife Ingrid. I plan to slack pack tomorrow and Sunday. I hope to do 20 miles each day. I¢ll see how that goes. Very hot and humid here and water is still a real problem. Had to go off trail twice. Today was very hard. 16.93 miles. Over 4,000 of elevation gain. Climbed the highest point in NJ.  Walked through the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge on a boardwalk. It is a giant swamp where migratory birds stop. Finally got out of the rocks for the last 9 miles. Apparently we have been hiking the ridge of Kittatinny and Blue mountains for 155 miles, since Duncannon, PA. Today we turned north. The trail weaves in and out of NJ and NY and I don¢t finally leave NJ for another 40 miles or so.
Date: 2022-07-08
From: Rutherford Shelter 

To: Liberty Corners Road
Miles today: 16.93
Weather: clear sky

Rutherford Shelter to Liberty Corners RoadI had to resupply so I went into Greenwood Lake, NY. I am at an old motel here called Lake Lodging. It is run by a retired carpenter named Jim and his wife Ingrid. I plan to slack pack tomorrow and Sunday. I hope to do 20 miles each day. I¢ll see how that goes. Very hot and humid here and water is still a real problem. Had to go off trail twice. Today was very hard. 16.93 miles. Over 4,000 of elevation gain. Climbed the highest point in NJ.  Walked through the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge on a boardwalk. It is a giant swamp where migratory birds stop. Finally got out of the rocks for the last 9 miles. Apparently we have been hiking the ridge of Kittatinny and Blue mountains for 155 miles, since Duncannon, PA. Today we turned north. The trail weaves in and out of NJ and NY and I don¢t finally leave NJ for another 40 miles or so.
Date: 2022-07-10
From: Route 17A

To: Route 17
Miles today: 11.88
Weather: light rain

Route 17A to Route 17Very hard day. The rocks were back all day. Also over 4,400 of elevation gain and lots of technical scrambles. Today was the first day I had go down a very technical rock face. I went slowly and everything went fine - just took a while. Hiked 11.88 miles.  Very hot and humid. Had to stop and camel up twice. The streams are very low and barely flowing and I need to use a scoop most of the time. I need to make sure I back flush my water filter. Taking a zero tomorrow. I have had a ¢minor¢ sore throat all week. I thought it would go away but it has not. I plan to go to an urgent care tomorrow if I can, just to make sure it is not something more serious.  Unlike when I got Covid, I felt fine hiking today, although I was tired from the extra miles yesterday.  I think I am not getting enough rest for my body to fight it off. No major animal sightings.
Date: 2022-07-11
To: Zero in Greenwood Lake. 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

July 11Zero in Greenwood Lake. Went to Urgent Care. They took a culture of my throat to see if it was strep throat. The doctor said it didn¢t look or sound like strep to her but they don¢t have a rapid test and they have to send it out. May take up to 3 days to get the results. She is writing me a prescription for antibiotics. I can pick them up at the CVS in Greenwood Lake, NY.  Heart rate, body temperature and all else normal.  She also asked me questions about, and we went through all the symptoms for Covid and Lyme disease. Based on my answers, and my understanding of the symptoms for both of those ailments, she ruled them out as the cause of my sore throat. I may take a zero tomorrow too. Just to be safe.
Date: 2022-07-13
From: Route 17

To: Stealth camp site at mile 1401.6
Miles today: 14.78
Weather: broken clouds

Route 17 to stealth camp site at mile 1401.6At a stealth camp site at mile 1401.6. Supposed to be joined here by a couple I was hiking with today. They are a little bit younger than me and it was their idea we camp here. The other choice was a shelter but it 0.6 miles off the trail one way and nobody wanted to hike the extra 1.2 miles. Plus the shelter has no water or privy. Very hard day today. Hiked 14.78 miles with 5,357 of elevation gain. We just went up and down hills all day. Had two big climbs of about 700 feet each and the rest was just up and down. Also the trail was 90% rocks, so very hard. Passed 1,400 miles!  So less than 800 to go. I feel like a turtle though. I should cross the Hudson River tomorrow. It is 6 miles away. Hopefully the trail gets easier after that. We¢ll see. The elevation is less, but the elevation today was not the problem. We never went over 1,400 feet.  Saw a buck with velvet still on his antlers. Got pictures and videos. Also saw two mother turkeys with a bunch of babies. Got one picture.Got a picture of the Manhattan skyline from the top of Black Mountain. I think NYC is about 30 miles away at that point.
Date: 2022-07-14
From: Stealth camp site at mile 1401.6

To: Franciscan Priory at mile 1413.9
Miles today: 12.45
Weather: few clouds

Stealth camp site at mile 1401.6 to Franciscan Priory at mile 1413.9I am at a Franciscan Priory at mile 1413.9. The monks own a big piece of land and they have a baseball field where you can camp for free. They also have a pavilion but by the time I got here all the spaces were taken. It¢s a pretty small pavilion. There are probably 15 people here. I have my tent set up. They have a faucet where you can get potable water and porta potties and a shower!  The shower only has cold water but I took a shower and it felt so good. It was so hot and humid today. Hiked 12.45 miles with over 3,800 feet of elevation gain. The trail was mixed. Started out very rocky. Then as I got close to Bear Mountain they really improved the trail because it gets so much use. It was more crowded than usual. So for 4-5 miles it was very nice. I crossed the Hudson River and thought things would improve after that. Right after the Hudson it was a very hard rocky straight up hill climb. Then it got better.  When I crossed the Hudson I was close to West Point, but I could not see anything that was a part of the military academy. I went through a state park that has a zoo that the AT goes through. It¢s called the Trail Side Zoo. Supposedly they have a bear in the zoo that you can see when you hike past, so you are guaranteed to see at least one bear on the AT. Unless you are hiking on a weekday, like I was. The zoo is only open on Saturday and Sunday.
Date: 2022-07-15
From: Franciscan Priory at mile 1413.9

To: Canopus Lake Beach Shelter at mile 1428.3
Miles today: 14.58

Franciscan Priory at mile 1413.9 to Canopus Lake Beach Shelter at mile 1428.3At Canopus Lake Beach Shelter at mile 1428.3. Very crowded here. I am in my tent. At least 10 tents. Looks like 3-4 people sleeping in the shelter.  This is in a NY state park and they do have a beach on the lake. It was closed by the time I got here. Very hard day. 14.58 miles with over 5,000 feet of elevation gain. Probably 85% rocky.  Very hot and humid. No interesting animal sightings. Saw the couple from Waynesville, OH. The guy did have Lyme disease but I guess he caught it fast enough and got the antibiotic treatment and is back on the trail. He said he feels fine. That was good to hear.
Date: 2022-07-16
From: Canopus Lake Beach Shelter at mile 1428.3

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter at mile 1441.7
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Canopus Lake Beach Shelter at mile 1428.3 to Morgan Stewart Shelter at mile 1441.7At the Morgan Stewart Shelter at mile 1441.7.  I am in my tent. At least 6 other people here, including the couple from Waynesville. Hiked 14.0 miles with 3,221 of elevation gain.  Very hot and humid here. I really feel drained. I drank a lot of water to try to stay hydrated. No water at the shelter. There was a pump but the National Park Service shut it down. They shut down all the pumps in NY and CT. First part of the trail today was amazing. Almost rock free. Not sure what happened. Then I crossed over Interstate 84 on a bridge with a little more than 3 miles to go and it changed back to the rocky difficult trail we have been dealing with for a while. Oh well. I made it. No noteworthy animal sightings. I was hiking the trail near the end and a snake shot out of vegetation on the side of the trail and went between my legs. I jumped straight up. I didn¢t think I could do that with my pack on. I think it was a garter snake. It was more scared than me and tried to get away as fast as it could.
Date: 2022-07-17
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter at mile 1441.7

To: NY Route 22 
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: broken clouds

Morgan Stewart Shelter at mile 1441.7 to NY Route 22 I am at the Sharon Country Inn in Sharon, Connecticut.  I had to get out of the heat and humidity and get a shower and get my clothes washed and resupply. I think I only have about six more miles in NY. I think the trail has crossed into CT but came back into NY. So tomorrow I should be done with NY. Hiked 10.9 miles.  2571 of elevation gain. The trail was about 60% nice and 40% rocky, so not a terrible day. Only one spot to get water all day and it was 3 miles in, so had to ration water the rest of the day. Lots of day hikers and weekend section hikers, so the trail was busy today. No animal sightings. Going to slack pack tomorrow and the next day.  I¢ll see how that goes. Still supposed to be hot and humid. Saw and took a picture of the Dover Oak. This is the largest oak tree on the AT. The tree is estimated at over 300 years old, and has a diameter of approximately six feet.
Date: 2022-07-18
From: NY Route 22 

To: CT Route 341
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: clear sky

NY Route 22 to CT Route 341Hiked 18.8 miles. 4,292 of elevation gain. It rained most of the day.  The good news is the rain really cooled things down. It was the most pleasant temperature in a long while. It rained last night and is supposed to thunderstorm tonight.  We¢ll see. Hopefully that will keep things cool, but probably not. Finished New York. 9 states down, 5 to go. Ended at Kent, CT, which is at mile 1471.4.  Somewhere in there I passed the 2/3 done mark. I didn¢t see anything but it was raining hard at times and I may have missed it. I think 2/3 is at mile 1468.8. Later I realized the 2/3 point is at 1462.8. That could be one reason I missed it but I don¢t remember seeing anything. I plan to slack pack tomorrow.
Date: 2022-07-19
From: CT Route 341

To: West Cornwall Road
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: light rain

CT Route 341 to West Cornwall RoadHiked 15.9 miles. 5,188 of elevation gain. Very hot and humid. Had a few early climbs with some scrambles for the first 5 miles and then had a 4.5 mile walk along the Housatonic River and ended the last 6.4 miles with 2 big climbs and descents and lots of rocks. The Housatonic River was very nice to walk along, but is not safe to get drinking water from. Apparently there is heavy metal contamination, which is sad. I stopped at a spring to get water.  At first it was just me and another lady section hiking. She said she has been section hiking for the last 22 years. She had one more day in Connecticut and then 50 miles in NY and she was finally done. She said she was hiking with her hiking partner yesterday and her partner fell and broke her ankle and had to carried off the trail by EMTs. She said it was only about a mile but was surprised by how many EMT people it took to get her off the trail. Eventually 6 other ladies came to the spring. So it was me and 7 ladies. I had been passing them and they passed me several times earlier in the day. There were three younger ladies who went swimming in the river. There was a older lady in the group but she did not go swimming. She was concerned about the heavy metal contamination. Anyway, they left the spring before me and about a mile up the trail I ran into them again. One of the group was lying on the ground half on the trail and half in the weeds on the side of the trail, right beside a tree that had blown down and was stretched over the trail. She apparently tried to duck under the tree but didn¢t go low enough and hit her head and knocked herself out.  I have seen these types of blowdowns before and you really have to duck low.  One I had to crawl under. I asked if there was anything I could do to help and they all thanked me and said they had it under control. These ladies were moving fast.  They started the same place I did and when we were at the spring I had 6.5 miles to go and they were going to do another 16. I can¢t imagine that in the heat and humidity we have here. Taking a zero tomorrow. Have been hiking for 7 straight days and tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.
Date: 2022-07-21
From: West Cornwall Road

To: Limestone Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.93
Weather: clear sky

West Cornwall Road to Limestone Spring ShelterHiked 12.93 miles with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Very hot and humid today which made everything very hard. Everyone is complaining about the heat. No sign of a cool down any time soon.  Took a picture of my watch and it said it was 95 degrees. Hiked past Falls Village on the Housotonic River. Got pictures and videos of the falls. They were impressive.  In my tent at the Limestone Spring Shelter, at mile 1,499.7. Tomorrow I pass 1,500 miles. The place is packed, because Connecticut doesn¢t permit dispersed camping. I bet there are 25 people here. The Waynesville couple is here as well as the group of 3 young ladies and one older lady. They know me and I know their names now too. Fox was the one that hit her head on the blowdown 2 days ago. She said she went to the emergency room yesterday and had her head examined and everything is fine.
Date: 2022-07-22
From: Limestone Spring Shelter

To: MariaÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs at mile 1504.1
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Limestone Spring Shelter to Maria¢s at mile 1504.1Had to get out of the heat. There are two elderly women in Salisbury, CT that rent out rooms in their homes to hikers. I am staying at Maria¢s house. She is 92 and will be 93 soon. Her grandson Ed helps her out dealing with hikers. She has 3 rooms and there are 3 hikers here now, including me.  We share a bathroom.  It¢s $40 per night. I am staying two nights. Maria has been doing this for over 20 years. She grew up in Italy, in the Dolomites region, and married an American GI when he was stationed there during WWII. She still seems with it mentally. She said she broke her hip and can¢t go up and down the stairs anymore. The other lady who rents out rooms is named Vanessa and she is in her 70¢s.Hiked 4.8 miles to get here. Got a shower and walked to the local grocery store and got lunch from the deli. It was an easy day, but still very hot by the end.  Passed 1,500 miles!  Less than 700 miles to go. They had a very good sign and even I was able to get a selfie. I hiked by the Giant's Thumb at the top of Raccoon Hill. FarOut describes it as a very peculiar glacial erratic with a few log stump seats around it.  It¢s a big rock standing in the middle of the forest that looks like a thumb. I am going to slack pack tomorrow. Salisbury is about 0.5 mile off the trail so I will walk to the trail and try to hike 12.6 miles. There are three mountain summits tomorrow, so lots of climbing, including the highest peak in CT. The 12.6 miles takes me to the first road crossing.  If I can¢t make it that far there are a number of side trails that lead to other roads, but that adds more hiking miles, but provides bail out points if the heat really gets to me. I am going to start at 5:30 AM.
Date: 2022-07-23
From: MariaÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs at mile 1504.1

To: Guilder Pond picnic area
Miles today: 13.26
Weather: clear sky

Maria¢s at mile 1504.1 to Guilder Pond picnic areaHiked 13.26 miles with 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Very hot and humid today. Started hiking at 5:30 so that helped. Finished Connecticut today!  10 states down 4 to go! Hiked over Bear Mountain, Race Mountain and Mt Everett. Bear Mountain was the hardest.I thought this was funny. I walked down to the grocery store with another hiker staying at Maria¢s. There are tables in the shade on the side of the market and there were other hikers there. We stopped and had dinner with them. I had a salad and sushi. When I got back to Maria¢s she let me put things in her refrigerator. I thought about it for a minute and then I pulled out a package of cut up watermelon I had just put in there. I ate the whole thing. I had another container of cut fruit and started eating that. Maria was sitting next to me at the kitchen table and said ¢You are a good eater, aren¢t you?¢  I said yes, I have always been a good eater. It struck me as funny.  She is a very sweet elderly lady.
Date: 2022-07-24
From: Guilder Pond picnic area

To: Homes Road
Miles today: 11.58
Weather: clear sky

Guilder Pond picnic area to Homes RoadAt a Travelodge in Great Barrington, MA. Hiked 11.58 miles. Over 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Was the hottest day so far. When I ended the Weather Channel app said it was 94. Yesterday the heat and humidity didn¢t kick in to around noon. Today it hit by 10 AM. I think it never cooled down. The low last night was 71. The good news is they are calling for severe thunderstorms tonight with winds up to 60 mph. Then it looks like rain all day tomorrow. I still plan to hike in the rain.  It is supposed to be in the low 80¢s tomorrow and for the next few days, so I want to take advantage of that. Later in the week it goes back into the upper 80s but hopefully by then I¢ll be farther north. Lots of hiking today in the sun. Hiked through several pastures and along the Housatonic River and the sun just baked everything. Hiked through some very picturesque pine forests too.
Date: 2022-07-25
From: Homes Road

To: Beartown Mountain Road
Miles today: 11.35
Weather: clear sky

Homes Road to Beartown Mountain RoadHiked 11.35 miles with 2,586 of elevation gain. Pretty nice today. Did not get much rain, even though they were showing rain all day long.  Even without the rain, the clouds provided relief from the sun and I think it was 10 degrees cooler today. Walked through some very nice pine forests and ate lunch near a place called Ice Gulch.  It is a very steep, wide ravine with the bottom covered with huge rocks that look like they were dumped in there out of a Lego box. I took pictures but I don¢t think they really capture the view. This is what FarOut says:The AT walks along the western edge of a deep ravine within a dense conifer forest. The shade and depth make for conditions that may keep snow at the bottom of the gulch until the middle of the summer. On hot days, it is a nice place to enjoy some cool shade and interesting scenery.Sad to say, but no snow or ice but still a very cool place. Saw a really cool little salmon colored salamander. Got a picture. Still at Travelodge.
Date: 2022-07-26
From: Beartown Mountain Road

To: US Route 20
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Beartown Mountain Road to US Route 20Today was very good day. It was the best day in a long time. Much cooler today. Hiked 14.9 miles with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. My Garmin watch said the average temperature for the hike was 76 degrees. Just to put it in perspective, on July 21, the average temperature for my hike that day was 91 degrees. It is supposed to cool down to 54 overnight. Going to hike 16.4 miles tomorrow. It was beautiful this morning. It was cool and the sun was shining through the trees. Saw a bobcat today!  It was crossing the path in front of me. When it got right in the middle of the path it stopped and looked at me and then took off. It was tan colored, quite a bit bigger than a house cat and looked very muscular. It had a short thick tail. I tried to get a picture but of course it was long gone. At the Pilgrim Inn in Lee, MA.
Date: 2022-07-27
From: US Route 20

To: Grange Hall Road
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

US Route 20 to Grange Hall RoadPretty good day. Hiked 16.4 miles with over 3,200 feet of elevation gain. Started out cooler but heated up by the time I finished. Stopped at a place called the Cookie Lady 2.0. It¢s a farm 50 yards off the AT. She had hibiscus lemonade and homemade cookies and water to refill my trail bottles. Very nice place to stop. At Pilgrim Inn again.
Date: 2022-07-29
From: Grange Hall Road

To: Gulf Road
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Grange Hall Road to Gulf RoadDid a ¢nero¢ today, not a zero but a short day. Just 4 miles. Tomorrow I¢ll hike to the base of Mt Graylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, and then go over the top the next day, which will take me to Vermont and to 1,600 miles.  Very hot and humid today.  Was 88 today and is supposed to be 81 tomorrow.