morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-06-12
From: Campsite

To: Tentsites
Miles today: 28.5
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained a lot last night and didn't stop until about 4am this morning. I woke at 4:30am and had to pack my tent soaking wet and filthy. My sleeping bag was also damp. Ugh.I made good time on trail today. The terrain was mostly flat and I dodged rocks most of the way. There wasn't any bouldering, though. I arrived at the shelter around 2:30pm. I was feeling good, so I decided to press on. My new goal was a set of tentsites about 4 miles North.Another factor in my decision was a small section of trail flooded by beaver activity. The note in Guthook said it was 1 mile long. The comments from other hikers were mixed. I decided to take my chances because the alternate route was 0.6 miles longer. Turns out being an OCR athlete has some benefits. I walked right across that beaver dam. Piece of cake.I arrived at the tentsites at 3:45pm and set up my tent. It took over an hour for the floor to dry so I could finish setting up. I used that time to eat and try to find water. The "seasonal stream" noted in Guthook was nowhere to be found. I guess it's dry Camping for me tonight.It will be a relatively short day tomorrow (partly because of my longer day today). I will call the hostel once I'm at a monument on a hill and they will meet me at the trailhead a few minutes later for shuttle to their place. Supposedly, they offer a free shuttle to the Dollar General, too.
Date: 2021-06-13
From: Tentsites

To: Rock N Sole Hostel
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: clear sky

today went by really fast. I made the 23 miles by 2:15. The hostel picked me up and I had showered before 3pm. I had my laundry done and had resupplied by 5pm. It doesn't get much better than that.The terrain was definitely more rugged today, with roots and rocks covering most of the trail. I tend to go faster though those parts of the trail. It is fun to hop around on the rocks, but my feet definitely complain at the end of the day.Tomorrow and the following day will be big days and the terrain will continue to become more technical.
Date: 2021-06-14
From: Rock N Sole Hostel

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 29.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Once again, I changed my plans for the day. Originally, I was to stay in my tent at a Campsite 27.7 miles from the hostel. Someone at the hostel mentioned there was a nice shelter just 2 miles farther North. That made for a 29.7 mile day, much of it over the rocks. My feet are pretty sore. There was a lot of rock hopping and even a little bouldering. Thankfully, there was also some smooth(ish) trail to give me a break every now and then. I have found that if I work at it, I can find a rhythm over and through the rocks. It is fun and makes the time go faster.I made good time and arrived at the shelter before 4:30pm. I snagged one of two remaining spots. It is essentially a large shed with two doors and two windows There is no insulation and the six bunks are built into the shelter. There is a table inside and another outside. A privy/shower is housed in a separate shack, but it has running water and a flushing toilet! This is all essentially in the caretakers backyard. Very interesting place.During the day, I passed through the town of Port Clinton. It's a cute, old town. There was a rail yard with a couple of vintage looking trains. All of the buildings looked like they were at least 100 years old. Unfortunately, I had to make miles and didn't get to look around.Tomorrow should be a shorter day. I am doing about 24 miles and stopping just short of Palmerton, PA, where I will be doing a 2-day resupply the following morning.
Date: 2021-06-15
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Mile 1259.5
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: clear sky

Today was one of the tougher days I've had on trail. It wasn't a long day in terms of miles, but the effort required to rock hop and traverse boulders throughout the day was significant.In the morning, the rock was wet from rain last night. I slipped on a boulder around 7:30am and bent a trekking pole. Luckily, I wasn't injured and was able to straighten the pole. If I were using carbon poles, I'm pretty sure it would have snapped. I was also going too fast. I slowed down a little for the rest of the day and didn't have any other issues.My plan was to tent close to a shelter tonight, but I ended up porting water about a half mile down the trail to an undocumented campsite. It is less than a mile from town, so I can hear a lot of traffic. Also, the cell service is excellent. Lol. A LASH'er decided to stop and camp here for the same reason. He started at Harper's Ferry and is going to Maine. That's a long section hike, indeed.Tomorrow, I will resupply in Palmerton and try to grab breakfast at a restaurant before continuing another 17-19 miles for the day.
Date: 2021-06-16
From: Mile 1259.5

To: Mile 1279.4
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: clear sky

Yesterday didn't end as planned and today didn't start as planned. I made my way into Palmerton with the intention of eating breakfast at a restaurant and resupplying at a grocery store. That turned into resupply and grabbing a breakfast sandwich at a gas station. It really wasn't bad and it saved me an hour and a half!The climb out of Palmerton was worse than I expected. The elevation profile showed it was steep, but ther was some legitimate scrambling involved where I had to climb up rock with my hands. I was thankful to only have 2 days of food in my pack. All of that happened before 7:30am.A couple of hours later, I was hiking and heard someone yell. It was an older gentleman and he was on the ground. He was grabbing his chest and my first thought was heart attack. He told me he had tripped, fallen, and landed on a tree root. My guess is he just had a bruised rib.Fortunately, I didn't have any incidents today. The rest of the day was uneventful, but full of smaller rocks. I ended up going past the shelter I had scheduled and camping about 3 miles down trail. I met a section Hiker there and Tex showed up a little later. A lot of people have passed this Campsite, some checking for vacant spots. It is the last one for about 10 miles.Tomorrow, on to Deleware Water Gap to finish out PA!
Date: 2021-06-17
From: Mile 1279.4

To: Clarion Inn
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: broken clouds

This morning was disorienting. It was 5am by the time I crawled out of my tent to start breaking camp. Bluejeans was still asleep, Tex was gone, and someone new was in camp, still in their tent. I thought Tex may have hit the trail early, but I was breaking cobwebs all morning. I have no idea what happened or when the new person moved in.It was a relatively easy day today, both in terms of distance and terrain. I made it to the hotel just before noon. The attendant said check-in was at 4pm. I said okay and politely left. He asked me to come back and found a clean room for me. I was glad to have a safe place for my pack so I didn't have to lug it all over town. I left to find lunch. I settled on a turkey, avocado, and cheese melt, apple pie a la mode, fries, and a lemonade.The next order of business was laundry. I found the only washer and dryer in the bad part of the hotel (it is two hotels in one building) and decided to camp out. The dryer was actually broken and didn't require coins. Unfortunately, it ignored any temperature setting and used high heat on everything, including my shoe insoles. I have washed them before and they are okay on low heat. High heat destroyed them. I managed to find a set at the local outfitter, but they are Oboz and have arch support that wants to interfere with my orthotics. I hope the foam will eventually compress. They really only need to make it to Fort Montgomery, NY where my new shoes will be waiting for me.Dinner was a large pizza that I had to eat in two sittings. I then resupplied for the next three days at a gas station. The closest grocery store is a few miles away and I didn't want to mess with hitching or a shuttle.Tomorrow morning, I will be hiking into New Jersey and doing 24.9 miles to a shelter to tent.
Date: 2021-06-18
From: Clarion Inn

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 31.7
Weather: clear sky

This morning was pretty exciting. I saw a momma Bear and three cubs around 7:30am. Less than an hour later, I saw a large rat snake on the trail. Maybe two hours later, I ran into Tex on the trail! She had hiked through DWG and stayed at a Campsite 5 miles down trail.My plan was to do about 25 miles for the day. I reached that goal at 2:15am, so I looked at the map and plotted a new destination. I noticed there was a sandwich shop 3.6 miles past the shelter and another shelter 3.2 miles past that. The issue was that the sandwich shop closed at 4pm. I pushed hard and made it there at 3:30pm. The sandwich was incredible. It was very, very messy and had Cole slaw on it. I also ordered a side of Cole slaw. Delicious! I met two hikers there, Augie (thru-hiker) and Caroline (LASH'er).I made my way to the next shelter, feeling a good 10 pounds heavier. I still made it there around 5pm, found a tent spot, and set up camp. It is a mix of section hikers and thru-hikers camped here. Augie and Caroline stopped by to eat dinner, but got back on trail for another 10 miles, some of it by headlamp. They may get rained on. It certainly feels like a storm is moving in.I need to adjust my plans for tomorrow since I stopped in a different spot today. If I push tomorrow out a bit, it should help avoid a long day hiking when I also need to resupply on Sunday.
Date: 2021-06-19
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.3
Weather: broken clouds

I was dragging most of the day, probably due to the brutal day yesterday. No miles are free and those miles cost me a lot, both in energy and damage to my body.I ran across two instances of trail magic. The first one was just before noon and I wasn't even excited about it. That's how tired I was. The second was a couple of miles before camp and I had caught my second wind. Still, not myself, but feeling a little better.The terrain continued to be Rocky until around noon. It is smoother, now. Still a little rocky, but more managable. I am very tired of rocks. The day ended with a 600 foot climb to camp. I am here with a couple of other thru hikers and a bunch of section hikers/weekenders. This is the new normal.
Date: 2021-06-20
From: Pochuck Mountain Shelter

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: few clouds

I made record time breaking camp this morning and was on trail at 5:15am. It was decently cool, so I left my sleeves down and kept my buff on. More on that later.At 10am I had my third bear encounter. It was an adult black bear, probably the largest I've seen so far. It ran away immediately and wasn't interested in me at all. As usual, I was sure to make a lot of noise for the next 100-200 yards. About 10 minutes later, I saw a couple out walking their dog. It wasn't on a leash and was running all over the forest. I told them about the bear about 1/4 mile behind us and they decided to let me trailblaze for them. Lol.The rest of the morning and most of the day was miserable. It has been getting more and more buggy, but today was insane. I kept my sleeves down most of the day and pulled the buff up over my face. It wasn't as good as a bug net, but I didn't want to stop and pull it out of my pack. Stopping for any reason was like sounding the trumpets for mosquitoes to attack. I am covered in bites.Around noon, I stepped into New York. It was a great moment. I played Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and danced down the trail. I also got really emotional for a bit. It kind of hit me that I'm carrying a lot on my shoulders. This is my dream, but in a way I also feel like I'm carrying my Mom's dreams to Mt. Katahdin, too. I am putting everything I have into making progress down trail. I want that summit more than I can say in words and it means A LOT.Shortly after stepping into NY, it was time to go off trail a little over a mile to pick up another day of food at Country Grocery in Greenwood Lake. The building looked like it had been there since the 50's and it was packed with stuff. I was able to find just about everything I wanted, but they were short on breakfast items. I also ordered an Italian sandwich and bought a push-up. It was just like when my Mom used to take me to Mel's meat market back home. If I was good, she would buy me a push pop. It brought back a lot of memories. The climb out of town was brutal and I drank about half of my water.The trail was empty today. I only saw 6 thru-hikers or section hikers. South of Harper's Ferry, it wasn't uncommon for me to see that many in an hour or two.
Date: 2021-06-21
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Bear Mountain Inn
Miles today: 29.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I started today thinking it would be an easy day. That was not true at all. Around 8am, I slipped on some wet rock and fell backward. The only issue was it tweaked my left knee. It hurt for a few minutes afterward, but I think it's okay. I fell again in the afternoon after my feet became tangled in a tree branch. That fall was worse, with my hands, right knee, and forehead hitting the ground pretty hard. I was a little shook up, but I feel okay.The terrain was another element. From the beginning, New York had bigger rocks, bigger climbs, and more changes in elevation. It continued today. A couple of the climbs involved scrambling and one of them was barely wide enough to squeeze through. I felt like I went up and down mountains constantly. I certainly haven't climbed this much since Virginia.The worst part of my day was realizing an error in my planning. I thought it was an easy, 19-mile day. In reality, it was 29.3 miles. The error occurred when I was moving some things around and making changes. I forgot to change one number and it messed up my calculation. The only reason it matters at all is the post office closes at 5pm and I didn't make it to town until 6pm. Now, I have to walk over there in the morning when they open at 8am and pick up my new shoes and orthotics. It will be a shorter day, but I think everything will work out.The best part of the day was trail magic I found this morning. It was blueberry pancakes, sausage links, fresh fruit, and some stuff to pack out. The people were all wonderful and extremely nice. At least something good happened today!
Date: 2021-06-22
From: Bear Mountain Inn

To: Canopus Lake Beach
Miles today: 21.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Put a kid in a room with a single marshmallow. Tell them they can eat the marshmallow now, or if they wait 5 minutes they can have two marshmallows. Observe. This is the marshmallow test and it is designed to evaluate a child's ability to delay gratification. I feel like the AT is a series of marshmallow tests.Today was scheduled to be a 15-mile day, partly because I had to wait for the post office to open at 8am. After looking at the other days, I decided if I could do more miles today and shift tomorrow forward, resupply would be easier the following day. I've done this before. It's never easy.I made it to the Appalachian Deli around 11:15am and wanted a sandwich, but there was a line, so I grabbed something quick and was back on trail at 11:30.The trail was easier today and I felt fast. The new shoes and orthotics helped A TON. I had no idea how bad the orthotics had gotten over the past 3-4 years. My feet feel stable again! Unfortunately, it rained nearly all day, making rocks and roots slick and dangerous.I made it to the state park before 5pm. Two of the bathrooms were open, so we hikers took turns taking cold showers and drying with the hand dryers. We are camped in an open field in the park. It's nice!
Date: 2021-06-23
From: Canopus Lake Beach

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 30.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I slept well last night, but it was cool, bordering on cold. When I woke up, it was 46 degrees. I can't remember the last time the temperature was that low. My shoes and socks were still wet, and that is never a great way to start the day. The ground and vegetation was still wet and my tent was soaked from dew and condensation.My first goal of the day was to make it to a road before 9am. A half mile down that road was a deli. If I made my goal, I would allow myself a short break to eat one of the breakfast sandwiches. Well, the sandwich was delicious and I was back on trail before 9:30am.Unfortunately, on my way to hitting the first goal, I also hit a tree. I came up over the crest of a hill and a tree was over the trail and connected with the top of my head. I instantly dropped to the ground. I don't think I'm injured, but my head hurt for an hour or so.I was passed by a hiker later in the morning. That doesn't happen often, so I take notice. Her name was Shilly-shally and she was slackpacking as part of helping a couple of hikers move their van down trail. We hiked to the van together and I was able to get a diet coke from their fridge. It was zero calories, but cold. I'll take it!The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I made it to the shelter in under 11 hours, or about 2.8 mph. Needless to say, the terrain was pretty nice and the weather was amazing. Tomorrow, I expect much of the same. I am scheduled for about 20 miles in addition to resupply. It will be a good break, but I am tempted to do more miles in the great conditions.
Date: 2021-06-24
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Silver Hill Campsite
Miles today: 22.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Less than 50 miles of the AT are in Connecticut and today I did a few of them. I crosses the border with New York a little before 6am. I had run into another hiker, Moze, from camp. He took a posted detour and I decided to ignore it. We took each other's picture and hiked together for another 20 minutes or so. He was quite a bit slower, so I went ahead.My next stop was resupply at Bulls Bridge Country Store. It is named after Bull's Bridge, a 19th century covered bridge. It was really neat to walk through because I was able to inspect the craftsmanship up close, something I think you would miss in a car. The resupply was great and I grabbed a frozen breakfast sandwich, too. They even let me refill my water bottles. Great place.The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. There were several small climbs and a couple of larger ones, namely Caleb's Peak, which was pretty steep on the North side.I passed my initial camp site at 2:15pm and went on to the next one. It is Silver Hill Campsite, which is definitely the nicest Campsite I can remember on the AT. There isn't a shelter, but it has everything else, and then some. Picnic tables, pavilion, swing, Bear box, privy, water source (hand pump), and benches.The extra miles I did today should make tomorrow a 25.4 day and the following day I will be in a hotel!
Date: 2021-06-25
From: Silver Hill Campsite

To: Riga Campsite
Miles today: 25.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Today, I took a little longer to hike a standard day. Part of it was the climbing. It was over 7200 feet and a few of them were rather steep. The other part was taking a break for lunch. I haven't been doing that, but the trail passed within 0.2 miles of a great restaurant, so I couldn't pass it up. I ate a burger, sweet potato fries, and a piece of blackberry cobbler. I was actually full for about two hours. Amazing. I still managed to eat all of my other food for the day, but it was work.I arrived at today's campsite around 4:15 and scouted the options. They weren't great, even with only one other person at camp. I set up camp and ate dinner at the picnic table, enjoying a beautiful view of the Twin Lakes Valley.The camp eventually filled, including a large family who are section hiking the entire AT in 365 days. There are five kids ranging in age from 8 up to about 14 or 15.Tomorrow, a hotel! Also, some pretty rugged terrain to take me into Massachusetts.
Date: 2021-06-26
From: Riga Campsite

To: Great Barrington
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was one of the most productive days I've had on the AT. I made three summits, crossed into Massachusetts, and hiked 9.5 miles before 9am. I finished out my day with another 8.5 miles by noon.After leaving trail, I hiked toward the town of Great Barrington, stopping at a restaurant for lunch. It was delicious and I took my time because check-in at the hotel wasn't until 3pm. I eventually continued on and looked around town. A nice grocery store was next to a laundromat. An older woman in the laundromat said her son was a hiker too and the hotel let him check in early. I made quick time to the hotel, checked in early, and took a shower.My clothes were still dirty, but that would have to do. I got my last haircut on trail and the lady did a great job! The weather is supposed to be hot in the next week, so I'm glad to have that done. Next, it was time to resupply food at an ACTUAL grocery store. They had a great selection and I was able to stock up on my favorite caffinated water packets. I drink one every morning instead of coffee.After hauling my food back to the hotel, it was time to make the 1-mile trek BACK to the laundromat. It had been 9 days since my clothes were actually clean. I can't explain how great it feels to wear clean clothes. Most people take it for granted.On my way back to the hotel with my clean clothes, I stopped to have dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant. It was delicious.I don't know how many miles I will do tomorrow, but it will include a 2.7 mile trek back to trail. Ugh.
Date: 2021-06-27
From: Great Barrington

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 27.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today started early because I had to make a 2.7 mile road walk back to trail from my hotel. I started at 4:45am and started my day on trail a little after 5:30am. I thought I could avoid the bugs for a few hours in the early morning, but I had bites before I was even on trail. My sleeves were down and bug net deployed the rest of the day.I had a plan A and plan B. If I made it to plan A by 12:30pm, I would move on to plan B. I made it by noon. Lol. Plan B was a cabin, but I just wanted to tent there. I pushed myself to make the miles and get there at a decent time. I really don't like being late to camp, especially if I am competing for a prime tent space.I arrived at Upper Goose Pond Cabin a little before 4pm, which is perfect. A number of other hikers arrived over the next 2-3 hours. This is the only official Campsite for several miles in each direction. The Cabin is red, wooden, and two stories. The caretaker said it has been here since the 1920's. It's a really nice setup and I had first dibs on a tent space, so it's not bad at all. There is a small dock where I soaked my feet and washed up. A breakfast of pancakes and coffee is being served at 6am tomorrow, but unfortunately I will already be on trail.The day was miserably hot and humid and the bugs were relentless. I am expecting much of the same for the rest of the week, though I think it will rain 1-2 days and the temps should be cooler then.