morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2022-05-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Last night, we'd moved to a new place to stay for the next 3 days. It's a nice little house out on a farm NW of Duncannon, which we figured would be convenient for my next 3 hikes, North of the Susquehanna.  We got moved in, had a pleasant supper out on the patio, then went inside to make phone calls, &c. Returning to the kitchen, we found little black bugs all over the floor.  We swept them up, wondering why we hadn't noticed any before.  We were scarcely done, when more began appearing & kept on.  They weren't in any other room, so we finally went to bed.  By morning, there were a few more in the kitchen, which we swept up too.  By this time, we decided we weren't staying: packed up, called the owner, & left.  He said that no previous renters had said anything about bugs, at the same time insisting that the smoke bombs he had set off in the basement should have taken care of any bugs.  He has no idea where they come from.  He'll refer it to the billing company to resolve what refund we get.We'd found a place in Carlisle and also a big Lutheran church downtown, which had a good service. Spent the rest of the day loafing.  Heavy rain in the afternoon.This move seemed like backtracking a bit, but the way the highways run, it isn't so bad.
Date: 2022-05-23
From: U. S. 22, Susquehanna River

To: Pa. Rt. 325, Clark's Valley Road 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

Another random slack-pack. I already know I'll have a mess to work out to pick up all the pieces at the end. If I had picked up yesterday where I left off the day before, this is what I'd be doing next. Susan dropped me off at U.S. 22/PA 147 & headed back to retrieve groceries we'd left at a rental, while I started up the Mtn. Rocky Trail, eased somewhat by long switchbacks. I knew that once I got up I'd stay at about the same elevation till the end of the day. Big rocks in the first part, variable later -- lots of poison ivy. Last time I was up here, 29 Nov. 2015, there were no leaves on the trees, & I had many good views of Duncannon across the rivers. This time, not much to see!Lentil & Loose-Leaf are NOBOs hiking North from Harper's Ferry. We passed each other several times, till they stopped at Peter's Mtn Shelter. I met Rebi-Mo about the same time, but he moved out ahead. He remembered me & Honeytoe from the hostel in Glasgow. I heard there were several other NOBOs out there on the Mtn, but the only ones I saw were Bucky [Aus.] In the morning & Tin Man [Neth.] In the afternoon. I believe I'd met them in VA also. After scrambled eggs & pancakes for breakfast, I had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich made with pancakes for lunch. Simple & easy to eat!Rather tedious walking today. I spiced it up a little by trying to identify where I had camped last time thru this area: a few miles in from the North end, on a rocky hillside where I couldn't set my tent up right, & where I lost some tent pegs in the thick leaves while setting up & taking down in the dark. I found a likely spot, but then I saw another later that could also have been it!Susan met me at the end of the ridge & we got to walk down the switchback together [not so rocky on this end].I was down just in time to attend a City Council meeting by Zoom while we rode back to Carlisle.
Date: 2022-05-25
From: I - 81 crossing near old Iron bridge

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Back on the Trail with a full pack. Susan is on her way back to Wisconsin, & I'm seeing if I can eat & drink enough to stay healthy on the Trail. The primary reason for starting at Swatara Gap was to be positioned to get to Port Clinton [including Post Office] before going to get grandson Amanuel [It wasn't easy to find a shuttle driver who was willing to go to Newark Airport, as simple as the concept looked on paper.]The map programs [including FarOut] are very unclear about names & numbers of roads that intersect the Trail in this area. We got off I-81 & headed North on Rt. 72. I remembered that the AT went across the old iron truss brdge; so when I saw it off to the right, I felt it was time to stop driving & start walking. The sharp turn up the hill under the interstate bridge is better marked than it used to be; so no problem there. But the steepness & rockiness makes one wonder why anyone thought it was necessary to replace the old road that used to take hikers up more easily.Early on, I met Sierra & Free-ly [LASH] -- no other long-distance hikers all day. In the afternoon, I met a SOBO runner, then later, 6 evening walkers, plus 5 more at the lookout near Rt. 501. Nice & cool for hiking. Slow because I'm not used to the rocks, but there were about 4 miles of smooth Trail near the end, with little bits thru-out the day. Lots of poison ivy with the rocks, not much other places. Stopped for a break at Wm. Penn Shelter -- typical of many of the large, newer shelters in this area. 501 Shelter is different, a fully-enclosed building with plywood bunk beds & a big, octagonal skylight that lets in a lot of light even at dusk [I heard it used to belong to a potter, who needed that light for her work]. I found 2 people who looked homeless. The man disappeared quickly without speaking. The woman didn't ask for anything but stayed in her upper bunk the whole time I was there, wrapped in a heavy blanket. She spoke of places she had walked, on or adjacent to the AT. Darrel arrived just after I did. He's got about half the Trail done by sections. Camped nearby were Spoons & Letterman, NOBO thru-hikers doing SOBO slack-packing today. They said they'd met a dozen or more NOBO thru-hikers in the morning-- they must have been out way ahead of me!
Date: 2022-05-26
From: 501 Shelter

To: Tenting South of Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Plenty of rocks! Slow going first couple of miles. The Trail crossed a number of smooth paths & less rocky woods roads. It seemed as if the trail-builders were saying: " Here's what it could be like, but we're giving you the real Rocksylvania experience." Darrel overtook me pretty quickly.  3 thru-hikers, including Carjack & Mixed-Up [He remembered me from VA] passed on their way from Wm. Penn Shelter. Later, Woodstock, plus 7 day-hikers near the highway. I stopped to fix lunch at Hertline Campsite & finished eating it over the next few miles. The trail was bad, then good for awhile, then a bit worse with lots of muddy spots, then more rocks again. I just kept on plugging along. There was a hint of rain all day, especially late pm.Looking at those muddy spots from a trail-maintainer's viewpoint, & knowing from past hikes that these are often wetter than now, I think they need to build some boardwalks, if they can't re-route the water, or at least provide some stepping stones, so that hikers won't keep widening the path. One of the things I try to do while hiking is look for [& remove] sticks across the Trail that might trip people. Well, I failed in the case of the largest muddy area, one that didn't have an obvious way to get across dry. As I looked for ways to go, my feet got tangled in a broomstick-sized pole I hadn't noticed. Trip! Splat! Right in the mud. Better than falling on rocks, but pretty messy. Getting up with my backpack, I'm like a turtle on its back, so I couldn't help getting even more muddy before I got out of there. I proceeded on till I found a place to sit down, with my pack off, & try to clean up a bit. Very sticky mud! As I got going from my clean-up spot, FarOut said it was 7:30 & I had 1.2 miles to go to Eagles Nest Shelter. I should be there in less than an hour, even going pretty slow. I don't like to check the app too often -- I should be able to spot a sign for a Shelter! But after it felt close to an hour, I did check. It said 9:00 & at first wouldn't tell me where I was -- I don't understand how that function sometimes turns itself off -- but I managed to get it going & it now said 3.4 miles to the shelter! I must have got turned around when I stopped. I was mystified. I had counted at least 6 wet spots after the one that got me, none of them nearly as big, yet somehow I must have gone thru it again the other way without noticing.Well, too late to be getting into a shelter; so I set up my tent & went to bed, just as a soft raIn started.
Date: 2022-05-27
From: Tenting South of Eagles Nest Shelter

To: Hospital in Reading
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I usually get up several times during the night. This time I slept all the way till 5 a.m. Then I woke with a pain in my chest -- I haven't had a pain like that for many years. Concerned about heart problems, I took a couple of nitroglycerine tablets. Nothing happened. So I took a couple more, and the pain went away.  It still seemed significant enough to get checked out; so I packed up everything and walked to Highway 183 to hitch a ride to Reading. At least this distance was shorter than if I had gone all the way to the shelter! On the way I met several thru-hikers, including Shorty & Coasty [he said that he remembered meeting me in Virginia], and also a family with a couple of young girls, coming back from their first backpacking trip. This was not an easy place to hitchhike -- top of a misty pass isn't good for visibility. After about 20 minutes, a man stopped & gave me a ride all the way to the Reading Hospital. I was impressed with the emergency room: they didn't ask for insurance information for several hours, while efficiently doing a whole bunch of tests & confering with specialists to get a diagnosis. They quickly eliminated heart issues & focused on pneumonia from aspirating food and drink [even tho I didn't have a fever or some other symptoms of infection] and decided I needed to stay for some intravenous antibiotic treatments.This is all very disappointing, especially the timing. Tomorrow, I was expecting to pick up grandson Amanuel from the airport to hike with me for a week. Maybe we can still work out something later in my hike. So I spent the afternoon & evening calling people & canceling travel. After checking the airline prices, I decided to take a train from Harrisburg Sunday, adding almost a week to my planned stay at home. I'm still hoping to be out here again 14 or 15 June. Meanwhile, [despite the boredom of being in the hospital] I'm learning a few things about breathing & swallowing that will be useful for future, even while I resist the suggestion that all of my food needs to be pureed!
Date: 2022-11-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

I owe my readers some explanation of what has happened the rest of the year.When I came home late May, it was only a week earlier than I had originally intended; so I expected to be out on the Trail again without losing too much time. I missed having the time with Amanuel, & we were unable to work out any likely times for the rest of the Summer.  Susan & I spent a lot of time looking for ways to fatten me up a bit now & to plan for better nutrition while on the trail.Backcountry Foodie looked to be one of the best sources, & we tried out a number of their ideas, most of which seemed workable for me. Nothing has changed from being such a slow eater tho. The original plan had been for me to be up to Northern Massachusetts by the 4th of July, when I could meet our daughter Mary to hike a week North from there. Then Susan would meet me in New Hampshire a few weeks later to help me thru the White Mtns.Well, none of that worked out, even tho Mary & I went ahead & booked plane tickets. I just wasn¢t gaining any weight, & then I had an abscessed tooth flare-up. It was a tooth whose the crown had come off during the hike, without bothering me much. But now I suddenly had a lot of pain & a swollen face. Antibiotics knocked that down pretty fast, & I thought I could just carry on. My dentists advised strongly against that, yet the easy solutions seemed unavailable. No one wanted to do an extraction or even a root canal because of concerns for the damage my radiation treatments for cancer 2 years ago had done to the jawbone. Two out of 3 oral surgeons that I consulted urged me to have Hyperbaric Oxygen [HBO] treatments first, to improve blood flow to my gums & bone. That¢s 6 weeks of daily oxygen treatments before the procedure & 2 weeks after. By the time I worked thru all these consultations & getting the VA to pay for the extraction, then actually doing the treatment, I didn¢t get the tooth removed till the day after Thanksgiving. So far that has seemed to go well, & I think HBO has helped with my dry-mouth issues a well.It sure made for a different kind of Summer & Fall than I had anticipated. More time with Susan & doing things around the house. Also, doing more supply preaching. And I was able to participate more fully in my work on city council ¢ helping to hire a new city administrator would certainly have been nearly impossible to do by ZOOM. I also So I am trying to figure out what I can do next year ¢ Amanuel says he¢s still interested [subject to all his other activities]. It¢s possible I could get started again in March.  Meanwhile, Christmas blessings to everyone!
Date: 2023-04-10
From: Va 621. Craigs Creek

To: Up On the Cliffs [Sinking Creek Mtn.]
Miles today: 6.2

Once again! When will I ever learn?Carrying too much weight again. Had trouble getting it all in my pack, but didn't think I had time to try to figure out what to get rid of.Susan drove me to the trail-head & walked in with me to the first shelter. We noted that the bridge just to the North [over Craig Creek] was out ¢ happy I did that last year! Easy walk up to Niday Shelter, where we met NOBO hiker Gunslinger,    stopped for lunch.  I stopped for a little rest & snack too.  I learned that his situation is the opposite of mine.  We packaged up my food to encourage me to eat enough calories per day.  He packages his food to discourage his eating it all up before he can re-supply.  Bird Nerd, another NOBO, stopped in as did Stats & Captain Chaos, 2 women doing a long SOBO hike.  I think Susan was encouraged to see all of them & be able to trust that I would not be out on the Trail alone.  She walked a bit farther up the Mtn, then returned to the car to go & wait for me at Woods Hole hostel. I'm thinking I can do this section to Pearisburg in 4 days, tho I've done it in the past in less.Long steady climb [about 2000 feet] all afternoon ¢ not uncomfortably steep ¢ interrupted by cutting parts of a complicated oak blow-down.  I couldn't really do all of it with my little saw, but I was able to reduce the "detour" around it by about half.Met Lighthouse & another NOBO, ¢Hears the Frogs¢?? Then while stopping to eat at the Continental divide, I was passed by Woodchuck, Kurt, Mike, Blaze, & Bad Back. One other NOBO passed later.Next I continued along the ridge on the sloping rocks other hikers had complained about. It¢s one of those ridges that never quite seems to end. After passing a flat spot I had camped on in the past, I discovered it was time to attend my city council meeting by Zoom. That meant staying in one place for 112 hours, so as not to lose the connection, while the sun went down & the temperature fell. It seemed pretty cold while I proceeded in the dark till I could find a spot flat enough to camp on. Note: ¢flat enough¢ does not mean there aren¢t lots of little rocks sticking up ¢ had to try to sleep between them.
Date: 2023-04-11
From: Up On the Cliffs [Sinking Creek Mtn.]

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 7.9

Nice sunny morning. There was considerably more ridge to complete before the Trail finally descended, but it wasn¢t all on bare rock. In fact, someone had taken the rocks & piled them up in little towers. Apparently the old farmers here weren¢t interested in building stone fences but wanted something more monumental than just piles of rocks. It must have been a really hard place to grow crops! Cutleaf Toothworts are out , & May-apples are beginning to appear.Passing the turn-off to Sarver Hollow Shelter reminded me why I¢ve never seen that shelter: 0.4 mile off the Trail! That would have been difficult last night in the dark. Continuing on this morning, after many apparent end-points, the Trail began a gradual descent into Sinking Creek Valley, past the huge Keffer oak, thru a few pasture areas, & by a couple of creeks at which one could filter water. I stopped shortly before the highway, taking off my shoes & wading in the cool water. Several hikers passed, in each direction, without stopping to talk or get water. I saw a van down the hill near the road, & wondered if someone had found a way to camp in a ¢no camping zone¢ [Trail runs thru private land]. When I got there, I found 2 women sitting in chairs & a couple of hikers getting water from a nearby creek that didn¢t look as clean as the one I¢d used. Maybe I¢m wrong, but it looked like a ¢trail magic¢ situation. Yet nobody offered anything; so I greeted them & went on my way. It just reminded me of the previous times I¢ve experienced discrimination against SOBO hikers.Less than a mile to the next hwy, Va. 42, a nice road that parallels the Trail off & on for the next 120 miles [Some of the other roads are pretty bad]. This is farm country for a while, walking along & thru pastures. The only cattle I saw were way off at the far end of the pasture. Then the Trail went 212 miles gradually up thru pine woods to Laurel Creek Shelter. It struck me how different this area seemed, compared to my other 3 times thru here. Today, I met Grateful, Spring-Break, Zeke, & Shades [with dog], plus several others whose names I didn¢t get; hardly anyone in the afternoon. Not as many miles today as I¢d hoped, but better than yesterday.
Date: 2023-04-12
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: War Spur Shelter
Miles today: 5.8

I¢m really having trouble adjusting to how slow I¢m going. OK, I am carrying too much weight ¢ mostly food, to build up my nutrition. But I¢m beginning to see a fallacy even in all our careful planning. It¢s based on calorie needs for a thru-hike, but I¢m not into thru-hike mode yet. I just can¢t eat that much! I remember in 2013 being surprised that some hikers, even after 3 weeks on the Trail, were unable to eat a ¢2-person¢ packaged meal like I could. That was before my current chewing & swallowing problems. Now I¢m the one who can¢t eat the much!Of course, I do find other ways to slow myself down. The Trail today began with a long but not difficult uphill [fewer rocks], then pretty much leveled off for the rest of the day. I found myself stopping quite often, not so much to rest, as to cut things that had fallen across the Trail. I feel a duty to do that because I know it¢s almost impossible for the Trail clubs to keep up with everything. It¢s kind of like eating berries along the Trail: it¢s fun, but makes for slow going.  Somewhat misty in the mountains, but the view at Kelly Knob was also blocked by trees. It was better in 2016, when I came thru here in February, with no leaves. Pleasant down-hill to a Rhododendron tunnel following a nice stream ¢ great water source! At the shelter, there were 3 hikers already camped, plus another came later. I had the shelter to myself.
Date: 2023-04-13
From: War Spur Shelter

To: VA. 613 ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Mtn Lake Road
Miles today: 5.2

Slow getting started again ¢ first person up, but not first to leave. A steep uphill much of the morning to follow a fairly pleasant trail on a 4000-foot ridge. A nice, sunny but cool, day. I did less trail work today.I¢m still low on energy & obviously not going to make it to Pearisburg in 3-4 days! Susan has been staying at Woods Hole Hostel, & I¢d still like to stay this last night & have time to visit with Neville, the proprietor. There are two road crossings ahead ¢ I¢m not sure I can make it to the second one in time to make it to dinner at the hostel. Besides, Susan has been helping out in the kitchen, so I want to let her get back well before dinner. Mtn Lake Road [Va 613] is gravel but looked like a reasonable road when I got there at 1:30 pm.  I was able to get thru to Susan from up on the ridge & figured she could be there in less than an hour. So I spent a little time enjoying the view from Wind Rock. It has a nice view to the West. From now on, I¢ll be seeing West Virginia often in that direction. To the Southwest, where I¢ll be heading next, I also saw smoke. From the shape of it, it looked like a controlled burn ¢ hard to tell how it affects the Trail.After cutting a few obstacles near the viewpoint, headed down to the road, where I found a vehicle with a tailer parked in the parking lot. It didn¢t seem like a good place to sit & wait; so I headed down the road. That would have to be the direction Susan would be coming from. I stopped a half mile down, at the Minnie Ball Hill monument, marking a minor Civil War skirmish where the Union forces were retreating over a very bad road [should have been an omen]. There was at least a place to sit in some shade. Not that I sat still for long. There were a lot of aluminum cans to pick up for recycling, plus a great many branches that had fallen over parts of the road, which I started to cut with my saw. After of an hour of alternate road work & resting, I continued on down the road for about a mile, thinking I might get to some place where I could make a phone call. No luck. Walking back up the hill, I started thinking about hitching a ride out to Mtn Lake Lodge. Almost back to the monument, a vehicle stopped. Turned out Susan had gotten a shuttle driver because people told her the road was too bad for her car [which is kind of low].  It did turn out to be slow driving anyway, & we got to the hostel just in time for supper, but we were able to have a pleasant talk with Neville afterwards. About a dozen other hikers were staying there, including a sister & 2 brothers hiking together in retirement.
Date: 2023-04-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

When I decided to ask for a pickup yesterday, I had decided to re-group, take a day off, & then pick up my hike South of Burke¢s Garden, where I had left off last year. So we drove down to Marion, mostly on Rt 42, thru lots of farmland. We actually saw a sheep that had just given birth out in the corner of the field. Three lambs: one walking enough to nurse, another being coaxed by the mother to stand up, the third barely moving. Extraordinary! Then up & over Big Walker Ridge on a very winding road ¢ good views to the North: ¢Back of the Dragon¢.We got into an AirBnB, having lunch in Hungry Mother State Park & a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Then lots of re-packing & a little re-thinking about the hike. Susan will stay here for several days, while I do some slack-packing & overnights.
Date: 2023-04-16
From: Va 610. [Old Rich Valley Rd]

To: Little Brushy Mtn.
Miles today: 7.2

This morning, after going to church in Marion & a quick lunch, I thought I¢d try coming up some back roads from I-81, which worked pretty well. Susan walked in with me for a while, uphill on an old wagon road. It¢s amazing what tight turns they used to put up with! A very pleasant afternoon for hiking. I stopped briefly to cut a few minor blow-downs.Walker Mtn is relatively low here so I was up & over it fairly soon, then down a bit before going up a bit higher. At the bottom I met several hikers already camped near the creek, then several more headed that way: Gonzo, Dob, Sugar Chill, Soto, Pops, Rich [money], Rowdy, Draggin¢, & a couple from Ky. There had been a forecast of thunderstorms, but the afternoon continued sunny with only a few clouds. At the top of Little Brushy [a.k.a. Gullion] Mtn, I was enjoying the views when I felt a few drops of rain. I continued on in sunshine. Suddenly, I was caught in a downpour, with wind that made it difficult to cover myself & my pack with my poncho. I got soaking wet pretty quickly as the thunder & lightening started. I felt safer heading down the Mtn, but it was getting dark too. At the first saddle, I stopped & set up my tent as quickly as possible. The clothes I was wearing were all wet, but I still had a dry sleeping bag. Of course, the rain stopped by the time I was inside.