morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-04-26
From: Allentown Shelter 

To: George Outerbridge Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

The thru hikers left at 6 am. Then the rest of us started to move. One was heading south. Another left to go north. Swan and I talked a little before I left. Swan was over 50, from Melbourne FL. His doctors told him he could not hike the trail, so he was hiking to spite the doctors. He had problems with his spine, knee and COPD. He coughed through the night.  I hiked to Bake Oven Shelter. As I was hiking I was wondering if I should stop there. I was already set up to spend 5 days at Stempas waiting for my friends Tag Along and Buzz to hike NJ with me.  Bake Oven Shelter had two camping chairs, a sleeping bag and trash that were left. The trail to the water was overgrown. There was no privy at this shelter. Then I saw the graffiti and decided I could not stay. About that time, Kevin showed up. Kevin stayed at Stempas, the last night Again and I spent there. Kevin hiked south while I hiked north. Kevin was tired so he was staying.I hiked on toward George Outerbridge Shelter. Knife Edge was slanted rocks with a long way to fall. At one point, my shoe got stuck between the rocks. I sat down; drank some water; and ate some food bars. Then I got my shoe and put it back on. A well balanced young man came up the rocks. He asked if I was OK. I explained my shoe got stuck but now I was fine. He picked his way along the rocks.  It seemed to take forever to get there. At last I saw the shelter. The Old Guy was there. He said this is a bare bones shelter. No privy. Just a shovel. The water was a little beyond the shelter. There was straw on the hillside to stabilize it.  The Old Guy was probably 70. He said today was the first day that he had questioned whether he should be out here hiking the trail. Knifes Edge unnerved him. I told him the longer he is out here the stronger he will get. He was a flip flop starting in Harpers Ferry.  He was concerned about tomorrow's hike up Lehigh Gap.
Date: 2017-04-27
From: George Outerbridge Shelter

To: Stempas to finish PA
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I was the first out of the shelter but then I stopped to get 3 quarts of water.  The next water was in 13 miles. I added Gatorade powder to one quart. I also drank a quart before I left the shelter. At the bottom of the hill, the trail went along the road. The sign said to cross the road at the light. When I was almost at the light, there was no traffic. So I crossed. The trail went uphill from the road pretty steep with some gravel. Eventually it turned into climbing up boulders. This might have been fun with a light day pack but with a 28 lb pack plus 3 quarts of water, it was a challenge. At one point it was a short rock climb. I climbed up only to watch my Gatorade roll down and 50 ft off the trail. It was one of those moments. Am I going to do this trail or not?  So I dropped my pack; got the Gatorade and climbed the rock again. I followed the blazes across the boulders. See the pictures. It was easier than some of what I have done in Maine.  At the top, I met the Old Guy. He was wondering how I was fairing. He was eating a food bar.  The restoration of this area is going better than I anticipated. There were grasses everywhere. And then I saw the bleeding heart flowers. That made my day. I saw several clumps of them as I walked.  As I came down the hill, I followed the most used path. Suddenly there were no more white blazes. I retraced my steps to a white double blaze. I had missed the turn. I followed the blazes downhill to some trail magic of toilet paper, not in a plastic bag. That won't last in a rain. Then I spotted two hikers off trail just like I had done. They joined me on the trail. They stopped at the kiosk when we crossed a road. I came up on the Old Guy going up hill. I am still not sure how he got ahead of me. We leap frogged a couple of times.  When I came to the sign for Delph Spring I called John Stempas. He said he had seen me crossing the road near Lehigh Gap as he dropped off Utah. He said to call him again at the sign for Stempa spring.  I hiked for an hour or so and there was the road. I completely missed the Stempa Spring sign. I called him from the road. The call was dropped but he called me back. He came and got me. The shower at Stempas is always wonderful. Old Guy and Utah stayed at Stempas that night.  I was finished with PA. Yeah!
Date: 2017-04-28
From: Stempas 

To: Stempas
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

When Again left the trail to be with her new grandchild, she offered to drive me back home, a 14 hour drive. I had plans to hike with Tag Along and Buzz on May 3, starting at the PA-NJ border. Tag Along had a work commitment that could not be moved. Tag Along could drive me back to the trail. Or I could wait at John Stempa's hostel/garage with the cement floor for $5 a night. (The first night was $10. Additional nights were $5.) So I stayed at John Stempa's garage.  The 5 days with nothing to do went amazingly fast. On Saturday, John took me to a local park to watch his son play at a Jazz Festival. On Sunday, I went to church and met a woman who was a "hooker". No really. She had the T shirt and everything. She invited me to come visit and see her work. Since I had nothing to do, I visited her on May 2. She hooks rugs with various fabrics that she dyes. She really enjoyed it. She gave some of her rugs as presents and others she sold on Etsy. The rest of my time I spent writing entries in Trail Journals, reading the Guthook tutorials, going on Facebook, reading the Bible and moving recently felled tree logs to the backyard. John and Linda graciously invited me to dinner one night.  The last night, John Stepmpa's son and friends hung out in the garage with me. It seemed they thought I was lonely or maybe this is where they usually hung out except today I was there. I had come to like being alone. Strange.
Date: 2017-05-03
From: Delaware Water Gap PA

To: Backpacker Cammpsite
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: few clouds

At last the day Tag Along, Buzz and I were to start our hike into New Jersey, toward Bear Mountain New York. Buzz lived in New Jersey. It was pretty cool that when we finished, he could say he hiked all of New Jersey on the Appalachian Trail. It was a busy day for Tag Along and Buzz. They dropped a car at Bear Mountain State Park. Then they drove to John Stempa's home. John Stempa and the three of us drove to the PA side of I80 Delaware River Bridge. John Stempa drove the car back to his home for safe keeping.  We walked across the bridge I had walked across a week ago with Again. It was just as noisy with the semi trucks going by. Fortunately the bridge has a pedestrian walkway with a low wall between us and the trucks. We took pictures at the border of PA-NJ in the middle of the bridge. The Delaware River was pretty and very wide. We used the bathrooms at the Kittatinny Visitor Center. We had a little trouble finding the white blazes but eventually found our way to the parking lot Buzz had parked in a few weeks earlier, when he did a practice hike on the AT to Sunfish Pond. Buzz was excited that he was really backpacking the AT. This was Buzz' second backpacking trip. The first one was a shakedown hike with Tag Along for two nights near Mt Rogers in Virginia. We saw some rock sculptures and took pictures. We hiked uphill to the Backpacker Campsite. There were still some "Pennsylvania" rocks. It was a short hiking day of only 4 miles. I typically schedule the first day to be low mileage, to allow time for all the staging of cars and shuttling to the trail. Also, it takes some time to adjust to trail life.    We arrived at Backpacker Campsite mid afternoon, early for me to stop. It seemed unwise to push it, the first day out. Buzz was delighted with the site. It faced west, overlooking the Delaware River. Perfect for a sunset. There were two privies at this site. We checked out both and setup camp near the "nicer" one. The "nice" one, we gave a B- and and other one a D. Tag Along and I looked for water. We found a swampy area. The water had a lot of silt and leaf debris. There was a 20-30 mph wind, so I staked my tarp on three sides with the opening away from the wind. It was actually warm out of the wind. I could barely stay awake long enough to watch the sunset in the wind.
Date: 2017-05-04
From: Backpacker Cammpsite

To: grassy campsite
Miles today: 17.0

Our original plan was to hike 19.5 miles today to Brink Shelter. This was an unrealistic goal with someone new to backpacking and the late start we got. We hiked all day. Tag Along and Buzz are both cavers (their other hobby is exploring caves), so they enjoyed climbing rocks. I watched where they put their feet and did the same. By dusk, it was apparent we were not going to make it to Brink Shelter. We scouted out a grassy field and then a wooded section with a view of the lake. There were no flat level spots in the wooded section, so we went back to the grassy field. Tag Along did find some ticks the next day. I found no ticks the entire trip, probably because three weeks before, I had sprayed my socks, pants, shirt and cap with permethrin.
Date: 2017-05-05
From: grassy campsite

To: Rutherford Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

It was chilly with a light wind when we woke. We had another long day of hiking planned. We arrived at Rutherfield Shelter around 7 pm. I let out a big whoop when I saw the shelter. It was short lived. When I arrived at the shelter, it was full of hikers already tucked into their sleeping bags. I had disturbed their sleep. Tag Along and Buzz were sharing a tent to save weight. Buzz complained that this would be the third night sharing the tent. The original plan was only one night. But what could we do? There was no room in the shelter and we were way too tired to hike to the next shelter. We barely made it here. So we setup our tent and tarp.
Date: 2017-05-06
From: Rutherford Shelter

To: Wayde's house, State Line Road NY
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Prior to starting this section, I arranged with a friend of a friend to do a food drop for all three of us, at Wayde's house that was on a road section of the Appalachian Trail. Today was the day I had arranged for us to arrive. My original plan was to pick up the food and keep hiking. We hiked to the wooden tower of High Point. Buzz who lived in New Jersey had pointed out High Point a few times as we hiked. This was the closest he had been to it. We chatted with a man and and woman there. They took this picture of us. The man asked me if the AT had lived up to my expectations. I spent the rest of the day thinking of how to answer that question.    As the day wore on, the previous long hiking days were catching up with me and the rest of us. Buzz said he was tired. Tag Along and I explained, "Of course, he was tired. We were tired, too. We had hiked 17 miles, two days in a row." He was surprised he had hiked that far. Today it was raining. I hike faster in the rain because I do not stop to take pictures, but my attitude can get poor in the rain. We talked about picking up our food and then hiking to the nearest camp site. Wayde texted me at 1 pm. "Burgers and Brauts are on tonight's menu for your dining pleasure." At that point, hiking in the rain, anything I did not have to fix, sounded GREAT. As the day wore on, it seemed that if I stopped and ate dinner, I was not hiking anywhere after that.  They were waiting for us when we arrived about 6 pm. We were givien camping chairs to sit in and cold beers. They really know how to win a hiker's heart. On the trail, there are very few places to sit with a back rest. We got to meet their dogs and Wayde's very hospitable wife. Next came dinner with burgers and brauts as promised with buns and a few salads. We were just thrilled to be out of the rain. This was a feast for a king. They offered hot showers and their dryer. Janet took a shower. I could not bear the thought of sleeping with wet hair.  That morning, I was chilly, so I hiked in my puffy jacket and my other warm clothes. When it started to rain, I hoped it would stop soon. I was still chilled, so I did not take off my puffy jacket and warm clothes. A week ago, sitting in Stempa's garage, a woman posted that she hiked this section and was eaten with mosquito bites. Now I was sitting in a cool garage, with no mosquito bites but with a wet puffy jacket, along with other wet clothes and a damp down top quilt. I was concerned that drying my quilt in the dryer, could ruin it. I was beat and not going anywhere. We spent the night in their garage. I used my body heat to dry my clothes and quilt. They were almost dry by morning.
Date: 2017-05-07
From: Wayde's house, State Line Road NY

To: Wawayanda Shelter 
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

The hospitality continued. Wayde's wife gave us muffins and apples for breakfast. As it turned out, Wayde and our friends Steve and Eric (AT SEGA), never worked together or were friends prior to their AT hike. Wayde worked in the same company as Eric, after Eric left the company. They had mutual friends. AT SEGA stayed with Wayde in his garage two different times on their AT hike. With this new knowledge, we again profusely thanked Wayde and his wife.  It was a pleasant day as Wayde walked the width of the AT and "let the wild hikers go free". We followed the white blazes along the perimeter of Wallkill Reserve.  There were many birds, including two swans. Janet and Buzz identified most, if not all of the birds. We met a neighbor out walking his dog. What a lovely place for Wayde to live and walk.    We continued on to Pochuck Creek suspension bridge. Today was Sunday, so there were many people here, including a cub scout troop. The boardwalk was over a marsh area. There were many birds. Despite the many people, there was a peace here.   The terrain got rocky with a few rock climbs and scrambles. I was glad I was hiking with cavers who enjoyed rock climbs.   We stayed the night at Wawayanda Shelter.
Date: 2017-05-08
From: Wawayanda Shelter 

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

We leap frogged back and forth over two young men with a video camera while we hiked. We climbed rocks to the rock ridge of the NJ-NY border. Buzz pointed out the New York City skyline.    As we crossed NY 17A, the two young men came up from behind us. We asked them how they got behind us. They had gone off trail for ice cream. We had heard there was wonderful ice cream in this area. We discussed going back for the ice cream but decided we were too cold to eat ice cream.    It was a challenging day, up and down rock scrables. The shelter was full, so we set up our tarp and tent. We socialized with the people at the shelter, around the camp fire. Buzz did an excellent job of hanging our bear bags. He used his 16 oz bottle to throw the rope over a crotch in one tree. He secured the rope to the trunk. Then he used the bottle to throw the rope over a crotch in another tree. Our bear bags were attached in the middle of the rope between the two trees. The rope was then pulled taut and secured.
Date: 2017-06-07
From: Tyringham MA

To: October Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: broken clouds

I arrived at Green Mountain House at 6:25 am for my 6:30 am shuttle with Sandra.  This was opening day of the hostel.  Jeff the hostel owner had said that he may meet me as I parked my car, but I suspect he was sleeping at 6:30 am.  I gathered my gear together and was ready for Sandra when she arrived a few minutes later.  We had a delightful conversation as she drove me to Tyringham MA.  She even stopped as soon as possible when I mentioned I needed to use the bathroom.  Better service than my husband!  She used to work at Rensselaer and now works for a nonprofit that is the middle man between local small farmers and stores.  She dropped me off at Tyringham MA on the Main Road.  I was last here in April 2016.  It was a beautiful day after the two days driving in the rain.  No rain.  Sunshine.  Cool temperature.  Perfect hiking weather.    My original plan was to stop at Upper Goose Pond Cabin.  With such an early start, it seemed wrong to stop after only 7 miles.  I was in hiking shape since my last AT trek ended only a few weeks before.  The terrain had little elevation change.  I hiked on to October Mountain Shelter,  15.7 miles.  As I approached October Mountain Shelter, there were 2 older men (one by the name of Grateful) chatting with an 18 year old man (I will call him Eric) at the picnic table.  One of the older men, was talking about how he had broken his ankles and his doctor told him he would not be able to hike.  The Eric had had a bad day.  He had left his sleeping bag back at Upper Goose Pond Cabin and had twisted the ankle he broke a few weeks prior.  I suggested he soak his ankle in the nearby stream.  I explained the recommendation is to ice his ankle.  He said he did not have ice.  I said the cold stream was the next best thing.  Off he went.  The older gentlemen and I chatted.  Later, a 45 year old man arrived.  He showed us a video of the porcupine he had just seen.  We had never seen one. He had worked at Greylock a year or two earlier and saw many porcupines there.  He was nursing a bad knee and hoping the thru hike the AT next year.    It was going to be chilly tonight.  Eric said a few times that he was off to go to sleep.  I regret that I did not offer him anything to stay warm.  He said soaking his foot in the cold stream helped.  He went off to his tent.  The older men went off to their tents.  The 45 year old and I slept in the loft of the shelter.  It is a little warmer in the loft.  We had a nice chat as we fell to sleep.
Date: 2017-06-08
From: October Mountain Shelter

To: Crystal Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 16.0

In the middle of the night, I put on an additional hat, top and pants.  The 45 year old thought he had not slept much but he did not remember me putting all those clothes on.  The 18 year old appeared at the picnic table and the 45 year old started chatting with him.  Eric said he was cold and I let him borrow my blanket.  I also offered my emergency blanket for his legs and feet.  He said he was not that cold.  We came and left the table as we used the privy, got our food bags from the bear box and packed our gear.  In between, the 45 year old explained he was hiking back to his car today and could give Eric a ride to Walmart.  He made this offer to Eric which Eric accepted.  When Eric was out of earshot, the 45 year old explained he may have offered more than he wanted.  He was not sure he wanted to be tied down to an 18 year old for the day.  I said Eric reminded me of my youngest son.  I thought he would be pleasantly surprised.  On the other hand, he mentioned to me, he could drive the boy to an outfitter for a better sleeping bag.  I was almost packed up.  I asked the 45 year old if he had told Eric about going to the outfitter.  The 45 year old was obviously upset.  I said perhaps I have spoken out of turn.  He said YES.  Then he asked me to sign his log.  I said no and got out of there as he offered to drive to the outfitter.  It was another good day for hiking with cool temperatures.  I stopped for a break at the car of the 45 year old.  Thought about leaving a note but decided not to.  I met a mom, grandmother and daughter out for a walk.  They said that now that the rain stopped, bug season would start.  The trail went through the town of Dalton.  This was a surprise to me, even though it was clearly shown in the AT Guide.  Walking through a town is wonderful if you have a food drop at the Post Office or need to resupply.  I did not need either.  Dalton was a lovely quaint town.  Eric had mentioned he wanted a ride to Dalton.  I wondered if he was staying at one of the buildings I was walking past.  Somehow hiking on paved roads hurt my feet.  I was glad when the paved road turned back into trail.  Since I was planning to stay at a campsite, I stopped to have dinner at a water source.  I prefer to eat my dinner a mile or more from where I tent camp.  The bugs eventually found me and encouraged me to move on.  I came to the Crystal Mountain Campsite as Stovetop was talking on his cell phone.  He explained his cell phone was jacked and he was talking to Verizon to fix it.  He was talking on his hiking partner, Too Tall's phone.  I set up my tarp.  After Stovetop was done on the phone and my tarp was set up, I joined them at the picnic table and finished my dinner.  They have been section hiking for 30 years.  They did not hike last year because Too Tall had throat cancer.  This was his first few days out after his recovery from throat cancer.  Too Tall was doing well.  Both had very heavy packs.  We put our food in the bear box and turned in for the night.
Date: 2017-06-09
From: Crystal Mountain Campsite

To: Mark Noepel Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: broken clouds

Stovetop left the campsite first.  He predicted Too Tall would catch up to him in 40 minutes.Too Tall left next.  Too Tall had complained about the bugs and gnats at this site.  After he left, they swarmed me.  It was an encouragement to leave.  For the next few days, the flying biting insects increased and became more annoying.  Previous to this trek, I used DEET 4 times in over 3 years.  This trek, I was using it more than once a day.  With warmer temperatures, I was covered in sweat, so applying DEET was not particularly effective.  Prior to this trek, I sprayed my pants, one shirt and cap with permethin.  It meant I was not the bugs' favorite but it did not mean I was left out.  I hiked through The Cobbles and into the town of Cheshire MA.  I had a food drop at the post office.  I got to the post office around 11:30 am, prior to their lunch break.  I put my 10 lb/5 day food supply in my pack and politely asked the woman at the post office to take the box and my garbage.  She accepted.  Thank You!  Too Tall, Stovetop and I had lunch on the front lawn of the Community Center.  Stovetop told me about the Human Bionome, which I found fascinating since I used to be a microbiologist.  I hiked on to Mark Noepel Shelter.  Too Tall and Stovetop and I leap frogged all day.  All of us stopped at Mark Noepel Shelter.  At the shelter, Soul Flower was eating her dinner.  Her hiking partner ____ ____ Stumbles decided to stop at 2 pm which was too early for her.  Her hiking partner was asleep in her tent.  Soul Flower has a son who is a doctor in Colorado and another married son in Florida with children.  Soul Flower section hiked the PCT a few years ago.  She hiked Springer to Harpers Ferry last year and is doing the other half this year.  She hooked up with her hiking partner because they both leave camp at dawn and to share expenses at hotels.  She suggested I hike with her.  I did not bite.  I do not wake at 4:38 am and I was planning to stay at hostels that have per person charges, not per room charges.  What a turn of events.  Only a month ago, I was sad I did not have a hiking partner for this section.  I have now had two women want to hike with me and I am not joining them.  I was honored, but neither was a good fit for me.
Date: 2017-06-11
From: Sherman Brook Campsite

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter 
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: light rain

The Gatherer and his group left camp before me. I caught up with Andrew and The Gatherer at the sign for the beginning of the Long Trail. The trail was pretty flat here. The gnats were a little worse than yesterday, but not too bad.  I arrived at the shelter when it was still light. There was a person already asleep in their sleeping bag when I arrived. I got water at the nearby stream. Then I fixed dinner and ate. It was dark as I tried to be quiet as I set up my sleeping bag and air mattress in the shelter. I climbed into my sleeping bag without speaking to the person in the sleeping bag.