morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-21
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Palmerton Jail
Miles today: 24.8

Yep, the destination is right. I'm in jail!The real story is this. Left Eckville bright and early (if you consider 7:45 a.m. bright and early) after waking up at 5 a.m. to a chorus of birds. The sun did a fine job painting the clouds pink when it came up. Anyway, Moses, Silver, Scout and I all left about the same time. I walked with Moses for a while and think he is bad luck. I fell twice on the rocks while he was with me. The 1st fall was a harmless fall. It seemed to be slow motion and I turned and fell back on my pack. The 2nd fall had a lot more potential to be gruesome. It was a face first dive into rocks that were lower than the ones I was standing on. The end result was that I left bits of my arm on the culprits. I skinned my left forearm from the elbow to the wrist and cut my hand. I let it bleed out and I was pretty scary looking from all the coagulated blood that formed before I got to a shelter a few miles down the trail to clean it up. I was pretty lucky I didn't break anything. I've told several other hikers that if I don't finish, it will have to be an injury that requires a rescue team to carry me off the trail.The 4 of us stopped at Blue Mountain Summit restaurant for lunch. I had a burger and fries (which, along with pizza, seems to be my standard lunch and/or dinner fare. I also had a fantastic piece of cheese cake at a fantastically highway robbery price of only $5. Had I known the price, I would've skipped dessert.I passed Moses at the last shelter before town. Silver and Scout got lucky and got a hitch from the Lehigh River. I had no such luck, and had to walk the 1 1/2 - 2 miles into Palmerton. I passed a Joes restaurant where I got a meatball sub before they closed at 9:00 p.m. After that I turned myself in at the police station for vagrancy. Silver and Scout came in at the same time. After checking in, the officer took us to the Borough Hall, where they let hikers crash in the basement. Another officer gave us a tour of the building. Nice set up. Bunks, bathrooms and a hot shower that'll blow barnacles and ticks right off of ya' if you have them. Sorry to say I didn't happen to get the name of either officer. Met Huff, who unfortunatly had already been sleeping when we arrived. Walking thru town I saw that Tony's pizza was open til 10 p.m. The meatball sub didn't quite fill the abyss in my belly, so I went out to get a pizza while Silver and Scout showered. When I got back back I offered some to everybody. Suddenly, Huff was wide awake!Weather report: same, scattered rain, 50's, more wind. Trail condition: same, rocks, rocks and more rocks. My fun meter is not only pegged, it's broken! More bad news: with about 35 miles left in PA, the worst is still to come.
Date: 2006-05-22
From: Palmerton Jail

To: Campsite
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up early today. Huff was the 1st one out for breakfast. I went with Silver and Scout. On the way, Silver and I got our laundry going. Everything is conventiantly located next to the jail. (By the way, the borough PD used to be located in the borough hall, that's why it's known as the Palmerton Jail Hostel). After filling our piggy bellies, we kind of went separate ways. I returned to the hall and asked about transportation. The nice lady at the clerks office (sorry, also nameless) said she'd call the main transportation guy to see if he was available. Meanwhile, I went to the library to try to get on the interent but the service provider was having tech problems, so no internet. Got back to the hall and found out the shuttle person was Dr Cyr. He was working on the new brick steps. He is a retired dentist who now does small masonry jobs. I had him drive me to Slatington to Fine Lodging to get my mail drop. I had considered staying there to watch the hockey game on TV (game 2, Eastern conference finals, featuring the Carolina Hurricanes!). When I saw the place, I decided no, nope, never. Besides, the manager gave me a long dissertation on why he did not have $15 dollar rooms anymore.So Dr Cyr dropped me at the Lehigh River bridge. I packed up my overweight mail drop and headed out. The 1st mile was rocky, as in bouldery. Some places required use of my hands to climb up and over. Walking wasn't possible. Then the trail passed through this blighted piece of land where branchless tree trunks stood and other trunks and branches littered the ground like bones. They were sunbleached white from the sun. Apparently the ground is contaminated from all the zinc mining that was done in the past and there are no micro organisms to decay the trees. In fact, I didn't see any signs of any living creatures until I was past this area and back into some living woodline. I got a late start. That combined with my now heavily resupplied pack and little water and aching knees, I was only able to do about 13 miles before I said thats enuff for one day. I also had made a fruitless trip down to Delps Spring, about 3 or 4 tenths of a mile off the trail, to get water to find the spring was dried up. Not even a drop. So I finally used the piece of Tyvek I got from Gourmet Dave in Waynesboro, VA for a tarp shelter.
Date: 2006-05-23
From: Campsite

To: Church of the Mtn Hostel/Deleware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 23.2

I woke up at 5 a.m. freezing or nearly so. The temp was 36. I packed up and moved out. I got to the side trail to Leroy Smith and Moses was coming by. He told me that the water source was a good 1/2 mile from the shelter (as the posted sign said). Drat. No coffee yet. I moved on down the trail another 5 miles to a road crossing where there was a motel and I got water there. There were a few places that I came across gallon jugs left by trail angels, but by the time I found them they were nearly as dry as Delps Spring. The ridgeline has been really dry since Eckville.I saw a rattlesnake today, or rather, he saw me. I heard him rattle and my ears said to my brain "hey, that sound is a little different thatn the birds that have been tweeting". So my brain said to my feet "stop" and that was a good thing. Ol' Jake the Snake was right on the trails edge about 15-20 feet away. Since I figured this was the snakes crossing, I kindly obliged by circling around him, off the trail. Then he continued on his way, right down the middle of the trail. I got a couple of pics of him. I think one of them will be pretty good. I think Jake was about 4-5 long.Got to the hostel to find a full house. Several hikers had just returned from trail days. Some are old aquaintances, some new. They were: Pinky, Sunshine, Kaptain Kangaroo, Pebbles, Trev, Moleman, Slip-n-slide, Coconut Monkey, Salsa, Worker Bee, Red-B, Huff Moses, Silver and Scout. Since the hostel was full, Huff, Moses and I used the overflow shelter. Scout was picked up by a friend and Silver got a motel room.Found an awesome bakery in town. Sign outside said "free donut today". That's just to get you into the place. After you enter, beware! I left with some PB cookies and a pecan pie! The main course I got at Doughboys. Can ya' guess what it was? If you said pizza, your a winner!!!.
Date: 2006-05-24
From: Church of the Mountain Hostel

To: Zero Day (Church of the Mountain Hostel)
Miles today: 0.0

Didn't seem like I was too cold last night even though the temp was about 45 by dawn. I got up pretty early and went to the diner in town for breakfast. Found Stretch walking the street too. He is just finishing up a zero day of his own. He chilled out at the motel too. By the time I got back to the hostel, most of the crew cleared out or were working on it. Silver came in. Looks like he and I will be the only 2 staying the day. I wonder who is going to come in tonight.I went to the Pack Shack outfitter. They run a hiker shuttle to Stroudsburg for $4. I met Steve working there. He is from Cambridge, England. He rode me over to the library. Before calling back for my pick up, I might check out the area. Stroudsburg is a metropolis compared to sleepy little DWG. However, when I do get back to DWG, I think somebody told me there were free donuts at the bakery....
Date: 2006-05-25
From: Zero Day

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 31.4
Weather: clear sky

Here are a few final notes from yesterday. After getting back to the hostel Red-B was clearing out. He said he had to get to Vernon, NJ by noon Saturday for a mail drop. That's when I realized that I do too. That meant hiking 63 miles in 2 1/4 days. Later I met Rock, another NC section hiker from Raleigh, who is staying at the hostel. We went to Sycamore Grill for dinner. I took my leftover Chicken and Broccoli with penne pasta to go to eat on the trail today.In the morning Rock and I went to the DWG diner for breakfast. I left at 7;30 p.m. for my upcoming marathon hike. On the way I stopped at Mohican Outdoor Center (run by Appalachian Moutnain Club) to get new batteries for my headlamp since I expected to hike at night. I saw a lot of kids on the trail from a school, must have been at least 100 or more. I saw a deer already after seeing only 1 or 2 in PA. While night hiking I saw a racoon before he scampered off. I saw a snake swmming in Sunfish Pond. It was really small and I wasn't close enough to see if it was a water moccasin.I got to Brink shelter around 6:30 p.m and ate my dinner before the push after dark to Gren Anderson. I left my water bottle behind at Brink but had gone too far to return to get it. There are bear boxes for food storage at the shelters.Before the day was over I hit several new milestones. They were:- longest hiking day in time and miles: 15 1/2 hrs and 31.4 miles- Pennsylvania is done; 50% of the states are behind me- Less than 900 miles to Katahdin- 1st day I had to use bug spray. Traded the rocks of PA for the insects of NJ
Date: 2006-05-26
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.4
Weather: thunderstorm with light rain

Another big day. Before hitting the trail I met Bluebird and Abandon. They had been in a tent. Huff and Moleman were there also. Moleman left before I was even up. I slept really good last night after yesterdays long trek.Left at 8:30 and didn¢t get to Pochuck Mtn until 9:00 p.m. It was a humid day. The weather station at High Point State Park said the humidity was 98%. The temp was in the high 60¢s. It rained some in the morning which was nice to relieve the misery of the humidity.I saw a lot of animals today, wild and domestic. I saw several deer including a doe with a spotted fawn. I saw a couple chasing each other around in Wallkill wildlife management area. There were dozens of fire newts on the trail. At High Point there were several geese at the pond in front of the visitor center. One pair had 2 "geeselings" and they were hissing at me. Now that was funny! Domestic animals included sheep and cows as I passed thru some farmland. I talked to both of them but neither talked back.From High Point Mtn to Unionville NY the trail was really nice. All down hill or flat with a mostly excellent surface. I also crossed several bog bridges. The sun came out in the afternoon and cranked up the heat index some. The water source for Pochuck Mtn shelter is an abandoned house at the bottom of the mountain. I stopped to eat there and didn't feel like I was going to be able to make the last 1/2 mile. At that point I was pretty much DOA - delirious on arrival.
Date: 2006-05-27
From: Pochuck Mountain Shelter

To: St Thomas Episcopal Church Hostel
Miles today: 6.5

Another milestone today (for me anyway). The 1st was that I left the shelter before anybody else. However, Pinky and Kaptain Kangaroo passed me shortly afterwards. Coconut Monkey passed me on the Pochuck Footbridge, a long bog bridge (about 1 mile?) over some wetlands.There was a country store at the trailhead of the road leading to Vernon. I found the crew there enjoying the homemade goodies. Coconut shared his blueberry pie with everybody. I bought a lemonade, a donut, a piece of cheesecake, PB cookies and sampled the free stuff.Easiest hitch in the world from there. As soon as I stepped onto the road, the 1st car that went by stopped. It was Trail Angel Rick (not quite sure if that was his name) and he picks up hikers a lot. He took me to the PO and showed where the hostel was. I met Dave the caretaker of the hostel while sorting thru my maildrop. I decided to bounce some stuff ahead again so I went back to the PO. When I returned I took a much needed nap. Huff arrived while I was zonked. Later in the day the crew came (Kpt K, Pinky, Lockjaw, Coconut and Jolly). They went tubing in the Deleware River.
Date: 2006-05-28
From: St Thomas Episcopal Church Hostel

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: broken clouds

Got up early, had coffee, cleaned up the hostel then went to the 8 a.m. church service in a church built in 1847. As I was heading back to the trail, I was offered a ride form the groundskeeper, John. The initial climb back to the top of the ridge was a steep one with some good vistas from the Pinwheel. After that the climbs and descents were limited.Crossed into NY at 2;30 p.m. and suddenly remembered that I am hiking the AT. The hills, though small, are much steeper in NY and ther isn't as much ridgeline to walk on. It felt like a long slow day by the time I got to the shelter at 7:00 p.m. There were a lot of folks at the shelter. Met Snickers from NYC; Gabe, another section hiker from Minnesota; Red B and LP, and all the folks who were at the hostel in Vernon. Plus there were several other people tenting.
Date: 2006-05-29
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: William Brien Memorial shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

I left at 7:20 and everybody passed me on the trail but I still beat them all (except Red B) to the shelter. Thats because we all stopped at Lake Tiorati looking for a swim. From there I left ahead of everybody and hustled to William Brien to make sure I had a space. Red B had a fire going which was great because the black flys were out in swarms.Got the best trail magic today. Entering Harriman State Park, I found Paddy-O feeding a bunch of hungry hikers. He had (rather I ate), 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies, fritos, 3 hotdogs and juice. Also filled up with fresh water. Thanks Paddy-O, that was great!!!!It was HOT today, in the upper 80's. I was dehydrated at the Lake, so I made sure to drink a lot of water there. There were no lifeguards so the beach was closed. That meant stealth swimming for some folks. For some reason the chipmunk population in NY seems to be on par with that of squirrels. Its like an Alvin and the Chipmunk cartoon show on some parts of the trail. They like squaling and making a lot of noise to. Saw 2 deer on the last paret of the trail today. The climb down to RT 17 is known as Agony Grind. Come and hike it and you'll see why. Also went thru (tried) the Lemon Squeezer which is 2 rock faces that form a channel which gets smaller and smaller as you move in it. I lifted myself out before the end. My pack was too wide.Todays milestone: Less than 800 miles left.
Date: 2006-05-30
From: William Brien Memorial shelter

To: Graymoor Monastery Pavilion
Miles today: 15.3

Another humid, hot day. It hit 90. I stopped short of Bear Mtn for my 1st break, but if I had known that I was that close to the summit I would have kept going. I couldn't see the NYC skyline, too hazy.I played leap frog and touch-n-go with other hikers today. I passed Coconut and Jolly while they were in Ft Montgomery getting a mail drop and it was touch-n-go with Pinky and Lockjaw. Everytime I caught up to them they were on the move again.Can't say I am impressed with NY state parks. The snack pavilion at Bear Mountain was covered with trash. It was really nasty. I couldn't believe nobody was picking up the trash. It was everywhere. The restroom on top of the mountain was closed and I was thinking I could get water there.However, on the brighter side of things, I did manage to yogi a few slices of pizza. There was supposed to be an ATM at the park and I asked the girl at the snack bar where it was. She said there wasn't one. At that point a girl and a guy offered me some pizza. I never did get the guys name, but the girl told me her trail name. But since I suffer from CRS, I can't remember her name either. She has hiked the AT some and after college wants to thru hike. Well, whoever you are, thanks for the pizza. It hit the spot.Later at the Graymoor Kpt K, Pinky and Lockjaw called for a pizza delivery and offered to cover me as well. Jolly and Coconut came in after we ordered and, believe it or not, they didn't place their own order.I met Jay Silverheels and Good Time (he is from Quebec City). Good Time had a beautiful and well behaved Husky with him. Also met Caroline and Alex who started at DWG and are headed to Maine. There was also another section hiker, but I didn't get his name either. Lately, I've been awful with getting everybodies name. Team Australia moved out after eating.
Date: 2006-05-31
From: Graymoor Monastery Pavilion

To: Stormville, NY Campsite
Miles today: 24.0

I woke up at 5:30 but by the time I got done drinking coffee and wasting time I didn't head out til 7:20. Overnight my watch battery went dead but during the day I found out that it was nice not to be a slave to time. Physically I felt great today and the trail was not as hard as the last few days. It was humid but there was cloud cover and a little breeze so the heat didn't get to me as much today.I did almost 20 miles to RPH shelter by 4:30. While eating dinner I was visited by Elvis Trailsly (I didn't get the last name until about an hour after I continued on the trail, heat must be baking my brain). He told me about the Mountain Top Deli in Stormville and that I might be able to camp there if I gave the proprietor his name. Unfortunatley, nobody at the store ever heard of Elvis and I couldn't remember his real name, but they let me camp anyway.Another visitor at RPH was Trail Angel Sox, from Bethel CT. She gave me fresh water, juice, brownies, a sweet roll and hand sanitizer since I was almost out of that. She was out looking for thru hikers to do her magic. She was slack packing Team Aussie to RT 52.Climbing up Hosner Mtn I passed a SOBO hiker. He was carrying a small BBQ grill and a pack. He asked me if I had any food. I thought he was offering to grill me something. After a few more minutes of talking I realized he was asking me if I had any extra food to give to him. The gist I got was that he might have been homeless and maybe headed to Graymoor. I gave him all the meals I had in my bag except 1 since I had a mail drop coming to Pawling.I made a mickey mouse tarp tent with sticks, trekking poles and a couple of lawn chairs. Hope it doesn't rain tonight (which looks like it might) because my shelter doesn't seem very rain or storm proof.
Date: 2006-06-01
From: Stormville, NY Campsite

To: Pawling NY, Town Pavilion
Miles today: 12.2

Had some real coffee at the deli and got some breakfast sandwiches before getting back on the trail in the morning. I met Coconut and Jolly at the 1st shelter. They had camped the night before too, just past Rt 52. They had met up with Sox so decided to skip the deli. I caught up to them again at the last shelter before the road that leads to Pawling. They were headed for Conn.I walked all the way into Pawling which was really painful. My shorts, wet and damp from excessive sweating and humidity, are rubbing my legs. I hope to solve that problem temporarily by trying pantyhose until I can get some spandex from home. Actually while sitting here at the library, Team Austarlia came in. They made it to town earlier in the morning but were waiting out the heat to get going again. I got my town chores done. Unfortunatley my maildrop isn't here. I forgot to tell my wife when to send it out. I wasn't supposed to be here (in Pawling) until June 12th. Hope it gets here tomorrow, but even if it doesn't, I might chill out in town anyway because rain is expected tonight thru Saturday. On the way to CVS I saw Moses walking in town. He just got back from a trip to NYC. A lot of thru hikers detour there. It is about 30 miles away, I think.I am in contact with Ron and Chrissy, a couple of local trail angels from the area here. I am waiting for him to come by and pick me up. I hear it thundering. It looks like its gonna pour any second.8:30 p.m. Just got dropped at the Edward Murrow park. Moses is here. He and I shared the pavilion. It's not raining now but, man, did it ever rain when I was driving around with Ron and Chrissy. Pretty damp night.
Date: 2006-06-02
From: Pawling NY, Town Pavilion

To: 10 Mile River lean-to
Miles today: 12.3

I walked back into town from the pavilion (about 1 mile) around 7:30 and went to Chris's Deli again for a delicious breakfast sandwich (note: all town food on the trail is delicious) while waiting for the PO to open. When I went in, my mail drop had arrived overnight so I walked back out to the trail (no ride again).I called home before leaving town and got some news that occupied my mind all the way to the trail. After being on the trail about an hour or so, I realized I was no longer worried about the news I got. Funny how the trail just takes away all of lifes little, and big, stressors. The Dover Oak is at the trail head on County 20 road. It is the largest oak on the trail. I don't remember the circumference exactly, but it is huge. I met some new NOBO section hikers, Our Mom and Hero. I passed them yesterday before getting to Rt 20. There were a lot of muddy sections of trail today where there is a need for bog bridges. One bog bridge over some wetlands went from boards (usually used for bog bridges) to pallets to individual cinder blocks. Found some trail magic in coolers at my last NY road crossing. They were left by Mac & Cheese, who are actaully a team of 3 trail angels. i had a nice cold bottle of water and a couiple of ring dings. I crossed into CT at 3:20 p.m. That makes 9 states down, 5 to go. My home state greeted me with a surprisingly tough little climb up 10 mile mountain. I think I am done with ridgwalkig. The peaks in MA will start to go back over 2,000'.Walking along 10 mile river I saw a duck and about 10 little ducklings. They were funny looking, kind of had feather mohawks on their heads. Anyway they paddled right into the current and started zipping downstream to get away from me. 1 baby was riding right on momma ducks back and 1 or 2 more were trying to get on.Arriving at the shelter I found a groupd of YMCA camp leaders out doing some training, but no other hikers. The group moved on to the group campsite. Right after that it sprinkled a little, so my timimg was pretty good. It was another 8 or 9 miles to the next shelter and I wasn't sure if I would make that before dark and/or the rain so I stayed at 10 mile lean-to (in CT the shelters are called lean-to's, don't know why).I am impressed with the condition of the trail in CT performed by the CT chapter of the AMC. The trail is in great condition and well signed. The privy even has a door knocker and there is a wash pit for cleaning pots. I wanted to take a dip in the river to wash off some of the funk and smell on me, but the river is fast moving and lacks good pools. There are suppose to be some good swimming holes on the Houstatonic. 10 Mile river runs into it about 200 tards from the shelter area. One thing I forgot to mention is that several of the last shelters in Ny and this one have hand pumped wells for a water source. Now that's convenient.About dark, Nick, an AMC ridge runner came in and spent the night. Also had 3 weekenders from NY show up at 10:30 p.m. They made a lot of noise until 2:00 p.m. If it hadn't been raining, I might have packed up and left.