morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-08-29
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: broken clouds

I touched a HUGE rat snake today!I'm not sure exactly what has happened to me out here, but I have reached the point at which I can hike 17 miles and say that 6 more seems feasible. I planned to stay at the hiker pavilion in Port Clinton today, but the hiker pavilion was decorated with flyers advertising a free hostel that provided free showers and free shuttles to and from the trailhead. Tomorrow HP and I will resupply for five days to Duncannon- our longest stretch without resupply yet- and head out into the rockiest, rattlesnakiest, and tickiest section of PA. Hooray!
Date: 2007-08-31
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 70.0
Weather: broken clouds

I missed half a mile on Washington. I blue-blazed Killington and I yellow-blazed part of Connecticut. I carry a cotton t-shirt. My list of transgressions against the purist thru-hiker ethos is long, and today I added a new one: AQUABLAZING!Aquablazing is by far the most badass way to skip trail miles. I came across the opportunity to aquablaze as a result of the following conversation (paraphrased):Scott (hostel owner): "You're heading out into the rockiest, tickiest, rattlesnakiest section of PA."HP: "Oh man, if there was any way I could just skip ahead to Duncannon without hiking or yellow-blazing, I'd do it for sure."Scott: "I happen to own an outfitter, and we happen to specialize in kayaking, and the Susquehanna river happens to run directly past the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon."So I kayaked 15 miles with zero weight on my back instead of hiking 70 with a full pack. I'm overjoyed about this, although I expect an angry letter from Wingfoot sometime soon. The river was beautiful, although I got sunburned, and it deposited me almost at the doorstep of the Doyle. I say almost because I had to carry the kayak two blocks. I am very good at carrying 35lb in a pack. When you put those 35lb in kayak form, however, I become very bad at carrying 35lb.Found some familiar faces- Dutch and Juice, heading back onto the trail! Hopefully I'll catch them and the guys they are hiking with, Caveman, Salty Dog and Slimfast, soon. The Doyle is one of 3 remaining original Anheuser-Busch hotels. It is OLD- so old that the bathrooms are shared by hallways. And like any hotel-bar, it is frequented by more than its fair share of drunks, one of whom meowed at me several times before he was kicked out. The Doyle is wonderful for many reasons. I will elaborate on two of them.1. Homemade food. Possibly the most delicious pulled-pork sandwich I've eaten, and the largest and best-seasoned plate of fries I've seen in a long time.2. A lack of customers to kick me out of the common shower. Giving me time to use my two newly purchased three-blade razors to turn my foresty legs into smooth, shiny beauties that do my pink socks justice.
Date: 2007-09-01
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: clear sky

I think maybe my hiking power, like Samson's strength, was derived from my hair. My leg hair, to be specific. Without it I am, like the once-mighty Sampson,rendered feeble. Perhaps it is because I am carrying five days of food- the five days intended to bring me to Duncannon. Perhaps it is because I am carrying 3 liters of water instead of my usual 2. Perhaps it is because my legs have turned to jellow after a zero day and a kayak day. Or perhaps, as I suspect, it is because I washed my strength down the shower drain with my leghairball. Whatever the reason, I could only muster the strength for 4 miles today.
Date: 2007-09-03
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Pine Grove Furnace- HALFWAY!!!
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: clear sky

As you may have suspected, I am HALWAY!!! A nebulous idea, which has been floating around my head since day one, is beginning it settle in. I am not simply taking a walk every day. I am hiking from Maine to Georgia. Hiking. From Maine. To Georgia. I took a walk in Maine three months ago to date and now I'm here. And three months from now, I will be in Georgia. It's unfathomable and it's awesome and I love it.On a more somber note, I was not able to attempt the half-gallon challenge. According to thru-hiker tradition, I was to purchase a half-gallon of ice cream in the flavor of my choosing. I was to devour said half-gallon in one sitting. In celebration of this awesome event, I was to receive a commemorative half-gallon spoon. All this was to take place at the Pine Grove General Store, which closed yesterday.
Date: 2007-09-04
From: Pine Grove Furnace- HALFWAY!!!

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: clear sky

This shelter has a very cute resident bat. I want to pet him. HP says that's a bad idea, though, and after his predictions about my camera and my loadlifter straps came true I have no choice but to believe him.The bat is not doing his job with the bugs around here, so I decided to set up my tent in the shelter. It is not a freestanding tent, so this took some finagling. I put a bear rope, a hiking pole and some hemp string to use and in no time (or, half an hour) had an unattractive but bugfree shelter. This is the closest I've come to running out of food. This morning I had two snacks and two meals and intended to make a run for Fayetteville, 17 miles away. A Princeton orientation group gave me some food, however, and now I have one snack, one meal, and ten miles to go tomorrow. I'm reading the book "Miracle in the Andes" right now. It is the terrible story of the rugby team that crashed in the Andes, written by a survivor who spent 72 days in the Andes- so sadly eating nothing but the friends and teammates who died in the crash- and then climbed out and rescued the others. So it seems that I'm not in such bad shape.
Date: 2007-09-05
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: Rocky Mountain Shelters
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

Nothing of note- except that I managed to resupply before starving to death- happened today, so i will summarize the scenery of Pennsylvania: Trees. Rocks. Dirt. Rocks. Rocks. Trees. Squirrel. Mongoose. (SIKE!). Rocks.
Date: 2007-09-06
From: Rocky Mountain Shelters

To: Waynesboro, PA
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: clear sky

After a week of exhaustion and headaches, HP decided it was time to get himself checked for Lyme's disease. Yup, you guessed it: more yellow-blazing was involved. We hitched directly out of last night's shelter to the hospital in Waynesboro. While I was in the waiting room, Bernard Custer arrived. He introduced himself and gave me his number and told me to call if we needed anything while we were in town.When HP got out, he called the number. Rhoda picked up. The conversation:HP: "Hi, is Bernard there?"Rhoda: "Nope. Are you the hiker?"HP: "Yup."Rhoda: "You're done in the hospital?"HP: "yup."Rhoda: "You want to stay the night?"HP: "Yup."Rhoda: "You want a shower and laundry and everything?"HP: "Yup!"Rhoda: "You're probably hungry, huh?"HP: "Yup!"Rhoda: "You're at the hospital, right? I'll be right down."That pretty much summarizes the Custers. They are incredible people who will do anything to help anybody. I wanted to go to the library, so they lent me a car. We were hungry, so they brought us to a buffet. We were tired and dirty, so they gave us beds and showers. They treated us like family. They are the kind of people that make the trail an incredible experience, and while I wanted to minimize my yellow-blazing, I'm glad it got me here.
Date: 2007-09-07
From: Waynesboro, PA

To: The Maryland Challenge- 18 miles and counting!
Miles today: 0.0

The Challenge: Hike Maryland in its entirety- 41 miles- in 24 hours. I will begin the challenge at 4:30 today and, hopefully, end up at Harpers Ferry Hostel before 4:30 tomorrow. I hope it doesn't kill me.
Date: 2007-09-08
From: The Maryland Challenge- 18 miles and counting!

To: Harpers Ferry Hostel- the end of the Challenge!
Miles today: 42.0
Weather: clear sky

Well- it didn't kill me.HP and I set out at 4:30 with light packs. Rhoda and Bernard had errands to run in Harpers Ferry today and agreed to meet us there with those things that we deemed unworthy of the Maryland Challenge (tents, sleeping bags, extra clothing, etc.). We carried only the essentials- food, water, rain gear, and toilet paper. The sun disappeared after 10 miles. We put on headlamps and kept walking. At midnight we had hiked 18 miles and found ourselves at Pine Knob shelter. HP wanted a nap so we headed down the blueblaze. We arrived to a full shelter, quietly cursed all weekend hikers, and arranged ourselves on the picnic table with ambitious plans of hiking out at 4 a.m.This awkward and inconveniently designed picnic table was not nearly wide enough for two people side-by-side, nor long enough for two people foot-to foot. It took a surprising amount of effort to fit us both. Wearing only rain gear, I quickly became cold. Not comfortably cold, either. Shiveringly, teeth-chatteringly, miserably cold. I Macguyvered my trash compactor bag pack liner into a sleeping body for my upper body. This made me sweat, which in turn made me colder. For six hours I curled my body into unlikely positions in an attempt to get warm. The sound of the trash compactor bag was later described as sounding like "someone wrestling with a potato sack." When HP's alarm rang at 4am, I was too cold to try to hike and too cold to sleep. I shivered miserably and cursed my lack of a sleeping bag for two hours until the shelter's occupants began to stir. I heard mumbles and thought I heard my name mentioned, but I assumed someone was talking about Twix the candy bar, not Twix the hiker. I was shocked and pleased to find that it was Thorny, Trip and Daisy. I hadn't seen Thorny on-trail since we entered the Whites, so the reunion was enough to warm me up and buoy my spirits momentarily. Refreshed, I set out at 6am to hike 24 miles before 4:30.The excitement wore off at Washington Monument, three miles out. Reality set in. I had been awake since 7am the previous morning, hiked 18 miles between 4:30pm and midnight, and spent 6 sleepless and freezing hours on a picnic table. I still had 21 miles to go. There was nothing to do but go. I stumbled through the miles and reached Harpers Ferry Hostel around 4. Taking away the 6 hours on the picnic table, I had hiked 42 miles in just under 18 hours. I'm rather impressed with my body- except for the lack of sleep, I felt fine. Rhoda and Bernard dropped the rest of our gear off and took us to dinner (again- what incredible people!). An overstuffed French Dip sandwich with fries has never been so welcome- neither has a shower and a bed and a zero day.
Date: 2007-09-09
From: Harpers Ferry Hostel- the end of the Challenge!

To: Harpers Ferry Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

ZERO!!!Biked into historic Harpers Ferry to explore and to register at the ATC Headquarters as the 20th southbound thru-hiker of 2007. Last year only 19 SOBOs finished the trail, but I'm not worried. HP, Salty Dog, Caveman, Sal and I swam out to a pile of rocks in the middle of the Potomac (don't worry- we were north of where the Potomac turns into a biohazard) and enjoyed sitting- not hiking- in the sun. Salty Dog, Caveman and Sal tented by the river, but HP and I worked for stay to earn another night in a bed. It was well worth it.
Date: 2007-09-13
From: Dick's Dome Shelter

To: Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today's hike was 15 miles of mostly dreamy trail, but by the time HP and I hit Rt 55 (8 miles from Rt 522, where we would hitch 3 miles into Front Royal) we were ready for town. I glanced at my guidebook and noticed that- joy of joys!- Front Royal could be reached by hitching 7 miles west on Route 55. I had a very weak moment and almost lost control, but I managed to stay strong and hike to Rt 522. Must... not... yellowblaze... HP turns 22 tomorrow, so instead of going for the cheapest hotel I splurged on a room at the Comfort Inn, dinner at KFC, and a Carvel ice cream cake. His half of the cake had all the chocolate crumblies. But it was HIS birthday cake, so I suffered in silence.
Date: 2007-09-14
From: Front Royal, VA

To: Gravel Springs Hut
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I experienced my first bearpole. In the Shenandoahs, where black bears are abundant and utterly unafraid of humans, each shelter is equipped with a tall pole where foodbags can hang out of reach of hungry bears. Problem is, you have to be able to get your foodbag onto a hook six feet above your head. To this end, shelters in the Shenandoahs also come equipped with a long, HEAVY metal pole with a hook on the end. You hang your foodbag on the hook and, ostensibly, use the pole to manouver your foodbag onto the bearpole. Easier said than done. It was rainy and I was tired and, to make a long story short, my foodbag wound up hanging from the heavy metal pole instead of the bearpole, in easy reach of any bear.
Date: 2007-09-15
From: Gravel Springs Hut

To: Luray, VA
Miles today: 10.9

The trail through the Shennies, as I have come to call the Shenandoahs, provides some beautiful views. None are so beautiful, however, as the views from Skyline Drive, the road that winds through the mountains close to and often right next to the trail. HP's mother picked us up on Skyline Drive and treated us to a night at a B&B, the nicest place we've stayed yet. We went to Luray Caverns and a car museum and then hit a Mexican place for dinner. She mentioned that it was HP's birthday dinner and, in celebration, they forced us to get up and do the macarena in front of everyone. Our first dance!
Date: 2007-09-17
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Rock Spring Hut
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: few clouds

Thorny turns up in the strangest places- Gorham, Manchester, Pine Knob shelter during the Maryland 40... and now Skyland Lodge in the Shenandoahs. Skyline Drive is, at times, disconcerting. I'll be walking through the woods completely unaware of the road beside me and suddenly a car will whiz by less than 10 feet away. It is, at other times, wonderful. Because it caters to tourists, not hikers, waysides with campstores and restaurants are conveniently situated along the road. Tonight I enjoyed BBQ pulled pork quesadillas (who even knew those existed?) and a blackberry frappe for dinner.
Date: 2007-09-18
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: SNP Maintenance Hut
Miles today: 17.5

BEARS!HP, Thorny and I arrived at South River Picnic Grounds intending to camp there (no camping allowed, but we're stealthy). I was cooking my meal at a picnic table when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I thought to myself, "that's odd, that black dot is moving up the tree," and, in my end-of-the-day funk, went back to stirring my meal. A minute later, tourists at the next table over started screaming: "BEARS!!!"Sure enough, a mama and three cubs were climbing up the tree. The cubs climbed higher than I would ever let my children climb, but mama didn't seem to mind. The tourists eventually lost interest and drove away, and Thorny and HP said "Twix, you stay here and watch the food" and went off in search of a stealthy campsite before I could protest. They had been gone for a few minutes when a large branch fell from the tree and mama bear made her way down to the ground. She fussed around at the bottom of the tree for a while and then began to make her way slowly towards me. My brilliant defensive manouver was to grab the foodbags- the only things that could make me more appetizing to a bear- and back away, yelling "THORNY! HP! BEAR!. You, Bear, leave. My food. Go away. HP! BEAR! MAMA BEAR!" They reappeared as my voice began to take on a note of panic, and mama bear took off into the woods with her cubs. And so I survived my first bear encounter.
Date: 2007-09-19
From: SNP Maintenance Hut

To: Loft Mountain Campground
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: broken clouds

I hiked an easy 3 miles down to Skyline Drive, where a look at the map revealed that Skyline Drive conveniently bypassed the irritatingly viewless 1000' climb coming up. I looked further south on the map and noticed that, for 15 miles, Skyline Drive bypassed several more irritatingly viewless ups and downs. And so I ended up on Skyline Drive for the rest of the day. I'm a slow roadwalker, so HP pulled ahead. A car stopepd to warn me about a mama bear who had crossed the road with her cubs a quarter-mile or so south of where I was walking. I quickly forgot about the bears and sped up when I saw HP waiting ahead of me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a large spot of black and, remembering the warning about the bears, I logically stopped and turned. I found myself staring directly into the eyes of a mama bear who looked like she was well on her way to disgruntled. I let out a squeak of fear and began to back away. HP offered his advice: "Just don't look at her and don't make eye contact- walk by."Well. Eye contact had already been established and mama bear was clearly unhappy. I backed away as quickly as I could and survived my second bear encounter. I also saw a rattlesnake! It was dead, but still- I saw one!Thorny, HP and I spent the night at Loft Mountain Campground, where they have bathrooms with electricity and hand driers. I spent several houring charging my phone and iPod, washing and drying my clothes and dishes, and generally acting homeless.
Date: 2007-09-20
From: Loft Mountain Campground

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Picnic tables in the Shennies are great. Because they eleiminated the crossbars holding up the seats, instead of having to lift your legs over the bench in order to sit, you can just slide in! This may seem silly, but at the end of a twenty mile day it is a blessing.
Date: 2007-09-21
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The trail in Virginia has a nasty and illogical habit of making hikers climb a lot just to get from someplace high to someplace low. Instead of a constant downhill, the trail takes you down a little, up a little, down a little more, up a little more, down even further, and so on until finally you hit the lowest point and- hooray- start climbing again. HP's dad, uncle and sister picked us up and will treat us to a day and a half in town. I've spent so much time in town recently that I barely feel like I'm hiking- and I love it.
Date: 2007-09-23
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a dumb day. Meaning, I was dumb today. I forgot to get a new stove (I left mine at the first shelter in the Shennies and the replacement I made is an embarassment), tinfoil for a windscreen, and wet wipes.I spilled my Aquamira. Twice.I started cooking Ramen but didn't put in enough water. It wasn't until after I was done adding more that I realized I was pouring from my fuel bottle instead of my water bottle. Yumm, methanol. So I had to hike back out a few hundred yards to bury the ruined Ramen. I hope the methanol evaporates before some squirrel eats the Ramen and goes blind (according to the fuel bottle, methanol does that).
Date: 2007-09-24
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: Mau-har Falls
Miles today: 22.3

The trail in VA...- suspiciously takes you uphill during descents,- is ridiculously switchbacked, such that you can walk 5 miles uphill and gain only 200' elevation and- is dry. Very dry.I was sick of the useless switchbacks, so I decided to hike my own hike (read: cheat) and blueblazed a mile or so over Humpback Rocks past 3 miles of the trail. I was also sick of no water/bad water, so I decided to blueblaze down the Mau Har trail to drink from and sleep near a waterfall. This cut off 4 miles of trail but was much more difficult than the AT. I had forgotten what it's like to hike and sleep with the sound of running water nearby.
Date: 2007-09-25
From: Mau-har Falls

To: Dutch Haus B&B
Miles today: 12.0

Today's hike took me over the Priest, a 3000', 5-mile climb. To celebrate my success, I decided to spend the night at the Dutch Haus B&B. To get there, I had to walk down a "road" (an 800' descent over a mile or so of loose gravel). It was well worth it: Earl and Lois provide a bunkhouse with real mattresses and pillows, a huge dinner complete with appetizers, salads, a main course and dessert, a shower with bathrobes, laundry, internet, and breakfast. I was delighted to find that, in addition to all this, they slackpack hikers! This means that they will drop me off at the trailhead with a daypack, pick me up at a time and location of my choosing, and take me back to the B&B to enjoy another round of dinner, shower, etc.
Date: 2007-09-26
From: Dutch Haus B&B

To: Rt 60 (or, Dutch Haus B&B)
Miles today: 16.3

After an amazing breakfast, Earl and Lois dropped me, HP and Portajon at the bottom of the loose gravel road. Solar, Lunar and Violet were getting back on trail at the same time and we chuckled at their full packs. The absence of a full pack allowed me to virtually run 18 miles (16 plus the mile or so up Fish Hatchery Road) to Rt 60. I covered some gorgeous terrain today- it's wonderful to be back in the mountains. Earl and Lois picked us up at Rt 60 and took us to an AYCE seafood place. And this was not the nasty seafood I had expected at an AYCE place in Virginia- it was legitimate seafood. Chowder, fried shrimp and scallops, devilled crab, blackened shrimp, grilled shark... and to top it all off, apple crisp. I love slackpacking. My new Walmart t-shirt, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a SLACKER before?" is taking on a whole new meaning.
Date: 2007-09-27
From: Rt 60 (or, Dutch Haus B&B)

To: James River (or, a frat house)
Miles today: 22.8

Earl and Lois dropped us off at Rt 60 and delivered our packs to Ken, the next slackpacking trail angel. HP and I had planned to meet Bloody Nose- a guy who thru-hiked Northbound this year, who knows a friend of Mags and offered to give us a shower and a night under a roof- at the James River. Portajon was still hiking with us and we came across Megan, a girl we'd met in the Shenandoahs, 16 miles into the hike. I felt awkward but I called Bloody Nose to see if he might have space for two more dirty hikers. "Hey, so... I just caught up with two hiking buddies and I was wondering...""Absolutely."Thru-hikers are wonderful. HP, Portajon and I had planned to run with our daypacks to meet Ken at the road at 7. We had 9 miles to go at 4pm. This was doable, but Megan had a full pack and was in the midst of her first 20+ mile day. John pulled a heroic move, giving her his daypack and taking her full pack, and we all made it to the road by 7.Bloody Nose met us at the river with beers and cookies (a former thru-hiker always knows exactly what a tired thru-hiker needs) and took us to dinner at a frat house at Washington&Lee and to a party at his off-campus house. The guys at the party were all cool, although there was an abundance of polo shirts, but the girls were giving me and Megan death/pity stares. I suppose we did look a bit out of place. There was a fire pit in the backyard, though, so we got a fire started and quickly felt at home. While the partygoers place 'rut and danced, we roasted hotdogs over the fire.
Date: 2007-09-28
From: James River (or, a frat house)

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: clear sky

After a delicious breakfast buffet, Bloody Nose dropped us off at a campground to meet Ken. Bloody Nose, if you read this- thanks SO much and I hope you made it back to class! Trail angel Ken again took our full packs and sent us off with daypacks and a promise to meet me, HP, Portajon and Megan with our packs at the road near Cornelius Creek Shelter at 7. I started out very slow- even without a full pack, blisters are slowing me down- but eventually sped up and got to the shelter at 7:05. Ken had left all the packs with HP and Portajon, who got there early as usual. He also dropped off water (like many of the sources in VA, the creek at the shelter was dry) and FRIED CHICKEN!"We have fried chicken! In the woods!" -HP"Uh-oh... we have fried chicken. In the woods." -HP, two minutes later. We hung the remains high up in a tree and pretended like we weren't worried about bears.