morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-05
From: Ensign Cowell Shelter

To: Deer Lick Shelter
Miles today: 14.5

DAY 91Awoke early to get going, cool this morning so it should be a good hiking day. We played our food very close this leg, after breakfast Mary has two small bags of trail mix and I have some peanut butter crackers and some M&M's for snacks until we resupply. The only thing left in our food bag is 3 teabags, 3 packets of mustard, and a strawberry jelly packet. Hopefully we make town without much problem.The trail was pretty good today early on, less mud and the rocks weren't too bad. We had nice views from Raven Rock Cliffs, though it looks like rain may be moving in again. About 3 miles from Pen-Mar Park we went through an extremely rocky section with big slabs to climb on and around. This slowed us down some, but we made Pen-Mar Park and the Mason Dixon Line just before noon. Pen-Mar Park is a great spot and if we had food we would have enjoyed lunch there, but instead we headed for the road to hopefully get a ride. We arrived with Papa Dale and Kingsman and decided to split up as we figured no one would pick up four hikers. Mary and I started walking down the road and they were going to follow in 5 minutes. We made it about 2 minutes down the road when a car stopped to give us a lift. As we looked in we saw Kingsman and Papa Dale were already inside. We were all crammed in with our pack on our laps and poles in hand. We were very thankful for the ride, and she was going to Walmart also.When we arrived we decided to eat lunch at Applebee's first, prior to our resupply. I walked by the Olympia Sports store hoping we may find shoes there. Just our luck, the sign on the door said "temporarily closed until further notice". I don't think shoes are in our forecast until we go back home. Had a good meal and then headed to Walmart for resupply. As we were outside repackaging the supplies we were offered a ride by two different people. We quickly accepted and hurried to strip the packaging off and jam the food into our food bags. My food bag was so full I couldn't fully close it, but I didn't want to turn down the ride. Mary and I rode with the second offer and Papa Dale & Kingsman took the first offer.Once back at the trail we tried to do a little more organizing, but the skies began to open up, so we donned our rain gear an jammed the food in our packs and put on our pack cover. The rain didn't last long, and we only had 5 easy miles to the shelter. At the shelter I finally got organized after we set up camp. Tonight I got a chance to call "Chainsaw", a hiker friend from my 2011 hike. He will meet us in Boiling Springs and help us get a rental car for our trip home. I really appreciate him helping us out and am looking forward to seeing him again.Just as we finished our camp chores we heard rumbles of thunder. Papa Dale pulled up the radar on his phone and it doesn't look good. As I write this we have had one good round of storms and it is still raining pretty heavy. Oh yea, the big deal for the day is we are done Maryland and on to Pennsylvania. Of course we are now North of the Mason-Dixon line, so we are practically home!
Date: 2018-06-14
From: Home

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0

DAY 100Heading to Kable's Graduation in an hour.Thought we would add another trail song we sing:Sung to the tune of 41 shots by Bruce Springsteen (sums up a lot of recent hiking days on the trail...)Dirty Wet SocksDirty Wet SocksDirty Wet Socks Dirty Wet Socks, and we'll take that hikeAcross this raging stream to the other sideDirty Wet Socks, they cling to our feetYou slosh through the mudPraying for a reprieveIs this the TrailIs this a StreamAre we on the ATIs it all a DreamIt ain't no SecretIt ain't no SecretNo secret my FriendYou get tired wet and dirtyHiking Springer to the end...
Date: 2018-06-17
From: Carlisle

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: overcast clouds

DAY 103We slept in today because our car didn't have to be back to the rental agency until 12:00. We had a quick breakfast down at the hotel¢s continental breakfast, then we rode by car down to Walmart and did our resupply, by that time it was nearly noon.We hustled back to the car rental agency, arriving right at noon and were back on the trail by 12:30. Very hot today, I think up in the high 90s when we got going on the trail. A lot of open fields, so we felt like slugs in the heat.  I think eating too much in town and not enough exercise the last few days had us moving very slow and sluggish.  We had a quick lunch at the Scott farm house and then headed up to the top of the hill to the Darlington shelter where we decided to stay for the night. It's supposed to be hotter tomorrow so we're going to try to get up really early and get into Duncannon by 11:00 tomorrow.  We're in camp early tonight and will probably go to bed early and try to get up really early to beat the heat. As we were making camp we met a new hiker whose name is Honey Bun. He's from England and we were asking him about people he may have come by. We were curious about a group that had been a couple of days back and we were wondering if he had come across them. He thought some of the gang was only 2 or 3 days ahead. Lo and behold a short time later in comes that gang. Sourpatch, Knotty boy and Ducky had all gotten off trail for a few days also. So we're hiking with them again which is kind of nice. This means we¢ll have some familiar faces around again, at least for awhile.
Date: 2018-06-18
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter 
Miles today: 15.6

DAY 104Well I've been bragging about my Neo-air, but it finally let me down. I had to get up last night about 4 times to reinflate it, so it must have a small leak. Needless to say with the heat and humidity and the pad going down, we didn't get much sleep. We tried to get up early today to beat the heat, but it really didn't matter. By 9:30 the sweat was dripping off our noses as we hiked. We thought we might make it into Duncannon to have lunch at the Doyle, but with the heat , humidity and the terrain, we didn't get in town until almost 1:00. Just as we arrived, the bartender told us that the kitchen was closed because the cook had an appointment. So we grabbed a quick beer and discussed what we were going to do. We decided we couldn't wait, so we left and headed down the street to the pizza place, but on the way we saw the pub and that looked good so we stopped in there. We enjoyed a burger and had another beer while hoping to wait out the heat. We decided to prolong hiking out of town by going down to get an ice cream. On the way down we asked for directions at the church, and a couple of guys told us it was right down the street. They also mentioned that they hosted hikers downstairs, and they had a shower too. We had our ice cream and headed back to the church for a shower, as a shower today was too hard to resist. The church hostel was really nice, especially since they had air conditioning. It was clean and they had a beautiful shower. We took a shower then sat enjoying the air conditioning, trying to avoid hiking out of town. We met a thru hiker named Butter for the first time, she was taking a zero while she was waiting for her  new shoes. A few other hikers came in to get out of the heat as well. We decided to head out, and most of the hikers said why don't you guys stay, it's  too hot to hike today. We decided to go, and as we walked the mile or so out of town we soon regretted it. Once again, even though it is nearly 5:00, the heat and humidity took it toll and we were exhausted. We still had 3 miles to go and most of it was uphill, so we had to take a few breaks just to make it to the top. It was nearly dark when we arrived at camp. We gathered a bucket of water and tried to clean up as best we could, but we knew we were going to be in for another long, hot, sweaty night. Honey Bun came in even later than we did looking for water, and it was so dark that he just crashed in the shelter. It might rain tonight, so hopefully that will cool things off for tomorrow.  Off to bed, hopefully we'll get some sleep and have a better day tomorrow.
Date: 2018-06-19
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter 

To: Campsite near spring
Miles today: 15.1

Day 105It rained last night, and again this morning, so we hung out in our tent until it stopped. Around 7:00 it was just dropping off the trees, so we got up, packed the gear and headed out.Shortly into the day we were passed by Murph and Taylor. As we were talking to them we realized they were the ones who were camped down below us last night. They were hammocking just down below us and we didn't realize it. We thought they would have been far ahead by now. It's nice to have more familiar faces around. We have  hiked around them since Franklin North Carolina.By the time we made it to Peters Mountain shelter the sun had come out, so we decided to stop for lunch and to dry our tent out. Murph and Taylor were already in the shelter eating lunch, so we had company while we ate. We took a long lunch as our stuff dried, so we had plenty of time to chat with them, as well as several other hikers that came in for lunch. After the tent dried we headed down the trail again.The rocks were tougher in this area so Mary's feet are very sore. She stopped several times today to soak her feet, trying to get the swelling to go down. Later in the day as we were getting water, in rolls Butter. She had come from Duncannon, and was planning to go a few more miles. She bounded off down the trail as we debated how much further we should go. We decided to push on a couple more miles to a campsite listed. When we arrived we found Butter was there, and already set up. We set up beside her, and had a good time talking to her while we all ate dinner.Shortly before we went to bed up the trail comes a group of a hikers called the Swiss Family Robinson. They consist of two Swiss, a German, and a Colombian, we think. Their  trail names are Santa Claus, Hook, Translator, and Da-who. They seem very high energy, and look to be having lots of fun. They were doing 24 miles out of town and figured they wouldn't arrive at camp until about 9:30. They also plan on averaging 22 miles for the rest of the hike so they can have a leeway of 11 zeros at the end.It¢s cooling down tonight, so if I don't have to inflate my pad too many times, hopefully I can get a better night sleep.Note: We now have 1 smart phone, and are trying out talk to text. Bear with us, and pardon any spelling, grammar, and other errors as we try to catch up on our journal.
Date: 2018-06-20
From: Campsite near spring

To: Campsite at 1184.6
Miles today: 16.9

DAY 106I finally  got A good night sleep last night as it cooled down enough to get under the covers. We got up around 6:15 and were on the trail by 7:20. We took the time to have tea this  morning because it wasn¢t raining yet. We thought it may rain last night, and it did sprinkle, but it was pretty clear this morning and it looks like the rain will hold off until noon. The trail wasn¢t too rocky this morning, but Mary's feet and legs were sore almost from the get go.  She soldiered on, stopping to stretch when we had a chance. We made it to Roche Gap shelter, but because it was three tenths off the trail, we decided not to go in. Instead we headed down to the stream to eat lunch and soak Mary's feet. Butter came in as we were leaving and she headed to the stream to get some water also. Just as we were getting ready to leave it started to rain, so we put our pack covers and rain jackets on and headed out. Soon after we left we met up with a Boy Scout Troop that told us be ready for a nasty, muddy water crossing. They weren't kidding! Soon we came to a wet area about a hundred yards long that was solid mud. I managed to walk on some sticks and take a long detour around and kept my feet mostly dry. Mary decided to put on her Crocs and walk right straight thru, she said it wasn't that great a feeling. Near the end of the day we crossed a couple more roads, then we had to walk underneath I-81. It was looking more and more like rain so we wanted to find a campsite. The problem was, once you go underneath I-81 the trail is really rocky, and it's a steep uphill with very few campsites. We made it to the first campsite we could find that was level and quickly set up our tent and ate. Later, Stoic came in. We  haven't seen him in quite a while. He set up his tent just on the other side of the trail. Shortly after we climbed into bed it began to rain, so we were happy we made it in time and didn't get wet. Tomorrow we're hoping it'll be a decent day and we'll make it to the 501 shelter where we can order some pizza.
Date: 2018-06-21
From: Campsite at 1184.6

To: Hertline campsite
Miles today: 15.8

DAY 107It was raining when we woke up this morning, so we slept in a little waiting for the rain to stop. It's been so humid lately, and with us sweating so much, it was very uncomfortable sleeping last night. The trail continues to get rockier and we've been struggling up on the ridge with the rocks tenderizing our feet. We planned to make it to the William Penn shelter for lunch, but to our surprise just as we approached the shelter we looked up and saw a section hiker, who hiked a section of the trail this spring, doing trail magic. He and his brother had snacks, drinks, and chips, and were in the process of making a fire to cook hot dogs. We stopped for probably 45 minutes talking to the other hikers as they came in. We are hoping Butter will make it in. We just passed her tent and it was about 11 and she was still sleeping in, so we are hoping she will  get there before he closes up. We still had several miles to go before the 501 shelter, but most of all we are looking forward to a shower there. The trail is rocky again, so it took us a while to get there. Ultimately we decided we better push on, so we took a quick solar shower, and when I say solar what I really mean is a cold shower. Nonetheless, it felt pretty good. After our showers  we ordered pizza, and because we're running low on resupply we decided we'd order some pierogies to pack out for tomorrow's breakfast. We ate what we could of the pizza, and packed the rest up. Then we headed out for another 5 miles. We hiked until nearly dark, and quickly found a campsite. There is small dammed pond here that you are supposed to be able to go swimming in, so we went down to check it out and do a quick rinse off before bed.It's a little cooler tonight, but it doesn¢t look like rain, so we're sleeping with the fly off.
Date: 2018-06-22
From: Hertline campsite

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 18.5

DAY 108Woke up this morning after sleeping pretty well other than my mattress deflating a few times. We ate our pierogies for breakfast, which were actually pretty good. We packed up our snacks, which will hopefully get us to town. Mary decided she wanted to soak her feet and knees again, so we headed down to the pond for one more soak. When I was on the dam taking pictures, I turned around just in time to see Mary stumble and nearly fall into the water clothes and all. At some point during the day we decided we should try to get into town tonight as rain was forecast for this evening and tomorrow morning. We hiked steady throughout the day taking a few breaks to give Mary's feet and knees a rest. A lot of hikers had the same idea, as many of them passed us on their way to town including Ducky, Knotty Boy and Sourpatch. As we neared town Mary ran out of gas and we had to pull over at a small campsite and make our dinner of potatoes and chicken. Dinner just gave her enough energy to make the remaining miles into town. Unfortunately, the last mile is a very steep downhill which really took its toll on her knees and feet.As we finally got down the hill to the railroad station, we met another thru hiker named Flip. He asked us when we started the trail, and when we told him March 7th, he said he and his brother Meatloaf had started that same day. We thought it was interesting that we had never met until today. We elected to stay at the nearby motel rather than stay at the Pavilion for the night, but we needed to get a ride over to the motel. Cabela's normally does a shuttle, but it was almost closing time, so we called a shuttler to give us a ride to the motel. The shuttler was great. He works on donations only and brought us right to the motel, and we were really happy to be there. We quickly checked in then gathered up our laundry and loaded that in the wash and headed down to Pappy T's, the attached restaurant, for another dinner. I had a burger and Mary had a meatball sub. We each enjoyed a beer, then we finished our laundry. Now off to bed after a long day. Tomorrow we will go to Cabela's to see about a new pad or getting mine fixed, then we'll head over to Walmart to do our resupply. It's nearly 11 now so we better get to bed as we¢ve got another big day tomorrow.
Date: 2018-06-26
From: Palmerton (Bert's Steak House Hostel)

To: Leroy Smith Shelter 
Miles today: 15.6

DAY 112Everyone was up pretty early in the hostel wanting to get going today. We were at the restaurant at 7:00 just as it opened. After a nice hearty breakfast the other hikers got shuttled back to the trail, but Mary and I still had to do a resupply, so we walked down to the market that opened at 9. When we got back after our resupply Bert's wife shuttled us back to the trailhead. Today's hike is Infamous for a couple of reasons. One, you have Lehigh gap which is a jumble of steep boulders you must climb on the way up to the ridge. Second, once you get up on the ridge you immediately enter the Superfund Site, this is a ridge that was denuded from a zinc smelting operation, and now they're trying to restore it. And third, it is a long ridge with no water. There is one emergency spring, but it's contaminated so they only recommend you drink out of it in an emergency. It's a hot day so we know we're going to be in for a long hike today. Mary wasn't too thrilled with the climb up over the boulders. In some places it is a hand-over-hand scramble. There were a few curse words uttered and some tears were shed, but eventually we both made it up over there unscathed. Once up on the ridge the beginning of the Superfund Site is really quite smooth and we made pretty good time. We met a dad out hiking with his two young daughters, they brought some goodies for any thru-hikers they may meet. Mary felt obligated to take a little apple sauce packet. Once we got down off the Superfund Ridge the trail got considerably more rocky and tougher going, it didn't help that it was so hot today. We struggled along and eventually made it to the  Leroy Smith Shelter. There is a spring at the shelter, but the water's probably a quarter mile down hill. Easily Forgotten and Bunny Tracks were in the shelter, but it seemed too buggy so we tented up on the hill with Stoic, even though it may rain tonight.
Date: 2018-06-27
From: Leroy Smith Shelter 

To: Kirkridge Shelter 
Miles today: 13.7

DAY 113Today wasn't really an eventful day, more of the same really, mostly rocks with little or no views. When we woke it wasn't raining yet but it looked like it was threatening so we quickly had breakfast and picked up our gear. Soon after we got hiking it started to sprinkle so we put on our rain gear, but it was so humid and warm that we were sweating in it. It's one of those days where you put your hood up then you take your hood down. You unzip it then zip your jacket back up. Nothing seems to be very comfortable. At one point today it started to rain pretty hard, so that gave me a chance to use my new fashionable rain skirt. Rain skirts seem to be pretty popular as they keep the rain off your legs, but are cooler than rain pants as air is allowed to get up underneath. I wasn't sure whether I really would like one, so I decided to fashion my own out of a compactor trash bag. I basically cut the bottom off a trash bag so you can step into it then I tuck the bag into my shorts. It actually seems to work pretty good, so Mary thinks I'm quite a sight as I'm walking down the trail. We got to the Kirkridge Shelter just before a thunderstorm rolled through. We sat inside with Flip while he  waitied for his brother. We originally planned to tent, but after we looked at the tent sites filled with poison ivy and heard the thunder, we decided it would be better to just sleep in the shelter. We set up in the shelter and soon after Meatloaf, who is Flip¢s brother, arrived looking pretty wet from the downpour. They were setting up in the shelter also when Easily Forgotten and Bunny Tracks arrived. They had a tough day also as Bunny Tracks slipped on some rocks and cut her wrist. We head to Delaware Water Gap tomorrow. We are hoping the bugs won't be bad and the rain won't blow in the shelter so we can get some sleep.
Date: 2018-06-28
From: Kirkridge Shelter 

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 6.4

DAY 114We are glad we chose to stay in the shelter last night as a thunderstorm rolled  in and it rained hard several times. The bugs were not too bad, and no one seemed to snore, so we got a pretty good night's sleep except for one incident. At one point a mouse crawled through Mary's hair and then crawled across my stomach. Nonetheless our gear stayed mostly dry, so we are happy about that. We hope to make it into town by 10:30 to get a second breakfast at the bakery. We started out with our rain gear on because everything was so wet, but soon took it off as it was too humid. The trail started rocky, but soon turned to an old tote road, so we made pretty good time except when trying to avoid the puddles from the rain last night. As we got close to town the trail became steep and the rocks were wet from last night's rain, this slowed us down a little and we ended up getting into town around 11. We hung some of our damp things at the hostel and then went down to the bakery to have lunch. We had a sandwich on homemade bread followed by pie ala mode, both were very good. While we were eating it began to rain, fortunately some of the hikers at the hostel put our gear undercover. When we got back we decided we wanted to do a resupply and do our laundry. The best place is over in East Strasburg, Pennsylvania, so we decided to call a shuttle to get us there. The church does the hiker feed tonight, so we had to hustle to get our stuff done before 6 when they start the potluck dinner. We got back with just enough time to organize our stuff before the church was calling us for dinner.Feeding the hikers is something the church has been doing for 40 years. During thru hiking season every Thursday they cook up some hot dogs and hamburgers and then a lot of members bring in a potluck dish. Then the hikers all mingle in with the church members and everyone chats and has a nice meal. It's great for the hikers because it's such a variety of dishes including dessert, and when the meal is done they put all the leftovers down at the hostel so hikers can eat it later. After dinner we sat outside a little bit where it was cool. It is probably going to be hot in the hostel tonight as there's no air conditioning. Excited to officially get out of Pennsylvania tomorrow and into New Jersey.