morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-07-01
From: Rutherford Shelter

To: Wallkill River Parking 
Miles today: 14.2

Jul 1, 2016 - Tim and I managed to get out of camp by 7 - I had slept surprisingly well considering Satan's birds, more commonly known as Whipporwills, were around and that I slept on the ground with no sleeping pad. We had about 15 miles to hike by 1 pm so that Tim's mom could pick us up before the thunderstorms struck in the afternoon. Tim had already hiked 12 miles yesterday so I was curious to see how he handled the workload today. The first stop on our hike was High Point, the highest point in New Jersey - go figure. Although it was 0.3 miles off trail, I had never been to High Point and felt it was time seeing as I live in Jersey. A 220 foot tall pinnacle was situated at the top. The view from the top at the base of the pinnacle was pretty stellar with panoramic views of PA, NJ and NY. However, we climbed to the top of the pinnacle and were disappointed to find that it was just a stuffy room with four small, foggy windows. Oh well, we did it. The rest of the hike was fairly flat with only 2 significant inclines. Ripe blackberries, raspberries and sorrel made the trek much more enjoyable. Tim was killing it, though the last hill kind of took the wind out of his sails a bit. When we arrived at the Wallkill River where we were supposed to get picked up, he nearly fell asleep right there on the grass. It was also amusing to see that he already had the infamous hiker hobble we're all inflicted with. Mrs Adams and Trish, Tim's sister, picked us up at the agreed to location and took us back to Tim's car. AWOL's coordinates for the parking area were not correct so we lost about 40 minutes during the drive. Of course, the car ride was a lot of fun as the Adams have a habit of enjoying everything all the time. Mrs Adams treated us all to lunch at an awesome Greek place near Dingman's ferry. The gyro platter was a nice change of pace from the food I usually eat. Once we obtained Tim's car, he helped me pick up a resupply at Wal-Mart as well as a new Platypus, a bug net, and a new shirt - my wool shirt was littered with holes to the point where I was conscious of how much I looked like a hobo at lunch. Hiker trash! I showered and threw some laundry in at Tim's house and then we hopped in the car to meet Jacquie and Sean at Angry Erik's brewing company in Lafayette. I ate pizza slices 132 and 133 on the way to my next brew blaze. Angry Erik's was a super small brewery but I definitely enjoyed the beers. We grabbed growlers and headed back to Jacquie's house for the rest of the night. I caught up with Mr and Mrs O'Rourke for a bit before heading downstairs where we played some beer games for old times sake. Relay race with the three of them was an absolute blast.
Date: 2016-07-02
From: Wallkill River Parking 

To: Furnace Brook Campsite
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: broken clouds

Jul 2, 2016 - Despite drinking more than I expected last night, I felt pretty good in the morning. Tim continued ferrying me around by stopping at the deli for some much needed coffee and then taking me all the way back to the Wallkill River so I could resume my hike. Today's hike was very unique - it started with a long, flat walk around a nature preserve. Then, I hiked up a pretty steep hill and cracked a Mountain Dew I found at the bottom when I reached the summit. It was an unbelievably cool and breezy day so I was in extremely high spirits. The next part of the hike brought me to a 0.6 mile long boardwalk over a swamp, which I recognized from a picture in the ATC headquarters. As it was a Sunday, there were many tourists out and about, most of which looked at me like I was a zoo animal on the loose. It's funny because people either have no idea what the AT is in which case I'm basically a dirty, unkempt, smelly weirdo or people recognize me as a thru hiker and treat me like a celebrity. One man asked me to pose with a garden gnome that his wife sells in the hope that it would go viral and help his wife's business. Another man told me that my legs looked like telephone poles. Others don't even respond to my salutations - rather, they seem slightly alarmed or taken aback that the beast spoke to them. Anyway, after the boardwalk section, I took a lunch break and met up with my friend Carolyn who wanted to hike a bit with me. She picked a pretty gnarly section of trail seeing as we would immediately be hiking up the Stairway to Heaven, a steep, rocky section. It had been a while since I had seen her so it was great to catch up and share a nice afternoon in the woods. We took a snack break next to a pretty beautiful stream where she met some of my Trail Family. I also showed her what the shelters were like. After Carolyn went back to her lake house, I continued hiking until I crossed the border into NY - that's 8 states down and 6 to go! I crossed over Prospect Rock, the highest point on the AT in NY. An American flag was raised on the top. Thinking I was alone and feeling pretty jacked up, I screamed "'Merica!". A few section hikers that I hadn't seen nearby laughed but fully supported the yell. Down the hill, I set up camp after 19.7 miles with the usual crew next to Furnace Brook. It was buggy again, but bearable. I fell asleep to the sound of fireworks over nearby Greenwood Lake.
Date: 2016-07-03
From: Furnace Brook Campsite

To: Fingerboard Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Jul 3, 2016 - Nick Vetere, my hunting buddy and one of my Dad's oldest friends, was parking in the lot on Arden Valley Road in Harriman, NY and hiking south along the trail to meet me around 9 in the morning. His goal was to do about 5 miles in and then turn around to hike back. Since I camped 18 miles from Harriman, this meant I needed to knock out around 13 miles by 11 in the morning. That's a tall order. So, I got moving early and left camp well before 7. I walked extremely quickly and managed to run into Nick at the top of the ridge around 11:30 am. It was great to see him especially since he's a Rangers fan and he was rocking a Devils t-shirt. We took a short break - the terrain was becoming more demanding. Short, frequent and steep ascents and descents accompanied by large rocks that required the use of your hands in addition to your feet made the hiking more challenging.It took about 2 hours for us to reach the parking lot near Arden Valley Road. We hopped in Nick's pickup truck and drove south down Route 17 to the Rhodes North Tavern in Sloatsburg, NY. We ordered some Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin beers (I don't think I've ever seen this gem on tap) split some nachos and then I tried to tackle a 14 oz burger that rivaled the AT burger in Hot Springs, NC. I conquered the burger, but the battle left me weak and I was overcome by the french fries. Nick gave me a ride to the supermarket to purchase some hamburgers and hot dogs (and black bean burgers for Great P) for a small 4th of July celebration in the woods. He had already obtained one of those flexible coolers so I could pack everything in for tomorrow night. We returned to the parking lot to find the rest of the trail family already there. Nick brought me an absurd amount of venison jerky so I passed some out to the other thru hikers there. Fingerboard shelter was only 4 miles away, but they felt very long with a full cooler hanging from my shoulders. I cooled off with a dip in Island Pond and then tackled one of my favorite sections of trail: Lemon Squeezer. This short, uphill rock formation started with a slanted walkway that narrowed as you moved forward. It's impossible to get through the without scraping your pack a bit. Next, there's a challenging rock scramble that causes you to contort your body in a way you didn't think was possible. Again, all of this happened with a 10 lb cooler on my chest (this was the worst cooler ever seeing as it ripped shortly after Lemon Squeezer). The "reliable" water sources according to our guide were basically dry, which forced us to collect water from some pretty gross looking stagnant pools. When we finally reached our campsite, the hole in the cooler forced us to make some grave decisions. We chose to sacrifice the burgers tonight and save the indestructible hot dogs for tomorrow evening.
Date: 2016-07-05
From: Stealth Campsite near Anthony's Nose

To: Clarence Fahnestock State Park Campground 
Miles today: 19.0

Jul 5, 2016 - It had rained during the night and everyone slept in pretty late. Despite the rain, it was unfathomably humid outside - it literally felt like I was swimming all day. The rocks were wet, which meant bad news for me seeing as my shoes have zero traction when the rocks are wet. I warned everyone I would fall at least once. About two miles later, my feet flew out from under me and my bag of garbage was launched into the woods as my ass hit the ground. Peach and Training Wheels witnessed this and had a good laugh. About 5 miles into our hike, we stopped at a deli just off the trail and got some food while we laid out our tents to dry. Suffice it to say I ate a lot of chocolate frosted donuts (I believe 11 was the magic number). Peach and I decided to just bang out the remaining 14 miles without taking breaks so we could relax and attempt to cool down at the Clarence Fahnestock State Park campground. I had the new Blink 182 cd to keep me very entertained. I did fall very hard, though. We were walking along a raised dirt platform with steep drops on either side. I reached up to adjust a strap on my pack and walked right off the side. I tumbled down about 10 feet before a rock broke my fall - I wasn't hurt just very dirty. Still, it was pretty careless and scary.We reached the park around 4 pm and helped ourselves to a hot chicken sandwich. The last two miles in the punishing sun really took its toll on our bodies so a real sandwich was deemed necessary. I was so drained and exhausted, I just wanted to go to sleep. We walked almost a mile to the campground (the campground was free, but the three campsites reserved for AT hikers were holes compared to the other sites) and I took what must have been a 30 minute shower. I cleaned my clothes a bit while in there, too. The water at the campground wasn't potable so we had to walk another quarter mile down the busy road to get that. Peach actually managed to secure a hitch and get beer again. While I hadn't planned on drinking anything, it did make the bugs more bearable. The heat and the bugs are out of control lately. I've always avoided hiking during the summer for both of those reasons. Now, I don't have a choice and it definitely takes away from my enjoyment of the trail a bit. My body has too many bug bites to count. I miss the winter and I maintain that a 25 degree day is far preferable to the weather lately. It took a while to fall asleep because I was sweating so profusely.
Date: 2016-07-06
From: Clarence Fahnestock State Park Campground 

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: few clouds

Jul 6, 2016 - The bugs this morning were so obnoxious, I left camp as soon as possible carrying my coffee with me. Even at 7 am, you could tell the day would be unbearably hot and humid. The forecast was 95 degrees and 90% humidity. The first 10 miles was bearable thanks to the Wimbledon radio - Roger Federer was playing Marin Cilic in the Quarterfinals. Federer, down 2 sets to love, fought off 3 match points to pull off a 5 set comeback victory that got me unbelievably jacked up. At the 10 mile mark, with sweat literally cascading down my body, we decided to wait out the hottest part of the day at a deli 0.3 miles off trail. They had a picnic table and a shady camping area where hikers could attempt to cool off. I even managed to nap, which was far better than being awake during the midday onslaught of the sun. The deli had turkey roll-ups with stuffing and gravy and a side of Cajun rice with sausage and chicken. It was amazing. Pretty much every other hiker had the same idea as us - Great P, Croc, Napster, Easy E, Flipper, Mint, Pepper, Olive Oil and Forest. Since today and tomorrow would be easier days, we killed about 5 hours at the deli before hiking the last 4 miles to the shelter. Even at 7 pm, with the sun down, I arrived at the shelter drenched in sweat. With no breeze and bugs swarming greedily, I couldn't even dry off. I dumped a water bottle of water over myself so I could convince myself I was somewhat clean and crawled into my tent. I'm not sure how, but I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly. The heat, humidity and swarms of Mosquitos are leaving me drained, exhausted and totally without motivation to hike more miles. It's still hard to be negative, though, seeing as every other hiker is going through the same misery. Since we're in it together, it's pretty easy to have a good time and just take the bad with the good. But, I do literally daydream of winter all the time and I miss it so much.The picture is of the largest oak tree on the AT - it's circumference is almost 22 feet and it's almost 300 years old.
Date: 2016-07-07
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Appalachian Trail Railroad Station / Danbury, CT
Miles today: 10.9

Jul 7, 2016 - In a similar situation to yesterday, the bugs were insane this morning so I left camp as quickly as possible. Today would only be about 11 miles to the Appalachian Trail Railroad Station where Peach's friends, Lyndsay and Megan, were picking us up for a nero in nearby Danbury, CT. Shortly after leaving camp, I needed to leave the trail to take care of some smelly business. I can honestly say that squatting down in the leaves with sweat drenched in sweat with bugs assaulting and biting me everywhere may have been my low point on the trail so far. I was bit multiple times in the areas under my shorts, which made walking immediately uncomfortable. After that, I walked as fast as possible to get out of the woods knowing that an air conditioned hotel room was waiting for me. I hiked 11 miles in under 3 hours. Another deli was down the road with a camping area where I could wait for Peach, Great P and Lyndsay and Megan. About an hour later, everyone arrived at the deli. Another thru hiker had been showing me the video of the latest police shooting in Dallas. It's one of maybe 3 or 4 major news stories that have reached me out here and it's a solid reminder of how much I do not miss hearing the news. This world out here may not necessarily be real, but it certainly is a better place. Ignorance is definitely bliss, sometimes.Anyway, Lyndsay and Megan brought us to the supermarket for a quick resupply and some pizza. I actually only had 2 slices which brings my total to 135. The rest of the afternoon was literally spent in a Super 8 hotel room chatting, sipping beer, eating Chinese food, resting, and playing True American from New Girl, which was a freaking blast. The air conditioning, shower and laundry (in that order) was indescribably satisfying. Great P had his first shower in 12 days. I had a chance to talk with Survivor today - he's closing in slowly. He may have Lyme's Disease, but he got antibiotics for it and should be fine.
Date: 2016-07-08
From: Appalachian Trail Railroad Station / Danbury, CT

To: Ten Mile River Campsite
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Jul 8, 2016 - Today started with Roger Federer's semifinal match against Milos Raonic. I watched the first 2 sets in the hotel room, but had to listen to the rest as I hiked. It was a very disappointing 5 set loss and I don't really have anything more to say about that. Jingle, Training Wheels, and Sweets took a zero yesterday at Wheels' Aunt's house so we decided to take another short day to wait up for them. Our goal was the Ten Mile River Campsite with the hope that we would have a chance to swim and cool off. It was a short 9.8 mile day. The three of us took a short break at the Wiley Shelter where we met a man named Woody (this was his real name as it was his first day on trail. He had decided to start in NY and hike to Maine and then hike from NY south to Georgia). This guy was a hoot with a 65 lb pack, 10 pairs of socks, 7 changes of clothes, at least 9 days worth of food, a massive butane fuel canister AND an equally large propane tank. We were nice, though. We all chimed in with pointers and explained that most hikers have less than 2 full pairs of clothes. He seemed grateful for the help. Another mile north along the trail and we found two older gentlemen, Walt and "Rambo", doing Trail Magic. Walt's son had completed the trail in 2014 and he had heard about Trail Magic often. Both guys said they tried Trail Magic once and enjoyed it so much that they continue offering burgers, dogs, fruit, beer and snacks whenever they have time. I can't wait to pay it forward in the coming years after i summit that mythical goddess named Katahdin. We finished our short day with a pretty good hill. The first 200 yards were tough as I worked through my burger and beers, but I felt stronger with every step I took. At the top, Peach and I almost simultaneously agreed that we need to open the throttle back up. We needed a break for sure, but enough is enough - we need to get back to 18-20 mile days pronto. Our campsite tonight was on the banks of the 10 Mile River and could not have been any better. There was a breeze, the water was warm, but refreshing and we had all afternoon to enjoy it. Eventually, I made a small fire on a rock in the middle of the river and cooked up some dinner with my feet in the water. I don't think I'll top that any time soon.
Date: 2016-07-09
From: Ten Mile River Campsite

To: Silver Hill Campsite
Miles today: 18.9

Jul 9, 2016 - Technically, yesterday I crossed out of New York and into Connecticut. However, I crossed back and forth across the border a few times before I was fully into CT, which happened today. That's 9 states down and 5 to go! Princess Peach, Great P and I had 18.9 miles to the Silver Hill Campsite. The terrain as we exited NY and entered CT has become noticeably more challenging and I would only expect it to continue to do so. Today, we had a few pretty tough climbs, which we honestly haven't tackled consistently for a while now. The weather was definitely cooperating today - the sun was gone, the breeze was blowing, the humidity was gone and the temperature had dropped to the mid-seventies. All those factors definitely turned a very challenging day into an extremely enjoyable one. The climbs had me breathing hard and sweating pretty profusely, but it felt good to get away from the persistent ridge line that haunted PA and NJ and summit some real mountains again - even if they are only around 1,500 feet tall. Our last descent brought us to the banks of the Housatonic River, which we followed for about 4 miles to the campsite. I sat on a rock right next to the river and just watched the water flow by for about 30 minutes. It was so relaxing, I would have fallen asleep if it wasn't for the chill brought on by the breeze and my sweaty shirt. You won't hear me complain, though - the chill was so welcome after the hot hell we've baked in for the past week. We ran into Chicken Feet and Salty at the campsite, but, otherwise, we had the place to ourselves. It was a pretty amazing campsite complete with a pavilion, a patio, a privy, grass, a bench swing and a picnic table. Even though there are no campfires allowed in CT, the temperature drop forced our hand. We rolled away a massive section of fallen tree, built a fire ring with rocks, and got a blaze going. The next morning we would just remove the rocks and then roll the trunk over the logs so no one would know. Chicken Feet brought a large roll of salami to share with everyone and seemed to be his usual self again. Lately, he has seemed pretty stressed, but no one knows why. It's hysterical to watch this tiny Vietnamese man curse and say American words like 'awesome'.
Date: 2016-07-10
From: Ten Mile River Campsite

To: Falls Village, CT / Toymakers Cafe Campsite
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

Jul 10, 2016 - It rained during the night, but that's good. The more humidity the sky dumps out, the cooler it should be, right? It looked like rain again that morning and I was hoping the sky would open up. However, the rain never came and the first 8 miles or so were horribly humid and wet. I must have been bit by at least 5 Mosquitos and 2 deer flies. It remained humid all morning, but early on in our hike, we saw a sign for a Trail Magic picnic in Falls Village, CT. This motivated the 3 of us to bang out 15 miles before noon. As we walked into town, the rain finally came and cooled everything down - it was glorious. So, sopping wet, we walked up to the best Trail Magic we've received on trail so far, in my opinion. Burgers, dogs, omelettes, bacon, fruit, a whole table of desserts, three different pasta salads, gatorades, beer, wine and several tubs full of resupply stuff including food, ziploc bags, toiletries and even parachute cord were completely at our disposal. Panda, who thru hiked last year, organized the impressive event. It was incredible. I got to talking with Panda and the one thing she mentioned that stuck with me is that the process of rejoining society is "horrible". Even a year later, she is still not adjusted. So I have that to look forward to. After the Trail Magic was over, we walked into the center of town to check out an auto show that was taking place. I walked into the Falls Village Inn to grab a beer at the bar. When I tried to order the beer, the bartender said, "I can put it into a to-go cup and you can drink it outside". I said I would wait for my 2 friends to see what they wanted to do, but he simply repeated his previous statement. Then, I realized he was politely kicking me out of the bar, presumably because of the smell I was exuding. So, I have now been kicked out of a bar for smelling too badly. Still a little shocked, I walked outside where I found a few cheap beers and listened to the cover band, which we mistook for karaoke since they were not very good. After talking with Jingle, Sweets, and Training Wheels, we decided to just stay at the Toymakers Cafe in town, which offered free camping. It was a shorter day - only 14.8 miles - but the company at the campsite was great. We ordered pizza (Tim, I'm at 141 slices), Legs and Verge joined us, and we just sat in the yard and talked.
Date: 2016-07-11
From: Falls Village, CT / Toymakers Cafe Campsite

To: Guilder Pond Picnic Area
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Jul 11, 2016 - A slow morning had me leaving camp around 8 am to start an ambitious 20.4 miles to the Guilder Pond Picnic Area. The terrain looked very challenging today with no less than 4 significant summits - Mt. Prospect, Bear Mountain, Mt. Race, and Mt. Everett. The first section of the hike paralleled the Housatonic River until I saw a large waterfall. With no hesitation, I took off my clothes and jumped into the pool at the base of the falls for an early morning bath. Then, with wet clothes, I started on the 1st climb of the day. As my trail name entails, I enjoy the uphills and today was no different. Peach, Great P and I plowed through the first 14 miles by 1 pm. I opted to take a long lunch break at the top of Bear Mountain on top of a large rock observation tower with beautiful panoramic views of CT below. Mt. Race proved to be just as scenic as Bear Mountain, but had a 0.6 mile section of trail that followed the edge of a steep cliff. At 77 degrees and breezy, the hike was a lot of fun even with the sun beating down on us. I felt great until I hit Mt. Everett - 1 mile straight up and then another mile straight down to our campsite. When I say straight up, I mean any steeper and the treads on our shoes would not have been able to grip the large, smooth rocks that comprised the side of the mountain. Needless to say, it felt good to hit the picnic area and stuff done hot food into our stomachs. We had actually been aiming for the shelter 0.4 miles farther down trail, but the picnic area was so inviting, that we just set up there. Despite actually looking, it was only after we set up that we saw the 'No Camping' sign - whoops.