morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-14
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter

To: Milesburn Cabin Campsite
Miles today: 10.6

There were lots of cool rock croppings today along the trail. EArly in the day, right before Caledonia State Park, a trail angel left some trail magic for hikers; caprisun and rice crispies! Caladonia State Park was a popular spot. Sadly, the flooding a few weeks back damaged the pool somehow and it wasn't open until tomorrow. The concession stand was also not open. The second bit of trail magic was to be found in the park as well. A group from IN setup camp for a week in the park and invited through hikers to join them for dinner and tenting etc. The group wasn't there at the time and we couldn't partake of the fruit as we needed to be in Pine Grove Furnace to meet her dad the next day. But we did hangout and talk with a hiker who was going to stay for his 2nd or 3rd night with the group.A little further up the trail we encountered Quarry Gap Shelter. Oh wow, this was hands down the best maintained shelter we've encountered on the trail. Period. It had potted plants, tent pads, a roll-away wind screen, a large metal cooking area on the picnic table, board games, candle lanterns, and more I've forgotten by now. Later we heard that the overseer had solar lights to illuminate the privy path at night but the ATC thought it was a bit too much and he took them down. Either way, I say "GREAT JOB MR OVERSEER!".
Date: 2006-07-15
From: Milesburn Cabin Campsite

To: Ironmasters Mansion Hostel
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: moderate rain

It was a very easy day of hiking today. Along the way there was lots of oak and pine in old growth forest. In the lower elevations there were nice meandering streams through the forest. Hopefully, the pictures I took do it a little bit of justice. There was also a lot of flown and road walking today which made things easier walking-wise but much hotter. We got to Pine Grove Furnace a bit before 2pm and completed the 1/2 gallon challenge. I did vanilla (2400 cals) in 34 minutes. Rainbow Brite's dad showed up a bit after 3pm after we'd finished our challenges. We dealt with food and other stuff until we could checkin at the Iron Master's Hostel next door to the general store(location of the 1/2 gal challenge). After hitting town for Walmart and dinner at the local pub we did laundry and porch sat a bit more and talked to Locomotive Joe and Mercury.DefinitionsDown: A decent downhill.Up:   "   "   uphill.Flown: A very gradual downhill. A flatish downhill.Flup: "   "   "   uphill.   "   "   uphill.Flat: +/- 10' elevation change over a good distance. Fluppies: A series of small rolling hills. Flowns and flups in series.Frappies: A series of crappy ups and downs. The rollercoaster. Fruup: A @#$@#$-up uphill. A REALLY decent uphill.
Date: 2006-07-16
From: Ironmasters Mansion Hostel

To: Crampton Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

We all drove down to PA16 where Sawbriar picked us up. She shuttled us into Harper's Ferry at the ATC HQ. We goofed around there a bit and met Tonka & Pockets and Riceburner. We hit the outfitter again to get some tent stakes for her dad to use with my six moon design tent. We met up with John Peterson in the outfitter store as well. He was taking another day in town then getting back on the trail. After the outfitter we set off to the trail. Walking down through Harper's Ferry is always cool. I really like all of the historic buildings and the feel of the town. The section on the C&O canal was fun. I have lots of fond memories of the canal and biking etc.. so it was a nice walk. We saw lots of turtles sunbathing, ducks swimming along, etc...The Ed Garvey shelter was pretty neat. It has a 2nd story (loft) with a balcony on the backside. The water at the shelter is not so neat though; apparently a long ways straight downhill. Since we had water still, we elected to skip the fun trip downhill. We stopped at Gathland state park and had soda. Woo for soda machines. We cooked dinner at the pavilion there and her dad made a black cherry leaf compress for the nasty looking poison ivy on her leg. For a long time(1-2 days) we thought it might be a spider bite or a tick bite but Pockets came by with poison ivy and told her it was the same kind of stuff that he gets. She was much relieved to hear it was just poison ivy. We ended up tenting at the Crampton shelter for the night.
Date: 2006-08-03
From: Ashville Road Campsite

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 5.3

Woke up really early(5:30am) this morning to avoid the HEAT. Got to Palmerton for laundry, shower, and food. The town of Palmerton, I love to say, totally beats out Damascus, VA in terms of being the friendliest on the trail(although it's officially 2m off the trail). The town folk are all very friendly to hikers. We got a hitch into town in about 1.5 mintues. The town lets hikers stay in jail(w/o the inconvience of being arrested) for free, the IGA gives hikers a free Apple, the church next door gave us a free Hoagie and soda, the local girl scouts put together a welcoming zip-loc bag with tons of cool goodies in it, and the library lets you have a free paper back book from their book sale selection. WOW! This town is really awesome!!Planning to climb the infamous Leigh Gap rock climb tomorrow morning really early and praying for the t-storm to bring some of that cool weather I've been dreaming about the last few days.
Date: 2006-08-09
From: Brink Rd. Shelter

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

We all broke camp really early this morning, out by 6:30 type of early. There was some good incentive though: Joe to Go, a local coffee shop that also had breakfast sandwiches and soda. I also got a special reward this morning. I saw a porcupine just off to the side of the trail. It quickly scurried out of the way and then proceeded to climb a nearby tree. I didn't know that they could climb trees. So I was fairly surprised to see it staring down at me from its perch. Really what was going through my head was a vision of this thing dropping down on top of my quills first. Doesn't sound pleasant does it? Thankfully, it just stared down at me and posed for a photo. By the time Ben Here and Rainbow Brite caught up to me it had moved much further up the branch; so no up close and personal photos.The end of the day wasn't so great. In hind sight I suffered from heat exhaustion. We arrived to High Point State Park and was doing ok at the time, jut really tired and mildly thirsty. The good news was the concession stand by the lake as only a .8m road walk. The bad news was we went the wrong direction on the road. So the result was a .8m road walk down a big hill with nothing at the bottom but a view of big hill. A local was kind enough to pick us up and give us a soda. He was my hero for the day. After I recuperated over dinner and water, we followed the moon walkers to the observation platform. The state park does a moon walk ranger-guided tour for each of the full moons, at least during the summer months. We all watched the full moon rise with little kids running around ooooing and ahhhhing. Then we hiked down to the High Point Shelter to tent for the night.
Date: 2006-08-11
From: Unionville Park

To: Vernon Episcopal Church Hostel
Miles today: 11.8

We (Rainbow Brite, Ben Here, and I) rolled out of Unionville this morning about 10:30 this morning.   Unionville is a great little town. They let us tent in the park in the middle of the town and all of the people we're ultra friendly to us. The mayor stopped by and asked us about ourselves, our trip, and wished us a pleasant journey. Sara's Soda shop is a really good place to tank up on much needed calories as well, and I particularly enjoyed four slushies from the general store. So far I'd have to say NJ is my favorite state. Not only do the PA rocks start to disappear(a little bit after High Point State Park) NJ has a surprising amount of wildlife and scenic views. The mile long boardwalk through the swamp/marsh/grassland with wild flowers and clear blue sky earns NJ some brownie points too. NJ also gets the "HUH?" award too. Walking past Sunfish Pond and reading a "No Picnicking 250$ fine" sign. That place was gorgeous and have several really nice places just for that type of thing. I guess people have to walk by, take a picture and keep moving; no stopping for a snack and enjoying the view.Kudos galore to the St. Thomas Episcopal church here in Vernon, NJ. You guys have an amazing setup here; definitely high on the list of AT hostels. I'd highly recommend this place to anyone. I really enjoyed using the full kitchen to make a home cooked meal. The only hitch(bad pun intended) is that technically hitching in NJ is illegal, we still got a "taxi" ride from a friendly local. Thanks man!
Date: 2006-08-20
From: Ten Mile River Campground

To: Kent, CT; Aunt Cindy's Apartment (NY)
Miles today: 8.5

We all got some really good sleep last night at the campsite, aside from the occasional wake up courtesy of the down pouring rain. We headed out at a reasonable time in the morning. The first .9m looked real familiar....oh yeah... we did them last night on the way to the store. Actually, that section just before the Iron Bridge (it's an operational covered bridge) in Kent, CT has a wonderful view over the Housatonic River. After the repeated trail miles we "eagerly" began the uphill out of the valley. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be; small comfort there since the White Mountains boost several twice as hard climbs. Whee! At the top of the hill I discovered that my thermorest was not there. Doh! I think it is 1) back at the Ten Mile River Campsite 2) on the trail between the campsite and the hill. I think subconsciously I left it behind. Last night, while it was raining, I had thoughts about a full length pad which would protect the down bag better in the rain.At the last shelter there was a jittery sobo'er. He hadn't taken any zero days on the trail yet....until yesterday and today. His mail drop wasn't at the PO in Kent on Saturday, forcing him to wait until Monday. Ouch. He was expending his extra energy building a rock bench in front of the shelter just south of Kent.We arrived in Kent slightly ahead of our 3pm meeting time. Ben Here and I went to the sushi bar and got a few snack while Rainbow Brite waited at the library for her mom. They drove up just as we were walking out the sushi bar. Great timing huh! Her mom was really nice and treated us all to sorbet at the chocolatier in town. Then off we went to her Aunt Cindy's apartment (her mom's sister).
Date: 2006-08-24
From: Tolland State Forest Campsite

To: Rainbow Brite's house
Miles today: 0.0

We decided to flip-flop. It just makes more sense and hiking life a lot easier. So we packed into the car with Rainbow Brite's mom and headed to NH. Plans for summiting are still in the air since we would really like her dad to be able to summit with us. Either way, we're in NH at the moment and having fun. Stay tuned for more advenurers of team dolphin.
Date: 2006-08-26
From: Kinsman Notch Trailhead

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: broken clouds

Rainbow Brite's mom dropped us off at the trail head around 1pm and off we went to do the infamous White Mountains. About 50 yds later we meet Hawkeye and another hiker at the 112 road crossing and chatted with them a few minutes. The first hill we a good taste of the Whites, as was the 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... So far NH seems like PA but with steep hills. The reassuring part was today's climb was one of the "easier" climbs in the Whites; "And there was much rejoicing....ya". We met several sobors and weekenders on the way to the shelter but didn't really talk to any of them. Arius(the guy that passed us in Bland, VA) passed us again today. There weren't many vistas today but the ones we had were impressive. I really like the mossy forest floor dotted with red-capped mushrooms, and thick pine trees mixed with aspen/birch trees. I saw some really cool looking blue berries(Not blueberries) growing in small clumps along the path.
Date: 2006-08-27
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Okay, the daily miles is very misleading here. We actually woke up around 8:30 and got out of camp around 10 in the morning and got on the trail. We had the lovely S. Kinsman mountain to climb over this morning. Unfortunately for us(mostly me) today was supposed to be "partly cloudy" which of course turned out to be rain. So about a mile up the trail it started to rain. I put on my garbage bag poncho. A little further up it got heavier and the wind picked up. I put on my long sleeved shirt. We climbed further. The wind and rain got stronger. Some where near the top we stopped to evaluate if we were warm enough to get over the top. We thought we could and continued. We climbed further. The wind and rain continued. We stopped and evaluated again. This time we almost continued but I went to move my arm and it had that numb feeling, not frozen, but like it fell asleep. So we turned around and went back to the shelter. I'm glad we turned around. I think at least I would have been close to hypothermia by the time we crossed the peak.Back at the shelter we met Boo Bear who did the long trail and is now meandering the white mountains on side trails etc... We crawled into sleeping bags and ate some hot food. A bit later Chocolate Bandito came in. She looked very cold as well and probably as excited to see the shelter as we were when we first arrived. We spent the rest of the day dry and warm in our sleeping bags in the shelter.
Date: 2006-08-28
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Rainbow Brite's house
Miles today: 0.0

It poured down all last night at the shelter. We got the weather report last on on the fm radio and heard that it was supposed to be light rain in the morning and start clearing early afternoon. We also looked at the contour map last night and estimated that we turned around about 1/2-1/3 of a mile from the top of S. Kinsman. DOH. We both still felt we made the right decision, although it really does suck to have to rehike almost 2.5 miles of trail. Oh yeah, I never described the trail for you all: picture 2.5 miles with 1800+ elevation gain and a trail that is better advertised as a amateur climbing trail versus a backpacking trail. In a few spots yesterday we both said things like, "I'm really glad we're going up this crap versus coming down" ... and then we had to come down it. Anyhow, about 10:15 we set out to reclimb the beast. We played trail guide with Chocolate Bandito all the way back to the turn around point. We hike about 100 yds further and hit the top!!! ARGH!!!!!!...but then we hike 50 yds more and saw the real summit. Huzzah for false summits. This reaffirmed the decision once and for all. The summit climb was even more fun then the stuff we did yesterday. But today the wind was very calm and the sun was making a good effort to shine through the clouds. We ate a quick lunch at the top and then pressed on to Lonesome Lake Hut where we got hot soup & bread. We hiked down to the trailhead and phoned her mom for pickup.
Date: 2006-09-01
From: Stealth Campsite near Madison Hut

To: Pinkham Notch/Rainbow Brite's House
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: broken clouds

Awoke to a brisk late summer morning and packed up camp. Hiked back up the Valley way trail to the Madison Hut where the rock'n CROO members let us do some breakfast clean-up. Shortly after we began the real AT trail miles for the day. Going up Madison was an interesting rock scramble. The rock cairns helped; but you essentially picked your own trail up the mountain. The backside(in every sense of the word) of Madison was highly unpleasant trail. Nothing but rocky crags and ridge after ridge. On the very bright side of things, the views of Mt Washington were phenomenal. Once we passed out of the alpine zone into the trees the trail became steeper, but much more manageable. We actually made better time below treeline than above it. Funny story: We stopped and talked to some people heading up to Madison hut when they just passed treeline. We pointed over to the cleft in the mountain where the hut was and said "that's where you're headed". They nodded and said, "that doesn't look too bad", after all they just did the steep section. About 30 secs later Rainbow Brite heard the guy groan loudly. We surmised that he could now see the rocky barren craggy ridge after ridge to the top of Madison that 30 second ago was obscured from his vision. Ha.We stopped for lunch at Osgood campground then made really good time down to Pinkham notch. Along the way we saw several cool streams and even got a cool suspension bridge(picture Indiana Jones, but more modern).
Date: 2006-09-19
From: Little Wilson Stream Stealth

To: Shaw's; Monson, ME
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: haze

TOWN FOOD!!!!The last few ranges in the 100 mile wilderness were much tougher than they should have been. The problem was I forgot to resupply breakfast foods at White House Landing. So that meant less food & snack(which became breakfast) for like 6 days. The last couple of days were the hardest hiking too, which only added to the problem. What does all this mean? Well, we woke up at 5:00am this morning, ate one last meal of ramen noodles and hit the trail to Monson. At this point we had 1 packet of hot coco and 1 packet of ramen left between us, and a hunger like you wouldn't believe.What does that mean? Well, as soon as we hit Monson we went to the general store to buy food. This wasn't resupply food. It was food to diminish the ravaging appetite that was going to get our credit cards in trouble if we went to a restaurant first. I got my minimum 10$ of food so I could use a CC, and rejoined Rainbow Brite outside. She had already polished off 4 donuts and 1/2 a quart of whole milk(~2 minutes). I didn't want to over do it(yes I did really), so I only had a 16oz grapefruit, 16oz Orange Juice, 6-8oz of beef jerky, and a couple of good swigs of Mt Dew from a 2L bottle. With that we headed to Shaw's to do laundry, shower, and socialize with the other hikers.Shaw's was a really nice place. The bunk room was very very colorful, and there was even a TV in the common room. The showers were great! I can't even begin to relay how wonderful a hot shower, shampoo, and soap are after 7 days of hiking. Next on the hit parade was Lakeshore House Pub. The food was really good and the atmosphere energetic. I had the lobster roll, and a teriyaki chicken with grilled pineapple and cheese.That night was spent chatting with Sleepy the Arab, Cold feet, Puffy Nipples & Cheeto, Sage, Pillbox, and others; and re-doing food supplies while watching a fascinating show about "Unlocking the Atom" on PBS....woo for theoretical physics.
Date: 2006-09-23
From: Pleasant Pond Lean-to

To: Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 5.7

Awoke to the sound of Paul with Bunions rekindling the fire in front of the shelter. A good night's sleep though. The weather turned cloudy and overcast during the night though. So today we hiked in a on/off drizzling mist/rain; not enough to get us wet though. The terrain down to Caratunk was really good: one small uphill(like 200 ft small) and clear sailing all the way to US 201. We got to the Post Office just around 9:20 and got our mail drop, which to our very pleasant surprise contained a full 4-day resupply. There was some concern that we may be receiving a bag of just snack foods, which honestly would have been just fine as well. Since so many thru-hikers recommended the Northern Outdoors lodge up the road we decided to check it out. The hitch up to the place was quick. A 3-car caravan of college students heading up to white-water kayak on the Kennebec river picked us up. Apparently, the local hydro power plant was having a scheduled release this morning to test their new generator. To test it, they planned on release the maximum cfm for the generator (translation -> a crap load of water, double or more than normal release). From the state of the lodge right now, a lot of people are were looking forward to the rare opportunity to do the river. The rafting portion of the river is a 15 mile stretch of class III-V rapids if I recall the what the brochure said correctly. Sounds like a good ride!!A bunch of us thru-hikers are going to split a room for the night in the lodge. We probably won't get much sleep though given that a live band will be playing until 1am tonight. The room borders the main hall where they will be playing and the speakers are aimed right at the rooms too. Sounds like fun though.
Date: 2006-10-03
From: Sabbath Day Pond

To: Bemis Stream Stealth
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: overcast clouds

We broke a new record today as far as getting on the trail. 1:15pm! Sadly, I picked up some poison ivy/saumac/oak(one of those rotten plants), real bad. I think it was from gathering firewood last night. The hike was short and pleasant. The road(ME 17) has a really nice lunch rock with a great view of the valley below and lake in the distance. We decided not to press onto the shelter up the mountain so that we could hitch out if the poison ivy got any worse.
Date: 2006-10-04
From: Bemis Stream Stealth

To: ME17(Backwards)
Miles today: 0.0

The poison ivy got worse, much worse. I don't think I've ever had poison ivy quite like this before. As I type this in I have phantom itchies in remembrance of the horrid experience. I had pussy blisters over a good portion of my elbow(which was the worst area, the epi-itch-center if you will), and numerous similar spots on my forearms, chest, and belly. It was a lot of fun.We decided to hitch out and get it treated. A really nice lady picked us up and dropped us off at the Rumford, ME courthouse. She even let us use her cell phone to call Rainbow Brite's mom to let her know: "Can you come and pick us up from the Courthouse in Rumford?" (The humor is implicit I think.) After what seemed hours, I was very itchy mind you, the doctor prescribed some prednizone and recommended continued use of the antihistomine I was already taking.
Date: 2006-10-05
From: US2; Gorham, NH

To: Rattle River Shelter
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: broken clouds

 Yea for prednizone!!! The poison ivy blisters was markedly improved this morning and we set about preparing to do the wildcats in NH. After laundry, resupply, and much driving we started at US2 and headed into the wildcats.Wow, the 1.9 miles to the shelter is a fantabulous walk. Honestly, I would almost say that the trail is handicap accessible. I think we got to the shelter in 45 mins, including stopping to talk with several people doing a day-hike / walking their dogs.
Date: 2006-10-07
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: few clouds

Yoda: "Afraid are you?"Mt Dew: "Pshhh! no!"Yoda: "You should be. Wildcat E path to the darkside it is. Many jedi to death do they fall."Aside from the nice scar that wildcat mountain so lovingly gave my shin the range wasn't all that bad....I will say that the views of Mt Washington and Madison were very very impressive. Some of the best I saw all this trip. It was also interesting seeing all of the people on top of wildcat D/E; there is a gondola from the resort to the top of the mountain, and it was leaf peeper season. So there was a mob on top clustered in about a .2 mile span. Go .1m on the trail in either direction and there is no one around. haha.
Date: 2006-10-08
From: US2; Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 11.8

Back into ME we go!We meet a young couple Ian & Jessy late in the day, which was nice 'cause we had some people to chat with. The weather has perfect; blue sky, mid-upper 60's, and fairly dry. The hike was soso, really only Mt Hayes was bad. And really not that bad, just 3 miles of non-stop uphill. The patches off white birch on the mountainside were memorable as well.Gentian shelter is has a great view of the valley. The shelter seems to be perched on the edge of steep gorge, affording a magnificant view of the valley from the shelter's opening. The pond is behind the shelter, and it's outlet feeds the waterfall/cascades in the gorge in front of the shelter.