morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-14
From: Clark's Ferry Shelter

To: Peter's Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: light rain

Oh, in case you wondered, we only drank a beer each, leaving the rest as trail magic for the next hikers. Worrisome encounter last night around 7:30 p.m. azs dusk was falling. Heard rifle shots earlier , then up walked a man dressed in cargo pants, fleece jacket, bright gold necklace with several pendants, toting a semi-automatic assault rifle! He said he'd walked up from the road, shooting at rocks with his new gun. He chatted for a minute, then left. Hmmm. We had a restless chilly night listening to rain showers, and hoping there were no other surprise assualt-rifle toting visitors. Woke to very foggy, misty, temp 50 degrees with breeze. I wore my shorts and rain jacket, hoping it wouldn't get any colder. Take It Easy's feet were not quite happy. He had to stop a couple of times to rest his "bad" left foot. Steep 300 stone step descent to get water form the spring pipe. Of course, that meant Take It Easy had to walk back up those steps with the heavy load of water for our next day's hike! Today hiking we saw 2 ruffed grouse. A great blue heron flew over squaking before dark, and crows chatter before turning in.
Date: 2009-04-15
From: Peter's Mountain Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: moderate rain

Fog and rain all night long. COLD! Started STarted hiking at 7:59. Again, I wore shorts and my gaiter, and rain jacket. Take It Easy work his full rain suit. Guess I was optimistic. It's so cold! Temps in low 40's, fingers half frozen, but we trdged on. Ran into a southbound(SOBO) man hiker who couldn't get cellphone connection to get his wife to pick him up from a road a few miles from here-his feet are in pain. We had no connection either. Hope someone at the road comes along to help him out. Trail is flooded. Not just a trail turned into streams, but full flooding, causing us to have to bushwhack through the underbrush to go around huge "pond-like" areas. Got lots of scrapes and thistle tracks on arms and legs from that. It was a long day in the cold, wind, and rain--no views other than dripping forest or rocky paths leading uphill. Quick cleanup and dinner, then jumped into our sleeping bags for warmth and rest. Tomorrow should be a brighter day.
Date: 2009-04-16
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: William Penn Shelter
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: clear sky

COLD, but dry night. Shelter ahs small fire ring under the eaves, as well as a larger fire ring with a metal sheet between it and the stone retaining wall behind it. Water pipe feeds into gutter pipe immediately in front of the shelter--how convenient! Woke to sunny skies, cold at first, burt warmed to 65 egrees quickly. Ran into 2 hikers camping next to a raging stream that they said was even higher yesterday from all of the haevt rains. The designated stream crossing area was way too deep and torrential. We took off our socks and shoes, donned our fake Crocs, and looked for a better crossing spot. Take It Easy chose to boulder hop across a 50 foot section. I found a sandy bottomed area with knee deep water with only about 24 feet to cross. After crossing, we hiked up to the road above, walked to find where to pick up the AT, sat, dried and put our socks and shoes back on. Our adventure continues .Within a little while we went under Interstate 81(poorly marked after that) and crossed a bridge at Swarta Gap where there was signage telling us about the old lock system there. We walked past the old guardhouse. Big hike uphill over stony path from there. 7:30 sun set behind the ridge behgind us. Time to snuggle down. Temps tonight supposed to be in low 30's in town--lower than that here according to Take It Easy's weather radio. Today we say 2 turkeys trotting up the path in front of us. Saw woodpeckers, heard them calling, but not drilling. Last yr we used to hear their drilling every morning.
Date: 2009-04-17
From: William Penn Shelter

To: Hertlein Campsite
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

Turned out it was chilly, but not too cold last night, so we slept fairly well. Looking out over the farmland valley at night, lights from all of the unseen homes and topwns reminded me of the view of McGayheysville from our family home at Massanutten, VA. Heard great horned owl call twice. Toady dawned and stayed sunny, very little breeze. Pleasnat walk for 1st two hrs then became boulder walking--hate those wobbly stones! Walked on crest if some mtn; always had farm valley views. One Person's rectangular property was completely bordered by evergreen trees. Guess he doesn't want to see out. Today's optimistic plan was to hike about 20 miles total to get to Eagles Nest Shelter, leaving us with an 8+ mile hike towmoorw into Port Clinton for overnight stay. But temps warmed, Take It Easy's feet are aggravating him, the path got really stony and slow for a long time(cutting our speed down from our usual 2 mpj). So when we got to this huge gorgeous campsite next to a forked stream a little after 1p.m., we decided to stay here. Who knows whether the 9. something miles ahead to EAgles Nest are easy, done in 5 hrs or less, or more difficult. We definitely don't want to be hiking of difficult terrain at dusk. 2 woman with a guy and a white poodle and a mixed breed dog arrived and are camping near a pond at the lower part of the stream. Around 5 p.m. 2 guys with a beautiful, chestnut Rhodesian Backstripe(looks like a thick Doberman with a permanent ridge of hackles down his spine) arrived to camp across the stream from us. They were friendly and offered to share their beer. Hey, more trail magic!
Date: 2009-04-18
From: Hertlein Campsite

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

Temp last night at 34 degrees. Not too cold by our recently adjusted standards :-). Ran into SOBO hiker, Footnote, who told us about the book he just published. He's a former Blue Ridge Parkway ranger who wrote about his park and hiking experiences. Pleasant day. Zillion of bees and flies at this shelter. Oh, forgot to mention that something stung me on the back of my calf and thigh(same insect) causing immediate welts and severe itching. At least it wasn't a yellow jacket! Local fellow named Harvey just arrived to camp here. He made a nice fire we can watch from the shelter we have all to ourselves. Another man with his dog is also tenting near the shelter. Heard a coyote howling a coule of times around 9 p.m.
Date: 2009-04-19
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton/Hamburg PA Microtel
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Overcast, warmest night we've had yet. Never even shivered during the night--bliss! Cloudy skies, temps in the low 50's. Hike was fine, but STEEP descent down to Port Clinton. Leaves, even dry are super slippery. It was a workout to resist gravity for both of us. Went to Port Clinton Hotel for burgers and fries(yummy!), and hoped to find suitable room there for overnight, but room didn't meet our standards, especially when we could hike 2 miles down the road to the Microtel for just $10 or so more. Port Clinton Hotel room had no tv, and a shared bathromm down the hallway. So glad we hiked--Microtel has laundry facilities in the building, a pub/restaurant attached, and free continental breakfast, and full channel tv in room--yippee!Cleaned up, freshly washed clothes, called to chat with my mother and dad(all's well at home), and with full tummies, we'll sleep well.
Date: 2009-04-20
From: Port Clinton/Hamburg PA Microtel

To: Microtel, Hamburg/Port Clinton area
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Since weatherman on local tv said the rains that saet in last night were to continue hard, accompanied by strong winds and dropping temps, we opted to take a zero(no miles hiked) day. We were smart. This morning after eating Cheerios(me) and bagels(Take It Easy), we dashed across the street to the huge(250,000 swuare feet) Cabela's Outdoor supply store. It was sleeting! Purchased a replacement Camelback 2 liter water bag with tube& mouthpiece for me since Platypus bag developed severe leak. Take It Easy contacted Erin (whom we met a couple of days ago on the trail when she was out dayhiking with her husband & they'd given us their phone#'s offering us a ride to anywhere we needed to go in the P.c./Hamburg area). Our new Trail Angel Erin picked us up and took us to the grocery store several miles away for our resupply. Thank you, Erin! It was so nice to not have to hike miles thru an unfamiliar town searching for the gracery store in the blustery rain! Erin is delightful. Hopefully, she and her husband, Ron, will one day be able to do the big miles on the AT that they long for. Returned to our room. Moseyed down the elevator to the Pub for dinner(too rainy and cold to hike elsewhere to experiment with another restaurant--this place is just great!). Ordered an appetizer, followed by a bowl of chili for each of us. The friendly chef surprised us by sending out 2 more appetizers for us--what a treat! Then, amazingly, he sent us out a chef's salad, with chicken slices that he'd marinated in some Dijon mustard & coated with Parmesean cheese before cooking---delicious! Of course, we managed to eat every morsel. We told Chef that we'd be waddling up the mountain tomorrow!
Date: 2009-04-21
From: Microtel, Hamburg/Port Clinton area

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I ate Cheerios again for breakfast, Take IT Easy had bagels with grape jelly. Skies partly cloudy before setting out. So glad it's not raining any more. Plan: check out of Microtel at noon, I fetch a sub from Subway up the street, bring it back & we eat in front of the tv in the cushy lobby living area, get picked up by Trail Angel Erin at 1 p.m. to be taken back to the trailhead a couple of miles away. Plan A was completely successful! Thanks again, Erin! We appreciate your generosity and throughly enjoyed meeting you and Ron.Under partly sunny skies, light winds, we had a pretty hike. Spooked a turky into taking silent flight--gorgeous feathers! This shelter is neear a stream and several small ponds loaded with chirping frogs. Around 6:30 Hot Pants and Lobsta Legs(girl and guy AT section-hiking partners) came in. Shared shelter with them. They were lively and informative about trail towns ahead of us.
Date: 2009-04-22
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Up at 6:30, departed by 7:30, chilly but partly sunny. Last night we had thunderstorm, complete with lightning and rain. Heard grouse drumming. Take It Easy's feet doing ok; needs to take a break just a couple of times a day to give them a rest. It's amazing how after a 2 minute rest, they're like new! Saw several pileated woodpeckers flying, one squirrel that looked just like our Virginia squirrels(not skinny like some forest squirrels). Fantastic views from Dan's Pulpit overlook, and The Pulpit. Sleeted twice during the day which stayed chilly and windy.
Date: 2009-04-23
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Bake Oven Know Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was coldest ever--I used 2 pocket warmers in my sleeping bag to reduce the shivering. The stars I saw during the night made the cold slightly more tolerable. Guess the humidity is up, making the cold permeate deeper. Very pleasant, smooth trail by PA standards(PA is composed of rocks, stones and boulders, held together by slippery leaves or gritty dirt). Winds today really fast: 15-25 mph. Sun would briefly warm things for a couple of minutes, then huge banks of dark clouds would cover the sky. So it was one of those wool hats on, wool hats off days. Take It Easy wore his extra socks as gloves. Forgot to mention before that on last Wednesday when it was cold, rainy and windy for our big mile hike that both of his little fingers suffered some nerve damage from getting almost frostbittne. Of course, today when we had to conquer Knife's Edge, the "gloves" came off! Knife's Edge was just as you may imagine: steep, jagged sheets of rocks interspersed with boulders lining a crest with dramatic vertigo-inducing views from both sides. Kinda like tiptoe-ing along the spine of a Stegasaurus. Each time the wind gusted, I could feel it pushing me and my windsail backpack over the brink. At last, we made it across the crest. Thinking the hard work for the day was over, we cruised along. But just a few miles later, we were face with a miniature version of Knife's Edge! What...this wasn't mentioned in our AT Companion trailguide! Deep breath, rely on balancing skills, poles useless cause footing too narrow & poles would wedge stuck or plunge into the darkness between the large cracks between boulders & slabs. Made it across that, too! Big plus from that feat was that Take It Easy found an abandoned, dry slumber party-style sleeping bag(must mean it just got left today)at the base of the boulder field. Hey, that'll make a great blanket to cover us when we're tucked into our sleeping bags tonight...alright!! Take It Easy slung it over his shoulder and carted it the 1/2-1 mile to this shelter.Right after we arrived, we were joined by Photo Op, an AT section hiker, with just a few hundred miles left of the AT to do. Photo Op is a great racounter, a retired structural engineer, who became a college professor in more recent years. Great guy. Shared trail knowledge(he's done everything north of us so could tell us about food & hotels ahead) and interesting life stories. He's done a lot of long distance bicycle trips(each more than 200 miles long), and entertained us well.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Bake Oven Know Shelter

To: Slatington,PA
Miles today: 7.4

Most comfy night yet. Stayed warm cause of the sleeping bag T>I>E> found on the rock hill south of here and carried over his shoulder to the shelter. Photo Op, a retired structural engineer turned college professor is here at the shelter,too. He has lots of interesting stories of hiking and his long distance bike riding. Today heard turkey chattering, woodpecker hammering,, met man with dog who looked like my son, Keith, and a few other hikers. Got picked up at the road by Ira Fine, taken to his rooming house. Ate good food from The Shack for lunch, and Mama's Pizza for dinner.
Date: 2009-04-25
From: Slatington,PA

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: broken clouds

Delivered to trailhead by Ron, Ira Fine's friend at 8 a.m.. Sunny, temp around 50 degrees. Terrifying climb up boulders and slabs on a STEEP, life-threatening peak. Poles were out of the question. At one point I had to boost myself up onto a ledge by hoisting my belly up. Then Take It Easy gave my bottom a push, so I could crawl til I got my legs over the rocky ledge. Cause of the steepness, whenever I was crouched over pulling myself up by using my hands on any boulder corner I could bet a handhold on, my pack, heavy with 2 liters of water for the 87 degree day ahead, would ride up high onto my upper shoulders and neck area, choking me while I clung onto the peak!Yikes!! Once we both managed to get over the peak and had dirt, not rock, under our boots, we both agreed that was the scariest, possible crippling injury-vulnerable area we'd ever experienced---and never wanted to do such a thing again. Later reading in our info about the AT, the text gives the climb a mention as being the most challenging terrain on the AT south of New Hampshire. Gee, if they'd had that in all caps bold letters, maybe we'd have spared ourselves that torturous anxiety. At least, in retrospect, neither of us was paralyzed with fear. It was more of a complete awareness that a slip could cost us our life or mobility. After that the hike was pleasant. Walked along the Palmerton EPA Superfund area where a century of zinc smelting killed virtually all living things, animal and plant life on the mountain. The EPA shut the plant down, and in 1982 used Ecoloam( municipal waste sludge, flyash and lime fertilizer and seeds and spread it on the slopes. Now some grasses and small saplings are growing sparsely in some areas, but it still looks like a toxic devastated area. Amazing, given the decades that it's had to recover. Toxins are powerful. Along the toxiczone, we saw a porcupine! Ran into a church group of dads and sons who were leaving the forest. They gave us their water so we wouldn't have to water up before reaching our shelter--how nice! They were a great group. Alex, Alex Jr. and the rest of the group were friendly and super folks.
Date: 2009-04-26
From: Leroy Amith Shelter

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: broken clouds

Up and hiking at 7:30 to beat the heat. Views of farmland in the valleys, danced on and around rocks on a HOT, cloudless, 96 degree day(confirmed by locals dayhiking). Trees still have buds that haven't unfurled their leaves. No shade. This shelter is just a 100 yds or so fro a religious retreat which has a water spout at the parking lot they offer to hikers. It was so nice to not to have to hike down some steep slope and back up to get water. Instead we just had to follow the short trail level with this shelter to refill.
Date: 2009-04-27
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Sunny pretty day. Hiked thru sweet smelling evergreen forests with lots of birdsong to cheer us on. Entered town(trail crosses smack thru town) and are now at the Presbyterian Hostel. Dumped our packs, resupplied at the 2 gas station food stores, moseyed back to the hostel for showers before lunch. Ahhh...it is so nice to be clean again after hot hiking days! Ate whopper subs at Doughboys Pizza, where we learned via tv there about the swine flu outbreak. Then we waddled across the st to the Bakery, got apple pie slice covered with van icecream and caramel sauce and feasted on that at the stream-side gazebo sitting in fabric easy chairs in the gazebo---heavenly!!! Take It EAsy snuck in a quick nap while I journaled next to the babbling stream. Back to the hostel, sat ooutside, met Pastor Karen who sat and chatted for a good while. Followed by sashaying over to the Delaware WAter Gap Diner where Take It Easy ordered liver and onions which came with a salad, me: lasagna. They delivered huge portions!! If this keeps up ya'll won't recognize us when we return home. We'll be fat! Hung out at "our" gazebo til sundown watching neighborhood children wade in the stream, families doing their outdoor projects. Full tummies, comfy...blissful! Returned to hostel and met our Brian, a southbounder who just got on the trail a couple of wks ago. Nice guy--and he didn't snore!! What a nice stay in DWG.
Date: 2009-04-28
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Rolling ups and downs. Sunfish Pond glorious. Girl from Maine took our pic there. Eventually we'll hit a computer where we can upload our pics. Still haven't seen any bear scat, just coyote/wolf.Tenting at a tentsite that's infested with ticks! Every time we step out of the tent, we pick off several--and we're sticking to the paths, not going into the bush! Consequently we spent much time sitting in the main lodge which is a big wood paneled room with a radio tuned to NPR. A few other hikers are here, too to chat with. Pleasant day.
Date: 2009-04-29
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Brink Road Shelter, NJ
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

Rained some last night. Chilly. Around 9 p.m. we heard a cat-like meow near our tent. What kind of "cat" could that be? At lunch we took pics of a porcupine that was sitting on a a branch. Met Revolution and Night Train who are spending nt here at the shelter with us. Both are hiking 25 miles or so daily, planning on doing the trail in 4 months(not hiking together). NtTrain is doing one month/500miles a yr, Revolution is thru hiking it all this yr, should be done in early June! Wow, those guys are flying!
Date: 2009-04-30
From: Brink Road Shelter, NJ

To: Rutherford Shelter,NJ
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Rowdy barred owls kept us all up at times during the nt. Hike day was ups and dowsn. Saw a bear today! Just when I said something stinks here(don't know why my bear radar didn't go off) out dashed a bear and it scooted up the trail. Simultaneously, another bear tore thru the brush to my right, heading away! Neat sight! Next thrill was the pavilion at Sunrise Mountain that has a 360 degree view of the countryside. NJ is spectacular!
Date: 2009-05-01
From: Rutherford Shelter,NJ

To: Unionville, NY 
Miles today: 11.4

Now at home of the Mayor, Dick Ludwig. He's hosting us and a daughter/father who are hiking. Served us appetizers, huge London broil, vegs, chocolate cake dinner. Gotta go now. We're having a great time here. I'll write more about this day next computer chance I get. We're staying here tonight inside, safe, clean(he let us do our wash!!). He and his friends, Bill and Butch, are working on getting us to stay another day. They're offering to slack pack us up the trail(they deliver us to a nothern trail head and we hike back to here in time for dinner tomorrow). If we do it, it means we only need to carry water and rain gear in pur packs, instead of our 28 lbs of gear---faster travel, easier on body. We'll see what the future holds. Great people here. Having a fabulous time!
Date: 2009-05-02
From: Unionville, NY 

To: Wawayanda Shelter, NJ
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Day started off wonderfully: Bill fixed and served up breakfast omelets, toast, sausage & fried potatoes for Dabney, Ed, Take It Easy and me. Mmmmm mmmm good! Dick, Bill and Butch sure treated us like royalty. Today's hike the trail pops back out of NY and back into NJ. We walked around the perimeter of a huge, wildlife refuge wetland , later we hoofed it on a wooden dock-like path virtually mile-long built over a sunlit marsh. That led to a bridge where families and individuals were standing around observing red winged blackbirds. From there we went up the mountain. Ups were steep, but well-laid out so foot placement wasn't something we had to figure out, which meant all we had to do is supply the muscle umph to hoist ourselves to the next foothold up higher. Temps became pleasant for hiking(on the cool side in low 60's). We also hiked thru fields. By noon, the fun was done; time to shuffle up a mountain with steep incline. Shuffle, shuffle, amazed when two under 35 yr olds bounded past us. How do/can they bounce up this mountain?!!Later at the shelter we got to meet them: Jackson and Dennis. Really nice guys who are out for a few days. In the shelter it's just us and Dennis and Jackson. The area around the shelter is full of Boy Scouts and their dads tenting. From our shelter perches we all had a nice and amusing time talking to the dads and kids, and listening to the boys talk about their hike day. It's so much fun to "see" hiking thru the eyes of youth! Some were grumpy and complaining about various aspects of hiking and camping, but all were having a grand time overall. As one boy said, "It's not much fun lots of the time, but when I get to school, I have stuff to talk about that no one else does. Plus I have a real sense of acccomplishment." How true.Neat thing about this shelter even though there's no natural water supply(stream or spring) there is there's a ranger station about a quarter mile away on a forest path where everyone can water up(fill water bags) from the outside spigot, plus it has a restroom with a sink with running water! So nice to not to have to filter. Having a toilet and sink available is good, too. They could've left the mirror off the wall, though--I still haven't gotten used to seeing myself looking kinda gaunt and make-up less---I'm surprised my appearance doesn't scare the Scouts! Everyone, Scouts and the four of us in the shelter, settled down a little bit after nine. The night is chilling down. Damp air is making it seem even cooler than it is. Time to coccoon in our sleeping bags.