morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-02
From: Curley Maple Gap shelter

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

When I woke up everyone was gone except Java and Dimples. Java made hot cocoa for me and Dimples which was quite a surprise to wake up to. Heald had come in at 7:30. When Dimples and I were finally ready to leave it was 11:30. Heald was gonna sit there and wait for Hot Poles and Space Monkey. Although we only did 12 miles it felt like a hell of a day. The climb up Beauty Spot was pretty tiring. The hot sun was out and I was sweating bullets. We leanred not to start late on hot days, a valuable lesson for later in the journey! Java, Dimples and I spent two hours on top of Beauty Spot. Boy, did it live up to its name! We dried our stuff out and ate Hummus and read. Grunt, Red and Subman came up and sat awhile. Grunt had his shirt off and really got burned. On Beauty Spot was a bag of Trail Magic but it was addressed to Squirts and Redstreak. They are from the area and apparently one of their friendds drove the stuff up. We all had a peek in the bag and noticed cookies and Gatorade. We all considered taking the stuff, but knew better.The climb up Unaka Mountain was tough but beautiful. A lot of snow was still lup there. It was weird to be soaking from sweat and walking through snow. This Southern mountain weather is so weird. The top of the mountain was full of stands of pine trees and reminded me of New England. The forest ws so dark in the middle of a sunny nice day. We reached the shelter at 5:30. Grunt, Red and Chris the section hiker were already there. Dimples is tenting nearby. Squirts and Readstreak just pulled in. They often hike close to dark. They had cookies for all. Such a nice treat before bed. Tomorrow onto Roan High Knob.
Date: 2013-07-09
From: Little Gap

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 15.4

It was a great morning to be walking and we were refreshed and rested after time with our daughter and husband in Philadelphia. We ate and drank well, watched the Tour de France with expert commentary, went to prison (just a tour, I promise, of the Eastern State Pennitentiary, the first modern prison in Pennsylvania), went to the movies and wandered the little shops. Awesome company! After returning to the Filbert B&B we did the necessary organizing and drove to Bethlehem to the Sands Casino. DirtDog had fun feeding the machines and I reclined with my e-reader and a glass of wine. Today Kathy had us at the trailhead by 7:15 so we could get a jump on the predicted heat. It stayed comfortable, temperature-wise, but the humidity was so high that we couldn't really tell if it was raining or not (it was!) Early on, a mouse ran from DirtDog in panic, evidently having heard of his mouse-stomping proclivity and many chipmunks scolded us on our passage. The climb up from the gap was over the usual rock pile, but trail workers had muscled flat stepping stones into place for us to tread on, thank you very much! The forest was carpeted with a short plant growing so densely as to give the impression that we were surrounded by a smooth, grassy surface, but the trail showed the true nature of the ridge with lots of ankle-twisting rocks. It's just hard to move quickly on such a surface, but we pressed on. Shortly before the shelter DirtDog stepped over a log lying across the trail and I followed closely behind. Unfortunately, we had disturbed a nest of bees or wasps and they quickly decided I was the culprit. I heard their commotion just as I felt the first sting on my leg and went careening past DirtDog yelling and swatting. The bees/wasps didn't swarm after us, but my socks were covered with a half dozen or so, furiously trying to sting me through the socks. Only one succeeded in giving me a full dose of his medicine while I smacked the others. It sure reinforced my dad's teaching that they are wired to attack anything that resembles a furry animal; the attack was focused on my nice new fluffy brown wool socks. I ooched and owwed for a while, but the firey venom dissipated before too long. By now the sun was shining and the day was warmer, so we had to be extra vigilant for snakes sunning on the rocks. Only the tail of a black snake was sighted and we soon passed the Hahns Lookout, signaling the final descent. Gratefully, we walked without much effort down the switchbacked trail to the road and headed into Wind Gap to wait for Kathy at The Beer Stein. We had a moment of disappointment on seeing the closed sign in place in front of the tavern, but I pushed the outer door open to find their hours of operation and discovered that they were really open. Kathy soon joined us for an appetizer and a cold beverage. Showers and naps were an awesome way to celebrate.
Date: 2003-04-03
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan high Knob shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 7:15 and most of the crew was ready to hit the Trail as always. Dimples came out of her tent at 8:00 as Grunt and I were geting ready to leave. She said she slept poorly and had stomach problems. I didn't think much of it since she's such a trooper but apparently she was pretty sick. We lunched at Clyde Smith shelter and took a nice long break. It was about 70 degrees and we were all having problems dealing with the heat. It was a tought 8.6 miles with lots of ups and downs. The shelter was a ways off the Trail and the water was a trek. All downhill. I've been going through four liters of water a day. I started the trip drinking 2 liters a day. The past few days have been tough for all of us, despite lower miles. The terrain has been tougher, we are all dealing with the heat, and we are all not eating enough. We had a nasty climb outta the shelter then back down. Grunt and I took a short break at Hughes Gap before the 4 mile assault of Roan Mountain. The climb was up, up, up. 1800 feet straight up. There was snow on top and the mountain was filled with pine, rocks, and root. Really reminded me of New England. I know I say that a lot but what can I say? I love the northern woods. We took a break at the summit which was grass filled. 100 years ago there was an Inn called the Cloudland Hotel on the top of Roan Mountain. You could still see the remains of the debris in the ground.We trudged another half mile. I was leading the pack and completely missed the shelter sign. Grunt missed it too. Thankfully Subman caught it and called us back up the Trail.The shelter is the hightest on the Trail at 6280 feet. We won't be this high until Mount Washington. Redstreak and Squirts pulled in here at 7 and told us that Dimples decided to stay back at the last shelter. I wasn't aware of how sick she was feeling. I left her a message in the register but I guess she was really feeling lousy. The guys said she was going 13 miles tomorrow which would only be 7 for me. As the saying goes, I gotta hike my own hike. I was planning on doing at least 15 tomorrow and more the next couple of days. I am tempted to slow down and wait for her. It's tough. I know she will run into Space Monkey, Hot Poles, and Heald, eventually, if they are not all together tonight. We have a great fire going and it should be a cozy night. We are all sleeping in the upper deck of the shelter. Today was a tough day.
Date: 2013-07-10
From: Wind Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We climbed out of Wind Gap on a fairly easy ascent. Not far from the road we saw the camp of someone who wasn't a hiker; we had been talking yesterday about the number of homeless people who make the Trail their home. It's disturbing to think what they must do in the winter. Our way was slow because there were just so many rocks. Green Blaze stopped to chat while we were resting after a particularly tiring section, a very nice young man. We were looking forward to lunch in the shelter because the skies had been threatening all morning and moving with great focus, so DirtDog almost ran into me when I stopped for a turtle heading south on the trail. It was the prettiest turtle I think I have ever seen, with a bright golden shell that looked like it had been varnished. Just after that we got soaked in a quick shower, but the cooldown was actually appreciated. We lunched with Green Blaze and the owner of Moose The Dog. He was a young pit bull doing the trail and absolutely adored his owner and entertained with cute doggie faces. We were a bit apprehensive on the walk to Moount Minsi because the trail was not marked. Walking along an old road bed is scary because it's so easy to become lulled into an easy stride and miss the turnoff back into the woods. Well, we needn't have worried because the road took us directly to some old stone foundations before dropping down to town. We later learned that Deleware Water Gap used to be a huge resort area with two 500 bed hotels up here, serviced by a railroad. We met a father and son on a day hike to celebrate the son's entry into the Marine Corps on Monday and took photos for them. A long descent dropped us at Zoes Ice Cream shop where we celebrated with rootbeer floats. What a hot day it had become! Walking toward our motel we made stops at Edge of the Woods Outfitters to arrange a slack for tomorrow and picked up goodies for breakfast at the pie place. Dinner at Sycamore Grill was exceptional, especially their signature spinach salad with amazing maple poppyseed dressing!
Date: 2003-04-04
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Overmountain shelter
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: overcast clouds

We had a hard time getting up this morning. It was cloudy, cold, windy and everyone was tired. Squirts had gotten sick and had been vomitting all night. The bug has been passed around with lots of hikers and I feel like I may be getting something.We climbed Round Bald and Jane Bald which were both gorgeous. Although this shelter is 0.3 off the Trail we all planned to stop for a long lunch break because we heard it was nice. It's an old converted double decker barn. It's in a very pretty field with great views of the Hump Mountains. I decided instantly to stay the night. I wanted to wait for Dimples and it was too nice to pass up. Everyone else decided to stay too without too much arm-twisting. I was able to sit on the grass and finish my book. It felt good to have a lazy day especially since I've been feeling so poor lately. Dimples came in this afternoon and CrumbSnatcher, Chaos, Heald, Space Monkey and Hot Poles also arrived. We have a large group tonight but the crew is back together! Dimples and I have bounced around between two groups of hikers and it's a rare treat to have almost everyone in one spot. Usually the faster of the two is up the Trail a shelter or so. It just started to pour but we're nice and cozy on the second floor of the loft.
Date: 2013-07-11
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Millbrook-Blairstown Road
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Rachel, from Edge of the Woods, picked us up and detailed some of the history of the area on our ride up to Millstone-Blairstown Road for our slack back to town. In the 60s the government took all the land around the gap to build a dam. Thousands were evicted by eminent domain and then the geologists decided the underlying rock wasn't stable enough to support a dam, so the government was left with a lot of land it couldn't use, hence the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The lands are beautiful forests regenerated from a time when all of the area was used for farming. Wildlife abounds (we saw a young bear running along the road) and the blueberries are everywhere. I think some of the most beautiful trail is along this stretch with open grassy woods and ridge walks with views of the valley. It was a day where we saw many hikers, long distance and day walkers. Quite a few were camped not far from the road where there were several well-used sites and good water. The climb to Mt. Kittatinny was slow because Dirtdog's achilles was sore after yesterday's rocks, but we walked on and soon found ourselves at Sunfish Pond, the southernmost glacial lake on the AT. We lunched in a small grassy clearing there and met Turtle, a nice woman in my age group and the girl from Cedar Rapids we had met down near Caledonia; she is flying. I had forgotten how eroded the descent back to the Water Gap was, but celebrated when we reached the area that runs along a creek backed up against the towering mountainside, just a lovely walk. We tolerated the bridge walk with loud, fast-moving traffic just across the barrier and returned to the comparative quiet of the small town. We had cherry soda floats at the pie place and dinner again at the Grill. What a good chef! We laughed because one shower didn't completely remove the hiking stink so we each had a second shower! That's pretty bad! Full packs tomorrow, Drats!
Date: 2003-04-05
From: Overmountain shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

Last night was deja vu. Instad of Squirts hurling all night, it was Chaos who came down with the bug. We were all awoken at 4 a.m. while Dimples helped her. The next time I awoke was around 6 a.m. to hear raining showering down and people starting to stir. I stayed nice and cozy in my bag. Java had a deadline to meet his folks, so he took off in the pouring rain, as did Subman, Red, and Grunt. Most of us were too lazy and comfortable to move. I felt lousy and did not want to move. Heald, Hot Poles, Space Monkey, Dimples and I all layed around most of the morning while Chaos rested and/or puked. Finallyk, at 11:45 Dimples and I started hiking.By this time, the sun was out and the day was beautiful. We climbed Little Hump and then Big Hump. The climbs were long but actually pretty fun. It always helps when the scenery is pretty. This is the last time we will be at this elevation for a while. We had 360 degree views while climbing. Absolutely spectactular. We were able to see what we had climbed and what was in front. These balds havebeen one of my favorite parts of the Trail.WE had a long 5 mile descent and finally lost that elevation we had been gaining for so long. We got to Apple House shelter at 2:45 and chatted up Crumb Snatcher. WE hiked down to 19E which is where town is but decided to skip it. Originally, I was going in but all our friends were alrady in and out and we didn't want to waste more time. We started the climb up and I was disappointed to see the large amount of trash that locals have dumped along the Trail. This section is notorious for having people mistreat the Trail. There were signs everywhere for having people mistreat the Trail. There were signs everywhere warning hikers not to park cars at the road. Despite all this, the scenery was beautiful. We climbed through cow pastures and open fields. The scenery looked totally different from anything we had hiked through so far. We took a side trail 0.1 to see this beautiful waterfall. We tried to use Dimples camera to take a picture of both of us with the time but it wasn't working. We finally decided to stop and are camped out at a tentsite right next to the Trail. It's right on the Elk River and part of the 3 mile re-location of the TRail. Three new miles have been added to the Trail this year, s0 we'll walk farther than all other alumni thru hikers. Pretty cool. Tomorrow we are gonna try 17 miles and shoot for Kincora Hostel, which should be great. Tonight's Daylight Savings, so we have already set our watches. Good night!
Date: 2013-07-12
From: Millbrook-Blairstown Road

To: Culvers Gap
Miles today: 14.6

We were ready to go when Rachel arrived to take us back to where we left off yesterday. On the ride we saw another bear and one doe and 3 bambis. We hit a fair amount of rock, including a climb up a rock wall. That was aggravating because we had to cross a grassy road to go up the rocks and we dropped right back down to that same road. Hmmm... The good thing about ridge walks is that the openness gives all the blueberries a chance to ripen just in time for our passing. We met Sock Puppet and Radar and walked and chatted with them for a while. On Rattlesnake Mountain we met a group of people hunting rattlesnakes. So far they had just found a piece of snakeskin that was impressively wide, especially considering the snake that left it behind is now even bigger! Speaking of snakes, DirtDog will deny it, but when he almost stepped on a black snake I heard him scream like a girl and watched him reverse at high speed. The poor frightened critter had disappeared into the brush by the time I arrived. The descent was interesting because we had good views of Culver Lake, surrounded by summer cottages and docks. We got a ride from the road to the Forest Motel for a fee by a woman who works there. The place is a real dump, but we were gratefully inside when the rains started and a good italian restaurant was just down the street. No laundry today, the motel wanted $20.00 to do a small load; we are really spoiled but not ready to get ripped off that badly!
Date: 2003-04-07
From: Dennis Cove Road

To: Watauga Lake Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Java's mom made us a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese and fruit. Also fresh coffee and OJ. Dimples and I headed back to Kincorra to hang out a bit. I picked up my mail drop and we filled up our fuel bottles. We had a lazy morning and didn't get moving until 12:30. The skies threatened all day but it never rained. Rain is in the forecast for the next five days. Glad I didn't send my winter gear home!Today was fairly easy walking but I am still feeling under the weather. I wish this thing would pass already. I just didn't have a very good day. I am not sure why but I am just in kinda a funk. I am still very much enjoying being out here - it's just that it is sinking in that I have 4 more months of this. I am not complaining but I can see how it becomes a mental struggle. Looking forward to Damascus in hopefully 2 more days.
Date: 2013-07-14
From: NJ 23

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: light rain

We took a taxi back to the trail and it was so clear that we could see the New Jersey High Point Monument off in the distance. The rocks were especially slippery so we moved more slowly than normal and bypassed the side trail to the monument. It was impressive even from where we could see it. Shortly before the shelter DirtDog had a fall. I turned in time to see him do a double head-over-heels down some steep rocks. He didn't move for a minute and I was expecting the worst but, thank God, he wasn't badly injured, just a small laceration on the arm and a twist of his left knee and ankle. He hardly had any mud on him at all. It was a blessing that these rocks are smooth and rounded rather than sharp and pointy like the Pennsylvania rocks. He was soon ready to continue and it wasn't long before the rocks became just intermittant obstacles along the trail. We were able to note that the efts, juvenile salamanders, were still on the prowl, saw a deer and got a good bunny photo. The day heated up dramatically while the humidity continued and we moved onto well-maintained trail through forests and bogs (lots of boardwalks and bridges). We met a southbound section hiker in flipflops because his feet were really torn up; while chatting he just sat down on the trail because he was doing 30 mile days and had walked to 11:30 the night before. We found a patch of perfectly ripe blackberries right there and munched while we conversed. By the time we arrived at Wits End Tavern in Unionville we were so hot and tired. Dave, the very friendly owner, wasn't open yet, but let us cool down in his airconditioning until noon. We feasted on the very best hamburgers on the trail and downed many cold glasses of water and soda. Refreshed, we walked down the road to the convenience store where we purchased more gatorade and ate ice cream. The temps were probably in the 90s so we walked very slowly for the rest of the day, not wanting to get over-heated again. I had to laugh when we did the walk around the Wallkill Sanctuary because we had put on our hats to deflect the heat in the open area; DirtDog used his to deflect some bird poop that would have decorated his head otherwise. Timing is everything! We saw hundreds of grasshoppers, some Canadian geese and were chased by some horrendously blood-thirsty mosquitos along the blazing hot path. The water source for the shelter is an abandoned house at the bottom of the mountain (there is a blue-blazed trail to it) with a water spigot on the shaded side of the house. We sat for a long time, cameling up, soaking our heads, washing off the day's grime and just relaxing before tackling the climb up to the shelter. Monster Cheese, a German hiker came in a bit later and we had a plesant though warm evening sharing stories. I liked having a bear box for food storage. Thank you, AT workers!
Date: 2003-04-08
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Double Springs Gap Shelter
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was our longest day yet and first official over 20 mile day. The terrain was so gentle that this section of the Trail has been dubbed the "Tennessee Turnpike" by some. I started out feeling kinda poor this morning but felt better as the day went on. Had to pack up a wet tent this morning - It drizzled a little plus the usual condensation. I slept very well in my tent and I think I am becoming more comfortable in it. It was very downcast and cloudy for most of the day. We stopped at the Iron Mountain Shelter for a break and it started to pour. It seemed logical to stay - we were fairly dry, had room in the shelter, and had already hiked 14 miles - a full day's work! I guess teh thought of doing 21+ excited us and both Dimples and I were feeling real good. We walked the last 7.6 miles in the rain.The rain jacket is pretty worthless. Luckily it was cheap and light. It gets soaked on the inside from sweat and soaked on the outside from rain. sometimes I just prefer to hike in my t-shirt. It's usually wet from perspiration anyway.About 4 miles before the shelter we disdcovred a lone bottle of coca cola sitting in the middle of the Trail. It was a bit odd since it was the only one and in a strange place, but we decided to save it until camp. Phillip and Linden both enjoyed a bottle earlier. Squirts and Redstreak arrived after us so we split the bottle 4 ways. What a treat after a long day. It's been raining since we got here and the temperature is dropping. There is talk of 20 degree temperatures and snow - hope we don't wake up to a winter wonderland surprise. Eighteen miles down to Damascus tomorrow. I can taste the pizza already! Virginia, here I come.