morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-09
From: Antons on the Lake

To: Greenwood Lake
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

My first real time blog....sort of.   I picked a great day to zero! It started raining late last night and is supposed to off and on rain all day. I'm in my hotel room going over gear, watching Good Morning America, and drinking coffee. With a fully charged and readily chargeable phone, figured I'd just live blog so here goes.   Starting late:3:25 - stirred in this really comfortable bed. Only 3:25. Back to sleep5:50 - it's light. Don't think I should get up yet. Fell asleep at 7:30 ish last night. Had a huge stomach ache after all that food and ice cream and beer. 6:20 - time to really get up. Coffee. Mini sized coffee maker but very nice china with saucer for coffee. Fancy. 7:00 - going through my route to NYC. My options are hike short days of about 15 to the train station Sunday or do 20 mile days all the way to Kent, Connecticut then get shuttled back to the Pawling station to ride in. Considering how frustrating it's been hiking these shorter days I think I'll opt for Kent. Would be nice to get extra mileage in and into a whole new state! 8:02 - watching Good Morning America. Can not believe how much the "news" is entertainment oriented these days. Think I'll walk over to the coffee shop. Noticed they had a rainbow triangle sticker with a "safe place" logo. How nice to see in small town USA. 8:14 - checking on the remaining balance on a gift card before I head to resupply. 8:22 - just figured out that I'm not too far off the $2/mile estimate for hiking. That is from several years ago so I only assume I should expect more. Have spent $2.41/mile so far. Only about $400 more. Seems reasonable. Off to resupply and get coffee 8:53 - at The Buzz coffee shop. Granola and yogurt. Nice not to have pop tarts and honeybuns. 9:30 - headed over to the store for resupply but closed. Annoying. On the way back saw Gandalf. We'll have lunch later. 10:07 - just took my laundry to be done and chatted up the co-owner who's Australian. Very nice. And nice to get this laundry clean! My socks and shirt are brutally stinky. 10:30 - just talked to USAA for twenty minutes making sure all is good. Time to check the laundry. Can hear it's raining again. Kind of nice. Maybe I'll take a nap. 10:54 - adding to my gear list while I wait for laundry. THEN nap. Or lunch. 11:30 - nice long call with Marit to coordinate a visit! Hi Ryn!12:13 - having a beer with Gandalf1:57 - walked down to the Irish Whisper for beer and lunch. 2:35 - playing my first New York quick draw game. 2:54 - win six bucks! But spent ten. 3:30 - time for a resupply. Really horrible. It's going to be a weird few days. 3:49 - back to room. With ice cream. Must nap. 5:41 - still haven't napped. Bridesmaids is on. Now six is too late to start a nap. 6:52 - might as well eat that subway sandwich I bought earlier. And two beers. 7:23 - a little online poker. 7:38 - watching the Daily Show8:40 - bed.
Date: 2014-06-10
From: Greenwood Lake

To: Fingerboard Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: broken clouds

Had a great time at Anton's. Sad to be moving on. The owners were pretty great people. He a New Yorker through and through. His wife is Australian. They only run the place In the summer, then go off to Europe during the rest of the year.   Gandalf and I went to the Buzz Cafe to get breakfast before Robert, one of the owners, picked us up to take us back to the trail. I had lots of coffee, French toast, and a breakfast sandwich. Not so thrilled with the hike today. The weather is just as overcast and humid as yesterday. Now it's also kinda warm so it should be awfully sticky later. I think the local trail builders have some sort of inferiority complex and think they need to make their section more interesting or tougher somehow. It's frustrating to climb up piles of rocks to get to the top only to have them take you right down again - on the same side. Unnecessary. Happens all the time. I'm not really interested in going to every outcrop and bump. I want to get to Kathadin. Oh well. It's done. Really was an almost unbearable weather day. My shirt was soaked most of the day. Did get to do something fun though - the Lemon Squeezer. A very narrow passage between rocks with an extremely steep scramble. You had to take your pack off to make it work. Were in a state park and it took you up to this really pretty hilltop. Instead of forested with understory it was this wide canopy of trees and lush cushy grass. Very different from what I've seen so far. The shelter was really close by and I was DONE for the day so called it quits. I hiker named Tech was there and another guy named Cloud. He is French and has just been hanging out at the shelter for a few days. Nice guy. He even roasted some corn for us but his camp etiquette was horrible. Food everywhere. And he wasn't even sleeping in the shelter, just using it for staging and trash I guess.   Plan A and Tentmaker showed up! These two I met in the Smokies and we spent one bitterly cold night together in a shelter talking about Korean food to keep warm. They are from South Korea but live in NYC. They went home for a few weeks and just got back on the trail headed south now to where they left off. I mentioned I was going into NYC in a few days so they wrote down a great restaurant to visit and some dishes to try - all in Korean on a little wooden spoon. You know those ones they use to give you with ice cream? That one. Can't wait to present my spoon!We all went to bed early but almost immediately a mouse came out and started chewing on Cloud's food so I pulled out my tent and tented near Tentmaker and Plan A.
Date: 2014-06-11
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Graymoor Spiritual Center
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: light rain

I wish I could say better things about New York but this weather is crap! The trail is beautiful and this is the most foresty part so far but it's just miserable dealing with everything moist or wet. It just won't break. The air is still and all the rocks are wet and slick. You want it to just open up and storm to break all the humidity but it just won't happen. Spent most of the day alone today. No one wants to be out in this really. It's really too bad too because I'm supposed to get views of the NYC skyline at some point but it's so misty and cloudy I doubt it'll happen. I pass over the Hudson too. A real milestone but the humidity is such a downer. Just kept hiking until I got to Bear Mountain. Some simple vending machines so I got Pringles and a Coke. Relaxed a minute then started the long hike downhill. Takes you off the mountain and into a resort type area. It's a Wednesday so all the concessions are closed. Always the way. Ho hum. But next up is the zoo and lowest point on the trail. Appropriately at the bear cage. Nice little zoo. All rescue animals. Could show the Austin Zoo a thing or two. Two bears in the cage so my bear count is up to nine. Right on the other side is the bridge over the Hudson. Big majestic 1930s cable bridge. On the other side is the route to New England. Big moment! There's a sign on the bridge that says peregrine falcons are nesting and they might be aggressive. Great. Again. But no falcons. My fear of heights was more terrifying and it's a long bridge. Uneventful though. The other side was typical trail. No biggies. Gandalf caught up to me and we passed Honey Badger so we all ended up together at the Appalachian Market - a glorified gas station, but got heroes and beer. Then back in for a danish and gummy bears and a little resupply. I can eat just anything!Had a short mile to go to get to the Graymoor Monastery. They let you stay at their pavilion and provide a privy, shower, and water. I tented with Gandalf, Honey Badger and a group I've been off and on hiking near since Pennsylvania. Really nice place to spend the night.
Date: 2014-06-12
From: Graymoor Spiritual Center

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: moderate rain

Well the weather still isn't cooperating but I still like New York. It's a fun, varied state unlike the others. Slept great at Graymoor! The grass was so thick and cushy it felt like a real bed for once. Very different place to stay. So were back to misty wet and slippery. It's either swamp with boards on the mud as the trail and hoards of mosquitos or high rocky slick boulders. It's unbelievably sticky too. You just want it either to break and just pour or get an opening in the clouds so the sun can dry off some of this muck. I know it's going to be like this all week with the worst weather tomorrow. You just get this steeliness in your head. No matter how bad it is now it'll be over at some point. And as luck would have it there's a few rays of sunshine today. The first is we all came across a hiker and his father. The father had really hurt his Achilles' tendon and could barely walk. Looked so painful and it was so rocky in this section. So H2O picked up the guys pack and carried it a mile and a half out to the next road. I love people! It's always about helping others out here.And even better at the road was trail magic! Lucky for him. For all of us. The magic is leaner up north but it sure was great. A wonderful previous thru hiker named Socks had soda and lemonade, chips, apples, bananas, and the best - a muffin that was brownie mix with cookie dough. Amazing. What a change in my energy. I went so fast for miles. Thanks so much Socks! Now it seems like a luxury tour. The next shelter is the RPH located near a road. So close you can order food! Noodle and I got Chinese. General Tso's, crab rangoons, and the best - Tokyo hotdogs. Two hotdogs wrapped in bacon with fried onions and wasabi mayonnaise. Nice albeit gassy night.
Date: 2014-06-14
From: Appalachian Trail Train Station

To: Mt Algo Shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: scattered clouds

That hotel bed was so comfortable. I can't thank Sal, Dorice, and of course Gandalf enough! Amazing the quality of sleep you get when it's not on the ground. We both slept in a little and had to race to pack up. The hotel provided breakfast so of course it was eat eat eat. I got two bowls of cereal, some danish, and some sort of egg thing. And lots of coffee. I'm sure we looked odd amongst the families and business men scarfing as much as we could. A few moments later we were in the car and back in New York. Felt like cheating a little to go into Connecticut to stay when I hadn't crossed over yet by foot but these states up here are so close together what are ya gonna do?A very very appreciative few moments later and we set off. Gandalf left his phone and had to head back so I marched on up the road and into the fields leading up to the Pawling ridge. The weather is stupendous! So much cooler and low humidity. A light breeze and abundant sunshine. I'm sure the trail is still mucky and sloshy (it was) but at least the weather has improved. The hike was pretty easy as hikes go. I can't let myself get fooled though. Eighteen miles is eighteen miles no matter how nice it is. Quickly made it to the Wiley shelter for lunch. Gandalf caught up and hey there's Tender! At that moment he had just completed his section hike but was continuing on for the full thru-hike. Quite an accomplishment. I never stick around places long so packed up and left. Not before stopping at the Wiley library though. Very thoughtful. You may have seen lately the little mailbox like libraries in people's yards. They had one here but the books were either too big or some Harlequin romance type so I left without one. And then in a mile I was done with yet another state (bye New York! But see you tomorrow) and into the next. Hello Connecticut. I'd be done with it in two days if I wasn't heading into NYC for a few days R and R. Still I've got 15 or so miles to go so better get cracking Passed a beautiful campsite called Ten River right where one river joins the Housatonic. Sat out on a rock to eat more and wrap my toes that were getting hot. It's Saturday and there are tons of people. I worked my way through the masses and bypassed what would be my first covered bridge on the trail. Too many people and too far to go. Plus we started late. Connecticut got a little tough - nothing I haven't seen before but some unnecessary uphills and a really rocky portion. Also after all that rain the mosquitos are horrendous. But did make it to camp about seven which is perfect for eating and going right to bed. Met a ridge runner named Brian. Very nice guy. Gandalf showed up and we were both going to hike into Kent tomorrow to have breakfast before he hikes on and I go to the train station. Fell asleep quick.
Date: 2014-06-16
From: New York City

To: New York City
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Well, feels good not to hike. At least for a while. Slept well, got up late, am feeling good. Richard has a meeting today and I know enough to make myself scarce so off to a diner for a French toast breakfast. Then walked all the way to Soho to get some street clothes at Uniqlo and discovered a great outfitters along the way so didn't even have to go to REI. Then two shirts and a pair of shorts at Uniqlo. Then there was even a Best Buy so I could get my charger. Now I'm at a bar watching the World Cup having caipirinhas. And the bartender just bought me one. I hate this city. Now I've gone to Chelsea Market to buy a chicken and some cheese for dinner tomorrow. Ahhhh
Date: 2014-06-17
From: New York City

To: New York City
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

"I am so popular. Everyone loves me soo much." - Molly Ringwald, Breakfast ClubActually no, but I forgot how many feelers I put out there to meet friends and now I've got an action packed day! I'm determined to visit a few places that have always slipped through the cracks so had a Lucky Charms breakfast (magically delicious) and caught the C train, I think, north to Central Park and the Natural History Museum. Very interesting but I thought the dinosaurs would be a little more dramatic. Huge for sure but something was lacking. Then I got the typical NY hotdog and coke and walked across the park to the Guggenheim. There was an exhibit on Italian Futurists but of course the highlight was the building. It's showing it's age but still a delight. Then over to Lexington to take the train down to Midtown and my friend Kevin who works at MOMA. Stunning! What a place. And to see all these works I studied at school years ago in front of me. Thanks Kevin! How random too that our parents are traveling in the UK together right now. Then it's another train down to Union Square to meet up with another friend from High School, Chris, and watch the Mexico/Brazil game where I learned he also loves pool so we went and shot a few games and yet another bar. THEN it's about ten blocks away to see my old roommate from Los Angeles, Gerard, who happened to be in town and our mutual friend Nicole and met a new friend Beth. What a day! I even managed to stop by and pick up a red velvet cupcake on the way home and scarf it down. Yay for calories!
Date: 2014-06-18
From: New York City

To: New York City
Miles today: 0.0

Well last full day in New York and what a great day it was! Richard and I went down for breakfast at a little coffee shop. I had three breakfasts! They were small. But all delectable. Then off to see one more friend - Brian in Brooklyn. He runs a really great wine bar called Brookvin in Park Slope so I went early and walked around.Prospect Park then over to the bar to meet him before we took the train to ....CONEY ISLAND! Another place I hadn't been. It was perfect! The day was bright and sunny and almost hot! The boardwalk was crowded but not too crowded. We walked across the hot sand to the beach and walked all the way to Brighton Beach. Then came back for a few beers and of course Nathan's hotdogs to get us primed for some roller coasters. The first is naturally the famous Comet. Old, wooden, rickety and just too much fun. After that we did both the Steeplechase and the new Thunderbolt. Glad we weren't there in the high summer has the lines were short.   Had just enough credit on our card to play some skee-ball and won a big Garfield. What are you going to do but take it on the subway home.I had previously agreed to do some cooking for Richard and we scheduled a whole evening with his friends Mark and George. What a great lovely New York night. Did a lot of prep work here at Richard's then went up to their very cool apartment about ten minutes away. What a great place and space. They had a delicious deli display of gravlax and whitefish pate and pickles. So good. Then back to Richards and the rooftop kitchen. Made a grilled chicken with lemon and red pepper, an onion chutney, caprese, and a simple Boston lettuce salad. Stayed up way too late and I'm sleepy now but what a needed few days. Thanks to everyone for all the hospitality!
Date: 2014-06-19
From: New York City

To: Mt Algo Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Okay. Here we go. I'm premethrined and fed. I'm also tired from drinking and staying up too late. But I'm ready to get back to hiking. My shuttle to Kent isn't available until about six, so I'll be leaving my bag down with the doorman and just walking around town for a while until it's time to catch the train. Sad. I really do love it here and am shocked at how much it wasn't an issue leaving something so peaceful for something so not. I blended right in. I'm guessing I won't have that problem I've read about that happens when the hike is over. Well enough chit chat. Let's get out there. Will be taken back to the same shelter I left from Sunday. It's only .3 miles from the road so easy hike in and camp then back out and onward in the morning. The train ride was a little sad. I just love being in cities no matter how much I love nature. I want to spend more time there. Got back to Pawling at 5:30 and Donna (Landshark) was already on her way to pick me up. Such a very very nice person. I dig just the chit chat. You can learn so much in a short time even though you know you'll probably never see them again. Maybe Trail Days! In no time I'm back in Kent at the trail crossing and I hiked back the short ways to Mt Algo shelter to get a good night sleep.
Date: 2014-06-20
To: Sharon Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm not saying maybe I drank too much or didn't rest enough but clearly I've lost a little of my hikers edge. Slept great but my feet do not want to get moving this morning. Nor do my legs or brain. I'm dragging. Hard. No rest for the weary so must march on. The good news is it's going to be a spectacular day. Nice and cool this morning. I even had to throw my jacket on. Just for breakfast though. The bad news is that the trail had lots of ups and downs. Maybe it'll work the kinks out. My knees have been achey lately. They squeak a little. I know that means tendonitis but it doesn't feel like it. Sitting for long periods - like on the train, hurts. Hills will hurt. But it's not that bad. I'm never at my best the first half of the day. Connecticut is nice. Good and varied but not a rollercoaster like New York was. And there are even a few rock scrambles. I'd prefer they were going up but there was one called St Johns Ledges that brought you down to the Housatonic that was tough. Once you were down it was a great very uncommon four mile walk along the river. More like a stroll. This calls for some Van Morrison. I've got Sweet Thing and Into the Mystic that I've been waiting for just this time. I love moments like these where you can sort of stop and smell the roses. You don't have to huff and puff or just stare at the ground to catch every stumbling step. I just strolled with a forested hill on one side and the wide, glistening river on the other. You know when it's so peaceful and the light reflects off the surface in that way that it makes you thin your eyes just a bit? Plus the weather was incredible. Still cool, low humidity and the occasional breeze to keep the gnats and mosquitos away. Not going to last forever though and after an hour or so back up the ridge we go. I had a nice big brook to ford, Connecticut's version of the lemon squeezer to push through, some swampy buggy areas and almost no other hikers. I did meet Smudge and later Boomer and a Boy Scout troop towards the end of the day headed south but I'm pretty much on my own. Taking that time off has put me in a whole new group of hikers I guess. Here I am at a campsite screened in my no-bug tent listening to a crazy loud but lyrical bird. Tomorrow is another twenty miler, a resupply, and crossing into Massachusetts. Flying by.
Date: 2014-06-21
From: Sharon Mountain Shelter

To: Sages Ravine Campsite
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm not sure where this campsite is globally but it seems to be somewhere near a racetrack. Sounds like motorcycles off in the distance. And at some point in the middle of the night were two explosions. What the? Slept well otherwise. Quick sidenote - today apparently is hike naked day. Now I have gotten in much better shape from when I started but I can't imagine the bloodbath there would be from all those mosquitos. And I'm nice and tan but that's only what's exposed. The rest is white as snow. I'd be a wreck. So no, I didn't. And neither did anyone else I'm aware of. Back to the hike. Another good day. A little chilly in the morning which means nice weather for a while. I kind of went into the zone in the morning and covered a lot of ground without even thinking. There's a really nice section of trail back at the Housatonic. Nice and flat. You make your way to a recreation area in an old power plant and AWOL points out that there's a shower and power outlet on the side of a building. A luxury not often seen. I used both. And spent the time reading a few chapters in my new book - Neuromancer. A reread from many years ago. It's nice and sunny out. A little climb again with a big steep downhill and I'm at a road crossing where I planned to hike in for resupply. Only .4 miles into the picture perfect little town of Salisbury. How can these cities be so perfect? A bookstore, tea shop, and wine merchant on the main drag and nice little grocery with deli behind. In addition to resupply I got two slices of pizza and a diet Dr. Pepper. This is a very small town and everybody knows everybody. Lots of "hiya Beth"s or "nice to see ya James"s. Got chatted up a few times by the locals. It's nice but sometimes I just want to relish my pizza. It's not easy now with four days of food in my pack and pizza and soda (and an apple) in my belly. And now the big climb begins. Two mountains to cross over. One isn't much but ends with a rocky bang. The other, Bear Mountain, is ok until you get towards the summit and it's rock upon rock with very narrow brushy areas to push through. You keep thinking it's over but then more. The real challenge though was the downhill. Happy it wasn't a wet day as I'd be on my ass many times. This is often almost vertical with spots where you have to almost lie back and slide down. Always when you're most tired. Most excellent about all this though is I just passed 1500 miles and I also moved into Massachusetts. Props to Connecticut, nicely done. But glad to again be moving on. Staying at a beautiful campsite called Sages Ravine but it's crowded as it's Saturday and I think school is finally out up here. The goal now is Mt Greylock at the other side of Massachusetts on Thursday and meeting my pal Karl for dinner. Hurray!