morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-06-30
From: Swatara Gap 

To: PA-183
Miles today: 20.7

Tuesday, June 30th At 7:30 the Sherpa dropped off the Iceman at PA-72 also called Swatara Gap and the plan was to meet 9 miles north at PA-645 so that he could change his wet boots and socks in case the forecast was correct. The weather man called for heavy rain but this morning the rain was light although the trail was filled with deep puddles. It was 11:30 and the Iceman showed up pretty wet so off came the socks and boots and on went dry socks and his other pair of boots. The sky was clearing up but just to be on the safe side the Sherpa was to meet him again in 2 more miles on PA-645. It rained again and this time he changed his rain gear and ate fruit for lunch. Now it was 1PM and he decided to continue hiking for 9 more miles which meant he'd be finished for the day at about 5:30, that gave the Sherpa 4 free hours. It seemed like the worst of the rain was over. Pottsville, home of America's oldest beer, was only 20 minutes away and a tour of the Yuengling Brewery would only take about an hour. That was it! The Sherpa arrived at the Brewery at about 1:45 to find out that the last tour started at 1:30 but no problem, she caught up with the group and had a very good time. This is a tour worth taking if in the area. The tour guide mentioned that it's very popular with the AT hiking crowd. Bet you didn't know that Yuengling sold Ice Cream for many years then stopped but 3 years ago started again. The Ice Cream is sold in 9 states and only by the quart. While on the tour, and beer tasting, unbeknownst to the Sherpa, the sky opened up and there was a huge thunderstorm. The poor Iceman, once again, was being pounded with heavy rain for about 1/2 hour and the trail was rocky and downhill. It seemed to him that the trail was nothing but one big deep water filled gulley and hikers before him, had cut new trails parallel to the original trail. It is, up to now, the worst section on the AT. The Iceman spoke with two hikers today and one had the trail name "Nurse" and the other, a college age guy began his hike in Florida in February then he hiked to Springer mountain where he started the AT. You can imagine the condition of the Iceman when he was finally picked up, a drowned rat had nothing on him. Soaked to the skin but the Sherpa knew that was going to be the case so two beach towels were purchased at the Giant grocery store and were waiting for him when he got to the car. Off came the jacket and shirt and he wrapped himself in the large dry beach towels. One must improvise in times like this.
Date: 2015-07-01
From: PA-183

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 14.5

Wednesday, July 1 Another nice cool day for hiking, in the low 70's, and sunny. It didn't take long before the Iceman's socks and boots were wet as the trail in this part of PA is really nothing but a deep rut and because it's rained so much in the last few days the water in the forest just pours towards the low and deep trail making it even deeper. At times the water was 6 to 10 inches deep. These conditions caused the Iceman, and all of the others who've hike here, to walk off the trail and through the thick bushes where it's drier, all the while keeping the trail in sight. This didn't work too well for the Iceman so within a half hour his feet were soaked. After the worst of the water part of the trail he hit the rocks and today that was actually a relief. He hiked the entire 14.5 miles and never once saw a single through hiker. He did meet one SOBO, "Tinker", who was hiking from Easton, PA to Harper's Ferry, WV. While the Iceman was having fun the Sherpa was preparing to leave the Hampton Inn in Pine Grove, PA for a new base camp at the Microtel in Hamburg, PA. This hotel is in a mall directly across from a sporting goods store named Cabela's. Cabela's is surely one of the largest, if not the largest (as they claim) sporting goods stores in the US. They actually claim in the WORLD. It's worth a trip if you're anywhere in the area. They have a restaurant that serves wild game in addition to exhibits with stuffed animals. After packing the car a trip to Trendz Beauty by Design in Sinking Springs, PA (what do you think of THAT name?) was the next stop for much needed hair treatment. How appropriate for the Sherpa to be in Sinking Springs while the Iceman was also sinking into something like springs! The day ended with an excellent dinner in Pottsville at the Greystone Restaurant which consisted of Grilled Romaine lettuce with blue cheese dressing and bacon crumbles, little neck clams in a fra diablo sauce and Osso Bucco in an Espagnole Sauce with roasted red potatoes and veggies. The chef knows what he's doing and the staff are also well trained. Looks like one or both of us will go back tonight as the Sherpa left her prescription sunglasses on the table. The photo was taken a couple of days ago while the Sherpa was traveling on one of the small back roads of PA. This Hindu temple was built by some Harvard graduates for the Indian community across the USA as a retreat. It's open to the public.
Date: 2015-07-02
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Hawk Mountain Road
Miles today: 14.5

Thursday, July 2 The Iceman was curious to see who the through hikers were that were near him, so today he flip flopped. Going southbound today, he saw about a dozen hikers and knew about 1/2 of them. There's been no rain for the last two days which allowed the trail to dry up for the most part. Here and there were deep puddles but the Iceman did his best to get around them on what was a standard trail in Rocksylvania. The sky was clear and along the hike there were two fabulous views, one at a place called Pinnacle and the other at Pulpit Rock where you could see almost forever. The waterfall in the photo was taken almost immediately by the Iceman as he hiked from Hawk Mountain back to Port Clinton, PA. Hawk Mountain is a wild bird sanctuary and also has many hiking trails that are very popular. During the migration period of late summer and early fall there are about 20,000 hawks, eagles and falcons that pass the lookouts and they are identified and counted by staff and volunteers to produce annual counts of migrating raptors that represent the world's longest record of raptor populations. The Sherpa didn't do much of interest today. Dinner was in Reading, PA at Judy's on Cherry, a restaurant in an old farmers market building. Reading is a large city in PA with many tall buildings and the fifth most populated city in the state with about 89,000 citizens. Please see a photo of the Iceman in the photo section eating his 172nd banana since he started his hike.
Date: 2015-07-03
From: Hawk Mountain Road

To: Bake Oven Knob Road
Miles today: 16.4

Friday, July 3rd On the Iceman's hike today he encountered the most treacherous part of the AT since starting from Springer Mountain in Georgia, the Knife Edge. You can look at a youtube video if you want to see what he experienced. Coming towards him, just before he reached the Knife Edge, were some hikers that had just traversed it and they told him to be very, very careful because it was extremely dangerous. Well, that turned out to be an understatement! The Knife Edge is a ridge of slanted slabs of stone that form a ridge as steep as a church steeple about 30 to 50 feet high that runs for about 100 to 150 yards long. The knife edge must be traversed along the top and one false step will send you sliding down either side of the ridge at the speed of light to a cataclysmic crash. When the Iceman reached this part of the trail he was horrified and scared out of his wits but he made it across and is so happy to have that section behind him. Apparently many day hikers do this section for the thrill of it all to the astonishment of the Iceman. The Sherpa met the Iceman, in the afternoon, halfway through the hike, to be sure he was OK and then continued on to Galen Glen Vineyards and Winery which was nearby in Andreas, PA. After a wine tasting, and some conversation with other wine tasters from Allentown but originally NY city, it was out to the pavilion with a carafe of delicious white wine and sharp cheddar cheese to take in the spectacular view. This place is definitely worth a visit. The area is gorgeous and the wines are really excellent. Hard to believe one can get such fine wine right here in PA.
Date: 2015-07-04
From: Bake Oven Knob Road

To: Little Gap, PA
Miles today: 13.8

Saturday, July 4th Rain again today caused the Iceman to become soaked within 20 minutes of his hike which started this morning at 8am. Sometime around 10am he came to a tent under which were about 10 hikers not only trying to dry out but eating. This was trail magic and it was provided by a trail angel named "Knitting Bull". "Knitting Bull" had hiked the AT some years ago but only completed about 1200 miles. She told the Iceman that if someone would go with her she'd like to finish it but there are no volunteers to date. Here she was grilling hot dogs, serving salad, baked beans, candy, soda and lots of other goodies to the hungry hikers who were sitting under the tent she set up. They looked very comfortable and didn't look like they were about to go anywhere anytime soon. The Iceman had a hot dog and continued on so that he could meet the Sherpa who was waiting for him at Lehigh Gap with dry clothes. He arrived at 12:30, quickly changed and a decision was made to head to Little Gap so that he could flip flop. He had just hiked 5 miles and had 8.8 more to go. Maybe the boulders and cliff would dry before he had to tackle them. The rain stopped when they got to Little Gap and the Iceman headed south back to Lehigh Gap. Just before reaching the Lehigh Gap face the Iceman met Quahog who had spread all of his wet items across the grass to dry. The Iceman told him how happy he was to have the worst part of the AT behind him, the Knife Edge, when Quahog said "you haven't done the Lehigh face yet". It was a wise decision to flip flop because the cliff was very difficult to hike down and would have been much more difficult if it had been wet. There were periods where the only way to get down was on his butt over boulders as large as a car. Part of this hike was over a superfund toxic site. The Sherpa has been waking up at night to check on him because of the huge amount of blueberries and blackberries that he ate but so far he hasn't started glowing. Note the rocks in the photo on the left side of the hill. They look small but are as big as a VW bug. The Sherpa found a great Italian restaurant, A Ca Mia near the Blue Mountain Ski Resort on Lehigh Dr. and enjoyed her conversation with two very nice women who worked there, Kim and Rosa.
Date: 2015-07-05
From: Little Gap, PA

To: Wind Gap, PA
Miles today: 15.4

Sunday, July 5th This section of the AT was a bit boring for the Iceman as there were no real challenges just lots of rocks to hike over but the weather was warm and it was sunny. He left Little Gap at about 9am and almost immediately the gypsy moths started to attack him. There are thousands of them and at times the Iceman had to stop hiking just to swat the clouds of moths from his face. He actually inhaled a few during the day. Now if he needed protein that would have been OK. There'd been an infestation of these moths in this area and many of the trees have been denuded. The Iceman now feels that they're worse than the rocks. Sounds like he's getting used to Rocksyvania and just as he's about to leave the state. FYI he was passed by two young through hikers and he passed one section hiker. He's not sure if the section hiker was alive since he doesn't pass many ambulatory people. Tomorrow he hopes to make New Jersey. The Sherpa spent a couple of hours at the Cherry Valley Winery and Restaurant also called Sorrenti where they have good wine and very good wood oven pizza. At 1pm a couple who call themselves Body & Soul began to sing and play great music from many era's especially the 70's, which she loves. After picking up the Iceman she brought him to the winery for a cold refreshment and a pizza and they spent an hour talking to Alan half of Body & Soul. His wife is the other half. Fabulous group!
Date: 2015-07-06
From: Wind Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap NJ
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

Monday, July 6th Only 895.6 miles to Mt. Katahdin. The Iceman reached NJ today and crossed the Delaware Water Gap Bridge from Pa into NJ with his son Patrick, granddaughter Sophie, grandson Jake and the Sherpa, his wife Rita. A great big thank you goes to their friend Dominic who drove the family to meet the Iceman as he arrived in the small town of Delaware Water Gap, PA and dropped them off so they could walk across the bridge together. The Iceman will remember Pennsylvania as being very beautiful but he won't miss the rocks. This morning the hike started out like a normal hike but then he came to Wolf Rocks. This section was very challenging, very much like the Knife Edge and Lehigh Gap Rock Face it made what might have been an ordinary day a very exciting day but the best part of the day was walking across the bridge with family going home - at least at night for the next few days while hiking in NJ. There's a photo of the group with Quahog, who the Iceman walked into town with, just under the AT sign. This is the second journal posted today since yesterday was hectic and no time for journal writing.
Date: 2015-07-07
From: Delaware Water Gap NJ

To: Millbrook Road near Blairstown, NJ
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Tuesday, July 7th This is the Iceman¢s first hike in NJ, his home state and he went from Millbrook Road in Blairstown to the Delaware Water Gap. He enjoys these flip flops because he gets to see and talk to the hikers in his new bubble. When he hikes in the same direction as they do he doesn¢t get to see many and on most days only sees one but today he saw ¢a simple man¢ and his family, ¢chocolate¢, ¢tigger¢ and ¢lollipop¢. He also saw ¢Quahog¢, ¢Ice Fire¢ and 5 or 6 others whose trail names he¢s forgotten. The trail remains very rocky but unlike PA. there were no great verticals. He enjoyed the hike around Sunfish Pond and the views of the NJ farmlands were glorious. Along the way he passed a very interesting ¢art park¢, if one can call it that, composed of stone cairns.   There were at least 50 of these artistically built ¢sculptures¢ created by hikers (see the photo). Dinner was at home with the Iceman, the children and her son, Patrick and it was delicious.
Date: 2015-07-08
From: Millbrook Road near Blairstown, NJ

To: Culvers Gap NJ
Miles today: 14.5

Wednesday, July 8th   The Iceman¢s feet were killing him today but he was determined to hike the 14.5 miles from Millbrook Road to Culvers Gap. Fortunately it was an easy hike, although it started out in light rain, the rain stopped very quickly and the day turned out to be dry and partly sunny.   Part of the hike was on Rattlesnake Mountain and it was here that he almost stepped on two snakes, at two different times, sunning themselves on the trail.   That was pretty exciting. One was a Garter snake about 3¢ long and the other was a Black snake about 6¢ long (see the photo in the photo section). As he hiked along Rattlesnake Mountain he was rewarded with a spectacular view of Pennsylvania that stretched for miles and miles to the west and a view of the High Point Monument to the north. The Iceman also took a photo of Culvers Lake and beyond before he descended to Culvers Gap. Under the power lines was a large field of beautiful Black Eyed Susan¢s that might have been planted by the power company. If they did plant them the Iceman would like to thank them as the profusion of brilliant color was wonderful to behold. Hiking today were two groups of high school students going south. They were each on a 4 day hike and there were 3 through hikers that passed the Iceman going north.   One of these through hikers was ¢Jester¢ who the Iceman knew. ¢Jester¢ had been off the trail for 4 days doctoring an injured tendon and during that time the Iceman passed him but now ¢Jester¢ caught up to the Iceman and passed him. After dropping off the Iceman the Sherpa took a Pilates class at Professional Pilates in Sparta. The number of Pilates classes taken from Georgia to NJ is about 6 and the Sherpa can say for sure that the absolute best instructor by far is, Janine O¢Hare, the owner of Professional Pilates. That night the Sherpa brought her granddaughter to a Lacrosse playoff game and enjoyed the warm evening outdoors watching her team win both of their games. Another night at home in our own bed.
Date: 2015-07-10
From: Culvers Gap NJ

To: Sussex County road 519 
Miles today: 17.3

Friday, July 10th Yesterday the Iceman took a zero day but today he's back in the saddle again and it's a good thing he gave his feet a rest since the hike today was quite rocky. The views over NJ were very, very nice but the best part of his hike was meeting some interesting through hikers. There was "Warm & Toasty" a woman through hiker who's supporting herself by driving two cars. She leapfrogs with the cars so that, although she's going north to Mt. Kathadin, she's always traveling south on the trail. She parks one car and goes south to the other car and then when she gets there she drives north of the first car, parks it and heads south to the other car. She does this repeatedly. She hiked the AT the traditional way a couple of years ago and likes the hike better the way she's doing it now. Then he met "foot wizard" a 70 year old guy in the condition of a 20 year old. He's run 62 marathons, some under 3 hours. He ran the NY Marathon in 2 hours 54 minutes and now he's practically running the AT. He started one month after the Iceman and may actually finish one month before him. Seeing the High Point Monument from one of the peaks on the AT was very inspirational. Another great hike on the AT for the Iceman. The Sherpa's grand kids kept her busy most of the day but in the evening, after picking up the Iceman, she got a breather; dinner at the Mohawk House on their patio on a lovely warm evening. The Mohawk House has a variety of places to dine and one of them is a patio with a brick oven where they make thin pizza that is a very popular item. They also have a couple of Boccie courts for the adults entertainment. It's the place to go in Sparta, NJ especially in the summer. The Sherpa and the Iceman left just as the live band was heating up the crowd. Another great dining experience.
Date: 2015-07-11
From: Sussex County road 519 

To: Route 94 Susses County NJ
Miles today: 17.6

Saturday, July 11th The Iceman had a lovely day for hiking as the temperature was in the low 80's and the hike was easy as there was only one 600 foot climb. The trail was mostly flat and one half of the hike was through wetlands where there was a boardwalk so his feet stayed dry. The boardwalk was about 3 miles long. He met a number of section hikers going south and met "Warm & Toasty" who always goes south to go north. A little confusing but if you read yesterdays journal you'll know what that means. She's the hiker who supports herself with two cars. She also told the Iceman that she never hikes on Sunday. Well, that's one hiker he won't see tomorrow. One other group, a man and his son passed him and they were going north, but the Iceman doesn't know if they're through hikers or section hikers. Dinner was at home and our son, Patrick did all the cooking. He made a slab of Salmon, BBQ'd ribs, skewers of chicken & veggies grilled on the barbie, corn on the cob, and roasted asparagus and each of our grandchildren invited a guest. We ate on our patio and after dinner the Iceman and the Sherpa relaxed while our son took all of the kids to the annual church carnival. Another great day at home.
Date: 2015-07-12
From: Route 94 Susses County NJ

To: Lakes Road, NY
Miles today: 19.0

Sunday, July 12th Another goal down and a few more to go as the Iceman crossed the NJ state line and hiked into NY today. Although he planned on getting through NJ in less than 6 days, (he hiked 5 and took 1 off) he feels he can live with that. The hike today through NJ was relatively easy but then he entered NY and things changed. He began to traverse a mountain ridge that was a treeless outcropping of jagged stone which lasted for about 3 or 4 miles. Then he came to a 12' high sheer rock wall upon which an aluminum ladder was attached so that hikers could climb up to a higher ridge. This ridge was so narrow that he had to walk sideways, with his backpack on his side all the while continuing to climb up the outcropping. The trail was very strenuous and took a lot out of the Iceman but he continued never the less. Two SOBO hikers passed him and he passed a NOBO, "Blue Butterfly" who he knew. "Blue Butterfly" hikes long hours and although he passed her today he's sure she'll get ahead of him in a day or two. Then the greatest surprise of the day happened. Just as he was on the downhill to NY route 94 he heard someone cry out "Hey, grandpa" and who should it be but his granddaughter Sophie coming towards him with his son Patrick, and grandson Jake. The three of them hiked, for an hour, from route 94 to meet him and it was a complete surprise and made his day. They all hiked together back to the 94 and when they got there they were greeted by a trail angel who offered them pizza and the adults beer. What a splendid day of hiking! It's time to leave home and move on northward so the Sherpa spent the day getting everything together for the next few months and packing up the car. It's sad to leave but the trail calls.
Date: 2015-07-13
From: Lakes Road, NY

To: Seven Lakes Drive, 1391.4 NY
Miles today: 16.0

Monday, July 13 New York is Tough!!! That's what the Iceman said yesterday and again today. He thought he was going to get a breather but that isn't happening. The last two hiking days, this one in particular, have been on his list, as some of the most difficult on the AT because of the rock outcroppings and the continuous ups and downs. It reminds him of the "roller coaster" section in VA. The peaks aren't as high but they're just as steep and there are many, many more ups and downs along with the fact that the trail is also very rocky. This isn't what he expected to find in NY. At one particular rock outcropping he came across a narrow passage, about 18" wide and had to remove his backpack and step sideways in order to get through. This is called the "Lemon Squeezer". He met a few SOBO hikers and among the NOBO hikers were, Blue Butterfly, Huckleberry Thug, EZ, Red Hot and Treebeard and some others. All agreed that this last section was extremely difficult. Treebeard had a very bad headache and needed to get to a room so after picking up the Iceman the Sherpa went to our new base camp, The Bear Mountain Inn in the State Park, unloaded the car and went back to get Treebeard and his wife (we think it's his wife) then drove them to a place in Fort Montgomery, NY. Hopefully he'll feel better soon. The Sherpa had an hour drive this morning to drop off the Iceman and another hour drive back home. During the day it was mandatory to visit a hair salon for some maintenance but there was still a little time, before heading north, to spend with the grandkids saying goodbye.