morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-09
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: Rutherford Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

It finally cooled off during the night. Was 66 when I woke up at 5:30 - potty break. Got up at 6:30 for breakfast of pop tarts and coffee. On the trail before 8:00. Got to Culvers Gap in hopes of a real breakfast at the Sunset Grill, but it didn't open until 12:00 (Sunday), so we had to settle for bacon, eggs, cheese on a roll with coffee at Joe's To Go. The food was good but Larry, the owner, did not care for hikers. He would not let us use the restroom (even though he did for locals while we were there) nor would he even fill out water bottles. We could buy bottled water if we so desired. Evidentally hikers had caused him problems in the past. We walked to a service station to get water. Got to top of Sunrise Mountain around 2:30. There was a large shelter (without walls) with benches and a cool breeze, so we took a long break. The view into NJ was very nice too. Decided tonot take the 0.4 mile side trail to Rutherford Shelter and get water further down the trail from what appeared on the map to be a stream flowing across the trail. Well we walked about a mile and never saw a stream, sowe went back near to the side trail, dropped our packs and went to towards the shelter for water. We ended up getting water about 0.1 mile down that trail and not having to walk the entire 0.4 to the spring. Camping beside the trail on the ridge above the shelter somewhere below - we can hear people talking. The gypsy moths are every where! You have to be careful and not suck them in your mouth while hiking. The trees are almost completely defoliated from the caterpillars earlier. The adults are now flying all about.
Date: 2006-07-10
From: Rutherford Shelter

To: Loft Road (Unionville, NY)
Miles today: 11.4

Woke up to a coold 61 temp. Started hiking at 7:30. Trail getting more hilly, but the climbs are still short. Walked through High Point State Park, The highest point in NJ;1803 ft. The monument there is dedicated to "NJ's heroes by land, sea, and are in all wars in our country" and was built in 1930. The trail then dropped to 600 ft with a few steep ups and downs. Got to Unionville about 1:30. Great small village of about 600. We are tenting in the city park. Reprovisioned at Horler's General Store. Ate lunch and dinner at Sara's Soda Shop across the street from the park. Plan on breakfast there tomorrow morning. A city employee came by and gave us cans of insect repellent - the mosquitos have been terrible the last 2 days. The mayor came by later this afternoon - very nice people here. It's supposed to rain in the next 3 afternoons. Hope it will help cool things off as it was very hot hiking today. Bama, Little Wing, Old Drum, and Mulligan are here also.
Date: 2006-07-11
From: Loft Road (Unionville, NY)

To: Wawayanda Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: haze

Got up at 5:30 and ate breakfast at Sara's Soda Shop. Had 2 eggs, 7 bacons, hash browns, toast, and 3 cups of coffee - all for $6:15. Hit the trail at 7:30. The trail went through severl swampy areas. The mosquitos were horrendous. At times there must have been a hundres swarming around us. We used almost an entire can of repellant today. One puncheon we walked must have been a mile long and elevated several feet above the marsh (The Pochuck Quagmire). It was hot (85) and humid most of the day we were pretty tired after only 9 miles, then it started to rain very hard. It did cool things off a bit and best of all it knocked down the mosquitos for while. We were able to get ice cream at a store after 12 miles - was very refreshing. The rain had stopped, so we began the 900 ft steep climb up Wawayanda Mountain. Took a break at the top with a nice breeze and view of the balleyd below. When we got to what was supposed to be a creek and campsite at 14 miles, all we saw was the creek. We decided to continue on another 3.5 miles to the shelter. There was thundering in the distance, but the storm went around us. We put up our tents in the shelter to keep from getting eaten alive by the mosquitos. One section hiker is in the shelter with us.
Date: 2006-07-12
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Wild Cat Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

NJ finished, officially in NY. Very tired when I woke up this mornign. Ate breakfast then laid back down for 30 minutes. Started hiking at 9:45. Was in no rush since we were doing 12 miles and the profile looked relatively easy. Well there were no long climbs, but some were very steep - actually we were bouldering. Some of the boulders had 45-60 degree slopes - very dangerous. To make matters worse we had 2 very severe rain/thunder storms and the rocks were very slippery. My feet slipped out from under me once while walking down a large boulder. Luckily, I fell backwards and onto my pack. We went over Prospect Rock, at 1433 ft, it is the highest point on the AT in NY. We stopped at the Bellvale Creamery at 4:00 for some ice cream. It was nice to rest, wring out our socks, and eat ice cream. We are in our tents in the shelter again, because of the mosquitos. I hope the water sources are better tomorrow as all the creeks today flowed from swampy areas and was nasty looking. Looking forward to a zero when we get to Southfields tomorrow.
Date: 2006-07-13
From: Wild Cat Shelter

To: NY 17 (Southfields)
Miles today: 9.9

Had a very hard rain last night. Only a slight drizzle this morning. Passed, no actually climed up beside, Fitzgerald Falls, a 25 ft water fall. It was extremely steep. The trail was then a series of ups and downs, several very steep where we had to climb up 50-100 ft boulder piles. The last downhill was also steep - 500 ft called "Agony Grind." We were lucky as angels had put water at a couple road crossings. The water in the creeks was very dark brown, draining from swampy areas. It took about 20 minutes to hitch to the Tuxedo Motel in Southfields. We were only about to stay there one night as they were booked on Friday. Ted & Collene's son, Ed drove up from NJ and took us to the grocery store to reprovision and out to dinner in Harriman. The motel washed our clothes for us. Picked up 2 care packages from the PO. Elaine sent us orange slices, pistachios (plain & Otter's flavored kind), cordials, large bags of Cracker Jacks, and a new bandana (my first 2 have "rotted" and fallen apart). Ken Hurst, a former co-worker, sent me a very nice REI shirt, 2 packs of tea, and 2 freeze-dried dinners. Thanks for everything!
Date: 2006-07-14
From: NY 17 (Southfields)

To: NY 17 (Southfields)
Miles today: 0.0

Checked out of the Tuxedo Motel. Mailed my watch home for repair. The jewelery store evidentally did not get the gasket seal correct when they put in a new battery and water leaked in while walking in the heavy rain a few days ago. It's going to be different to judge the climbs without my altimeter. Hope Elaine can get it fixed. Hitched a ride to Harriman and checked into the American Budget Inn. Will get back on the trail tomorrow morning.
Date: 2006-07-15
From: NY 17 (Southfields)

To: Top of West Mountain
Miles today: 12.8

Had a difficult time hitching a ride back to the trail. After 45 minutes without any luck, a highway patrolman pulled over and told us it was illegal to hitch in the state of NY. Otter explained to him that we were hiking the AT 0 he knew nothing about the AT. He was very cordial, wven calling on his cell phone to verify the hitching law. About this time a couple pulled over and offered us a ride to the trail. The patrolman said he would not cite us, but the local police would not be so understanding. We started hiking at 9:15, a bit late considering that it was going to be over 85 today. Only had 2 significant climbs today, both about 600 ft, the first and last parts of the day. The rest of the day was full of short steep ups and downs, 200 ft or less. We took a lot of breaks because of the heat. We had to walk 0.3 miles down Arden Valley Road to Tiorati Circle, a public beach on Lake Tiorati to get water after lunch. Of course soon as we left it rained steadily for about 45 minutes. We were able to stay fairly dry. Stopped after 11.5 miles and ate dinner at Beechy Bottom Brook, got water and climbed to the top of West Mountain to camp. We decided to forego the 0.6 mile side trail to West Mountain Shelter which had no privy, no water, and a resident rattlesnake. Have less than 800 miles to go! Ken, the shirt fit and felt so good while hiking - Thanks again!
Date: 2006-07-16
From: Top of West Mountain

To: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: broken clouds

Had a great night's sleep - cool breeze blew all night. There were biting midges everywhere, even in the tent. Must have killed 50 in my tent. Hike started with a rather steep, rocky 600 ft downhill and then followed by a 500 ft climb to the top of Bear Mountain. Good views of the Hudson River from there, but no water - the pump had been removed and the restrooms closed for renovation. After a short break and answering 100 questions of what we were doing, we went downhill 1100 ft to Bear Mount, a recreation area with a small lake, concession stand, a small zoo, swimming pool, and thousands of people. Ate a cheeseburger and fries for lunch, then continued on walking through the zoo where we saw our first bear. The elevation at the zoo was 124 ft, the lowest point on the AT. It was 91 degrees when we crossed the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge. From there it was 500 ft up, 300 ft down, 400 ft up, and 500 ft down to the Franciscan Monastery. We are tenting in a soccer field with 6 other hikers. Took a cold shower and it felt great after hiking in the 90 degree heat. Ordered a sausage calzone and a cola for dinner from a pizza delivery. Heard the temps for the next 2 days will be over 90. Sure wish the humidity would drop.
Date: 2006-07-17
From: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center

To: 2 Miles N of NY 301
Miles today: 13.7

Had plans to get an early start, but as usual, we left about 8:00. It was already 78 at 8:00. Started out with 2.5 liters of water as the next water source was 8.1 miles. The trail was nothing but a series of 200-400 ft ups and downs, but were enough to wear me out in the 90+ degree heat with little to not wind and high humidity. I was completely soaked from sweat within an hour. We took breaks every hour and drank lots of water. We were almost out of water when we reached Dennytown Road where there was a spigot on the side of a well house. Took a mini bath in the cool water. Felt great. Found a spot nearby in the shade and ate lunch. The next listed water source was 1 mile down a paved road at a campground. The AT guide book said that there were a couple of creeks 1 & 2 miles beyond NY 301 (the way to the campground). We took a chance on the creeks having good water. The first was almost dry and was drainage from a swampy area. The second was much better. We loaded up with wter (I had 3.5 liters) and continued up the trail. Found a "suitable" tent site in a few minutes. Have to stay in the tents - mosquitoes! It's 8:30 and it's still 85. Going to be a long sweaty night.
Date: 2006-07-18
From: 2 Miles N of NY 301

To: NY 52
Miles today: 10.9

It was 78 in the tent when we woke up at 6:00. On the trail at 7:15 - earliest start so far. It was a VERY hot day! The temp was in the 90's with a heat index of 104! We were exhausted by the time we reached NY 52 after only 10 miles. We hiked 0.4 miles down the road to a deli. I drank 2 12 oz sodas and a 20 oz Gatorade with a large sub sandwich. We were able to Yogi a ride to Pawling, where I picked up a care package from Elaine - pistachios, almonds, new fuel canister, shirt, watch, and a lovely card. Walked the mile to the Edward R. Murrow Park where they allow hikers to camp at a pavillion. There is a nice swimming lake here with toilets and an outside shouwer. The lake swim felt great in the stiffling heat. Walked back to town and had 3/4 lb cheeseburgers with fries and cold beer. A brief rain shower helped cool things off. Looking forward to a cooler night's sleep.
Date: 2006-07-19
From: NY 52

To: County 20, West Dover Road
Miles today: 12.2

A very nice town of Pawling, NY employee gave us a ride back to NY 52 so we could slack pack back to Pawling. It was so good to hike without our packs even though the temp was in the 80's. Got to Westover road and started the 3.1 mile hike into town. A lady picked us up rather quickly and gave us a ride - a true angel. Got a pictue of Dover Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT. It was truly a large tree - 20 ft 4 inches in girth and over 300 years old. Checked the PO for a package from Elaine - guide books & maps for CT, MA, VT, & NH. Had not arrived yet - bummer since we will be out of NY tomorrow. Will check again tomorrow AM before we leave. Hope they are there as I don't like hiking without the maps. Took another cool-down swim in the late before eating dinner at the local tavern again. This is surely a hiker-friendly town. Eleven other hikers here today. Brain & Brawn had to end their hike here because his substitute at work had a family crisis and Brawn needed to return home. Sure going to miss them - they were a nice older couple. Found out today that James Earl Jones lives hear in Pawling. Locals say he is a nice down-to-earth fellow.
Date: 2006-07-20
From: County 20, West Dover Road

To: Ten Mile River
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Walked to town and ate 2 eggs, cheese, and bacon on a kaiser roll. Also had 2 cups of coffee. This was after eating pop tarts and coffee at the pavillion. Then picked uip a package of CT andd MA books and maps from Elaine at the PO. Glad they had arrived as I don't like hiking without a map. Now offricially in CT. Will get the VT and NH books and maps in a mail drop in North Adams, MA. Fairly easy hike today, not too hot and muggy even though we didn't get started hiking until 10:30. Got 2 kraut hot dogs and a coke from a roadside vendor at Hurds Corner Rd. Great early lunch stop. Found trail magic at Leather Hill Rd. - animal crackers, cranberry juice and a bottle of fresh water. Ate again at Wiley shelter which was after 8.3 miles, the first real stop with water. Ate tuna with mustard, mayo, and pickel relish -mmmm tuna salad. The last 4 miles had the only real climb over the Ten Mile Hill - 600 ft. Then it was 600 ft. back down to Ten Mile River. Set up tent and then went to the river and sat in the cool water and washed off a bit. Felt great! Just a few other thru hikers here and a large group of college students getting 3 hours PE credit for the "wilderness experience" of hiking and camping out 1 night. Never had such a course back at Western Carollina when I was an undergraduate!! On to Kent, CT (8.5 miles ) for a zero tomorrow.
Date: 2006-07-21
From: Ten Mile River

To: CT 341; Kent, CT
Miles today: 8.5

Woke up at 6:30 to a light rain. Quickly ate breakfast, packet up and left. The first 5.3 miles went pretty well, including the 1000 ft. climb. The next 4.5 miles took us about 4 hours. I got very tired climbing a short 400 ft. climb. Don't know why - maybe the high humidity and the lack of any breeze. Anyway, ended up taking another long break at Thayer Brook to eat 2 Cliff bars, drink 1 liter of lemonade, and cool off. Ended up walking the 0.8 mile into town. Reminds me of Southport, NC- lots of antique shops and arts and craft shops. It's a nice small town! Staying at the Fife & Drum Inn and Restaurant. Expensive ($100 per night) but we are in an old Victorian House. We have the 2 upstairs bedrooms and a large bath. There are about another dozen hikers in town, but they are camping at a church instead of spending so much money as the motel and B&B 's are so expensive. Had a nice steak dinner.
Date: 2006-07-22
From: CT 341; Kent, CT

To: Ct 341; Kent, CT
Miles today: 0.0

Worked on our hiking schedule to be near North Adams, MA for Otter to meet with a couple of his clients who are flying up to talk business. Ate breakfast with other hikers at a deli down the street. They have rented a pickup truck and are suing it to slack pack for the next 3 dadys. Didn't work out for us to go with them as our schedule was out of syne with theirs. DARN IT! Sending home some of my extra gear; clothes, etc. to cut down on the pack weight and volume. Hope to make it to North Adams, M for a zeero on August 1. Two thirds of the trail is completed. ONLY 722.5 miles to go!
Date: 2006-07-23
From: Ct 341; Kent, CT

To: Caesar Brook Campsite
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: overcast clouds

July 23, 06 Tent CT 341; Kent, CT ¢Caesar Brook Campsite13.6 milesWoke at 6:00 but took a while to pack up since all our gear was scattered about. Ate 2 orders of pancakes for breakfast- lots and lots of syrup! Walked just outside of town before we were given a ride to the trailhead. Heard that Lynn Redgrave lived just south of Kent. Trail was fairly easy today ¢ 2 six hundred foot, 2 three hundred foot, and a couple of 200 foot climbs. Did a 5-mile walk along the abandoned dirt road beside the Housatonic River. It is the longest river and road walk on the AT. Glad to see that water is no longer a problem. Crossed at least 7 nice creeks today and the water was clear, not brown like it was in PA, NJ, or NY. There are quite a lot of hikers here tonight. Starting to see southbound thru hikers also.We are planning on jumping into Falls Village (0.5 miles off trail) for a big lunch/early dinner tomorrow before heading up Prospect Mtn. to camp. Should be out of CT and into MA in two days. Had an interesting dinner: broccoli and cheese noodles, Stroganoff noodles, tuna, and shrimp all mixed together ¢ very interesting flavor, but quite satisfying.
Date: 2006-07-24
From: Caesar Brook Campsite

To: Raccoon Hill
Miles today: 16.2

It was 55 degrees when we woke up at 6:15. It sure was nice to have a cool evening to sleep. Another milestone today ¢ less than 700 miles to go! Trail is in great shape. No steep climbs, no rocks, and well maintained. Had a 0.5-mile road walk because of a train wreck where the trail crossed the tracks. Found out later that the wreck happened 6 months ago but the note on the trail had not been removed ¢ don¢t know why. Went into Falls Village to get an early dinner at a caf© but when we got there it was closed. The town clerk, Mary M. Palmer drove by and invited us to her house for dinner. She had cooked a bunch of food for her family that was to come by but was not able. So she fed us BarBQ chicken, potatoes, salad, and lemonade. She even had brownies with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Delicious! She said we could shower and spend the night in a house next door if we wanted. We declined since we needed to put in a few more miles today. She drove us back to the trail. Stopped at a spring and got water 0.5 miles up the trail and hiked on. Went past Rand¢s View and could see Race Mtn. And Mt. Everett in MA across the valley ¢ best view in VT. Soon we passed Giant¢s Thumb (pix). One theory to its origin was that it was a Viking Stone, but it is actually an outcropping or cobble, around which the ground had eroded. Very interesting looking stone. Found great tent sites just off the trail on Raccoon Hill. Everyone else went the 0.5-mile to Limestone Spring Lean-to about a half mile back.
Date: 2006-07-25
From: Raccoon Hill

To: Rare Brook Falls trail
Miles today: 16.0

It was another cool morning ¢ 65 degrees. Another milestone ¢ finished CT and now in MA. Walked 0.4 miles into Salisbury, CT and got a raspberry bun, a cinnamon bun, and a cup of strong coffee. Picked up a care package from Laurie Watson. Thank you Laurie for the orange slices, chocolate truffles, mint chocolates, and for the box of small Cohiba cigars. That was very nice and I¢ve already eaten most of the orange slices today. I appreciate all of it! It is still a very nice trail. Had more ups and downs today. We climbed up Bear Mtn. In CT ¢ the highest point in CT at 2316 feet. There were great views of Twin Lakes below and the mountains to the south where we had walked the last 2 days. From there it was 900 foot down to Sages Ravine then up 1000 foot to Race Mountain with even greater views. Looked for a place to camp up there but were not successful. The trees were too short to hang our food bags. We found a nice site about 1.5 miles further down the trail. There will be a short day tomorrow- only 9.8 miles to Great Barrington, MA for a Nero to clean up and reprovision.
Date: 2006-07-26
From: Rare Brook Falls trail

To: US 7, Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: clear sky

7/26/06MotelRace Brook Falls trail ¢ US 7, Great Barrington, MA 9.8 milesWell the easy 9.8 miles turned into a grueling 9.8 miles. We started by climbing 900 foot up Mt. Everett. It was very steep with lots of boulder scrambles. Next we went down Mt. Everett - just as bad as the up! According to the profile on the map the next 3 miles was fairly flat, but it did not show the steep 20 to 60 foot boulder ups and downs. Of course the temperature got into the mid 80¢s and there was no breeze. We got very hot and had to take breaks more frequently than we wanted. We finally got to Jug End Summit and started the 1000 foot steep, rocky descent. Once at the bottom it was a 5 mile walk through mosquito infested swamps on puncheons. We were very hot and tired by the time we got to US 7. We got a ride to town fairly quickly and checked into Monument mountain Motel at 3:00. Ate large burger and fries at Mickey D's. We went back to the motel and showered and washed clothes. Tried to rent a car so we could slack pack the next 5 days to North Adams. There were no cars available. We will check again in the morning. Went to dinner at Friendly's. Had a sirloin steak, potatoes, veggies, and a salad. Boy was I ever stuffed.
Date: 2006-07-27
From: US 7, Great Barrington, MA

To: Mt. Wilcox North Lean to
Miles today: 13.8

Woke at 6:30 and at breakfast at Friendly's. I had 3 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, home fries, and coffee for $6.00. Big breakfast! Checked on the rental car, no luck. He said he may have one later in the morning so we waited until 11:00 and ate lunch at Friendly's again! They know us by name there now!! Got a ride to the trail and started hiking at 12:15. The trail was just as hard leaving US 7 as it was coming in - except this time the boulder up and downs were 20 feet to 100 feet. The first 2 climbs totaled 1000 foot, then it was a somewhat gental 2 mile downhill. From there it was up and down 200 foot to 300 foot until we finally reached 2000 foot and the shelter. Missed trail magic by less than an hour. They were cooking food for hikers but were gone when we got there. They did leave sodas and snacks for the late arrivers. It was so good! Staying in the shelter in our tents to ward off the mosquitoes. G-Walk is here also. Got a little wet from a couple of rain showers but our feet stayed dry. The rain really cooled things off- feels good..........