morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-07-03
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: campsite near Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

Yesterday at the hostel, there was an older woman, who I didn't recognize at first, but her name was Gutsy. I asked her if she had hiked on the PCT in 2005- she had- we shared a hotel room in Idyllwild! We ended up camping with her and Thunder tonight. Thunder actually blew through DWG without stopping- impressive to do a 15 mile day with a town stop in the middle. We camped near the road to Mohican Outdoor Center- they were having live music and we went up to the lodge to check it out. It was horrible, we only stayed for a few songs.         This morning, we hiked across the bridge over the Delaware, I hadn't done that since 2001, since I never had any reason to in 2002, I always drove to DWG. But once we were at the trailhead the terrain was very familar as I hiked this section very often- doing loops with the AT on the two other trails that branch off this parking lot. Soon we came to the BP site where I was a caretaker, I walked over and checked out my old tent platform. We met the ridgerunner when we were up at the pond.         We saw a water snake at the head of the pond where some day hikers were hanging around. After we hiked on a little further, we heard them either killing the snake or trying to kill it- I'm not sure, but I yelled at them that it was not cool to kill it and shortly after I met the RR and told him about it and he went to go talk to them. We saw another snake at the pond outlet where we got some water, and then yet another a few minutes up the trail from the pond. BTW, I think the first snake was a water mocassin, the second a harmless black snake, the third a rattlesnake. It was somewhat bizzare to be back on the NJ AT- I would tell you I knew it like the back of my hand, but I totally don't- much of it seemed unfamiliar. Weird. How many times did I hike around Sunfish Pond? Probably about 50. I think that's why I got so pissed about the snake- how dare they kill a snake at MY pond.
Date: 2010-07-04
From: campsite near Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Rattlesnake Mountain
Miles today: 10.4

What a day. We had some great views, great blueberries to snack on. The NJ section of trail is awesome despite being rocky as crap in spots. Yesterday we talked with a day hiker along the trail and somehow PA came up- he exclaimed- Pennsylvania is WORTHLESS!!! I really have to agree. In the first register in NJ, Nature, who is a few weeks ahead, said she was never ever going to hike PA again. Twice was enough. I have to agree. We took our first break at Catfish Fire Tower, which I got freaked out by and couldn't climb more than halfway up- WTH? I got freaked out on another one earlier in the trip, but I overcame it and went all the way up. Where is this irrational anxiety coming from? I have never been scared of heights.        It has gotten ridiculously hot - 100 degrees. We decide to take a siesta at the water pump at Blue Mountain Lakes Road. We're getting our chill on, packs exploded all over, and a smallish bear surprises us by getting very near before we notice him. We both jump up and start yelling at him, he startles a little and goes off into the woods a short ways but circles around us, we keep yelling at him, banging things to make noise. I had several bear encounters as a RR in 2002, and they always ran away. This guy was not going anywhere. We had food and he wanted it.        So I hurriedly crammed our stuff into our packs while Didge kept yelling at the bear. We hurried off wearing crocs carrying stuff in our hands. Without really thinking, we took the path of least resistance which was down a road, not down the trail. But I know where this road goes- down to a camp and from there is another trail that rejoins the AT. We stop after about a third of a mile. There is a long straightaway on the road where we can see if the bear is coming up from behind us. We try to get our packs packed better and put our hiking shoes on, and then, oh great there's the bear, its following us. Super.         We keep walking down to the camp, where thankfully there is a family swimming in the pond along with a dozen dogs. Bears don't like dogs. Dogs don't like bears. We can relax. We rest for another hour or so and hike on to get water from a stream and cook dinner there. While eating there, we hear bear like noises out in the woods. No relaxing. No way we are camping where we cook. We hike on to Rattlesnake Mtn, where there is an awesome view and a flat spot just big enough for our tent. Eureka is camped just down the hill from us, which is comforting, he has seen bears today as well, we hang our food down by his.         The mosquitoes are also horrific- we try to enjoy the gorgeous sunset, but we are soon chased into the tent. Laying there listening to them buzzing outside, desparately wanting to get through that mesh. It sounds like the tent is surrounded by thousands of tiny motorcycles doing endless laps around our mesh pyramid. It's hard not to feel like nature is not our friend today.
Date: 2010-07-06
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: Zmach's - Deckertown Turnpike
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

We had a noon pickup arranged with Nightingale- We hiked to the Sunrise Pavilion and took a break laying on the sweet smooth cold stone floor of the pavilion. Broiling at 9am. And then while we there we got surprised by another damn bear. At least this one ran off. We also ran into a guy hiking sobo- carrying a bike!! huh? Bikes are illegal on the AT. He was riding on the road and couldn't safely get past a bear on the road eating berries, so he decided to hike with his bike around the bear. We took another short break at Mashipacong Shelter and then we took the wrong trail out of there and ended up at the road in .2 miles , but at the wrong spot. I wasn't even sure which way the trailhead was, but it couldn't be that far as the shelter is only .2 from the road. I was pulling out my phone to call Nightingale, but then she drove by us, so all was well and we were whisked off to AC land, where we watched the outdoor thermometer climb past 100 again.
Date: 2010-11-13
From: PA 233

To: Tumbling Run Shelters
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: clear sky

Four months and 6 days later, we are back on the AT at PA 233, where 5 months and 2 days ago, we hiked north with Mapmaker. Now we are hiking south with Mother Hen/ Mojo/ Stacey- who I will refer to as MH since that is the name I know her by the most. She hiked in 2001 and changed her name to Mojo along the way. We never met on the trail, but we met in Jan 2002 at a hiker gathering and then ended up hanging out together a lot in DC that spring when I was working for the ATC as a boundary survey technician.         So she was kind enough to pick us up at the airport, we spent the night in her parents spare bedroom and she got a friend to shuttle us out to the trail the next morning. We are here to use a flight credit- the same one that was originally booked to fly to the wedding in June, then rebooked to fly to Skip's wedding in July, then rebooked to fly to Colorado, then was hopefully going to be used by my mom, but then could not get used - sooooooo here we are- spending another week on the trail because we can and I don't want to let 600 bucks go to waste.         So MH is hiking with us for a few days- which is totally fantastic as I haven't seen her in 6 years! We hike for awhile, take a break, hike for awhile take another break at Chimney Rocks- there is a nice view and we chat with some dayhikers for awhile before heading down to Tumbling Run shelter. We got there right before dark, a few minutes later, another 2001 alum, Redneck, shows up with a 6 pack of Yuengling and spends the night with us. good times, nice fire. We all crashed in one of the dual shelters.
Date: 2010-11-14
From: Tumbling Run Shelters

To: Raven Rock Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

We're a little slow getting moving in the morning, we lingered with Redneck for a bit and then we all hiked the .3 miles to the road, where we left him behind to get to work later on. He works nearby at Liberty Mountain ski resort. We had a good chunk of miles to cover today, so we kept the breaks short and we ended up hiking a little past dark. There was some great fall colors in isolated bursts. I would say 90% of the trees have lost their leaves already. The trail is covered in leaf litter, and at times the leaves are very slippery.         The trail past the MD/PA border got very rocky and headed up a steep rockpile. This was about the time it was was getting dark and we all got out our headlamps. Night hiking is something I struggle with a lot. More irrational irritation- it just sets off something inside me- add some rocks and I was struggling to keep it together. But fortunately, once we were up on the ridge, the trail got much better and it was not so stressful to walk in the dark. We reached the shelter turnoff and fortunately we all had enough water to cook, so we could wait to get water. The water here is .3 way downhill... but there is another stream a mile south, so we will just go there instead in the morning. This is a really nice shelter- brand new a couple years ago. The floor and walls are all varnished and shiny, there is a huge overhang and there is a loft inside as well. We slept on the least windy side of the shelter. We had some great views today, the best being at PenMar park where there is a nice pavilion overlooking the valley.
Date: 2010-11-15
From: Raven Rock Shelter

To: Pine Knob Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: few clouds

Another long day- I don't know if we ever did two 13+ mile days in a row this summer- probably not. I actually feel stronger hiking now than I did 4 months ago despite having sat on my butt for the last few months. Right now, the limiting factor is the length of the day- it gets dark at 5pm, light at 7am. Not like we are getting up at 7- more like 8:30ish- we left around 10am and ended up night hiking again.         The woods have a stark beauty this time of year- one of my favorite spots today was a grove of maple trees the trail went through that was still in the process of losing its leaves- the ground was littered with yellow leaves, the branches overhead still held many leaves- enough to filter the light into a radiant yellow.         We hiked through a section of farmland where the view opened up for awhile. We took a long break at Pogo campsite to get water, then another break at Annapolis Rocks. There is a side trail down to a great view, we were there at dusk, the lights in the valley were on, we could see trails of moving headlights on roads at rush hour. We ended up hiking in the dark, looking for the turn offs to the shelter, of which there are two. Jasper missed the first one, as did I, but I was walking with MH and she spotted it.         Didge found the second one and we met at the shelter, where we made a fire and dinner and hung out with MH for a few more hours before she night hiked .6 to the road to get picked up by her brother. I'm so glad she was able to come with us, it was great to catch up with her and she made the last three days super fun. Just after she left to head down there, it started raining. I hoped she wasn't waiting too long in it. A short while later, she texted me that she was fine, warm and dry in her brother's car on the way back to Baltimore. It rained off and on all night. We were happy to be in a shelter.
Date: 2010-11-16
From: Pine Knob Shelter

To: Hagerstown Econolodge
Miles today: 0.6

We have been pushing pretty hard the last two days. The choices today are 7.5 to Rocky Run Shelter or 12.5 to Crampton Gap Shelter. We decide 7.5 sounds better. But when we wake up its raining. And it keeps raining and raining. I wonder what Redneck is doing? Hiking doesn't sound so fun. I talk to Redneck on the phone and find out the hitch into Hagerstown is really straightforward and there are several economical hotels.        I figured we'd have one, perhaps two hotel/hostel stays in our trip. Might as well be today. I know we won't make it as far as Front Royal now, we'll just see where we end up at the end of our time. We had already made the decision to go to town and were just hanging out at the shelter to kill time, we ate lunch and I started feeling kinda icky afterwards. I hope it will pass, but later on I feel even worse.         We bundle up in warm clothes, prepared for a wet cold sojourn on the side of the road, hike the .6 down there and walk a little ways down the road to find a good spot to hitch. We only had to hitch for a few minutes and Rae picked us up on her way home from work at a nursing home. She took us to the Super 8 in town, which did not have a laundry and wouldn't check us in for another half an hour. We went to the Econolodge across the street and they were a little cheaper and had a laundry AND they checked us in right then. We ordered pizza and passed the evening watching TV. By the time we got the pizza , I was feeling so ill I only ate half a piece and then threw up a bit later. The day we flew in last weekend, MH had spent the morning throwing up, then felt queasy off and on the next two days. I think I got whatever she had. I feel pretty good about bailing to a hotel tho- if I'm going to feel crappy, at least its on a rainy nasty day we don't want to hike anyway.
Date: 2010-11-17
From: Hagerstown Econolodge

To: Rocky Run Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: few clouds

So we have this thing with hotels- if I'm going to pay 50 bucks for a room, I want to sleep in, partake of the free breakfast, pack up leisurely and stay until checkout. Jasper feels the same. It does make it hard to do a big day tho. We took a cab back to the trail and hiked out into the cold. The tempature dropped with the front that brought the rain. Last weekend was pretty nice- shirt sleeves during the day, a little chilly at night, nothing below freezing.         Now its a little bit colder, but a lot more windy. We hike out wearing long sleeve hiking shirts, wind shirts, pants, hats, mittens. Our Aarn packs provide some warmth as well. As long as you are moving, you generate enough heat to be comfortable, but as soon as you stop, you have to throw on more layers.        Today we took our lunch break just past the Washington Monument. It was built in 1827, its a large bottle shaped stone tower with an interior spiral stone staircase that leads up to the viewing platform. Today was incredibly windy up there and we hung out just long enough to take our pictures and then headed down to find someplace out of the wind to eat our leftover pizza we packed out.         We hiked further along and I was surprised to find the water at Dahlgren backpacker Campground turned on. I was tempted to stay there only for the hot shower just before bed... and yes the hot water was on too- I checked. We make it to Rocky Run Shelter early enough to enjoy the afternoon light. The shelter is the same layout as Raven Rock a few days ago. There is another older shelter here- across the valley by the water source. It's still functional and there is an uncovered deck with tables for cooking and a two person swing.        The area around this shelter is really confusing. There is a blue blazed trail that leads to the water source and the old shelter. There is an old road bed that leads to the new shelter and then loops around to the old shelter and water source. There needs to be a connector between the blue blaze trail and the new shelter and a sign to the new shelter . We took the blue blaze and ended up bushwhacking to the new shelter cause we could see the trail was not going there. There are a couple metal lawn chairs at the new shelter and we pull them over by the firepit and sit on our foam pads for insulation. Jasper built a nice fire, our third of this trip.
Date: 2010-11-18
From: Rocky Run Shelter

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: scattered clouds

More windy ridge walking, some nice views at White Rock , then a late lunch at Gathland State Park. This area was a riot of color in the otherwise mostly monochromatic winter woods. There were yellow and red maples and big archway made of reddish stone- a monument to War Correspondents, plus a few more buildings made of various colored stone. I remember there being vending machines here, but we get there and the Coke machine has an out of order sign- its unplugged. We plug it back in and take our chances- we are rewarded with a bottle of Coke, then Jasper feeds it more money to get a Barq's root beer- but the machine gives him a Diet Coke. ugh. It also will not take any coins, just dollar bills, but it does give correct change. We unplug it when we are done, not willing to risk any more money for another undesirable soda. I share the Coke with Jasper and drink most of the Diet Coke too, despite not really caring for it and having an aversion to Aspartame.         We reach Ed Garvey Shelter- it was brand spanking new in 2001, I took a break here and my register entry was quoted in a local newspaper article about the shelter that my friend Loose Goose sent to me. 9 years later , the shelter has some signs of age. There is a lot of bird crap on the wall logs. It seems like its not being that well maintained.         But its still a great shelter- this section of trail - maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club has some super duper shelters- they seem to be in contest with each other for who has the nicest shelter. This shelter has a sleeping loft- well this one has benches around the fire pit, this one has a deck! This one has a swing! Ed Garvey shelter has an almost entirely enclosed upstairs loft accessible only via the stairs to the balcony on the opposite side from the opening to the main floor sleeping platform which faces a nice view and also has a couple benches that would be big enough to sleep on. The upstairs is only open to the elements where there is a railing looking down on the main floor. It' still cold up there, but its entirely out of the wind, so that's where we set up. I'll have to navigate the door to the back balcony and steep ladder down in the middle of the night, but that's okay, we are fairly toasty. We had fire number 4.
Date: 2010-11-20
From: Ridge past Harpers Ferry

To: David Lesser Shelter
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: broken clouds

So we've got a choice of 17 miles or so to Snickers Gap- or 28 miles to Ashby Gap to get picked up. Two days to hike. 14 mi a day sounds like not that much fun. And if we want to stay in a shelter, which you know we do- last night was the only time we've set the tent up this trip, our choices are 6.5 miles or 19 miles today. Umm. 6.5. It makes tomorrow's day a little longer- we'll have to get up early and push ourselves to get there by 3.         So we did a short day- we took a long break at Keys Gap- Jasper hiked down the road to a convience store to get water there. There were a couple nice views along the way, the trail stayed on the ridge. This shelter has a deck out front, a separate cooking pavilion with swing and picnic table, tent pads and fire pits with benches down the hill. The water is aways down as it often is, but there were a few empty gallon jugs of water, one half full- enough to delay going down there til tomorrow morning. We attempted to have a fire, but the wood just didn't want to cooperate, we had a fire going, but it insisted on being a very smoky tempermental fire that was no fun to hang out by, so we gave up and put it out.         I have come up with a novel solution my perptually cold rear end. This is a problem both around camp and in my sleeping bag. I borrowed Jasper's synthetic insulation vest and zipped it around my butt. The armholes serve as portals to the pockets in my pants. I am going to make an insulated skirt- I think I have the insulation already even. I did trip myself once going up a step, I need to add a stretchy panel on the sides or zippers maybe to have greater range of movement. All I know is my butt is extremely happy when wearing extra insulation!
Date: 2010-11-21
From: David Lesser Shelter

To: Snickers Gap
Miles today: 10.5

up and at em early. Jasper went down the water source and filled up two of the gallon jugs, we filtered one of them for our water and left the other for someone else. More windy ridge walking with some nice views, until the last part of the day- we started the infamous Roller Coaster section of trail- three steep ups with a couple steep downs in the middle. The ups and downs continue for about 10 more miles. I was happy to stop at Snickers Gap, where my friend Diane picked us up. I met her online last year, she ws going through chemo at the same time I was. She had her three kids with her in the car- they were all adorable. I wish we had been able to spend more time with her, but she had a busy weekend going on too- she drove us into the Baltimore area, where we arranged a meeting with MH. Once we were back with her, we stopped and ate dinner at great mexican place and then went back to shower at her folks before accompanying her to her indoor soccer game . before going to the game, Jasper jammed on the harmonica with MH's dad , who is a very talented piano player. We got a plane the next morning and were back in St. Louis, then drove home that night. Whew!
Date: 2010-04-01
From: Approach Trail

To: Springer Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

Our first day out was waking up in the back of my 2001 Jimmy that we left parked at Amicalola Falls State Park. Although we paid a $5 fee for leaving the car parked for virtually an indefinite amount of time, we randomly jotted down a date in September, unbeknownst to us how many miles we could and would end up covering in a much shorter period of time than we could have ever expected. After the, however many steps there are on the, "Approach trail", we ended our first day of hiking at Springer Mountain barely conquering a mile of what is truly the Appalachian Trail.
Date: 2009-02-25
To: We have decided its time for a walk in the woods.
Miles today: 0.0

Well it is official (since I am typing it here anyway!) Ham and I are planning on through hiking the AT starting March 15th, 2010. The story goes like this: our friend Rachel and my wife, Ham were chatting about 8 months ago and the two of then decided that they would hike the trail in 2009. Of course I wasn't going to let them go alone while I was back here working so I suggested a schedule change to 2010 so we could plan on hiking it together. Somehow that idea struck them as a good one (go figure) and the preparations have started. About half of our gear is purchased and we have been finding some great deals with the slow economy.
Date: 2009-03-15
To: One year to go!
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I am actually feeling a little anxiety today over the idea that this is the 1 year mark to the beginning of our hike in 2010. I can't help but think that I may not be able to pull this thing off. Many reservations about leaving my job for 6 months in an economy like we are suffering through. I am lucky to have work when the construction industry is being so hard hit. What can I do to insure our security while I am gone? I have been reading this years through hiker posts tonight and I find I want this more than ever! Boy this is hard! One positive is that we have been finding some great deals on gear. Just bought my pack at a $70- discount. Paid 27 dollars (after coupons and gift cards) for a 2 man tent from LL Bean last night. Weighs 2 ounces less than the Hubba Hubba. We can give it a try and send it back if it doesn't work out. I liked that it has a 8 foot long interior footprint.
Date: 2009-03-29
To: Packing up and getting excited
Miles today: 0.0

Well, it's been a few weeks and the Mrs and I are getting overly excited now that the hiking season has started. We have been reading this years hiking journals almost daily and can't wait until it is us on the trail! We both picked up our packs this week at REI and have started our practice gear packing to see what fits and what doesn't. We are getting close to having all the necessary equipment to start some practice hikes out into the White Mountains this spring and we both are getting giddy about it. I hope this year goes by fast!Brian & Ham