morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-06-30
From: Duncannon, PA (The Doyle)

To: Table Rock
Miles today: 10.5

Late start due to drunkenness this morning (last nights' drunkenness, that is; we haven't been drinking this morning). We left after brunch and a crossword puzzle around 1:30. Vicki, co-owner of the Doyle, kindly offered us a ride around the railroad underpass, which was still underwater.Mile-a-minute weed is taking over Peter's Mountain.
Date: 2006-07-01
From: Table Rock

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Happy Canada Day, one and all. Marc is wearing his pajamas in honor of the independence of his homeland. Even though the queen is still on their money. We've been singing "Oh, Cananda" all day long, and I think I've finally got it. There are days on the trail when it just feels good to walk, days when nothing bothers you and it is sheer simple bliss to just be out here hiking from one place to another. Today was one of those days. We had lunch in a rhododendron thicket by a creek. I'll think of this a year from now when I'm having lunch in some cafeteria somewhere.
Date: 2006-07-02
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: broken clouds

Blue Mountain (a.k.a. Kittatinny Ridge) is more than a mountain, really. It's a ridge that covers a huge area and basically connects eastern and western Pennsylvania. It stretches over 160 miles of this trail across Pennsylvania, and continues in New Jersey and New York. It's an important conservation area, and an important migration pathway for songbirds and raptors. So it would be unfair for me to state categorically, "Blue Mountain is a weedy, invasive-ridden, openly hot and sunny piece of crap" just because it was this morning. Garlic mustard, Japanese stilt-grass, and tree-of-heaven everywhere. The trail wasn't very well-maintained, either, which can be doubly annoying when the trailside plant-life consists mainly of prickly rose- and raspberry-bushes.We did have a good time this afternoon, basking in a thunderstorm and charging up a rocky mountainside to 501 Shelter, which was full tonight. 501 is another one of those much-loved and talked-about places on the trail where you can order pizza. It's also a fully enclosed building that looks somewhat like a double-wide trailer, complete with dining table and chairs, and mattress-less bunks. We got a large pizza with four kinds of pig on it. I don't know if it's the actual pizza or just the knowledge that I've just eaten that much meat, but I'm not feeling very well tonight.
Date: 2006-07-03
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: scattered clouds

It is my firm opinion that there is nothing in the world more fun than a rope-swing. We spent two hours at Hertlein Campsite along with Homecookin' and Doublezip, having lunch and jumping from the rope into the freezing-cold, double-stream-fed pond. It's one of those magical places that you just feel special for having "discovered", though it's certainly been discovered by many others (there a bunch of day-hikers there today, in fact). Sharing's no problem, but the steep trails that surround the sunken pond are helping the hillside to erode pretty badly. We're beginning to see more rocks (not surprising, since we've been waiting for them since the PA border), but I'm sure this isn't the worst of it. It's still important to be careful where you step -- I disturbed a rattlesnake under one of the rocks today and it rattled at me. Thank god he has that ability. The understory here is mainly blueberry and other heaths, with some rhododendron. It's like walking through a garden of knee-high bushes, with enough trees to provide ample shade.E-A-G-L-E-S -- EAGLES! We're excited to be here at the Eagle's Nest, though pre-season is still a month and a half away. We were singing the fightsong at the top of our lungs toward the end of our hike today -- sorry for scaring the wildlife.
Date: 2006-07-04
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Made it to Port Clinton for the 4th of July. We stumbled down the last steep hillside onto the railroad tracks to be welcomed by Yo-Yo and Zero, a couple of past thru-hikers bearing fruit and beer. And I know everything tastes better to a fresh-food-deprived hiker, but I'm being totally objective when I say watermelon and cantaloupe was never fresher, or sweeter, or juicier. Our joy was only slightly tempered by the fact that we're about to meet my mom, who will drive us back to Philly for a two-week vacation (from our vacation).Double-zip and Homecookin' are along for the ride, to experience the celebration of independence in the city of our nation's birth. I hope the show isn't all crappy this year.Our wedding is in ten days, and four days after that, we'll be right back here in front of the Port Clinton Hotel, ready to begin Part II of our adventure!
Date: 2006-07-19
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: scattered clouds

We're back in the woods today, though the polish still clings to my nails, and our new ring tattoos are still scabby on our fingers. It was a good idea to get off the trail for a few weeks and gain some perspective. How could I have forgotten what the world was like in just a few months? But I did. Hiking again, finally, I'm thinking less about things like how much further we have to go, where's the next town, what our uncertain post-trail future holds, etc. So far I'm just enjoying what's around me right now, like the bright-orange mini-mushrooms spiking out of the moist ground and the salamanders that match them. We talked a little about boredom on the trail - we haven't really gotten bored yet, but nothing all that exciting has happened, either. Marc thinks people have the idea that, hiking the AT, some "big exciting thing" is bound to happen to you. Or you'll have some kind of grand philosophical epiphany. But it doesn't, and you don't. In this respect, hiking's a little like real life. When enjoying the trail, we decided, it's important not to expect more than it offers. Sure, sometimes there will be sudden glimmer of mental clarity, and sometimes we'll see something fantastically beautiful -- but these things will happen at home too, if we'll just take the time to notice them.There are some amazing things about the summer here in PA; for example, how does a single spruce tree in an otherwise deciduous forest create such a forcefield of coolness around it? And if it weren't for the heat, we couldn't enjoy these breezes. Today's highlight was "The Pinnacle", apparently one of the best views in a state that's not well-known for its great views. It's a 180 degree view of farms, forests, and hills. Sure, we've seen better -- but not lately. There was a huge congregation of buzzards gliding back and forth. Two of the tribe sat calmly on the rocks staring right right back at us, so close we could almost count their feathers.Eckville shelter has a shower, toilet, and caretaker who lives in a house about 10 feet away. It's strange to have his kids running around and a road going by; makes it feel like we're squatting in someone's backyard. We decided to camp in the field across the street, which is actually much more pleasant. The prevalent lightening bugs remind me of summers when I was small enough to chase them for hours.
Date: 2006-07-20
From: Eckville Shelter

To: New Tripoli Campsite
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: scattered clouds

If there's a common thread in shelter registers lately, it's that everybody hates PA. The serious Pennsylvania rocks started around Dan's Pulpit this morning and lasted a few miles, though the rest of the day was pretty nice walking. Those rocks really slowed me down, though -- I am pretty cautious because I'm clumsy to begin with, and my knee has been acting up. There were some real hawks (not buzzards) flying around Dan's Pulpit, so we relaxed there for a little while. We seem to have hit that portion of the trail on which you can find a burger everyday. Today we stopped in to Blue Mountain Summit B&B to get a beer and take a break from the heat and bugs.The mosquitoes are beginning to be unbearable. We haven't been carrying bug-spray, but the very moment I get to Palmerton, I've got to find some. I hate the stuff -- the smell, the chemicals -- but there comes a point where it becomes worth it. And that point was today.
Date: 2006-07-21
From: New Tripoli Campsite

To: Palmerton, PA 
Miles today: 11.8

I shouldn't have mocked them last night. As soon as we got to camp, we threw up the tent as fast as humanly possible, dove inside, and peeled off our sweaty clothes. I looked up to find a thick cloud of mosquitoes pressed up against the mesh of the tent, just dying for a crack at some of that skin (mosquitoes are actually attracted to the carbon dioxide animals emit when they breathe, but that's not how it seemed). I pointed at them and laughed: "Haha, suckers, you can't get me, can you??" But they hovered there all night, knowing that eventually we would have to emerge from our cocoon to forage (our food, of course, was hanging in a tree). So today was kind of a nightmare, trying not to kill myself on rocks while simultaneously holding poles and slapping mosquitoes every three seconds. Before today, if you'd told me that killing something could give me a feeling of satisfaction, I'd have said that was sick. Well, I still think it's sick, but now I know it's possible.Those rocks came out as soon as we set off today, huge jumbles of boulders and smaller rocks, some pointed dangerously straight up. The section they call the "knife-edge" was particularly harrowing. It seemed very dangerous to me as I gingerly stepped from rock to rock, often holding on with both hands, occasionally sliding down on my butt. At least it was completely fogged in, so I wasn't distracted by a view. The rocks calmed down after a few miles, returning in fits for the rest of the day (especially around Bake Oven Knob). Challenging, but not entirely un-fun (contrary to what you may read in the registers in this section).Today we crossed the PA turnpike (Northeast extension). I've traveled this road too many times to count, on my way to ski in the Poconos or hike in New York, and always wondered what was on top of that Kittatinny Tunnel. So, for anyone else who's wondered the same thing: it's BLUEBERRIES! A beautiful heathland full of juicy, delicious, currently ripe blueberries, stout pines and birches, sweet-smelling ferns, and mountain laurel. I can't imagine a more wonderful thing to learn. I wonder how many of the people in the cars under our feet know what is up here?Happy to be in Palmerton, out of the sun, with bug-spray (I was literally not leaving this town without it). The hostel is in the basement of city-hall, it's free, and it's pretty clean and convenient. It's raining like crazy right now. With any luck, it'll cool things down out there tomorrow.
Date: 2006-07-22
From: Palmerton, PA 

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

The climb out of Lehigh Gap is certainly not a typical one. We had a nice foggy day today, so the mid-summer sun wasn't brutally reflected on the shadeless, barren landscape (as I know it has been for the last few days). SuperFund site though it may be, Lehigh Gap offers a peek at what we know must be under the trees and grasses of the rest of PA's mountains: just boulders piled atop one another, with smaller stones to fill in some of the gaps. They don't fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, but are rather precariously stacked, without any dirt or vegetation to fill in these cracks. Some unnaturally old dead trees still stand, or lie about in heaps, for lack of microbes to break down their tissues.This bizarre moonscape, out of place here in the green Endless Mountains, is the result of a sole zinc smelting plant that existed in the town of Palmerton until about 30 years ago. Efforts to rebuild the mountain's vegetation are underway as planes spray the area with the seeds of hardy grasses, in hopes that they will take root and bring the area back to normal. Marc says, "There's one good thing about zinc: no bugs. I love zinc!" He has a point -- there are not even any mosquitoes here on this gray mountain. Today we saw the biggest blacksnake I have ever seen. It must have been six feet long.
Date: 2006-07-23
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Everyone is overjoyed to be finished with PA. I think the mood is even more relieved than it was when we all finished VA. Rocks continued today, and rumor has it that the PA rocks don't really end until somewhere around High Point, NJ. In fact, this is a pretty big topic of conversation these days, and a point of contention: just when DO these damn rocks end, anyway??? Ask a former thru-hiker, or a southbounder, and you'll hear, "Oh, this is the end," or "Oh, not until after NJ!" or "Well, they actually go all the way to southern Maine!" or even, "What rocks?" I guess it all depends on your outlook.For the record, we had a very pleasant day today with no humidity. Yes, no humidity, in PA, in the middle of summer. It can happen. Saw some more unnaturally large wildlife: another huge blacksnake and one absolutely colossal dragonfly which actually chased me for taking its picture. This was terrifying. This church-basement hostel smells like a locker room, but I guess that's inevitable given the crowds that seem to congregate here. First night is free, and a stay of as long as three days isn't even frowned upon. So, lots of people are staying two or three days, recovering from PA. Unfortunately, it also seems to be a popular place to leave the trail, for people who run out of money, or time, or will.
Date: 2006-07-24
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Catfish Firetower
Miles today: 12.9

There's no swimming in Sunfish Pond, according to the signs posted on every single tree in the vicinity. As far as I can tell everyone does it anyway, maybe because Wingfoot implies in his guidebook that it's perfectly okay to ignore the signs. "Hardly anyone can resist the temptation" he says. Well, the swimming's okay, not great, though the surrounding woods are a nice breezy place for lunch, which we ate in the soft grass under a giant hickory. Sunfish Pond happens to be the southernmost glacial pond on the AT, so maybe everyone's just excited to have a sizable, natural body of water on the trail.The rocks have not yet improved (no, we didn't really think the Delaware River was a magical forcefield, and rocks could not penetrate into the state of NJ). The views from the ridge today were great, and the ridge itself very pretty, covered in grasses, blueberries, goldenrod, and other summer flowers. Tonight we're cowboy camping (despite the bugs) under a new moon at Catfish Firetower. An odd choice, maybe, but the stars glow brightly in such a dark sky. Sunset was mediocre, the sun just a perfect blood-red ball sinking into the ridge. We found the gaggle of boy scouts camped under the tower to be much more entertaining -- some of the littlest ones can't get their tent up properly, and it keeps falling in on them. Maybe some of the big ones should stop playing cards and help...
Date: 2006-07-25
From: Catfish Firetower

To: Culver Firetower
Miles today: 17.4

Our NJ firetower tour continues. Tonight we are, at least, alone and tenting. Though we were briefly disturbed by a kid on an ATV, speeding around the firetower and back down a powerline right-of-way. Sun today, relentless on the ridge. But I have concluded that NJ has the nicest breezes I've ever experienced. There is really nothing like that fresh gust taking away all the sun's heat and fatigue and misery in a split second, and suddenly all is right with nature again. Beaver Pond today was little but a thriving colony of water lilies, of which I took many pictures. I also love these NJ pine trees. The soil is acidic and the ridge windy, so they end up looking rather like bonsai. Town-stops in the mid-atlantic are really not at all like the over-eating, money-spending orgies of the south. Franklin, Hot Springs, Damascus, Pearisburg, Waynesboro -- all were like little islands of comfort and convenience in a week-long sea of trees. Further north, it's a restaurant here, a snackbar there, sodas from the vending machines in the state park, etc. We're having trouble eating out of our foodbags lately (there's still a dinner from Port Clinton in here). The trail's conveniences have been good to us in the summer heat, though -- everyday there's a lake to swim in, or a bar with AC.Tonight we wandered right of the trail into Gyp's Tavern, all hot and sweaty and exhausted, for a beer and a burger. Kid's Meal was busy slaughtering elk, moose, and god knows what else in a game of Buck Hunter when we arrived, while Hollywood and Super Dave were waiting for their food and already dreading the walk back outside. The food turned out to be great and Kid's Meal turned out to be a vegetarian. Gyp's is a pleasantly seedy, laid-back local bar, and we felt like we could have stayed and drank beer until close. But then where would we sleep?
Date: 2006-07-26
From: Culver Firetower

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

The way people were looking at me in the restroom at Lake Marcia today, you'd think it was a strange thing to be washing one's socks in the sink at an NJ state park. Huh.Trail's still full of rocks out here, and the walking is a little more rough because it is 11 miles between water sources. Still, the trail is pretty (apparently it surprises some hikers that all of NJ is not a cesspool of pollution and wall-to-wall people) and we got to swim in the lake and shower this afternoon. A large group has hijacked the shelter tonight, and put up a tent right it front of it, so as to render it uninhabitable. This is considered very rude by trail standards, and I could go over there and ask them nicely to move it. I'm too tired, though, so we'll tent over here by ourselves. I don't mind; I don't think there's anything more relaxing and pleasant than lying on one's back and staring up into tree branches (I believe I've been doing it my whole life, don't remember when it started). You can't do that in a shelter.
Date: 2006-07-27
From: High Point Shelter

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: haze

PA is supposed to be where boots go to die, but Marc's made it all the way to Sara's Soda Shop in Unionville, NY. Is this journal starting to read like more of a catalog of mid-atlantic snackbars and restaurants than a hike on the AT? Sorry about that, but I have to tell the world how great these milkshakes are. And this IS part of an AT hike, like it or not. Yeah, theoretically you could go through skipping unnecessary towns and turning down all the roadside ice cream you want (and I'm sure some hikers do), but really, what are you trying to prove? The fact is, the AT is not all wilderness, and I've found its more enjoyable to just accept it.We picked up my nephew Scott today, and he's just stepped on my sleeping bag with his muddy boots. Boy am I mad! No, not too mad, because he did make it up the hill to this shelter, only complaining a lot. We were lucky and got to the shelter before the rain started.I'm enjoying the wetlands around here. Today we remembered some advice a woman gave us a few weeks ago: she said, when we got to this spot, we should cut across the road and avoid this "pointless field they make you walk around for no reason." The "pointless field" turned out to be the Walkill National Wildlife Refuge, full of cool plants, lots of birds, and dragonflies. This is why you shouldn't take anyone's advice on this trail -- it's a lesson we learned early.
Date: 2006-07-28
From: Pochuck Mountain Shelter

To: Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 6.5

It was brutally hot today, but the highlight was still crossing a huge cattail marsh on a boardwalk.In deference to our temporary hiking parter (trailname: Noob) who appeared to be on the verge of melting, we took it easy today and stopped in at the Episcopal church hostel in Vernon tonight. It's a nice place, but they ask for a $10 donation, AND for you to do some rather involved "chores". Shampoo your carpets for a nights' lodging? Not likely. But we had a good time watching movies and playing mini-golf at the DQ. Just like summer vacation.
Date: 2006-07-29
From: Vernon, NJ

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: few clouds

We bid good-bye to Noob and Vernon, NJ and headed up Wawayanda Mountain, feeling very energetic and happy. I wish Noob had enjoyed his hike more, but he insists that "the only thing worse than trees is fields." Is it normal for suburban high-schoolers to hate nature? I loved the field at the bottom of Wawayanda, on the way out of Vernon: full of grasses, pines, lacy flowers, purple bee-balm, clover, black-eyed susans, etc. We didn't make it to Wildcat until after dark, having stopped (yeah, again) for ice-cream. It was right there -- how could we say no? Anyway, we arrived at the shelter at 8:40, and mosquitoes chased us into our tent at 9:05. I'm sorry if we annoyed the two guys already there with our moving about, but I really can't believe they got much sleep with all the mosquitoes in that shelter.
Date: 2006-07-30
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Harriman State Park
Miles today: 16.4

Harriman State Park is kind of odd and ugly. The trail is badly eroded and sometimes poorly blazed, and there is no understory to speak of, save for grasses and ericaceous shrubs (I will admit the blueberries are fantastic, though Marc still believes they are "not worth bending down for"). The poor deer are simply emaciated (we saw six just today), and I can't imagine what they're even eating. The chipmunks continue to behave adorably, actually peeking out from under rocks and looking at you from their safe haven. Though there seems to be a pretty extensive invasive plant survey going on in the area, I don't see a lot of promise for the future of this particular park. I had every intention of making it to William Brien Shelter today, but here were are, three miles short, camping illegally on the side of the trail in Harriman State Park.What happened? Well, first was Arden Mountain, the worst climb we've seen in a LONG time. I know southbounders think everything is a piece of cake, having come through the White Mountains, but they call what was for us a terrible, life-threateningly steep descent "Agony Grind". It's not good. Then a trail angel named Johnson distracted us at the bottom with Pepsis, oranges, and candy. It was just like Christmas. Finally, we just couldn't resist a dip in Tiorati Lake, where we had the pleasure of bathing with a whole lot of New Yorkers. One retired cop we talked to seemed pretty concerned about us being out in the woods with all those "crazies". he shook his head at our folly as he climbed back into his car and headed home to the safe streets of NYC...So it wasn't our fault. But tomorrow, I promise, nothing comes between me and the Friary. Seriously.