morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-11
From: Iron mountain Shelter

To: Road TN 91 cow pasture
Miles today: 4.6

After rumor that there would be some "pretty hunky dory trail magic" including burgers I left the shelter with high hopes. We were told it would be at the road crossing.. so every hiker who had heard about it was racing to road crossing! We didn't leave the shelter until 11:30 in the morning and planned to do a 16 mile day. Just before the road crossing was some trail magic! It was burgers, but it was a big metal box made by a local church. This heavenly box contained delicious little debbies and mountain dew! What a great treat! While the TC sat and snacked we asked some south bounding day hikers if they had seen anyone cooking burgers at the road crossing and no one had. We were bummed, but I was grateful anyway for the soda and snacks. Once I hit the trail I ran into some other hikers whose friend was picking them up. I stopped to chat and recieved a bonus! A nice cold beer! Once I was finished with the they then told me I should hurry up the trail toward the coe pasture because they just saw a bunch of people drag coolers up there. How exciting!So I made my way up the cow pasture and was greated with two big tents, music, and a ton of people! This group of 2013 hikers called Riff Raff coordinated this trail magic.. and it was great! With large amounts of beer and food I decided I wasn't going to be leaving today. Superfeet, Barnicles, and Tuna pushed on. I stayed and hung out and Champ had plenty of dogs to play around with! Including Kimber, Doggle's traildog! It was a great night! I also met a friend of my sister's son who is out here hiking the trail also! How cool is that?! So weird being out on the middle of the trail and having someone come up to you and ask "are you Knaffles? My mom worked with your sister!". Small World!
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Road TN 91 cow pasture

To: Abington Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was the first time on the trail I was able to see sunrise. All thanks to Smokin Bear who woke me up by sticking a cup of coffee up to my tent door for motivation. The sunrise was absolutely incredible. I need to wake up more often for them... maybe. I was up early but got nothing productive accomplished. I did not want to leave the Riff Raff camp without breakfast so I stuck around for it. Someone was nice enough to take my phone to charge it im the car but my lifeproof case prevented the phone from properly charging. Instead, they lent me their portable battery charger in camp. I waited until 3 in the afternoon and only had 30% battery but that was enough for music and to have a phone in case of emergency. Today I actually hiked fast! And maintained that pace! We were in a low water area and thankfully when I got to one of the road crossings I met a trail angel named Polar Bear who offered me some water he had gotten from a better spring down the road. That was a true blessing! Thank you again Polar Bear!
Date: 2014-05-13
From: Abington Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, Virginia
Miles today: 9.9

Today was an easy day with easy terrain. The highlight of today.. FINALLY out of Tennessee now! I have officially hit Virginia and I have rolled into Damascus, Virginia a few days ahead of Trail Days!As I walked into town I saw Smokin Bear sitting in the park. He pointed to where he was camped in a lawn and told me to speak to the owners pf the property. I knocked on the door and I was greated by two of the nicest trail angels yet! .Com and Fidget! They are both wonderful people who opened up their lawn gor us dirty hikers to camp in.. for free! With a porta potty included! How incredible these two are. This is where I landed until Sunday. It was nice knowing I had somewhere safe and quiet I could camp away from the crazyness of tent city!
Date: 2014-05-14
From: Damascus, Virginia

To: New Jersey
Miles today: 794.5

Just an update to make my mileage accurate. Between Damascus I got to enjoy the Grayson Highlands where wild ponies roam, got to hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway, finish up Virginia, hike through West Virginia and arrived at Harper's Ferry (flipflop number 72 on July 12th! Same day my nephew was born!), finished up historic Maryland, and got into rocky Pennsylvania where my Pine Grove Furnace entry was, up until Jersey when I got off. Ill still try to fill the rest in after my hike.
Date: 2014-07-24
From: Quarry Gap Shelters

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: broken clouds

So I need to apologize for being so far behind on my journals. When I get back to New Jersey I will update from Damascus to the halfway point. I am going to start to journal starting from now on so I don't have to worry about being behind. I will update you all once I start updating the missing portion of my trip. For those of you who do not know.. I have decided to flip flop. I am moving very slow and after getting the norovirus in Catawba, VA I had lost motivation to hike or do more than 10 miles a day. I kept moving forward though and I am still on the trail. I will flip flop north when I get to New Jersey after visiting family for a brief period of time. Okay! For today!! I have finally hit the OFFICIAL 2014 halfway point of the AT. Super exciting! Champ and I have almost 1000 miles under our paws. (Skipped Shenandoah for now to save on money.. did the Shenandoahs last year.) Today was our first day over 13.5 in a long time.. and it felt good! I was going to do a few more miles today but I participated in the half gallon ice cream challenge (1.5 quart actually). I didn't make it far after that. I am proud to say I finished the entire serving (in a difficult 55 minutes). I have my wooden spoon. Higher miles, a large quantity of ice cream, and half a frozen pizza after.. I feel very accomplished. PS! Nighttrain and JerseyGirl! Leave your email in my guest book so I can get in contact with you guys!
Date: 2014-08-24
From: Culvers Gap, NJ

To: Sunrise Mountain, NJ
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I've been home since the 20th but still needed to do the section from Culver's Gap to Sunrise Mountain so my official "end" point of the trail can be Sunrise MTN. I didn't slackpack because I have a new pack I am still testing to decide if I like or not. Dad was able to drop me off and come back for me later. It was nice to have him meet me at Sunrise Mountain. It reminded me of when he walked up to Springer with me. Saw several SOBOs today, which was cool. Kind of bummed that my own SOBO will definitely leave me pretty alone for the majority of the trail remaining. Looking forward to seeing some of my NOBO friends though on my down.
Date: 2014-08-28
From: South End of Bear Mountain Bridge

To: West Mountain Shelter Blue Blaze
Miles today: 7.0

I arrived in Jersey on the 20th of August. Since then I have been trying to make plans to get up to Maine and figure things out for my flip flop. I have been going stir crazy here at home for so long and decided it would be a good idea to do some of the NY section I haven't done within the last year to help keep my trail legs and to get back into the woods. I can also skip a good portion of trail from Bear Mountain to mid-Jersey if I want on my SOBO now. My grandma dropped me off at the Bear Mountain Bridge and watched Champ while I explored the zoo. I met a wonderful volunteer who told me all about Samantha the Bald Eagle's life. Beautiful creature. I walked around at all of the animals and said hi to the bears, the cage being the lowest point on the AT at 163ft, and finally ventured my way out back to the recreation area to pick up Champ. Bear Mountain Lake/Hessian Lake is beautiful! I enjoyed the walk around before the difficult climb up Bear Mountain. So many stairs!! And after a week without hiking.. dang did that climb hurt afterwards. I took a slow walk throughout the day, stopping at all of the views to rest and enjoy being in the moment. It was amazing to be back in the woods. I finally decided I would call it quits at the first shelter, but on my way to the shelter I found a beautiful grassy area on the blue blaze to camp. Perfectly set up to watch a beautiful sunset there. I was bummed after finding out the shelter has awesome views of the NYC skyline, but thankfully I live close enough I could do that section again and actually go to the shelter. For this trip though.. I couldn't have asked for a better camping location. Beautiful and quiet. I didn't see anyone most of the day today once I crossed the Palisades Parkway (which felt like frogger).
Date: 2014-08-29
From: West Mountain Shelter Blue Blaze

To: Fingerboard Shelter
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day two of my section hike. I woke up to the wind sending a breeze into the door of my tent. When I finally decided to crawl out I laid around for over two hours just relaxing and looking at the wonderful view. I didn't see anyone else until about 1230 in the afternoon when day hikers finally started passing my campsite on the blue blaze toward the shelter. After eating I packed up and moved along slowly. It was nice to not care about whether or not I was going to make 15 to 20 miles today. I had 8 miles planned and had all day to do it. Today was wonderful, slow, and relaxing. When I got to the William Brien Memorial Shelter I sprawled out in the grass and stayed there for another two hours after lunch. Just a breeze, the sun, the leaves beginning to fall, and reading to make the afternoon wonderful. I ended up sunset hiking to Fingerboard shelter. It was absolutely beautiful. At the top of the mountain where the shelter was located was long rock faces to walk over, surrounded by thick long grass. The sunset painted the sky. It was incredible to see. When I finally got to the shelter it was pretty full, to be expected due to it being a friday, but so were most of the campsites. When I finally found a good campsite I found someone had thought the middle of said campsite was perfect for their bear bag... so I got to sleep under bear bait all night. Other than that, it was another good night.
Date: 2014-08-30
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: East Mombasha Rd (NY)
Miles today: 8.6

Today was the finish of my small but fun section hike of NY. I got to talk to a lot of awesome section and day hikers today. A great group of younger peeps gave me STRAWBERRIES and CHOCOLATE. Yes!!! I then met a pretty cool guy named Miner who is doing some section hikes. I hiked with him for a few hours and ran into some more trail magic. A cooler at Orange Turnpike full of a bunch of goodies including OJ, gatorade, ravioli, nutty bars, and so much more. Courtesy of a wonderful church group who even had a small shelter with a first aid station set up at the top of the mountain. Big thank you to them! What a great day!Glad to be home and tomorrow I will be going to a Red Bulls (soccer team) away game on a bus with a crazy (but awesome) group of people. This was a decision I made about an hour ago. After this game I get to be home for my niece's second birthday! Pretty excited I actually get to be here for it since I was working during her birthday last year!! Yippy!! Packing is occurring and final plans are being made. Maine, I will be with you soon.
Date: 2014-09-03
To: Monson
Miles today: 69.0

So while I was home for two weeks I did a 23 mile section from the Southern end of Bear Mountain Bridge to East Mombasha road to get some miles out of the way. I did a 26.9 mile section from East Mombasha Rd to Long House Drive within the last Calender year for my practice hike last year, along with a section from NJ 23 to 517 near Vernon. If I am still feeling good and it is not too cold I may redo a lot of the northern portion of New Jersey but we shall see. All together I have about 18.8 miles left to complete in NJ which will be saved until the end so I can officially end at Sunrise Mountain, NJ. Made it to Monson around 7am but had a wonderful drive with my grandmother up to Maine. I was so exhausted I napped throughout the day in between most of my errands.
Date: 2014-09-04
From: Monson

To: Leeman Brook lean to
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: scattered clouds

So I was dropped off here yesterday morning. I have had all day to relax and finish last minute packing. Kind of feels like Georgia- being dropped off in a comoletely different location not knowing how anything will be here. Got out late because I fell asleep without putting my phone on tgr charger so I did short miles today. After a two week break I felt it was better to take it slow anyway. As I was sitting at the shelter relaxing one hiker comes up the trail, who I found out was Shakespeare, and then I hear "Knaffles?" and I see Little Spoon! So exciting to see someone I know.. and so close to the end. Didn't see Little Spoon again after today either, so I am glad to have gotten the chance to hang out with him one last time.
Date: 2014-09-05
From: Leeman Brook lean to

To: Long Pond Stream Lean to
Miles today: 12.1

Left the shelter feeling confident that I could move fast and make some miles today. Elevation profile didn't look very difficult. I was wrong and unprepared for the abrupt up and downs that Maine has to offer along with lots of roots. Slippery roots. About 3.5 miles in to the day, which was about .2 away from the first ford, I slipped down a downhill with slippery roots. I came down extremely hard on my tail bone and was afraid I may have broken it. Thankfully I probably only bruised it but from that point on walking and sitting were a chore. I got over the river crossing which was an easy rock hop before taking an hour break. With vitamin I (ibuprofun) and my new trail chore, a ukulele, I was starting to feel better. The fall slowed me down for the rest of the day. I reached Big Wilson Stream which you also have to ford. It was up to my thigh but it was warm out so it was a nice cool down. And it was fun! Left Turn and Wiki (who I met earlier in the day) arrived shortly after I did. They both forded first. Left turn helped pull my pack along the rope that was strung over the river while I assisted Champ through the water. I made it to Long Pond Lean to half an hour before dark and decided not to push on. Spent the night with Motown, Sonic (haven't seen since Duncannon!), havetu, mowgli.. and I think I am forgetting others. Anyway, they were a great group and I fell asleep cracking up.
Date: 2014-09-06
From: Long Pond Stream Lean to

To: Cloud Pond Lean To
Miles today: 4.0

Today was slow moving and I didn't make it very far. Those who know me know I am not a strong hiker when it comes to uphills- especially if they are steep. Coming out of the shelter I had to climb Barren Mountain which slowed me down big time. I was down to a mile per hour. Thunderstorms were forecasted for early afternoon and once I made it to Barren Ledges, still about 1.8 miles from the summit it started to drizzle. I pushed it to get to the top and once I did I could see the storms in tbe distance moving around. I had been hiking im a storm back near Boiling Springs, PA with Dromadary and Butterscotch when we were nearly struck by lighting so I am not very optimistic about hiking in storms again. I began descending Barren Mountain and got to Cloud Pond lean to around 1:30 in the afternnoon and storms were forecasted to start around 2. After a short, but difficult difficult 4 miles I decided to hunker down in the shelter out of the rain. It didn't stop raining until about 7:30 so I called it a day. I was glad by the decision to stay dry because the storm brought it a cold front and it was cold! Glad I wasn't wet!
Date: 2014-09-07
From: Cloud Pond Lean To

To: East Chairback Pond
Miles today: 9.5

My back has made it difficult to sleep comfortably so I left the shelter pretty late today. It was another slow day, and very cold compared to how warm the past few days had been. Came to fourth mountain bog before climbing fourth mountain which had some cool pitcher plants, the kind that catch and eat bugs. The day was full of views which made the climbing worth it. Toward the end of the day the trail came down Chairback Mountain down an old rockslide which was fun. Anything that requires using your hands other than just hiking is always fun on the trail! Switches it up a bit. Since it was supposed to get even colder tonight I decided to get down in elevation. I camped at East Chairback Pond which was supposed to have campsites .2 miles off trail, but it was a barely used trail that felt like it was .4 off trail. I had the beautiful campsite off the pond to myself for the night.
Date: 2014-09-08
From: East Chairback Pond

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean to
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: light rain

Woke up to a bunch of loons calling from the pond and got to watch the sunrise. It was incredibly beautiful and I was super excited to be here in Maine. I love the sounds of loons- I have always associated it with the mysterious wild. Today was packed with easy hiking, the hermitage (super old and big pines), and another ford. I got my shoes wet during the ford. From the shoreline of the river there was a line of rocks leading all the way to the other side. It looked like an easy rock hop until I got about 3/4 of the at through. I either had to stretch my leg out on an unstable rock, which my shoes suck while gripping wet rock, or turn around and get back to shore to take my shoes off. I paid the price for being stubborn. When I reached over to the rock my foot slipped off and my shoe went directly into the shin deep water. I ended up walking the rest in my shoes.I got to the shelter early afternoon and was going to push on but wasn't sure how long it would take me to hike up Whitecap Mountain. I didn't want to get stuck up in higher elevation for the night so I called it an easy day and spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun drying out my shoes and clothing.
Date: 2014-09-09
To: Logan Brook Lean to
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Today my only goal was to get up and over Whitecap Mountain. I figured it would be difficult like Barren Mountain but it wasn't. It was a pretty nice hike and I was in no rish. There were two shelterd after Whitecap so I figured I would make it to either one and be happy with my progress.While I was sitting on Whitecap trying to coordinate a mid wilderness resupply via text with my father (thank you again!!) Salty and his father OK showed up! I haven't seen them since Fort Bastian in Virginia! This was my first view of Katahdin and it was incredible. The site of such an impressive mountain, one I would be standing on the summit of very soon, filled me with emotions. It was my first goal on this trip so actually knowing I was going to get to it was difficult to comprehand. I can't explain it. It was just a good, bittersweet feeling. I only made it to the first shelter after whitecap by the time I finished coordinating the resupply. Spent the night with Salty, OK, and a bunch of others tonight. It was great seeing familiar faces standing near a fire for the first time in a long time. Temperatures are getting colder now! Especially at night.. brrr!! Champ, being the traitor that he is, was found snuggled up in between Salty and Ok later in the night. Not cool!
Date: 2014-09-10
From: Logan Brook Lean to

To: JoMary Road
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

My mid wilderness resupply was supposed to be dropped off at JoMary road on the 11th.. but my Dad wasn't sure if it would be dropped off at 11am or 1pm so I decided I would get to the road today and camp there. It was forecasted to rain and I didn't want to walk and wait in the rain with it being cold out. Terrain was pretty easy. It felt good move at a goof pace, take a lot of breaks, and still make good mileage! My first big day since I got off in New Jersey!When I got to JoMary road there were some section hikers named Martha and Karen who were getting off due to foot issues. They invited me to hang out by their fire and provided plenty of trail magic for me! They gave me some of their snacks, a breakfast, tiger balm, took my trash, and let me try a mountain house type meal made here in Maine called good to go (which was super delicious!!) I really enjoyed their company and definitely appreciate all of the trail magic they gave me. I apologize for a lack of pictures. They are all on my other camera.
Date: 2014-09-11
From: JoMary Road

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It hadn't rained yet when I woke up but I still decided to keep my tent up until I picked up my resupply. I hung out with Martha and Karen until their ride out of the wilderness showed up- which ended up being Phil from 100mile wilderness adventures who I stayed with in Monson! Before he left he gave me some trail magic too! A little debbie, snacks, and soda! Very much appreciated!! I soon saw tortellini (formerly tortoise) and her father Just Paul! So cool to see them this close to the end! And they're so happy! Congrats guys!My resupply through Shaws ended up being at 1pm so I passed the morning in my sleeping bag practicing my ukulele while it rained on and off. As I was walking to the road when Shaw's showed up.. I see DoubleR! So awesome! I stayed and talked to him for awhile, Shqw's brought some more soda, and DoubleR said his friends would be coming soon with some snacks and beers. I was just so excited to see DoubleR so I stayed to talk with him and catch up. I haven't seen him since the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina! Long story short- I ended up zeroing.
Date: 2014-09-12
From: JoMary Road

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean to
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: broken clouds

For once I was up early and moving fast. Terrain today was surprisingly easy and FLAT! It was great! I wanted to make up for the zero day so I decided on a higher mileage day. I flew the first half of the day and took several breaks. I heard the Antlers Campsite was nice so I went to check it out. The day was extremely windy so being able to duck out of the wind and into the sunshine on the sandy beach of JoMary Lake seemed like a good idea. It felt great to defrost myself! Potaywadjo shelter had a huge spring past it. It was the most delicious water I have had in a long time. Ohh its the little things in life that make a hiker happy. Met Patches and The Viking at the shelter- I had briefly met The Viking in the past but never really got to talk. Double R and turtle were there too and after talking we figured out we were all headed to Wadleigh shelter for the night. It would be a good crew. A few miles after Potaywadjo shelter I caught up with Double R and Turtle while they were taking a break. We decided to hike together. I took the lead to keep a good pace. At some point I walked straight into a mud puddle that engulfed my foot up to my lower shin. Champ was behind me and took an alternative route giving me his "that was dumb" look as we all laughed. We followed a brook for most of the second half of the day and stopped only twice, once to get water and once to enjoy Nahmakanta Lake. About half a mile from the shelter we see two people standing in Nahmakanta Lake up to their knees. It ended up being Patch and The Viking. They asked us to keep the fire going at the shelter because they were looking for freshwater muscles. When I got to the shelter we set up and collected extra firewood. The Viking and Patch returned with a HUGE bag of muscles! Ridiculously huge! They cooked them over the fire and were eating them for well over an hour and a half. I ate quite a few too and they were pretty good! I mixed them into my Knorrs pasta side with some ramen seasoning. For once I was feeling pretty satisfied. What a great dinner.