morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-10-07
From: WHLWC/Mahar Tote Road

To: Pollywog Stream
Miles today: 0.0

1.2 off-trail milesHad another restful night at WHL with Wu Li (chattier once Jack was gone), Collin, a quiet SOBO, and Mamma's Boy, a friend of Swix and Squatter. Good company! We parted ways at the trailhead this morning, wishing each other luck, since we may be spread out over three days, based on our respective hiking speeds. Collin looked a little shell-shocked after the mix of advice and horror stories the NOBOs had to tell him. Hope he isn't too discouraged!Was upset to read some unkind things in the Wadleigh Stream Lean-to trail register about White House Landing -- mostly things that hikers either brought on themselves or upon other hikers by behaving badly. I don't understand people -- especially thru-hikers -- who expect McDonald's prices and speed out in the middle of the wilderness. And the sense of entitlement some of them have is jarring. Gives creedence to my theory that some are out here simply because they've run out of venues closer to whom in which to offend people. Besides, someone who balks at an $8 hamburger with a POUND of beef in it just doesn't get out much! Anyway, I wrote far too much in the register about it and probably managed to offend a few people myself.Was hoping that Wu Li might show up to share my campsite, but he must have stopped earlier. I've got a nice flat patch of dirt in the woods on the other side of the trail from the Pollywog Stream. (Aren't pollywogs frog spawn? I read recently that the existence of salamanders and frogs is a sign of the health of a forest. Haven't seen so many lately.)
Date: 2004-10-09
From: Rainbow Lake, north end

To: Abol Pines Campground
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After an overcast start, the day turned beautiful once again, and after a few ankle rolls over terrain of equal parts roots, rocks and pine needles, I found myself at the Abol Bridge Camp Store, 20 minutes behind Wu Li, who had already downed a burger and a beer and who convinced me that it makes more sense to park here tonight and head to The Birches tomorrow. My ankles agree.The view of Katahdin from Abol Bridge over the Penobscot River was picturebook perfect. The camp store had all that I needed to sustain me through the next two days -- including a $2 neon orange (hunter-proof) knit hat to replace the one I lost today, which must have fallen off my pack when I had to crawl under a blown-down tree. At any rate, I'm now vividly visible to the moose hunters, and to anyone else within several miles. And my head will be warm on Katahdin on Monday.Trail magic at Golden Road today! Courtesy of Don Quixote (AT '01-'04), who later showed up at the campsite offering a hot shower and a soft bed at his camp. (The nutty Bramble and several others had been there the night before, apparently.) But I've determined that I must not indulge in anything so comfortable until after the Big K -- otherwise I may never get there! An MATC ridge runner also arrived to alleviate my fears about a too-crowded-for-thru-hikers situation in Baxter State Park. He said the big group summited Saturday, so there'll be plenty of room in The Birches tomorrow night. So tomorrow can be a leisurely day.A nice young couple of section hikers, Caroline and Brendan, also came by to introduce themselves and to check out my alcohol stove, since their Whisperlite seems to be clogged. Brendan tried his hand at making one just based on what he'd seen today -- canny lad! They're back from a year in Ecuador to learn Spanish, so I had lots of questions for them. Spectacular sunset over the Penobscot River, west branch, this evening.
Date: 2004-10-10
From: Abol Pines Campground

To: The Birches Lean-to, Baxter State Park
Miles today: 0.0

Leisurely, pleasant, yellow-leafy walk through Baxter State Park to the Katahdin Stream Campground today. Mamma's Boy appeared behind me unexpectedly; he was completing this section of the trail after jumping ahead to do Katahdin yesterday. He's on his way home for a job interview in his field, forestry. We chatted and hiked for a while together before he felt the need to move ahead to meet his mother, who was waiting for him at the campground. When I reached the park road to the campground later, the two of them pulled up in their car and wished me well; his mom had hiked the last half mile with him. Nice folks.At the campground, I checked in at the ranger station, and found my way to The Birches, where Wu Li, Caroline and Brendan were installed. Blister-Free arrived later, and then, well after dark, and after we'd all turned in, three more hikers showed up and piled in, having raced from Hurd Lean-to after hearing that Tuesday's weather might not allow them up Katahdin. As it is, tomorrow promises a 30% chance of rain. Yee-hah!Wu Li has promised to give me a wake-up call when he gets going tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. I'll need it. At this time of year, rangers advise against even seasoned hikers starting the climb up Katahdin after 9 a.m. -- so for me, that means 7 a.m.
Date: 2004-10-12
From: Katahdin/Baxter Peak/Millinocket

To: Millinocket
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: haze

Felt too tired to move today, so decided to take a zero day in this quiet hostel in this quiet town.Had just put some laundry in at the laundromat, and gone to the restaurant next door to get quarters for the machine, when I spied Wu Li, Caroline and Brendan in a booth, waiting for their breakfasts. They beckoned me over and we had a lovely breakfast together, Wu Li treated. Great company for a day of trail decompression. Wu Li seemed delighted to be in the company of idealistic, energetic members of the next generation, and provided lots of encouragement to all of us to "Follow your dreams." A good, sweet man. We parted with promises to exchange online photos.After laundry, I returned to the hostel to find Shane there, the SOBO who had quenched his thirst on icicles on Katahdin. His knees were bothering him, so he got a ride from Linda Ware from the White House Landing Wilderness Camp into Millinocket to rest up for a few days. We got a ride to the supermarket -- I decided I should do all of my prep for the next leg of my journey now instead of expecting I'll get it done in Providence. Afterwards I went to the Baxter State Park Headquarters, just next door to the IGA, to watch a short PowerPoint presentation on Baxter State Park. I was so moved by the presentation, in which were inserted readings of the philosophy behind the founding of the park. Baxter intended to preserve this wilderness area from all development, so that people -- of all means, not just those with money for AMC-style huts -- willing to make the effort to hike in, could witness true wilderness, a nature preserve. It made me think about what had bothered me so much about being in the White Mountains, under the aegis of the AMC. Baxter makes a better effort to educate incoming visitors, and its regulations limit the number of people who come and go at any one time, rather than excluding people based purely on an economic basis as the hut system in the Whites does. So, now I need to put my thoughts in a letter/proposal to the AMC.Meanwhile, I've developed rather a nasty toothache. Couldn't chew my pizza at dinner tonight with Shane. (Saw Trail Dawg and his family, whom I met and chatted with briefly on Katahdin yesterday, exchanging congratulations.) Guess I should be grateful that my dental emergencies on the trail have both occurred when I'm within a day's reach of a dentist.Tomorrow I catch the bus to Providence (via Medway, Bangor and Boston).
Date: 2004-10-31
From: Wind Gap, PA33

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: clear sky

I had planned to be back on the trail 11 days ago, but a continuing knee problem and a worsening foot problem benched me temporarily. As for the toothache in Millinocket, I had to have the tooth extracted. Now all is on the mend and I'm thrilled to be back out here, especially since my parents are joining me (slackpacking me, that is) for the next few days. Many thanks to my folks and also to Kath Connolly, who put me up in her guestroom in Providence while I sorted out my mail and the last round of drop boxes.Being back on the trail felt oddly surreal this morning. While my lungs and legs are comfortable with the resumption of activity, my brain had some readjusting to do. I felt, climbing out of Wind Gap, as if I had on someone else's prescription glasses. While my body fell into the rhythmic movement with which it has become familiar over the past months, I felt as though what I was seeing to either side of me -- a rocky trail strewn with brown leaves below and a forest of yellow leaves to either side of me -- was some kind of virtual reality experience.This part of the trail has justly earned its nickname "Rocksylvania" -- my feet didn't touch dirt, mud or grass all day. At times I was on stony forest roads, which would be rough going even in an ATV; at other times, the trail consisted of loose, jagged, baseball-sized rocks, covered with dry fallen leaves; and at others it was a field of boulders. The whole gamut of rocky terrain, PA has.Seemed very quiet today -- the gray squirrels in this area seem positively retiring, even shy, compared to the nattering red squirrels of Maine.Glorious fall weather; lots of day hikers out. Met one southbound thru-hiker, Seth, looking warmly bundled in his blaze-orange fleece, with a huge pack full, no doubt, of winter gear.
Date: 2004-11-01
From: Little Gap

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Saw a single doe this morning. Hunting season has begun here, though at present it's archery season only. The shots I heard today were all from a nearby shooting range. Reminds me, though: I need to fish my natty blaze-orange knit hat ($1.99 at Abol Bridge Camp Store!) out of my pack to avoid being speared by a crossbow fanatic.Met a Fish and Wildlife Department trapper this evening, wearing his cammo. Said he had killed nine foxes today. (Fear of rabies?) My tax dollars hard at work.
Date: 2004-11-02
From: Little Gap

To: Bake Oven Knob Road
Miles today: 13.7

Surprise! -- more rocks today. I'm so glad to be slackpacking through this, and getting a hot bath and a hot meal (that I don't have to prepare) at the end of each day. My parents have been exploring northeastern Pennsylvania while I put my miles in, then we have dinner together at night. What bliss! Tomorrow I'll be back to the full pack, though with only 2.5 days' worth of food for the rest of the leg to Port Clinton, my next mail drop. At Bake Oven Knob this evening I met an intern and several volunteers from the Bird and Wildlife Center in nearby Slatersville. The intern had counted as many as 2000 birds in one day, including osprey, eagles, redtails and turkey buzzards. An hour before I arrived, they'd spotted two juvenile bald eagles.Crossed paths with a northbound thru-hiker, Big Red, finishing up her last trail leg. Great to see other women solo hikers out here. It really is safer than town!Stayed the night in Lehighton, watching the election results on TV. No comment.This morning at breakfast, the waitress brought me a big plastic box after she found out I was thru-hiking. "Take what you want from the buffet. I throw out so much of it everyday anyway." So I had fresh fruit and muffins on the trail today -- what a treat. She laughed that most of the hikers who come in, "You just want to hose them down first..!" Indeed, regular baths for the last three nights have been just wonderful. Tomorrow, it's back to the baby wipes.
Date: 2004-11-03
From: Bake Oven Knob Road

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

0.5 off-trail milesSaid goodbye to my folks after watching the election results this morning.It took me only four hours to do the nine miles to the shelter because the trail was mostly old forest road. Part of it traversed a desolate area that had been strip-mined for zinc and which no longer supports vegetation. Rather eerie looking, but beautiful in its own way.The "knife edge" was brief, a high wedge of rocks, like a fall of giant stone dominoes.Reached the shelter at 3:30. Frog Caller, a NOBO section hiker from PA and ME, is my shelter companion for the night. 5:30 p.m. and it's dark and I'm in my sleeping bag ready to retire. 48 degrees. I hope to be up and out by first light tomorrow.
Date: 2004-11-04
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: light rain

Relatively easy day today, despite steady rain all day long. The rocks here are not much to gripe about after New Hampshire and Maine, especially given that there isn't a lot of elevation change to contend with. Most of the last few days have been ridge walks, frequently on old woods roads, which, while no longer passable by wheeled vehicles, provide a steady grade at least. To avoid stumbles, I move in a cross-country-skiing crouch, keeping my center of gravity low, and my hips loose so that if I do trip, I can recover quickly.Arrived at an empty shelter after seeing no one all day, but after fetching water from the stream, I saw two figures approaching in the fading light. Turned out to be Birch -- the 60-ish grandmother I met way back at Lake of the Clouds on Mount Washington; we spent the night together in the Dungeon -- and her companion No Agenda, a mid-20s SOBO who started from North Adams, MA, on September 29 -- and a smoker -- how do these smokers manage to hike all day?They're both chatty and friendly, and it was great to have company for the night.Two books which had been left in the shelter: "How to Stay Alive in the Woods" by Bradford Angier, and "I Really Should Have Stayed at Home: Worst Journeys from Harare to Eternity."
Date: 2004-11-05
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Today was a wash. I missed a turn somewhere within an hour of the shelter and in attempting to retrace my steps, ended up further (I assume) from the trail. I decided, when I hit a road, that rather than wander aimlessly for the rest of the day, I'd just head to town by the roads and return to do this relatively short section (6 miles?) in December -- maybe with snowshoes! Headed down Reservoir Road to highway 61, which I had been able to hear while in the woods and which I could now see, and headed through Edenberg and Hamburg to the mountain gap where Port Clinton sits, up from the Schuylkill River. Passed an old Lutheran church cemetery with gravestones in German. There were also historic markers along the river where there had been a busy canal at the turn of the century, barges of anthracite headed downriver to the towns.The Appalachian Outfitter in Port Clinton was closed for a family wedding -- so I'll be low on fuel this next leg. Had a great burger in the Port Clinton Hotel bar, got some trail mix at the Port Clinton Peanut Shoppe, and checked in for the night at the hotel -- a mistake, as the place was so grim, so very dismal. (For $10 I wouldn't complain, but $40?!) Birch and No Agenda had a better night sleeping, for free, in the town park pavilion, despite the freezing temps.
Date: 2004-11-06
From: Port Clinton

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

2.5 off-A.T. milesGreat breakfast at the Three C's restaurant on 61 this morning. Met Underpants and Tiny, two 2003 thru-hikers finishing up short sections they skipped last year, in the bar on my way out of the hotel this morning. They're here tonight with Birch, No Agenda, and a number of weekenders, including a tribe of early teenage girls out with their dads. Nice fire!Slow start -- tired from an uncomfortable night last night, on a bed that felt more like a hammock of chain link fencing, enclosed in a white sheet. Yikes. The Port Clinton Hotel was not a place to lift one's spirits after a week of rock-hiking and getting lost. I may need to avoid towns altogether from here on out if there are only flophouses on offer.Beautiful, blue-skied day and beautiful, starry night.
Date: 2004-11-07
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

Long day today, but some spectacular vistas over emerald green farmlands with shiny, aluminum-domed silos. With the leaves gone from the trees, the "green tunnel" has reverted to the bare-treed browns of Georgia in March. And my fellow hikers and I are getting sunburned cheeks and noses now that the sun can find its way to us through naked tree limbs.Took a wrong turn (again) on the trail today and ran into a couple of teenagers, Pennsylvania Dutch by the looks of them. He was in a white, long-sleeve shirt and black trousers, his hair slicked down in a tidy wave over his face. She was in a calf-length, navy flannel dress, her blond hair parted in the middle and drawn back under a white lace cone. The only modern detail to them was that she was taking his photograph with a digital camera, otherwise they looked like sweethearts from another century, taking the long way home from church.Later the same day, I passed a group of men with their young sons and one daughter, all wearing different shades of blue shirts and white trousers, the young girl in a calf-length light blue flannel dress of 19th century proportions, all blond-haired and blue-eyed, all out for their Sunday afternoon walk. In my trousers and hiking paraphernalia, I must have looked obscene to this clean, wholesome party.I didn't reach the 501 Shelter until a good hour after dark, hobbled in over more loose stones. The shelter name comes from the nearby road, PA501. It's a popular stopping point for hikers because you can get pizza delivered to a parking lot several hundred yards away. No Agenda and Birch had already put in their order, and after two slices of pizza and making friends with a neighbor's cat, Little Guy, I collapsed into a bunk with the kitty curled up at my neck.
Date: 2004-11-08
From: 501 Shelter

To: Rausch Creek
Miles today: 17.0

Another long day. Feet touched actual soil today after eight days of rocks. Not a lot of soil, but some. The brain registers a nanosecond of joy, shock, confusion at the feel of terra firma underfoot.Passed three northbound hikers today, one whose name I'd seen in the trail registers earlier: Dances with Scarves. She and Cooker Hiker are also completing a section of a thru-hike.Was hiking again in the dark for over an hour at the end of the day, including through the ruins of a turn-of-the-century village. The sign pointing to a cemetery in the middle of this blackness might have fazed me more than it did if I hadn't been so hellbent on reaching the shelter. As it turns out, I wandered around a miscued turning point just half a mile from the shelter for half an hour before deciding just to set up my tent for the night by the creek.
Date: 2004-11-09
From: Rausch Creek

To: Earl Schaffer Shelter (by Peter's Mtn Shelter)
Miles today: 18.0

I waited a whole hour this morning for the tree nymphs and wood fairies to come and make my breakfast and pack up my tent. Finally, I just had to do it myself. You just can't get reliable help...A long, long descent today along a rutted and stony old woods road, with bomber jets in practice maneuvers overhead for most of the afternoon. It's impressive to watch them chase eachother, banking turns and disappearing and reappearing in the clouds.After crossing PA325, the trail headed back up again to another rocky ridge, upon which I walked toward the sunset and into the dark for the next three hours, scaring deer as I approached. Fortunately, this part of the trail was well marked, and I found myself counting my paces from one white blaze to the next, just so that I would keep my mind on getting to my destination.It was after 7 p.m. when I finally saw the outline of a low shelter. There was no one inside. I figured that Tiny, Birch and No Agenda had ploughed on ahead. I tied my line across the front of the shelter and strung up my ground cloth to try to create a wind barrier. Couldn't find the blue blazes to the water source, so I just put my extra clothes on and bedded down for the night. (In the morning I discovered that the Peter's Mountain Shelter -- a new, two-storey affair -- was only a few yards up the trail; my fellow hikers had spent the night there, but were all sound asleep by the time I arrived! The little four-person lean-to I stayed in was one that the legendary Earl Schaffer had built years ago; he's renowned in A.T. hiker circles for being the very first thru-hiker in 1948.)
Date: 2004-11-12
From: Duncannon

To: US11/Harrisburg Pike (Super 8 Motel)
Miles today: 17.6

0.4 off trail milesa.m. In the past few days, I've been moved to tears over seemingly removed things -- a newspaper story about a 56-year-old New York woman who gave birth to twins, an editorial tribute to war veterans, the sight of High Street Duncannon in the rain -- my biochemistry going slightly wonky, evidently. Ho'mones maybe. Or maybe subconscious wonderings about what comes after the trail for me...?It's a rainy morning. I'm wondering how Birch and company fared in last night's rain without a shelter. I'm glad to be waking up indoors, myself, even though I'll be out in the weather soon enough (just as soon as I've downed my liter of convenience store coffee).Another excellent breakfast at Goodie's -- sausage gravy over biscuits with sliced potato homefries. The All-Star(ch) Breakfast of Champions.It's a geographical awakening for me to see that the Patriot-News of Harrisburg posts with the weather forecast the "flood stage" and "current levels" of the regions rivers, including the Susquehanna. This is big flood territory.There's a new moon tonight, so hiking after 5 p.m. will be very dark indeed. Sunrise is now at 6:49 a.m., sunset at 4:54 p.m. And temps this past week have been colder than normal, eight degrees below normal mean temps, close to record lows. Yes, I felt that.Had hoped to wait out the rain this morning, but it doesn't look as if it's letting up so I'll take one more quart-o'-joe, then out into the weather I go.-----------------p.m. Walked from 11 to 8:30 p.m. The rain eased but never quit. I reached the Darlington Shelter site just after sunset in cold heavy mist and decided to push on to the Harrisburg Pike -- for a hot bath, dry room, and a warm bed at the Super 8. Fortunately, the trail, once I got off the shelter's hill, flattened out, was well drained and marked, adn mostly smooth, following and criss-crossing Conoguinet Creek in its bed. I trudged on with my headlamp, getting only a vague sense of what lay beyond its dim beam. LONG DAY. On my way out of the hotel this morning, I looked into the bar window to see if anyone was there so that I could say goodbye to my hosts. Didn't see anyone, but half a block on I heard Shrek call me. He came out to say goodbye and gave me a couple of pocket handwarmers -- a thoughtful gift -- and reminded me that the Doyle Hotel's 100th anniversary party will be taking place April 19th 2005. Be there!
Date: 2004-11-13
From: US11/Harrisburg Pike (Super 8 Motel)

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: clear sky

0.5 off-trail milesLots of day hikers out today, including a couple of guys from New Jersey who joined me in Boiling Springs for ice cream. Pretty little town with ducks and swans in a central pond, and a trout stream full of fishermen. Very English country.Saw a tubby groundhog on the trail today -- maybe Punxatawny Phil? -- that looked and moved like a rolly polly fluffy puppy, disappearing down one of several holes he'd dug by a cow pasture. Also passed through corn fileds and other harvested crop fields, and a horse pasture where a curious bay nuzzled me for treats then, realizing I had none, gave up and licked the salt off of my walking stick handle. Back in the woods, I startled two large does after sunset; guess they thought the hunting day was over and it was safe to come out. But I did hear one gunshot after dark -- gave me pause about hiking on until the trail veered sharply away from the direction of the report.My thermometer reads 31 degrees. It's nearly 7 p.m. and I'm not leaving my sleeping bag until daylight.