morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-07-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hi everyone,     Sometimes the most amazing things happen when you just go along with what people suggest, as it did today. After just 2-3 hrs of sleeping in fits and starts and waking up after last nights rendevouz I called Cabelas in Hamburg as they provide a free shuttle from the AT pavilion to their store. From Cabelas I walked into Hamburg post office about a mile and half to pick up a package from home. Nobody picked me up when I tried thumbing a ride in and out but that was part of the greater picture as I see it now. I ate lunch at a cafe that the lady at the post office recommended, it was great. Then I walked almost a half a mile to do laundry and resupply at a store next door. Finally it's all done and I walk back to Cabelas to browse around and up to Walmart for a few items and by that time it's supper time, and right next door is a Chinese buffet yup I stuffed myself. Now back to Cabelas I go and am ready for a ride back to the pavilion and hike out later. The guy at the desk suggested I wait as there's another hiker who will need a ride. Ok then I'll sit outside and watch the people. There were a lot of Mennonites going in Cabelas this evening so I just relaxed. Finally decided to organize my pack with resupply, as I started a couple stopped to chat with me and asking questions. Then this Mennonite walked out with 5 children and said hi and I nodded, as they walked on I got this urge to talk to him and excused myself and walked outside and asked if they're from around here. They were, after a few minutes of chatting I asked if they would pick me up in the morning to go to church. It got better, I went home with them, had a real shower and set up my tent a ways from their house in a nice picnic area. A pavilion, volley ball net and a stream running thru. Had a good chat before I went to sleep. I'm excited to go to church with them in the morning.    Looking back over the days events.... a lot of ifs.....if someone had picked me up on the way to postoffice....if someone would have picked me up on way back....if the lady wouldn't have suggested the restaurant......if the guy would had said the shuttle will be right there......if the bear encounter or whatever it was would not of happened......then this would not have been possible. Makes one wonder how much control we actually have over our life? Do we really? How many of you out there have had similar experiences if you would take time to think about chain reactions? Why? Bigger plans ahead? Does someone need to be touched in a special way? Do you yourself need to be touched in a special way? Think about it!
Date: 2018-07-15
From: Port Clinton

To: Pulpit Rock
Miles today: 7.5

Hello all,    What a wonderful day with the Gerald Bicher family and the church services today.    They took me along home and I set up my tent in a nice camping area with a pavilion a couple of 100 yards from their house. It also had a nice stream running through it. Hey I even had a real shower with hot water and towels.They had me at the house for breakfast and afterwards off to church. The message was are we an overcomer and the scripture used was on Joshua and Caleb. After the service back to the house for a lunch of chicken, potatoes, peas and salad with fruit and cake for dessert.    Gerald dropped me off at Port Clinton around 4 and I hiked 7.5 miles to the top of Pulpit Rock and set up camp. A fitting end for a wonderful day.
Date: 2018-07-16
From: Pulpit Rock

To: Tripoli Campsite
Miles today: 20.8

Hi from the AT,     It was a warm and humid day, around 90.      The first half of the trail was nice today and then it took a turn for the worse with boulder hopping for about half mile and generally miserable with the keystone rocks. The good news is only 50 miles left and we are done with PA. The storms are going to roll in tom and might head into Palmerton for the night. The trail will get worse as we have to climb the knife, and I would prefer rocks would be dry.     Camping with Nick and 2 Steps again as they got ahead of me over the weekend.      David Martin from Lancaster was a surprise visitor Saturday morning. He drove up to meet me and see if I needed anything. He had signed the journal guestbook. Thank you for checking in. I hope to meet up with you again. Well not much else today as I'm really tired.
Date: 2018-07-17
From: Tripoli Campsite

To: Hostel Palmerston, PA
Miles today: 11.5

Hello again,    I'm sitting at Bert's Steakhouse and hostel in Palmerton, Pa. as I write this entry.    Got an early start and am glad I did as the rain rolled in just after I got to the trailhead. I hiked with the LL Bean relay team this morning, so they gave me a ride into town which was greatly appreciated. LL Bean is doing a relay with their employees thru their outside club. They're doing 40 miles and then another team takes it from where they stop. The 2 guys I hiked with were a father and son team from Freeport, Maine. They work in the largest LL Bean store and invited me to stop in on the way home.     Today we hiked in a lot of rocks and crossed a ridge called the Knifes Edge which is approximately a qtr mile long with a qtr mile of rock trail on each side. I love the boulder scrambles, it's the brutal trails I don't love. Anyway another 40 miles or so and we hit New Jersey. I'm excited for that. Cyall ltr.
Date: 2018-07-18
From: Hostel Palmerston, PA

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 20.8

Howdy all,     Well it's more rocks on the trail and I must say it's kinda eating at me on the inside.....really starting to get on my nerves. I love the rock scrambles and the ridge crawls. But I've had enough rocks. We had one today you had to stop and think how you're gonna start, kind of had to just look up thru and pick a route through.    Did 20.8 miles from Palmerton to Wind Gap and it was a dry ridge. I'm carrying 2 days worth of food so I can carry more water (6.6 lbs.) first water was at 15 miles and if the frist 2 springs are dry next one is half mile down the mountain, the top 2 have been dry since mid June.     Tomorrow I want to hike into Delaware Water Gap to resupply and hike back out and into New Jersey. Good bye Pa....well that's it folks. Cyall tomorrow!
Date: 2018-07-19
From: Wind Gap

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 17.8

Hello everyone,      I'm feeling pretty good tonite with hiking only 17.8 miles with half of the trail being brutal again but, I did walk into New Jersey this evening and am camping at the state forest. I had just set up my tent when the Professor walked in and he is camping next to me. He is from Canton, Ohio.     Today when I stopped at the Kirkland Shelter for water a mom and 3 kids were there, so I sat there for an hour and chatted with her and the kids ( aged 3-7).      I stopped at Delaware Water Gap for some extra food and met some hikers on the sidewalk that informed me that there's a hiker feed at the church hostel tonite at 6. Guess what happened, oh yeah I went, amazing amount of food probably 25-30 hikers there. The church does this every Thursday for free as a way to connect with hikers. Saw a lot of familiar faces and a few new ones.      As I'm writing I have deer within 20 ft of my tent just walking around.
Date: 2018-07-20
From: Stealth Site

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 19.7

Hi y'all,    It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze, perfect for hiking. I didn't want to get up this morning as I got to tent site after hikerfeed a little later. So I got rolling around 7 and hiked a several miles to the Mohican Outdoor center. They do cook food and I had 2 huge pancakes with 2 eggs and bacon with cheese sandwiched in between them. Scrumptious!     Today I met Tuffy again whom I had met several days earlier and hiked in and out with for several weeks. So I ended up hiking with her and the professor. We are tented up on top of Blue Mountain with an amazing view to the west. And the mosquitos are plenty too. Must be because of the swamps and bogs up in the mountains. Just as we arrived at the tentsite I heard this buzzing and I stopped and there was this big fat rattlesnake right next to the trail, we had to wait 10 mins for it to move so we could pass.    They're calling for rain all of next week, hope they're wrong. Well that's it. Goodnite all!
Date: 2018-07-21
From: Stealth Site

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: clear sky

Hi,    We had a beautiful sunrise this morning with all kinds of colors and with clouds in the valley where the river was. I love camping on the summits.    Hiked 20.4 miles to High Point Shelter, on the way I stopped at High Point State Park. They have a beautiful lake and beach area, plus free showers yep I got one, felt so good.    Met up with Pretzel again and she's struggling with sore feet and went into town to hostel with Tuffy. Not sure where Professor got too. Also met up with Chris again from Kidron, they're about half day ahead or so. I keep meeting up with new people I've only seen their names in the shelter journals. Tonite I'm in the shelter due to rain moving in. The new people at the shelter are Shadow, Hooter, Compass and Hermit.    Oh, and the temps were only 75, mostly cloudy with a nice breeze. Great hiking weather. That's all for today.
Date: 2018-07-22
From: High Point Shelter

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 18.6

Hi from the AT    It rained most of the night and I was nice and dry at the shelter, it was still raining light when I left at 8:30. It got up to 80 degrees with lot of humidity.     The trail was really nice for a change, with a few rocks and some uphill rock scrambles. I hiked into Unionville, NJ for a few resupplies and lunch.      I ran into Smiley again, the tough Aussie woman who we had super glued her wound on the scalp, it's healed up nice. Hiked with Tuffy and Pretzel today. They're calling for rain so they went into town for the night. I hiked till 8 and the last 2 hrs in the rain so I finally called it quits and set up my tent. Everything's damp and wet. Should be fun getting in my wet hiking clothes in the morning again. Calling for rain every day this week so I'm going to try and go from Shelter to Shelter to eat and sleep.      I've been passing through bubbles of hikers and meeting new people I've only seen in the journals. Today I moved through another bubble of approximately 15 again so it will be interesting to see what next week brings.      New Jersey is an interesting state with lakes, swamps and bogs throughout the mountains. This evening I started through a swamp with a boardwalk about 2.5 miles long with a little hill in the center and that's where I'm camped tonite. I think I killed all the mosquitos inside the tent. Lol. Well that's all.
Date: 2018-07-23
From: Stealth Site

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 17.0

Hi y'all      Well it finally happened and I hiked almost 1400 miles before it happened.     Last night it rained and was still raining this morning so I slept in till 8, it really felt good. I was not overly excited about putting my soaked hiking pants and shirt on this morning, but I did it. Started hiking around nine and nothing really dried. Finally at 4 this afternoon on the summit with a good breeze I pulled the tent out and got it dried in case I didn't make it to the shelter. Ha, I didn't make it either as .3 miles off the trail was Bellvale Creamery and yes I went for ice cream. After I was done with mine I made dinner and several people came to throw their ice cream in the trash can, I would say that I could clean that up for them, yay free ice cream lol!     Today I crossed into New York and what a welcome. A 2 mile long ridge of rock scrambles, it was tough at the end of a day when muscles are fatigued.       Oh ok I'll tell you what happened now, I fell for the first time in nearly 1400 miles. The rocks were still wet and a bit slippery and my shoes were wet as well. The ridge was slanted rock and before I knew what happened I was on my hiney and sliding, so I grabbed a tree, it broke off so I grabbed the next one and the one I broke off caught my pants and everything stopped. So, I fell for the first time. Probably not the last. Well good night from the AT.
Date: 2018-07-24
From: Stealth Site

To: Lost Island Lake 
Miles today: 13.8

Hi y'all     Rained most of the night and pretty hard at times. Things got a bit damp, so tried drying things out before hiking and didn't start hiking till 9.     The trail today started out really nice and then New York gave us trails that were unbelievably tough, probably as tougher than anything we've had. Short ups and downs of 300-500' and straight up and down. The last mile before Harriman Park took an hour to do and the one girl was almost in tears. They call them the mini Whites. It was brutal but I want to come back and do it again with some friends. I ended up only doing 13.8 miles because of the late start and took 9 hrs to go that many miles. I ended up eating dinner by the lake at Harriman State Park, no not a restaurant but just meager hiker fare. It was so nice I decided to camp and do my laundry and take a bath in the lake, it felt so good. Tomorrow morning I hit the lemon squeezer, a narrow chute through the rocks.      I have 1 days worth of food left so I'm pretty light and will resupply tom eve or first thing the following morning in the Fort Montgomery area. Well that's all for today. P.S. I now smell neutral, which is nice.
Date: 2018-07-25
From: Lost Island Lake 

To: Island Pond
Miles today: 17.6

Good morning,     The beautiful evening at the pond didn't last long, by 9:30 it was pouring down rain and rained most of the night. I packed up everything in the rain and hiked into Fort Montgomery and got a room at Holiday Inn. My feet were a mess, will post pics. This is where you start with blisters. They only need 5 more inches to break the record.    Bear Mountain is a beautiful State Park with a lot of stone steps and gravel trails, but was hard to enjoy due to the rain and my feet.    The rain definitely is affecting me mentally, it's hard to keep the drive up and running, and to keep doing 20 miles a day, which I need to do to summit by first week in September.     Just need sleep, food, resupply, and a lil' sunshine would make a huge difference.      Went thru the lemon squeezer today, which was only a narrow crack and had to take off our packs and throw them up on top to get thru. Just a lot of up and downs. I think I crossed over 4 mountains. Got some beautiful views of the Hudson River. Ok I will get the morale back up, one hiker just texted and said I'm off the trail can't handle the rain. That's it for today.
Date: 2018-07-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hi everyone,     I took a zero today as my feet were a mess after the rains past couple of days. It affected me mentally too just the wear and tear of being constantly damp. I took naps all day and ate real food and called friends. So tomorrow I start again with plans for resupply in Kent, Connecticut. That's it folks and I'll give update tomorrow eve again. Thanks for all the support.
Date: 2018-07-27
From: Island Pond

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 18.8

Hello,     Hot and very humid today, had to keep stopping for breaks and finally at lunch I just laid down and took a nap. Felt refreshed and kept hiking, did 18.8 miles.    Today the trail passed next to the inoculation station for George Washington's troops, guess I didn't realize that they inoculated people in the 1700's. Just a lot of stone fences in that particular area.     Had a bit of a weird experience today, but first let me back up to Wednesday. As I started climbing Bear Mountain I passed a hiker with only fruit of the loom briefs on, I did a double take and walked on. Fast forward to today as I was hiking down the trail I hear this weird scream. Then a bit later I see a hiker up ahead and is waiting traffic to cross the road. I asked how's your day going and he unleashed with a row of profanity and wants the day to be over with. He then crossed the parking lot to a sign and I went to the shade. He unleashed his profanity at the Appalachian trail map and took his trekking poles and beat the map. Now I'd like a picture of this but I didn't want to get caught so I just laid on the grass and watched the show, it lasted about 10-15 mins, he finally calmed down got water and hiked down in the woods and I still heard him yelling as he hiked out ofsite, lol it was quite a show. Now the mosquitos were bad and in some areas the briars hadn't been trimmed, maybe that's what drove him over the edge. I caught up with him again 30 mins later and he had calmed down and apologized, guess he's very frustrated with his miles,10-13 a day. I did chuckle a bit when he started beating the map haha! Anyway you meet all kinds
Date: 2018-07-28
From: Stealth Site

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 16.0

Howdy again,    Well it happened again, got drenched. I was half a mile from the shelter when the skies opened up. I was having a good day even with the humidity,16 miles in and was planning to do another 7 or 8. Oh well guess it'll dry again. I decided to stay at the shelter as another hiker came in and said there were just rivers going down the trail. Dry feet are happy feet! At least my shoes didn't have water running out as they did earlier this week. A couple of weekend hikers came in as well as 1 southbound and several northbound hikers I hadn't met yet. 1 was a guy from Austria. We visited till 8:30 at the picnic table and killed mosquitos.     The mosquitos were absolutely bloodthirsty at the shelter so I set up my damp tent from the night before, at least the mosquitos won't get me there.      Today the trail ran through an area that looked like an old road with stone fences on each side and small pastures walled off, also an occasional foundation for a barn or house of sorts. It went on for about a mile or so, possibly a village. You could imagine people working and horse drawn wagons and riders coming the road. It would have been interesting to see back in the day. Walked through an area that was hit by a storm with trees down everywhere.    The southbounder said in 2 days you'll be in Connecticut and then Massachusetts and it's beautiful. So I'm looking forward to that. That's it hope the rains over.
Date: 2018-07-29
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: 10 Mile River Shelter 
Miles today: 20.7

Hi from the AT,     Tonite I'm tenting where Ten Mile River and the Hoositonic River come together. It's absolutely beautiful. I had originally planned to do another 3 miles but was tired so set up camp. The rushing sound of the river put me to sleep before I could do the journal, so now it's midnight when I woke up and writing journal as the full moon shines through the pines where I'm camped.      The trail ran through some open fields today in the valley and through swamps with boardwalks, also over 4 or 5 mountains. Oh and I'm now in Connecticut for several miles. Lots of stone fences again, makes me wonder if it used to be cleared and was pasture land.     Tomorrow I have 8 miles into Kent, Connecticut for resupply. They have a shower at the welcome center and a laundromat in town.     The weather is absolutely gorgeous, in the upper 70's to low 80's and low humidity for a change. It's a welcome reprieve from last week.      The trail seems empty as I hike, I rarely meet any thru hikers now. I passed about 50-60 in the last week and the ones in front from reports are scattered. When I check the logs in the shelters I don't recognize names anymore. It will be interesting to meet new people again.
Date: 2018-07-30
From: 10 Mile River Shelter 

To: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter 
Miles today: 15.7

Hi from the AT,      Hiked into town of Kent today for resupply, to do laundry and shower. They have a shower at the welcome center. You get a 4 minute shower for 2 bucks. Beats whom I met back in Georgia went first and the water was cold for the first minute, lol. I told him thanx for warming it up and then it ate my first 2 dollars and I had to dress and go get more quarters, now it was his time to laugh.     I got some good food again and hiked out to a shelter and tented at the Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter.      The trail is going thru some taller mountains, with longer uphill climbs and doing some big boulder scrambles. I'm also close to hitting the 1500 mile marker.     They're calling for rain again this week, am hoping I can keep my feet happy. That's all nothing exciting.
Date: 2018-07-31
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter 

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 18.1

Hello,    A couple of us hikers ended the day at Falls Village, a wee little town with old buildings and a pricey inn to eat at. It was only in the mid to upper 70's with high humidity. The climbs just sap you in the humidity and we decided to see what's in Falls Village to drink other than water. We ended up at the package store which sells liquor and soda. The lady was very helpful and gave us menus from pizza places that deliver and I ended up with Italian and was it delicious! Stuffed shells, tortellini and lasagna. We sat outside the store to long and didn't get my mileage in but, this makes good memories.       Rain moving in tomorrow, not looking forward to that. I hope it takes the humidity out. Another 36 miles to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, hoping to get there tomorrow afternoon, probaly in the rain too.      Picked 2 lil' deer ticks off me today and they are the size of a pinhead. They are so hard to spot, but you're more likely to feel them as your super sensitive with all gnats, deer flies and mosquitos trying to take a piece out of you all the time. Well that's all till tomorrow.
Date: 2018-08-01
From: Stealth Site

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 16.4

Hi,     More rain, more rain. Hiked 10 miles to the Riga Shelter and sat out the rain for 3.5 hrs. I got slightly damp on the first round but dried fairly quickly. After the rain I took off for Race Mountain and almost made it when it poured now I'm soaked again, it's actually comical. I'm just going to keep on going and dodge the worst of it as I can.      I walked into Massachusetts today, I'm going to miss Connecticut as it was a nice hike. A lot of stone retaining walls around houses, just beautiful. I hiked over Bear Mountain which was a bit of a bear coming down as it was wet. Tomorrow I have about 10 miles into Great Barrington, Massachusetts to resupply. On the way in I have to ascent and descent Mt. Everett which is steep up and down with rocks, with a lot of hand climbing so I'll probaly stash my trekking poles on my pack. Should be interesting.      My food fare I'm always trying to improve and have added bacon bits to my Knorr rice sides with idohoan baby red potatoes which I love. My lunch currently consists of naan bread with thin sliced salami and jiffy peanut butter. I'm hoping to find Goober which is a peanut butter and jelly spread made by Smuckers. Just need to sweeten it up a bit. The breakfast still is oatmeal, sometimes with cookies or little blueberry muffins. Snacks are candy bars, trail mix, combos and sometimes I'll throw in a bag of candies. Well that's it, I've killed all the mosquitos in my tent so now I can sleep.