morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-05-27
From: Tom Floyd Shelter

To: Dick's Dome Shelter 
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Another night without much sleep as we had a snorer with sleep apnea. That won't happen again because we bought ear plugs at the store.     We had just 3 miles to the road to Front Royal where we needed just enough resupply to get us to Harper's Ferry. With that done and breakfast at Micky D's we were back on the trail quickly headed into dejavu land. We did this section 2 years ago so as we moved along we kept remembering different things about our previous hike.     We ended up at Dick's Dome Shelter which is an actual dome shaped shelter. There is a stream just out in front that sounds wonderful and fire flies are dancing over the water. The wind has picked up and it feels like rain. Time for bed as tomorrow we attack the Roller Coaster and then have pizza and ice cream at Bear's Den Hostel!
Date: 2012-05-28
From: Dick's Dome Shelter 

To: Bear's Den Hostel 
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: broken clouds

Up early to head for the Roller Coaster. We had 8.4 miles to do before we could start the coaster. The miles moved quickly and we were at the beginning in 3.5 hours.    The last time we did the coaster it took us 10 hours to do the 10 miles to Bear's Den. Today we did all 18.3 in 10 hours. Not bad for a couple of flat landers. With the rain from last night the trail was a muddy mess. The inside of our legs were covered in mud to the knees. On top of that the temperature hit 94 and the sweat was pouring off of us.    We arrived at the hostel at 4 and set up the tent out by the garden. Next we headed inside for a shower and laundry not to mention several mountain dews. After that it was upstairs for pizza and ice cream. I had Ben and Jerry's Half Baked and Suzie had Ben and Jerry's Red Velvet Cake. We hung out in the hiker room for a while with Huff and Puff who we haven't seen since the day I hurt my calf. Nitrous Oxide and Gato were here also. Then we called it a day. Tomorrow we hit 1000 miles! Doesn't seem possible, does it?
Date: 2012-05-29
From: Bear's Den Hostel 

To: Campsite @ m 1012
Miles today: 15.1

What a Grand Day! (Pun intended... 1000 miles) We got a late start from the hostel because Suzie made pancakes for us. We hit the trail at 8 and still had 3 miles of the Roller Coaster to do. Soon we had it behind us and the trail leveled out. We came to the West Virginia line and took the picture of us putting Virginia behind us and hitting 1000 miles!           We kept moving until we came to Keys Gap. We headed east to the convenience store and had a Gatorade. While we were sitting there we hatched a plan to buy a six pack and some ice to carry to our campsite, after all we needed to celebrate 1000 miles.         We loaded them into one of our dry bags and poured in the ice. A mile later we were at camp having dinner and congratulating each other on our accomplishment!      Tomorrow we walk into Harper's Ferry and get our picture taken to prove we were there. We will take a nero and a zero to recharge for the second half of this journey. As we sit just a few miles outside of town it is a good time for a little reflection. Saying you want to hike the A.T. sure stirs the imagination. Making the commitment and seeing it through is a reality not many are up for. Without each other to lean on both of us would have been gone by now. We love this trail but she is a tough taskmaster. As we get ready to enter the second half of this journey we are excited and fully aware of what is in store. It will be hard, but standing on top of that mountain in Maine in front of that famous sign will make every hardship worth it.
Date: 2012-05-30
From: Campsite @ m 1012

To: Harper's Ferry 
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: clear sky

Up at 5 and hiking by 6 headed for the spiritual half way point of the trail. The actual half way point is another 4 or 5 days but Harper's Ferry is where the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is located. They are the folks who oversee all of the A.T.       We got into town and headed for the ATC. It wasn't long before we had our picture taken and placed in the hiker photo album for this year. We enjoyed looking through and finding all our friends who have checked in before us. We grabbed our package with our guidebook for the next 500 miles (thanks Greg). Suzie also was able to get our photos up. (snake warning)!     We headed to the Town's Inn to see if we could drop our packs and maybe get a shower. Just our luck our room was ready so we checked in and settled in for some relaxation.       We want to thank everyone who is reading our journal. For those who have left us messages we really enjoy reading them and draw great strength from them. We are glad to have you hiking with us.
Date: 2012-05-31
From: Harper's Ferry 

To: Harper's Ferry 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

A much needed day of rest! We laid in until 8. We had breakfast and then moved our backpacks to the room we would be in for tonight.    After that we went and played tourist here in Harper's Ferry. There is some great Civil War history in this town and that's right up our alley!     We did need to make a run to Walmart so we caught the bus to Charles Town and got our provisions purchased. When we returned we just relaxed in the room giving the bodies and minds plenty of time off.    I did forget to mention yesterday that Suzie and I weighed in at the ATC yesterday. Suzie has lost 26 lbs and I have lost 30. We'll just have to keep eating and hope we don't disappear!    Tomorrow we start the second half of this journey! Stay tuned...
Date: 2012-06-01
From: Harper's Ferry 

To: Crampton Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Kind of a start and stop day today. We were up at 6 getting everything ready to go. We went downstairs to have breakfast before we headed out. We each had a cinnamon bun followed by an omelet for Suzie and biscuits and gravy for me. We headed back to the room, threw on our packs and headed out.    We crossed the bridge leaving West Virginia behind and entered Maryland. The first few miles of trail in Maryland are on the C&O Canal Tow Path which is now a bike path. As we were cruising along we came upon a maintainer who let us know we had severe weather headed our way around 5. We figured we would be at our destination by then so no big deal.       We climbed up to the ridge and started motoring along. The trail flowing under our feet was sweet! We were clipping along when a southbound day hiker told us the updated forecast was for severe thunderstorms with large hail and a chance of tornados. Plus the timeframe for it had been moved up to now! At that point we had 2 options, dive into the shelter 4/10ths of a mile away or try to make it another 5 miles. We took option 1. We figured we would wait and see if it would blow over but after checking the radar we opted to sit tight and let mother nature have her fun without us. The weather is supposed to be over by morning so we will make up the lost miles tomorrow.
Date: 2012-06-02
From: Crampton Gap Shelter 

To: Ensign Cowall Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: scattered clouds

We had rain all night but the storm they called for never hit us. We were up at 5 and gone by 6. The temperature was 56 when we headed out. The sun greeted us at the top of the hill and soon warmed the day.Our plan was to make up our lost miles from yesterday by doing 25 today. The trail started well but soon we started hitting Civil War sites and began loosing time.We stopped at a shelter for a break and there was a black cat that apparently had adopted the shelter as home. I had to keep an eye on Suzie to make sure the cat didn't end up in her pack! We then came to the Washington Monument, no not the one in D.C., the original one in western Maryland. More time lost but we love this stuff so we didn't care.At this point we still had time to get the miles done if the trail conditions held up. Well, the trail soon turned to nothing but rock and our progress slowed to a crawl.With all things considered I guess 20.7 will have to do. Tomorrow we enter Pennsylvania, land of the rocks. . .
Date: 2012-06-03
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter

To: Tumbling Water Shelter 
Miles today: 18.1

Up at 5 and gone by 5:30. Our plan for today was to cross the Pennsylvania border aka the Mason Dixon line and then head into town to hit Walmart for some resupply and have lunch at the Golden Corral.The morning went well except as we came out of the woods to a clearing there was another cat! Now whoever keeps putting cats in front of Suzie needs to stop. I'm not carrying a cat to Maine! The cat followed us until we hit a muddy patch then you could hear him meowing loudly but he didn't cross the mud. Soon we were at Pen Mar Park. We saw a Pepsi machine so we dropped the packs and I headed over. For the second time in as many days a vending machine wouldn't take my money! Do you have any idea how bad we wanted that Mountain Dew? Well it was not to be so we moved on and soon found ourselves at the Mason Dixon line. With photos taken we hit the road to town. Not to far along we were picked up by a couple who had also just picked up our friend Dace. They dropped us off at the Walmart because the Golden Corral was too far away. Luckily there was a Chinese Buffet there so we headed in. We ate to our hearts content although it was painful for our stomachs. We waddled out and over to Walmart. We grabbed 5 days of resupply and packed up. As we were making our way to the road to start hitchhiking a car pulled over and asked if we needed a ride. He dropped us off at the trail and we thanked him for the ride. We had lost a couple hours so we made our way down the trail until we came to one of the shelters where we spotted Meat and Coffee To Go. We hadn't seen them since southern Virginia. We stopped to chat and found out Stats should be a day or two behind us. We moved on to the shelter as the rains started. We are in the shelter again tonight. Our tent is gonna disown us soon!
Date: 2012-06-04
From: Tumbling Water Shelter 

To: Birch Run Shelter 
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

Rolled out at 7:30 after a night of rain. Right out of the box we had a climb. Normally we would wine about that but since it was 53 degrees the climb warmed us up! We know the bad rocks are coming but for now we are loving this Pennsylvania trail.     The shelters in this area are very nice. We stopped by the Quarry Gap Shelter that even had hanging baskets of flowers and snoring and non snoring buildings. We ran into the ridge runner Calculator and had a nice visit. He thru hiked last year and has a great understanding of the thru hiker mentality.     We probably should have gone further today but tomorrow we hit the numerical half way point followed by the half gallon challenge at the Pine Grove General Store. This is a hiker tradition to eat a half gallon of ice cream to celebrate the half way point of the trail. We will reach the store about midday so my appetite should be ready for the gluttony. Suzie has elected to forgo the festivities. I can't understand why!
Date: 2012-06-05
From: Birch Run Shelter 

To: Campsite @ m 1107.1
Miles today: 21.0

Ever have one of those days where everything falls into place just right? Today was one of those days! It had rained over night but the tent was reasonably dry when we packed up.   We were heading to the numerical half way point. As we got close we were deep in conversation and walked right by where the map said it was. We realized it about half a mile later and said oh well we're not going back now. About a mile later we came to the sign. Cool, we didn't miss it! We got our picture and moved on.   Next was the half gallon challenge. My only choices were vanilla and chocolate so chocolate it was. Other than being cold while I was eating it, consuming it was no problem. I knew my father in law would be proud as he would have had no problem with it either!    We headed back to the trail with 11 more miles to go. About half way we decided we would stop at the Green Mountain Store and see what they had to eat. Turns out they have a deli so Suzie had a turkey bacon sub and I had a Swiss bacon cheeseburger sub. To drink we had an awesome Frozen Run Birch Beer. Dessert was Oreo cookies.    The last 3 miles melted away and we found a perfect campsite right by a stream in the pines. To top it off, we still got in more than 20 miles. Like I said, a great day!
Date: 2012-06-06
From: Campsite @ m 1107.1

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: scattered clouds

A bit of a late start at 6:30 but we knew we had alot of flat trail so no problem. 8 miles in we walked into Boiling Springs Pa. We stopped at the iron works furnace on the outskirts of town. Very cool! We made our way past the big pond in the center of town which is fed by the spring. The water was crystal clear.    We stopped at the regional A.T. office and signed the register. After finding out the best place for lunch we met Wooden Sticks from 06. He told us he had been reading our journal and was really enjoying it. He had come to town to fish today and had hoped he would get to meet us. Pretty cool meeting someone who has been following us.   We had lunch at Anile's and then headed out. We still had 15 miles of the Cumberland Valley to cross before we were done. The trail traveled through farms and wooded areas all day. We came to and old cemetery from the 1700's all over grown. If only those headstones could talk!       We finished our day climbing the ridge on the opposite side of the valley. Half way up we came to an old wrecked car in the woods. I'm guessing 20's or 30's. Suzie took pictures so we can figure it out later. Tomorrow we head into Duncannon to stay at the Doyle Hotel. It's not the Ritz but it is a trail icon!
Date: 2012-06-07
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon, Pa.
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light rain

6 o'clock found us on the trail headed for town. 6 of our 11.3 miles were supposed to be very rocky but we found that section to be less of a problem than advertised.    About half way down Suzie realized she had forgotten her Therm-a-rest at the shelter. Not a happy moment! We finished the walk into town and found our way to the Doyle Hotel. Sanhican, Mamaw B, Rainbow, and Nutter Butter were there waiting for the doors to open at 11. Soon Breazzy and Troy showed up as well. Mamaw, Rainbow, and Nutter did a resupply and moved on while the rest of us got rooms.      We headed to do laundry and grab lunch. Dace showed up and we enjoyed lunch with him. While sitting having lunch I noticed Radical walking into town with Suzie's Therm-a-rest. Suzie had him come in so we could buy him lunch. Thanks Radical!   We grabbed a shuttle for resupply then headed back to the Doyle. A couple beers and some chili cheese fries finished out our day. Tomorrow the rocks are supposed to start. We'll see how that works out.
Date: 2012-06-08
From: Duncannon, Pa.

To: Clark's Creek
Miles today: 18.0

We woke at 6:30 and packed up. We left the Doyle and went to Goodies across the street for breakfast. We were told by others to only order one blueberry pancake because they were huge. Yup, about 12 inches across and an inch thick filled with blueberries. Price for one monster pancake? 2.50! There was that much just in blueberries.     By 8 we were headed out of town. This took longer than usual as town is spread out along the Susquehanna river and we had to get to the bridges that crossed both the Juanita and Susquehanna rivers. Bridge crossings kind of kill the whole back to nature thing with the cars and trucks roaring by.    Finally we were ready to hike on dirt! Up the mountain we went expecting to hit those nasty Pennsylvania rocks but again not as bad as expected. We rolled along being mindful of our water supply as the water sources are few and far between in Pennsylvania. The one shelter had water at the bottom of 300 stone steps. No, we didn't climb down.    We finished our day with a campsite by a stream in a forest of hemlocks. Dace is also camped nearby. Maybe tomorrow we will find the rocks. . .
Date: 2012-06-09
From: Clark's Creek

To: Campsite @ m 1179.8
Miles today: 21.0

The hemlock forest we were camped in was very dark so we didn't wake until 6:30. Hiking by 7:30 we had an uphill right off. Once on the ridge we motored on made good time. We came to a spring coming out of the mountain that was orange with all the iron in it. We opted not to water there.We stopped further on for water and as I was pumping the filter Suzie noticed a tick on my arm. Well that started a thorough inspection which found 2 more, 1 on Suzie and another on me. They are so small they're easy to miss.For the last three days we have heard people shooting target practice. I guess it only makes sense because Pennsylvania has the most NRA members. Today we must have been near a gun range because it went on all day. At the end of the day it sounded like a bombing range. I asked Suzie if she thought the world had melted down and everyone was shooting at each other. We had the pleasure of what we call day hiker smell. In the "real world" does everyone smell like laundry detergent? All the day hikers do. Just something we never noticed until we were out here. We of course do not!As for the rocks, we found them at the end of the day when we were already beat. We finally found a flat spot to throw up the tent and end our day before sunset.
Date: 2012-06-10
From: Campsite @ m 1179.8

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter 
Miles today: 22.9
Weather: clear sky

On the move at 7 and within 100 feet we came to the spot we had hoped to make last night. Oh well, we made out just fine where we were!   We stopped at the first shelter for water because there was none the night before at our campsite. We met a couple of trail maintainers and got the lowdown on when the rocks would get really bad. Turns out the last 50 miles is the bad part.   The second shelter was our lunch spot. Normally you can order pizza from the 501 shelter but the pizza place was closed until the 19th. Just as well, we didn't want to wait for delivery. Radical was there so we chatted a while before we headed out.   The day was warm and we were going through our water faster than normal. We stopped to get water for the second time and met Man Cub and Kit Fox. We have seen them in the registers and finally caught up with them today.   The rest of the day was spent pushing to our destination for the night. Speaking of pushing, we hope to back off a little on the miles. We are exhausted at the end of each day. We will see if we can pull back on the reins a little so we're not so beat all the time.
Date: 2012-06-11
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter 

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

First off, I forgot to mention our milestones from yesterday. 1200 miles done and less than a 1000 to go!    Up and gone by 7 with 9 miles to town. The morning went well with just a few rock scrambles along the way. As we dropped into Port Clinton we caught up with No Trace and Unbreakable. We all worked our way to the main road to Hamburg. We headed towards town with our thumbs out but no luck for us as we walked the 1.7 miles.    Lunch was first. Suzie spotted a Five Guys hamburger joint so that was the ticket! Man that was good! As we finished Dace stopped by so we visited with him. He will be getting off in New York on the 30th and needs to slow down even more than we do so we may not see him again. We exchanged emails and gave him a big hug goodbye. Amazing how quickly friendships grow out here with none of the real world nonsense!     We hit Cabela's for gaiters for Suzie with no luck. Hard to believe in a store that takes up 6 acres. We grabbed canister fuel and deet. The mosquitoes just started about 3 days ago and man are they nasty. I guess we should be thankful we've gone 1200 miles without them.     We still needed to hit Walmart so we dashed over there and back in record time. You see Cabela's offers a free shuttle back to the trail for hikers. We road back with No Trace and Unbreakable. They were staying in Port Clinton so we headed up the mountain.     We made it to the shelter which was full so we set the tent and got ready to hit the sack. The shelter occupants are Mamaw B, Rainbow, Nutter Butter, Tipsy and Fetch, and Mr. Wrong. Their calling for rain tomorrow. That should make the rocks interesting!
Date: 2012-06-12
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Allentown Shelter 
Miles today: 16.8

The rains held off until we started hiking and then rained all day. The going was slow across the bolder fields as we made our way towards the Eckville Shelter. We then found ourselves on a dirt road making good time cruising through the forest.    Normally we check the map often but with the rain pouring down we just kept going and we blew right past the shelter. This was unfortunate as some friends from the Florida Appalachian Trail Club had left a note offering to put us up for the night at their place.   After realizing we missed the shelter we had to move to get to the next shelter. We had hoped to dry out at the first shelter so now we were wet and getting cold. The problem was we couldn't build any body heat having to go so slow across the bolder fields.   We finally found refuge under a hemlock and took the time to check the map. We were still 3 miles from the Shelter. There was nothing we could do but keep plodding on. There were 2 section hikers and Mr. Wrong there when we arrived.   After 2 pots of hot chocolate we were getting warm again. Tipsy and Fetch showed up as did Nitrous Oxide. They're calling for more rain tomorrow and we are supposed to climb the Knife Edge. Maybe we will see if we can accept that offer for tomorrow and climb the Knife Edge when it is dry.
Date: 2012-06-13
From: Allentown Shelter 

To: Va 309
Miles today: 4.0

Trail Angels! We woke at 5:30 and I checked for a message from Bill and Ronnie. Sure enough there it was. We waited for the shelter to clear out and then began to pack up our stuff and put the wet clothes and boots back on.    We headed out and I gave Bill a call. He would pick us up at Va 309 which was 4 miles away. The trail was good and we arrived first. The sun was out but the wind was cranking. Soon Bill arrived and took us to their beautiful home in the Pennsylvania countryside.     We showered and started laundry. We spread all of our gear out on the driveway. They fed us lunch and we spent the afternoon visiting and relaxing. From their home you could see the ridge we had hiked in the rain the day before.    Later we headed to town and had dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. We then stopped at Walmart and grabbed a few more items to get a couple more days further up the trail.    Headed back to the house and spent the rest of the night chatting and eating dessert. What a wonderful gift to have friends who took such great care of us! Thanks so much Bill and Ronnie for your hospitality!
Date: 2012-06-14
From: Va 309

To: Outerbridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We slept in until 7 in the nice comfortable bed. Ronnie had breakfast made and we gorged ourselves again. We reset the packs and we all loaded into the car for the ride back to the mountain. We thanked Bill and Ronnie again and then headed down the trail.    We knew this section would go slow and it did. We had several bolder fields even before we reached the Knife Edge. We made it across with no mishaps. We continued on working our way through the maze of rocks.   We met a man and his 3 boys on one of the rocky bits. He asked if we were thru hikers and if we would stop for a moment to talk to his boys. We always feel a little like the monkeys in the zoo when people find out we are thru hikers. The looks we get are priceless and the questions are never ending. I guess it's just part of the experience.   We moved on and slowly put the rest of the day's miles behind us. We were the only ones at the shelter when Houdini showed up. We hadn't seen him since Atkins Va. You never know when he will show up out of thin air! It was great catching up with him.      We have 3 days left of Pennsylvania then we start knocking off states on a pretty regular basis. Can't wait!