morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-06-13
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Annapolis Rocks
Miles today: 24.6

I had a good stay at the 230 Hostel with YoYo and Easy Money. They spent a lot of time at the outfitters where Laura, the owner, and YoYo talked forever. I finally told YoYo he would miss dinner if he didn't leave soon. That got him in the truck and to the hostel. The vegetarian dinner was good with fresh baked bread, two soups, and a wonderful home-grown salad. The accommodations were very clean and neat. They were able to take credit cards also. Too bad they won't be operating next year since they are selling the house and moving to a location near a river away from the trail. After breakfast of cereal, bagels, and juice, we got a ride back to the AT Center in Harper's Ferry where I got on the trail at 8:38.I didn't get out of town until 9:17 since I spent so much time looking at and taking photos of the historical buildings and places in Harper's Ferry. I finally crossed the bridge over the Potomac and started hiking on the C&O Canal towpath for the next 2 miles or so. There were no white blazes for a long time and I wondered several times if I was going the right way. Finally, I crossed a road and started up a series of switchbacks up a steep hill. After a 35 minute climb I came to a blue blazed trail to Weverton Cliffs. I left my pack and went down the trail. It was one of the best views of the entire trail so far as I could see all the way back to Harper's Ferry where I just came from. I could see the start of the trail coming up the mountain, the trains on the railroad, the cars on the highway, and the Potomac. I took a photo of this spectacular view.I saw a groundhog when I first got on the towpath and later a garter snake. There were many pond turtles in the old canal basking on logs in the water. I saw a dead grey fox on the trail and startled an orange tabby house cat seeking refuge from the torrential downpour beneath an overhanging ledge next the the trail at Fox Gap. He ran off into the storm looking for a new dry spot. I noticed 6 American toads on the trail during the rain. I saw four deer and a three-foot long black racer snake.The Gapland War Memorial to journalists of the Civil War was impressive. There are a lot of Civil War battlefields in Maryland that I would like to come back and visit when I have more time. Maryland also seems to have nice parks and even provides free hot showers to backpackers at the Dahlgren Campground. It was pouring rain at the time I passed there, so I didn't stop since I would be sweating again immediately after taking a shower.The first monument built for George Washington in 1827 was an observation type tower, but I couldn't see it much less photograph it since it was raining so hard and I was in a thick cloud. I read the plaques and hiked on.When I got to the Pine Knob Shelter, there was about 40 people there and no one offered to make a spot for me in the leaky shelter, so I decided to hike on finally finding Annapolis Rocks campsite and tenting after a full 24.6 mile day. It was a good choice: no bugs and solitude.
Date: 2003-06-14
From: Annapolis Rocks

To: Tumbling Run Shelters
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: broken clouds

I started hiking at 7 AM on a sunny day. I saw a box turtle and 3 deer today. One hiker told me a story about getting lost while going to the bathroom on the trail. He went a little too far off the trail and when he finished his business, he couldn't find the trail or his pack. He wandered around for over a half hour cutting his legs to shreds on the briars. He finally yelled until another hiker yelled back and directed him to the trail. He said he thought about hiking down towards a road (he could hear the traffic) and then hiking back up to find the trail. About 5 miles from Pen-Mar Park (near the Maryland/Pennsylvania border)I saw a sign on a tree at Raven Rock Cliffs stating that free food would be given to hikers at Pen-Mar Park all day until 3 PM. It was 12:38. I had about 2 hours to make 5 miles down some rocky trail with areas that resembled rock climbing more than hiking. I made it to the park in one and a half hours arriving at 2:07. I was only the second hiker all day. I talked the RagTag Rangers (the hiking club providing the free food) into staying later so Sumac and other hikers coming after me would also get something to eat. There were 8 or 10 people there all day to serve hikers. I ate $15-20 worth of food (2 hamburgers, 1 Bar-B-Q beef sandwich, potatoe salad, cole slaw, baked beans, soda, ice cream, etc.) Thanks to Charlie, Mike, Bill, and their friends. I usually miss out on the free food trail magic, but this time I felt that they were all there just for me. It was especially good since I was cold and soaked from the rain which started about 1 PM. The ranger at the park let me into the bathrooms to fill up my water bladder. Ever since Harper's Ferry people have seemed so friendly and helpful to hikers. People driving by in cars wave and smile, people on the street come up and talked to me, and people offer me rides without my asking. It's just amazing. Maryland was very friendly. I was so excited to pass the Mason-Dixon line and get into PA. I felt like I was coming home again. I got homesick and tried to call my family, but it was the wrong time of day: no one answered. After hiking into PA I crossed 5 paved roads in the first mile and a quarter. I made it to the Tumbling Run Shelters where they have "Snoring" and "Non Snoring" shelters. I stayed in the "Non Snoring" shelter after taking a bath in the stream nearby with three separate waterfalls feeding it. It was a beautiful setting.
Date: 2003-06-15
From: Tumbling Run Shelters

To: Toms Run Shelters
Miles today: 25.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I got started at 7:35 on a dreary, overcast day. I made it ten miles to Caledonia State Park by 10:35 and had to wait for the snack bar to open to get a hamburger and an ice cream cone. I called my daughter from the pay phone. I was shocked when I saw the Quarry Gap Shelters. They were like a resort! There were hanging baskets of flowers on each corner of the shelters, a rocked stream out front complete with night lights. Polished floors and frilly stuff all around made me feel out of place as a smelly, dirty hiker. I noticed an collapsable water dish for a dog beside the shelter. About ten other hikers arrived the same time I did and there were a few dogs with them. So I didn't think much about the dish. When I arrived at the Toms Run Shelters at 6:10 PM I met "Right On" who had a chocolate lab mix. She mentioned how she had left the dog's water dish at the Quarry Gap Shelters. I told her it was still there. At least there was no rain on this 25.9 mile day, but the mosquitoes were bad at this shelter and the one last night.
Date: 2003-06-16
From: Toms Run Shelters

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I got on the trail at 6:05 on another overcast day. I've seen lots of cottontail rabbits in PA, and today there were many along the trail. I passed the true mid-point on the AT this year around 8:30 AM and arrived at Pine Grove Furnace SP at 8:35. I had to wait until the store opened at 9 to do the half gallon challenge where you eat a half gallon of Hershey's ice cream in one sitting. I had already decided I wouldn't do it since I had tried to eat 3 quarts at the Terrapin Station Hostel which took me 3 sittings to do. When the store opened I looked at the ice cream selection and they were completely out of pints. I looked at everything else they had and finally looked at the half gallons. They had one half gallon left of Tin Roof Sundae, my favorite flavor. I thought that's what I wanted whether or not I could finish it. I looked at the hiker register and saw that many hikers did not do the challenge, and about half that did, did not finish, and failed the challenge. It was 9:15 AM, cold and overcast: not a good time to be eating ice cream. So I bought the half gallon of Tin Roof Sundae and took the challenge. I heard it is best to pick a plain flavor like vanilla rather than an exotic, sweet candied version. But I thought that I liked Tin Roof Sundae, so I would enjoy eating it no matter what. When I opened the carton I couldn't eat it with the plastic spoon they gave me since it was as hard as a rock. So I grabbed my trusty Lexan (indestructible) spoon and started to eat around the sides as it slowly melted. After a half hour I reduced the block to a large lump and wondered if I had eaten one third of it yet. But I persisted, cheered on by "Right On", and finally finished all of it by 10:15 exactly one hour after I started. It still tasted good and I was hungry enough to eat a couple of hamburgers when I finished.I didn't eat anything else right then but waited until I got to Pine Grove Road where I hiked 0.3 miles to the Tagg Run Restaurant where I had a hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes, gravy, and kidney beans. About a mile later at PA Highway 34 I hiked 0.2 miles to Green Mountain General Mercantile to get a ham sandwich, a pint of ice cream (moose traks), milk, and two bananas. Today was the first day I actually took in more calories than I expended hiking. The total calories from the ice cream, meal, and store groceries was around 6,000 and I ate all of it. I was still hungry when I went to bed in my tent at the Alec Kennedy Shelter.
Date: 2003-06-17
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I got on the trail at 7:26 on an overcast day. I was hoping to make the shelter before it rained. I stopped at the ATC Center in Boiling Springs. No one was there since the power was out. I went to the cafe nearby and got a breakfast sandwich, overpriced, but good. At the Harrisburg Pike (US 11)I walked 0.2 miles to a good restaurant where I had the daily special (stuffed bell peppers) along with a chocolate chip mint milk shake and some coconut cream pie. I was trying to keep up with the calories I got yesterday.Stopping to eat slowed my progress to where it started to rain on me around 2 PM. I made it to the shelter by 2:30 or so and was not very wet. I met "Shilo" and we were the only ones in the shelter that night. It rained all night. The spring at the Darlington Shelter was the worst I've seen on the entire trail so far. I had to get a half cup of water at a time from a tiny depression. The main spring box was so low I couldn't reach it and the surface of the water was covered with scum. That night I found the first tick on me. I pulled it off my left leg.I saw my first groundhog in PA in a woods near a field. There were explosions and live gunfire as I was hiking today. I believe there is a shooting range near the trail. I also noticed a range near the trail in Maryland. But the strangest thing I saw today was a naked hiker. He was ahead of me as I rounded a bend coming into a wooded area from a field. He didn't see me and was walking away from me. He was naked from the waist down wearing boots and socks and a T-shirt. I stopped hiking and wanted to let him get ahead of me. I thought, "I don't need this". As I was thinking about what I was going to do next, suddenly the guy came running fast right at me down the trail! He was holding a piece of clothing over his privates and just ran right past me. Soon another hiker came into sight hiking towards me. Now I knew what frightened the naked guy. He didn't know I was behind him, so when he saw the other hiker coming, he immediately ran towards and by me to escape embarrassment. This was a new definition for "wildlife" for me.
Date: 2003-06-18
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Peters Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I started hiking at 6:44 headed for Duncannon and the Susquehanna River. I saw a pileated woodpecker and another box turtle on the trail. As the trail entered Duncannon there was an ice chest of GI Joe drinks (trail magic). I tried one since I never even heard of them before. They seemed to me like Kool-Aid. I trusted my handbook and went 0.5 miles up Highway 274 to Mutzabaugh's Market, definitely a good grocery store where I found a sub sandwich in their deli and everything else I needed for re-supply. Then after hiking all the way through town (I walked by, but did not go into Doyle's Hotel)I walked the 0.2 miles to the All American Truck Stop restaurant to discover to my delight that they had an AYCE buffet for $6.99. I stuffed myself with everything including chocolate cake and then headed across the Susquehanna to start the climb up to the Peters Mtn Shelter arriving at 6:15. I passed "Shilo" on the way near the top of the climb. He was disappointed with Duncannon having bought food at a convience store and not liking the accomodations at the Doyle where he had planned to stay. He did not have Wingfoot's Handbook and didn't know about the grocery store up the hill.Shilo talked me into going on to the Peters Mtn Shelter rather than staying at the Clarks Ferry Shelter. I'm glad he did since the Peters Mtn is new, a double-decker, and very nice. I didn't want to go at first since I figured from reading the shelter register that there would be between 7-10 people there ahead of us. But then I decided to go and tent if I had to since doing the extra miles might enable me to cut a day off my schedule getting to Port Clinton, which it did.
Date: 2003-06-19
From: Peters Mtn Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 34.9
Weather: light rain

Got back on the trail by 6:48 and flushed a ruffed grouse. There was a cottontail rabbit by the old Peters Mtn Shelter in the morning when I got up. I also saw my first red eft (salamander) in PA today. After crossing PA highway 325 there was some trail magic (Pepsi Twist soda) at the trailhead. I drank one since I've never had one before. Surprise, it tasted like Pepsi with a little lemon. I also found many wild strawberries on the trail in a field before PA 443. I helped myself to so many I was worried that I would not finish my hike today.I didn't stop at the Rausch Gap Shelter since it was 0.3 miles off the AT. I did stop for a half hour lunch break and went down to the William Penn Shelter to see if anyone was there and read the register. I noticed that Bob from Athens GA was there today. It was getting late, but the 501 shelter was just 4.1 miles away. I figured Bob would be there so I set out for 501. I arrived at 7:15 PM just an hour and fifteen minutes after I left the Penn shelter. Bob was there and I gave him some money and thanked him for finding and getting my hat back to me back in Virginia. Then I ordered a chicken fettichinni alfrado dinner with salad and a 2 liter pepsi for dinner from the Pine Grove Italian restaurant, took a shower, and enjoyed sleeping and watching the rain and the wind blow in the trees through the skylight.The hat I lost was one of the items I bought using a gift certificate which I received at my retirement party from my coworkers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. That and a pair of short gaiters were two of the items I would not have bought myself because they were expensive. But since I got the gift certificate, I splurged on these two items. The hat, an REI Elements weighs just 2 ounces and is completely waterproof. I just love it. When I lost it, I endured over a week of hard rains without it. I was miserable. I don't like to wear a hood while hiking. I missed my hat. I left a note in the next shelter after I lost it. Bob found the hat, read the note, and brought my hat to the outfitter in Daleville VA. When I got back from my daughter's wedding, the hat was there! I was so thrilled. So thanks, Bob, and thanks to the gang at Malheur for helping me get such a good item for my thru-hike. I won't lose it again! The short gaiters were indespensible in the snow and mud in the Smokies and will be useful again in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The only other item I've lost was my silk sleeping bag liner which I've replaced.The 501 shelter is the best so far on the trail. I just really liked everything about it.I also saw 3 big deer near the shelter, the biggest deer so far on the trail. Some of the guys saw 2 rattlesnakes in the rocks near the shelter. I tore my pack jumping from boulder to boulder in the area where the rattlesnakes were. The pack hit a tree and I ripped the bottom of my left shoulder strap half off. It still works, but the impact was so hard, it knocked me off balance and tore the strap. I will get it sewed up in Port Clinton.
Date: 2003-06-20
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton PA
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: light rain

Started hiking at 6:17. It was overcast and very wet after raining all night starting at 1:55 AM. It was hard to tell when the rain started again as the wind would blow large rain drops off the trees all morning. By afternoon the rainstorm was heavy with cold rain and wind. I stopped at the Eagles Nest Shelter which is 0.3 miles off the trail. It was the only place I could go to eat, open my pack, and read my handbook without getting everything soaked. I spent an hour there after hiking 15.1 miles. I only had 8.6 miles left to Port Clinton so I took my time and made it to town by 4 PM. I was cold, drenched, and pretty much looked like a drowned rat. I went to the Hotel and when I opened the door, I was greeted with "Dirty Harry!". Where in the world don't they know my name? Fly By was there to my surprise. I figured he was way ahead by now. He explained how he did leave Port Clinton yesterday, but his stress fracture on his lower leg was too painful. He turned back and said his wife was coming this evening to take him home. He was very disappointed, but realized that there would be another time to thru-hike the trail and his leg may never heal if he doesn't let it.I went out on the porch to make my way to the outfitters to make a phone call and I met "Trog" who I've been meeting on and off since North Carolina. He plans to hike on tomorrow even if it continues to rain. I plan to take a zero day to update this journal and dry out. I'll call my old neighbor and friend, Keith Berger, from Auburn to come and get me. It's good to be home again where I grew up. It's really amazing how friendly and helpful the people in PA are. I think it's small town folks verses big city ones. The small town folks seem to depend more on each other and thru-hikers are pretty dependent on others.
Date: 2003-06-21
From: Port Clinton PA

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Keith picked me up and took me home the back roads since there was an accident that closed Highway 61 north of Port Clinton. An SUV was on its roof and smashed into another car. A pork chop dinner was on the table and I had a large helping plus finished off most of the left overs with a second helping. Keith and I blew up a huge inflatable bed and I was in bed by 10 or so. Keith stayed up until 2 AM moving stuff because Bear Creek was rising and it was flooding the street in front of his house. Saturday I spent some time drying my stuff and Betty sewed up my pack. She let me borrow her car so I went to the Orwigsburg library where I updated my journal. Then I went to visit my brother, Barry, in Pottsville to get my new pair of hiking shoes and other things that Liz sent me. I plan to start hiking again tomorrow and get all the way through PA and perhaps NJ by next Sunday.
Date: 2003-06-22
From: Port Clinton PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

I left Port Clinton in the rain at 10:33. The trail goes south 0.7 miles then crosses under Highway 61 at the Schuylkill River bridge and climbs up to the top of the mountain. After passing Pocohontas and Minihaha Springs you arrive at Pulpit Rock and the Pinnicles. The Pinnicles is the best PA viewpoint. I could hear a steam train in the valley below...a weekend excursion during the summer months for tourists. My brother and I used to explore the caves at the Pinnicles as teenagers. We'd use string to find our way back out of the caves.I arrived at the Eckville Shelter at 5 PM...15.4 miles for the day. The Eckville is another premier shelter with drinks, cookies, and ice cream in a frig and a caretaker who punished us by taking away the Pizza menu because he had some problems with the hikers before us. So no Pizzas for us! The Privy had a solar shower and the bunkhouse was cozy but nice. The caretaker (Lazee) takes digital photos of the hikers that stay there. He's been doing that since 1999.
Date: 2003-06-23
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Palmerton PA
Miles today: 25.1

I only planned to do 17.4 miles today so I didn't get started until 8:30. After a 30 minute climb there's a side trail to Hawk Mountain and after another mile you pass Dan's Pulpit. Just after that I saw a white house cat so intent in stalking a bird that I startled it when I got very close to it. I also saw a box turtle on the trail again today. I stopped shortly at the Balanced Rock and took a lazy lunch break at the Allentown Shelter. Truckin' told me he saw 4 rattlesnakes at the Balanced Rock and one at the Tri-County vista. I hadn't seen any snakes yet, but today wasn't over. The famous PA rocks lived up to their reputation today as many rocks required climbing skills; not hiking. When I got to Bake Oven Shelter to replenish my empty water supply at a wonderfully cold spring, I decided to go on to the George W. Outerbridge Shelter and take a zero day tomorrow.I saw a copperhead about 4 miles before the shelter and "Kuss" saw another when he picked up his pack at the shelter to disturb a 3 foot copperhead which proceeded to enter the shelter full of sleepy hikers. I grabbed a nearby hiking pole and flipped the snake out of the shelter towards an astounded "Kuss" who was watching over my shoulder. He shouted several explatives about how much he hates snakes and retreated rapidly to a safer distance. I coaxed the snake away from the shelter and down the hill with the hiking pole. Everyone slept with one eye open all night! A hiker from New York (WallyGator)wanted to see a copperhead since he'd never seen one before. He took a photo of it as I was moving it away and said he didn't want to see one that close ever again.I did an extra 0.9 miles all the way down to the highway before I went to bed at 10 PM so I could have a zero day tomorrow. Total miles today: 25.1.
Date: 2003-06-24
From: Palmerton PA

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

The hostel at Palmerton PA is in the basement of the borough hall and is free! It offers nice hot showers and bunks with mattresses. The girl scouts provide every hiker with a zip lock bag full of toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, a granola bar, a 5 minute phone card, and a postcard. What a nice welcome! I noticed the girl scouts also built a nice stone fireplace at the Allentown Shelter. Not many places have girl scouts that are so active in the hiking community. It was very hot today so I'm glad I stayed in town. The library only has one computer and the Internet router was blown up two days ago by lightning. So I'm in Tommies Ice Cream Parlor using their DSL computer...very nice. I bought a cantalope and a half gallon of vanilla ice cream along with a 2 liter jug of Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer. I ate the cantalope with ice cream on it then used the rest of the ice cream to make a birch beer float. So I did the half gallon challenge again with a few extra calories. Zero days in town can be expensive so I'm trying to save some money.I also read two books in the library which was very quiet since the computer is down. Tomorrow I plan to hike 16 miles to the next shelter, then to Delaware Water Gap the next day (20 miles). It's supposed to rain this weekend. The Farmer's Almanac says there will only be 9 sunny days this summer! So far we've had two.