morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-06-11
From: Byrd's Nest #3 Hut

To: Skyline Mile 19.7
Miles today: 15.8

Today was our last wayside and we took full advantage.  We got there a little after lunch time and had burgers and the usual stuff.  Because it was the last wayside we stayed a little longer than we should.  Also, a bunch of hikers seemed to congregate there - I think we were all sad that we were leaving the waysides behind and in the next 1300 miles would not experience such easy access to food.Finally I told the others that if I had any hope of reaching our goal of Front Royal the next day I was going to have to leave and get another four or five miles down the trail.  My wonderful sister, Betsy, who once lived in Front Royal agreed to pick me up at the road crossing and spend a day in Front Royal with me.  There was a winery we used to visit when she lived there and I was looking forward to an off day and the chance to sit at the winery with a good bottle of wine, eating some cheese and sausage.In any case I started up the mountain, and soon Foggy joined me.  We made it to the top of Little Hogback Mountain but didn't have a lot of luck finding a camping spot.  We finally found a spot that would suffice just past a Skyline Drive parking area and settled in for the night.  We never saw Chili Dog or Barrel (who started walking with us several days earlier) but we trusted that we would find them the next day.This was the worst evening of the entire hike in terms of bugs - I hope this isn't a harbinger of buggy future!  While laying in my tent I took a swipe at one bug that had made it into my tent.  Unfortunately I was adding some thoughts to my notebook at the time and promptly poked a pretty good size hole in my tent with the pen I was holding. I made a quick repair with some duct tape and resolved that I now had another chore to work on during my off day in Front Royal.  Such is life on the trail.
Date: 2017-06-12
From: Skyline Mile 19.7

To: US 522 - Front Royal trail crossing
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Our small group found each other today and we made reasonably short work of the 15 miles to the Front Royal trail crossing.  And there was Betsy waiting for us with cold Cokes and a warm smile.  It was great to see her and I was really looking forward to a day off the trail and plenty of time to catch up with my sister's life beyond the trail.The hiker crowds are growing again and by the time we reached the crossing a small crowd of hikers was gathering (I guess with no more waysides everyone was resolved to adding on the miles).  A 2013 thru hiker (now Trail Angel) showed up with trail magic drinks and snacks and offered rides into town for some of the hikers.  We went into town with Betsy and the other three settled into the Quality Inn while Betsy and I found our way to the Holiday Inn on the other side of town.We exited Shenandoah National Park today and left Skyline Drive behind.  It will be another three days to Harper's Ferry - the symbolic halfway point of the trail and that's a milestone we are all really looking forward to.Until then...
Date: 2017-06-14
From: US 522 - Front Royal trail crossing

To: Dick's Dome Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I said goodbye to my wonderful sister and got back on the trail after a zero day. I really enjoyed the time with her reconnecting to the world off the trail and drinking a good bottle of Virginia wine. I hope.we'll have another chance to get together  in the next few months.Today starts my fourth month on the trail which is half of the timeeting I wanted to hike the trail. I haven't covered half the miles but my mileage has increased a bit so I'm still on schedule for a mid-September finish.We walked by the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter and I have to say that it's one of the nicer shelters I've seen. It has a table and chairs time it in, a solar shower and a horseshoe pit. We had lunch there and moved on but it would have been a great place to spend the night. Later at Dick's Dome Shelter we had some trouble finding a place to pitch a tent. For so.easy Eason the crowd on the trail is increasing and it's harder to fit at the shelters.  There was a small creek next to the shelter and we found that a snake had made the creek its home. We walked carefully around the creek and.made sure we kept an eye out for the snake.
Date: 2017-06-15
From: Dick's Dome Shelter

To: Bear's Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: light rain

Today's hike took us to the Roller Coaster, a long series of climbs and descents one right after another. The climbs were not that high but they were steep and constant. The trail took a straight line across the topography and we were climbingout aims straight up the ridge spine and across cross a large number of boulder fields. It was a long day and I had more than a few unkind thoughts for the person whow designed this portion of the trail.The day ended at Bear's Den Hostel. The hostel is a stone retreat house built in the 1930s and is now owned by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I slept in the bunkroom in a room with five others. We enjoyed a pancake breakfast the morning we left and faced another four miles of the Roller Coaster.On the way to the Hostel we crossed the 1000 mile mark and we took ample time to celebrate the milestone.
Date: 2017-06-16
From: Bear's Den Hostel

To: US 340 - Harper's Ferry 
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: light rain

I finished the Roller Coaster in the morning and a good part of the trail the rest of a day was a smooth flat walk into Harper's Ferry. There were sections with rocky parts.but they didn't last long. We left Virginia for the last time after walking the Virginia/West Virginia border for the last week or two. The 19 miles.made for a long day and we made it to our hotel after 7.  To.orrow will have to be our day for visiting the Appalachian Trail Conservancy office. We'll take the obligatory picture and then see the town of Harper's Ferry.
Date: 2017-06-18
From: US 340 - Harper's Ferry 

To: Dahlgren Backpacker Campground
Miles today: 18.1

I left Harper's Ferry this morning set and ready for the last half of the adventure.  The real half way point is still fifyh miles down the road but leaving Harper's Ferry feels like I'm on the downward slope.  As soon as we crossed the Potomac river we entered Maryland and left West Virginia behind - all 2.7 miles that we hiked through.While in Harper's Ferry we checked in at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters, had our picture taken and entered into the official log of through hikers.  I am hiker number 870 who has reached Harper's Ferry and in reviewing the log I saw a number of familiar faces of people who have reached the halfway point before me.It was Father's Day and both daughters checked in throughout the day, including a wonderful Father's Day card i got in the resupply box the family sent me in Harper's Ferry.  the tread was flat and even for the better part of the morning.  there were a few climbs but all in all Maryland seemed to be the easiest state I've hiked yet.I did a snake jump today - walking along not paying much attention until I looked down to see half a snake right at my feet.  thankfully, it was the safe end and I immediately jumped straight into the air.  It's something that happens without thinking and is probably some sort of survival instinct thing.  The snake was a black snake with no rattler so I was safe all along but it's still pretty alarming when you notice a snake four inches from your right foot.We'll be in Maryland only for a few days and then on to Pennsylvania for about 250 miles.
Date: 2017-06-19
From: Dahlgren Backpacker Campground

To: Ensign Cowall Shelter
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: few clouds

We visited the Washington Monument today - not the one in D.C. but the one just outside of Boonsboro, MD.  It turns out that the citizens of Boonsboro were so enamored with our first president that they built the very first Washington Monument.  It's a stone tower with a lookout at the top and has seen use during the civil war as a lookout by the northern army and has been rebuilt three times.  this is one of the great parts of walking the trail - these unknown surprises pop up every once in a while and provide an opportunity for some cheap entertainment and history lessons.In early afternoon the skies opened for about two hours - a much needed down pour.  It's been eight or so days since the last significant rain and some of the creeks and springs are starting to dry up.  Water gets more scarce normally as you walk north so the extra rainfall was welcome.  We walked off the trail to visit Annapolis Rocks, a scenic outcropping with a great view of the valley below.  We could also see the thunderheads rolling is so we hustled back to a tarp shelter just off the trail to wait out the rain.  We waited a couple of hours and the three of us at the shelter each got in a quick nap.The hiking was again fairly easy except for the end of the day when we hiked a couple of miles through some boulder fields.  This is some foreshadowing of what we expect in Pennsylvania.  The word is the trail is very rocky and treacherous for long stretches in  Pennsylvania.  Can't wait for that!We also passed Pogo memorial Campsite, a sort of run down camping area that looks like it doesn't get a lot of use.  When I have the time I need to research how it got its name.
Date: 2017-06-20
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter

To: PA 16 - Waynesboro
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Our plan today is to exit the trail at PA Highway 16 and go into Waynesboro for a quick resupply.  The next two towns on the itinerary are ones we walk through so resupply will be easy but we have to get enough food to get there.Not long after breaking camp we began to hear gunfire in the woods.  hundreds of rounds were being fired and the noise went on for a few hours.  It seems like there must be a shooting range somewhere in the woods or at least that was our hope.About mid-morning we came across Grandma and Old Goat, parents of a 2014 through hiker who have been providing trail magic to hikers for the last four years.  They traveled from southern Georgia to Maryland to set up a portable kitchen to feed hikers and we took great advantage of the situation.  The subject of the gunfire came up and the mentioned that the trail goes close to Camp David in this area and we guessed that we were hearing gunfire from a training facility for the Secret Service or whoever guards Camp David.  that's the only ting that makes any sense.Early afternoon took us to the Maryland/Pennsylvania border - the Mason Dixon line - and we officially left the south and began our walk in the north.  For the record that means we have completed six states with eight to go. In a couple days we'll reach the official halfway point and then everything will be down hill from there!
Date: 2017-06-21
From: PA 16 - Waynesboro

To: Caledonia State Park
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Had a wonky day walking out of Waynesboro. I'm not sure if it's from three months of hiking or just being tired all the time but I had a hard time concentrating today. Almost right off the bat I was walking the wrong way at road crossings and getting confused at trail heads. At one point I was sure I was going the right way only to finally realize that I was referring to a section of the guidebook about five miles back.I'm still hiking with the same small group and even though we all walk the same distance every day we walk at different speeds. I'm the slowest so I'm walking alone most of the time. I'll have to focus more to avoid wandering around lost.The trail really isn't hard to follow if you pay attention to the blazes and signs - but some times the mind wanders.There was a 20% chance of rain today but we got a 100% thunder shower late in the afternoon. Being wet is never good but we had our spirits lifted by trail magic at the State Park.For the last 14 years a man from Indianapolis has come to the trail for a week with some of his family and hosts hikers. You get a free place to pitch a tent, breakfast and dinner. It was a great break after hiking through the rain. Good home-cooked food always lifts the spirits.It's people like Cook Doctor (his trail name) that makes the trail possible.  Before the evening was over more than 30 hikers showed up. It was quite the gathering.Today was also the summer solstice and there is a hiker tradition to hike naked on the longest day of the year - don't ask me why!!Be assured that under my hiking clothes I was completely naked. I'm not one to mess with tradition.  By the way I didn't see any naked hikers today (thank goodness).
Date: 2017-06-22
From: Caledonia State Park

To: Tom's Run Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

After our trail magic breakfast from the Cook Doctor we made quick work of a good day. Covered 15 miles in 7 and a half hours including breaks. The terrain is somewhat flat and we haven't seen a lot of the notorious Pennsylvania rocks yet so it was an easy day.We crossed the official halfway point today which was a real morale booster. A few miles later we passed the marked halfway point (the trail changes length every year so there really isn't a fixed halfway point although there is a marker that says you've made it halfway. )We did get one surprise a few hundred yards short of the official halfway mark. I was walking in front of Foggy when my brain warnings went off and I stopped dead in my tracks. About 10 feet in front was the first rattle snake we had seen. It was about three feet long with about five or six sections in its rattle. We waited patiently until it moved on.Here's my halfway inventory:On my third pair of shoes, repaired two holes in my tent, on my third set of rubber tips for my trekking poles, on my third set of socks (pairs number 5 and 6), my pack shows some wear and tear I'm a little worried about and it reeks from all the sweat it has accumulated.Packs and sleeping bags seem to be the biggest worry points for most hikers because they are really hard to clean. Down sleeping bags can't be thrown in the washer and there is no good way to clean a backpack thoroughly so we just live with the funky smell.Reaching the halfway point makes the hike seem short going forward. We don't talk anymore about how far we have come, instead we talk about how far we have left and that number gets smaller every day. I'm really feeling like I can do this thing!
Date: 2017-06-23
From: Tom's Run Shelter

To: James Frye Shelter
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: light rain

Woke to rain today so we waited it out and got a late start. The goal today is to make it to Pine Grove Furnace State Park and consider the half gallon challenge.The challenge is another AT tradition. To celebrate reaching the halfway mark hikers take on the challenge of eating a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting.We made it to the Park a little before 10 and opted out of the challenge. I had a ham and egg sandwich on an English muffin and some chocolate milk instead. I didn't think I could finish the ice cream.and I didn't want to hike with a belly full.We hung around until after lunch and finally a couple hikers took on the challenge. The younger of the two polished off the ice cream in less than half an hour. The older hiker (somewhere in his 60s I'd guess) was still struggling to finish when we finally decided to leave.The Park is also the site of the AT museum. On the way out we spent half an hour wandering the small museum. If you're ever in the area it's worth stopping to see the stories of the first through hikers and the people who built the trailWith the late start and long breaks it was a short day - but certainly a fun one.
Date: 2017-06-24
From: James Frye Shelter

To: Boiling Springs 
Miles today: 12.0

We walked into Boiling Springs on flat ground, making a fast day of 12 miles. The terrain in this part of Pennsylvania is very flat and we spent a big part of the day walking through meadows and fields.Walking into town we passed our third halfway point marker. The third one is Center Point Knob, a small hill with a monument at the top commemorating the halfway point when the trail was otiginally created.Boiling Springs is  a pretty little town right on the trail so it's a great spot for a quick stop to refresh and refuel. We stayed at a small five bed hostel run by Lisa. The hostel is a converted shed behind her house but offers a hot shower, cold drinks and a quiet place to sleep. We enjoyed our night there.The town doesn't offer a lot of places to eat so we ended up at the Tavern, a higher end eatery. The food was fantastic but very pricey relative to trail standards. I couldn't help myself and started dinner with six oysters on the half shell. It was a little bit of heaven to be eating like this.Boiling Springs is worth a visit if you're ever in the area. It gets its name from the artesian springs that form a small lake on the center of town. The lake empties into a creek that attracts fly fisherman and the place just seems to bustle with activity. Wish I could have stayed longer.It also has a history with the Underground Railroad. I'd like to learn more about that at some point.
Date: 2017-06-25
From: Boiling Springs 

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

After breakfast at a small cafe we took off for the first day of a two day hike to Duncannon.  The first ten miles were almost dead flat, meandering around fields of corn, beans and barley. I made quick work of the ten miles doing it on one push without stopping.I've been without a phone for 5 days because my third phone broke down on me - I guess I'm hard on phones, no one else seems to be having the phone trouble that I'm having.I'm hoping everything at home is fine because I have no way to contact Linda or anyone else.Uneventful day today and we stopped at a shelter that would give us a quick walk into Duncannon tomorrow. My plan is to find a shuttle driver who can take me to a Verizon store to see if they can rescue my phone. It still powers up but won't go all the way through the boot up process.Tomorrow starts the dreaded rocky section of PA. Pennsylvania is called Rocksylvania by experienced through hikers because of over 100 miles of very rocky sections. These include long boulder fields and longer sections of smaller rock that stick up from the ground like beds of nails. Walking the rocks is dangerous and evokes a few curses every now and then. We'll see if the stories are true.
Date: 2017-06-26
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

There are many traditions on the trail and one of the more controversial is staying at the Doyle. The trail goes right through the small town of Duncannon and right by the Doyle Hotel.The Doyle is an ancient hotel that attracts many hikers because it has good food, cold beer and cheap lodging rates. It also has every known code violation - exposed wiring, leaky pipes, loose stair bannisters, entire sections closed off due to disrepair. But other than that it's a great place.It's run by Pat and Vickie, two hippie era oldsters who work hard and keep most of the hikers happy. They keep the food good and the beer cheap and their business fuels a lot of other businesses in town. I'm sure that's why the code enforcers don't pay much attention.I heartily recommend the Doyle just for the unique experience, you can't go wrong - just don't use the third floor shower because the fourth floor shower leaks into it.Took a zero day in Duncannon  (that's right - two nights in the Doyle ) so that I could get to a Verizon store. Found a shuttle driver went to Harrisburg and of course they couldn't fix the phone But they were happy to sell me a used phone cheap so that's what I did. And now I'm back in business.
Date: 2017-06-28
From: Duncannon

To: Mile 1163 Campsite
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

We put the Doyle behind us and not long into the hike we began to appreciate why they call this area Rocksylvania.  We walked over knife edge rock ridges climbing out of Duncannon and found more rocks with every mile we hiked.The word on the trail is that water is more scarce in PA and I think that's true. It's scarce not because of a lack of rain. The scarcity comes from walking on flat rocky ridges all day - there are no streams, creeks or springs.  We had to carry extra water over 11 miles today so we would have enough to cook with. That's about six extra pounds in your pack for 11 long miles. Our little group decided to push the miles up so we could trim a day and get to Hamburg in 4 days instead of 5. Maybe not the smartest thing given the rocks but you don't have to be smart to walk the trail. We walked as far as we could and picked a small camping area on top of a mountain. We camped along side Amanda and Kai a mother and son out for their first camping trip. They had a purple and pink tent with caricatures of cats on the side. Luckily for them there was no rain in site. They had lots of questions for the four through hikers who ended their day at the site and it was an entertaining evening chatting about the trail and our camping and hiking adventures.
Date: 2017-06-29
From: Mile 1163 Campsite

To: Mile 1183 campsite
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: broken clouds

We pushed very hard today ending up with a rare 20 mile day - just so we could eat dinner at Wendy's.  We hiked through the day with a younger couple that I've hiked with every now and then for the last 600 miles or so. They were slack packing the day and offered to give us a ride to Wendy's and back. It was an offer we couldn't refuse.I made the day longer by walking in circles for awhile. There was a project replacing a small bridge on the trail. The new bridge was in place so I crossed it and a little while later saw very official looking signs saying AT this way. So I followed the signs and ended up walking back to the section before the new bridge. The section was a bypass trail for the time when the bridge wasn't installed yet and no one had bothered to take down the bypass signs. But I'm a fast learner so the second time I walked across the bridge I didn't follow the official looking signs - live and learn (said with a long sigh).The rocks are steady - long sections broken up with the relief of flat soft sections of the trail. But as we go forward it seems like more rocks and fewer soft sections.
Date: 2017-06-30
From: Mile 1183 campsite

To: Mile 1202 Campsite
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The rocks are doing a number on my ankles and Achilles tendons so I'm walking a little gingerly these days. After today less than 100 miles of PA left.There's not a lot of interesting things on the trail and the walking is tedious and boring. I've gone through two sets of ear buds I bought for 1.00 each at Dollar General so I can't use my phone to entertain me so I just slog along.Hamburg tomorrow for a short half day of rest.
Date: 2017-07-01
From: Mile 1202 Campsite

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

Blog Note: I know it's been many days between posts and for those following the blog I hope you're not disappointed.  I've been hiking through an area with small towns and little Internet or computer access. Also haven't taken as much time off and walking longer days. All this has made it hard to update because I can only use my phone. My fat thumbs make the going slow on the tiny keyboard. Please bear with me. I'll update as quickly as I can.Finished a four day push to Port Clinton today. The mileage said it should have been five days but we pushed forward the last three days.  Got rained on the last two days and I was anxious to find a hotel with a laundry.Made my walk about two miles longer today when I got off course and wandered a bit. I got to a confusing section and walked the wrong way. Opened Google Maps and it told me I was on the trail, so I kept walking until it told me to make a turn that wasn't there. Finally backtracked and found the right trail. As we all know you can't always trust Google Maps.Resupplied last night with a ride from a hiker who is using his truck and motorcycle to allow him to slack pack the trail. He moves the cycle forward, drives his truck back to where he finished the day before and then walks to the cycle. Clever guy!