morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-28
From: Brink Road Shelter 

To: Rutherford Shelter 
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: broken clouds

Well I have had my fill of thunder storms for a while. Everything is damp, if not soaking wet. The mood as well as motivation is on the high side. There is a deli four miles down the trail.       The deli owner was a bit unhappy. A hiker, though not a long distance one, threw a cup of coffee. He had a general dislike towards us. He did however still sell us stuff.               The humidity today is brutal. We took a break at Sunrise Picnic Pavilion with Backyard Boogie, Beach Bum, Focus, the Goats, and Big Gulp. Ours is quick as we don¢t trust the weather. We get about a quarter mile from the Pavilion and the low rumble begins. The trail runs on a ridge here, with an alarming amount of rocks. We reach a shelter 3 miles away and see what happens.      Beach Bum, Boogie, Focus, Blazer, and I are trying to predict the weather with little luck. Eventually Big Gulp, Walnut, Low Gear, and Ziola all arrive. 10 thru-hikers huddled in a shelter with a tin roof. Lightning is hitting crazy close. After the first storm passed, I wandered out and looked around. Thought to myself, ¢Hey dummy, you are in a field¢, and scurried back to the shelter. Big Gulp was standing outside when lightning hit in the trees behind him. I jumped and I was in the shelter. Can¢t it just rain out here?      Beach Bum and Boogie headed to the next shelter once the thunder went away. Blazer and I followed shortly after. It was a wet slippery walk. The shelter was about as run down as they come, and camping was ok. The shelter was .4 down the side trail. It looked as though we were camping in a swamp.
Date: 2007-06-29
From: Rutherford Shelter 

To: Unionville NY Park 
Miles today: 11.1

I was up and out of camp by 7am. The last one as usual. I climb the steep side trail back to the AT. Blazer is just standing there. He ran into a bear on the trail that didn¢t move. He banged his poles together and yelled ¢Bear¢, to which the bear just looked back at him. I suggested the bear probably thought you were yelling ¢beer¢ with that Boston accent, and was confused. I saw no sign of a bear when I got to the spot. Personally, between you and me, I think he¢s been in the sun too long.        Speaking of sun, I heard a rumor it may make an appearance. A welcome sight as this is a third day of wet boots and socks. We take a break at High Point State Park and wait till they open. We could see a Coke machine inside. It was an outrageous two dollars a bottle.        It¢s an easy hiking day as after High Point, we have some pastures. Backyard Boogie, Blazer, Beach Bum, and myself are all heading to Unionville NY today for dinner and a quick re-supply. We take another break shortly after a wooden observation tower. It views High Point's tower, an exact replica of the Washington Monument. We passed Plastic Man today, our local transient, or if you want to be politically correct, economically challenge. We passed him a couple days back carrying plastic grocery bags. Today he had the plastic bags plus a backpack, suitcase, and a duffle bag. He always looks away from you and doesn¢t say much. Very America¢s Most Wanted. The disturbing part is that he actually passed us somehow. We have no idea how this happened, though, it doesn¢t say much for us. This guy appears to be moving faster than us, and carrying 4 times as much.        My feet are doing strange things. For starters, they hurt. My feet never hurt so I don¢t really know what to do. We cross a mess of roads and barking dogs, but manage to make it to Unionville. The blue berries slowed us for a bit.        We went right to the general store and filled out a permit to camp in their park. Next we head to the post office where I mail my digital camera home, hopefully it dries and maybe works again. You can call the mayor and he will come and get you for a shower, and do your laundry. Toto, Ziola, Focus, Blazer, Boogie, Beach Bum, and myself went to the Back Track Inn for a drinky and dinner. Backyard Boogie went for the sole purpose of getting Yuengled. There was even free pizza.        The only catch to camping in the park, which came with water spigot and privy, was the spot lights. It currently is shinning directly on my tent. They tell me it keeps the park safe. At least no one will steal me.        My feet are a mess. After 3 days of wet socks and boots, they are red and impossible to walk on.        We crawl to the general store for ice cream and supplies. If you saw us walk, you would wonder how the hell we got this far.         So it is bed time. There are about 12 of us here. My tent is lit up, most of the town is firing fireworks in our general direction, and a church bell goes off every hour. Now that¢s thru-hiking. It sounds like a bloody war zone out here.
Date: 2007-06-30
From: Unionville NY Park 

To: Wawayanda Shelter 
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Tough morning as we woke up and walked across the street to a bagel/bakery shop. Delicious bagels with egg and bacon, plus coffee and donut. Unionville could quite possibly be my new favorite trail town. Did I mention you could call the mayor, he¢ll come get you and you can do laundry/shower? No one really knows when we left, but we did leave.        It was a flat walk out of town and around a wildlife preserve. A climb up Pochunk Mountain and our 1st break at the shelter. Beach Bum, Blazer, Boogie, and myself hike on. We stumbled on to Ziola and trail magic (sodas), left by Bono who I think did the PCT. Focus catches up and we all head down to the massive boardwalk into Vernon NJ.        This board walk is huge and goes for a mile or two, along with a bridge. Interesting terrain today, a little bit of everything. Heaven Hill Farm is a tenth of a mile to the left on Hwy 94. Ice cream, fresh fruit, and veggies, and drinks. Everyone from last night was headed into the hostel in Vernon. Blazer and I announce it¢s a beautiful day and we intend to hike on to the next shelter 5 miles away, cleverly hidden behind a thousand foot climb. It¢s not often Blazer and I decide to hike when everyone goes to town. It was touch and go for a while at the ice cream place, but we are Oaks!        Everyone catches a ride in, and we trudge on, and might I add extremely up. On the top I head over to Pinwheel Vista, while Blazer hikes on. I took a picture and was admiring the view when a fine young lady appeared out of nowhere. She passed us at the bottom of the hill, so I have no idea where she was. We chatted a bit about hiking and my favorite subject, Me.        She said she was in school, but I was having trouble deciding whether that was college, or high school. Figuring that was probably wrong on so many levels, I bid her a happy day and bee-bopped down the trail        I ran into ¢The Dude¢ signing a register. He installs computer cables and is a geography major just like me. Well, okay, he graduated, but it¢s almost like me.         Blazer and I walk to Wawayanda Shelter where home will be tonight. Everyone is celebrating 4th of July tonight I guess, as fireworks are going off close by as well as Vernon¢s.   We thought about going in for that. Fireworks have never been the same since I watched the Duluth MN one explode. It was like watching the 20 minute finale. Since then, they tend to bore me.       We had dinner with The Dude, then hid our tents from the killer mosquito¢s, which seem in healthy numbers. My feet seem to be slowly recovering.
Date: 2007-07-01
From: Wawayanda Shelter 

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

No hurry to get up, we are only going 12 miles and it¢s actually cold out. When I was just closing my pack, I pulled my drinking tube out of my water bladder. I was pulling everything out like a mad man and Blazer looked on. In the end, I only lost a half liter of water. All my stuff is in water proof bags.        So off we go skipping down the trail. The trail got a little rough today. In NY they like to take you up and down any really big rock or collection of rocks they can find. We first cross the NJ/NY state line and pose for pictures, with my new cardboard camera. Prospect rock was next.        It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 60¢s low 70¢s, blue sky and poofy white clouds with a strong breeze. I could sit in my hammock and stare at the top of a tree with blue sky for hours. It helps if you have drinks with little umbrellas.        Anyway, you could see NY city from Prospect Rock, very cool. I tried to take a picture, but I don¢t know if it was beyond cardboard camera technology.       We hiked for many hours and Blazer looked like, well, he looked tired. I was having a great day. Almost enjoying myself. In 1999, I hiked from Vernon to route 17A and thought I was going to die. I carried 25 more pounds, and it was about 25 degrees warmer.       We did eventually crawl out to 17A and walked down to the creamery. They make their own ice cream. By now I should know better than to eat ice cream after hiking all day. But it¢s so tasty! I order a blackberry shake. It's 2 uncomfortable miles to the shelter. I think I am lactose intolerant when I am in the woods.       Fire Marshal caught up to us. The Dude, Blazer, Fire Marshal, Chico, Eulah, Ziola, and a south bounder are here tonight. While cooking dinner, 5 people and 3 dogs are walking up the trail. They are with the AMC and have brought all sorts of goodies. I forget their names, but wanted to thank them just the same. They had Pringles, water, beer, brownies, soda, and just about everything else you could think of.       We are thinking Beach Bum, Backyard Boogie, and Focus went into town back at the ice cream place with Climber. I think I am getting a bum wrap, always accused of being in town. This is night 6 in a tent, I think.       Oh and Chico is the hiker that back in Virginia caused quite a stir with whatever he wrote in the journals. The police and rangers took 5 days to find him. It was one of the more humorous stories I have heard on the trail this year. Especially with him telling it, very funny.       I may be the only hiker in history that has gone through NJ not once, but twice and not see a bear. I think I should get a merit badge or something for that.
Date: 2007-07-02
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: ETA Camp 
Miles today: 15.4

The low was in the high 40¢s last night. We start hiking and it¢s a balmy 50 degrees. The high never got above the 60¢s, perfect hiking weather. Blue skies and breezy. A great day just to breathe in and be glad you¢re alive.        Every once and a great while, I get a whiff of myself. It¢s been 8 days without a shower. You can play this game at home but it won¢t be the same. You start without a shower, hiking in the heat and humidity, then live in the dirt. Then you go to sleep in your filth, and start all over again.        Today the trail goes up a hill usually covered in rocks, though sometimes it is the rocks. Then it goes back down and it starts all over. In most places the trail coming down Arden Mountain would be called a mountain side, not a trail. Just because you paint blazes on the side of a mountain, doesn¢t make it a trail.        Despite the way I sound, I had a blast today and really enjoyed the trail. I don¢t think Blazer and Fire Marshal would say the same. We are 34 miles for New York City. Tonight we are at Education through Adventure Camp.        While we waited we talked to a great guy who was bringing trail magic up to the shelter. I think his trail name was Aquarius. He works for the George Washington Bridge and helped clean up the Twin Towers.         After an hour or so we start to wonder what happened to our ride. They do eventually find us and take us to their camp. It was like the start of a bad John Candy film, only he never actually made a bad one. We drove by a couple camps with names like Wakka Wakka and Walla Walla, ieee¢¦         Our choices tonight are a bunkhouse with lights or tenting. After being left at the bunkhouse, we venture out in search of dinner which was rumored to be going on near by. There are kids, 12-14 year old, running about with no one clearly in charge. I ask and we are pointed into the general direction of a guy in a hat. He thru-hiked in 1989.        When asked about the laundry, we are told the machine is upside down and asked if we had a ratchet set. We reply that we are not sure, but we will check our tool box. The showers are also lacking hot water and the internet doesn¢t exist. So we settle for a spaghetti dinner. The cook was great and fed us everything from macaroni to sandwiches.       Beach Bum, Backyard Boogie, and Eulah showed up. Most of us decide to tent as it is only 6 bucks. With dinner and breakfast it is only 20 bucks. That includes the shuttle.
Date: 2007-07-03
From: ETA Camp 

To: Fort Montgomery (Holiday Inn Express) 
Miles today: 13.1

We had breakfast and our shuttle was quick to drop us at the trail. Fire Marshal was off to the races. We decided to take our time.        The weather, while slowly getting warmer, is still great. The trail is going up and down as usual, but less rocky, almost gentle. While I will admit some fatigue after three days of constant straight up rocks and down, it¢s been highly enjoyable.         A couple of things about today. The climb up West Mountain was steep and long. The views of NYC today were great, even with the haze. We are only 34 miles from NYC. It is hard to grasp sitting in the middle of the woods with turkey vultures circling the wind in front of you. It is easier to believe when you actually get to Bear Mountain Park. Also crossing Palisades Interstate Parkway with cars zooming by at speeds of 55mph was an adventure. Let¢s face it, most were probably going faster, it is NY. Human Frogger is the best definition I heard. Blazer said it was a death trap and was not very happy crossing it.        Bear Mountain was the last obstacle for the day. It was easy compared to what we had been through the last 3 days. It had the added plus of having soda machines on top. The tower was locked, leaving us unsure of just why it was there. When we do crawl in Bear Mountain, it was busy with city folk.       We hurry along to Ft. Montgomery where Big Daddy has supplied us with a jacuzzi suite. The Holiday Inn Express is two miles off the trail. We walk the first mile to the post office through more harrowing traffic. Blazer yoggied a ride the rest of the way.       Fire Marshall, Ziola, Focus, Blazer, and myself eat way too much Chinese food.
Date: 2007-07-04
From: Fort Montgomery (Holiday Inn Express) 

To: Fort Montgomery (Holiday Inn Express) 
Miles today: 0.0

Rub-a-dub-dub two grown men in a tub. I really don't know where to go after that. Blazer would like me to tell you, that while we were indeed both in the tub it was at different times. I told him it was better journaling the way i had it. Today has been an odd day to say the least. First of all zero days shouldn't be this tough. We called a taxi for a ride to the grocery store. Your thinking "your hikers you should walk" not so. Just like if you work on the computer all day the last thing you want to do is play on the computer at night or something like that. Besides everytime we asked someone how far away it was, it got further. After quite a wait (45 minutes) blazer and firemarshal are getting antzy. They think it's not showing. I am apparently nieve as i say "why would they just not show up?" 5 more minutes pass and they call. You have to be kidding, the taxi hasn't left yet. How can one run a taxi service if you don't pick up your customers? Firemarshal and blazer order out for dinner. Beach bum, backyard boogie, and myself go to the steak house a couple doors down. It looks closed for the 4th, though there is no sign. Can't rightly say that its even been open in the last month. All the ATM's are out of order around here. So it's chinese again, then a couple hours of bad tv. The rain is really coming down and for once this week it doesn't matter.
Date: 2007-07-05
From: Fort Montgomery (Holiday Inn Express) 

To: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: clear sky

I think I am stuck in the twilight zone. Either everyone is crazy and I am normal or it¢s the other way around. Yesterday, everyone was waiting to late morning to leave. It is pretty damn early and they all have their packs on. It¢s now a sad and lonely journal entry. Everyone has left to beat the rain. I hang out an hour or so debating whether or not I should get a room for another night. The kids are only going 6 miles to the Graymoor friary. I finally decide to get wet as $140 is entirely too much. I went to 3 different ATM¢s and all were out of service. Must be the 4th of July thing. I back track to a deli that I passed earlier. It had a working ATM and lunch. I was down $2.25 and starting to worry. I walk the 2 miles back to the trail. I cross the Hudson via the Bear Mountain Bridge. The humidity is unreal. The woods are wet, quiet, and down right creepy. I am not used to this hiking alone. I have to pay attention now. It was an enjoyable walk. I saw no one on my 6 1/2 mile trot. I find Graymoor Friary and work my way over to the ball field. Actually, i think they call it the graymoor spiritual life center now. Wingfoots book tells you how past thru-hikers enjoyed an ayce dinner with the friars, but he then added not anymore. Myself, i heard that they were getting too old. They have been providing help ever since that lonely hiker wandered in decades ago. They still provide a pavilion, running water, cold shower, privy, and you can order pizza. The kids are all there. They have just ordered lunch without me. Luckily I brought my own from the deli. It rain on and off throughout the rest of the afternoon. Things are starting to get crowded as hikers are coming in from everywhere. Monkey and cocoa just returned from NYC sounds like they had a fun time. Big gulp, lowgear, walnut, eullah, jazznuts, castanets, granite and tarapin all wander in. More hikers than I have seen in a while. We all order dinner
Date: 2007-07-06
From: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center

To: Fishkill NY (Holiday Inn)
Miles today: 6.5

Every once in a great while you wonder, how the hell did I end up here. It happens to me more often than it probably should. I poked my head out of my tent to see backyard boogie just going out of sight and fire marshal following close behind. Blazer and beach bum are eating breakfast. Seems most are pushing for the rph shelter, 20 miles away. Beach bum will go until he gets tired. Today is my birthday and i seem to be almost where i was two years ago. Beach bum knows my birthday is close and is asking too many questions. Blazer tells me I can move ahead if I want, but I¢m in no hurry. Eullah is headed in to NYC. Blazer and I eventually pack up and leap frog monkey & cocoa the first couple miles. Blazer seems to be dragging for such easy terrain. He¢s also unusually quiet for this time of day. We take several breaks and are hiking again when he says I¢m not going to make it. I am thinking to the shelter. No he say he can¢t make it to the campground. I ask you sure it¢s only 4 miles away? He then says he is talking about the one a mile away. Yikes! His hip has been bothering him for a couple weeks now. We thought taking the zero in Ft Montgomery would have helped. He didn¢t mention it so I thought he was ok. Granted I didn¢t hike with him yesterday. I suggest we have to at least get to the road a mile away. He struggles but we crawl out to the trail head. There is a water tap, trailhead parking and live chickens running around. A nice lady gave us a lift up to Clarence Fahnestock State Campground. The campground is full, but they let thru-hikers camp for free. They have an excellent snack bar, little camp store, and beach. Blazer gets some ice from the first aid office. We sit and debate our options. We seemed to have wandered into no mans land in just 6 miles. A retired couple with their grandchildren over heard our dilemma. They tell us Fishkill is where we want to go. We try several shuttles, but none answer. So he leaves his wife and grand children at the beach to drive us the 20 minutes to Fishkill. I have of course forgotten his name, but this random act of kindness hasn¢t gone unnoticed. We are dropped at the Holiday Inn. We would like to thank him for all his help. I have no idea what I will do in Fishkill NY. We have comfy beds and feather pillows. We shall figure things out tomorrow. Right now we head to the bar for dinner. Blazer may take a few days off at his sons house in Boston.
Date: 2007-08-06
From: mosinee wisconsin

To: Boulder Colorado
Miles today: 0.0

Sorry, i forgot to wrap this up. I switched the journal to a section hike, since that is all it really was. I got off the trail at the last journal entry (Fishkill NY) when blazer took a week off because of his hip. A week later Blazer officially got off the trail when his hip felt no better. He flew back to GA and went to a doctor. He had no serious damage, but needed rest. He will continue from where he left off next year. I will plan on hiking Vermont with my dad next year as well, so perhaps our paths will cross again. After i got off the trail i spent a week with my parents as well as visited with my brother and his family. Big Daddy and i then went on a 6 day hike of isle royale's eastern side. We kept a journal which is just labeled 2007. Isle royale is a tremendous place to hike and if one has the time they should look into it. Once you get away from rock harbor you leave all noise and civilization behind. I now at this very moment am sitting in boulder Colorado, waiting for yappy and dead animal to fly into Denver. We are hiking the Colorado trail (Denver-durango) starting on Friday. Big Daddy is here as well. I will be keeping a journal www.trailjournals.com/noworries and yappy has one as well. Big daddy and i have hiked somewhere here everyday. The following is in no particular order. I would like to thank everyone that helped us out along the AT. Matt for doing my journals. Blazer for inviting me along. My parents for sending my mail drops, holding my jeep, and not disowning me. Mike for doing my pictures, it can really be a pain in the *ss. All the trail angels and of course the faithful readers.
Date: 2007-05-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So, this is the first official Trail Journal entry for my 2007 thru-hike. I'm Obie Reynolds, trail name pending. I started hiking in the Boy Scouts about 8 years ago, and have been prepping up for a thru-hike ever since. I graduated from Georgia Tech this spring with a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering, and am planning on returning to GT in Spring 2008 to begin my Ph.D. I'll be working during June at Camp Thunder Scout Reservation while I finish buying gear, then heading to NYC for my sister's wedding on July 1. Immediately afterward, my folks are driving me up to Maine to start hiking, so I should be on the trail by early July. Alls I can say is that it's already been a crazy AT adventure and I haven't even started yet. Between grad school setbacks, women problems and hiking in memorial instead of with my buddy Allen, it turns out life can be pretty complicated. Call it a quarter-life crisis, but I'm ready to spend a little time in the woods. Bottom line is, this is a once-in-a-lifetime type of fun, and I'm incredibly happy to finally be going. Well, I'm off to bed (seems like a pointless statement until bed is a sweaty sleeping bag), I'll be sure to post about gear, logistics, the meaning of life, and of course what it's like to give up booze, cigarettes, tv, cars, refridgeration, recorded music, electricity, regular showers, general cleanliness, etc.