morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-01
From: Culver's Gap off US 206

To: Off trail campsite
Miles today: 12.2

Sometimes some of the best views are when the trail crosses under power lines where there are expansive views due to the absence of trees. This was one of those views with a field of flowers under the lines.According to my notes, I should be getting near the end of the rocks and the rock slabs. But they are getting in some pretty good licks right here at the end, so it was a little slow going for me today. Also, with all of the rain last night the water pooled up, creating little ponds on the trail. I had to get creative to avoid stepping in the water -- stepping on rocks and logs and blazing routes through the woods off trail. My shoes and socks did end up wet, but it least not a sloshy, muddy, grainy, drippy wet.At one point today, I looked at my elbow and there was a mosquito feeding on me and she was fat and red with my blood. I gently touched her body and saw her legs crouch down and then she pulled out her proboscis (straw like nose thing) and flew off. I had heard that if you smash it or swat it off, its proboscis will break off in your skin and create a much worse mosquito bite. Here it is several hours later and I don't have an itchy mosquito bite after my gentle persuasion to get her to remove her straw nose out of my skin. It seems to have worked.I'm in my tent on a cool, dry, and still evening, looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight. Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-02
From: Off trail campsite

To: Near Murray Shelter
Miles today: 9.1

I don't know if this was a wild turkey or a pheasant or what, but she led about 6 little chicks across the trail in front of me. Pretty cute procession. The rocks of Pennsylvania and New Jersey have finally subsided and my feet are certainly enjoying the softer path. A friend recently asked how my feet are doing, and they are really doing okay. I stretch them in the morning and night, and most nights I massage them when I get in my tent. Plus, I think I have simply gotten used to the daily plodding along. I'm not worried about them carrying me the rest of the way. I cut my day short today to set up my tent and lie down to deal with kind of a nasty stomach ache. Maybe a good night's rest will make me feel better.
Date: 2015-07-03
From: Near Murray Shelter

To: NJ 284 near Unionville, NY
Miles today: 1.8
Weather: moderate rain

This is the standard symbol for the Appalachian Trail. It's on a lot of signs and sometimes I see people wearing t-shirts or jewelry with this symbol. I was thinking how hiking this trail maybe is a little harder for women than for men. Generally women are smaller than men, but they still have to haul the same amount of gear. They've got the same tent, sleeping bag, cooking equipment, everything. They have shorter strides to cover the same distances, and they also may be at a disadvantage in the White Mountains when we will have to reach and climb a good deal. I also appreciate, having read books and other blogs, that they may have some extra safety concerns. Now, as I say all that, for the most part the women hikers I'm recalling have blown right by me. Strength and determination are certainly more of individual traits rather than gender traits. But there are some differences and it just seems like women may have a couple of extra challenges. It makes these strong and determined women hikers out here all the more impressive. A nice couple, section hikers, dropped me off at a motel today, and I'm chillin'. My stomach is still a bit queasy, but it doesn't seem like anything serious.
Date: 2015-07-04
From: NJ 284 near Unionville, NY

To: NJ 284 near Unionville, NY
Miles today: 0.0

I decided to take a zero today to just finish getting over my stomach thing and rest up a little bit more. I'm looking forward to getting back out on the trail again tomorrow.This photo shows what I keep in my pocket at all times. The whistle has a compass, a mirror, and a magnifying glass. My "massive" Swiss army knife has a knife blade, scissors, tweezers, a plastic toothpick, and a combination file & screwdriver. I've used the scissors the most for cutting tape and moleskin for my feet and also food packaging. I haven't used the knife blade once. By the way, some hikers keep their whistles around their necks with the idea that their arms may be broken after a fall. I'll take this opportunity to mention an observation I made early in the Spring. I believe it was in Tennessee when I sat down to have lunch one day up on the ridge. New spring flowers, close to the ground and with thin stems, had just emerged. An elegant flying machine, a bumblebee, was going from flower to flower. These bees can hover, move side to side, and take off in a flash -- really little perfect flyers. That day, I watched this particular bee land on a flower and then lift off and go to the next flower. The next flower's stem was so thin that it bent over under the weight of the bee, and the bee suddenly found himself upside down on his back on the ground. He flailed about awkwardly until he finally was able to lift off and fly away. Poor little guy was probably embarrassed. It just kinda tickled me that this little perfect flying machine had such an awkward moment.Happy Fourth of July!
Date: 2015-07-05
From: NJ 284 near Unionville, NY

To: Near Pochuck Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 5.3

This was one of the scenes this afternoon of the New Jersey countryside. The tiny white specs in the middle are farm buildings and a silo. This countryside is really quite beautiful.My ride was delayed today and I didn't get started until late so I didn't get much mileage in. But I did discover something with the nearos and zero these past few days. I was just plain exhausted and needed some time off to be horizontal. My shoulder had been bothering me quite a bit ever since that fall about a month ago. It just didn't seem to be healing. But with rest, it has improved remarkably, so I think I've learned a lesson about scheduling time off occasionally for some physical recuperation. I think I may have also needed some mental recuperation. Walking over all of those rocks day after day required extreme concentration on foot placement for a majority of the hours each day. That can be fairly mentally exhausting. Anyway, I feel I have my full energy back and it feels so good to not have an achey breakey shoulder. I'll probably schedule down time going forward because, in the long run, I think I'll make more progress if I get occasional rest and healing time.Here's an unrelated hiking observation. I read in a book or a blog that several years ago a hiker took the trail name of Web Breaker. It sounds like some kind of computer hacker, doesn't it? But what it was, was that he would get up around 4:30 and start hiking in the cool morning air resulting in all off the spider webs being cleared by him. When I end my day with other thru-hikers, I'm always glad to see some tall guy get up and leave before me in the morning. Web Breakers. Tonight I'm in a tent listening to a gentle breeze, right upon a hill near a shelter. Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-06
From: Near Pochuck Mtn Shelter

To: Near Bellvale, NY (off trail)
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: light rain

I have made it to New York, my ninth state. Having been off the trail for a few days, it's interesting that I am now in a different "bubble" of people. Most of them I don't know but a few I have met before. That's what we call the hikers that are roughly one day ahead, even, or one day behind you. Everyone tends to walk in the same two to four bubbles depending on speed, zero days, or other factors. New York has started off seeming an awful lot like Pennsylvania. There are lots of rocks and slabs of rock and sometimes walls to climb. At least that's how today was. We'll see what the next week brings.A couple of people have asked about hammocks. I don't know a whole lot about them, but I would say about ten percent of the people out here are using them. It certainly seems convenient to be able to easily find two trees and not have to worry so much about flat ground, etc. I would have thought that hammocks present potential back issues. But many who use them are older hikers, so hammocks must be more comfortable then they appear. I will say that during the early weeks at the start of the trail, I heard complaints from people with hammocks about being cold. So they may be more appropriate for summer backpacking. I have also heard that they can be made to be fairly warm in cold weather, so there could be a trend of higher usage on the AT in the next several years.I'm off trail in my tent with a nice breeze to cool off this hot and muggy day. Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-07
From: Near Bellvale, NY (off trail)

To: Harriman State Park
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

This seemed to look like some kind of stick creature pulling on the base of a tree.I started off the day with a comical experience. It was during rush hour as I was approaching a busy road. About 30 yards from the road, as I came out of the woods, I saw the bare backside of a young woman squatting and taking care of some emergency bathroom business. She had evidently had a great need to stop along the road and she seemed to be wearing nice clothes, probably on the way into work. I immediately backed up into the woods to give her some privacy. But she must have seen me because she bolted back to her car. I continued hiking and when I got to the spot on the trail where she had been I was surprised to see that it had been a NUMBER 2! Right there half-situated on the trail! Gross.Pennsylvania gets all the rep as the state with the rocks. And that's well earned. But my goodness, New York has its own unique rocky formations. It's like some giant hand had gripped the ground and pulled, leaving 200 foot high bouldery furrows. I was up and down down those cliff-like furrows all day. Exhausting, especially since it was quite warm and muggy. But it is certainly an interesting challenge everytime I'm faced with one of these boulder cliff puzzles to figure out the best way to climb up and down. Lots of different options causing hundreds of moments of calculation. So I think New York should get some rocky rep as well.Maybe New York should also get its due credit for the number of trail magic offerings. I think I happened by about six of them today. And most of the supplies were surprisingly plentiful, so there was a lot of welcome refreshments during the day. Thanks, New York Trail Angels.I'm stealth camped off trail within earshot of a busy highway. But that usually means good cell phone service to catch up on news, etc. Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-08
From: Harriman State Park

To: NY 90 off trail
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: broken clouds

Here I am crossing the Hudson River at dusk on the Bear Mountain bridge. Earlier today near this bridge, I came across a restaurant. I realized then I just had to have a hot burger and fries. Mmmmmm. They were good. But that put me behind schedule. I still had a mountain to climb if I was to get to the campsite, and I could tell it was going to be dark before I got there. I prefer not to have to put on a headlamp and hike in the dark because I suspect I will do a face plant at some point. So I set up my tent not too far from this bridge, and listened to the sounds of heavy traffic and occasional trains blaring their whistles.At the (burger) restaurant and nearby recreational area, several people noticed my backpack and were quite interested in my long distance hike. There were so many questions that I finally had to politely excuse myself. I saw a sign today when I was crossed a four lane highway. The sign said New York City 34 miles. How about that? There still are woods and forest out here, but I'm that close to dense civilization. There were also two high peaks I encountered that on a clear day provide a view of the New York City skyline. Unfortunately, it was too hazy and cloudy today for that.Today's terrain was easier than yesterday's, not as many as of those cliffs to climb up and down, and the trail was about half rock and half dirt. Not too bad.I think it will be a very noisy night. I probably could get a fine for being at this odd urban spot right next to this heavily used trail. But from a safety standpoint, I thought it was the best thing to do to set up before it got dark. I will try to pack up and head on out very early tomorrow morning. There goes another train just a'blowin' it's whistle very nearby. This is a most interesting site. Glad I'm experiencing this. Once. Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-09
From: NY 90 off trail

To: Near Clarence Fahnestock State Park
Miles today: 17.4

Bears. There are several indicators of bear country, one being displaced rocks and logs, as in the picture. This is how they look for grubs and insects. Another is bark that has been torn off of dead trees or logs. Again, they're digging for little tasty squirmy treats. I've seen lots of that this entire hike. This is definitely mosquito season now. When I am in my tent protected by mosquito netting, I will often see a couple dozen mosquitos drawn to my breath, each one walking around and probing its proboscis into the netting. I sometimes stick my tongue out at them as they're sticking theirs toward me. My main strategy to prevent them from getting me during my hike is to simply walk quickly so they don't have a chance to land on me. But there are difficult rocky areas where I'm not moving very quickly and they do certainly swarm. Often I will put on a long sleeve shirt, hat, and head net for protection, especially in boggy areas. Hot, hot, hot. Sometimes I spray Deet on my hat, but I don't like having it on my skin...I understand that frequent exposure is not good for a person.Speaking of bugs, my strategy of light colored pants tucked into my socks seems to be effective against ticks. At least so far. I've seen a couple of ticks on the ground and on grass but have yet to find one on me.For the last couple of days walking near the Hudson River I have been hearing the distant booms of, I think, artillery practice coming from West Point. That's just an interesting aspect of hiking in this area.My friend Bob C. picked me up this evening one more time before I get too far away from NYC where he's working. Other thru-hikers have also mentioned that they are getting together with old friends and family, taking advantage of being in various states they're not normally in. Another cool aspect of this journey.
Date: 2015-07-10
From: Near Clarence Fahnestock State Park

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I didn't take any photos today except posing for this one with my old bud, Bob C. After a fun time with him yesterday, this morning he drove me to a Walmart to resupply and we messed around until he dropped me off late afternoon to resume my hike. A nice break. On my hike today, I heard a bird with a call that sounded like the first four dramatic notes of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (DAH-Dah-Dah-Daaaaaaah). I couldn't believe it. I wonder if someone's parakeet escaped. I also encountered about a six foot black snake on the trail today. The gentle drumming of my trekking poles near his tail got him moving. When I told my wife on the phone, she said that he probably went home to tell his wife how he encountered a six foot human today. I have to admit that today I was reluctant to leave the creature comforts of civilization. But it was a beautiful sunny and mild day. That and the relatively level and soft dirt trail made this afternoon one of the easiest and pleasant hikes yet.I passed a volunteer trail maintenance club digging and placing heavy rock steps on a steep hill. I thanked them for their hard work. Further along the trail, other members of that same club were sponsoring a trail magic hamburger dinner at the shelter where I had planned to stop. There were lots of thru-hikers, club volunteers, plenty of food in addition to burgers, and tons of friendly conversations.There are a lot of tents packed close together here, as many hikers decided to stay. A really good vibe here. Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-11
From: RPH Shelter

To: App Trail Railroad stop near Pawling, NY
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Now this is some flat...level...trail! This walkway led over a swamp with cat o' nine tails reaching twice as tall as I am. You can possibly see by my shadow that I'm wearing my headnet. Pretty buggy but another nice dry sunny day. This was one of the best hiking days terrain-wise that I've had in a long time. There were stretches of rockless trail and it was all fairly level. Sweet. For some reason, though, I was dragging. Maybe just the accumulation of all the miles. About eight of us arrived at a hiker-friendly landscaping business after hours. There are signs describing where we can get water and pitch our tents, as well as the phone number for having pizza delivered. I pitched my tent in a spot maybe 20 feet from a railroad track that has trains whistling and blowing by at high velocity. This will be the closest to a train track I've ever slept. But sleep I will. Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-12
From: App Trail Railroad stop near Pawling, NY

To: Ten Mile River
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: light rain

Today started with a comical rain. Last night I had pitched my tent near some potted plants at the "hikers welcome" landscaping business. Early this morning the sprinklers went off and gave my tent a good shower. Fortunately, the sprinkler heads did not come up underneath me, and I was safe and dry inside.I crossed into Connecticut later today with my old High School buddy from Maryland, Kurt B. That's Kurt in the photo. We had a great day of hiking. The weather was perfect and the trail was mostly rock free. It's been great catching up with him. He even surprised me by bringing a hot dinner (he's carrying a stove) and my favorite adult beverage that he learned of by contacting my wife ahead of time. We'll hike together again tomorrow. Good times.I'm lucky that my sister in law has an eagle eye because she noticed that I had misnumbered a couple of my days, and I am today actually up to Day 109. I've changed it now in the header of this entry, and my wife has corrected the previous day-counts. I hope they will keep me in line for the rest of the trip. Thanks CB and BB!We are camped near the river on soft leaf-covered flat ground where we can hear the rushing water in the distance.Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-13
From: Ten Mile River

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 8.6

Look how this tree is grasping the rock and reaching for soil.Walking with my friend Kurt made me realize how often I stop to admire or stand in reverence at the foot of trees. When he was behind me, he nearly walked into me several times. This part of the trail does seem to have some really giant ancient trees, especially oak trees. Amazing.I have had some very kind and encouraging comments about my perseverance and determination in taking on this hike. These have come in phone calls, emails, and comments on my blog's guestbook. I'm deeply appreciative and it does help propel me forward to hear those comments. But I do think about so many hard working people I know who -- push themselves through uninspiring or stressful jobs to pay the bills, give so much of themselves for their children, take care of someone who's ill, work to improve their communities, or find other ways of sacrificing and giving - often year after year. Their work continues on and on, often for the benefit of others, while mine is only for several months and by choice. Many of you reading this blog are among these people. You, or people you may know, are the ones to be admired and honored for your perseverance and determination. I mean that.Kurt and I had another beautiful dry day and relatively easy terrain. We walked into this quaint town of Kent, Connecticut where I'm looking forward to a nice dinner and comfortable sleep at an inn here. Back to the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2015-07-14
From: Kent, CT

To: Pine Branch Creek Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I came across this feather some time ago in the Shenandoah Valley. This gives an indication of the size of some of the birds I've been seeing all along this hike, especially hawks. Often times I am on a ridge looking down on the circling hawks. I'm not sure what kind of a feather this is, but it's a biggon'.Here are four discoveries I recently made:1) When I'm in a motel, a fast way to dry a sock is to put it over the end of a hair dryer. It puffs out like a balloon and dries out quickly.2) I don't have to wear a hat when I wear my head net. Just putting the head net over my head seems sufficient to keep out the gnats and mosquitoes. And it's a lot cooler that way.3) Alternatively, I can pull the head net up off of my face so it's just covering my hair...kind of like a cafeteria worker (a good look). By doing that the draw string sways and dangles in front of my face like a windshield wiper and keeps the gnats out of my eyes. It's cooler and I have less obstructed vision this way. It doesn't seem to dissuade the mosquitoes, but the gnats are detered. 4) I needed more water than my two Gatorade bottles could hold at one point. So I emptied the contents of one of my dry bags, filled it with water, and it totally worked as a water bladder. I love discovering two uses for one item.After my friend Kurt and I had breakfast and went to the grocery store, he dropped me off at the trailhead mid morning. It was a hot humid day with an afternoon thunder shower. The mosquitoes were fierce all day, and even now in my tent there is a steady buzz of dozens of mosquitoes trying to get in my netting, buzzing just inches from my ears. Creepy. I'm sure glad I have this tarp tent to keep me safe from those relentless blood suckers.Nowhere I'd rather be.
Date: 2015-07-15
From: Pine Branch Creek Shelter

To: Riga Shelter near Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: broken clouds

I had heard about this shelter and decided to sleep in it tonight. Those are my feet looking out over that amazing vista. The sun should rise over that distant ridge tomorrow and gave me quite a view to start the day. I met my first couple of southbounders today. They started in June because Mount Katahdin in Maine was too icy and dangerous, as it is every year until June. We shared information about what each should expect with upcoming terrain.Funny thing: This morning, before climbing out of my tent, I covered all parts of my body, including wearing a head net, to face the ravenous mosquitoes. One of my little efficiency techniques is to brush my teeth while I am walking first thing in the morning. So today, I brought the toothbrush to my teeth and pushed the toothpaste into the head net which I had forgotten I was wearing. Doh!Besides my legs, I suppose my stomach and core muscles are a lot stronger now. I recall in the first weeks sitting up in my tent and then in not too long a time flopping down with exhausted stomach muscles. I noticed this morning that I was sitting up like that taking care of various things with my stomach tense the entire time and it not really bothering me anymore. Just a little observation.I really liked Connecticut today because many of the trails were smooth dirt. That's so much more comfortable to walk on than rocks. I am now comfortable in the shelter all by myself and fully bug protected including wearing my hat and head net. It's pretty breezy so there are not that many mosquitoes around. I'm excited at the prospect of waking up to a sunrise right in front of me. Nowhere I'd rather be.