morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-05-17
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: US 522 / Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

It cleared off during the night and got cool (around 40 deg). We started hiking before 7:30am, and the trail was good most of the day. We stopped at Tom Floyd Shelter for a short break and talked to Invisible Man and Postcard there. Invisible Man will probably catch me next week, again, sometime. We got to the road about 2:40pm, and after 20 minutes of trying to hitch a ride, some section hikers drove up and gave us a ride into Front Royal. We rented a car and drove to get Knob's car. It took us an hour to drive what we hiked in 5 days! Tomorrow Matt will drop me back at the trail, and he'll drive back to Iowa. It's been a good week even though I didn't win a cribbage game, and Matt didn't see a bear.   Knobs here: Im not sure about this "hiking without a cheeseburger       break" stuff. We left the park, and after a few more miles, we       were hiking right behind some houses. Was strange-- since we had       been in the middle of nowhere the rest of the time. Tommorrow I       head home. I'm leaving with 2 sore feet, 1 banged up knee, a 6-0      record in cribbage, and some great memories spent with some very      interesting people. The community out here is incredible.
Date: 2007-05-18
From: US 522 / Front Royal, VA

To: Dick's Dome Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: light rain

Knobs and I finished up town chores this morning. We went to the grocery store, packed my pack, and loaded his car. When we went to the front desk to check out, Postcard was checking in. I took the rental car back and Knobs drove Postcard to the grocery store. It was raining this morning and continued all day. Matt drove me to the trail, and I started hiking about 10am. Matt has about a 15 hour drive. I hiked in rain jacket and rain pants all day and only got warm on the uphills. There were two other shelters on the way to this one, so that was where I took snack and lunch breaks. When I got to this shelter Alleycat, Hawk, and D-Man were here. D-Man is a 75 yr old section hiker. Tapper showed up shortly-- after a 28 mile day. She started March 25th, so now I feel like a wimp!I had a great 5 days hiking with Matt. I think he got a good intro to the AT experience-- except that there aren't usually restaurants every day!
Date: 2007-05-19
From: Dick's Dome Shelter

To: Bear's Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

I woke up to sunny skies this morning. Had breakfast, packed up, and was hiking by 7:30am. The first part of today's hike was very nice, and then I got into the rollercoaster (no ticket required). This is a 13 mile stretch of trail with 13 ups and downs. It's a weekend and a nice day, so there many weekend hikers out. There aren't a lot of thru-hikers as this is "Trail Days" back in Damascus, and many people went back for that.This hostel is about 8 miles into the rollercoaster. The hostel has a "thru-hiker special" which includes a bunk, shower, laundry, Tombstone pizza, pop, and a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream all for $25. My pint of Ben & Jerry's had 1360 calories.Tomorrow I hope to get to Harper's Ferry, WV. This will take me out of Virginia after 535 miles!
Date: 2007-05-20
From: Bear's Den Hostel

To: Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 19.9

"I would walk 500 miles, then I would walk 500 more,       just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to       fall down at your door."                            -- Lyrics by the Proclaimers.I passed the 1000 mile point in the hike, but there's no time to fall down at anybody's door-- since I'm still a little under halfway to the end! Also today I finished Virginia-- the longest state, mileage wise, on the AT.Today's hike went well. I finished the rollercoaster in the first five miles (lots of ups and downs-- but fortunately no upside down loops). Then the trail smoothed out, and I made better time. I got into Harpers Ferry at 5:30pm.Again today, I didn't see any other thru-hikers but saw several section and day hikers. I did get a good view of a pileated woodpecker today. They're about 12-18 inches tall and look like Woody Woodpecker. Tomorrow my high school friend, Paul "Brewmaster" Seegers comes to hike with me until next Saturday. Should be a fun week.
Date: 2007-05-21
From: Harper's Ferry, WV

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

It was a beautiful day today. I woke up, had breakfast then headed over to the ATC office to check in. They took my picture for the hiker book, and I am the 88th thru-hiker to get here. I then hiked the 0.6 miles from where I got off the trail yesterday to the Potomac River-- then back to the ATC office to wait for Brewmaster. Paul and his son John got there about 11:30, and we drove down to the river to start. John headed back home, and Brewmaster and I walked across the street and had a hotdog. I broke him in easy! Then we actually started hiking. The first few miles were along an old canal tow path and perfectly flat. We did a lot of catching up on each other's lives as we walked. Then we climbed about 800 ft. We got to the shelter at 4:15pm, a good first day.I saw Dogfather and Thrills this morning. I hadn't seen them since Erwin, TN. Invisible Man showed up at the shelter after a 30 mile day. It's 8:15pm, and we're the only 3 here.
Date: 2007-05-22
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: Dahlgren Backpack Campground
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

Another great day weatherwise. We started hiking at 6:20am and first walked 3.6 miles to Gathland State Park, where we had breakfast. We actually stayed around there for almost 2 hours as it was the site of a Civil War battle and there were many plaques detailing the battle. We saw Mr Ed, Dogfather, Thrills, Young & Dumb, and Drey during the day. They were all hiking further than us today. We got to this campground around 3pm. There are showers and a restroom here, so we got cleaned up. We even hiked 0.2 miles to a road where there was a restaurant and checked out their lounge. We made our supper back at the campground and are just heading to bed-- it's almost 10pm! Tomorrow we're planning to hike the longest day of this week with Brewmaster. He's doing well but has had a couple toes talking to him. He's quieted them down by wrapping them with tape. We also had a fairly long rocky downhill and his knees were talking to him by the end of that. Overall we're doing great and having a fun time!   Brewmaster here: Well had to wrap another toe-- tomorrow, maybe the       third one as well. The hike is going well, will be doing 14       miles tomorrow. Monday night at the shelter I found out that my       mat needed more mat. Got to go.
Date: 2007-05-23
From: Dahlgren Backpack Campground

To: Ensign Cowall Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was Brewmaster's longest day that we'll do this week. We started hiking about 6:30am, hiked a couple miles, and then had breakfast at Washington Monument State Park. We went up in the monument. This was the first monument to George. Just before we hiked over I70, we went by a house that had a register for hikers to sign and a cooler with snacks for hikers. Trail magic! We had lunch on Black Rock Cliffs, with great views. We could see West Virginia, Pennsylvania, as well as Maryland. We were there about an hour. Around 4:30pm we came to a road with a hostel 0.3 miles away. We walked down there, had a soda/pop and brought some more food. They also let us use the computer and phone. Then we loaded back up and hiked to this shelter.Brewmaster is still hanging in there, he now has 5 toes taped up (I think he should just tape all ten and get it over with), sore hips, and sore shoulders! The next three days will be just under 10 mile days to get us to Caledonis St Park on Saturday.The weather is still great.   Brewmaster here: Yes, there was a conference of body parts-- and          brain had to intercede, "keep going guys." They reluctanly          obeyed.   I counted 15 miles no matter what Towfer says.          Rocks were the challenge of the day, big ones small ones          covered in grass, now five toes talking, all muffled with          tape-- hope my supply lasts. Ten miles tomorrow looks like          all uphill as well. Having fun, anyway,   bye for now
Date: 2007-05-24
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter

To: Falls Creek
Miles today: 10.5

Another great weather day, but it did get a little warm this afternoon. We started hikng about 6:40 this morning and stopped for breakfast about 8. We went over the trail's highest point in Maryland at a little over 1800 ft. We had lunch at High Rock Mtn and sat in the sun for awhile. We had a great view and watched the vultures soar below us. The decent from there was fairly steep and rocky. We reached Pen-Mar St Park about 2:30pm. There were soda/pop machines, and we each drank a couple. We left the park a little after 4 and soon left Maryland and greeted Pennsylvania! I'm into the 7th state. We have a nice campsite near this creek. My feet are loving these shorter (for me) days. I do think it's getting about time to get another new pair of boots, as these now have over 500 miles on them, and the cushion isn't what it was when they were new.    Brewmaster here:   I'm tired!! Twofer keeps talking about the       cummulative effect, well it has accumulated. We do get to       slow down to 8.8 miles for the last two days. Six toes       will be muffled tomorrow, but I did get to cool them in       a stream this evening. Having a good time, but I'm tired.       Bye for now.
Date: 2007-05-25
From: Falls Creek

To: Chimney Rocks
Miles today: 8.8

Today started off sunny and got warm. We started hiking about 7am. Had a pretty good climb to start with-- then the trail gradually desended. We went by two shelters and a picnic area. Got to Tumbling Run Shelters a little after noon. (They have snoring and non-snoring shelters!) We ate lunch there and talked to a section hiker and Matt & U-dog. After lunch we loaded up on water and made the hot, 800 ft climb to this spot. Clouds formed, and we heard thunder-- so we quickly set up the tent. But it blew over with only a drop or two of rain. We cooked supper on a rock outcropping with a view over a heavily treed valley. We're hoping to be up in time to watch the sunrise. Tomorrow is Brewmaster's last day hiking, and I think he's ready for a day off!Happy Birthday to Falling Rock. He's eight the hard way (you might need to know something about craps to figure this out).Also I hear there are some other members of the VHS class of 1974 who would like to hike 20 mile days. Come on out-- because it's about time to start cranking out some miles!      Brewmaster here: Well this is the last night on the AT,          had a great time. Going home means shifting gears          and remembering: don't spit the tooth paste on the floor;          chairs have backs; no need to filter the tap water;          change clothes at least once a day; toilets do flush;          no need to hang food out of reach of mice; boots are          not to be used as pillows; and most of all. . .          no wrapping my toes before putting on my shoes.          Twofer, thanks for a great week.
Date: 2007-05-26
From: Chimney Rocks

To: Caledonia State Park
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: broken clouds

This was Brewmaster's last day hiking, and he was cruising. We started hiking at 7am after having breakfast on the rocks watching the sunrise. The trail was fairly easy today, mostly downhill, but there were a few rocky areas. It's a holiday weekend, so we saw several day/weekend hikers and also several people riding horses on a trail that crossed the AT. We got to Caledonia at 11:30am and Karen (Mrs. Brewmaster) was picking us up at 2pm. We had a cheeseburger, waded in a creek, and cleaned up a bit in the restroom. Karen arrived at 2, and we took a couple pictures then loaded up as it was raining. We stopped at the house of a friend of theirs (fellow home brewers) then drove on to their house. Grilled steaks for dinner hit the spot, and now it's time to get some sleep.
Date: 2007-05-27
From: Brewmaster's house

To: Brewmaster's house
Miles today: 0.0

Good relaxing day today. Brewmaster made bacon and eggs for breakfast. Then we did some shopping. I got a new pair of boots. I stayed with Merrell's, since I haven't had any major problems. Bought groceries for the next couple days, then just relaxed the rest of the afternoon. We had a big dinner and watched a major thunder storm come through. It was nice to not be on the trail for that.Tomorrow I head back to the trail-- but not too early! It'll be a fairly short day. I think maybe Brewmaster has a bit of the hiking bug, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the trail again someday. Last week was a fun week of hiking with an old friend.
Date: 2007-05-28
From: Caledonia State Park

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Another good day. I slept in until 7am. Paul made breakfast, and then I loaded up my pack and got some stuff ready to mail back home. Paul and Karen then drove me back to Caledonia St Park. We got to the park a little after 1, and they walked with me to the trail. Thanks for everything you two! I had a great week hiking with Paul and a very relaxing weekend at their house, including packing in a lot of calories.I was hiking by 1:30 and made it to this shelter about 5:40pm. It's 8pm now, and I'm the only one here. It's a very nice shelter and a pretty spot. It's good to be back in the woods. I climbed over 1000 ft today but it was fairly gradual and the trail was good. My feet felt good in the new boots.Tomorrow will be another short day. I'll hike to Pine Grove Furnace State Park-- which is the halfway point on the trail. There I'll attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream, so I probably won't feel like hiking after that! I also have a mail drop at the hostel there, so that's were I'll spend the night.
Date: 2007-05-29
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: clear sky

Great weather and a fairly lazy day for me. I didn't get out of the sleeping bag until 7am but was still hiking by 7:30. I got to the Pine Grove Furnace St Park camp store-- which is home to the "half-gallon challenge." I chose vanilla and started eating just after noon. Sixty seven minutes later, I completed the challenge. That's a lot of ice cream! I sat there for a while longer before I felt like moving again. I walked around the park, and when I got back to the store, Butch was there. Sundance showed up shortly after that, and they each bought their half gallon. Butch finished in 29 minutes, and Sundance finished in 55 minutes. I hadn't seen those guys since shortly after Damascus. Snackbreak also showed up but didn't attempt the challenge.Today's highlight was going over the halfway point, mileage wise, on the trail. Tomorrow I'll get back to some bigger miles.
Date: 2007-05-30
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 19.4

We were up early this morning. The hostel had a kitchen for hikers to use, so Butch made ham and cheese omlets for breakfast. I still started hiking at 6:30am. Butch and Sundance caught me just before 10, and we hiked up to a convience store, bought some Gatorade, and took a 45 minute break. The trail was fairly easy today, but on one ridge we went around, through, and over large boulders for about 30 minutes. I got into Boiling Springs around 5 and found Butch, Sundance, and Snackbreak sitting on the ledge of the lake in town. Snackbreak hiked out of town and the rest of us are tenting in the backyard of the Germanhaus B&B. Ladybug and Natural High showed up as well. I had so much food in my food bag that I cooked my own dinner by the lake instead of eating at a restaurant. I talked to my youngest son, Ben, tonight and plan to meet him and his friends in Duncannon, PA on Friday on their way back to Iowa. Time to hit the sack.
Date: 2007-05-31
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was my longest day, mileage wise. I started hiking about 5:30am, my earliest start to date. I wanted to get as much hiking as possible done before it got too hot. The first part of the day went well. I hiked the first 10 miles by 9am. In the afternoon it got hot, and the trail got steeper and rockier, the temperature was in the 90's. I was dragging the last 7 miles and got to the Doyle Hotel at 5:30pm. When I walked in to the hotel lobby/restaurant/bar a woman behind the bar asked, "Hey, you Twofer?" I said I was, and she said "It's about time you got here!" and handed me a glass of water. Snack Break, Ladybug, and Natural High were there, and Butch and Sundance came down from their room shortly. Mt Cameron came in around 8pm after a 30+ mile day; I hadn't seen him since the first night out of Pearisburg. Tomorrow I'm planning on slackpacking with Butch and Sundance, then Ben and gang show up late afternoon.
Date: 2007-06-01
From: Duncannon, PA

To: PA 325
Miles today: 17.1

I slackpacked with Butch and Sundance today. Butch and I drove out of town and hiked back in. Sundance hiked out of town and got the car. The first four miles of the hike were interesting. I was in the lead, and I heard Butch say, "Whoaaa!". As I turn to look, he says, "No, keep walking." There was a rattle snake on the side of the trail, coiled up. When I walked by its head came out towards me, and it flicked it's tongue. Good thing I didn't smell like mouse! Butch made it move off the trail, and we headed on.A little further up the trail, we were going through a jumble of rocks and there was another rattler right in front of me. It started to rattle and then I hear more rattles. Butch says "There's one right behind you and there's one under the rock to your right." Snakes on three sides, and they were not happy. I felt like Indiana Jones in the snake pit. The snakes headed back under the rocks, so we had a good view of their still shaking tails as we made our way around them. We saw two black racer snakes later in the day-- they're non-poisonous. Since we were slacking south, we saw several northbound thru-hikers including Lost, Catepillar, Cotton Top, Quatro, Mt Cameron and Cheese.On the descent into town, Ben called to say that the 'road trip crew' were at the Doyle Hotel. They went to throw the frisbee, and I called them when I got back to town. We ate dinner at the Doyle, and the guys got to meet several hikers. We also walked a little bit of the trail in town and took some pictures. There were several more hikers that came in tonight that I haven't met yet. Sidenote from the Ultimate Roadtrip: As Twofer said earlier, we drove into Duncannon this afternoon. We got to see and walk on part of the AT-- which adds another great landmark of America to our trip. We ate dinner at the Doyle (which was AMAZING,) and we might play some cards tonight. It's been great to get to see Twofer (aka Dad) again, and I really hope I get the chance to walk the last week of his incredible journey with him. Good luck Dad! -Ben and the Ultimate Road Trip crew
Date: 2007-06-02
From: PA 325

To: PA 72, Swatara Gap
Miles today: 17.8

Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife of 28 years. Seems like just yesterday!Another day of slackpacking, and today seemed much easier than yesterday. It was a little cooler, and the terrain was much easier. We didn't see any snakes today, either, which was nice after yesterday. I left to hike about 7 am, and the Road Crew was planning to head out about 8. It was good to see them. The owner of the hotel commented on how nice they were when they got there. They also got a good view of the hiker community with the many hikers in town.Tomorrow we'll leave the Doyle but continue to slackpack. Life is good!
Date: 2007-06-03
From: PA 72, Swatara Gap

To: PA 183
Miles today: 20.7

Another slackpack day. The first half of the day wasn't bad with the majority of the trail pretty smooth, but this afternoon the infamous Pennsylvania rocks reared their ugly heads. The wildlife highlight of the day was a grouse that came running out of the woods onto the trail straight at me. It's head was down, wings slightly spread and feathers ruffled. It must have been guarding a nest and was trying to scare me away. Also today we went over 1174 miles walked-- which means I have less than a 1000 miles to go! My feet had been fairly quiet lately, but this afternoon they were talking to me! It started raining about 2pm and right now it's pouring and windy (at 9:30pm). We're staying in 501 shelter which is 0.1 mile off a road and is totally enclosed. This evening we drove to a Cabellas, so Butch and Sundance could get new shoes. We were in a dead stop on the interstate for 30 minutes or more. The plan tomorrow is to slackpack again, but we'll see what the weather does.
Date: 2007-06-04
From: PA 183

To: PA 183
Miles today: 0.0

It rained all night and was still raining this morning. Butch made the mistake of going to his car to get his new shoes. Sundance looked at me and asked, "Are we really walking out in this?" I replied that we had walked 100 miles in the last 5 days-- so had earned a zero day. By the time Butch got back he was already out-voted. Quatro was at the shelter also, and he opted to zero with us. We went to have coffee, drove to Pottsville, and hung out at a mall for awhile. We ate lunch at a Chinese buffet then took a tour of the Yuengling Beer Factory-- the oldest brewery in America. Butch, Sundance, and I are splitting this hotel room. Quatro went back to the 501 shelter.Tomorrow we hike again, rain or shine.
Date: 2007-06-05
From: PA 183

To: PA 16
Miles today: 15.2

Back to slackpacking today. The rain held off; just a couple sprinkles during the hike. Saw some grouse chicks, and the mama tried to scare me away. I also saw a turkey with young ones. The first part of today's trail was pretty nice and the second part was rocky. It is nice to slackpack over these rocks, but then the road crossings dictate the mileage for the day. We're staying at a free hostel (bunk is free, shower is $1.50) provided by an outfitter store.
Date: 2007-06-06
From: PA 16

To: Fort Franklin Road
Miles today: 23.7

Today was a tough day for me. Autumn Joy joined our slackpacking crew today. She and Butch hiked north and Sundance and I drove north and hiked south. We had a little trouble finding the road crossing, so it was after 7:30am when we started hiking. After a couple hours I decided to have a snack, opened my pack, and discovered that I didn't get my food bag in the pack. 23 miles and no food, not a fun prospect. Sundance came by and offered me 2 of his 5 snacks, I took one. I stopped by a shelter that has a caretaker and used to sell pop and ice cream. They had nothing this year. Shortly after that, I met Butch and Autumn, and they each gave me some food-- enough for the rest of the day. There were a lot of rocks today, and they are hard on my feet. I didn't get done hiking until 7pm. We then stopped by Cabellas, and I bought a new pair of pants as my zipper broke today. We're tenting tonight behind a Bed & Breakfast.
Date: 2007-06-07
From: Fort Franklin Road

To: Lehigh Gap / PA 873
Miles today: 15.5

Today was a shorter day, and I needed it. There were a few climbs up, over, and through big boulder fields. Those were kind of fun but slow going. These rocks are still hard on my feet. I have a blister on my right heel, it looks sore but didn't bother me hiking. I remembered my food bag today! We're staying at what I would call a flop house. They have a hiker bunk room (it's a regular room that's under construction-- with some mattresses). Butch, Sundance, Autumn Joy, and I are here. We're planning on slackpacking two more days which will get us to Delaware Water Gap on the PA/NJ border. I won't be sorry to say goodbye to these rocks!