morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-07-13
From: High Point Mountain Motel

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: mist

One Hundred and Twenty Seven - (14.1)High Point Mountain Motel to Campsite near Pochuck Mountain ShelterI slept in this morning and got out of bed very slowly. I even went through my entire pack just wasting time so I wouldn't have to go back to the trail so soon. Mike the motel guy sold me a few cans of pop and gave us a ride back to the trail. Turns out he hiked all of the trail except Georgia in 1981 and we got him thinking about going back to finish next year. Back on the trail we started out on rocks but within a few miles the trail was beautiful! I can't believe how much it cheered us up to be on smooth trail. Soon we were hiking through fields with views and by streams in the wooded areas. We quickly hiked the seven miles to Unionville Rd and started our road walk into town. Hitch hiking is illegal here. I thought it was strange that I was seeing faded white blazes on the trees and that if anything they should have been blue blazes signifying a side trail. It turns out we were hiking part of the original trail and the Appalachian trail has since been rerouted to avoid a road walk. It was cool to think that we were on the older trail even if it was a road walk! We stopped at Annabele's Pizza where I had an awesome cheesesteak with mushrooms and then headed up to Horlers General Store to resupply. I should have taken a picture of this store it had a veranda out front with rocking chairs and it had become a hiker hang out. We added our packs to the collection and joined the group. It's funny how everyone was in such a good mood all because the rocks were gone. I didn't hear a single complaint the whole time I was there and that hasn't happened in weeks! We resupplied for two days, drank as much fluids as we could force down and left before we could be talked into going to the tavern. We were promised four good miles before the rocky climb began but what they didn't tell us was that we would be walking around Wallkill Reserve. It is a wildlife reserve that is essentially a giant swamp and the mosquitoes were biting even though I had two types of bug spray on. Our water source coming up the mountain was a faucet at the back of an abandoned house. It was listed in the AT Guide as a water source but it felt like we were stealing when we were there. The climb up to the shelter wasn't that bad but rumour has it that the rest of the climb tomorrow morning is brutal. We hung our hammocks up as soon as we arrived because it was starting to rain and got in quickly. One of the guys over at the shelter came over with a bottle of Southern Comfort offering to share. Hikers share everything, where else would anyone go out in the rain just to share some booze. Even though I got in my hammock early, it's late now. Good night world!Trouble
Date: 2013-07-14
From: Pochuck Mountain Shelter

To: Wawayanda Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

Day One Hundred and Twenty Eight - (11.5) Campsite near Pochuck Shelter to Wawayanda ShelterIt was raining when I woke up this morning so I decided to wait it out in the hammock. It stopped raining around 9am so I packed up and started hiking. There was a gentle on and off rain for most of the morning but I was just not into hiking. The steep, rocky up wasn't even as bad as I thought but I was just tired! Almost every road we came to was access to a hotel, I knew I should be putting in the miles but a hot shower and a real meal sounded great! Still we hiked on. Dutch the New Jersey ridge runner passed us and as he did he told us about a great deli on the next road. Excellent! I started hinting to Two Socks about a hotel but he was having none of it. We came to a mile long boardwalk through a swampland and I wondered why Pennsylvania couldn't have a boardwalk over the rocks- just a thought! Finally I could see a road, we just had to cross a field full of cows to get to it. I put Melkie on a leash because he loves to chase cows, he still barked like crazy but we made it to the road and found Dutch just returning to the trail after his deli feast. Now it's our turn! We placed our orders and went to find a real restroom, it feels so good to be able to wash my hands properly. We ate outside and discussed the merits of a hotel room. Honeysuckle arrived and she joined the conversation. We had decided to go to the hotel but as we put our packs back on changed our minds and headed for the trail. On the way to the trailhead a guy stopped and offered us a ride into town - doh! We were good hikers and went back to the thousand foot climb that awaited us, it's a really good thing I loaded up on Coke at the deli. The climb was rocky but we made it and at the top there was a trail register to sign. I signed and noticed that Barbarosa had been here just before me, I wonder if I will catch him today? I continued down the other side and found Two Socks (he always beats me up the hills) and Melkie at a steam at the bottom. Right away I took my scandals off and walked in far enough to clean off my legs, I hope there is a swimming hole soon (or a hotel pool)! We still had a few more miles to put in so we slowly packed up one last time and headed up yet another hill. At a road crossing someone had left water for us! Thank you! The water in this area has tasted like iron, it's safe I just don't like it so the bottled water was awesome! We made it to the Wawayanda Shelter and called it a day. We hung our hammocks near Honeysuckles all in a triangle, it looks cool. It's not even 8pm and everyone is quiet and in bed. Good night world!TroubleConfessions of a thruhiker: "I carry my baby blanket with me."
Date: 2013-07-16
From: Warwick Motel

To: Warwick Motel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Day One Hundred and Thirty - Warwick MotelI tried to sleep in but my body is so used to getting up at the crack of dawn. I went to the lobby and had a bagel and coffee and tried to relax for a few more hours. When Two Socks was up we walked into town in the crazy heat for a second breakfast. We also stopped at a store to resupply and returned to the hotel to fidget with our gear. Our packs and bags were washed today and we spent most of the day doing nothing or eating. We made another trip to town for more food and I made a trip to the town library to upload my journals. I got to read the article I was interviewed for, Two Socks thinks he is a celebrity now because his picture (along with Canadian Bacon) was chosen for the newspaper. I checked out my email and FB and discovered that more hikers are dropping out. It seems like its getting harder and harder to stay on the trail. We are going to have to do something to make things fun again. I'm just not sure what yet but I will think of something! I wanted to shave the AT logo into the back of Two Socks head today but he wouldn't let me. I still have to put everything back in my pack but that can wait for morning. Good night World!Trouble
Date: 2013-07-17
From: Warwick Motel

To: Lionel's House
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day One Hundred and Thirty One - (12.4)Warwick Motel to Lionel's HouseWe woke up and packed up to head back to the trail. The Motel owner who has been so helpful offered to drive us back to the trailhead even though he was afraid of dogs. Thank you so much! We started out more than a little apprehensive about the day ahead. There was still a heat advisory and we hoped the trail was a little kinder to us than it has been. We were in luck, the first three or four miles were pretty easy and it didn't feel as hot as it did the other day. When we stopped for our first break we heard voices down the trail, it was Canadian Bacon and Zenmaster! After catching up on what everyone had been up to we all continued up the trail together. The trail was beautiful! There were tall pines and a really nice waterfall with rock stairs all the way up to the top. The whole area was perfect but that's when the hiking became more difficult. The trail wasn't blazed very well and we spent time searching for the trail several times and the rock climbs came back with a vengeance. At one point I had to take Melkie's pack off so he could jump up through two narrow rocks. I ended up carrying his pack all the way up that cliff. Every time we got to the top we stopped for another break, we had to is was so hot! Canadian Bacon pointed out that they tell people not to go outside on days like today and not to over exert yourself and here we were with our backpacks on dripping with sweat climbing up rocks! We were just about to stop for lunch when Lionel text me. He is a section hiker that I met on the trail back in Virginia who offered to help when we were in his neck of the woods. He offered to come pick is up and let us stay at his house where we could clean up, do laundry and relax. Oh and he has a pool! At lunch we decided to get off the trail a little earlier than planned and go to Lionel's! What amazing people! Lionel and his wife (Lola) arrived in two vehicles with refreshments to bring us back to their home. We had barely got in the pool when Lionel brought a serving tray of beer and sliced tomatoes! While we were relaxing they were preparing a feast for us! Chicken, sausages, corn on the cob and salad, it was just overwhelming the hospitality we received! What made this extra special was the fact that all four of us had been having such a hard time on the trail recently and this was just what we needed to cheer us up! Even Melkie was happier, he found the room with the coldest air conditioning and fell asleep! Lionel has section hiked for years and was a fountain of information of the trail ahead. They are so laid back we all felt at home instantly, and they offered to let us zero here tomorrow! This just keeps getting better and better! I feel like we have won a jackpot! I am so looking forward to relaxing for a whole day tomorrow!Trouble
Date: 2013-07-18
From: Lionel's House

To: Lionel's House
Miles today: 0.0

Day One Hundred and Thirty Two - Lionel's HouseI feel like I am at a resort! I awoke to the smell of coffee and when everyone was up Lola made us blueberry pancakes. Lionel left for work so the rest of us hung out at the pool until Lola left us for the afternoon. How many of you would just leave a bunch of thruhikers and a dog in your home unattended. It continuously amazes me the kindness and generosity that has been shown to us along the trail. It was one hundred degrees out today and there were few water sources along the section of trail we would have been walking, I can't imagine what it would have been like today for us if we had been hiking. This is trail magic at its best! When Lola came home she offered to drive us around to do our chores, we needed to resupply our food and go to and outfitter (Two Socks desperately needed new tips on his trekking poles, what he had been using was extremely dangerous.). We all benefitted from the trip, especially Canadian Bacon who discovered she had gone down a size when she bought new hiking pants. I bought a new pair of Keen scandals and couldn't believe the tread difference between my old pair and new ones. Back at Lionel's Canadian Bacon made us an awesome meal and everything was perfect except for the fly in my wine glass. We had a great night talking and laughing until way past hikers midnight. Lionel and Lola offered to let us stay another few nights and slackpack us, again the generosity we have received is truly amazing! Trouble
Date: 2013-07-20
From: Lionel's House

To: Lionel's House
Miles today: 13.7

Day One Hundred and Thirty Four - (13.7) Lionel's HouseThis morning we woke up in the comfort of air conditioning and forced ourselves to go out and hike. Lionel dropped us off at the trailhead at the Palisades Parkway where we had left the trail yesterday. The trail was awesome again today and well maintained. It's too bad that it was so hot because otherwise it was an enjoyable day. By the time we reached the top of Bear Mountain we couldn't wait to get at the vending machines. They were ridiculously expensive but we needed it! I downed 40oz of iced tea and started down the mountain, I didn't get very far before I was overheated again. I told myself that I could jump in the lake when I got to the bottom but at the bottom there were no swimming signs and the lake had garbage in it. We walked over to a shaded picnic table and waited for the concession booth to open. The heat had wiped us out! Canadian Bacon and I were wanting to bail and have Lionel pick us up right there. We were already over heated and the trail was about to go through a totally exposed section and then up two mountains and we didn't think it was even safe to continue on an 107*F day. We looked at the guide and decided to soak ourselves down and give it a try with several bail out options near roads. We hiked through a tunnel and then came to the zoo. The trail went right through the zoo, I was supposed to take a blue blazed trail around the zoo because of the dog but the blue blazed trail was chained off so I just kept following the white blazes. Melkie was awesome at the zoo he only barked at the Walt Whitman statue and not at any of the animals! After the zoo came the big bridge over the Hudson River, a short road walk and then a steep climb. The road walk was one of our bail out points but we still felt pretty good. Things changed quickly as we headed up the steep hill, at one point it hurt to breathe. We took tons of breaks and walked slowly up the mountain and back down the other side. By the time we reached our next bail out point we we were fine and wanted to get a couple of more miles in. We hiked up the last mountain of the day, walked across a really nice ridge walk and then down to our pick up point - a deli! There were picnic tables outside and as we downed several beverages and snacks we started daydreaming about the pool awaiting us. Lionel arrived and we were off for a quick swim and then out to dinner to help celebrate Lionel and Lola's twenty seventh anniversary. Congratulations! It was late by the time we got back to the house and soon I was the last one up. Good night world!Trouble
Date: 2013-07-21
From: Lionel's House

To: Stealth Campsite near Three Lakes Trail
Miles today: 11.5

Day One Hundred and Thirty Five - (11.5) Lionel's House to Stealth Camp near Three Lakes TrailWe woke up and packed up our backpacks for the first time in days. It was sad to be leaving such a welcoming place but we have made new friends and I'm sure we will see one another again. Our hike started at the deli where it had ended yesterday so of course we took advantage and bought extra food and drinks for today. The restroom in this place was incredible there was even a flat screen tv in it. After each of us had delayed as much as we could, we headed up the next mountain. Most of today's hike was short ups and downs (mostly ups) and although it was a little cooler than yesterday it was still hot. We all hiked much slower than our usual paces but we were still moving forward. We met two more thruhikers today Kurt and Jackpot, it's so surprising that we have hiked over 1400 miles on this trail and are still meeting new NOBO thruhikers. We stopped for lunch near a road because there was a utility building that had a water spigot that we were able to use. Once we refilled our water bottles we just crashed on the grass to relax for a bit. While we were there a trail angel arrived with beer and popcorn. Perfect timing! It was starting to rain and we could hear thunder getting closer so we quickly put our shoes and packs back on and took off up the trail. The rain didn't last very long, not even long enough to cool things down . We had planned on walking to a state park but we came across a perfect campsite that even had a water source! Even though we ended our day a little early there never seems to be enough time at the end of the day. Good night world!Trouble
Date: 2013-07-22
From: Stealth Campsite near Three Lakes Trail

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: light rain

Day One Hundred and Thirty Six (16.9)Campsite near Three Lakes Trail to the Morgan Stewart ShelterTwo Socks and I packed up and left while Canadian Bacon and Zenmaster were getting up, we had arranged a meeting place at the next shelter but I knew that we would see them long before then. The mornings hike was really nice, we followed about twenty feet below the ridge making me wonder what was on top and at one point the trail was on top of a stone wall, it was really cool! Then the rocky hills started and then they got bigger and bigger. It seemed like I was going up and down all morning. As I was going up one rocky cliff I could hear Canadian Bacon and Zenmaster catching up so when I caught up to Two Socks we stopped at the top for a break to wait for them. When they hadn't arrived twenty minutes later we continued on and sure enough they were soon behind us (they had stopped for a breakfast breakfast as well), we resumed our official hiking order with Zenmaster as our leader and continued on to the first shelter. It was like a little house with a big deck and had a garden and a lawn. It made us wish we were arriving later in the day so that we could have stayed but it was only 10am and we still had miles to go. After weighing our packs on the scale (still only seventeen pounds) we dragged ourselves back to the trail and started climbing up. It wasn't really that bad but I knew that there was still another big climb to come. We stopped for lunch near a stream and thenfell asleep on a tarp for an hour, we must have been exhausted because we could hear traffic from a nearby road yet still had no trouble passing out. When we woke up we slowly packed up and started the big climb. We got to what we thought was the top and we were just starting to enjoy things and then we were directed down to a road walk and had back up again half a mile later. From that point on I couldn't wait to get to the shelter and end the day but the trail just kept on going over rocks that needed climbing. Finally we knew we were getting close and saw Goldilocks and Jabberwalkie and they thought that the shelter we were headed to had no water! Oh no! We were all hoping they were wrong and when we arrived at the shelter instead of setting up immediately like I always do, I waited on the water verdict. If there wasn't water here we would have to keep going but thankfully there was a hand pump that still worked with cold water. We were in luck! I quickly set up my hammock and emptied Melkie's backpack. I put all the empty water bottles in Melkie's pack and sent him down with Zenmaster to get us water. Perfect! Again I am too tired to type anymore. Good night world!Trouble
Date: 2013-07-24
From: Hugh and Valerie's House

To: Thayer Brook
Miles today: 17.0

Day One Hundred and Thirty Eight - (17) Hugh and Valerie's House to Thayer BrookI woke up to the smell of bacon! It was raining and that made being inside even more enjoyable! In the kitchen Canadian Bacon offered to make our eggs however we liked them and Hugh set up a slide show of his thruhike on the laptop. He had a picture of the tree at Bly Gap when it was a lot smaller(taken thirty seven years ago), later I compared the picture I had taken of the same tree. After breakfast we packed up and said goodbye and thank you! Hugh dropped us off at the trail and we started up a hill. There were stiles that we had to climb up and over and although Melkie knew what he had to do, he was out of practice and slipped a few times. Once we were into the woods it was a really nice hike.we stopped for our last break in New York and soon we were crossing into Connecticut! Only four more states to go! We actually hiked back and forth across the state line for a few miles but now I am done with New York! Connecticut started out beautiful but when we came to a short road walk there was garbage everywhere. It's too bad because otherwise it's a really nice area. As we were climbing our biggest hill of the day a thunderstorm broke and we got soaked! The rocks were slippery but it felt so good to be cooled down that I didn't mind getting wet. I just wish the dog had a chance to totally dry off before he got in the hammock with me. It was getting dark and we still had a mile to get to a shelter but when we came to a brook we decided to stealth camp instead. We had just finished setting up camp (my hammock is two feet from Zenmaster and Canadian Bacon's tent) and cleaning off in the brook when it started to rain again. Perfect timing! I am so glad we aren't still hiking towards the shelter and getting wet again. Good night world!Trouble
Date: 2013-07-26
From: Silver Hill Campsite

To: The Toymaker's Cafe
Miles today: 14.8

Day One Hundred and Forty -(14.8) Silver Hill Campsite to the backyard of The Toymaker's CafeI woke up and wished I could just stay in my hammock but Two Socks was already packing up so I got up and got ready to hike. He was ready before me so it took me about half an hour of hiking before I caught up to him. There were a lot of ups and downs this morning and I was so tired. My pace slowed to a crawl on each of the ups and I raced on the downs trying to make up for lost time. On one of the downs I tripped on a tree root and had a good fall. I wasn't hurt and was laughing at myself for falling! I slowed down after that! Zenmaster and Canadian Bacon (who get up slowly and enjoy a coffee before breaking camp) caught up to us about five miles in just in time for the last of the big hills. We were about to stop for lunch when Canadian Bacon got stung by a wasp, I felt bad for her I had been stung in the same spot a few days ago and it sucked! After lunch we only had six miles left but we were exhausted. I can't believe how much the little ups and downs had tired us out. When we arrived at Falls Village we walked right by the hydro plant and forgot to stop there to use the shower. So we were dirty and smelly when we arrived at the Falls Village Inn the fine dining establishment where we stopped for dinner. I don't think the waitress knew where to sit us but we ended up in the bar. The food looked great but my burger was raw inside. I should have asked for a new one but I was so hungry that I ate it anyway, I am paying for that mistake now! After dinner we went to The Toymaker's Cafe where the owners let hikers camp in their backyard. The owner came out right away and introduced himself and was more welcoming than they had been over at the Inn. It's too bad that they weren't open for dinner because I would have rather given him my money. We set up camp, plugged in our electronics to recharge and relaxed. Cub, Kodiak, Sparky and Orange Peel are also staying here tonight so there was lots of laughs before we all settled in for the night. It feels a little strange camping in a yard in a town, it still amazes to that every time I come to a new town there are people who are so willing to help with whatever we need and that I always see some other hiker that I haven't seen in ages. Tonight that hiker was Cub. Good night world!Trouble