morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-05
From: Campsite 1 Mile North of Pen Mar Park

To: Rocky Mt Shelters
Miles today: 14.3

Today was a long day for me. I wanted to catch up on some of the miles I had missed yesterday for two reasons. First off, I'd like to get my average daily milage up a bit so that I'm more likely to be able to make it to Mt Katahdin before it closes in mid October. The second reason is that I had planned on hiking 10 or 12 miles a day so that I'm able to reach the pre-planned point where I can meet Emily, my old physical therapist, who is planning on hiking with me this coming Saturday. So I did 14 miles which is for sure a longer day for me, but the problem was that I went over so many rocky-tricky sections that my foot was hollering at me when I finally made it into the shelter at about 8 pm. There were two shelters, interesting that Pennsylvania seems to have a number of double shelters like this, and both of them looked full. Because the forecast was for a rainy night, I asked nicely if there was room for one more and a spot was made for me when everyone scooted over a bit. I had stopped today at a stream to submerge my sleeping pad and found two holes which I did my best to patch with some repair tape that I carry. I thought it was going to hold but as I"m writing this to you I can feel the air leaking out and I'm settling down closer and closer to the wooden floor. Looks like another night of sleeping without the benefits of my trusty sleeping pad...
Date: 2016-05-06
From: Rocky Mt Shelters

To: Trail of Hope Hostel
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I met some really nice trail maintainers from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club who were moving some rocks around using a cable and winch. Here you can see Dee, Kevin, and Ken who were hard at work until I came along and got them talking about the PATC. They asked, as many people do, how my leg was doing since I limped up the trail to them. I explained my story and was pleased to hear some very kind words of praise and encouragement from them. I had planned on going about 13 miles today but since my foot is hurting from yesterdays miles (and rocks) AND it's starting to rain, AND my sleeping pad is full of holes, after hiking just three miles I've decided to head into the Trail of Hope Hostel which is just down the road. I've called them and they are on the way to pick me up right now. By the way, I used my iPhone to order a new sleeping pad from Amazon. With overnight delivery it will be here tomorrow so that I can sleep in a hostel bed tonight and then have a decent sleeping pad in time for tomorrow night... life is good.
Date: 2016-05-07
From: Shippensburg Rd

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 9.0

Today I passed the official 1/2 point on the Appalachian Trail for 2016. (I also passed the old 1/2 point which was a little ways further up the trail) Wow... I'm actually half way there : ) Emily, who was my physical therapist before I started my thru hike, drove up from Maryland to hike with me for the day. She has section hiked portions of the AT with her father in the past and was very supportive of my decision to go out and attempt the AT. After yesterdays short three mile hike and rest at the hostel my foot and leg were feeling much better. The 9 miles today were on mostly flat and smooth trail - a NICE change from some of the rocky sections I've seen lately. I do realize that there are some serious rocks coming up soon in Pennsylvania, so I'm not out of the woods.. ur.. rocks yet. Some hikers call it "Rocksylvania" It was great to have someone to talk with while hiking today. The trail was friendly and the miles seemed to zoom by. Before long we arrived at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park where there's a little grocery store which is the site of the official 1/2 gallon ice cream challenge. Thru hikers are supposed to eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream to celebrate making it half way on the AT.I looked at the ice cream... cheap (non premium brand... hey.. I'm spoiled, I admit it) and in flavors that I didn't really care for - so I decided to pass it up for the moment. Emily pulled out some Oreos that she brought along for me and I downed a bottle of Gatorade from the store. We jumped in my car, which I had left at the park a few days ago, I drove Emily back to her car and then I treated myself to a steak dinner at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant that I found along I-80. Now I'm back at the Trail of Hope Hostel and about to break open the pint of gelato that I picked up at the grocery store on the way back from the restaurant. I'm going to do my best to accomplish Flash 52's 1/2 pint challenge and then call it a night. Thanks so much for reading my journal. Please send me any comments or suggestions by using the guest book on the left side of the page. I'll do my best to respond to anything you take the time to send to me.
Date: 2016-05-08
From: US 30 Near Fayetteville PA

To: Shippensburg Rd
Miles today: 11.3

I decided to slack pack today by getting a shuttle to Shippensburg Rd from the Trail of Hope Hostel where I've been staying. I had jumped ahead 11 miles yesterday so that I could meet up and hike with Emily, my old physical therapist without having to change our planned meeting point. So today's hike actually headed southbound for a change and I filled in the 11 miles that I had jumped past yesterday. When I was home in Maryland last weekend for my 1,000 miles on the trail party, I found a leg brace that I had tried using about 1.5 years ago. Back then it seemed to dig into my (sensitive) foot so I had stopped using it. I thought I would try it out at some point and since today's slack pack is bringing me back to my car in just one day I decided to see if this old brace might help support my ankle better over some of Pennsylvania's rocks. It turns out that the trail today had just a few rocks and was fairly flat so I was able to make it back to US 30 by about 3:30 pm and I decided to walk the .8 miles down the road to get back to the hostel. I found I could hike easier with the leg brace on however by the time I reached the hostel my foot and calf were killing me. I took some advil and crashed on the sofa for a few hours to try and ignore the pain coming from my leg. My best guess is that the brace helped to support my ankle but did not allow the movement which typically allows my calf muscle to stretch out while hiking. Fortunately, after resting it for a few hours it started to feel better. I won't be using this leg brace again any time soon!
Date: 2016-05-09
From: Sheet Iron Roof Rd

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 10.8

I had so much fun slack packing yesterday that I decided to slack pack again today. I parked my car just one day's hike up the trail at a small road crossing, grabbed my lunch, raincoat, and some water, then headed southward back toward Pine Grove Furnace State Park.The Pine Grove Furnace was used to make cast iron items using first charcoal made from local trees and then later it burned coal as it's fuel. It threatened to rain on and off today but the weather stayed perfect for hiking - cloudy and about 65 degrees. I've been expecting Pennsylvania to live up to it's reputation and be rocky but once again I was rewarded with a mostly smooth easy trail to hike on.Today was typical as my leg started to bother me by hurting more at about 2 pm. This must cause me to limp more noticeably because as I was working my way down the last stretch of trail for the day a SOBO hiker lady said:"You look like an old man trying to come through here."I mumbled something about an old injury and thought to myself, "Uh... is it that bad.. ?" not knowing how to respond.I texted back and forth with one of my daughters trying to come up with a funny response that would help me to laugh instead of feeling hurt by such an inconsiderate comment... Here's what I came up with:"Yea, I got it caught in a tractor grinder about 2 miles back."After making it over 1,000 miles on the trail I definitely don't feel old. Maybe just bold.I stayed at the Ironmaster's Hostel which was nice and clean - and it had a grand piano which I played some along with another hiker girl from Germany. I had dinner with Hestia and Dave from Ireland whom I hadn't seen since the early days of this years hike down in Tennessee.
Date: 2016-05-10
From: PA 641 Trindle Rd

To: Sheet Iron Roof Rd
Miles today: 12.6

I got up early this morning to eat the waffles provided by the Ironmaster's Hostel for breakfast before catching a shuttle with "Roger" up the trail to a point about 12 miles north of where I had left my car yesterday. I'm having fun slack packing and decided to do it again.Since I've been hiking each piece of the trail headed south for the past few days I've been running into many of the same NOBO hikers each day who are hiking north. The trail wasn't bad today although there was a section called "The Rock Maze" that other hikers told me was pretty rugged."You'll have to jump but I think you can do it" was the advice I had heard.I'm not so sure that I can jump so I worried about this section as I made my way along the trail today. I finally made it to the Maze and was happy to find that I was able to hold on with my hands and lower myself down in the two places that another better equipped might have jumped down.Towards the end of the day I came across a campsite with 4 or 5 tents that had been put up. There was a small dog who barked his warning as I approached the site. I wanted to say hello and pet the dog so I walked over to join the other hikers who were sitting around a fire pit that didn't have a fire in it.They looked at me a little strangely and weren't very welcoming. I figured they must be either day or section hikers instead of thru hikers who are normally happy to include another hiker in their conversation. I gave the dog a quick pat and headed back off on the trail.Once I made it back to my car I drove north up to Duncannon to stay at the Doyle Hotel for the night. The shuttle driver had called it a rat trap and it was certainly old, but didn't seem very dirty. To play it safe I slept on top of the bed in my sleeping bag for the night. I've got my alarm set for 5:30 since I"m catching a 6 am shuttle tomorrow morning.
Date: 2016-05-11
From: Trindle Rd

To: Campsite at Mile 1139
Miles today: 14.1

I'm back to hiking northward today after catching my 6 am shuttle. Gary, my shuttle driver had quoted me $50 yesterday for today's shuttle but once he arrived he said it was further than he had thought so it would be $20 more for a total of $70. This was from the same shuttle driver who the day before had made a made a point of telling me that he insisted on running his business with "integrity". From where I come from if you quote someone a price you stick with it. I could have challenged him on this but decided not to make a big deal of it and simply paid it. I have learned from this that in addition to asking for a quote up front I'll also drill down a bit by saying something like,"OK, $50 is fine as long as it's really $50. You'd be surprised at the shady shuttle drivers I've met that quote me one price and then try and change it once they show up."It would be nice to have a place online where hikers could post reviews of the various AT shuttles so that we can collectively reward the majority of shuttle drivers who treat hikers fairly. If anyone knows of a website that is doing this, please send me a comment using my guestbook on the left side of this page. By 4 pm today I arrived at the Darlington shelter and sat down to talk with Johnny Cash, a NOBO and No Worries, a SOBO. I needed water to make my dinner and I offered to make the hike down to the spring for the other hikers. No Worries took me up on my offer and I walked downhill to the piped spring. As I walked back up the hill I rejoiced as I thought of all the times a year ago that I either struggled in pain to get water for dinner or ended up asking another hiker to get water for me. My injured leg is getting better!While I made dinner, Hestia, Rock Ever, and 3 or 4 other hikers made their way into the shelter area. It was nice to have the conversation and companionship of so many other hikers. After dinner I packed up and hiked another 4 miles up the trail so that I can have a shorter day tomorrow. I'm concerned about the rocky section that the guide book mentions along with the climb down over boulders into Duncannon that I've been told may be a challenge for me. I'm also driving home tomorrow (again!) so that I can join my wife and fly down to Florida to see my granddaughter for a few days. The end of the day today was quiet and beautiful as the trail made it's way through the fields you can see in today's photo. I reached this campsite near a stream just as the last bit of the days light was fading out. It only takes me about 5 minutes to put my tent up and since I've already had dinner all I need to do is hang my food bag from a tree and go to sleep.
Date: 2016-05-12
From: Campsite at Mile 1139

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

This is a photo of Rock Ever's umbrella from a few days ago. He has it strapped to his pack so that he doesn't have to hold it. It looks like a good setup for the rain but I'll probably stay with my trusty raincoat. At about midnight last night I was awoken by the sound of something or someone walking outside my tent. Whatever it was, it was big enough to crack the branches on the ground and I wondered if a bear had come by to see if it could reach my food bag hanging from a nearby tree. I realized that I didn't have anything at all to protect myself. I'm into hiking light so I don't have a gun or even a knife of any size. I thought of using my hiking poles but they were occupied holding my tent up. I turned my headlamp on but it just reflected the light back from the inside of the screen door on my tent. I thought of unzipping the screen so that my light would work better but somehow I didn't want to part with the physiological barrier which the screen provided. I know that sounds crazy but that's what I was thinking. After shining the light on my screen door I heard a few more cracks and then it was quiet except for the sound of my heart which was racing. I lay there unable to go back to sleep for about a half an hour before convincing myself that there really wasn't much of anything that I could do to stop a bear if it was determined to get me. Eventually I went back to sleep. The "very rocky trail" mentioned in the guidebook slowed me down a bit today but wasn't nearly as bad as I had worried it might be. For the most part I was able to find a flat spot to put my left foot down on so I did ok with it. I had also been warned by someone at the Doyle Hotel that the decent into Duncannon involved boulder clambering that he thought I might have a hard time with. It turns out that the decent involved quite a bit of stair steps but didn't require me to climb down over any boulders. Perhaps the local trail maintenance crew has improved the trail since the last time this fellow had hiked it here. I met Boogie Pilgrim on the way down and offered to drive him over to the grocery store so that he could resupply. I like to be able to put my car to use as I feel it helps to better justify the luxury of my bringing it along with me on my hike. I'm making the three hour drive back home to Maryland today so that I can fly down to Florida to see my granddaughter (and her mom and dad) for the next few days. On the 16th I'll catch an early flight and drive back to Duncannon hopefully in time to get some miles in before sunset.
Date: 2016-05-16
From: Peters Mt Road

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: clear sky

Today I got up at 4:30 am so that I could catch my early flight back up to Maryland. I left the Baltimore airport and headed north towards Duncannon, PA where I had left the trail on Thursday. I was hoping to get started hiking at about 12:30 but by the time I stopped for lunch, checked emails, updated my journal, and drove back to the trail it was 3 pm. I tacked on another 1/2 hour by starting out without my knee brace before realizing it and turned around to go back and get it.I hiked south so that the long road walk into Duncannon would be at the end of the day when I'd likely be running out of daylight. This would also put me back at the Doyle Hotel where I could sleep and get dinner so that I wouldn't have to carry most of my gear today. The trail is green with fast growing assorted vines and bushes including a fair amount of poison ivy which I take care to avoid. My brother Paul, who works on a farm in Maine, told me years ago that he "Stays away from greenery" and I think of this while looking at the strong and healthy poison ivy that is right along the trail. My paced slowed down towards the end of the day as the trail included more rocky sections as I got closer to Duncannon. It was almost 8:30 when I stepped out of the woods and crossed the railroad tracks to begin the 2 mile road walk into town. As I walked across the bridge the river looked gorgeous as you can see in today's photo. I called the restaurant to make sure they would still be open when I got there but made the mistake of assuming the Doyle Hotel would be open until 10 pm. I went to the hotel first to check in just in case they did close at 10 pm but was surprised to find the place completely dark and locked up. The sign showed the hours as 11 am to 10pm? and I figured the question mark means that they close whenever the bar empties out. I used Yelp to find another hotel that was about 10 miles away and pulled up Uber to confirm that I could get a ride before grabbing dinner at the pizza place in town. The guy at the hotel gypped me out of a few bucks by adding $5 "tax" onto the $45 rate that he had quoted me over the phone. I don't mind paying tax but when I googled it I found that in PA its supposed to be 6% which is actually $2.70. This is such a small amount of money that it doesn't make sense to make a fuss about it. And when the owners son knocked on my door and offered to run me back into town in the morning for $5 I decided to let it go. I thought about it and realized that I'm either feeling worn out from the trail or that I'm having trouble dealing with the contrast of going home, or going to visit my granddaughter and hiking the trail. It usually takes me about 3 days to get back into the groove and to renew my love of hiking the AT. Tomorrow I'm going to shuttle 10 miles north of where I parked my car so that I can slack pack for the day.
Date: 2016-05-17
From: PA 325

To: Peters Mt Rd
Miles today: 9.6

I had breakfast at Goodies in Duncannon this morning before shuttling up to PA 325 which is about 10 miles north of where I left my car 2 days ago. It was supposed to rain but never really did which is good because I had left my raincoat behind for this 2 day jaunt. I ran into Seeker, a NOBO I had met down in Virginia and Otis, the NOBO who is one party to the exploding fish and skunk attack tales in Virginia from earlier this year. I also met Magic, a NOBO woman who said that she met me last year in Georgia. She made it up to Harpers Ferry last year and is now doing the top half of the trail. I wasn't too pleased to see all this graffiti when I crossed a power line late in the day. My guess is that once it gets started then other "artists" decide that it's ok to join in the fun. It seems so out of place here in the AT wilderness. I got back to my car in time to drive into Harrisburg to see the movie "Money Monster" as part of my strategy to nurture myself and hopefully get out of this funk... I had such a good time with some of my family this weekend that I've been thinking it might be nice to be with them instead of hiking.After the movie I drove up to the trailhead that's a few days further north which is where I'm leaving my car for now. I hiked up the trail a ways, found a campsite to spend the night and am warm and dry inside my tent now. In the morning I'll hike back to the car and catch a shuttle down to PA 325 which is where I started hiking yesterday. It will be interesting to see if I reengage with the trail over the next 3 days or if I continue to think mostly about how much I miss my wife and kids.
Date: 2016-05-18
From: PA 325

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I left my car to the Rt 501 trailhead this morning and shuttled with Trail Angel Mary down to PA 325 which is my most northward point so far. She had a nice disposition and answered a few calls to help a hiker find a medical clinic so that they could have their foot looked at. I explained to her how I had started out thru hiking last year and how I had restarted this February in Erwin, TN which is the furthest north that I had made it last year. "Oh, you're a Lasher" she responded."What's that?" I asked."It's a long ass section hiker" she said. Hmm.. ok.. I thought. That doesn't sound as cool as a thru hiker but since I'm not doing the whole trail within 12 months then I'm really not a true thru hiker... I"m not sure that other hikers who ask me if I'm thru hiking will know what a "lasher" is... I walked for a bit in the morning with Jim, a NOBO who just retired from the Army. He was nice enough to walk along with me at my slower pace for awhile. I used my method of asking open ended questions to get him talking while I scurried along behind him as we went up a few hills. This allows me to focus on my breathing while simultaneously slowing down the other hiker since they have to talk rather than take deep breaths. I didn't really feel like hiking today since I kept thinking about my visit with my granddaughter. I found myself asking "What am I doing slogging along the trail?"I mentioned this to my Dad while talking with him and he suggested that I think about the trail as a special challenge - I agreed with him that I shouldn't mentally define my hike as "slogging'"I ended up here at the Rausch Gap Shelter with four other serious 30 something NOBO hikers who all smelled as bad or worse than me. They didn't talk much and seemed concerned about getting their next 20 mile day done rather than engaging in conversation. The shelter did have a cool water supply that ran into a stainless steel trough just 20 feet away from the front of the shelter. I'm here and hoping that I feel more excited about hiking soon.