morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-21
From: Ensign Cowall shelter

To: Rt 16 -- Waynesboro, PA
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: clear sky

Got up just after the fog had lifted, but before the sun was over the mountain (unlike most shelters, this one is on the West side of the mountain). Had a leisurely breakfast while conversing with the section hiker who had shared the shelter with me. It sounded like he wanted to prove he could do this backpacking thing, but it will be difficult.All I needed to do today was get to PA Rt 16 by early afternoon to meet Buckeye Cornelius & Patchouli. They had camped several miles behind me on the Trail, but I had gone only 2.5 miles when they caught up with me. I passed them when they stopped for a while at Raven Rock cliff (not much view) & they passed me while I stopped at High Rock (excellent view of the whole valley to the West), a popular destination for student groups. The rocks are totally covered with graffiti, but if you stand on them, they don't affect the view. From there, the Trail goes down over about a mile of sometimes difficult rocks -- I took it slow. To confuse things, at the top of the rocks, it appeared that some of the graffiti artists had blotted out some of the AT white blazes and maybe added a few of their own. It's hard enough to follow the Trail over rocks, without that kind of help!When I got to Pen Mar park, which used to have a good view to the West from lower down, I found that with the growth of trees downhill, they soon will have no view at all. Of course that's a problem all along the Trail.Then I hit another delay. ¢ a couple from Southern Mississippi who had been doing a Southbound section hike, ending at Pen Mar. They were waiting for a pizza delivery, which arrived by the time I had used the rest room; so they offered me some. That & the ensuing conversation let me rest there for almost an hour. I still had 2 miles to go before meeting the others.Crossing the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania comes almost immediately after Pen Mar. Then up & over a sizable hill to Rt 16. Near the top, I spoke with Buckeye Cornelius, who had already gotten the rental car: they'd be at the trail-head just about the time I got there. And so it was (about 2:00). This trail-head was where I started (Southbound)in 1996, the very first time I did serious backpacking on the AT, going from PA to VA in 4 days (this time it took 3).They had decided that motels in Waynesboro were much cheaper than in Gettysburg, so we checked in to the Day's Inn & wandered around downtown, looking for a second-hand shop, for clothes to wear as tourists tomorrow. Eventually, we learned that the only one open Friday afternoon was out some distance, so we went. Part of the idea was to find things that fit our reduced-weight bodies. I found some shorts & a shirt, but the choices on the shorts were very limited. In this store, 36 waist was considered small; 42, medium; &c. The median size was probably XXL. The others took a lot longer to find stuff than I did. Then we went back to the motel to loaf (& work on Trail journals).
Date: 2013-06-22
From: Rt 16 -- Waynesboro, PA

To: Zero Day -- visiting Gettysburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I've done some updating of journals I hadn't posted; so I think I'm pretty up-to-date. The thing I'm behind on is figuring out how to upload pictures. I've managed to get a few now -- probably another day on a computer will get that working better.We had a nice day off & visit to Gettysburg. It's a very well-done park, from their use of a huge 1870s painting of the battle thru the museum interpretations, to the self-guided auto tour. There are a huge number of state monuments all around the park, but there are also plenty of explanatory plaques too. I enjoyed it a whole lot more than the Vicksburg National Military Park. I suspect part of the difference is intrinsic: there is so much more activity in a major 3-day battle than in a 2-month siege. The state memorials apparently created a late-19th-century race for whose would be biggest. We heard that Pennsylvania passed a law that none could be taller than theirs, but by the time it got thru the legislature someone else had erected a taller one, so PA had to add to theirs! I found it interesting as a reminder that the Civil War was fought mostly with state-raised forces. Belatedly, Congress authorized a monument to REGULAR Army engineers, artillery, & infantry, so that they would be covered as well.While Buckeye Cornelius & Patchouli went to the cemetery, I spent a little time on the other side of the battleground: Seminary Ridge. Not much going on at the seminary on a Saturday in the Summer. The chapel was the only thing open: colonial style with interesting windows -- not stained glass, not etching, but something in between. I talked with one student who happened to be walking across campus. In another week or so, the place will be very busy: as part of the 150th anniversary of the battle, the rehabbed old seminary building [I believe the only one still there from 1863] will be re-dedicated as a Seminary Ridge Museum. The building had been used as Confederate headquarters, observation platform, and field hospital.The 3 of us then came back to Waynesboro [far cheaper motel than near Gettysburg], had supper, and prepared to separate. We've had a good time together, but in the morning, Patchouli will be back on the Trail early, I will go to church first, and Buckeye Cornelius will be heading back to Ohio for a few days off. The way things work on the AT, we'll probably meet again farther North.
Date: 2013-06-23
From: Rt 16 -- Waynesboro, PA

To: Rocky Mtn shelters
Miles today: 12.3

After eating the paltry motel breakfast, & working a little on the computer, I took my pack & walked the 6 blocks to Evangelical Lutheran Church. Yes, that's the full name -- in addition, the sermon was on evangelism: Jesus' telling a man he had healed to go & tell what great things God had done for him. This was the biggest church I have visited so far on the hike. It was the last Sunday for the choir, so they had a lot of special music, including "Lord of the Dance", which kept popping into my mind for days while hiking. I had nice conversations with both pastors, & one gave me a ride to the Trail (less than 5 miles). I like to stop at shelters during the day, to eat & write in the shelter registers. Most of them in this area are double, two shelters together. At Deer Lick, one is labeled "snorers", the other "non-snorers". Somehow I missed Antietam shelter, a very old one near a stream & also near a county park that provides a water source. I spotted the water, but not the shelter! The next one (1.2 miles) was Tumbling Run shelters, where I found Hugs & The Stallion. I ate & went on to Rocky Mountain shelters (They are unusually close together in this section), where I occupied one shelter & a section hiker the other. In the morning I saw the person who was camped down the hill, but I never did meet the one who came in during the night & set up a hammock in back of the shelter. It was only 5.2 miles to Quarry Gap shelters, which I had hoped to make, but I was just moving too slow, & it was getting dark too fast.
Date: 2013-06-24
From: Rocky Mtn shelters

To: Dead Woman Hollow Rd. (Ironmasters Mansion hostel)
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

I started out early, hoping to pass the AT mid-point and get to the Ironmasters Mansion hostel at Pine Grove Furnace State Park. I remembered the Trail as being pretty easy thru this section, but it wasn't, for me, today. Not bad going the 3.4 miles to Caledonia State Park. There, I met Monster Cheese, who had camped in the park campground & enjoyed the swimming pool yesterday afternoon; that would have been nice! I didn't see any other thru-hikers all day. I then faced a couple of miles up hill to Quarry Gap shelters. That was very daunting, since my pack felt unusually heavy. I decided to try my own version of slack-packing: pack-lightening. I left about 10-12 pounds of food at the park office at park office, promising to pick it up within 24 hours. I can't say my pack FELT a lot lighter, but I found I was going slightly faster than before. It still seemed more difficult than it should. It was about 95 degrees on my thermometer. There was thunder but only slight showers. Quarry Gap shelters has a maintainer who adds unusual touches, like hanging baskets of flowers! I was happy to find that he is still doing so, & the place looks good. Otherwise, I saw no flowers but Mtn Laurel: small bushes with only a few flowers each. Blueberries had green berries, but very sparse. Well, I didn't quite make it to the half-way point!About 2 miles short of it, I figured out that I wasn't going to make it to the hostel at a reasonable time, so I took Dead Woman Hollow Road, a service road that ran straight down the mountain at a reasonable grade, a gravel road not overgrown or eroded. At the highway between the state parks I hitched a ride to Caledonia to pick up my stuff. Not much traffic, but a guy with a Miata stopped. I had to hold my pack on my lap, but with the sunroof open he didn't get much hiker smell. Then I had to hitch back up to Pine Grove Furnace State Park & the Ironmasters Mansion Hostel.   I checked in there, got a shower, & went to bed.
Date: 2013-06-25
From: Ironmasters hostel

To: Ironmasters hostel -- sick day
Miles today: 0.0

Today I took a sick day. I tired so easily yesterday & was so lethargic after getting to Ironmasters hostel that I figured I ought to do something. Another hiker said she had gone to Urgent Care in Carlyle yesterday -- that seemed to be the nearest. Someone else wanted to go to Carlyle today to get her phone fixed; so I grabbed the opportunity to go. I had a tick bite on my hip from several days ago, with a rash that looked uniform to me, all over my hip. I brought in the tick, smaller that the usual wood tick but bigger than a deer tick. The doctor said it didn't have to be a bullseye, just a little lighter in the middle. He gave me the prescription they give for all tick bites: Doxycyclene. Also told me to rest, so I went back to the hostel & slept all afternoon. Holly, from the hostel was very kind in giving me a ride to Carlyle and helping me to be more comfortable later in the afternoon. This was certainly a nice place to stay 3 nights, & I was lucky that they were open Tuesday this week because they had reservations for a large group. The group canceled because of illness, so I & one other hiker had the place to ourselves. The building is the early 19th-century mansion of several owners or managers of the iron-making furnaces they used to have here. Iron was mined in the area, and all the forests were cut to make charcoal. The bunkrooms are just that -- a bunch of bunk beds crammed together, but the rest of the place retains some of its former elegance. And there are nice porches all around to rest outside.I didn't do much today except take care of my body.
Date: 2013-06-26
From: Dead Woman Hollow Road

To: Ironmasters Hostel -- Pine Grove Furnace State Pk
Miles today: 7.1

Feeling a little better today. I wanted to finish the portion of the Trail that I hadn't done two days ago. Holly from the hostel dropped me off at Dead Woman Hollow Road. As I'd hoped, it wasn't difficult to go up to the AT that way, & the rest was mostly easy downhill. I didn't push very hard, since I was thinking recuperation mode. In less than two miles, I was at the place that is supposed to be the midpoint of theTrail this year. I was disappointed not to see anything to mark it. A bit farther along, there was a fancy marker that someone had put up to mark the midpoint several years ago ¢ It changes every year because of re-routings either North or South of here. I don't know why they don't make a marker that can be moved to the appropriate spot each year, but apparently they haven't got to that point yet. On the way down, I met a trail-maintainer/ridge-runner with a chain saw, who had been clearing dead-falls along the Trail. I told him about a place farther back that needed sawing. He re-appeared down at the park store.The mid-point tradition, called the half-gallon challenge, is to eat a half gallon of ice cream at one sitting (some say within a half hour). I felt up to the challenge. There were 4 hikers at the store when I got there. One had just about finished his ice cream (claiming to have done it in 20 minutes). Two of the others had given up part-way thru, deciding they'd rather have a hamburger. The 4th was "Lucky", from Ireland, who had started before me and was still working on it when I'd finished (40 min.). He seemed determined to do it if it took all day. Meanwhile the mother of a young woman hiker named Button arrived, all excited that she would be arriving momentarily. Sure enough, she did -- and completed her ice cream challenge promptly.Then I went back to the hostel (next door) to nap the rest of the afternoon.
Date: 2013-06-27
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Alec Kennedy shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: light rain

I had been spending some time sorting out my stuff, & I had packages to send ahead; so I had to go to the post office as early as possible this morning. Holly was nice to take me, but it did get me a late start on the Trail. The first part, thru rest of the state park, was pretty easy trail, tho it did go up considerably. I still wasn't up to par, making for slow going at points. There was rain in the afternoon & then rocks. I simply did not remember these rock mazes. Susan & I came thru this area in 2004, & it seems that I would remember the difficulty. There were two sections of at least 0.1 mile each of big rocks to climb over & around, with some element of mystery, because they didn't always have enough blazes to show you where to go next. It was quite easy to start up or down a set of rocks, only to find that the trail actually went elsewhere. I got to Alec (or is it Alex?) Kennedy shelter just at dusk, & the hikers there made room for me. Some I had met before; some I hadn't. A light rain came shortly after I arrived.
Date: 2013-07-03
From: 501 shelter

To: PA Rt 183
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Another misty morning. I quickly reconciled myself to the idea that I would not be doing 25 miles before the Port Clinton post office closed at 5:00. So the alternative was to do 11 miles to the only highway in between. Then I could pay a shuttler $45 or I could hitch to town. I lucked out & got picked up by a man who was willing to take me all the way, rather than just to the next highway, where I'd have to hitch again. I got to the post office by 1:30 -- closed for lunch till 2:00! Across the street was a barber shop, advertising $8.00 haircuts. I poked my head in & said I'd be back after I got cleaned up. Didn't happen! I had thought I'd treat myself to a night at the Port Clinton Hotel, just a block up the street. That didn't happen either! They had closed for the week to take a vacation. While I was trying to find the pavilion where hikers can stay, an old VW camper drove by & the driver asked if I wanted a ride to Wal-Mart. That's several miles along a nasty highway, so I accepted. The other hikers there were going to Wal-Mart, but I really wanted to go to Cabella's, about a half mile across multiple parking lots. Having bought some stuff at Wal-Mart, I had more weight to carry over there on a hot afternoon. I should have done it in the other order. I didn't find what I wanted, anyway, tho I did get something to eat. At least, this area has more pedestrian cross-walks than most shopping areas. As I started back, half-way across an intersection, a car pulled across in front of me & offered a ride. It was a thru-hiker taking a break in his home town, recognizing a hiker in need. He got me back to town in time to get my packages, sort & re-mail, & still get to the barber shop before closing. The barber was giving guitar lessons while cutting my hair & had lots of musical memorabilia around his shop. First haircut since Damascus.I then walked the half mile to the pavilion to stay & went out to the firemen's club with a couple of other hikers. That was the only place open in town, since the hotel & its restaurant were closed.
Date: 2013-07-13
From: Jim Murray shelter

To: Vernon, NJ -- St Thomas Church hostel
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

At the Jim Murray shelter I met Tony Good Times and Dark Age, 2 guys were out hiking a northbound section. I also saw Scotty again, a 68-year-old thru-hiker I hiked with in Pennsylvania and hadn't seen for a while. In addition to Honeysuckle & Gravy, there was a SOBO hiker name Ter Bear, who had started at Katahdin in the very end of May and skipped part of New England to get down here this fast.Most of today was fairly level walking. As the trail got a little farther away from the state line, there was also about a mile and a half of road walk and then at least a mile and a half of walking around a wildlife refuge, mostly water with a nice level path around it. Then up Pochuck Mountain, through some more swampland after the mountains, and then came the big boardwalk ¢ a very nice boardwalk, through the swamp/bird sanctuary. It was not as crowded as last time I was here but there were a fair number of people out on a rainy day. I wore my poncho most of the time across the board walk, even when I stopped and called Susan. At least now I didn't have to wade through about 30 feet of water at the end of the boardwalk like I did last time. They've made that improvement.A few ups and downs after that I got to a highway crossing with a garden center that I knew had ice cream, so I stopped and got an ice cream cone. They ended up selling me a barbecue sandwich as well. Then I stood out in front of it trying to hitchhiking to Vernon. It's just a couple miles, but it's kind of a nasty road to walk along ¢ no real shoulder and plus a lot of traffic. It took quite a while [I wasn't sure whether hitch-hiking was even legal in New Jersey ¢ I guess New York is actually the one where it's illegal] till finally a woman in a very small car stopped to pick me up. She said it was actually her ex-husband's car, but he had their child this weekend and she didn't want him driving the child in this little car; so their custom was to trade cars for visitation weekends. Interesting! She took me right to the to the St. Thomas church hostel which is in the center of the town. After checking in, I saw that they were having some kind of big fire department celebration, so some of the streets were blocked off, but I managed to find a way around to the A&P store. I hadn't been to an A&P in a long time. It was a really nice store and so I was able to stock up a bit there. Maybe I'll also get a little bit of breakfast at the church tomorrow with their fellowship time. I also found a plug for my phone at the gas station convenience store, located the restaurant to have breakfast at in the morning, and even got a hamburger at Burger King.The hostel is a fairly nice place. The sleeping area got pretty crowded [I was lucky to get there early enough to get a cot & not have to sleep on the floor], but there is also a shower, a washer and dryer, & a little bit of use of the kitchen.Hikers I met there included Canadian Bacon, Zen Master, the Czech Couple, Gravy, Roadrunner, Subaru, Pink Lady, & Hey Whitey [I'm sure there were more].
Date: 2013-07-14
From: Vernon, NJ -- St Thomas Church hostel

To: Furnace Brook
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

I got up early to have a good breakfast at the restaurant around the corner. When I got back, the early service was starting. Gravy was going, but I wanted to wait for the later service with music. I got to spend some time trying to catch up on journal entries & helping clean up the hostel. After the service, I grabbed a few of the bagels at the fellowship time & lost no more time getting out of there.Hitch-hiking back to the Trailwas easy, but I was still pretty late getting going. It was a little tedious getting up the first hill, to a great view back over much of the NJ part of the Trail. Then the Trail was fairly level for miles across Wawayanda Mtn. By the time I got up the hill, I was aware that this was the hottest part of a very hot day. I felt like I was looking for every opportunity to rest in some shade. I also stopped to call Susan.I stopped briefly at Wawayanda shelter [there were a couple of hikers there] & had supper at the state park [water source too]. I remember the rest of the way to NY being rather wet last time, but this time it seemed to involve only one stream crossing & a tiny bit of board walk. Entering NY, the Trail stayed on a rocky ridge for quite a while. I spoke with Katy on the phone from the high point, Prospect Rock, where I could find a slightly shady spot on the rock. Lots of wooded hills ¢ hard to identify anything till we could see Greenwood Lake. As it got toward dusk, several hikers were finding places to sleep on the rocks. I could see I wasn't going to get to Wildcat shelter before dark, but I wanted to go a bit farther. Coming down to Furnace Brook, I found a likely campsite & set up. There were lots of mosquitos, so I kept my head-net on. They didn't last all night, tho.
Date: 2013-07-15
From: Furnace Brook

To: Arden Mountain
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

I started off into some places I remembered from 2 years ago. First was the place I did a face plant on a rock in a slippery creek-bed. It was totally dry this time; so, no problem! Then was the near-vertical rock face that had stopped Susan last time in the rain [tho I got down it on a dry day]. This time, there was a ladder [totally missing last time], firmly attached to the rock; so that was no problem either. The way along the rest of the ridge seemed easier too. I crossed Hwy 17A [too early to go up the road for ice cream] & found the rocks of East Pinnacle & Cat Rocks to be challenging but fun. I knew Wildcat shelter was soon after that [hoping to stop for water], but somehow I missed the turn-off entirely & found myself at the next road crossing. As I tried to filter some water out of a marshy creek near there, some thru-hikers came by & suggested I go 0.3 farther to Fitzgerald Falls. Good idea! Without a map or trail guide, I wasn't guessing very well at what was ahead. The falls were pretty & a nice place to get water. From there, it was up Mombasha High Point & over a lot more rocks of Buchanan Mtn. & Arden Mtn., including some more difficult parts like Agony Grind. Quite a hot day! There was trail magic at one of the road crossings: lots of jugs of water. I only took a little bit, thinking I had plenty for the evening. By this time, I was getting tired from all the heat & rock climbing, so I found a piece of horizontal ledge on Arden Mtn. & got to bed early, sleeping out in the open. No place to hang a bear bag, & there were lots of blueberries around, but no bears bothered me. I did enjoy the blueberries!