morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-01
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter (Mile 1118.8)

To: US 11 - Carlisle Parkway (Mile 1130.6)
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: light rain

Well overnight was not exactly a wilderness experience. Heard train switch engines all night tooting away, planes overhead and cars on nearby roads. Again, earplugs helped. Not too cool in morning, mid 40s. On way by 7:30am, had a few ups and then an amazing thing! I hiked out of the mountains. Now all flatland thru pastures.  Lots of country perfume! Temps crept into the uppers 70s in afternoon but had breezes. Walked into the pretty little town of Boiling Springs, PA. History here with their old (1762) blast iron furnace remnants. A river through the middle of town and a sunny day. Blossoms. May Day, May 1st.  Spring has sprung! Stopped at an outfitter for gas and a few backpacker meals. Got to destination, Carlisle Parkway at 2:45pm. Tried hitchhiking. No luck. Dialed up Uber transportation then, of course, had a ride offer. Cancelled Uber and my Trail Angel for the day, Dave, took me to my lodging, Holiday Inn Express. No hostels for this Dude! After cleanup made my way to a haircut place. Sorely needed! Then laundry and out the door to dinner at Black and Bleu! The ultimate in surf and turf meal - pure crab meat cake over a tenderloin over Yukon Gold mashed potatoes covered with Alfredo sauce with asparagus on the side. Also had to have a wedge salad to start since I was in a  ¢greens ¢ deficit. A beer to wash it down and all was right with the world. A half mile walk each way to this place kinda balanced it all out and worked out the kinks. Beautiful warm evening with setting sun as I walked back to hotel. Really easy day grade-wise but bed will feel good tonight. Nice to head into a zero day!
Date: 2018-05-02
From: US 11 - Carlisle Parkway (Mile 1130.6)

To: US 11 - Carlisle Parkway - Mechanicsburg, PA (Mile 1130.6)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Nice night¢s sleep in a bed. Coffee in lobby at 6am was the first course of business. After morning shower the free breakfast beckoned. Well done! Missed the milk, caught up this morning. Contacted a local shuttler who said she could slackpack me up to next town, Pine Grove, PA. She said she'd call back which gave me time to work out a proposed schedule. She called back and we negotiated a 5 day schedule during which she or her husband would pick me up each day at the hotel and then meet me at the end of the hiking day and bring me back. Nice, less heavy pack schlepping! I decided to resupply for later on in the trip since good shopping (local supermarket-Wegmans) was available. After lunch at Chick-Fil-A (very popular here - was extremely busy at lunch), did my resupply. Great store. Was able to buy it all and get it into portable bags I could carry the mile back to hotel. The next task was to walk a mile the other way to post office and mail home my winter gear. The walk was in 86 degree sunny weather but there was a breeze and the humidity was only 25%. Also the walking was good to stay limber on my zero day. On the way back I couldn¢t help myself from participating in what looked like a local icon, Duck Donuts. I got a made-to-order Maple Bacon Donut to die for. Pack away those cals. Fun experience! Caught dinner at the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings. Yes, amazingly, they sell green things. Like salads. Very good! Busy but nice zero day after 106 straight miles of hiking. Ready to go again tomorrow! Onward!
Date: 2018-05-03
From: US 11 - Carlisle Parkway (Mile 1130.6)

To: Valley Rd (PA 850) ( Mile 1139.2)
Miles today: 8.6

Decided to start today, my first in a series of slackpacking days, with a short one. Fortuitous because shuttler had a hard time finding me. Guess the lack of car GPS and phone GPS didn't help. Yikes! Used my waiting time at the front entrance to talk to a couple of guys taking their smoke breaks. One was in town for a machining job. Amazing to have that expertise that they have you come a great distance to perform your skill! The other guy was halfway home from NC to MA taking his college son home for the summer. Everyone has a story. Had to calm my shuttler down who was flustered she was 1 1/2 hours late. Told her no worries, short hike day. Off at 9:00am and enjoyed flat (pastures) or easy up (small hill) grades. A little over 5 hrs. Topped out at 88 degrees (warmish) but very low humidity and breezes. No food blogs today- too much of that lately. :-) Been asked what I think about all day. Well one thing today was system performance optimization (sounds like a military/ engineer thing, right?). Think about sun being out- add sunscreen, put on sunglasses, make sure I have cap to protect the scalp. Hot- ensure water going down regularly for hydration. Burning calories- ensure regular snacks going down for nutrition (I¢ve been breaking hikes into 2hr segments for snacks, rest, water). Monitor feet, legs, body aches and adjust pack, or gait,  accordingly. Shift pack weight from shoulders to waist or to both evenly. Try to remember to stretch regularly before, during and after hiking. Monitor blazes for any direction change. Step aside for other hikers. Those are the high points. Gets more streamlined with experience and time in the trail.
Date: 2018-05-04
From: Valley Rd (PA 850) ( Mile 1139.2)

To: ClarkÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Ferry Bridge -US 22 ( Mile 1150)
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: moderate rain

Pickup by shuttler at end of day yesterday and morning pickup today much smoother. Joyce had settled down and on Day 2 of slackpacking it¢s going well. She was even early for pickup at hotel today. On way after drop off and after talking with turkey hunters who had bagged a bird down the road and were meeting at trailhead parking lot for photos. Learned a lot. Can only hunt until noon. Have to shoot the bird in the head because the feathers are like Kevlar, the shotgun pellets bounce off. Takes stealth, patience and skill. No hunting along the AT so I¢m safe!  On way by 7:40am. Had an early up but was I up and over in 20 min. Gentler grades up here in PA. But the rocks showed up at times on the trail.  Heard they will even get more intense as we move north. Passed an interesting group. Leading was someone who looked like an experienced outfitter/ hiker. Following were three young men with closely shaved heads in monk-like brown garb. They all greeted me with accented hellos. Mmmm! Today¢s thoughts were about my five senses out here. TASTE- tap water in my water container is sure not as tasty as the pure, cold spring water I¢ve been filtering and using along the Trail. Miss it! TOUCH- Includes all skin surfaces. Nice to feel the breezes in my cheeks.Sometimes feel cobwebs reminding me of unseen fellow forest creatures.Today also felt occasional rain sprinkles, not enough to put in all rain garb. HEAR- sweet bird song, planes overhead, the occasional complete silence, my footsteps on the trail, noises coming up from the approaching town (dogs, traffic), SEE- flora - spring flowers, spring tree blossoms; fauna- lots of gray squirrels, the occasional deer, today a black racer snake ; where my next footstep will go in the rocks; sizing up the weather. SMELL- spring buds, woodsy/earthy smells coming out of the forest, animal musk. All kinda in balance out here unlike in the city where we get bombarded with sounds and sights. The balance out here is a treat.  Eventually today I hiked into Duncannon. PA. Made my way through lots of flat city streets and over two long bridges (over Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers) to meeting point with Joyce, my shuttler. Back in hotel by 2:45pm. Another short but smoother day. Time to rest, eat, sleep in order to repeat tomorrow. Felt strong today even on rocks. Going well!
Date: 2018-05-05
From: ClarkÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Ferry Bridge -US 22 ( Mile 1150)

To: ClarkÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Valley Rd - PA 325 (Mile 1166)
Miles today: 16.0

Well I noticed that as of today I¢m out here for the longest sustained time of both years on the Trail. Last year¢s longest push was 33 days in a row before taking time off. Nice to keep the momentum! Had husband, Lance, as my shuttler today. After a quick up for 20 minutes was treated to a sweeping view of the river valley - the section I had hiked yesterday over the bridges in the lower part of photo. Had rocks on and off during day but flat terrain. Great hiking day 50s to 70s and overcast. Long day but ended well with Joyce arriving at pickup point right when I did. She then sweetened the deal and treated me to ice cream on way back. My Trail Angel! I also asked her to stop on way back for Epsom salts to soak after my mega-day. That soak did indeed help before going out to dinner. Feeling great! Thought for the day was... I¢m wondering if anyone is reading this journal stuff. Get some feedback but not a lot. All feedback, comments and encouragement is greatly appreciated. If not, thank you for your readership. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I push to finish this year.
Date: 2018-05-06
From: ClarkÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Valley Rd - PA 325 (Mile 1166)

To: Greenpoint School Rd (Mile 1181.4)
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: broken clouds

The kitchen ataff at the Holiday Inn Express (my slackpacking base for awhile here) were kind enough to let me get breakfast items before they opened so I could meet my 7am shuttle pickup. Joyce showed up in her Sunday finest (on way to church) and had me on the Trail by 7:30. Passed a few weekend hikers/ backpackers. Some rocks, not many. Rain started up in afternoon. Light precipitation and I was geared up with rain jacket and pants, pack cover and phone protective case. That¢s when variety happened. All of a sudden sustained automatic weapons fire started, and I was walking towards it! WW III ! Kept walking. Then sound on my right. Kept walking. Then sound behind me. Baffling! Later learned that it was coning from Ft Indiantown Gap National Guard traning base. Felt like I was in a combat zone. Then a fun observation! The rain brought out the colorful newts. These little guys are not afraid. Love having their picture taken. Lots of them but I was careful not to step on any! :-) Then passed through Rausch Gap. Site of a coal mining town at the turn of the century. Mine not producing and so now nothing left except a cemetery. Was approaching the cemetery sign when I caught a whiff of pipe tobacco smoke. One of the old souls out for a Sunday stroll smoking his pipe? Naw!! But ... there was absolutely no one around! I didn¢t stick around. Headed up my second ascent for the day, summited and texted Joyce with my one hour notice of being at pickup point. We were both early and arrived at same time. Good thing because it was raining. Nice to go back to a hotel and not a tent to try to dry out. Packed up gear for tomorrow¢s transfer to a new location, Pine Grove, PA. Felt strong today. Long miles and in rain but not too many rocks, favorable grades and interesting events.
Date: 2018-05-07
From: Greenpoint School Rd (Mile 1181.4)

To: PA 645 (Pine Grove, PA) (Mile 1192.8)
Miles today: 11.4

Joyce, My Shuttler Extraordinaire, was early for the 7am pickup. I loaded in my extra gear (stuff not carrying for slackpacking - like tent, sleeping bag, stove, etc) that was in a big heavy duty trash bag. My was that heavy! I¢ve been carrying that on my back?!?! Beautiful hiking day. Partly sunny, temps in 50s. First flat, then under I-81. Can¢t help but notice the 3-4 mile wide swath of noise impact that an interstate makes. Had a gradual one mile ascent then trail on a flat service road for remainder of day. Some rocky patches but those went away mercifully. For the first time ever I saw no one on the Trail all day. Selfishly, it was great having it to myself. Peaceful. My thoughts during the day were about self preservation for the remainder of my section hike this year. Towards that end I decided that I could work it that I can slackpack my way into Delaware Water Gap, PA, my final destination this year. No more carrying that heavy load.  So I¢m going to mail home all the extras -  tent, sleeping bag, etc and use slackpacking bases for the next 100 miles. Nice feeling especially given that I¢ve been warned about formidable rock ridges coming up on the Trail. So ... I checked into the Hampton Inn, Pine Grove, PA after a shuttle from Joyce. My new slackpacking base for a couple of days. Found cold beer to go at the diner across the street. Ahh, life is good!
Date: 2018-05-08
From: PA 645 (Pine Grove, PA) (Mile 1192.8)

To: PA 645 (Pine Grove, PA) (Mile 1192.8)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Been hiking for several straight days even if slackpacking. Zero Day good for mental and physical regrouping. Also enjoy the relaxing savoring of a cup of coffee (or two!). A shower and some free breakfast and it was a great start. Finalized my gear to be shipped. Caught up on journal and treated myself to a Subway lunch a short walk away. Beautiful day here in the hills. The photo of the Hampton Inn shows the hills in the background along which the AT runs. Trees starting to leaf out. Joyce shuttled me to Post Office to ship out the gear I will no longer need due to my slackpacking plan to the end. It was 13.75 lbs of gear. That was a liberating feeling. Oh my, now I won¢t have to lug that over the rocks! Also used time to start my research for transportation from Delaware Water Gap to the NY airports. Quite reasonable and convenient. Now a wind down with Audible book before sleep. Good rest day! Nice hotel in a nice setting!
Date: 2018-05-09
From: PA 645 (Pine Grove, PA) (Mile 1192.8)

To: PA183 (Mile 1204.1)
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: few clouds

A fine sleeping night. A fine Hampton Inn breakfast. Stretched while waiting for shuttle. Felt mighy fine. Pickup by Joyce at 7:50 and on Trail by a little after 8. It was a mighty fine day for hiking. Temps in 50s going to low 70s. Sunny. Best day yet! Sunscreen and sunglasses on. Was reminded I was in PA dairy farm country. Ah the wafting aroma of manure. All natural! :-)  Met Giddeyup. Had thruhiked in 70s. Now retired in FL and doing AT again in sections. He¢s got a new knee, two new shoulders and two repaired achilles. Wow, he¢s bionic too! He was slackpacking too. As I was admiring one of the many sweeping views, I captured a hawk in flight (see photo) and heard a distant pack of coyotes howling and barking. A magical moment! A fair amount of rocks on the trail which slowed my pace. Ended up being a 7.5hr day after which Joyce picked me up and gave me a quick tour on way back to hotel. Saw a couple covered bridges; a very large, ornate Hindu country retreat (oddly placed out here in PA);  and downtown Pine Grove. Did a tub soak, laundry and then out to nearby diner. Full multi-course meal with milk shake for under $15!!! I tipped heavy! Also saw a gent eating there with a WW II Vet ball cap on. I walked over and shook his hand.  He said, ¢Not many of us left!¢. I said thank you for what you did!  It was an overall fine day! No foot or body pain! Decent pace despite rocks! Tomorrow I hike to new slackpack base. Onward!
Date: 2018-05-10
From: PA183 (Mile 1204.1)

To: Pt Clinton, PA (Mile 1218.7)
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: clear sky

After breakfast I moved out of Hampton Inn to move on to my next slackpacking base. Joyce picked me up before 7am. Had me on Trail by 7:15. As she dropped me off for the last time she said that I was a very interesting person. Took that as a compliment. Maybe I could do Dos Equis commercials. ¢He once hiked 170 miles of the Appalachian Trail without sleeping in a tent or shelter. He is The World¢s Most Interesting Man! Stay thirsty, My Friends!¢ :-) Well it¢s true - I will have slackpacked the last 170 miles this year! Had a little heavier pack today since I was transferring a few more clothing and toiletry items, that I normally keep in room, to new place. Light rain in middle of day. Met Peaks,  a young thruhiker from Smokies area in TN near the peaks there. Very steep down at end of day into Pt Clinton, PA. Had called new shuttler/ Filbert B&B owner, Kathy, who was there at same time as me. She took me back to B&B where we discussed shuttle schedule for my stay. She agreed to the pickup points and I then moved jnto room and cleaned up. Kathy was even so kind as to have a friend pick up a case of Yuengling Lager beer. I like this lady already! After my shave and shower I ordered from local place, Papa Al¢s, that delivers. Food was good and plentiful. What¢s not to like about veal parmigiana? A fair amount of rocks today and an ambitious 14+ mile day but no body problems. Good day and good feeling to move forward to new base and closer to finishing this year¢s Section. Onward!
Date: 2018-05-11
From: Pt Clinton, PA (Mile 1218.7)

To: Hawk Mountain Road (Mile 1233.7)
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today started great! Kathy had a carafe of coffee ready early so I had a first cup at 6am then a real hiker¢s four course breakfast at 6:30am and out door, shuttled and on trail by 8. Getting along trail nicely, even though rocky, when during a flat spot my boots got tangled in sticks on trail. Down I went but in my downward arc there was a tree that I hit full force with my face. ¢No, Jesus, No, Jesus, No¢, I said not wanting to get knocked off the trail. Blood started dripping from my face like red sweat. I clawed at my backpack for the first aid kit. Put a gauze pad on likely source, started assessing damage (NOLS Wilderness First Aid training kept me calm). Got antiseptic and a bandaid on likely spot then I remembered selfie phone feature and so looked. Also saw a nose divot and bruised lip and chin. Good news: No concussion (hadn¢t blacked out since I was yelling at Jesus), no broken nose or orbital bone or neck or jaw or teeth! Took record photos of all, including the tree! Collected and moved on.  Could feel blood oozing from eyebrow wound so stopped and with assistance from passerby hikers put on a gauze and tape bandage. Worked better. Looked worse so I pulled down my cap and pressed on. Eventually got to a flat rock-free trail section and picked up the pace to make up for lost time. Gave advance notice to Kathy and we met at Trailhead at 4:30pm. We both assessed and decided a trip to ER was in order. I cleaned up back at B&B, ate some dinner and she took me to a nice little hospital ER in Palmerton, PA. I was in and out in half hour. Doc decided to superglue my eyebrow back together. Slick! Face a little bruised and sore but still going back to Trail. Thanks for your prayers. No knockout punch to Bionc Man Today! Onward!
Date: 2018-05-12
From: Hawk Mountain Road (Mile 1233.7)

To: Ft Franklin Road (Mile 1243.1)
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today started out with usual B&B morning routine. Kathy had an activity so her brother, Vernon, shuttled me. Great guy, apparently expert equipment operator for day job in brother¢s contracting company and helps out at family farm on weekends. Not today, too wet. Nice chat up to trailhead and on way by 8. Knowing rocks were going to increase,  I purposely made this day shorter. All day overcast, in 50s and foggy. No views but great for hiking. For first time I actually passed someone on the AT. Well, he had a full pack (me with slackpack) and it was on an up but I¢ll take it. Turns out he, Raindrop, is out with his wife, Sunshine, doing a thruhike. Both retired Navy. He a Seabee, she a Mess Specialist. Mid-40s. Since he didn't know it, I sang him the Seabee song. Hoo-Yah! During day also met Thirteen. Nice young man. His pack base weight (light!) is 13lbs.  He was also 1300th registered thruhiker this season. I did stumble during the day and skin a knee and forearm but nothing like yesterday. Finiahed up at 2:35pm (6hrs). Nice shorter day. Got back to clean up and devour a sub sandwich I had purchased earlier when on way back from trail. Body actually felt pretty good today except lower back probably affected by the fall. Conquered first good dose of rocks. Yesssss!
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Ft Franklin Road (Mile 1243.1)

To: Ashfield Road (Mile 1253.5)
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

Kathy¢s usual outstanding breakfast was enhanced because I was joined by her brother, Vernon, who had shuttled me out yesterday. Fields still wet so no weekend farm work for him and instead I got to chat with him up to the trailhead again today. Ran into Iceager at trailhead.  He was very interested in my slackpacking arrangement. Said he'd call Kathy to get details. On way by 8:10. Variety of trail types - rocks on / rocks off.  Then rain started at 10:30 about the time I was encountering Knife Edge. Basically a sheer rock edge that was brutally treacherous, especially in the rain. Sheer terror but luckily I did it with only my light slackpack. Was closely followed by a young woman who announced, ¢This is not fun¢. We both made it. Found out she was a section hiker with trail name, Firecracker. Thought it was because of the cute explosion of freckles across her cheekbones. Nope! She was born on the 4th of July. We high fived, she moved on. A little later was a big up and over a high rock outcropping call Baked Oven Knob. Easy road up, big treacherous rocks going down. Made it and decided to change out my base layer that was soaked and hypothermia was starting to set in. A wool long sleeve base and a fleece did fix the problem. Think rain jacket compromised from many washings.  Yuck! Shorter hiking day - planned that way because I was anticipating the tough parts and so got picked up by Kathy at 3pm. Wet,  tough day in rain. Got over tough rock sections, avoided hypothermia and didn¢t fall. Glad to get that behind me. All body parts working. Now on to a cold beer!
Date: 2018-05-14
From: Ashfield Road (Mile 1253.5)

To: Little Gap (Mile 1263.8)
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: moderate rain

At today¢s breakfast I was joined by two thruhikers who had stayed the night - Hummingbird (a young medical student who says she flits around a bit) and Blackbird (whom I had previously met at a Trail Magic site).They are now, I guess, a trail couple. (No, separate rooms here!) Kathy shuttled me up the mountain and I flew through the first 4.2 miles quickly. Easy terrain and smooth trail. However, I had planned a shorter day because the next 6+ miles were tough. After I hiked over the Lehigh River bridge at Lehigh Gap the Trail went pretty much straight up. For the next hour I was climbing hand over hand straight up and over up Blue Mountain Summit. Tiring but exhiliarating. Sunny warm day so finally I hit rocks in clear weather! I summitted and met southbound thruhiker, trail name Chief Attakullakulla (an influential late 1700s Cherokee Indian leader she admired). Very upbeat mid-40s woman from TN. As I was hiking a little later on other side of the summit looking down on Palmerton, PA (yes, the place they superglued my head back together), a church carillon (in middle of photo) began bursting out hymns that I could distinctly hear up on the mountain. Felt like a mini-reward for having climbed up that crazy summit. Finished up the remaining rocky trail and was at Trailhead by 3pm. Again planned a shorter day knowing about the tough spots. Kathy wasn¢t able to shuttle me back to B&B immediately so I used that time at the trailhead to book my transportation back to MI a couple days hence (now that I knew I was going to finish this year¢s section on time). Amazing what you can do with a signal, a mobile phone and a credit card! Back at B&B I found Iceager had moved into the B&B and wanted to hike a few days with me. We chatted over dinner there. I had a pizza I had previously bought frozen and then warmed up. Nice! Some tough spots today but also some pleasant surprises. Body parts working well. Onward!