morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-14
From: Luray (Throton Gap)

To: Gravel Spring Hut
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Weather: sunny (cool)Ok, I always tease about not wanting to leave hostels or hotels, but this time I really wasn't feelin' up to it. But we had to keep going. Bought some medicine and headed back on the trail. As long as I had a cough drop in my mouth, I was "fine". However, as soon as we stop, I am just hacking. Here it is spring, and I am still seeing snow in certain spots that the sun didn't shine on to melt it. Interesting... Met a guy name "The General" going the opposite direction. Wished I could have talked with him more because he seemed to be an interesting fellow.Norm cooked me dinner and I went to sleep early to try to recover. Feelin' miserable, but hanging in there.
Date: 2008-04-15
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: U.S. Route 522 (Chester Gap)
Miles today: 13.4

Weather: sunnyNot much to say. Still feeling under the weather yet hiking strong. Almost 100% better. Met a guy who thru hiked in '03 name HepCat. He seemed nice and enjoyed talking with him for a bit. Once we got to the road, we knew we had some time to kill for our ride wouldn't be able to get us for like another 45 minutes. So I took a little nap. Got to Sharon's place and showered and ate a wonderful mexican dinner + a strawberry shortcake and hit the sack.
Date: 2008-04-16
From: U.S. Route 522 (Chester Gap)

To: Dicks Dome Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

What away to start off my morning with a wonderful hot cook breakfast! We had eggs and bacon, bisquits, and applesauce w/ chopped apples. Thanks Sharon for filling our tummies.Still coughing, but not as much. Hiking fine as long as I have a cough drop in my mouth. Reached a shelter that actually had a bench. Wished all shelters had one. You don't realize how much you miss the little things in life until you don't have it any more. Sitting some where with your back resting ...sigh..awww..yes. Feels good. Considering I was tired and needed alittle more rest, I told Norm to go on w/o me. For the next 10 miles, I hiked on my own. Felt alittle weird hiking on my own. Not sure whether I like hiking by myself or not. I like the fact that I can go at my own speed and stop when I want. Usually, I go and stop when Norm does. Sometimes, that can get alittle agravating. We never hike to far ahead from the other person...until this time anyways. I definitely miss talking with him. Don't worry Mom, I had the SPOT with me just in case something happened.I'm use to seeing shelters the way they normally are constructed. This shelter is more cylinder shape. Feels like I am about to take off into outerspace.I hope the ATC will be open in Harpers Ferry. With odd hours and not open on the weekends, I might not be able to get my picture taken. Cross your fingers.
Date: 2008-04-17
From: Dicks Dome Shelter

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

Weather: hot sunny dayCoughing off and on, but ended up feeling better by the end of the day.Going to hike through what is known to be a "tough" section--the roller coaster. Passed two people at different times, both wishing us luck hiking in this section. I wasn't too worried about it considering we have been hiking up and down high elevations for the past 2 months, but we shall see. I was more concern with rocks. How long am I going to be walking on rocks?Got done hiking for the day. The roller coaster really wasn't all that bad. What made it "difficult" was the heat. The heat was just unbarable. We stopped many times at the creeks just to cool off. I wet my bandana and tied it around my neck and guzzled a nelgene of water. All I kept thinking about was the icecream at the hostel. Hikers special: pizza, icecream, soda, laundry, shower, and stay for $25.Met Redwing, Hopeful, and their daughter hikelit. She is sooo cute. These people work there. Finally caught up with Tabasco. He is a pleasure to talk with. And met another nice guy name Marlin. He isn't hiking though.
Date: 2008-04-18
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: clear sky

Weather: hot and sunnyWoke up to a wonderful surprise. Marlin heard that I love bananas and that we all don't usually have a nice hot breakfast...nor are we in the mood to fix it either after hiking long miles. He ended up cooking us apple pancakes with slices of apples and bananas before he left for work. That was very thoughtful of him to do that.Everyone there are very nice to talk to. They made me feel right at home. Thanks Redwing, Hopeful, Hikelit, and Marlin for all your kindness. It was nice getting to know you all.Off to finish the roller coasters. Still thought it wasn't all that bad. I SURVIVED THE ROLLER COASTERS--WOOHOOO!! Got to a two lane road where people are driving 50 mph and had to run across it. Talk about my adrenline going. Off and on we were cranky to each other...mainly because the heat was unbareable and there wasn't hardly ANY shade. Not because we were tired of each other, but because of the lack of shade I had to eat lunch 50 yds away from him in order to enjoy some shade. In West VA now! 4 down and 10 more states to go! We, also, hit our 1,000 mile mark as well! I can't believe that I actually hiked 1,000 miles carrying over a 30 lb bag. And that I actually handled it well emotionally, physically, and mentally.Norm's dad came and picked us up in Harpers Ferry. Going to spend today and tomorrow with him before he heads back to NY.Norm's sister and family sent us some goodies. I really like the card and thanks for the hugs candy! Need all the hugs I can get. Thanks Angie, Eric, Lisa and Ed!
Date: 2008-04-19
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Washington, DC
Miles today: 0.0

ZERO DAY!!! 4/19/08 Spent most of the day with Norm's dad and got to see Harpers Ferry. Had a great time and enjoyed seeing all that was in that area. Alot of history down here... Now, we are going to spend the next few days with Unknown Hiker and his lady Cathy (Trail Boss). They were kind enough to share their home with us so we can have a chance to see the historic sites in Washington, D.C.. THANKS SO MUCH!!4/19-4/23Having a good ol' time here at Trail Boss(Cathy) and Unknown Hiker's house. It is good to finally put a face with Cathy after hearing so many nice things about her. Trail Boss cooked us up lots of wonderful meals. Even got to meet a couple of her family members (John and Maritza) and a friend of theirs(Craig). I feel right at home. Trail Boss and Unknown Hiker cracks me up. They remind me of one of these family tv shows like According to Jim. And this is NOT a bad thing...Through out these days, we visited Washington, D.C. and just hung out at different other places. I am glad that I can finally say that I got to see the D.C. area and see all the memorials and some of the museums. We rode on the metro which was fun. I'm a country girl, so I am not use to doing city kind of stuff. I'm surprised that being around all these strangers didn't over whelm me like it has with the grocery stores. However, I am glad of that. Feels so nice to have more than one zero day. I enjoy meeting new people and new places. THANK YOU, again, Cathy and Unknown Hiker for being great friends and inviting us into your home. Hope to see you all again in the future.Heading back on the trail on 4/23/08.
Date: 2008-04-20
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: moderate rain

Day 83The weather is nice and sunny to start the day. This was our last day visiting D.C. We seen the white house and visited the memorial sites of the people who fought for our country. We started hiking around dinner time. We met Sasquatch (big foot), Donkey lets, Transfat, Doulbe Cheese, Trailfoot, and Liquid. All are nice guys. They are through hiking except for Sasquatch. Finally! No leg cramps after having zero day! Wooohooo! I tried out Unknown Hikers hammock. It was nice. Listened to my little radio to Delilah. I did not feel cold sleeping just when it was time to get up for the next morning.
Date: 2008-04-22
From: Pogo Memorial campsite

To: Deerlick shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 85Today is nice sunny and warm and last night we had rain. I saw 2 black snakes and the second time it scared me. I heard it right beside me and I was not ready for it. I screamed and ran not what I was suppose to have done. Norm and the unknown hiker got a kick out of it. The rest of the day I was trying to keep up with the guys, watch my footing, and listen for snakes. many of the sticks on the path started to look like snakes. I started to feel drained towards the end again. We ordered pizza and soda at the ParMar shelter and then hiked the last few miles to the shelter. During that time, it seem the weather got hot and I started to feel sick. I think the grease and the heat was getting to me. I felt fine as time went by.
Date: 2008-04-24
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: Pogo Memorial campsite
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 84The weather is again sunny and warm. This is our second day in the state of Maryland. I do not wear a watch so when I woke up to see it bright outside. I thought it was 7am, but it was not even 6:30am. During one of our breaks, we met a nice section hiker named Eric who is from NY. We seen the Washington monument and ended up talking with a group of boy scouts from NJ from troop 44 for the last 4 miles to our destination. I was sore and tired and also found another tick on my gear. Norm did not care for the protein shakes so he gave them to the unknown hiker. He just ate the powder straight up he is hard core! Hikers will eat anything sometimes even finding eat on the trail that other hikers may have dropped. That is how hungry we are. We will take all the nutrients that we can get. We have done some crazy things, but I do not believe I will go that far. LOL at least not yet.Oh yea! I slept in the hammack but kept sliding down and about fell out of the velcro. So I said to myself, "Forget sleeping here!" So I got in Norms 2 person tent and slept.
Date: 2008-04-26
From: Deerlick shelter

To: Quary Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 86The weather was partly warm and at night we had thunderstorms. This was our second day in PA. This was another typical hiking day. This shelter is by far my favorite. Shelters are usually nothing but a roof over your head, but this one had stream running in front of the shelter to clean our selves and such. It has potted flowers, a privy, checkers/chess, cards, clothes line, bear box, and a fire pit. Thanks to Jim (who has been maintaining this for 30 years) and the others in the PATC. A father and son came and stayed there with us. While it was raining we played some of the games. We had a great time with them. Slept in the hammack and in the rain stayed dry. I had enough of unknown hikers hammack. I got tired of tying it every time. Still no blisters or anything. Just some red bumps on the back of my heels.
Date: 2008-04-27
From: Quary Gap Shelter

To: Mile Marker 1091 (tent)
Miles today: 18.0

Day 87The weather was partly cool/cloudy as we were hiking. A pit bull was off the owner leash on the trail and about attacked us. Other then that incident it has been a fun and easy day. Most of the trail was wet and muddy. Cathy came and picked us up to resupply. She hiked with us to this years half way point and toasted with us with champagne. I can not belief I am half way done! I am looking forward to what the trail has in store for me next.
Date: 2008-04-28
From: Mile Marker 1091 (tent)

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: moderate rain

Day 88The weather was partly rainy and I thought I would be able to sleep in because of the rain. However that did not happen. There is not much to say about today except I saw the first mushroom of the season and seen an area of hot springs. I have, also, been seeing some dog wood trees here the past few days. When we arrived at our shelter, we started a fire to dry out our clothes.
Date: 2008-04-29
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Darlington shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 89The weather morning was cool and windy with the afternoon sunny. It was an easy day, but I am still drained. The entire trail was almost flat. We walked through farm and crop fields and stopped in at the ATC. There were parts of the trail taht were still muddy and wet. So far I think PA is the worse state for crossing the roads to continue hiking on the AT. We have to dodge all the fast cars.
Date: 2008-04-30
From: Darlington shelter

To: Duncannon (the Doyle Hostel)
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

The weather today was cool and sunny. It started off being a good day, but then I started feeling depressed. I simply am not getting enough hugs on the trail. My mood is lifted as soon as I got to the Doyle of course. It is real food, shower, and laundry time. The Doyle is a 103 year old building. It has a bar on the first level and available rooms on the next 3 floors. Everyone is real friendly in this town. Do not worry family the bar is not what you think it is. There is hardly anyone in there anyways. I ate a delicious bar-b-que sandwich. We met Shufflefoot and Boots who are hiking to Maine. We met back up with the 5 guys also (Donkey Legs, Liquid, etc.) but Trailfoot and Liquid stayed back for one more night. I started organizing my bag and realized that I have been carrying tons of change for who knows how long. I had $7.57 and most were in pennies. I finally turned my change into bills thanks to Vickey at the Doyle. I do not belief in ghost but that they are here.
Date: 2008-05-01
From: Duncannon (the Doyle Hostel)

To: Peter Shelter
Miles today: 9.5

Day 91The weather is cool and sunny. We found some great trail magic from Margrave. We had some soda, oranges, and other snacks. It was great! Thank you for the trail magic it lifted my spirit. The Peter Shelter is another little shelter that Earl Shaffer built. He is the first guy to hike the AT Nobo and Sobo. He even hiked it on his 50th anniversary. We has a full house tonight (Blisterbutt, Dr. Who, Boots, and Shufflefoot. Blisterbutt and Shufflefoot played their hermonicas for us. It was great to have some music. We told jokes and had a great time.
Date: 2008-05-02
From: Peter Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: haze

Day 92The weather was sunny and nice. I did wake up to poison ivy on my arm. I must have got it after gathering wood. We went through some rocks not what PA i know for. That should be coming up in the next day or two. The coolest part of the day which broke up our hiking routine was seeing 3 or more A10 Wart Hog Jets (tank busters). It was awesome! There were many times they flew so low that we could see the pilot. I wonder if they are using us to help better their selves in real situations as far as locating people. What ever the reason, we had a great show for a good 30 minutes. We met a nice guy at the shelter by the name of Jeremy who is hiking from NY to Springer. His dinner consisted of sardines. YUCK! What started to be a boring day ended up being a good day after all.
Date: 2008-05-03
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 shelter 
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day day93The weather today was foggy. We went over some rocky areas in PA but it is not that bad. We did meet a gay that thru hiked in 04 who is maintaining the trail.He said, "He would give us a ride to resupply." The later we met a flipflopper with his lady friend. I have hiked over 1100 miles and the hills still kick my butt. We got to the shelter and met Seattle Sailor who is through hiking. We did enjoy hearing his sailor stories. Slick gave us a ride to get groceries and stuck around to chat and watched me and Unknown Hiker doing the half gallon ice cream. Unknown hiker ate part of the ice cream and used his jetboil to make milkshakes to help get it down. I just ate mine. His time was 31 minutes. Mine was 56 minutes. I got to redo my challenge. I did not like my time. So I am determine to beat Unknown Hiker's time. I still ate tons more of food after eating my ice cream. I did not fill sick just tired of eating ice cream.
Date: 2008-05-04
From: 501 shelter 

To: mile marker 1201.8
Miles today: 20.2

Day 94The weather was nice and sunny. Unknown Hiker decided to do his own thing. The rocks today was not that bad but it was annoying. The trail was real boring there were no views and nothing to see. We are starting to see birtch trees which Norms face lite up with joy. It is his favorite tree and reminds him of home. Towards the end of the hike I was getting pooped, but Norm wanted to keep going so we did. We heard a deer huffing in the middle of the night while we were in our tent sleeping. That was pretty wild!!
Date: 2008-05-05
From: mile marker 1201.8

To: Eckville shelter 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 95The weather was sunny today and we went to Port Clinton and picked up our package. We met Offseason who also was flip flopping. There were rocks, but its still not that bad. We seen some great views today. We were almost at the end of the hike and then there was a long stretch of gravel road which killed me on top of swatting at the bugs that are flying and buzzing around our face and ears. The last 4 miles we got to the caretakers shelter where we met a section hiker named Rogue. We used a solar shower which was really cold. My feet were really sore and tired. I did not sleep good and my legs still wanted to move.
Date: 2008-05-06
From: Eckville shelter 

To: Oven Bake Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: few clouds

Day 96The weather was warm and sunny and HERE ARE THE ROCKS! Both bolders and small rocks. I felt better today than I did yesterday. I still did not like them though. I watched Offseason mix up pancake mix and add syrup and drink it. Yuck! It was left at the shelter by other hikers. The pancake mix was unopen but the syrup was not. Through hikers do crazy things.
Date: 2008-05-07
From: Oven Bake Knob Shelter

To: Stempa's House
Miles today: 20.0

Day 97The weather today was about 80 degrees. We said bye to Offseason. He is staying in Palmerton while we are wanting to get to Dealaware Water Gap by Saturday morning to meet up with one of my good friends. We climbed up Lehigh Mountain. Looking at it from the bottom it looks like a huge rock slide. On top of the mountain looks like a desert. They call it the dead zone because they use to do zinc mining there and everything is dead. Now they are trying to reforest the area. Dealt with lots of rocks all day. Since there was a lack of water we pushed to Stempas. They let us sleep in the garage and we had showers and soda. John's son gave us a bike show which I took part of. I layed under his bike ramp while he jumped over me. It was cool and had alot of fun.Thanks
Date: 2008-05-08
From: Stempa's House

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: light rain

Day 98The weather today was humid and sticky and then hot and suddenly cool. I am glad were were inside because it rained. We rode with John to drop his son off at school. We grabbed a bite to eat and back on the trail we went. We still hiked over and on rocks for the entire day. It has been a pretty boring and frustrating day. We had no solid ground to walk on. We have still been seeing alot of birtch trees lately though. We were about to go to sleep around 9pm and Offseason showed up. He put on like a 30 mile day!! I was in shock because this is a tough section. We were very glad to see him tough.
Date: 2008-05-09
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Church of the Mtn. 
Miles today: 6.4

Day 995/9/08 Miles: 6.4 weather: rain We hiked in the pouring rain. Surprisingly, I am feeling good after PA rocks. Just glad they are over. I was ready for PA to be over with. (song) Na-na-na-na..hey..hey..good bye! We'll be in NJ once we cross the bridge which will be in two days. Planning on taking a zero day tomorrow with one of my best friends (Sara & Dan) I like Delaware water gap. The church plays its bells every hour which reminds me of my Mammaw. I also listened to their cds which reminded me of my mom. We ate at the diner for lunch and went across the street for pie. For dinner we ate pizza which was very good. Feels great to finally have some real food other than ramen and lipton meals + snacks/junk food all the time. Played scrabble with offseason and got beat. Talked norm into playing too. We had a great relaxing day. We showered today and plan to do laundry tomorrow. I finally bought some new shoes. My feet are thanking me after having my old pair 1300 miles.
Date: 2008-05-10
From: Church of the Mtn. 

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Day 100!! ZERO day! Waited outside of church on steps for Sara and Dan. A trolley came and stopped in front of me. The driver talked to the passengers about the history and such also how they help hikers. So I smiled and waved when I heard that part. They came I was so excited to see them that I couldn't spit my words out. I have not seen Sara in a year. She sent me some street clothes for the day which was refreshing. Wearing the same 2 pairs of clothes gets boring. We went to an Irish pub for lunch. I was going to have shepards pie but instead went with chicken curry. We did laundry and resupplied. We all took part on cutting norms hair. We had fun giving him goofy hair dos before the final cut. Norm started to look pretty shaggy. He kept his beard however. People recognizes thru hikers with their beard...especially me..LOL. Sara and I done facials which was nice. Dinner- chinese & friendlys icecream. had good time. Wish we had more time with my dear friends.
Date: 2008-05-11
From: Church of the Mtn. 

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

5/11/08 Day 101 weather: sunny & nice It is Mothers day and I am sad because I am not at home. I have to say bye to Sara and bye to my old boots that had been with me this far. What a horrible day. Thanks Sara and Dan for everything! Love ya lots. We're in NJ. PA rocks maybe over but there is still rocks here in NJ. We met a lady name M&M who through hiked before. We got to hike around sun fish pond which looks more like a lake. Keep stubbing my toes in my new boots. It takes a bit to get use to them. I heard we are suppose to have heavy storms to night so we stayed here. We met through hikers Hammer & Nails. Nails is his is jack russel dog. Enjoyed their company.
Date: 2008-05-12
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Brink Road Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

Day 102weather: drizzle cold and windyI slept good last night we both did not want to get up. No big storm hit last nite. We seen some good views from a fire tower. My shoes now broken in and more comfortable to hike. We wanted to do 20 miles today but the weather made us change our mind. We settled in and the rain stopped. I seen 2 bears about 50 yards away from our shelter. There was a birds nest in our shelter. The bird flies bravely around its next to see if we would do anthing. Not sure if there are eggs in the next or not. Another thru-hiker came in named Travis who started March 1st.
Date: 2008-05-13
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: Highpoint Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 103 weather: warm & sunny I found a peach on trail that some one dropped but it was not ripe enough. I saw a rabbit, a huge black snake, and a gardner snake. The gardner scared me that I about fell backwards. We were going to hike to the secret shelter but ended up talking with some funny people. We seen some good views of the lake from top of the mountain. We ween lots of caterpillars. The ittsy bitsy black caterpillar thing that falls out of trees is driving me nuts. They are everywhere. I am having to wipe myself every 5 minutes. This shelter has the best privy we have ever seen! It is clean and has toilet paper + trash can + hand sanitizer.