morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-06-15
From: Dunnville ON Canada

To: Dunnville ON Canada
Miles today: 0.0

Today I am at my younger sisters¢ apartment in Dunnville Ontario. Dunnville is at the mouth of the Grand River on Lake Erie. Tomorrow morning is my university convocation, but more importantly the day that I fly back to the US.After the ceremony tomorrow I am going to return to Dunnville and my sister is going to drive me to the airport in Buffalo (about an hour drive). I am flying into Washington DC, staying at a hostel overnight, doing the tourist thing and then taking the commuter train out to Harpers Ferry.My hike of the Bruce Trail only lasted three days. The combination of insane bugs, no other hikers, stealth camping and road walks were discouraging so I gave up after reaching Hwy 7 (Georgetown). I feel bad about giving up on my hike. I keep thinking that this means this is just a step down the slippery slope and that I'll quit the AT when the bugs get bad. My hopes are that a) the bugs down in PA are present in an order of magnitude difference than their counterparts in Ontario and b) the AT goes along mountain tops whereas the Bruce Trail seems to trudge along in swamps that no one wanted to build their houses on. Either way I picked up bug repellent. It doesn¢t contain DEET, which works great but I hate. Something about smearing poison all over my body and then not having anywhere to even wash my hands. Plus I am convinced that it melts your cloths. Experiences with DEET in my mouth and melting some Ziplocs have lead to my total dislike of the substance.My pack has lightened up considerably. Getting rid of stuff I don't need while I was home is kind of addicting. I also got a summer weight sleeping bag. With the reduced weight and volume I was able to go with a smaller bag. My sister thought it was a new school bag when she saw it. The past few days have been dreadfully hot (i.e. 85 plus humidity). I was looking at the weather for Washington DC yesterday and saw that considering the humidity it felt like 107F there. I don't know how I am going to survive. When someone mentions that the temperature is 100 I immediately get these mental pictures of all the water boiling and springs emitting steam instead of water. On the plus side I don't get disturbed when the weather forecast calls for temps in the 20s or 30s. I guess I am going to have to re-calibrate my brain again. Today is a beautiful day - sunny and low 70s - so enough journaling, it's time to be outside!
Date: 2005-06-17
From: Washington, DC

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today I woke up early and organized al my stuff. I brought a bunch of food back with me from Canada to mail to myself. I really missed Sunrype Fruit Source bars last time I was on the trail so I brought a whole bunch with me. Luckly the nearest post office was only 0.1 miles from the hostel. I lugged all the food there and mailed it to points up the trail. After I was finished there and picked up my backpack at the hostel and headed downtown on the metro.I got off at the Smithstonian stop and I think half the train got off as well. I didn't realize that it would be high tourist season. Back in Canada all the kids are still in school, but apparently not so here.I walked around from monument to monument. I didn't go into any of the museums because I didn't feel like I could properly see much. Plus I don't know that there is anything neat here. This isn't the British Museum and theres no Rosetta Stone or Elgin Marbles.I walked by the Washington momument, around the WWII monument and down the reflecting pond to the Linclon memorial. The statue of Linclon is absolutely massive. Much, much larger and more impressive than I thought it was. From there I walked around the Korean War memorial and the Vietman War memorial. The Vietman War memorial was realy not what I expected. I didn't realiza that it was more like a retaining wall, sort of sunk into the ground. The names on the wall are listed from first lost to last lost and they have alphabetical books that you can use to look up the location of the name of a fallen soldier. From there I walked around the tidal pond to the FDR memorial and to the Thomas Jefferson memorial. I took a short brrak there to write some post cards.Next I walked to the white House, which I thought was really disapointing. Not only can you not walk up on the lawns leading up to it, but you realy don't get all that close. That was one thing that I noticed about the capital, there were fences everywhere. There are all sorts of grassy areas but you aren't allowed to enjoy any of them.After seeing thw White House i walked down the Mall to the Capital building and Supreme Court. From thee it ws only a short walk up to Union Station.Union Station could be a whole destinationonto itself. Almost airport-like in the wy that it was filled with restaurants and shops. I purchased a MARC ticket to Harpers Ferry.I arrived in Harpers Ferry at quarter past 6 in the evening. Stewie happened to be on the same train but in a different car. He met a local guy named Blue Moon who would let us camp across te street from where he lived.After dinner we watched "The Hunt for Red October" and then went to bed.
Date: 2005-06-18
From: PenMar Park

To: Caledonia State Park
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we slept in until the late hour of 8 am as Blue Moon could not shuttle us out to the park until noon. After breakfast we walked down to the post office and to the convience store to get a lighter. Blue Moon shuttled us out to the park where we ate lunch before heading down the trail.We quickly crossed the Maryland-Pensylvania state line which is also the Mason-Dixon Line. For those of you who are not American, the Mason-Dixon Line is the divison between the south and the north. Now we are in "Yankee" territory. For Canadians, all Americans are Yankees (the ones from the south didn't like me telling them that).Getting back on the trail is not that easy. I really missed being on the trail but it feels funny to be back. My legs are not quite what they were when I left, they start feeling tired after 15 miles. I also notice how dirty and stinky I am. I don't seem to have the same appatite that I had when I left. Hopefully I will be back in the swing of things soon.
Date: 2005-06-19
From: Caledonia State Park 

To: Tagg Run
Miles today: 27.1
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning we headed down the trail at a normal morning time. I rather find the trail to be a bit boring. Rather flat and severly lacking in views. At lunch we met Grocery Cart who has just recently started a flip flop from Harpers Ferry. At Pine Grove Furnace State Park we stopped at the general store. Packman was there and had almost finished a half gallon of chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Since both Stewie and I are lactose intolerant we decided not to partake in the challenge. In the general store they had jugs of table syrup. Stewie held one up with a smile on his face. He'd been talking about wanting to chug a botle 'Super Trooper' style and we finally had the chance and a good occation to do so. We both purchased a bottle and brought them out to the picnic table. Stewie ended up chugging the whole thing, which was actually quite fantastically disgusting to watch. I think that I only drank about a third of the jug, but really it was more than enough. ! The combination of syrup, orange juice, ice cream and french fries really didn't sit well in my stomach. We got to the halfway marker and i just lay down on the ground. Stewie didn't want to wait for me to fel better so he carried my pack and his as I trailed behind. We walked like that for about hakf an hour when I took my pack back. We got to the trail for the shelter but it said 2 miles to the shelter so we just camped out by a creek where it crossed the AT.
Date: 2005-06-20
From: Tagg Run

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 26.5
Weather: broken clouds

This morning I slept in a bit and got a bit of a late start. Stewie and I walked into Boiling Springs in the mid-afternoon. At the Mid-Atlantic ATC office we met Anj and Box of Fun who were trying to organize their maildrops. I forwarded my maildrop on as I had sent myself another one in Duncannon. Afterward we had dinner at Anile's Restaurant. Stewie got a large veggie pizza and I had spagetti and meatballs. The food was really tasty but it isn't somewhere to stop if you are in a hurry.Back at the ATC office we used the phone, filled up our waterbottles and I talked to a ranger. He encouraged us to report anything unusual that we saw. I wonder if they have a lot of problems with hiker-real people relations. Pacman came into town a bit before we left. We headed out into the Cumberland vally about 5 pm.The Cumberberland valley is a busy, road cris-crossed valley that was once a long road walk, but the trail goes across or along side farmers fields. They had to buy the land from the farmers and didn't make any friends in the process.I'm glad that we didn't cross the valley in the middle of the day or on a particularly hot day. There isn't any where to get water until you get almost all the way across. On the top of the ridge we stopped at a look out point for a break and watched the lights in the valley.We got to the shelter at 11:30. Anj and Box of Fun were the only other people at the shelter. Theyhad gotten there about half an hour before and were eating dinner. We talked for a bit and then went to bed.
Date: 2005-06-21
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter 
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Happy Summer solstice/Hike naked day. I didn't see anyone besides Stewie who was naked or near naked. He rigged up this costume where he strung a bandana across the front and one of his gators in the back.Walking towards Duncannon today we ran into two sets of trail magic left by Trail Angel Mary. The water and candy was a very tasty start to the day and the Kool-Aid at the bottom of the decent into Duncanon was very refreshing.Stewie and I walked into town and stopped at the laundrymat to do laundry. The change machine at the Suny Daze laundrymat was a total rip off though, for each dollar you inserted you got 95 cents back. When you want quarters, a couple of dimes are useless. While our laundry was washing I picked up my mail drop from the post office and sent the maps I was finished with home to Canada. We stopped at the convenience store to stock up on carbohydrate products. We through our stuff into the dryers and repacked our bags. Once we were re-fooded and partly clean we headed down the street to the Doyle Hotel.The Doyal Hotel is a 100-year old former Anheiser Bush hotel. Now it is a real hiker friendly establishment. The people that run it take everyones picture and have them in a photo album. Stewie and I both had a beer and sme food. While we were there we met a man from Toronto Ontario, named Wilfered who had hiked the AT in five sections finishing it at the Doyle Hotel about seven years ago. When he left the lady behind the bar told us that he had paid for our dinner. I realy think that it was the best trail magic that I have received while on the trail and I have no way of saying thank-you. The only thing that I can do is pass along this example of kind things that people do for other people that would be complete strangers except that they share the bond of having hiked the same trail.
Date: 2005-06-22
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter 

To: Swatara Gap 
Miles today: 30.3

This morning Stewie and I were up and left the shelter before Raj. We walked down the trail and met Daddy at Peter Mountain Shelter. Aproaching the shelter we passed a southbounder who was carrying a shotgun, bow and arrows strapped to his pack. Daddy told us that he started SOBO in early June from New Hampshire and didn't have a name yet (apparently because no one talks to him).We stopped at the trail to the shelter to rest and have dinner. Raj desided to stay and set up his tent by the creek. Stewie and I continued down the hill. Just before Pa 442 there was some trail magic left by Bama and Jack. Besides the orange Stewie fished out of the bag they gave us oatmeal cream cookies, ramanand a gatorade. Stewie felt like he was running out of food earlier so he was happy for the raman. Raj said that when ever he seems low on food trail magic happens and everything ends up ok. It is realy nice that people make a little effort to do some thing nice for hikers. We ended up staying at a little stealth campsite by a creek with Woodrose, Retro, Bella (a dog) and two other hikers.
Date: 2005-06-25
From: Eckville Shelter 

To: Palmerton PA
Miles today: 24.9

This morning I headed out first and was on spider web clearing duty for the first bit of the day. Blue Light and Boots caught up at Dan's pulpit. They mentioned that there is a bed and breakfast right on the trail that serves lunch and dinner. Stewie and I got there at 11:30 but thre place looked deserted. The trail guides and the sign on the outside of the restaurant said that it opened at 11:00. We were siting on the front poarch waiting for a while then went back to look in the front door. While we had been siting there someone had put a sign on the dor that said that they were not going to be opening until 2:00pm. It seemed kind of odd that they would put that sign up on the door while we were sitting out front and not even come and tell us. Blue Light and Boots walked up then and we told them what was up. We all sat there for a bit and complained about how PA was in general not a friendly state for hikers.Hot is the only word that I have for the rest of the day. Hot and dry. It seemed like it kept just getting hoter and hotter as we walked along the ridge towards Palmerton. Blue Light, Boots, Stewie and I kept leapfrogging each other, so I ended up walking most of the way on my own. With two miles left we all bunched up together and walked out to the road.We got into Palmerton and found the "jailhouse hostel". The town of Palmerton allows hikers to sleep in the basement of the borogh hall and take hot showers for free. The basement used to be the jail, hence the name. Today that I learned that most Americans have their social security numbers memorized. You need to provide it to the police when you register. In Canada we have Social Insurance Numbers or SIN which is the equivalent but i don't know anyone who has theirs memorized. The government gives us a credit card sized plastic card with it written on it and we just whip it out when we ned to know the number.Unfortunatly the laundrymat closed at 8pm so we were unable to wash our cloths tonight. Mateo also needs to do laundry so we will throw it all in together. The climb out of Leigh Gap is exposed and with the hot weather I tink most of the hikers in the hostel are planing an early morning. All the beds are full tonight. I think that there are another 4 or 5 of us sleeping on the floor.
Date: 2005-06-26
From: Palmerton PA

To: LeRoy A Smith Shelter 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

This morning Stewie got up early to do laundry with Mateo. We missed doing laundry the night before, but the laundrymat opened at 5:30am. I slept in a bit until about 8am.I went down to the Rite-Aid and the IGA to pick up some food and a phone card. I phoned home as well; by the time I was finished with my errands it was almost 10am. Stewie's aunt and uncle from north of Allentown came to visit him and then invited me out to breakfast with them. I really appreciated the nice jester that they made. His aunt and uncle also hiked up the trail out Lehigh Gap for 30 minutes.The trail out of the gap is devoid od trees and on the uphill section is a rock scramble. Also there is no water available for 16 miles out of Palmerton. The day we hiked out the temperature got up to 95 degrees. Thanks to Redbeard and Tumbleweed we didn't run out of water, they left galoon jugs of water at the road crossings.At the shelter we met a former thru-hiker,Sharpshin, who was doing a check of the shelter for the Delaware AMC Chapter. He cooked potatoes, corn on the cob and chicken on a fire. I ate so much, Stewie, and Swift ate dinner as well. Today was a fantastic day despite the hot weather. I don't even know how I could possibly say thank you enough to the help that trail angels provide to hikers. It would be possible to hike the trail without their help, but the small gesters that they make make things so much easier and pleasent. Thank-you to all the trail angels that I have met and especialy the ones that I have not been able to thank in person.
Date: 2005-06-27
From: LeRoy A Smith Shelter 

To: Backpacker Campsite #2
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we got up early andwere off walking by 6:15. The whole day was spent walking along the same ridge. The first stop of the day was at Wind Gap. Just up the road there is a hotel were we went to get water. Dead Animal, Yappy, Peeps and Spice Rack stayed there last night. The decent into Delaware Water Gap was exciting because we knew that we would be crossing into a new state.In town we stopped by the post office to pick up mail drops, to the outfitters, the bakery and the church hostel. The outfitter is called "The Pack Shack" but should be called "The Canoe Rental Shop" or something more along those lines. There really isn't much for backpackers.The bakery was excellent. They also have produce there. Stewie and I got a large pecan pie and tried to eat it all. It was really sweet and we ended up two pieces short. Stewie figured that he would give it to someone at the hostel.At the hostel we ran back into Buckaroo. He is doing a section southbound from CT to Waynesboro VA. I haven't seen hime since Damascus and it was super fun talking to him again. It is a bit of a disadvantage traveling faster than the crowd, only seeing people for a day or two.We hiked out to the backpacker campsitein the state park at DWG. There was some rain this evening, but not enough to get me soaked.
Date: 2005-06-28
From: Backpacker Campsite #2

To: Gren Anderson Shelter 
Miles today: 26.6
Weather: light rain

I kind of wonder if the New Jersey and New York section has the higest number of Companion enteries per mile of trail. Not that I am suggesting that it is a bad thing, I found the level of detail a bit lacking in the northern end of PA.This morning Stewie and I stopped at the AMC New Jersey Chapter Mohican Outdoors center for a midmorning deli sandwich. Stewie had hummas and I had turkey. We both thought they were tasty. At Culvers Gap we got to Gyp's Bar right at the end of happyhour and scored ourselves some cheap beer as well as grilled cheese sandwiches.I have found New Jersey to be a much better state than PA so far. Not because the terrain has been very different but because now we get a lot more views. Tonight we are staying at a shelter that is maintained b Desperato. There were citronella candels, fuel and food in the bear box. Today we saw bears 1 through 5 for the state.
Date: 2005-06-29
From: Gren Anderson Shelter 

To: Unionville, NY
Miles today: 20.1

Today was a rainy, wet day. It started off loking like it was going to be a hot and humid day but not long into the hike it started to rain, then pour. I got absoltely soaked, right down to the skivies. When we got to the High Point Monument State Park headquarters it started to clear up. It was starting to look so nice that I even took my pack cover off. Not 15 minutes down the trail it started to rain again. This time I got so wet I felt like I had just jumped into a pool. The biggest advantage to the rain was that the bugs were kept at bay. We passed through one area that was particularly swampy, I'm sure that on a clear day anyone walking over the boardwalk would have been absolutely eaten alive.The walk into Unionville wasn't too long, we found the post office easily. Stewie picked up his mail drop there and then we headedover to theGeneral Store to get some food. The General Store has a sandwich counter at the back where you can get all sorts of sandwiches or subs. One man at the post office told us that the trail used to go down the main street of the town but a few years ago it was rerouted around. I think that it is too bad that they did that because it is a very nice little town. The mayor of the town will even let hikers do laundry and have a shower at his home. Right across the street from the general store there was a used book store.My uncle who lives in Summet NJ met us at the post office and brought us back to his house. It was about an hour and a half drive from the trail. I guess that most of the trail in NJ is off in the only corner of the state where nobody lives.At my uncles apartment we did laundry, had a shower and had dinner. We stopped by a mall to get Stewie some new socks but they had just closed. I think that it was the biggest mall that I have ever been to in my life. It seemed like it took longer to drive around the mall than it did to get there from the dinner where we had dinner. I think that it rained the entire time since we left Unionville to when I went to bed. It is nice to be inside tonight.
Date: 2005-06-30
From: Unionville, NY

To: Rock Knob
Miles today: 22.5

My uncle dropped us off back at the trail this morning. The trail in general was ratheruneventful. It croses a series of boardwalks across a marshy area. In the middle of the afternoon we made a stop at the Heaven Hill Farm, which is just off the trail at a road crossing. They had lots of baked goods, preserves, ice cream and plastic wicker patio sets. I had an ice cream and a peach. Stewie was totaly amazed at the prices of the furniture. The most expensive set he found was 2733 dollars. I guess people buy this stuff. It seems a bit unnessisary from the persective of someone who carries all the necesities of life in a bag on their back.At the shelter we met some section hikets and Thunder, who had just gotten back on the trail after a weeks rest due to a sprained ankle. Stewie and I slept on a rocky knob about a miles past Prospect Rock. There is a great view of the lake, butit looks cloudy and the wind isn't comforting. Here's hoping for a rain free night.
Date: 2005-07-02
From: William Brien Memorial Shelter 

To: Dennytown Road
Miles today: 23.4

Today we walked through the Bear Mountain Zoo. It contains the lowest point on the trail; I guess it is all uphill from now on. The zoo itself is pretty weak. There are only a handfull of animals there, including a sickly looking blackbear. He looks like he rubbed all his fur off. They also had displays of native plants. There were probably ten times more plants labelled than there are animals.Other than that nothing much happened today.