morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-09-24
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: kirkridge shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

i had hoped to do more miles today, but i had to geta shuttle over to the next town and it didnt leave until 10am. i had a ridiciously expensive breakfast at the bakery then made my way over to the outfitters. i got a rode to the next town in one of their beat up canoe shuttle vans and had a good conversation with the driver. i went to a camera shop and got a new camera, then i went grocery store. kind of an old lady log jam there, a little different than my typical afternoon on the trail. i finally got back to delaware water gap and started organizing all my stuff. i sent my leaking sleeping pad back to rei and set my summer bag home. my new 20 degree bag is way bigger and heavier, but i should sleep good now. on the way to the post office i saw beef from the vermont mafiaa asleep on the lawn. we hung and talked foawhile, then where joined by the rest of the mafia. we finally took off around 4 pm and made it the shelter around 6:30. full shelter 2night with 2 section hilers, but there is no where to tent. oh well, at least its a really nice shelter.
Date: 2008-09-25
From: kirkridge shelter

To: Smith Gap
Miles today: 17.5

left the shelter around 8am and hiked alone for a bit. the vermont mafia caught up a little bit later while i was taking a break. i would hike with them off and on all day. pennsylvania is known for its rocky sections, and it didnt dissapoint. its not as bad as some people make it out to be, but its not what i would call pleasant. stopped for lunch after wind gap and had a beautiful view of the pennsylvania country side. beef and ekg sang and played guitar and harmonica, real nice way to eat lunch! water was scarce, so we decided to stop by mechanical mans house for water. he is a trail maintainer who helps hikers out. we got a hitch down to his place (easy when you are hiking with 4 lovely young ladies!) and got some water. we asked if we could camp there, and he let us camp in his garage to escape the rain. then he let us use his shower and drove us to dinner! his son john even showed us his mad bmx skills by jumpiing over ekg! very nice guy and we where very grateful for all his help.
Date: 2008-09-26
From: Smith Gap

To: Palmerton
Miles today: 12.0

it was a cold rainy day with lots more rocks, but we got to go to jail at the end of it! mechanical man gave us a ride to the trail after we debated touring the martin guitar factory and decided to just hike instead. the rain made the going a little tough, but not too bad. the latter half of the trail went through a superfund site. apparently alot of zinc smelting was done in the area, and its pretty much killed the surrounding hillsides. all the trees have long since died and all that remains are their blackened trunks. it was a nice easy walk for the most part, but kind of eary. it was like a nuclear bomb went off, but the lack of foilage made for a nice view. we had a crazy climb down to palmertown, lots of big rocks and very steep! hitched a ride into town and are staying at the old jailhouse, currently a hiker hostel. nice town here, but its cray how much enviromental damage was done.
Date: 2008-09-27
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Rt 309
Miles today: 14.0

Today was an exciting day. Started out in jail, hiked through the woods, went to aa drunken Irish festival, and ended up at a cottage by a boiiling lake. The stay in Palmerton was nice, although I don't really believe the hostel used to be a jail.. Makes for an interesting story though. The Vermafia invited me to come along with them to an Irish herritage festtival that night and slack pack lfor a couple days. I couldn't turn it down.We left our packs at the jail for Beef's parents to pick up later and just carried the essetntial with us. We got a hitch out of town and to the trail from a nice lady just finisheing up her workout acrrose the steet from the jail. Had a little bit of a steep climb, but the dayter rain s mostly flat.   We had some rain off and on, and the Pennsylvania reared their ugly head occasionally, but the hiking was pretty non eventful.We got to route 309 around 3 and where picked up Gospel, friend of Vermafia, and he took us to a n Irish festival in Bethlahem. First time for me at one of these, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I was thinking of trying some haggis for a snakck, bu tt ende du p going with a cheestesake inteaead.   Shouldnd have gone for the haggisa Got to witness a massive e gathering o f bagpipers in the center field, then we headed to the main tent to watch the bands. First up was Slide,. I never was that much into Irish music, but they where really good and I was having a good time. Next up was Scythian, pretty sicknasty show except the drunken idiots next to me slamdancing into 12 year old girls and senior citizens. Good timess..After the show Beefs parents picked us up and drove us to a cottage they rented in Boiling Springs, PA. Long day, but very memerable.
Date: 2008-09-28
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Rt 183
Miles today: 15.0

We didn't get up too early this morning due to our big day yesterday. I had a wonderful nights sleep on a futon, never remember them being that comfortable. We decided to do a short 15 miles slack today, bu t it required us skipping a 26 mile section that we would do the next day. Mrs. Beef took us the hour drive to Port Clinton and we got on our way sometime around midmorning. I thought we where going the wrong way, but I was just confused. I can't remember the rest of the day, but it wasn't so bad. I think it rained, I ate cold ramen, but the best part was we got picked up around 7 and were taken back to the cottage where a hot shower and a warm meal awaited us. Life continues to be good...
Date: 2008-09-29
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Rt 309
Miles today: 26.0

26 mile slack today. i won;'t say much more. Hiking with the Vermafia is a lot of fun, Pennsylvania isn't anywhere as bad as NOBO's said, and at the end of the day I felt pretty good. Not good enough to do another day of similaar miles, but i didn't feel like my feet where going to fall off. AAtt lMr. Beef made us steaks for dinner and I had another restful night.
Date: 2008-09-30
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 0.0

Got up late this morning and had another great breakfast compliments of Beeffs spentsts.   Itit di't take much for anyone to convince us that a zero was in order for the day. After yesterdays literal marathon day (26 miles!) we are all pretty tired, and it doesn't make much sense to shuttle back to where we are actually on the trail (south of port clinton) unless we are going to put in some big miles.
Date: 2008-10-01
From: Rt 183

To: Green Point, PA
Miles today: 22.0

Today was sadly our last day with Beef's parents. No more cottage and comfy bed to sleep in, no more dinner waiting for us after a nice slack pack. Hopefully life will go on.Our plan for the day was to dump our packs at the general store in Green Point, then go back to Rt 183 and slack it back to Green Point. Too bad the General store closed 30 years ago! I guess the trail books need updating. We decided to stash our packs at the trail head and slack in anyways. We went to Rt 183 and said our goodbyes to Mr. Beef (a big thanks to the parents of Beef for all their hospitality!) and hiked away.Hiking in Pennsylvania is kind of boring and long. It all looks the same and there's not much to do but put in big miles, and I get tired at the end of the day. A big surprise was running into Cardshark. I haven't seen him since Gorham and I thought he was off trail, it was great to run into him again. He hiked with us for a few miles, but then stopped at the shelter since that made a 25-30 mile day for him! Our next surprise on the trail was running into 3 elderly and 1 young and very cute Amish hiking ladies. Last people I expected to see on the trail next to Cardshark!We continued on to Green Point, found our packs (untouched by man or animal!), and set up camp in a nice pine tree forest. Nice place to stay, but there is an military "reservation" nearby and they where playing with their helicopters all night. Didn't matter too much, I slept great!
Date: 2008-10-02
From: Green Point, PA

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was our first day with a full pack. I thought it would be brutal, but then Pennsylvania is some pretty easy hiking. Another rather uneventful day. I am still hiking with the Vermont Mafia (EKG, Beef, Default and Flamebo) and Cardshark caught up to us shortly. It's only one day later and I can't remember anything that happened. We hiked 22 miles and it wasn't a big deal. The shelter was a very nice two story deal. I had clams in linguini with cornbread stuffing and hot peppers (thanks again to Mr. Beef!), it was delicious!
Date: 2008-10-03
From: Peters Mountain Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

the highlight of today was walking 10 miles into duncannon and hanging out at the doyle. the doyle is a legendary hiker hostel, real cool place. we didnt stay the night because it didnt work with our schedule, but the food was great. we ran into an 08 nobo there and he bought lunch for all of us! thanks! i stopped by the corner store for a pop and ended up buying some obnoxiously bright orange gloves. i no longer worry about a hunter shooting my hands off. the climb out of duncannon was tough, but not too bad. we got a nice view of the city and the susqwehana river. the shelter wasnt too far after that. its gotten really cold lately, worse than expected. hope it warms up soon...
Date: 2008-10-04
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Boiling Springs
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: broken clouds

pretty boring day here in pa. we got on trail about 8:30, had some up and downs for a few miles, very little water, then it was flat for 15 miles into boiling springs. we set up our tents in the back of a b&b and then chowed down at an italien restaurant. not an exciting day, but its still fun. the next couple days will be exciting though. my dad, aunt and uncle are coming for a visit at pine grove state park. that is the halfway point of the trail!!! i get to hike with my aunt and uncle for a few days, then thursday im going to attempt the quad state challenge with the vermafia: 4 states, 44 miles, 1 day! after taking a zero to recover, my friend mike the bike is coming to hike with me for a week. i also hope to run into smokey and a bunch of 07 sobos in for a reunion. i cant wait! oh yeah, tonight i officially became 'D-Wreck, Mayor of Manville".
Date: 2008-10-05
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Pine Grove State Forest, PA
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up early this morning. No special reason other than the bed and breakfast we are camping out in doesn't have any restroom facilities. I walked through town and 6:30 am looking for anything, finally I found a park with a port a potty, nice. Boiling springs is a neat little town, it doesn't actually have a boiling spring but I guess bubbling spring didn't have the same appeal. I walked along the AT that goes along the man made pond (fed by said bubbling spring) and found a gas station and got some breakfast. I ran into Beef there and we walked back to the B&B and joined the rest of the mafia there.We got a late start out of town, but only 19 miles today so no big deal. I think it was around 9 am. The first part of the walk was through the rest of the Cumberland valley, which means it was a flat walk through farmland. I thought I would like it, but it got real boring quickly. We finally reached some hills after a while and a funny thing happened: I enjoyed going up and down. Even the rocks where fun. Maybe I'm finally in shape, or maybe it took the flatness of the cumberland valley to make me realize that hills are fun.Not much happened the rest of the day. I had 1100 calories of trail mix and gatoraide for a mind morning snack, it was refreshing. The mafia documented passing the 1000 mile mark by posing in the shape of numbers (even though we passed the 1000 miles mark a few days back!). One very big accomplishment today was reaching the official halfway mark of the trail. It was just a sign, and the true halfway mark is most likely a few miles south (it changes constantly since the trail is always being re-routed). Still, it felt good.After that we only had 1 mile until the Ironmasters hostel in Pine Grove Furnace state park where my dad, Aunt and Uncle where waiting for me. It was pretty flat terrain, just a road, and I think we covered that mile in 15 minutes. It was a happy reunion for me, I haven't seen my family in over 3 months. The general store stayed open for us so we could do the 1/2 gallon challenge, but we decided to delay until tommorow. The mafia had friends cooking them a big dinner and they didn't want to ruin it.My family and I stayed at the Hostel while the mafia went off with their friends. Nice place, I got a hot shower and changed into my own very comfortable cotton clothes. My jeans dont come close to fitting me anymore, but it's still an amazing feeling to wear them once again. My dad even brought my laptop, it's great not to have to pound out my diary on my cell phone!We grabbed dinner at cracker barrel and then came back to the hostel to plan out the next couple days. I convinced my dad to slack pack all of us to Caladonia State park tommorow, and I think we can work out the quad state challenge too! Tonight I sleep on the worlds most uncomfortable mattress, but I'm just happy that I'm not out in my tent.
Date: 2008-10-06
From: Pine Grove State Forest, PA

To: Caledonia State Park, PA
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

First day hiking with my Aunt Christine and Uncle Jim. We decided to hike only 15 miles and slack pack since my Dad was willing to help out. I also convinced dad to slack pack the Vermafia too, but they where doing all 20 miles.It's several days later and I can't remember what happened, but it was typical pennsylvania: boring and rocky. Nice to hike with my Aunt and Uncle. Saw a really nice shelter where Tigerbalm and Katahdin kid are getting married, but I can't remember much else.Got to Caledonia state park and met my dad. We set up our tents and went to town for food. We finally settled on Ponderosa and where pleasantly suprised at how nice it was. The steaks where really good, too bad I ordered fish. Oh well, the buffet had mac and cheese and that made me happy.We went to Wal-mart later and resupplied. We also got costumes for our quad state challenge, but that was a challenge in itself. Not the greatest selection for what we wanted there, but we made do.
Date: 2008-10-07
From: Caledonia State Park, PA

To: some shelter?
Miles today: 10.0

I forgot most of what happened this day. All I remember is hiking with my Aunt and Uncle. Again, lots of rocky terrain and not a lot of views. I was really happy to hike with my family, it really lifted my spirits.We came to a really nice shelter, it was actually 2 different shelters: 1 for snoring hikers and the other for quiet hikers. I got booted to the snoring shelter while the Vermafia took the other one. My Aunt and Uncle tented. EKG's brother was in town, so they took off to go out to dinner with him. The shelter wasn't too far from the trail, and my dad actually came up to check the place out. Pretty nice to have him there.
Date: 2008-10-08
From: PA

To: PennMar Park, Maryland
Miles today: 8.0

Not a lot of miles today, trying to rest up for the quad state challenge tomorow.Easy hike, didn't even leave until after 10am. Got to the PA-MD border by 2 or so, checked out places to camp and ended up leaving our stuff at a city park over the border in Maryland.My dad met us and took us into town where we attacked the local McDonalds. I've been talking about doing the value menu challenge ever since Grizzly Bear mentioned it up in Maine. Basically, it's who can finish the entire McDondalds Value menu first. There are 9 items on the value menu: small soda, small fries, double cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, salad, parafait, apple slices, 2 apple pies and a ice cream sunday desert. I was worried I wouldn't finish, but it really wasn't a big deal. Beef kept saying it wasn't a race, but apparently Flamebo wasn't listening. She got ahead of me despite my efforts to hide her food. She destroyed the apple pies to come first, while I took a close second. EKG was next, then Beef, then Default. If this was real life, I would be ashamed. But since this is trail life, I was very proud that we all finsihed!We did some laundry, then went back to PennMar park and slept on the stage of a pavillion. Nice place, I'm suprised no one bugged us since we where right in the middle of town. We wouldn't get much sleep since we had to leave at midnight in order to complete our quad state challenge the next day.
Date: 2008-10-10
From: Virginia Border

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I took a well deserved zero day today. I was amazed that I wasn't in a world of hurt this morning. I was a little sore, but nothing significantly worse than normal. I am surprised how much punishment my body can take.Got up and gorged at the continentel breakfast around 8 am, where I met the Vermafia. I also met Duster and Honey, 2 sobos we have been behind for a while. Nice to finally catch up with them. The next couple hours I just vegetated in the hotel room and watched TV.Finally around 11 the Vermafia and I walked into Harpers Ferry from the hotel. First stop was the post office, where we ran into Cardshark and Mr Nice Guy (Jonathon). I hadn't seen Mr Nice Guy since northern New Hampshire, so it was great to see him again (great to see cardshark too, but I just him a couple days ago!)Next we decided to tackle the half gallon challenge. Thru hikers traditionally eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream at the half way point, which is Pine Grove Furnace state park. We decided to wait till our zero today, but had problems getting ice cream in large quantities. Beef and Cardshark went to 7/11 to get the ice cream while the rest of us went to the outfitter. I decided to get a new pack, since my old one has a broken frame and it's been killing my bum shoulder. I looked for a while, but then went back to the ATC headquarters for the 1/2 gallon challenge. I was a little nervous, but also very hungry. Beef said it wasn't a race, but I felt I needed to show Flamebow up since she beat me at the Mcdonalds value menu challenge a few days ago. It took me 23 minutes to finish up, but I think I could have done it quicker. All that really matters is that I finished...and I beat everyone else handily.I said my goodbyes to everyone and went back to the hotel to grab my old pack and it's contents. I went back to the outfitter and tried on a couple different packs, loading up all my stinky gear in each new pack. I finally settled on an Osprey, but it took over 2 hours. I think it will work out pretty good, I'm pretty excited about all the pockets, zippers, but mostly I'm pretty worked up about the totally sweet hip belt pockets. Best pack invention ever!After spending an insane amount on new gear (I bought lots!), I met up with Peanut for dinner. I originally met Peanut at Zealand Falls Hut in the white mountians (New Hampshire) and we've been emailing ever since. She finished her Northbound hike a month ago and wanted to do some trail magic. It didn't really work out, so we decided a town dinner would be more fun. It was really nice hang out with her again and get to know her better. Thanks Peanut!After dinner we went to Izzy's completion party. I hiked with Izzy through New York and New Jersey, and Peanut met him on Mt Madison. He flip flopped and ended his thru hike today at harpers ferry. It was great to hang out with a bunch of through hikers and talk, my dad and aunt and uncle even showed up.Now I'm very tired and still have to pack up my new gear tonight so I can hike 18 miles tommorow. It will be a late night, but it was a great day!
Date: 2008-10-11
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Bears Den Hostel, VA
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

***Post Trail update***Well, it's been about 18 months since this happened, but I still want to update what I remember from this day.I said goodbye to my Father, Aunt and Uncle and the comforts of town clothes. Cardshark and I did a little resupply at 7-11 and then got a lift to the trail near the Viriginia border. I had to make 18 miles or so to Bears Den hostel to meet my friends Mike and Shawn, who would be hiking with me for the next week.The hiking didn't start out too bad, pretty flat as I remember. Cardshark soon took off at warp speed and I was left to hike alone for the first time since New Jersey. Felt odd, but I knew I would be hiking with friends soon. I was bored later in the day and so i decided to stop by Blackburn trail center, pretty rough trail going down. There where a few people there, but I didn't make much conversation. Duster and Honey were slackpacking here today, and Honey's pack was on the scale, it was pretty heavy. I put my new pack on the scale and it came in at 38 lbs with water and full load of food. Ouch! The guy who runs the lodge gave me a free soda and it was wonderful, but soon I was on my way again.i took the alternate trail back to the AT and cut off a half mile or so, but it was better than taking the first trail back up. The rest of the day went fine, I started into the famous virgina roller coaster, but it was nothing. near the road I ran into a guy with his young daughters, out for a little hike. It was getting dark and they didn't have a light. I asked them if he wanted me to walk with them since I had a flash light, but he said they would be fine.I got to a major road and crossed over. i knew bears den was close, but i didn't exactly know where. There where lots of side trails and I kept getting lost, eventually I just made my way down the AT to Bear Den rocks overview. There was a ton of people here and it felt weird. It was a great view, but I really wanted to meet up with my friends. I finally found my way to Bears Den, but there weren't that many signs. i asked a guy camping if he knew where Bears Den Hostel was, he said he never heard of it. Then I noticed a sign behind him that said "Bears Den Hostel". Awesome. I got checked in, but my friends where no where in sight. Apparently they went down to the trail to look for me, but we missed each other.Had a very relaxing night in the hostel...kind of. Finally met up with Shawn and Mike and it was great to see them again. I got the microwave pizza and ben and jerrys special, but had to wrestle with the boyscouts who took over the upstairs in order to used the kitchen. Downstairs in the hiker hostel we where full up with hikers and maintainers repairing the hostel. i remember lots of snoring, but thats why i brought ear plugs.
Date: 2008-10-12
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: rod hollow shelter 
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

10.12.08first day hiking with my friends mike and shawn. we decided for 10 miles today to help them break in to the trail. ended up at rod hollow shelter with lots of company. cardshark was there, then duster and honey showed up followed by the vermafia and musicman. musicman is defaults brother, he sobo'd last year with booboo, who was the person who helped me plan my trip. so it was great to meet one of my inspirations.there was so many people at the shelter it felt like maine again, it was nice.