morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-06-19
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton Pavillion
Miles today: 24.1
Weather: clear sky

Summary journal entry (because I'm lazy):- Hit the 1200mi mark, which I would've completely missed had I not been looking for it- Alternating rocky sections with wonderful forest roads- Rattlesnake!- Thunderstorms, torrential downpour, sky turning dark, chafing- Ride into Hamburg from Port Clinton from Cabela's- Eat at Red Robbin, TRAIL MAGIC, HeadHump pays for my meal and I get a ride back to trail- Sleep at church-provided pavilion
Date: 2017-06-22
From: Little Gap Rd

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 24.5
Weather: clear sky

Summary:- Back on trail at 1130, slightly late start, but breakfast was worth it- Have new shoes, which make rocks hurt sightly less- Hiked alot of miles, lots of rocks, some nice forest roads, and some of the rocky trail paralleling the nice, smooth forest roads - Ridge that I'm on seems to seperate the northern wilds from civilization (lots more development south than north)- Had to walk 0.8mi (roundtrip) for water... Grrrr- Was going to camp right before Wolf Rocks, but then saw a ~500lb bear (and ~200lb cub(?)) and since I was solo that night, decided to hike to the next shelter rather than potentially have to try to scare it off myself- Night hike- Dingo arrived at camp a little bit after me, neither of us were planning on going this far
Date: 2017-06-23
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: light rain

Summary:- Lots of cell towers right behind shelter, didn't even notice last night- Short day, only 6mi, into town by 9- Cool view of mountain cross section cut away by Delaware river, rocks in Mt at a 45deg angle- Grab bunk at church hostel... Smells like hikers here, even to my nose- Brunch at diner- Get 6" mixed berry pie from pie place, way half, save half for later b- Free ride to Walmart in Stroudsburg with JungleJim- Library to use computer- Read for 1.5hr waiting for bus, nice to have downtime- Bus driver let's me on bus without exact change, otherwise I would've had to call for a shuttle to get back to Delaware Water Gap, small kindness, one of many that has helped my hike- Go to Jazz bar for live music with Zack and Carl (Duncannon -> ME)
Date: 2017-06-24
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Catfish Lookout Tower
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Summary:- Leave town late, had great brunch. Pretty sure every town has someplace that offers a meal called the hungry hiker- Cross bridge spanning Delaware river, cross from PA into NJ. 7 states down, 7 to go. Bridge bounces as cars drive over.- Beautiful day. Uphill but gradual. Reach sunfish pond, southern-most glacially formed lake, should be more as we go north.- 1300 miles!- New terrain, ridges are made of rocks with loose covering of soil rather than covered in small rocks. Hurts feet less.- First AMC hut! Get ice cream and apple juice. Dinner sounds amazing but it expensive.- Get to Catfish lookout tower. Top of tower is locked, but great view from stairs. Decide to spend night here... Maybe just camp on picnic table since no rain predicted. - Watch sunset with BearPop and Lorax. Dips behind clouds before setting, so not super spectacular.- Wind picked up, temperature dropped, clouds started rolling in. Decide to setup tent.
Date: 2017-06-25
From: Catfish Lookout Tower

To: Mashipacong Shelter
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Summary:- Rained at ~11, good thing I setup tent, forecast lied.- Woke up at 3 (as I usually do, different sleep schedule out here), so many stars. Watch them as I drift back to sleep.- Woken up at 445 by hikers up for sunrise with dogs. Loud, dogs are annoying.- Sit up in tower with quilt. Fog in valleys above river. Great sunrise. Can see real mountains in the distance.- Back to sleep while tent drys out. And because it's a weekend.- Blueberries, great hiking on forest road, chat with TeaLeaves.- Have lunch at shelter, wait out a rain storm.- TRAIL MAGIC sign, better be worth me skipping a tavern for... Pulled pork sandwiches, watermelon, beer, soda, water, chairs, good time hanging out.- Eventually have to move. Hear others planning short day tomorrow and then zero. Realize that I won't be able to stay with them, will have to move on.- See 2 LARGE groups of kids heading for shelter... Hike an extra shelter than them to avoid. Only Zack, Carl, and I here tonight. Potable water left in bear box since shelter has no water.
Date: 2017-06-26
From: Mashipacong Shelter

To: Rt 94
Miles today: 26.1

Summary:- Bottle of hand sanitizer exploded this morning and soaked the front of my pack and the mesh pocket. Thankfully it's alcohol based and so evaporates quickly.- Concession stand at state park that AWOL said would be open is closed on Mondays, super sad.- Climbed high point monument, which was disappointing because of the lack of views from the top. Great views from the base. Could even see some mountains (rather than just ridges).- Water left at road crossing as TRAIL MAGIC- Walked through lots of fields... got a bit burnt.- Called church hostel this morning that offers shuttles, place to stay, shower but haven't heard back.- Long day, ready to be done.- Cross lots of boardwalks through swamp/river area.- Reach Rt94, farm stand closed when it should be open. No place to stay in Vernon, NJ, so too late in day to hitch to town (and hitch back out before dark). Camp near road.- Out of food, so need to find a way to town tomorrow.
Date: 2017-06-27
From: Rt 94

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: clear sky

Summary:- Climb "Stairway to Heaven" this morning- More water at road as TRAIL MAGIC- Reach road crossing for Warwick, but construction going on and hitching illegal in NJ. Start walking towards NY border (and town), get picked up after ~10min.- Morning at Price Chopper, resupply, repack food, eat a bunch of fruit- Go to bagel place, get second breakfast and charge electronics- Hitch back to trail- Scrambles up onto rocky ridge, views of NYC skyline in distance- NY/NJ border!- Lots of scrambling/climbing. NY will be an interesting state.- Get biggest banana split I've seen at I've cream place- Timewarp ('16) TRAIL MAGIC, hiked apples up to shelter- So many bugs, but don't have to worry about them in my tent
Date: 2017-06-28
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: West Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: clear sky

Summary:- Late start, 8am- Fitzgerald falls more of a trickle- Trail literally a stone wall, super steep climb- TRAIL MAGIC: water. Realized that I only used my filter once in NJ.- TRAIL MAGIC: first aid supplies- TRAIL MAGIC: water and chairs- Trying to reach a lake to go swimming. Reach the road, but no lake... turns out trail crosses this road twice and the lake is at the second crossing 5mi away... sigh- Through the Lemon Squeezer, huge rock face with crack in it that trail goes through. Little wider than my shoulders, but even if it weren't, plenty of sweat to lubricate. Pack is wider than my shoulders, starts to get stuck, climb up out of crack and onto top.- Climb a rock wall. Ignore blue blazed trail labeled "Easy Way".- Knees are hurting, presumably from all the rocks. Manageable, but might be an issue if the terrain keeps up like this (which its going to).- Reach road, down to beach, swim is wonderful, dry in sun. Get ice cream.- Up and down... Podcasts to pass the time.- Cross Palisades Parkway, for a highway it does a good job of blending with the landscape and isn't visible from above.- Up to West Mt Shelter, 0.6mi off trail but has great view of Hudson and NYC skyline. Plus a mulberry tree in front. Only one other person here.- Guy informs me he saw a snake living in the stone work of the shelter... Maybe won't sleep in here tonight...- Setup tent out back, spot 2 bears 100yds behind shelter, probably ~300lbs each, don't come closer, probably eating blueberries. Hope they don't like mulberries...
Date: 2017-06-30
From: Stream (1416)

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Summary:- On trail early, by 630.- Head to concession stand at State Park beach to get food. Get there before it opens but staff serves us anyways. Bacon Cheeseburger, fries, apple juice, ice cream.- Climb over Shenendoah Mt- Head to deli 0.4mi off trail, get drinks, sandwich, chips, ice cream. Deli blazing is a thing.- Sky gets darker, head back to trail, thunder rumbling throughout 4mi to shelter. Get to shelter just as sprinkle turns to rain. Get tent setup before it gets too bad.- Waves of thunderstorms throughout evening. Gets dark/dusky with each. Heavy rain.- Tent is REALLY warm with all learn flys closed.
Date: 2017-07-01
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Bulls Bridge Rd
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: light rain

Last night it continued to rain on and off throughout the night and my tent became almost unbearably hot with the fly's all closed. I got on trail early, by 6am since I had  22mi to go before 2pm when I'd meet up with my mom and get off trail for the night.The bugs were still out I'm force, still kamakazi-ing into my eyes whenever possible and buzzing around me as I hiked, but they don't seem to bite, so they're more of an annoyance than a problem. Nuclear lake (an ominous name that I didn't know the origin of... Maybe I shouldn't drink the water?) was very pretty in the morning sun, with the light reflecting off the still water near the shore and the small ripples caused by the wind in the center. A flock of geese were hanging out on the beach and took to the water as I approached to admire the scene, honking in protest.The trail wound up and down over the rolling hills and I startled a fox, the first I had seen on the hike, who ran down the trail a ways before darting into the woods, too fast for my camera. The trail crossed a road of varying business every couple miles or so, evidence of the civilization I hiked past. I crossed several fields before coming to the AT train station, a train station on the trail from which one could directly into and out of NYC on the weekends. I watched an outbound train stop at the station before moving on.Another hill, another ridge, and I was in Connecticut! The trail swung back into NY for a couple miles ahead, so I wasn't done with NY yet, but it was good to finally be in New England! It wasn't long after that that I met up with Mom at the top of Ten Mile Hill (I will point out that I did not receive a hug due to sweat) and we headed back to the car which was parked about 2mi up the trail along the Housatonic river.I got a shower back at the hotel, we got dinner, headed to the grocery store for a resupply, and then I got to veg out on a bed all night and relax.Sidenote, apparently the NJ state govt shutdown today over budget issues, which closes all the state parks, including the ones I got food at. Gad I made it through before that happened!
Date: 2017-07-05
From: Race Brook Falls Campsite

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 27.4

Summary:- Porqupines visit a couple times throughout night, easily scared off though.- In the morning, go get my food out of the bear box and discover that my food was the only food in there. No bear hangs are up, idiots slept with their food.- Walking back to my tent, notice that the next tent over has a pot sitting out near it. It's full of ramen. IDIOTS left cooked food outside in camp. No wonder there were animals wandering around last night.- Pack up and leave, good riddance.- Breakfast on top of Mt Everett. Can only find 3 blueberries to add to oatmeal, which was disappointing.- Lots of water TRAIL MAGIC at road crossings today.- Run out of water on long dry section on ridge. Refill at next shelter.- Plan to camp at My Wilcox North shelter. Get there, no one else there. Signs and shelter log indicate recent bear activity. Decide that I don't want to be fending off bears solo tonight, push on 4mi to next campsite.- Don knee brace. Do 4mi in 1.5hr starting at 7pm gets me to the campsite just before sunset. Plenty of tents around, though this campsite also has bear issues. At least there are a bunch of us here to deal with any.- Bear box is FULL tonight, good.- Total of 28mi today. More than I should've done, but didn't have a good feeling about last shelter.- 10mi day tomorrow to Upper Goose Pond shelter.
Date: 2017-07-06
From: Shaker Campsite

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: clear sky

Summary:- Slow morning, 3rd to last out of camp, but that's fine because today is a short day.- Reach AT trail stand (local kids' version of lemonade stand). Tempting, but don't buy anything.- Reach Upper Goose Pond shelter. Shelter is a 2 level cabin, with a caretaker. Bunks upstairs. Stay is for a donation.- Light rain in the late morning, but go for a swim anyways.- Free canoe rentals, take one out and circumnavigate the pond.- Meet Blue, Marybeth, Lauraelae, section hikers staying the night. I'm only thru hiker here tonight... Where is everyone???
Date: 2017-07-08
From: Dalton, MA

To: Cheshire, MA
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

Summary:- Tom served donuts and coffee in the morning, he's an awesome trail angel- Foggy, cloudy day- Quick 10mi to Cheshire- Meet Bruce at cheese press, brings cider, brownie, snacks- Head to grocery store- Go to friend's party at house, lots of food, hangout all afternoon- Dropped off back at church at 4pm. Was going to hike up to next shelter, but get lazy, decide to stay- Get dinner at local grill- Sleep in church's hall, ~10 hikers spread out around the large room, couple sleeping on the stage
Date: 2017-07-29
From: Madison Springs Hut

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Sorry for the lack of posts... A combination of lack of cell service, tough terrain and a lack of energy to devote to writing, and laziness contributed. I've got a new Bluetooth keyboard which makes writing these entries allot easier, so hopefully I'll actually do them now. I'm going to try to go back through and fill in the gap when I have time, but no gaurantees.
Date: 2017-08-28
To: Skyland
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Little bit of a post trail adventure....So Lost had taken a couple days off to go back home and see some friends and flew back to Reagan and since I live pretty close I went and picked her up. It was really good to see her again... trail friendships are a little weird, I had only known her for a little over a month, and there are people on the trail that I knew for even less than that, and yet you spend all your waking (and non-waking) hours with those people that you get to know them a lot quicker than you do with people you only see once a day, or once a week in normal life. Also, out on the trail, you see a lot of a person very quickly... when they're tired, dirty, happy, first thing in the morning, when they're hurting, etc, which also doesn't happen in real life in which you usually see people in pretty well siloed social circumstances (work or dance or friend, etc). Anyways.It was good to see her again and we had plenty of time to catch up (from the past 7 days we hadn't seen each other) while we sat in DC traffic heading out to Harpers Ferry. We stopped in Frederick at Pizza and Pretzel creations and enjoyed calzones and a chocolate stuffed, cinnamon coated pretzel... prefect hiker food. We got to the ATC before it closed so that Lost could get her second picture in the logbook (which is common for flip floppers) and I got to flip through and see how long after Lookout and I all of our friends had come through. Done with that, we headed down to a grocery store for a resupply, which was also a little weird because my brain just automatically went into resupply mode and started scanning the shelves for hiker food... instant potatoes, ramen, oatmeal, etc, even though I wasn't actually shopping for anything. Well, I ended up leaving with some grapes to snack on.The sun starting to set, we headed back to the trail so that Lost could get moving, and after repacking the food into her bag we hugged... and I graped her. I had never heard of it, but in the car she had explained that her and her sister used to do this to eachother, where you run up and squash a grape on the other person. And I had grapes. So... yea... she'll probably get me back for it, but what are trail friends for?Anyways, a couple days later I got a text "Soooo.... hiking the Shenandoah with your old pal, Lost..." and not too long after that I was in the car headed out to Shenandoah. Call it a relapse, but I didn't have anything pressing going on at home, so why not? I met her at Skyland and she had already gotten a cabin for the night (since it was supposed to rain) and we ended up spending the night catching me up on the 3 Game of Thrones episodes I had missed since we had last watched (since I don't have HBO and apparently don't have any friends that watch GoT at home).
Date: 2017-09-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Hey guys,Thanks for reading and signing the guest book. Thanks especially to those who kept bugging me to post some sort of conclusion. I finally got at least something up, but I'm back at work and so life is back to being pretty busy so I'm not sure if/when I'll have a chance to go back and fill in some of the gaps. I'd also like to do a couple more conclusion posts, there were another couple of post-trail but relevant adventures, so again, I'll try to get around to that soon, but who knows.Thanks again... enjoy your hike!Crusher
From: Rock Gap

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 0.0

Haven't had internet service for a few days, so I, Finn, am filling in for Huckleberry. I am Huck's wife and going to be joining him shortly to hike through the Smokies. Huck's doing fine and will make it to Wayah Bald tonight. Then on to NOC. He is doctoring a blister and its slow going because of the terrain.
Date: 2017-01-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

For years, I've been thinking of this trip. Now it's becoming real. This is my first entry in using this site to journal my adventure. Since January 1st, I have been sorting through my camping cabinet, to find the necessary equipment to make this trip. My basement has become a disaster zone, but things are coming together. Decisions on what stove to use, and what clothes to wear when starting out are constantly on my mind. How will the temperatures be in that first week in March? Will I need crampons? It's almost overwhelming. And also, I need to try to get in shape, although, they say you can never really get in shape till you've hiked a few weeks. We'll see. Until tomorrow....
Date: 2017-01-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I mentioned yesterday that my wife was behind me on this endeavor. I also would like to say that my two kids and spouses are also supporting me. They also are thinking of coming down sometime to join and hike with me. Jenny and I have hiked the length of Isle Royal, and she's hiked the section from Springer to Unicoi Gap as a section hike. Jon and his two boys, (Nathan 12 and Ben 10), will come out this summer and walk with me for a section as well. Getting excited, but nervous.
Date: 2017-01-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

As I sit here watching the playoff games, and waiting for the Packers to play at 3:30 today, I wonder how much snow there is on the Appalachian Trail. My thoughts tend to be more on the trail than watching the playoff games. As I sort out my gear for my pack I will try to keep the weight down to 32 pounds or less. Tomorrow I will start sorting my food resupplies for along the trail. It's complicated because I also have to pack for Chris when she comes down to resupply approximately about every 4 to 6 weeks. The plan would be to bring supplies each time she comes down, and also she would hike a section with me before going home. My first resupply, from Chris, will be at Fontana Dam then we will hike the Smokies together. Approximately 90 miles in 10 days, before she heads home. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2017-01-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After the Packers win, yesterday, I was able to finish sorting equipment for the trip. Today Chris and I, as well as a couple of buddies, walked 2 miles with my pack. The pack weighs 22 lbs, but I left quite a few items at home. I prefer to practice hike with about 20 pounds for a week and up the weight after a week. Will try to walk everyday this week, at about 2 miles a day to build up my stamina.
Date: 2017-01-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Sorry about not posting for the last few days. I have been laid up, due to a bad cold. Seems to take a while to get back to a normal state. Beyond that, the food for my first 4 resupplies is set and my gear for the trip has been finalized. I'm trying to keep my pack weight to 35 lbs. without water. Still have to trim a little.
Date: 2017-01-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday we received 6 inches of new snow. Schools closed and kids got a snow day. Good for kids but bad for me, as I would like warmer weather to start melting this white wonderland so spring can start early and I can get outside to start real hiking. I usually love winter, but now that I'm preparing for my hike, I find I'm a little impatient with the weather. 7 weeks before I depart from Wisconsin to Georgia, and warmer climate. getting excited.
Date: 2017-01-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Just finished watching the Cowboys and Packers playoff game. WHAT A GAME! Now that I have a normal heart beat, I think I can do a little journaling.          I need to get back to walking tomorrow. I will carry my pack with 20 pounds in it. I was hoping I'd be up to 25 pounds by now, but due to a bad cold I had all last week, I had to cut back to just walking without the pack. Eager to get back to it. At least all my gear has been decided, and the same for my food for the first 6 weeks or more. The only thing I still have to put together will be the snacks. That will happen this week.
Date: 2017-01-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well I have been trying to get out and develop some tone in the legs but we seem to be encountering some nasty type weather. First it was snow storms, now we have an ice event going on. Needless to say, its not going to be good for walking outside. I guess I'll lay low till it passes. I did manage to finish packing my snacks for the first 6 weeks. After the ice melts, I'll be out with the pack. A friend of mine,(Stickman), just sent me a bunch of pictures from our section hike we had done last spring. Now if that doesn't get the old blood excited, I don't know what will. Thanks Mark.
Date: 2017-01-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

Yesterday and today, I was able to carry a pack of 22 pounds for a distance of two miles each day. My good buddies want to see what its like to carry my pack so while walking at the university we switched off carrying it. Today, the temperature reached 42 degrees. A touch of spring in the air. Will this be what it's like in March on the trail? I'm getting trail fever! The only cure would be to get on the AT asap. I need to start packing the car, NOW!