morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-07-02
From: NJ 94..Vernon, NJ

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 111 -- I had a pastrami and pepperoni sandwich for breakfast (leftover from lunch). We received a ride back to the trailhead by a wonderful lady who was gardening for the church! Our day started out with a rocky climb which was a ton of fun. Before we started it Smokin' Joe (heading to the same shelter tonight) and Cranky Pete (slack-packing today) passed us, and afterwards we met Timeless and Troutbum (slack-packing SOBO from the mayor's). I haven't seen Troutbum in months. They let us know that the guys in front of us just saw a bear and we kept an eye out, but didn't spot it. We lunched at Wawayanda Shelter and a couple of hours later we crossed into NEW YORK! (see picture) Another couple of hours later, after a bunch of fun rock scrambling, we stopped at a very hiker-friendly homemade ice cream shop. Here we met Joe C. and his dog, Autumn who had just finished a weeklong section (see picture). I enjoyed a banana split, a few sips of Wrongway's birch beer, and great conversation. The two miles to Wildcat Shelter felt a little longer than that, but we had a great view from Cat Rocks, more rock scrambling, and Wrongway caught a really long black snake. At that time Snake and ? raced by us. They did the same earlier, during one of our breaks, to get to the Post Office before it closes. They, Smokin' Joe, and Rabbit are in for the night. The shelter log shows that we're just behind Recurve, Turtle D. and Turle M., so we might see them tomorrow.
Date: 2008-07-03
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Camping on Black Mountain
Miles today: 21.0

Day 112 -- Neither us of got much sleep last night because the mosquitoes were nuts at the shelter. We ended up getting a later start because we were so tired. I really enjoyed the trail this morning and in the evening. It followed old stone walls (remnants of an old settlement), went up rock faces, a long ridge, and through brush. Smokin' Joe passed us after Fitzgerald Falls, which I was a bit disappointed by (low on water). We passed and then were passed by (on our lunch stop on Arden Mountain) Baggins. After we ate we napped--tried to make up some zzz's. I didn't feel good on the way down Agony Grind to 17, mostly my stomach. When we got near the parking lot, Wrongway, apparently called over, walks over to a trail magic truck where Loveboat was already. We sat there for an hour eating, drinking, and talking to Paddy-O. He hiked part of the way up with us. The sky started getting darker and it got windier and we picked up our pace. We passed two section hikers with a beautiful site on the ridge overlooking a lake. We had great luck with the weather for the rest of the night. It was clouded over and slightly breezy. Having decided to night hike and try to make a vista after the last shelter, we kept moving even after it was dark. We came upon the William Brien Shelter and probably woke some sleepers up since we didn't see it there at first and then we couldn't find where the trail went next. We made it one more mile before we started to look for camp. We were hungry and decided to eat somewhere where we could camp, too, in case it started raining on us, which was what ended up happening. Luckily we could cook and set up before it really came down.
Date: 2008-07-04
From: Camping on Black Mountain

To: Graymor Spiritual Life Center
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 113 -- It was still raining when we woke up this morning, but by the time we needed to pack up, it had mostly stopped. We climbed the rest of Black Mountain, West Mountain, and Bear Mountain, passing a bunch of tents, including Smokin' Joe. Alsmot to the very bottom, some kids talked to us, asking questions about hiking and stuff. We headed over to the area between the lake and the Inn, where Bandana Man and Fivel found us. We set up near the park and chowed down on some great sandwiches, fruit, chips, brownies, and rice krispy treats. Lots of people came, in shifts, to enjoy some trail magic including Kanati and Recurve, Turtle D. and Turtle M., Timeless, Vagabond and Pigeon, and Magellan and Loveboat. We had a great time hanging out and chatting. Before leaving, Bandana Man and Fivel made sure I got some food for resupply, the origianl reason they were coming up. It was great to see them and spend more time with them! We just made it to the zoo before they closed it! We crossed the Bear Mountain Bridge and climbed back into the mountain following Vagabond and Pigeon. Seven miles later we arrived at the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center to a family retreat. They shared their burgers and dogs with us and I went to sleep watching The Incredibles from the tent. (Other hikers there included many of those who joined us for lunch as well as Just Jim and The Doctor.)
Date: 2008-07-05
From: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center

To: Dennytown Rd.
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 114 -- It rained last night and many of our tents got wet on the inside too. I didn't get much sleep the two nights before last so I was really glad to have slept in the morning...I really needed it. Unfortunately, though, we had a goal of over 25 miles for today to get us close to where Sasquatch was going to pick us up tomorrow. We didn't get out of camp until late though. Loveboat, Wrongway, and I pulled out after 9 a.m. We flew early on, passing Timeless, The Doctor, and a SOBO section hiker. We flipflopped with The Doc a couple of times until we stopped for lunch. We ended up cooking a hot lunch and waiting around for Loveboat for about an hour. He came along with Vagabond and Pigeon and we headed north. We stopped at Dennytown Rd. to grab water and Wrongway called Sasquatch who came down to chat. The long and short: we came back to his house tonight, a day and 29ish miles early, with a plan to zero tomorrow. I could use another one of those too. After stopping at the food store and getting the 50 cent tour of the neighborhood, we got showered up in the pool house, got the laundry going, and had a fantastic dinner of spaghetti. During dinner there were lots of stories shared about our hike and also about hikes that Wrongway and Sasquatch were on together. I love hearing stories from others' hikes and also meeting people from different aspects of others' lives, if that makes sense!
Date: 2008-07-06
From: Dennytown Rd.

To: Sasquatch's house
Miles today: 0.0

Day 115 -- We slept in really late and I think I could've even slept longer. Once we got our act together we went into town to a diner for a hugh breakfast. We dropped Sasquatch's daughter off, went and got a clamp for Wrongway to rig Sasquatch's grill for tonight, and bought food for dinner. We each spent some time on the computer and on the phone, headed to EMS in Danbury, CT for some things, and headed back to make dinner. We had scrumptious burgers, ribs, and corn. During this time, Loveboat was in contact with Elli and Sasquatch ended up picking her up and bringing her back. The rest of the night was filled with popcorn and fireworks.
Date: 2008-07-07
From: Sasquatch's house

To: Campsite at field 
Miles today: 16.6

Day 116 We slept in again in the pool house--I'm getting spoiled. Sasquatch came over with Elli's clothes and we all packed up and headed to his house. While we snacked, people did last minute things on the internet and around 12 or so we headed to the trailhead at the Dover Oak to drop off Elli. We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts and got some donuts and a southwestern chicken flat sandwich that hit the spot. We passed a lot of trail crossings on the way to Dennytown Rd. where we hung out more before heading out. Loveboat, Wrongway, and I had a good hiking day through a variety of forests. Sasquatch, Loveboat, Wrongway at Dunkin Donuts.We passed Canapus Lake and I was wishing to go out in a boat. We met Grits at an overlook where we partook in some scrumptious blackberries. It was a few more miles to RPH Shelter where I was runited with Shadow, Tangent, and Hangman and finally met Daddy-O, Peacock, Uphill, and SoJo. Lots of fun catching up but we had to cut it short to move on. We'll see them sometime in the next week, I'm sure. We hiked on with Hangman and ended up night-hiking to our campsite near a field. We thought we'd be able to camp in the field, but it was too overgrown, I think.
Date: 2008-07-08
From: Campsite at field 

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: few clouds

Day 117 -- We got going at about 7:40 this morning. We flew over to Morgan Stewart Shelter where Hangman was snacking and I met J.I. Mountain Mic, and Chewbaca came in behind us, having camped behind the deli four miles back. We all met up again 3-4 miles later at a stream near the railroad tracks. Our books said there might be a school bus hot dog stand at the next road, so we were looking forward to it, but alas, no hot dogs. So...we trudged on to Telephone Pioneer Shelter, that is, after we took a swim in Nuclear Lake. You know, Wrongway and Loveboat told me that I had kind of a glow about me today. How sweet of them to say. :>) Just kidding...none of that swimming stuff happened. So anyway, at the shelter we met Sofaking and had a small lunch. Sasquatch hiked up to meet us and brought trail magic. We hiked down to the Dover Oak together where his car was parked. We hiked on while he moved his car to NY22 and hiked in to meet us. He drove us to Tony's Deli (got a sub and chocolate milk) and back to the trail. He hiked with us for a while, experiencing Wrongway getting bitten multiple times by an aggressive garter snake.Mountain Mic and Chewbaca.We kept a pretty good pace and got to Wiley Shelter sooner than we thought we would, and decided to stay anyway. Sofaking, Chewbaca, Mountain Mic, Lotus, Thinker, Red Dog, Lucky Dog, and Hangman were already there. Scrabble, Alex, SoJo, and Grits came in later. Sasquatch came in bearing drinks, donuts, and pudding. What a trail angel he's been!! Alright. That's it. I'm done.This is my last stop on the AT....Just kidding
Date: 2008-07-09
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Mt. Algo Lean-to
Miles today: 12.4

Day 118 -- The plan was to get up early today to do 22 miles, but neither happened. We all (Loveboat, Wrongway, and I) procrastinated getting up and then once we were up some of us (not I :>)) putzed around, so we ended up not leaving until after 8. We spread out prett fast bacause of the ascent--Wrongway, then me, then Loveboat. I caught up to Wrongway on the descent toward Ten Mile Shelter. After the river we found a spot to swim and called Loveboat and Hangman down. While the guys swam, I called home to get my winter clothes maildrop arranged. I didn't have time to swim, but don't worry, I got plenty wet later. We hiked to the road and walked across Bulls Bridge to the Country Mart for lunch. The lady working there was so nice! I had a BBQ pork (riblet) sub and half an ice cream bar from Loveboat. Crossing Bulls Bridge.As we're starting to think about leaving it starts to rain and goes from raining to pouring multiple times. The sky slightly cleared and we started on, only to seek refuge under the covered bridge until it stopped again. We started our big climb and as I was nearing the top, a thunderstorm began, pouring down rain, and sky loudly rumbling. I didn't see any lightning but once and that was followed a split second later by thunder. I ducked--hehe-a lot of good that'll do! The trail was pretty flooded the rest of the way. I started dragging, feeling like the shelter should be around there somewhere. I chatted with a section-hiking family (I assumed a father, two boys, and a girl), and moved on over slick rocks and roots. When I got to the shelter Dave (a section-hiker that I met at the Bull Bridge Road), Wrongway, and Sofaking were already there. I was exhausted with low spirits and suggested staying at this shelter, Mt. Algo Lean-to. Shadowcast, Tangent, Daddy-O, and Peacock hiked in saying they had passed Loveboat three miles ago. We figured that by the time he came in, it would be after 10 p.m. before we'd make it to the next shelter, so stay we did! I came in for a bit, but then jetted. I had real pasta tonight for dinner which was a nice treat. .Shadowcast at Mt.Algo Lean-to.It was fun hanging out with this crew--too bad they're going to be ahead after we zero. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up later.
Date: 2008-07-10
From: Mt. Algo Lean-to

To: Better's Campsite
Miles today: 22.5
Weather: few clouds

Day 119 -- We did better getting out early today, relatively speaking, although Peacock and Tangent gave us a hard time for being later than we had planned. We hiked for almost four miles and rested, as well as dried our feet, in the sun. On the way down we passed two young groups, one hiking and one climbing rocks along the AT. At the bottom we met two men who were working with a climbing group of Girl Scouts (how come I didn't get to do that in Girl Scouts? :>)), and then Alex and his dog, Max, whom we walked with for a mile. The next few miles were along the river and were so nice. Speaking of nice, today was just gorgeous! The storms yesterday helped to get rid of the humidity and so it felt cooler plus there was a nice breeze for most of the morning. We stopped for lunch at the vista (which was mostly blocked by trees) on top of Silver Hill. Chewbaca and Mountain Mic were just leaving. Dave (Cannonball, a local section hiker we met yesterday and camped with at the shelter) hiked by during lunch, as well as Hangman, Red Dog, Lucky Dog, and a day hiker. Drying stuff out at the Silver Hill view.After a nice long lunch and all our gear was dry, we went down the mountain. When we stopped to get water from a stream, Wrongway accidentally dropped his camera in the water. Luckily, although it's testy, it seems to be working again. We hiked and hiked, and enjoyed chatting to Loveboat on his last day with us (he's getting off for a visit). After setting a meet time and place with Sasquatch (to pick up Loveboat), we booked it there. On the way I decided to run into a fallen tree limb--not smart--big bruise on my arm. So, Sasquatch came bearing all sorts of magic, which was VERY much appreciated since Wrongway and I still had almost seven more miles to go, and were losing momentum. Fried chicken, roast beef sandwich fixins, soda, chips, and watermelon! WOOHOO! After saying goodbye to both Loveboat and Sasquatch, we climb the next hill to Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to, stopping along the way for some pictures of beetles and a frog.Frog about two feet from trail.Cannonball was the only one at the shelter, and we chatted with him for a while, used the privy, and got ready to night hike. We had a beautiful sunset sky of oranges and pinks to took at for a while and it all slowly faded to dark. We did almost six miles in the dark and it was not bad terrain for it. There were, however, a lot of blowdowns between Sharon's Campsite and our destination, which are a lot harder to maneuver around in the dark, since they're so big you can't see around them to see where the trail goes before you get around it. We finally reached camp sometime after 11, set up, ate a quick snack, and went to bed. Teamwork certainly got us here tonight, with finding blazes and such--go us! I also need to give credit where credit is due...although I needed to redirect Wrongway multiple times during the day, he is a fantastic night hike leader!
Date: 2008-07-11
From: Better's Campsite

To: US 44
Miles today: 10.5

Day 120 -- We slept in this morning, by my pleading, which was great since we didn't get to bed until a little before midnight from night hiking. Very soon into our hike we encountered trail magic of Pepsis and Double-stuffed Oreos, left by an anonymous thru-hiker's family...very nice--you should've seen Wrongway's face--he was so excited.Trail Magic!.After incorrectly following some blaze on the road and then getting back on track, we crossed the Housatonic River and followed a gorgeous, flat trail along it. We crossed it again, then enjoyed the Great Falls--if we had more time I think we would've swam in it (Chewbaca and Mountain Mic did, we found out later). The rest of the hike was nice, but with limited views, and we arrived at US 44 at 1:45. We were 45 minutes early for Uncle Al to pick us up. We met up with him, went to the Post Office in Salisbury, and then headed to Simsbury. Wrongway, Uncle Al, Kim, and I hung out on the porch, told stories, and enjoyed cold drinks. Kim and Uncle Al.Uncle Al cooked spaghetti and eggs, bacon, and toast for dinner--great stuff! Kim cut watermelon and took Wrongway and I out for ice cream made on location. It was a nice, relaxing evening--just what we needed!
Date: 2008-07-12
From: US 44

To: Simsbury, CT
Miles today: 0.0

Day 121 -- Wow, did I sleep in this morning! I sure needed it! Kim made us a gourmet breakfast of French toast, eggs, strawberries, blueberries, and cantelope. Breakfast lasted into the noon hour, in true Nana fashion. :>) Uncle Al and I played a game of 9-ball on his table in the basement. Then Kim drove us around W. Simsbury to the outfitter and food stores, which didn't sound like much, but took hours. When we finally returned for good, Uncle Al took me for a ride on his motorcycle. I fit into AJ's gear so it worked out well and I had a great time. It was my first time--very exciting! We weren't home for long when Aunt Judy and AJ returned from vacation at the Jersey shore. We did some catching up, and AJ, Wrongway, and I played pool. Then we had grilled burgers, dogs, potato salad, and delicious corn for dinner. AJ.I didn't realize how much I missed corn-on-the-cob. After dinner, AJ flew his remote control model helicopter for us. Later we all returned to the living room to watch TV, but it really was just background noise because we talked the whole time. Kim and her boyfriend, Dave, came back from a party so we got to talk to him too. What a great zero day!Aunt Judy.
Date: 2008-07-13
From: Simsbury, CT

To: Racebrook Falls Campsite
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: broken clouds

Day 122 -- I got up. showered, and packed my pack. Kim made more French toast and eggs-delish. We got out of the house a lot later than planned, but that's all right. We got started hiking between 12 and 12:30. We passed two SOBO thrus--Solo and a woman. We also passed lots of day hikers and section hikers. We had lunch at the Brassie Brook Lean-to and met Blaze, a NOBO thru-hiker. Wrongway and I climbed to the top of Mt. Race to gorgeous, clear views of the Housantonic Valley and to a feast of blueberries. After going about 0.5 miles in an hour because of stopping for blueberries every five steps, we decided to go to the Race Brook Trail Campsite, which was further than the 0.2 that the sign said. View From Race Mountain.We put both of our tents on one platform, which was a new experience for us. We met great father, daughter, dog (Lucy) neighbors, ate the heaviest meal out of my bag, and went to sleep.
Date: 2008-07-14
From: Racebrook Falls Campsite

To: Tom Leonard Lean-to
Miles today: 16.2

Day 123 -- It rained all through the night and into the morning. Despite numerous attempts to talk to Wrongway about hiking, no communication was had, so I went back to sleep...all the better anyway--even though we had big miles planned, I sure didn't want to get out of my tent and pack up in the rain. (Yea for needed sleep!) Eventually the only drops coming down were from the trees and not the sky and we decided it was time to get movin'. We finally left camp around 10:40, The first climb in the morning was only about 0.8 and it took us almost an hour because of slippery rocks and of course, blueberries. I don't know what it was, but both of us trudged along the entire rest of the day. Around 3:30 we took a sit-down break by a road, looked at the mileage for the rest of the day, and decided we were going to cut today short and add the miles onto tomorrow, when hopefully we'll be more up to hiking...it was just one of those days, I guess. Random detail: we filtered water from the Housatonic BEFORE seeing a sign warning against eating the fish and turtles from it. About a mile later a man in a car passed us on the road and turned around to give us a beer--nice guy. Both of us got lost today twice...mostly because of faded blazes. It just added frustration to our already low spirit. I was ready to be at the shelter when we got there. Rocklayer (SOBO thru-hiker), Milkman (ridgerunner from Annapolis), and the twins from Michigan were there along with some others for whom I didn't get a name. I'm looking forward to canoeing tomorrow at Upper Goose Pond Cabin--hope we make it with enough time to do so.
Date: 2008-07-15
From: Tom Leonard Lean-to

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 124 -- We BOTH got up early this morning--looking to do 20ish to Upper Goose Pond Shelter...trying to relax there--maybe swim--maybe use the canoe. We left camp around 6:15 and flew through the day. The terrain was gorgeous, mosquitoes were vicious, and spirits were high...until later, anyway. My feet were hurting, getting used to the new shoes and were just feeling the 20ish miles. Even though we were on a mission and kept the pace up, we still stopped for raspberries and blueberries. We arrived at Upper Goose Pond Cabin in the late afternoon to a crowd. We met James and Jones (SOBO section), John (from FL, NOBO section) and a NOBO section hiker from Vermont. The twins, (Time Cop and Danger Snake) came in later. Reflection of the sun on the water.We pretty much cooked dinner right away and we noticed how nice it is to be able to sit there and enjoy it for a while and not have to rush through it to go to sleep (we've been getting in around dark a lot recently and that's how it is). It was nice to sit around and chat with people too. I didn't get to ride in the canoe, though :>(, bummer. PS...Yea for an enclosed building and no mosquitoes buzzing me to sleep!