morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-28
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂThe JailhouseÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ in Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 15.0

With 15 miles to go today to town, we woke up to a late start and were planning on taking our time over the rocks. Plans changed slightly when Birdsong (really nice Sobo hiker) fell and put a big gash in his thumb as he was coming back from getting water. I got to play doctor and use my WFR skills to bandage him up a bit. We decided that he could still hike the 15 miles to town and that it wasn¢t and emergency, although he probably needed stitches and we¢d go to the hospital as soon as we hit town. We made up songs for him on the walk there¢¦ ¢Birdsong you¢re a strong guy- because you didn¢t cry-after falling on the stone-that cut your thumb near to the bone¢¦Birdsong you¢re a strong guy- Because you didn¢t cry-When I bandaged up your thumb-Or ws your thumb just numb?¢¢When we hit the road to town I stuck out my thumb and got a ride within 10 seconds for us to the hospital. It was the quickest hitch we¢d ever gotten and I was so proud! It turns out that birdsong did need 4 stitches (my guestimate exactly) but he was very strong through the whole ordeal, whereas I had to sit down because I started getting the ¢woozies¢ after stitch number 2 was sewn in. I guess once my turn playing doctor was over, I was allowed to feel a bit feint. We met the guys in ¢the jailhouse¢ (the basement of the old police station in Palmerton) and told them all the news. Then we showered and left for ¢mugshots¢ ¢ a much rumored bar along the trail that we had to see for ourselves, a good end to the day. Oh, one more thing, Riddler got his wallet back from Gizmo the ridge runner and all is well again!
Date: 2003-08-29
From: ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂThe JailhouseÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ in Palmerton, PA

To: Bake Oven Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We left town today after making some new mail arrangements with the P.O. in Port Clinton. We realized we¢d make town there on Labor Day weekend and wouldn¢t be able to get our food drops unless we changed plans a bit. So that took a while, and then we all had to get our free apples from the local grocery store and after that, brush our teeth with the new toothbrushes that the local girl scouts gave us in our hiker goodie bags¢¦ so due to all the welcoming atmosphere, we didn¢t get out of town until 3pm. By that point we decided a 7-mile day was appropriate and we began our ascent out of Palmerton. It was a humid and cloudy fog that we walked through for most of those miles, and our sweat poured off of our bodies in a most unpleasant way. That night we crammed 7 people into a 4-person shelter. A crazy thunder and lightning and rainstorm at night, but I managed to sleep like a baby!
Date: 2003-08-30
From: Bake Oven Shelter

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

A great day today. We took our time over the PA rocks. They weren¢t so bad the day before, but with the rain and cloudy mist they were slick as heck today. They guys and I played games, sang songs, and did mind tricks again, and kept our spirits high through the downpour that hit in the afternoon. Near the end of the day we had some good philosophical debates (spurred by Junkie) that frustrated me after a while, but was on the whole very stimulating. At night I enticed the crew into a round of telling daily ¢highs¢ and lows¢, just like we used to do with the campers. And to my surprise the guys insisted that I read to them again tonight before I went to bed. So cute! I love everyone that I¢m hiking with, oh and we¢re with 3oz again¢¦ we caught up with him last night, very cool! Now were just waiting on Best and then we¢ll have the whole crew together again, although unfortunately Fisher is getting off the trail (for 5-7 days in Philly) tomorrow in Port Clinton. So maybe it will be a little while before Best, Fish, 3oz and I are all hiking together again. Tonight it¢s 9 sobo¢s in the shelter: Riddler, 30z, Little Moose, Junkie, Next Step, Synapse, Bird Song, Myself, and Fisherking.
Date: 2003-08-31
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Port Clinton Pavilion
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we had an easy hike into town mileage wise, and although I had planned on getting in early, we met up with some wonderful trail angels shortly after an awesome view from pinnacle rocks and things got a bit slow after that¢¦ but in a good way. We got lots of stories about the trail from ¢Bag ¢O¢ Tricks¢ and extra food at lunchtime thanks to him. Yippee!In town we met up with ¢Hiker Rita¢ who offered to give us a ride to the grocery store in the nearby town. How much kindness can a hiker receive in one day? So great!I showered, had dinner, and did laundry in town before hitting the sac under the town pavilion. Another good day and oh, big news¢¦ we saw a copperhead snake today, so we can now tack that onto our list of a rattlesnake and a black snake in PA. Mom, no worries, the snakes have been really nice to us so far! Oh, and one more thing, Harold and Maude have now started calling the guys and I, ¢Wendy and the Lost Boys¢ because I¢ve been reading to them at night. Funny.
Date: 2003-09-01
From: Port Clinton Pavilion

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: overcast clouds

¢the mist was rolling through the trees, and I could not, 20 feet in front of me, sees the light rain was slowly getting me wet, finally, a wash that was not sweat! I left town early in the morning dew, and hiked all day in front of the crew. Barely a peep said, and nearly as much heard, excepting natures sounds and the morning bird. Some days it¢s good to hike like this, it quiets the soul; it¢s ¢hiker¢s bliss¢. Although at the shelter, when the day was done it was good to be with friends, ¢cause they really are fun!¢
Date: 2003-09-02
From: 501 Shelter

To: Rouch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

As you can see by the picture, today we¢ve passed the 1000 mile mark on our trip. That means we¢ve got just under 1,172 miles left to hike. Pretty exciting stuff. The mist and the rain held up all day today, just like the day before and we rang out our socks twice before the day was over. My toes were the least white and wrinkly; however in the past little while I¢ve managed to lose my 2 pinky toe nails! Eeew! Now I only have 8 left to paint pink, that¢s both sad and comical! But things could be worse, Riddler only has 7 toe nails left at the moment. Man, we laugh at the weirdest things out here¢¦ those being examples. Well, the weather is getting a bit colder (and wetter) and I¢m really looking forward to receiving my hat in the mail soon. I also can¢t wait to see Andrea in 4 days, I haven¢t seen her since Christmas time. On a different not¢¦ it¢s getting dark now and Little Moose still isn¢t at the shelter. 2 of the boys have gone out together to search for him. If they¢re not back by 9pm, than Riddler and I will be going out to look fro them. Most likely Moose just passed the turn-off for the shelter¢¦ but better safe than sorry. We¢re all in this together.
Date: 2003-09-03
From: Rouch Gap Shelter

To: PeterÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

So, I won¢t hold you in suspense¢¦ Little Moose had passed the shelter by 3 miles the night before and we never found him. However we¢re all at the ¢mama shelter¢ tonight together. (Holds 20 people!) and Harold hiked a 30 mile day today to catch up with us! That crazy gal, she¢s amazing! So all¢s well and there¢s 7 of us in here for the night. (6 sobo¢s and one section hiker: ¢Coach V¢) There wasn¢t much interesting about today to write of. The rain and fog continued, but that¢s nothing new. They guys and I thought of a new game to play out here, which is best described as ¢guess family and middle names by asking only yes/no questions¢. You¢d be surprised at how many variations of that game we¢ve played out here. I think we¢ve also named all of our ¢top 5¢ choices of nearly every category possible. That¢s considered a game by us too. The page of riddles got too wet yesterday, so it was tossed into the fire last night, hence our stroke of creative genius in developing new games today. Life is still grand, folks are still great, and the feet are still painfully unrecognized to me. Oh well, 2 out of 3 ain¢t bad!
Date: 2003-09-04
From: PeterÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Mountain Shelter

To: The Doyle Hotel in Duncannon
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

An easy, and yes, rocky, eleven miles into town today. We spread our love of the trail games to ¢Coach V¢ in the afternoon and ¢Maude¢ helped us sing our way through the last few miles into town. The Doyle Hotel was way better than the sketchy rumors had led on. We had laundry, showers, beds, and the option of beer, breakfast and dinner just downstairs, what could be better? The price was right and we even had a free shuttle to the local grocery store. Duncannon is a very welcoming town to hikers, I must say. That night there was live music down in the bar, and I stayed for a bit to enjoy that, but the 1/2 gallon of orange juice that I had chugged down earlier wasn¢t permitting me to enjoy the moment too much. Still, the bed and shower was enough to make my night excellent!
Date: 2003-09-05
From: The Doyle Hotel in Duncannon

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We lazed around the hotel until noon before heading out of town. Synapse is taking a couple days off now to be with some family¢¦ but I think the rest of us (that¢s 8) were planning on this shelter for the night. Junkie is making a fire for us at the moment and I¢ve just finished duct-taping the front of my boot where the sole has started flapping off of the toes. I¢ve heard folks say that PA is the place where boots go to die¢¦ perhaps that¢s true¢¦ but at least my boots have seemed to dry out while we were in town. That¢s a plus!I made a few phone calls while in town to my DE friends, but it¢s looking like I won¢t be seeing them after all die to work and school schedules. That¢s a bit of a bummer for me, as I was really looking forward to seeing them¢¦ but with this blip in plans comes another opportunity. Now I¢ll be able to ¢zero¢ at Junkie¢s family¢s house in Maryland with the guys. We¢re talking about sitting our butts down for a long movie marathon and enjoying some good ole Bill Cosby humor on video. Sounds like a plan to me! The anticipation is growing...
Date: 2003-09-06
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, my pride in hiking 14 miles in 5 hours was deflated when the last 4 miles out of Boiling Springs hurt. Yesterday it was the ball of my left foot and today it was my right shin-kle (between the shin and the ankle). Why am I falling apart all of the sudden? Good think I have an ample supply of vitamin I. In town I found out that with 3 liters of water and 4 days of food, my pack weighs 37 lbs. That's pretty cool... I think, at least. Tomorrow the gang is going for the 1/2 gallon challenge... meaning that we each attempt to eat 1/2 a gallon of ice cream before it melts. It's tradition... although two of the hikers don't eat dairy products... so maybe we'll challenge them to eating 1/2 a gallon of ketchup or another condiment of sorts. That's the running joke at least. :)
Date: 2003-09-07
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Tom Run Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

There are 3 main things that I remember about this day. 1.The half gallon challenge was challenging, but I pulled through without puking (although I was green for a bit). 2.We passed the official 12 way point of the hike at mile 1086¢¦ meaning that now, turning back would make our trek longer, so we might as well push southward! And 3.This elevated metabolism that hikers have is amazing¢¦ about 6 hours after we all ate our 12 gallons of ice cream (mine was cherry by the way) we were hungry again for dinner!
Date: 2003-09-08
From: Tom Run Shelter

To: Rocky Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 20.0

The air has gotten a bit cooler and some of the leaves have begun to turn color¢¦ I don¢t know what type of tree it is that has started this trend first. I¢ve recently been seeing Ponderosa Pines in the PA woods, and they¢ve been reminding me of my Montana pines and more fondly the ¢Grandfather Tree¢ up in Pattee Canyon, Ah, Montana¢¦ Junkie and I arrived at our destination today at 3:30pm and although I decided to stay here for the night, I was rather pleased to think that I could have hiked 26 miles today, and rather comfortably before sundown. As it is, I¢ve actually been waiting for the light to disappear tonight¢¦ a rarity. A few of the guys have spent their time tonight doing mathematical riddles, while Junkie again became our ¢Champion of fire-making¢ and I reclined in the shelter to a good ole¢ John Grisham courtroom novel filled with suspense. Life is sweet at the moment, calm, and sounding of the 10,000 chirping crickets in the slowly turning woods.
Date: 2003-09-09
From: Rocky Mtn. Shelter

To: Devils Racecourse Shelter
Miles today: 19.0

Today was a great day. Junkie and I left camp and did our morning stretches 10 minutes into the day. Usually I prefer to hike silently in the mornings, but we stuck together for a good while talking and I really enjoyed his company. Riddler caught up and joined us around hour 2, and we played games all the way to lunch. We all caught 2 east rides into and from town for my maildrop. We got some great goodies from the local girl scouts while in town and had some fun¢ democratically divvying out the food. After town we met up with Birdsong for the PA-MD border and Mason Dixon line. Pictures obviously ensued. Then about 14 mile into Maryland we stopped at a park and saw some great views over the two states and played on the swings, monkey bars and slides. I got spun on the ¢sesame street wheel¢ until everything got really, really dizzy. I don¢t know why, but I still think that¢s fun! The boys and I were discussing how to play the ¢silent game¢ after we come back from Junkie¢s house. It¢s amazing the creativity that goes into the rules and stipulations of our games. Looking forward to meeting Junkie¢s folks tomorrow and bowling tomorrow night. All my love.
Date: 2003-09-10
From: Devils Racecourse Shelter

To: JunkieÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs House in MD
Miles today: 13.0

I was thinking last night about just how many things can happen in a day that I¢ll want to write down to remember, but how they somehow can get forgotten or overshadowed by just the few select moments that are freshest in my mind by nightfall, when I write in my journal. If only my memory were better, than this wouldn¢t worry me so much, but I know how I can be after an amazing and event laden adventure¢¦ and what few snapshots of events I¢ll recall afterwards. The guys and I were talking about how we could and should create a mix tape with songs that we¢ve now associated with this adventure of our and segway into each song with audio voice clips of us saying the typical phrases that have come to identify ourselves along the trail. We¢d have, for instance, ¢American Pie¢ followed by Junkie saying ¢One second, one second¢¦¢ ¢or- the ¢Shrek¢ song followed by Riddler singing his little ¢dittie-dee-da-da-da-do-da-da-do-daa¢¦¢ from Robin Hood. There are just so many slight gestures and action that have made this experience what it is to us all and I don¢t want to lose those memories either¢¦ so maybe we will make that mix tape tomorrow. As for those events freshest in my mind about today¢¦ I recall hiking the last 4.4 miles at the fastest clip that I¢ve hiked thus far on the trail and feeling proud that I was able to keep up with some of those with a faster pace than I although my toes were tingly and numb afterward and warning me that I shouldn¢t make a habit of pushing them that hard. Funny, cause it is just walking after all¢¦ but the incessant pounding with the added pack weight can really dramatize the effects on the tootsies!Junkie¢s folks met us at the trailhead and took us to dinner at Fuddruckers. Then we headed home for the usual laundry, showers and veg time in front of the tube. I took a nice long bath¢¦ that was my high of the day for sure¢¦ mmm, baths rock! Being dirty is fun, but the best fun may come in the form of cleaning it all off in a relaxing and refreshing way. Thanks for the bathrobe Mrs. Shaklan!
Date: 2003-09-11
From: JunkieÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs House in MD

To: JunkieÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs House in MD
Miles today: 0.0

It was 10:51am today before I recognized today¢s date and the effects our recent history now has upon this box on the calendar page (or digital watch display, as the case may be). The newspaper hasn¢t forgotten and we saw President Bush¢s face on TV last night for a bit. Death, war, anger, hatred; it¢s too large to ever comprehend. I think I¢ll just take my lesson from the friar at Greymore and give my warmest hug, my most compassionate ear, and my kindest thoughts to everyone today. That¢s perhaps the best way to recognize the day and give turnaround to the events of the past so that they don¢t pop up in anyone¢s future again. So we spread our good cheer today by knocking off one of the fun activities on our ¢must do before we finish the trail¢ list¢¦ and went bowling at the duck-pin ally. Good fun! Now we¢ve got dancing and white water rafting remaining on the list although we may be too late for the rafting, season wise¢¦ we¢ll just have to see. Then at night we watched ¢Bill Cosby Himself¢¢¦ a great collection of his stand up acts. The guys had been quoting him on the trail for such a long time up until now that I just had to see it myself. It was great!
Date: 2003-09-12
From: JunkieÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs House in MD

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

We left Junkie¢s house at 9:30am today and reached the trailhead by eleven. We¢ve heard possible weather forecasts involving hurricane ¢Issabell¢ for the upcoming week, but the weather was still adequate for today¢s hike. Junkie started out about 3 hours later than Moose, Riddler, Birdsong, and myself¢¦ but caught up with us rather quickly at the Ed Garvey Shelter, where we¢re staying for the night. Today¢s hike covered most of a previous 3 day hike that Mat and I took together a couple of years ago, so it was fun for me to recall the area as I re-hiked it. I¢ve been looking forward to this shelter for a while actually, since I¢ve been here before and knew of its glory. (2 floors, top part enclosed with beautiful ¢AT beam work design¢ and Plexiglas windows) Sometime, especially when I¢m hiking a section where I¢ve been before with good friends, I really miss those people and want to share this longer experience with them, because although the same area, it¢s very different this time around. Perhaps I¢m a bit melancholy tonight, thinking and dwelling in memories¢¦ yep, I¢m a normal gal, can¢t smile all the time, but I¢m sure to wake up with a smile tomorrow because I¢ll be sleeping tonight on a new thermarest vs. my ¢not-so-comfy-albeit-lightweight-bed pad¢ that I¢ve been using since NH. Out with the old and in with the new!
Date: 2003-09-13
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: David Lesser Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

Oh, how I did wake up with such a smile on my face! This is 2 days later that I¢m writing and I still remember that wonderful morning at the Ed Garvey shelter. I dreamt that night of my sister and our neighborhood friend Jillian and myself all playing together at Jillian¢s house and I awoke just after I had told the girls of a great poem that I had made up. I think that¢s the first time I¢ve ever made a poem in my dreams. Anyhow, between the ¢dream poem¢ and my thermarest, I was morning sunshine in the shelter. At Harpers Ferry we met up with Harold and Maude and were hoping to buy a room at the Hilltop Inn and spend the night with those gals. Unfortunately the price was too steep so we decided to push onward after getting our picture taken at the ATC building. Junkie, L. Moose and I finished up the night with our headlamps shinning the way to our shelter. I can¢t explain how excited I get to sleep on my comfy bed pad. I just anticipate the restful sleep and I¢m smiling again.
Date: 2003-09-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Just a quick note: i stopped by the Bear's Den PATC Hostel 0.1 miles off the trail in Virginia to find that they offered--not only .25 cent sodas, but also free phone & internet access. So, here i am, still planning on 3 more miles in this windy, grey, misty afternoon, but temporarily breaking for some hi-tech communications with the rest of the world.I stopped into Harpers Ferry yesterday and also passed through 3 states yesterday (MD, WV, and VA). It was another excitement for the hikers to chalk up on their daily accounts. I received much family & friend love in the form of mail at Harpers Ferry...and had i spent the night there, I would have certainly had the time to call and thank you all. Today has been full of philosophical debate between Riddler, Junkie, and myself...and it seemed like the weekend hikers that we passed were glad to be out of our "deep discussion"...but for us, it is entertaining, and kept the miles flowing. Question of the day: If you had 24 hours left to live, what would you do in that time (using only realistic resources available to you now)? (it made me think a lot about family & close friends. thinking of you all, and sending my love!) in peace & cheer~snail
Date: 2003-09-14
From: David Lesser Shelter

To: ??
Miles today: 0.0

Today could have been our 21 mile day, but why bother when your having fun, right? Since I¢ve already made a journal entry for this day up at Bear¢s Den Hostel, I¢ll keep this one quick. It turns out that although we crossed the ¢Welcome to VA¢ road sign yesterday, we didn¢t actually hike into VA until today, so I suppose we didn¢t hike through three states yesterday after all (as I had thought).The terrain has gotten a bit more bumpy, like rollercoaster hills and our mileage / time estimation is getting a little out of whack¢¦ but I¢ll soon figure it out again. Tonight the guys and I sang solo songs (Birdsong¢s request) around the campfire. Birdsong was telling me (just yesterday) of how my black skirt, that I hike in, had triggered him to sing the ¢long black veil¢ song most of the day before. ¢She walks these hillsin a long black veil-whispers my namewhen the night winds wail-nobody knowsnobody sees- nobody knows but me.¢¢That was the song that I then sang to the group tonight. I really can¢t say enough about the folks I¢ve been hiking with. We have serious moments and funny moments and it just feels great to be so real with everyone. It¢s refreshing. I just have to remind myself to print out lyrics to some Dylan, Indigo Girls, Joni Mitchell, Dar, and Ani tunes the next change I get in town. I find myself wanted to sing so often out here, but the words aren¢t all there in my head anymore. I wonder where they go¢¦