morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-21
From: Peters Mountain Shelter

To: Campsite near Rausch Gap Village
Miles today: 18.2

It was actually a rather hard day for me today. I'm having some serious chafing issues, and I'm discovering why no one is fond of Pennsylvania rocks. Other than the infamous rocks, the hiking here is unbelievably easy. We had all of one climb today, less than 1000 feet over about three miles. Ridiculously easy. But the rocks are getting worse and worse. There are whole sections of trail, wide enough to drive a car down, thanks to erosion, where loose softball-sized rocks try to turn your ankles in the middle of deeply rutted mud. It's really not fun. And I'm not really good over rocks at all. It makes it even harder for me to keep up with County. I think its easier when we're going straight uphill or straight down. We're going through some cool stuff, though, too. This is old mining country, and about halfway through our hike today, County noticed that there was coal strewn all over the trail. In some places half the rocks on the trail are coal. There are also ruins of old mine shafts off to the side of the trail and ruins of mining villages from the 1800s that we walk through. We are camping near one of them tonight. Some of the springs have been polluted by the iron, though. One we walked by was completely red, the water, the stones, the ground around it. It was beautiful, actually, as if the light at sunset was shining on that stream alone, even if it did come from pollution. There's a gushing well right where we are camping tonight, which is great because of the clean water but also because I stuck my feet under it. It felt great--they're numb now, but clean. I think it was good for my muscles and bones too, with all those rocks.
Date: 2004-07-22
From: Campsite near Rausch Gap Village

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Another relatively hard day. I try to keep my chin up, but the rocks are making it hard. We are still keeping up our mileage though, which is good. Only one climb again today, but it was a doozy, and it led to a six mile ridge completely made up of rocks. I had one especially bad moment this morning at a stream crossing. It was rather a difficult one, with a lot of slippery stones, and these two other thru-hikers, BroodX and London, were standing on the opposite bank smoking cigarettes when I made my attempt. I hate being watched when I try to cross streams, even by County, and I didn't cross this one well at all. I eventually made it, with much effort, using one of both County's and BroodX's hiking poles. I always feel like such a tremendous failure at moments like that--I can just imagine what the other thru-hikers are thinking--"What is she doing out here?" It's as if every athletic failure from my past rears up to haunt me--all those days I spent reading inside instead of playing on a jungle gym, all those times I was chosen last for the basketball team, or whatever. I don't know why, really. I keep putting myself into these situations. I don't know why I just do the things I'm good at, go get my Ph.D. in literature or something. I keep doing the things I've always struggled at--my long distance bike trips, or the marathon last year, and now this. Why? I think it's because these are the things that haunt me, things like that stream crossing this morning, that I have to prove I can do. But no matter how good I do at them, it's not good enough, because I'm comparing myself to the people who do these things effortlessly. It's not enough that I'm climbing the AT. It's not enough that I made it to Pennsylvania when people who were hiking eighteen miles the first week quit at Damascus. When I finish, I'll compare myself to all the people who finished faster. I somehow can't seem to accept myself for who I am, how I am, even now. And that is why I'm out here. I keep trying to figure out how to accept myself and I worry that even when I'm done with this trail I'll set the bar even higher for myself and make myself jump over a new hurdle. It's ridiculous. Even though I'm out here hiking with everyone else, even though I made it across the stream eventually it's not enough because I didn't do it well enough. The day ended well, though. With two miles left to go we ran into a stranger doing "trail magic" and got power bars and a peach. Then, when we got to the shelter, we discovered it was a second of those from which you can order pizza and that the delivery guy was already on his way. Pretty great.
Date: 2004-07-27
From: Pavillion, Port Clinton, PA

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: moderate rain

So we took three zeroes in Port Clinton. Yep, three. So much for any sort of mileage goals. And so much for any purpose to my impossibly bad day. We could have done that same stretch five miles a day. Or at the very least two days. And so much for hiking ten miles out of town. The thing is, whenever I begin to be driven by mileage or mileage goals, something like Friday comes and bites me and I realize that it's not about mileage at all and I have to refocus. I really did need the psychological boost of some zeroes after that day. Plus my chafing was so bad at the end of the day that I needed a couple of days to let it heal. Probably not three, but so be it. We had a great time in town, though. Towns with free lodging are always hard to leave. We met a fantastic trail angel, Bag of Tricks, who has been doing trail magic in Port Clinton for years. He slackpacks hikers on the weekends, but we have been trying to be purists, so we had none of that. But we still had a great time with him, BroodX, Chicago Rob, London, Poptart, and some other hikers in for the night. I picked up my maildrop (this was Saturday) and found that I had not only a letter from Amy in Korea, but also a package of brownies from Lexia in Chicago!So Tricks bought me a half-gallon of milk that I drank in one night and the rest of us had snacks and some fresh sweet corn that we roasted on the fire. The most delicious corn I've ever tasted. Plus a man from the church left us a fresh homemade blueberry pie. We also ate two consecutive nights at the Port Clinton Hotel that we had missed on Friday. They had incredible food and incredible hiker portions. I had a burger that was at least a pound the first night, and the best cheesesteak of my life the second. Everyone's right; only in Pennsylvania do they know how to do cheesesteaks. They also served fries in incredible proportions. A large could not be consumed by two hikers. We ordered a small and couldn't finish it between the two of us. Of course, this was also in addition to wings and a salad. Yes, as you can tell, town for me is all about the food. We also went to Cabela's, the world's largest outfitter, but mainly for hunters, and bought me New Balance 806s. Yay!
Date: 2004-07-28
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: light rain

So, now, more time pressure. My brother lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, at least for the summer, but is planning to move in the fall. He called County's cell phone last night, which, miracles of miracles, was on and asked us when we were planning to get there. He's planning to leave at the end of August, giving us till August thirty first to do five hundred and twenty five miles (as of this morning) if I want to see him. And I do. It will be good for us if we can pull it off, and it's only a fifteen mile a day pace, but it still seems fairly impossible. And it means more time pressure. It was another brutal day. These Pennsylvania rocks are just killing me. They're much harder than I expected. I didn't underestimate them at all, I expected them to be very bad, but I think I overestimated my ability to psychologically rise above them. The morning was relatively easy, some cool vistas. AT Pulpit Rock we saw two black snakes sunning themselves, and then as we were leaving, a copperhead! Pretty cool. I hadn't seen one up to that point. We got to the first shelter, Eckville Shelter, and stopped in. It's a shelter that this guy built in his own backyard--privately owned. He keeps the fridge stocked with soda and goodies, so we both had a juice and an icecream sandwich. Very nice. We also met Tex, a guy from Texas who was already in for the night from Port Clinton. But we headed out for the next shelter, seven miles down the trail. And they were horrific. It felt as if it took twice as long to hike those seven miles than it did to hike the first nine. That's how rocks are--they just wear on you. I had noted a landmark, a spring or something, three or four miles from the shelter as a halfway point, and I got there fairly readily, despite the increased difficulty of the rocks. But they just kept getting worse. One boulder field is tolerable, but when it's followed by yet another boulder field, and another, and when you look up and it's only rocks around each corner, as far as you can see, it's more than a little discouraging. And very slow going. And it's impossible to judge distance. I felt like I had been hiking forever and that the shelter had to be around every corner. County had gone ahead, and began to worry that I might have passed the shelter. Then I finally came to a sign post that said Allentown Shelter:one & a half miles. That doesn't sound like very much, but it nearly killed me. A mile and a half when you think you're already there sounds like a death sentence. And it was all rocks. But I nearly ran it--it was starting to get dark and I wanted the day over with. When I finally got to the shelter, County was packing up his gear, getting ready to come look for me. He thought for sure I had hurt myself, I had taken so long. He went and got water for me, though, and I was able to rest my feet. We're the only ones at the shelter tonight, for the second night in a row. And one mile ahead of schedule.
Date: 2004-07-29
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Jailhouse Hostel, Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 17.7

Another brutal Pennsylvania day. I started out this morning with town as my goal, which always helps. Today the rocks were bad in the morning. We went through one section of boulders on cliffs with a sheer one hundred foot drop on one side. They call it the "Knife Edge". Not as bad as Katahdin, I'm sure, but close. And then just more and more boulders, which brutalize your feet. Coming into Bake Over Knob Shelter I expected the worst to be over, but we went past the vista that all the tourists climb to and encountered the worst rocks yet. The shelter was inhabited by two snakes, one black and one unknown. They were resting and caused us no trouble, but it would have made for an interesting nights sleep. According to the register, some had done it. We encountered a southbounder about a mile from the shelter, Twilight, one of the first sobos we've met. He's not thru-hiking this year, but finishing his second section hike, of the AT, from Vermont to Harpers Ferry. He gave us the good news: the rocks improve. And they did. Coming into town they were never good, but tolerable. The last part of the day was beautiful ridge-walking with views on both sides. Enough to make me forget about the rocks--almost. And tonight we're at the legendary "jailhouse hostel" of Palmerton, after a cheesesteak pizza--allegedly the old jailhouse, although there are those among us who remain skeptical. It's just an old basement in the town hall, stifling hot, with bunks. We did have to check in with the police, though. And Wonder Boy is here! He's driving Lil Munchkin and Gordy around. They're staying the night too, so it should be a great time.
Date: 2004-07-31
From: Jailhouse Hostel, Palmerton, PA

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We left Palmerton today, at long last, after zeroing. My thirty-sixth zero day. Rather ridiculous. I guess I really am enjoying my hike, though. Mainly we wanted to hang out with Wonder Boy and company--we had a great time, took him out to lunch, to repay him for all the hospitality in Harpers Ferry and Port Clinton. It was a weird little hotdog joint/snack bar. I'm beginning to see more weird northern stuff like that--I'm beginning to feel out of my element in the northeast. It was overpriced, too. We would have been better off with cheesesteaks. Also had Chinese food for dinner and hung out with the gang from the jailhouse--Gordy sang and played guitar for us. She has an amazing voice. We're really starved for good music out here. This morning we had breakfast at the diner and caught a hitch back to the trail, then climbed up the Palmerton Superfund site. They used to smelt zinc on top of the mountain, and now the ten miles out of Palmerton is a wasteland. It's a cool climb, though--the hardest, they say, until New England. It was all rock climbing and clambering. Fun stuff, actually, unlike the usual Pennsylvania rock situation.Hiking the Superfund site was fun too--an easy walk on top of the ridge with great views. It felt like the desert in New Mexico or something, with all the brush and rock and stunted trees. A lot of people have waxed metaphysical about it--I just think it's good to have a reminder of what we can do to the wilderness if we're not careful. What was weird was how unprotected it was--we could have camped anywhere or drank the water, so I'm not sure how polluted it is. The rocks today weren't bad at all, or maybe I'm just getting used to Pennsylvania. We're at the shelter tonight with Tex and three section hikers out for the weekend. Tomorrow's their last night out so they gave us all their extra food, including two sticks of pepperoni, crackers, and pudding. Very exciting. It's great pepperoni, too. They're planning a two-week trip in New Hampshire starting next week and a thru-hike someday, so it was fun giving them tips.
Date: 2004-08-01
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Kirkbridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

The first day of August. Time really flies out here. It's crazy. We were supposed to go all the way into the Delaware Water Gap today, but I chickened out. I had heard, from numerous people, that this section of rocks was the worst, and I didn't want to push it. Plus we got another late start today, not because we woke up late, but because of the rain. It rained all morning, so the six of us chilled in the shelter and the section hikers made us all coffee. When we finally got going, in the sunlight, it was noon. It was an easy day, though, for the most part. I had heard that the rocks were horrific coming out of Leroy Smith shelter, but I didn't think they were all that bad. It helps being prepared for the worst. It also depends what kind of rocks you dislike most--I don't mind the little pointy ones as much as the big boulder fields, but County much prefers the big ones to the stretches where you can't even lay your foot flat on the trail, and we had those for about five miles straight this afternoon. I was actually feeling very good about my new found rock-handling ability when we got to Wolf Rocks, a big stretch of boulders, and I fell. Not badly--I fell on my butt and pretty much slid down a boulder and grabbed some bushes--but enough to really shake me up. I sat down at the next vista I came to and just meditated for a while. It's hard to continually be brave, to keep fighting the good fight. After falling, I went half as fast through the boulders, stepping gingerly instead of confidently, which is the opposite of what I should do. So I was ready to stop at the shelter. Thirteen miles is enough for me today.
Date: 2004-08-02
From: Kirkbridge Shelter

To: Presbyterian Church of the Mtn., Del.Water Gap,PA
Miles today: 6.4

   Another short day today. I am officially twenty-three miles behind on my schedule to see my brother. We woke up late again today, and I really didn't feel like hiking. I think I'm still shook up from my fall yesterday. Which really didn't help me today, because I fell again. Two miles from the Pennsylvania border and a rock finally trips me up. It was just a tiny little rock, one of the pointy ones I've been dodging for days, but I was rushing to get down to the Gap and I fell. Twisted my ankle, too. I nearly slid off the side of the trail--it was steep there--but avoided that, merely scraping my knee and crying out. County came running back to see how I was, and this other thru-hiker, Freebird, whom we had met earlier at the shelter, came running from behind where he was at an overlook. I was really fine. I think I cried out maybe from fear and surprise than from pain. Freebird's a cool guy--we spent about two hours talking to him at the shelter. He thru-hiked the AT for the first time in ninety-six, the PCT in ninety-seven, and half the AT again in two thousand and one. So this is his third time out. He has a ton of stories to tell. And we have a ton of questions to ask him, especially about the PCT, since County and I are planning to do it next year. So it's cool to be here at the hostel with him tonight, even though we were planning to walk north through the Gap without stopping. The hostel is nice, with bunks and a shower, the second chuch hostel I've stayed in on the trail. Two Czech guys who just got in from Alaska are here, as well as Lightweight Joe, an ultra-light thru-hiker whose basepack weight is six and a half pounds, and Tex who zeroed here today. There's also a southbounder, the first we've stayed with, Dances with Moose. My parents met Lightweght Joe in June in the Grayson Highlands, as it turns out, which is an indicator of either how fast he's going or how slow I'm going. I'm beginning to wonder if Hanover by the thirty-first is even doable, and if I can't maintain that pace, I don't know how I'm ever going to get to Katahdin by October fifteenth, especially over the Whites, let alone do the PCT. I think I am officially the slowest hiker on the trail. Freebird calls us "relaxed" but I'm not sure if that is accurate. "Lazy" may be more so, or "sucky". We got here early enough to get something to eat, but we're trying to preserve the money on our budget, so we poked around, taking showers and talking before deciding to go get a pizza. And, as it turned out, the pizza place was closed. It's probably for the best--we ended up eating lentils out of the hiker box at about ten, which is definitely a way of saving money. As damaging as it is to morale.
Date: 2004-08-03
From: Presbyterian Church of the Mtn, Del Water Gap, PA

To: Backpacker campsite outside Del Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: scattered clouds

The count now is thirty-four miles behind. Bonzo showed up today, of all people, just as we were headed back on the trail, backpacks on our shoulders. We were literally on the trail, walking out of the church driveway, and I was congratulating us on our departure from town in less than twenty-four hours without spending any money. When County says, "Well, that's the end of that," and yells, "Bonzo!" and runs up to his van, which was pulling into the chuch at that very instant. Pretty fortuitous--Wonder Boy in Palmerton, and now Bonzo. That's what the trail is all about, I suppose, those coincidences that maybe aren't so coincidental at all. We had breakfasted on leftover lentils and free donuts at a local bakery, and had had ambitious plans to hike a twenty today. But Bonzo ruined all that. He's driving Nopain up here, a hiker who's hiked four or five years in a row. One of those crazy ones. This year he decided to skip Pennsylvania. A smart fellow, if you ask me. So Bonzo drove him from Harpers Ferry to DWG. Bonzo even had the brilliant idea to take a road trip to go see Wonder Boy where he's hanging out with Gordy and Munchkin. But neither Nopain or us really wanted to go, so he nixed that idea.Instead, we spent the morning and afternoon hanging out by a pond and stream we passed yesterday and then went to the pizza restaurant after all. I had a cheesesteak. It was delicious. So much for not spending money in town. Our major accomplishment, today, is hiking at all when we so easily could have zeroed. But Bonzo was talking about heading back to Harpers Ferry and we really were motivated to hike today, so we headed out with just enough daylight to hike the four miles here. The bad news: New Jersey has rocks too. The rumor is they go away after High Point, about thirty miles from here. We'll see.
Date: 2004-08-06
From: Cobmar Ridge Motel, Branchville, NJ

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up this morning to the phone ringing and the owner of the motel telling me it was time to check out. We always try to get our money's worth out of motel rooms, mainly by staying till the last possible moment. And I guess we statyed up too late last night watching bad movies on cable. The motel owner gave us a ride back to the trail, thus avoiding any illegal hitchhiking, and we stopped at a restaurant by the trail to get a burger and fries for breakfast, not getting out until one. And we still did sixteen miles. Pretty impressive, if you ask me. It was a lovely day--mainly ridge-walking and big slabs of rock again, with very nice vistas. New Jersey continues to be very pleasant. But very bad for water. Many of the shelters don't even have water. Thankfully, trail angels are very active here and there's been water left out at almost every road crossing, definitely helping us out. We're having to drink out of a stream tonight, though--generally we're snobby about water sources, preferring springs and other sources we don't have to treat. We may have to lower our standards for New Jersey and New York.We also came through High Point State Park today, a really nice park with a beautiful tower built at an overlook. I used my last picture to take one of it in the sunset. We also met a seventeen-year-old kid who wants to thru-hike someday, out for a day hike with his girlfriend. He kept trying to give us both money--$10--to support our thru-hike. We refused it, of course, but it's still amazing generosity. I've heard stories of other people being given money on the trail before, but this is the first time I've experienced it. We're here tonight with a southbounder and Nopain. The sobo is actually an 1800-mile section hiker--he did Maine before and refuses to do it again. My shoulder is still bothering me. It's been bothering me again, even with the new pack, for a while, and I'm not sure what to do about it. I even took pain medication again for the first time today. These back problems have been unrelenting.