morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-02
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Hiking Center
Miles today: 14.8

Day 102: Sparky, SilverGirl, and I are up and hitting the breakfast buffet at 6:30 this morning. We want to get back on the trail as early as we can to beat the heat. By 7:30, we are out on the road, walking and hitch hiking back up towards Port Clinton. It is about 3 miles up the road, but we need to get back there to pick the trail up where we left off on Saturday morning. For the first 15 minutes, nobody stops to pick us up as we hitch hike and walk. We begin to think that we'll have to walk all the way, when suddenly an 18 wheeler stops to give us a ride. We've never had a ride in an 18 wheeler before, so this is kind of cool. The driver drops us off very close to the trailhead and we thank him for the ride. Before getting back on the trail, SilverGirl and I stop in at the Post Office to ship her old hiking shoes home. They are still in reasonably good condition, so she will get some more use out of them after we return home. Sparky walks across the street to the Barber Shop to get a quick haircut, so SilverGirl and I start off on our own. Sparky is a fast hiker, so he will catch up to us during the day. The climb out of Port Clinton is steep and rocky for awhile, but once we reach the ridgeline, the terrain becomes a lot less rocky and we are able to move right along for the most part. We reach Pulpit Rock at 11:30 and stop there for lunch. We relax here for 45 minutes, admiring the picturesque farmlands below as several hawks circle and soar on the warm thermal air currents in front of us. After lunch, the trail becomes rocky for the next couple of miles over to the Pinnacle overlook. Again, we are treated to magnificent views. Leaving the Pinnacle, the trail turns into a gravel road for the next few miles, which makes for very easy walking. As we walk, we see a group of people coming towards us walking the other way. When they reach us, a young man in the group asks us if we are thru-hikers and offers us some cold drinks and candy bars. We can't believe our good fortune. Then, as we introduce ourselves to him, he tells us that he thru-hiked the trail in 2001 and that his trail name is Maximus. When he says his name, SilverGirls eyes widen and she asks him if he is the same Maximus that co-starred in the well known AT video called TREK. When he acknowledges that he is the same Maximus, SilverGirl gets quite excited. We have watched that video so many times, we almost know it by heart, and now to meet one of the main characters in the video and get trail magic from him really makes our day. After walking another couple of miles over easy terrain, we arrive at the Eckville Hiking Center at 3:45, where we set up our tents. This is a very nice place to camp, with a nicely mowed stretch of grass, tent platforms, and an unobstructed view of the sky. I hope to spend a little time tonight after dark just gazing at the stars. Tomorrow, we will hike about 13+ miles to a campsite. The weather promises to be hot again, so we'll shoot for a fairly early start.
Date: 2012-07-03
From: Eckville Hiking Center

To: Campsite Near Powerline
Miles today: 13.4

Day 103: After an almost full moon last night, we wake at 6:00 to a beautiful morning - clear sky with temperatures in the 70s. I join Sparky at the campsite picnic table where we cook our breakfasts together. SilverGirl rests in the tent a bit longer while I fix her some tea and oatmeal. By 7:45, we are heading up the trail. Our first few miles of hiking this morning takes us up about 900 feet to the ridgeline where the trail flattens out. As we climb, we move in and out of some very rocky sections of trail. The rockiest sections don't even look like a trail, just a continuous pile of rocks with white blazes guiding us through them. During the morning, we stop at Dans Pulpit, which provides a beautiful view of the countryside below. For lunch, we stop at the Allentown Hiking Club Shelter. Moving on from ther into the afternoon, the trail again becomes relatively smooth and we cover some fast miles. Reaching Fort Franklin Rd, a woman in a camper summons us to come over for some cupcakes and water. Starcraft is her trail name. We spend about 1/2 hour visiting with her before moving on. The rest of the days hike is very easy - flat with minimal rocks. When we left Port Clinton two days ago, we were expecting the rocks to be very bad for the next 5 days. After 2 days though, the rocky sections of trail have been far less than the flat, less rocky sections. It has been a pleasant surprise to us so far. We are expecting more difficult rocky sections though as we hike from here  to Slatington tomorrow. At least that's what people coming the other way have been telling us. Tomorrow, Sparky, SilverGirl, and I will hike into Slatington, where we will stay for the night at the Fine Lodging Hotel. Less than 50 miles until we enter NJ!
Date: 2012-07-04
From: Campsite Near Powerline

To: PA 873, Slatington
Miles today: 11.3

Day 104: Overnight, a light rain started to fall shortly after we settled in for the night. It continued on and off during the night, but ended before it was time to get up. We rise at about 6:15, have a quick breakfast by the fire pit, and are on the trail by 7:30. Almost immediately, the trail turns very rocky and the going is slow. We pick our way up over the Knife Edge and on to Bake Oven Knob, where we stop to admire the views at overlooks on both sides of the ridgeline. Moving on,  we continue over rocky terrain until we arrive at Bake Oven Knob Shelter at about 9:30. It has taken us 2 hours to hike  4 miles. The shelter is very dingey and the water source is stagnant. Sparky makes the trek down the hill for some water, while SilverGirl and I decide we have enough water on hand to last the rest of the day. It is extremely hot and humid today, but thankfully we spend most of our time under the trees as we walk. By 1:30, we finish the steep descent down past the George Outerbridge Shelter and emerge onto PA 873. As  soon as we get there, Ira, from the Fine Lodging Hotel, shows up to pick us up. Starcraft, our trail magic angel whom we met yesterday, is also there waiting for her husband. She offers us all some ice cold Dr Peppers which are greatly appreciated. Ira drives us back to rhe hotel where we get checked in and settled. While Sparky takes care of laundry, SilverGirl and I shower and walk over to Shacks, a pub style restaurant, for a late lunch. Afterwards, we pick up some ice cream at the nearby convenience store. For the rest of the afternoon until almost 7:00, we all take a much needed nap. Later, SilverGirl and I walk back down to rhe convenience store to pick up some gallon jugs of water and some more food for dinner. Water is supposedly nonexistent on the trail tomorrow. Three other hikers who are staying here tonight have offered to stash one of the gallon jugs at a specified spot about 5 miles up the trail for us tomorrow, so that will really help us. Tomorrows hike will take us another 16 miles up the trail to the Leroy Smith Shelter. The day is predicted to be very hot and humid again. 3 more days and we enter New Jersey!
Date: 2012-07-05
From: PA 873, Slatington

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: broken clouds

Day 105: Ira, the owner of Fine Lodgeing Hotel, drops us off this morning at 8:30 at the bridge just before the Lehigh River. It is already very hot and humid. Sparky, SilverGirl, and I  walk across the bridge and ascend the very steep trail out of Lehigh Gap. The climbing here is hand over hand in places. We get some great views of Lehigh Gap and the river as we climb. After reaching the top, the trail winds around to an old road bed that we walk along for a couple of miles. In the valley below, we can see Palmerton and the old zinc smelting factory that wiped out all of the vegetation here on the ridgeline. Skeletons of old trees still remain to remind us that there once was a healthy woodland up here. Reaching the end of the road bed, we enter into the woods, where the trail becomes extremely rocky for the next 13 miles. The hiking is tortourous and exhausting as we stumble over endless miles of sharp rocks that jut out of the ground at weird angles. After 5 miles, we reach Little Gap. The Georgia Boys have stashed a gallon of water for us here in the woods, so we replenish our water bottles. All of the springs in this area have dried up, so water has been hard to come by lately. Starcraft is also here waiting for her husband, Spot, to arrive. For the third day in a row, she provides us with sodas and Reeses Pieces. What a nice lady she is. At about 4:00, we finally arrive at the Leroy Smith Shelter, where we set up our tent. Sparky and I make the long trek down the blue blazed trail for water and then cook dinner. We are all exhausted after todays ordeal with the rocks. Tomorrow promises to be more of the same as we continue on to the Kirkridge Shelter.
Date: 2012-07-06
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: clear sky

Day 106: My shin pain is back. After yesterdays 16 mile death march through the rocks, I wake up at 2:00 AM. My right shin is throbbing with pain and it keeps me awake for the rest of the night. SilverGirl also has a poor nights sleep. When we rise, I am limping, so I tell Sparky to hike on ahead of us today. For the first 1/2 mile, I limp along at a very slow pace, and then just as it has every other day, my leg starts to loosen up and the pain goes away. I am able to walk normally again from this point on. We walk through relentless rock fields for the first 5 miles down into Wind Gap. When we reach the road there, we take a short side trip over to the Gateway Motel, where our guidebook says we can buy sodas and get water from the spigot. Sparky is already here when SilverGirl and I arrive. I buy a soda from the very unfriendly woman who runs this place and then she informs us rudely that if we want some water, we are going to have to pay for it. Pay for water from a spigot? I don't think so, so we move on. Note to other hikers: Don't waste your time stopping at this dump. We walk back up the road to the trailhead, where a woman has just puuled into the parking lot to wait for her son, Machine, to emerge from the woods going southbound. She gives us a 32 oz bottle of Gatoraid. We also find a jug of water here, so we replenish our water bottles. Continuing on out of Wind Gap, we climb back up several hundred feet, where we resume our slow march through the endless rocks. Hiking over rocks while ascending or descending is one thing, but hiking through endless rock piles over flat terrain is just plan cruel. We stop for a quick lunch break at a campsite alongside the trail where Sparky catches up to us. The three of us then move on over Wolf Rocks to the Kirkridge Shelter. We decide here that we will push on another 6.5 miles and get into Delaware Water Gap tonight instead of tomorrow. The lure of town and finishing with the Pennsylvania rocks is just too strong to resist. After the shelter, the trail becomes less rocky, and we are able to move quicker. At about 5:30, we arrive in DWG, where we walk over to the Church of the Mountain Hostel. After showering and setting up our tent out back, a bunch of us walk down to the pizzaria for dinner. Our company includes Otto, Sparky, Tex, and Swiss Tony. After dinner, we walk up to the ice cream store and indulge ourselves with dessert. A very long, hot, tiring day today, but we have now finished Pennsylvania. Tomorrow, we will take a day off here in DWG, and then on Sunday, we cross the bridge into our 8th state, New Jersey!
Date: 2012-07-07
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 107: A brutally hot day today - 100 degrees. Thank God it is a zero day for us here in Delaware Water Gap. Last night, we tented on the lawn with several other hikers at the Church of the Mountain Hostel. This morning, we take our time getting up. As soon as the sun rises, the temperature soars. We walk down to the Water Gap Diner, where we have a nice breakfast with Tex and Sipsy. After breakfast, SilverGirl and I walk over to the Post Office to pick up our maildrop. Back at the hostel, we sit at a picnic table in the shade with Sparky and sort through our food, packing up our food bags for the next segment of our hike. After we are done, we move everything into the fan cooled hostel, where we just sit and relax in relative coolness until noon. At noon, we get a ride from PJ's dad over to Kittatinny Visitor Ctr, where PJ and Detours parents have laid out a huge spread of food and drinks for hikers. There is enough food here to feed over 100 people! SilverGirl and I eat as much as we can (way too much for me). After spending an hour or so there, we get a ride back to the hostel, where we again relax inside the cool hostel. Our legs and feet are so sore from yesterdays 20+ mile hike, all we want to do is rest. We have made a reservation at the Pocono Inn down the road for tonight, so at 3:30, we gather our stuff together and make the walk over to the hotel. Along the way, we stop in at the outfitter, where I pick up some new gators and some alcohol. Checking into the hotel, we do a laundry and just crash in our air conditioned room for the rest of the day. SilverGirl walks over to the convenience store next door to pick up a few things for dinner, but not me. I remain in the room, flat on my back on the bed, with a stomach still so full of food from lunchtime that it actually hurts. I do not have any dinner at all. Tomorrow, our plan is to hike over the bridge into NJ and on to the Mohegan Outdoor Ctr, about 10+ miles up the trail. Looking forward to NJ.
Date: 2012-07-08
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Rattlesnake Spring Campsite
Miles today: 13.4

Day 108: We take our time getting up this morning since we don't plan to go far today. After a quick stop in the hotel dining room for the continental breakfast, we walk back towards the trailhead across from the hostel. We see Sparky at the hostel along the way. He will catch up with us later after he goes to the outfitter when they open at 10:00. Crossing the Delaware River, we enter into NJ, our 8th state. As we reach the NJ side of the river, the sun breaks through morning clouds and the temperature and humidity again begin to rise. We climb about 1000 ft over the next 3.5 miles before reaching Sunfish Pond at about 10:30. It is an absolute pleasure to behold the first natural pond we have seen in a long time. It reminds us so much of New England. Walking to the north side of the pond, we admire all of the fancy rock sculptures along the shore that have been built there over the years by passing hikers. About a half hour later, we cross the summit of Kittaninny Mt, where we are treated to a view if the Delaware River below on one side and the NJ countryside on the other side (yes, there really are trees in NJ). As we move off the summit back into the woods, we stop for lunch at a nice overlook. Lunchtime is always such a nice relaxing time. We rest, enjoy the view, and watch hawks soar on thermal updrafts below us. Moving on after lunch, we hear a rustling in the brush about 15 feet in front of us. It is a medium sized bear, and when it hears us coming, it hustles off into the woods about 50 yards away and then stops to look back at us. I am able to get a picture of it as it watches us. After our bear encounter, we arrive at the AMC Mohegan Outdoor Center, where we are thinking of staying tonight. The price for a bunk however is way too high, so we decide instead to just buy a little food and move on to the next campsite 3 miles up the trail. Moving on, we reach an observation tower which we climb. The views from up here are amazing in all directions. At this spot, we have also passed the 1300 mile mark of our journey! At 4:45, we arrve at our campsite. With us here tonight is Sparky, K-Too, Ys Guy, Sipsy, PJ, and Otto. Loving NJ so far. It is soooo much smoother than PA.
Date: 2012-07-09
From: Rattlesnake Spring Campsite

To: NJ 206, Branchville
Miles today: 14.9

Day 109: A rather weird day for us today. We are up at 6:15 this morning along with everyone else at the campsite. The day is again sunny and warm, though not as warm as the past few days which is a relief. Sparky starts off about 20 minutes before us, but we catch up to him later at a water source where he has stopped for a break. Breeze is also here and he walks with us until lunch time. The trail today is a mixture of nice trail and annoying rocks. Even though we have left the nasty rocks of Pennsylvania behind us, New Jersey is trying to do its best Pennsylvania imitation on portions of the trail. At lunch time, we stop at the summit of Rattlesnake Mt, where way off in the distance to our north, we can see the monument on Hightop Mt, up near Port Jervis and I 84. For the rest of the afternoon, we hike through intermittent rocks, past dry streams, over high open stretches of field, and finally down to Rt 206 in Branchville. Our original plan for today was to walk over to Stokes State Park and share a cabin there with Sparky and K-Too, but we learn that the cabins are 5 miles inside the park, so we decide not to pursue that option. We walk down the road for about a quarter of a mile and stop in at a place called Gyps Tavern to get something to drink and figure out where we will stay tonight. K-Too takes a seat at the bar and asks for a menu. The bar maid then informs him and the rest of us that hikers are not allowed inside. We grab a couple of sodas from the refrigerator and head out back behind the tavern and wait for the bar maid to come take our orders for food. She never comes out. After 1/2 hour, I bring our empty soda bottles inside and offer to pay for them. The bar maid becomes very rude, saying how hikers smell and that the owner doesn't want them inside. I make a comment to the effect that we have not been treated like this anywhere since we started hiking in Georgia, at which time one bar patron pipes in with "Welcome to New Jersey". Then, a second bar patron tells me to go back to Georgia. Obviously, we are not welcome here, so we quickly leave. As we leave, Sparky turns to take a picture of this terrible place, and while he does, someone inside gives him the finger. We ignore it and move on down the road. Note to hikers: Do not go to Gyps Tavern on Rt 206. Hikers are not welcome there. After leaving, SilverGirl, K-Too, and I decide to hitch down the road for a couple of miles and get rooms at the Forest Motel. Our feet are very tired and sore, and we don't want to walk any further today. Sparky decides to walk into the State Park and search for a campsite. After about 10 minutes of hitch hiking, we get a ride to the motel. After checking in and showering, we walk over to Fratelli's Italian Restaurant with K-Too, where we enjoy a nice Italian dinner. After our experience with Gyps Tavern, we are anxious to get out of this town and move up the trail. We will leave early tomorrow morning, hitch back to the trailhead, and hike 16 miles to Highpoint Shelter, where we plan to meet back up with Sparky.
Date: 2012-07-10
From: NJ 206, Branchville

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 110: Last night at about 10:00, a couple with young children checked into the motel room next to us. For the next two hours, we lay awake in bed, listening through the cardboard thin wall, as the kids scream and cry and the parents talk. Finally, they all settle down and we get some sleep. SilverGirl and I rise at 6:15 and get out of the motel by 7:15. We try to hitch a ride from the motel back up to the trailhead 2 miles away, but have no luck, so we walk. Southern hospitality sure vanished quickly when we reached New Jersey. We get to the trailhead at 8:15 and duck back into the woods, happy to be leaving Branchville, NJ. The morning is sunny and cool as we start, but soon warms up to about 80 degrees. A couple of miles into our day, we reach a nice fire tower that offers some fine views all around. Way off in the distance to the north, we can see High Point Mt, with its stone monument on top. We will be staying very near there tonight. At 3 miles, we reach Gren Anderson Shelter, where we stop to refill our water bottles. Moving on, we walk along rocky trail as we pass through long stretches of woods that occaisionally break out into open ledges with nice views. At noon, we stop along an open, rocky section of trail where we sit and have a relaxing lunch. Lobster and Chickadee walk by as we eat. They are a very nice young couple from Maine. Continuing on through rocky conditions, we reach the High Point State Park Visitors Center at 3:15. When I inquire inside about whether they have a soda machine, the ranger offers us complimentary sodas, which is a very pleasant surprise. Apparently, they do this for all thru-hikers who come by. We also meet up with Sparky here. He has been sitting outside working on his hiking blog for the last hour. We all talk for awhile, trying to figure out what our plans will be over the next few days. I call Antons by the Lake in Greenwood Lake, NY and make a reservation there for SilverGirl and I for tomorrow and Thursday night. The owner will pick us up tomorrow when we reach the AT crossing of NJ 94 in Vernon. Tomorrows hike will be about 19 miles to get there, so we will leave very early. We are excited about staying at Antons. It looks like a very nice place to just relax for a day. The last couple of miles of our hike today take us close to High Point Mt. We climb an observation platform as we near the mountain and get a nice picture of the tall stone monument on top. We are the first hikers to arrive at the shelter when we finally pull in at about 5:15. We have the whole campsite and shelter to ourselves until Sparky and No Whistle arrive at about 6:30. We are seeing fewer and fewer hikers on the trail as we get further north. Many hikers have left the trail for a variety of reasons while those who remain are now quite spread out. We are still enjoying ourselves out here even though we have had some very tough times along the way. If we can make it into New England without any major mishaps, we are confident about making it all the way to Mt Katahdin. On we go!