morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-18
From: The Doyle

To: Clarks Ferry shelter
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up and went downstairs to the bar for breakfast as gross as that sounds. I was in no hurry to leave an establishment as fine as the Doyle. After breakfast the pool games started up as Blue Stool, Halfway, Bucky and I wasted much of the day. Some random guy came in and offered anyone who wanted it some homemade ice cream, so of course like sheeps led to the slaughter several of us followed him back around the corner to his house for some excellent chocolate ice cream which I hungrily ate hoping it didn't contain poison. We told him that he should have a hiker register since this was something he did often so his wife handed us a folded up piece of paper with some writing on it as the new hiker register which we eagerly signed. It was an old couple who got a kick out of giving people ice cream. As the day wore on it was getting harder and harder to leave. I had another massive serving of fries, and a couple beers as I watched it begin to sprinkle outside. Damn. There is nothing harder than leaving a town when it is raining. Fortunately there was a break and it seemed to completely pass over so Bucky and I headed out to the first shelter. We followed the trail down the main street of the town for a mile and cut across the Susquehanna River and began climbing out of town. The rocks had grown a little bit worse in the last day or two and I heard this was where it really began. The nighmare rocks that Pennsylvania is known for and that you hear so much about. The climb up was very rocky and the last stretch was all boulders to scramble over as you almost reached the top of the ridge. It became clear that a very fierce thunderstorm was approaching us. We heard it growing closer as we neared the top struggling to make it over boulders as fast as we could to avoid getting wet. We weren't going to make it to the shelter before it hit, and hit it did. All of a sudden massive winds and pouring rain was upon us, this one didn't start with a few drops like most it came in with a vengence. We struggled to put on our pack covers and keep walking. We started on and I looked up to see the massive trunk of a dead tree (widow maker) begin to split and come crashing down swinging toward us coming to a rest about ten feet in front. It was a close call. Bucky looked over at me and I screamed "well we're not in a very good f---ing place we have to keep moving". So onward over the tree and boulders that lay in front of us we moved in the ferocious storm with an eye up to look for more widow makers. The rain stopped just before we got to the shelter of course, at which time I couldn't be any wetter if I was underwater and in no mood to set up my tent, luckily there were only P-nut and Peach Monkey in the shelter.
Date: 2003-07-19
From: Clarks Ferry shelter

To: Rausch Gap shelter
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: clear sky

Headed out early to make up for a little lost time with a big day. It was only about six miles to get to the shelter I was planning on staying in yesterday which was a very nice large double story one. Right next to it was a very old very small, short to the ground shelter which was kind of rediculous by today's standards. It was built by Earl Shaffer the very first person to do a thru hike and a trail legend. There was plenty of rocks to go around the rest of the day, sometimes covering the ground completely making sure there were no patches of dirt in between so you had no choice but to step on them. Other times there were massive boulders to scramble across and do some rock climbing. I still wasn't very impressed although supposedly the farther north you get in the state the worse they become. The rest of the day was a concerted effort to get the 25 in before it got dark. Five of us just made it around dusk. Bucky and I camped with Beach, who we hadn't seen since the middle of Virginia, near the side trail to the shelter. I was very tired after a long day and went right to sleep after dinner.
Date: 2003-07-20
From: Rausch Gap shelter

To: 501 shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: broken clouds

Beach, Bucky and I set out pretty early on today but the going was slow with lots of nice break spots and tired legs from a long day. The day was going along very uneventfully. Some rocks, uphill downhill, etc. We stopped for a break along a nice overlook. There were a whole bunch of turkey vultures circling out in front and a couple in a tree silhouetted against the background. It made for a nice picture so Beach handed me his camera and began to step out on the rock farthest out. He halted mid step and said whoa a copperhead. Sure enough there was a poisonous snake right there, then we spotted another in the same crack, then the head of another poking out from the crack. A final one was in the grass right next to the crevice. We had found a copperhead den. This jumped my snake total up quite a bit and was the first I had seen in this supposedly snake-ridden state. Baltimore Jack caught up to us and asked us if we had seen the Rattlesnake a couple hundred yards back. Someone had left a note that there was one and I searched for it but no snake. I wanted to see a rattler so after we showed him our snakes he led us back to the one he had seen which was still there but in no mood to rattle. Oh well at least I got the picture. We marched on stopping at a spring for water. I was in the lead and heard a lot of noise coming from up in a tree off the trail. I searched with my eyes as I continued to walk. Then I saw it, a massive black mass high up in the top of a tall tree peering down on us. A bear. We stopped briefly to see it climb down the tree very fast and take off running. It was an impressive sight to see a bear climb down a tree, you can truly appreciate what a strong creature it was. This was a banner wildlife day for us as we marched into the totally enclosed (and full) 501 shelter with running water and a few pieces of pizza that someone had hitched into town to get. The shelter was right next to the road (501). I tented out, going to sleep only after a large bonfire with lots of people to talk to. A good time was had by all.
Date: 2003-07-21
From: 501 shelter

To: eagles nest shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: broken clouds

The stated goal of the day was to make the 23 miles into the town of Port Clinton so we could stay in the town pavillion that they offer to hikers for free and eat breakfast in town, which was always a goal of mine. Bucky's birthday was coming up in five days and we wanted to make the last hundred miles of Pennsylvania to the town of Delaware Water Gap, PA to celebrate in town. The late starting time didn't help us make 23 miles on rocky terrain. the rocks of PA that were played up so much were getting a bit worse. The pace of the day was pretty quick but it would be hard to make those miles. As the day wore on it looked more and more like rain. we had been walking near an artillery range for the army that had been setting off some huge explosions we had heard for days. The explosions always sounded like thunder from a distance. We had finally passed this place yesterday and were getting almost out of hearing range. We came upon a shelter that was about eight miles from town and we heard what sounded like faint thunder heading this way. Beach dismissed it as more artillery but I thought it sounded real this time. Beach disagreed and stood to make two more miles to camp near a spring. Bucky and I debated and decided that we would stay and head in and out of town tomorrow. We hurried to the shelter. There was little room so I decided to tent. By that time it was apparent that a storm was rolling in and it sounded like a real whopper. I hurried to get my tent up as it seemed to be coming in at a very high speed. Just then a huge CRACK about 50 yards to my left scared the hell out of me. I cried out in surprise. That was the closest lightning had ever come to me. I could feel the electricity in the air. I finished staking the rainfly down as another lightning bolt sliced through the air in about the same spot as the first. I cried out in surprise again. I got a good look at those two bolts and honestly both scared the s@#* out of me. I retreated to the shelter to ride out the storm just as the first drops of rain fell. When it came it came in hard and i mean it pounded. It was the loudest thunder I ever heard and this was by far a worse storm than the one i got caught in coming out of Duncannon when the tree fell in front of me. We all oohed and ahhed in the shelter as the storm cruised through. Another crack of lightning came down about 30 yards to the left of the shelter that made the whole thing cry out in unison. This one was even brighter and closer that the last two. A section hiker in the shelter told us that she was a lightning magnet and related a couple eerie lightning tales to us as we held a collective breath wondering if this was the end. It wasn't and the storm passed soon though we could hear it for a while. We went over to the spot near the shelter where the bolt hit and made an amazing discovery, it had gone down directly between two trees splitting a 6 inch stripe of bark as it made its way down. I went to sleep having had enough excitement for the day.
Date: 2003-07-23
From: Port Clinton pavillion

To: Allentown Hiking Club shelter
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: overcast clouds

There was a good crowd of hikers that stayed overnight in the Port Clinton pavillion.   Me, Bucky, Espy, Blue Stool, Rattlesnake, red man and beach, who we finally found alive. He had camped where he said he was and clamied he had just enough time to throw his tent up get his pack and self inside before the storm hit. The first of three big days got off to a slow start as we walked a mile down the road to a diner for breakfast. HOw could I turn it down? Bucky and I along with the other hikers were really tested when a hiker friendly local offered to take us all down the the Yuengling brewery for a tour which we all had to slowly deny, no one wanted to stay in this crappy little town. Bucky and I left slightly ahead of the pack at noon still intent on putting in our miles to get to Delaware Water Gap. No one thought it was possible. I even had to admit it didn't look good but the first step was day 1. We hurried out and walked steadily fast for a couple hours stopping only at pulpit rock where we saw a copperhead and again at the pinnacle where we saw two more. Seems like every rocky lookout in Pennsylvania was a copperhead den. Didn't stop me from sitting. The pinnacle was supposedly the best overlook in PA, it wasn't incredibly dramatic but a nice modest view of the surrounding hillsides and farmland in the valley below. What it also had in its view in this moment was some dark clouds moving our directious underneath which you could actually see the rain falling. Great. We headed out quickly as if somehow walking fast could keep the rain from falling, which of course it soon did. This wasn't a fierce storm like those of late but a heavy, steady rain designed to wet everything I owned. We walked a few miles and came to a road that led to a shelter but was seven or eight miles from where we had planned to go. Here was where I met my first southbounders, a couple. They would be the first of many. We sat resting in the pouring rain as if it were a beautiful day and the sun were out. We decided that we needed to move ahead and set out to cover the last eight miles or so at a fast clip as eventually the rain stopped. I knew that we had to be getting close to the shelter when i heard the sound of thunder, not the nice rolling thunder of a drenching rain but the hellish booming thunder of a fierce storm like in days past. My already quick pace redoubled. Don't get me wrong i was already wet but had walked enough moisture off that i was no longer soaking just very wet, not to mention I didn't want to be out in another storm at the end of the day. We had to be getting very close as the storm bore down on us. Boom. Crack. Too late! We cruised into the shelter several minutes later looking very much like drowned rats.
Date: 2003-07-26
From: Delaware Water Gap

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

I knew that today wouldn't be too productive in the hiking department. I had debated most of the morning about whether or not I would be hiking out or not and it didn't look good. Even if I did it would be a short distance, I was just too worn out from Pennsylvania and in particular the last few days. How could I go so long without a zero day, I wasn't being fair to myself the way I came down into town so crippled. There was also a yankees-red-sox game on tv today that I wouldn't mind seeing. I had only seen a few games this year and yanks-sox was premium. A group of us got a ride into the nearest town to do laundry and buy groceries. Since I didn't care about either I went into a pub to watch the game. The red sox were in control late in the game when we went back to DWG. This was a pretty boring town for hikers, mostly catering to wealthy tourists passing through with only a few artsy gift stores and upscale eateries. There wasn't much to do but relax and tell stories with other hikers. No one that was in Port Clinton with us a few days ago even made it to town today so we could boast our achievements. What we did in three days the others were doing in 5 or 6. I was going faster than someone for once, a feeling I didn't know too much. I was hoping to catch Happy Feet who I last saw in northern Virginia. He had been a few days ahead but we were gaining fast in the last couple days. We had heard he was already gone, but were pleased to walk down to the pizza place for dinner and find him standing outside. We decided to forget the hostel and a few of its undesirable other guests that we didn't like and hike back into the woods where we found the little kid yesterday just far enough to pitch our tents and have a fire to catch up on old times before heading into New Jersey tomorrow.
Date: 2003-07-27
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: broken clouds

After a much needed day of rest and catching up Bucky, Happy Feet, and I headed out over the Delaware river and into New Jersey. Only 160 miles and two state borders lay between me and my home state of CT and the much anticipated New England. We spent a brief period at the information center for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area entertaining tourists with our stories. People never ceased to be amazed by what we were doing. To us it was just life last month I walked and next month I'll walk. We headed on up the hill to the gorgeous Kittatinny Ridge. It was a hot day but being a weekend there were tons of people. I must say that it will never get old passing people on uphills who are out for the day without a pack. They are astounded to watch a smelly bearded fellow with a large pack cruise by on up the mountain that they are struggling with, although most of them failed to realize that we were truly professionals. At the top of the climb I had my first experience with a mad rattlesnake. A big one was coiled up and furiously rattling at us to leave it alone. Some of those we had passed caught up and looked on undoubtedly thinking we were morons for standing over it laughing. At the top of the ridge the trail passed by what would soon become a common feature of the trail, glacial ponds. Sunfish pond was the southernmost and even though there were strict warnings against swimming it was something of a thru-hiker tradition which on a hot day we were in no position to argue against. We strolled out along the ridge at a leisurely pace until we made it to the Mohican Outdoor Center, an Oasis along the trail where one could purchase cold soda and candy bars at a place intended for families who drive up. Now I normally am not the type of person to drink four sodas back to back but I couldn't help myself, today it was the nectar of the gods. It had gotten to be pretty late and we debated going on. We had only done ten miles and I was scheduled to meet my relatives 50 miles down the road in two nights. It was late and the afternoon thunderstorm was on its way, case closed. There were nice bunkhouses to stay in for 15$, but tentsites were free to thru hikers so I could save my money for about five more sodas that night. I did use the bunkhouse for its stove and tables when the rain came. On my way in I was startled by a large movement about ten feet from my tent, a large black bear was ambling through the site and ran off, believe it or not New Jersey has the largest bear population in the East and were common sites in this state. Luckily this incident had no effect on my sleep, but what does?
Date: 2003-07-28
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Sunrise Mountain
Miles today: 23.3

Got off to a fairly early start today with the idea of making lots of miles. The New Jersey ridgelines that the trail passed by today were beautiful, who would of thought that Jersey would have so much to offer. What it didn't have to offer was a lot of good streams to get water from. The first water stop today was an ice cold pump which was about the nicest water I can remember from this stretch. There was another detractor from this area and that would be mosquitos. I had heard that they get to be pretty bad along this stretch and we were just getting to understand what that meant, but the worst was yet to come. We were due to hit Culvers Gap today where there was a bakery right next to the trail that we had heard much about. We had to keep a good pace going to get there by five. On the decent down to the road we saw a bear with two cubs. This was the first bear I had encountered with young and was waiting for the vicious attack to begin. Instead the bear merely looked at us and continued prodding its young again, so of course I took out my camera and tried to creep closer to get some good pictures that turned out nothing more than dark gloomy woods. The bakery was everything it promised to be and more. We feasted like kings outside. This place was also the best water supply since the pump so we filled our bottles from the spigot on the side, awful lot of spigot water these days. The girl gave us a large bag of donuts as she headed home for the evening which was enough to make us shed tears of joy and make our stomachs feel like lead. Conveniently there was a bar right next door to let them settle. There were about ten hikers in there so we were obligated to spend a little time. I wasn't interested in night hiking when I entered this place but as time passed it became a necessity as Bucky and I headed out under the cover of darkness to cover the 6 miles uphill to camp at a pavilion on top of Sunrise Mountain that you aren't allowed to camp in. Seeing the rule as unjust since it was only to keep rowdy locals from partying we disregarded it and had a mansion to spend the night in, making sure to hang our food from the rafters.
Date: 2003-07-30
From: the bars' household

To: Wildcat shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: broken clouds

I awoke in a bed in an air conditioned room. Simply amazing. It had been really hot out lately and this feeling was sublime. I could lie there forever and did for most of the morning. Times like that were enough to make one question and second guess the decision to give up the civilized life of luxury and comfort and replace it with one that was quite the opposite. Donna Bars treated me to a local delicacy for breakfast, a breakfast hero sandwich with the eggs, bacon, cheese and homefries all on the sub. If I could have had one of those every day a thirty miler would be the norm, easy to do instead of a knee wrenching, foot damaging, leg burning, mind twisting....never again! I had made arraingements to be picked up by my friend tomorrow and the Bars again the day after to bring me home for my much anticipated family reunion and time off. In other words I had miles to make. I thanked my hosts profusely and headed out up the hill after Donna returned me to the trailhead. Its amazing how quickly you can go from town clean to wallowing in your own filth when a steep rocky climb is involved. In minutes I was as filthy as I arrived last night, maybe a slightly fresher stench. Due to the late start I kept a steady pace without much rest all day. I saw my last bear of New Jersey just before the spraypainted line on the rocky ridge marked my entrance into New York.   In all I had seen six or seven, not bad for a seventy mile stretch. I pushed on until I got close to a road two miles from where I was planning on staying, and by planning I mean had to stay since I had about an inch of warm water left. I was so thirsty what I wouldn't do for a....bam trail magic. I would have killed for a coke, but I wasn't asked to by the thru hikers and thier cooler of drinks. They were saying goodbye to a friend who had hiked with the for a few months and was getting off the trail. I had never met the girl but was sure happy to get that soda. I cruised the rest of the way into the shelter. I headed straight for the water which was a small puddle that smelled of sulpher. I couldn't wait to get into New England where the elevations would rise up and bring me some decent water, it just was too low here. My filter did little to alleviate the sulpher taste, but what could I do right now that gross water was to me as the bed and a/c were this morning.