morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-21
From: Bear Mountain Inn

To: Graymoor Spirtual Life Center
Miles today: 7.3

Woke up and packed and walked the lake trail to our deluxe continental breakfast (excellent again! Bacon instead of sausage being the only difference between days). Then it was time to hit the trail. The trail goes right through the Bear Mountain Zoo so we saw a bear!!! And a rattlesnake!!!! And a red fox!!!! (Okay, enough of that!). The zoo is quite small and most of the animals are in small cages. We think they are trying to improve things but, of course, that takes $$$. After the zoo we crossed the Hudson on the Bear Mountain bridge, largest suspension bridge in country when it was built. Once on the east/north side of the Hudson the trail heads up the ridge, only 500 ft up but, it sure seemed more (steep!). The rest of the day was a walk in the woods. The AT on this side of the Hudson lacks the rock outcrops and views that the trail has on the other side of the river. Stopped at the Appalachian Market for Gatorades (but no supplies as both our packs are seemingly stuffed with food items - although we know in 4-5 days we¢ll be rationing our food worried about running out before he next town.) We¢re camped on the ball field of a Franciscan monastery. They¢ve been providing this ¢magic¢ for hikers for many years. There¢s a covered pavilion, picnic tables, water ( including a cold shower) and privies. What more could you need. In 2015 when Wreck was here there must have been 50 tents. Today, so far less than two handful. Weather was again fantastic today. We¢re fed and relaxing on one of the many benches around the ball field. Going to try for a bigger day tomorrow so it¢s early to bed, early to rise. At least that¢s the plan!
Date: 2018-06-22
From: Graymoor Spirtual Life Center

To: Clarence Fahnestock State Park
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

A long day. Up and on the trail by 7:30am. Great weather again. Highs in the mid 70¢s with blue skies. Couldn¢t ask for better. Early on the trail was on a narrow AT corridor - several road crossings, disturbed forest with lots of poison ivy and TONS of garlic mustard. This afternoon we hiked through Clarence Fahnestock State Park. Nicer woods. Had a short section where we crossed a low area on a 8-10¢ raised trail (beautiful rock retaining wall). Wow! That took some work. Lots of stone today - including stone walls (we must be getting close to Robert Frost country). Went by one stone remains of a farmhouse and barn which served as a smallpox inoculation center for Washington¢s army during the revolutionary war. No real mountains to climb today (and for that matter for the next couple of weeks) but some steep ups and downs and, again to emphasize, lots of rocks to negotiate. Enough for Brighty¢s feet to tell her to slow down and so we did. Never did find a long stretch where we could make good time and so it was about 7:00pm before we reached this campsite. The State Park lets AT hikers camp in a big field about 0.2m from the sandy beach at the lake. Only three other tents here, two belonging to some young folks from Wisconsin and Tennessee whom we leapfrogged several times today. We¢ve eaten and taken care of all our chores and are bushed. Rain predicted for tomorrow and maybe tonight so the hatches are battened down and we¢re signing off for the night!!!
Date: 2018-06-23
From: Clarence Fahnestock State Park

To: NY52 Stormville 
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: overcast clouds

A much better day today. Had some rain last night but by the time we took down the tent (8 am) it was essential dry. A check of the weather showed that the 90% that had been predicted all week for today had dropped to 50%. Later it dropped to 20% and we still haven¢t had any. (Now they¢re predicting tomorrow). Lots of rocks today but, thankfully, most of them were NOT on the trail. Indeed the trail was very good the whole day. Climbed away from the lake and up Shenandoah Mountain this morning where we picked our first ripe blueberries! All three of them. Small but a reminder of things to come? We hope so! After lunch we stopped at the RPH (Ralph¢s Peak Hiker) shelter. We thought it must be special as it has an entire organization supporting it (RPH Cabin Volunteers Club). It was! Bunk beds, nice benches, good collection of books and two great chaise lounges outside. Very comfortable. Brighty could have stayed longer but there were miles to hike. The last couple days we¢ve noticed a lot of recent (Spring) blowdowns along the trail, almost all of which have already been cleared. Well, the epicenter, so far, of the damage was from RPH shelter up Hosner Mountain. Wow! Well over a hundred blowdowns (not all across the trail). Big trees - many of which were uprooted and knocked down. Brighty thinks it looked like a bomb had gone off (although after further consideration, we think a major wind event was probably the culprit ). Again, just about all blowdowns across trail had already been cleared. WOW! That took a lot of time. Thanks so much for the great work! Coming down Hosner Mountain, Brighty¢s feet started to protest but there was one more mountain to climb so up and over Storyville Mountain we went. Got to this campsite a little before 6 pm. Wreck walked the road about 0.5 mile to buy a couple of subs for dinner. We¢re battened down again in case the rains finally come. The thermarest are calling!!
Date: 2018-06-24
From: NY52 Stormville 

To: Telephone Pioneers shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

Good day, good trail. No rain last night so we got to pack up another dry tent. Forecast was for rain to possibly start around noon. Later that was pushed back to 2, then 4:15pm. It actually started around 3:30 pm. Light at first and then a pretty solid rain. Luckily, the trail had been so good that we reached this shelter before 5 pm - just before a really hard downpour started. We got to watch it from inside the shelter! Really poor campsites around shelter so we¢re going to chance the mosquitoes aren¢t bad and sleep in the shelter - with Deet nearby. Almost all day we hiked through land purchased specifically to establish a permanent corridor for the trail. Sometimes it was over 0.5m wide, other times only 0.1m wide. Mostly nice woods, a couple small views. This afternoon we skirted around Nuclear Lake, which according to a local Hiker we asked was named due to some 1950¢s nuclear processing facility there. Evidently they was a costly cleanup associated with the facility. Looked nice now and there were a few folks floating on the water so we guess all is good. We were even thinking of dipping our feet in but that¢s when the rain started. We¢re tucked in our bags now and the thunder has started. Looks like another line of storms are headed our way. We thinking/ hoping the shelter was a pretty good idea.
Date: 2018-06-25
From: Telephone Pioneers shelter

To: Wiley shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: broken clouds

It rained several times last night. That combined with the fact that we heard only a couple mosquitoes all night convinced us that we had made a good decision to stay in the shelter. Plus we had a nice talk with one of our fellow shelter mates - a young thruhiker from Grundy High School and UVA ( we asked him how he liked UMBC!). Up to a beautiful blue sky. We had a short day planned today so didn¢t hurry. Ambled down the trail and across a nice boardwalk over another beautiful marsh (Did we mention Brighty loves boardwalks over marshes?) Went by the biggest tree along the AT, huge oak right next to the highway going into Pawling, NY. Got to Native Landscaping a little after 10 am and waited for Roseann¢s food truck to open (at 11 am). Ate lunch (great milk shakes) and ambled some more. This afternoon the trail went through the Pawling Nature Preserve, a Nature Conservancy area. With several breaks, got to this shelter before 5 pm. We found a nice tent site and are fed and content. Weather forecast is for lows in the 40¢s tonight. We¢re breaking out all the clothes we have just in case and Brighty¢s space blanket is expected to be deployed. For now, it¢s a beautiful evening with lots a big trees around. Life is good!
Date: 2018-06-26
From: Wiley shelter

To: Schaghticoke Mountain campsite
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Just a great day today. Temperature dropped into the 40¢s last night but we both had enough clothes on that our summer bags kept us warm (plus Brighty¢s ¢space¢ blanket). Woke up to bright blue skies and so it was all day. Went into Connecticut earlier in the day and - so far- we love it! (Interestingly, this was Wreck¢s least favorite state in 2015). Climbed 10 Mile Hill and talked with a very nice family out for a day hike. (They had visited lots of National Parks so there was a lot to talk about). Down from the Hill we crossed 10 Mile River just above it¢s confluence with the Housatonic River. Next mile or so was a beautiful walk along the ¢ Hooz¢. Great diverse flora on steep hillside by river, especially great ferns (huge maidenhair ferns). We found a path down to a sandy beach (surrounded by Equisetum) and had a first lunch and swim (Wreck only). He says ¢very refreshing¢. Awhile later we walked upon some great trail magic provided by PigPen and friends ( PigPen hiked much of the trail in 2017). Hot dogs, chips, drinks, great brownies, fresh strawberries. Wow! And great conservation too!. Thanks PigPen!!!!! Walked 0.2m off trail down road to see 1842 covered bridge over the Hooz. Very picturesque. The rest of the afternoon we climbed this mountain (with several nice views) and pulled into camp after 6 pm. Beautiful campsite, mosquitoes near Deet level. We¢re tucked away in the tent, the sun has set and the slow train to Maine is shutting down for the night.
Date: 2018-06-27
From: Schaghticoke Mountain campsite

To: Kent CT
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Had a bard owl serenade us last night. This was a really nice campsite. Pretty 35¢ or so cliff right behind us. We had a short (even for us) day planned today. Our clothes hadn¢t seen a washing machine in 19 days! It was time. So we hiked over Mt Algo, a rockier climb than Brighty was expecting and down to Schaghticoke Rd which we walked into the small town of Kent, CT. Like many Connecticut towns, Kent is pretty and pricey. It¢s seems like a great town ( most folks very friendly) but you just got the impression that it doesn¢t understand the hiking community and it¢s needs nor really need the hiker¢s influx of cash. It¢s would do fine without them. Just a feeling we had. (We searched the pharmacy, food store and ¢outfitter¢ for a small bottle of hand sanitizers day travel size toothpaste  with no success.) We did have success finding a great lunch at JP Gifford¢s, got some insoles for Brighty¢ shoes, resupplied food at the IGA ( again, no hand sanitizer or toothpaste) and did wash at the laundromat. The owner of the laundry doesn¢t exactly like hikers (in fact, she pretty much banned them from coming for years). Her son and daughter-in-law have softened her up - but just a little. Let¢s just say she tolerates them - at least enough for us to wash our clothes. Then it was back to JP Giffords to get some ¢dinner to go¢ and afterwards we got picked up by the folks at Cooper Creek where we¢re spending the night. Comfortable room, it¢s raining outside and suppose to do so much of the night so we¢re content. Not so content with idea that rain is suppose to continue much of tomorrow but that¢s for another day. Besides ¢no rain, no Maine¢ as the saying goes.
Date: 2018-06-28
From: Kent CT

To: Silver Hill campsite 
Miles today: 10.3

There was quite a lot of rain last night - as we were snug in our bed at the Cooper Creek B&B. We got lucky. Up for breakfast, some conversation with the owners and back to the trailhead by 9:30 am, just as the rains transitioned from steady to light. Up, up out of Kent we went. The wet conditions had the red spotted newts on the move today. We saw nearly 20 this morning. Rain alternated between light and none on the way up to Caleb¢s Peak. We heard from a day hiker that there were great views up there if clear. Cloudy today. A little later we had lunch overlooking the Housatonic valley from St John¢s Ledges. Nice views there. Some rumbles of thunder ended lunch and we headed down a really steep section of trail to the river. The rocks were wet so it was especially slow going. Brighty fell once. Luckily backwards and by the time Wreck could turn to see what happened it looked like she was just sitting on a rock (which, we guess, she was). No harm so we continued down even slower. Got down to the river before the rains started. Had a couple periods of good rain this afternoon. Luckily, once down from the ledges, the trail runs flat right along the Housatonic for five miles - very scenic - so the rain actually were nice - cooling us off. The last mile today was uphill to this campsite. Nice site. Three young folks ¢zeroed¢ here today and said they saw a bear on the bear box last night. We shall see if it returns tonight - or if we can stay awake long enough to see it! Right now, we¢re fed, life is good and the slow train to Maine is shutting down for the night.
Date: 2018-06-29
From: Silver Hill campsite 

To: Belters campsite
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: few clouds

Woke up and it felt like a hot day - it was. We were the last folks leaving camp - 7:30am. The young thruhikers who zeroed here yesterday had big mileage plans for today (first one left at 5 am). Due to the recent rains Guinea Brook was running high. The usual rock hop was submerged so we changed into our crocs and waded across (only mid calf at deepest point). It was refreshing on a day where we needed refreshing. Lots of ups and downs today - sort of like the rollercoaster in VA - and many of the hills were quite steep. On the plus side we went through some real nice woods. In areas facing east and north lots of trillium, Solomon seal, maidenhair ferns and tons more. Nothing blooming but it was still nice. Wreck loved it. Quite a lot of small chestnut trees along the drier areas. We knew we started slow but thought we were making good time until we realized we had covered the first four miles in four hours! It was just one of those days. Had fun going through Connecticut¢s version of the Lemon Squeezer (Brighty thought it was maybe a grapefruit squeezer). Got to this campsite about 7 pm. That¢s a long day. High temperature was close to 90 degrees. As usual, wind and shade were our saving graces. Suppose to go down to low 60¢s tonight. That sounds great to us. It¢s still pretty hot right now. We¢re bushed and shutting down for the night. Northward Ho!!!!  - tomorrow.
Date: 2018-06-30
From: Belters campsite

To: Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 10.0

Well, as predicted, it did cool off nicely last night. We slept well. Today was a ¢town day¢ which always puts a spring to your step - although another really hot day may have knocked the spring down a notch or two. More 90 degree weather. Trail came down to the Housatonic this morning. We had a four mile stretch running near the river. The section coming into Falls Village was especially nice complete with lots of benches! Just above Falls Village the Hooz goes over an outstanding falls. Wow! That was quite a sight. Afterwards we climbed Mt Prospect (at 1475 ft the high point for today). Had lunch on top and dropped down eventually to the road that led us into Salisbury, Ct, another super nice, pricey Connecticut town (Meryl Streep has a residence nearby). We¢re not staying with Meryl but with Vanessa Breton who rents out rooms in her house to hikers. Got in, showered, ate at the nearby restaurant and - with the temperature predicted to reach 96 tomorrow- we¢ll ¢zero¢ in town and head out and into Massachusetts on Monday. For now, these comfortable beds are calling - although no air conditioning here so it may be a little warmer than if we were sleeping outside.
Date: 2018-07-01
From: Salisbury, CT

To: Salisbury CT
Miles today: 0.0

As much of the country knows - baby it¢s hot outside!!!! And pretty hot inside Vanessa¢s house too (not air conditioned). We slept fair last night. Went to breakfast in air conditioned restaurant this morning, resupplied at small but nice market here in Salisbury, repacked our packs, had an ice cream cone and contemplated what to do this afternoon with the heat index at 110 degrees. Luckily the Salisbury library, one of the most picturesque libraries around and with some of the most comfortable chairs anywhere and with great air conditioning was open on Sunday afternoon. It was an easy decision. Spent a relaxing afternoon catching up on the news (we didn¢t realize we¢re actually hiking the ¢Tallahassee Trail¢ - but it sure felt like Florida weather), and snoozing on those comfortable chairs. Now we¢ve eaten dinner, talked with ¢the kids¢ and - at least outside - is starting to cool off a little. Looking for a early start tomorrow (although Brighty is looking at a morning coffee at a shop that doesn¢t open until 7 am so we shall see). Suppose to be even hotter tomorrow so we¢re looking forward to those swimming holes in Sages Ravine. Massachusetts here we come!!!
Date: 2018-07-02
From: Salisbury CT

To: Laurel Ridge campsite
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: broken clouds

What do you do when the heat index is 110? Find a good swimming hole!!!! That¢s what we did - but first we had to get there. Last night in Vanessa¢s house was another hot one. Think it was probably mid eighties until well after midnight. Brighty needed a croissant and coffee this morning so it wasn¢t until 7:30 am before we left Salisbury. It was already heating up. Luckily there were a lot a small creeks early on so we drank, drank, drank. There were sections today where we had a little wind. They were fine. There were sections today that we had no wind. They were stifling. We were both sweating up a storm climbing Lions Head, the first climb of the day. Climbing Bear Mountain, the second climb of the day, was really tough. No wind AND no shade for long sections. It was oven like. Got to the top, found both some wind and shade and had lunch. Feeling a little better we headed down the other side of the mountain. Really rocky, really steep. We were really slow. Soon we had left Connecticut behind and entered Massachusetts. Yahoo! The first bit of trail in Massachusetts goes through Sages Ravine. Great place. Trail runs along nice stream with lots of -,you guessed it - swimming holes. Just what we needed. Brighty soaked her feet while Wreck took the whole body plunge. Nothing better on the hot summer day. We felt like new people. We linger there for awhile but finally pushed on to this campsite. Mosquitoes bad at first but we¢re packing Deet and we know how to use it! It¢s kept them at bay. Right now it¢s cooled off nicely. Not cool mind you but pleasant (we¢re over 1,600 ft so that might help a little). We hoping for the first good nights sleep in awhile. Then we¢re looking forward to climbing a few Massachusetts mountains!!!
Date: 2018-07-03
From: Laurel Ridge campsite

To: Glen Brook campsite 
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: light rain

Another hot day . . . another fine swimming hole. We both slept really good last night. It was kind of warm in the tent at first (but nothing like our nights in town). Cooled off enough for sound sleeping. By the time we got up (6:30am) it was already feeling like a warm day ahead. Today we had a choice. In Massachusetts they want you camping only in designated areas. So we could hike 5 miles or 19.3 miles. Since 19.3 miles with a heat index of over 100 wasn¢t going to happen we knew we had time to lollygag. First climb of the day was up Mt Race. We¢d like to say we raced up Race but it was more like plodding up Race. Great long stretch of views on top (hazy views but nice). Picked a couple handful of blueberries - just starting to ripen, and then plodded down. Despite the hot weather quite a few folks out on trail - thruhikers, dayhikers, an adventure camp group (probably close to 30 total). Most in good spirits despite the heat. Took a break between Mt Race and Mt Everett for an early lunch and then tackled the latter. Steep climb in the heat. We took several breaks before reaching the top. No pool with water slide on top so we headed down. Downhill was great (ie easy). Got to the Guilder Pond picnic area and ran into great trail magic (lots of Gatorade). Sitting around with several thruhikers enjoying the magic and the magic providers drove up (with more Gatorade). They had time, we had time so we had great conservation. Thanks so much! One thing we learned was Guilder Pond had a great rock along the shore that provided access into the pond for swimmers. We had the time so off we went. Found the rock (only a couple people there - they said on weekends it was packed), and into the water we went. It was a testament to how warm the pond was that both Wreck AND Brighty went in. Very nice. Chattedwith the other couple for awhile (we had time) and ambled over to this campsite. Seems like a very nice site. Lots of pretty healthy looking hemlock although the adelgid is suppose to be around. Really nice to see big hemlocks! Weather has cooled off nicely and, unlike last night, mosquitoes appear to be at a minimum. Got a lot bigger mileage day planned for tomorrow so we¢re going to try and hit the hay a little early even for us!!! All goes well.
Date: 2018-07-04
From: Glen Brook campsite 

To: Tom Leonard shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow! This may have been the hottest day yet - air temperature in the upper 90¢s - and no swimming hole in sight!!! Woke up and on the trail extra early for us (6am). Bigger mileage day and trying to avoid the heat. First couple miles were pleasant. Blueberries slowly ripening. We probably had 7-10 handfuls today (Wreck picking and eating 90% of the total). After going across Mt Bushnell and Jug End early in the day we dropped into the lowlands. Six flat, buggy miles. Wreck was on poison ivy high alert much of the time. We made okay time but not a section you¢d recommend to someone who was just looking for an AT section to hike. We did go by the site of the last battle of Shays Rebellion, 1787. Interesting to think that for six years after the Revolutionary War ended we had no president! Water sources along trail were really bad. Still boggy stuff. Got to US7 in bad need of water and the great folks at a garden center near the trail let us fill up there. That was really appreciated!!! Climbed both June and East Mountains towards days end. Brighty gamely plugged over them (both steep in sections) but by the time we reached this shelter site her body said ¢enough¢. We¢re on a platform (got rope in Kent so Tarptent does pretty well in ¢freestanding¢ mode). Mosquitoes bad. Deet has been deployed. All chores are done (water was 1/4 mile DOWN steep hill) and we¢re hearing fireworks in the distance. It sprinkled a little during dinner but hasn¢t cooled off yet. We could be in for the hottest night yet! Time to go further north!!!