morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-06-17
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter

To: Tom's Run Shelters
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

Woke up at 6am this morning! Guess I'm back to normal! But I lounged around lazily until about 7 am. Got out on the Trail about 8:30 am.Took it easy this morning just trying to get a feel for how I felt. I felt pretty good. I stopped for a break after about 4 miles at Caledonia State Park...nice place.It started raining while I was there and hasn't stopped all day. How much water can the sky hold anyhow? So I get in my normal rainy hiker zone and just "get r dun." Normal lunch break at next shelter. Onward. I get to the next shelter, Birch Run Shelter, which is where I planed to stop....but it was only 2 pm and I didn't want to sit around in a shelter all day. So I pressed on to the next shelters, "Tom Run's Shelter". I must be over my bug....19.2 miles today. Feel good......except that whole soaking wet thing!!! I am .65 miles from the "official mileage" halfway point....1088.15! I'll hit that about 15 minutes after I start hiking tomorrow. I don't expect much celebration since the weather is supposed to be like today....hence no camera! I'll also get to Pine Grove Furnace State Park tomorrow, where they have the "Half-Gallon Challenge" to celebrate making it halfway. Basically, you try to eat a half-gallon of ice cream. Not even thinking about it with it being wet and cold. I don't think I could do it anyhow. I've been paying attention lately when eating a pint of ice cream....no way could I eat 4 pints at one time.I like the Trail in PA so far. I like its forests, very open most of the time. Wide footpath for the most part. Footbed has been changing from soft pine to hard rocks, and everything in between. The sign-age is good. And there have already been a couple of parks to hike through with more on the way.The shelters in PA have been incredibly well maintained!! Outstanding. But the kicker is the areas around the shelter. Beautifully done. They have done great work in PA so far!Time for bed! Woo-hoo; 100th day on the A.T.!
Date: 2009-06-18
From: Tom's Run Shelters

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

Pretty good day on the A.T. There were two shelters at last night's location. 4 section hikers hiking together were in one, and I had the other to myself. Which was cool.....I had wet stuff hanging from every hook in the place! Got up early and out at 8:30 am. Only 15 minutes down the trail was the official mileage half way point.....1088.15. So I had to make a marker in the trail and take photos! Woo-hoo. Half my brain is celebrating the fact that I'm half way! The other half is screaming "what? I have to do what I just did....again? Are we nuts??" 90 minutes later, I get to Pine Grove Furnance State Park and it's camp store. This is where the infamous half-gallon challenge takes place. Nope!! Not gonna do it! So I have a cheeseburger, fries, gatorade......and a pint of ice cream to celebrate!Boom, right around the corner....1100 miles. I simply etch this one in the dirt. What the heck, let's celebrate this one too! So I go to a general store which is conveniently located just .2 miles off the trail. Turkey, ham, and roast beef sub! Awesome!Yeah, yeah; I did some hiking too! Most of today was Pennsylvania standard so far....wide footpath (often room for two side-by-side), smooth grades up and down, and good footbed, with several rocky sections thrown in.But at the end of today was a section of bouldering that was just plain cool....over rocks, between rock, up rocks, down rocks....and some sections that hands and feet were required. At points it felt like a rock maze. I hope the pics do it some justice. Much fun!! So how do you slow a hiker down? Throw in a Timber Rattlesnake! That's right. Saw my first, live, out-in-the-wild rattlesnake today. There are pictures of them posted all over the bulletin boards out here as the are endangered so you can't kill, catch, hurt them. He/she was sunning on the Trail and slid into the bush before I could get my camera "un-rain-protected." Yep, I was watching where I was stepping and putting my hands after that for sure! Uneventful hike into the shelter, unpacked to stay in the shelter. Bugs were bad around dinner so I packed up my stuff and found a tent site....re-unpacked!Good day on the A.T.!
Date: 2009-06-19
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Well today sure was different. Hiked down the mountain into Boiling Springs, PA. The trail goes right through a nice little park, complete with a fishing pond, ducks, geese and even a gazebo. So I took a nice little break on a pond-side bench.There's a Regional Appalachian Trail Conservancy Office in Boiling Springs so I signed their register and had a look around....filled up with water....and off I go.Here's where the day was different. 10+ miles of flat farmland through the Cumberland Valley....yep....flat!! So it ended up being a nice lazy walk through sunny fields. Sweet! Butterflies everywhere all day long.Crossed over I-81. They built an underpass for the A.T. to go under PA 944(?). Nice Job. And there was tons of traffic, moving fast, so I'm glad I could go under it and not have to play "Frogger."The last bit of the low-land hike, before going into the mountains, was muddy as heck. They had tons of "bog-boards" all over the place, and even a pretty long boardwalk over one section. Bog-boards are what I call it when they place two boards, side-by-side, supported by logs at each end so you can walk "over" the bog instead of through it. There probably is an offical name for these, but I don't know it yet. By the looks of this area, it never dries completely.Finally climbed out of bogs and into the woods to my original destination (Darlington Shelter). With all the flat hiking, I was making good time and got here way too early. So I pressed on to the next shelter (Cove Mountain).Well, I get to Cove Mountain shelter and there is still a couple of hours of daylight left. It's only 4 miles into Duncannon. I think about it for a second, but I would get in very late and by the time I showered, it would be time for bed already. So no real advantage to getting in that late versus the next morning.Not much in the way of tent sites here so I'm in the shelter tonight. And I've got the whole thing to myself. Here's praying the bugs aren't too bad.
Date: 2009-06-21
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Peter's Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

So I got up at 7 am; showered, shaved, and got the stuff packed up. Check out Plunger's Journal entry dated 13 Jun for a great description of the Hotel Doyle. I forgot to write about this yesterday, but when I got in to town, I was too early to check-in so I went to Goodie's Restaurant, right across the street from the Doyle, for "brunch". I ordered the #3 breakfast; two slices of toast, two eggs, 2 sausages, and 2 pancakes......the pancakes were the biggest I have ever seen in my life.....and thick.....and still perfectly cooked through. And yesterday I couldn't finish the 2nd pancake....first time on this hike that I have left food on my plate! So this morning I went back for revenge! Got it all down this time!!! Awesome breakfast.....and for less than $6.The first couple of miles of today's hike took me down North High Street, a residential street in Duncannon. It reminded me of streets in my hometown, Franklin, PA......must be from the same mold. Then back up into the woods for a nice relaxing hike today. The weather was awesome, 70's, partly sunny, nice breeze. Standard PA trail; wide footpath, open forest, and a couple of rocky sections and a short segment of bouldering.Highlight of the day was seeing a 6' black snake. It was huge. And it didn't seemed concerned about me at all. Got some good photos.Nice shelter tonight.....double decker with huge covered porch with picnic table. Decided to shelter since it is such a huge place. Here at the shelter is Papa Kiwi, Red Leg, Chance, Hitch, Doc, Carpenter and a section hiker who is tenting.Red Leg's one son, John, was hiking with Red Leg for a day and brought beer up to the shelter for us all. Thanks John. Nice treat!The water source here is a hike away. The Handbook says "800 feet down blue-blazed trail." That "800 feet" is the change in elevation!!! Wow....it went down forever! Good water source though. We were timing how long it took everyone to get down there and back. The section hiker went what she thought was half-way and then just gave up and turned around and came back up! Not sure what happened up ahead of me, but looking in the Shelter Register, it looks like Goof and Mr Buffalo Man are 2 days ahead of me and the rest of The Group is 4 days ahead. I may be able to make up two days before I go on break, but 4 days is a little much.Today was "Hike Naked" day.....June 21st.......longest day of daylight. I decided to do the world a favor and keep my clothes on! Some dudes wore nothing but "speedos", and some hiked naked for a short period. Luckily I hiked alone most of the day. I did see a couple of girls today....but fully clothed.
Date: 2009-06-22
From: Peter's Mountain Shelter

To: Random Campsite
Miles today: 22.6

Beautiful day to hike today. Was up and on the trail at 8 am. Skies were mostly sunny all day long; light breeze; in the low 70's. All around gorgeous day.There was only one "viewpoint/vista" today, and not much else going on. Because of this, I was making pretty good time down the trail. I took a couple of good breaks for rest and food, took some photots here and there, but not much to slow me down.So I got to my destination shelter around 4 pm. Last night I got to the shelter early (because of short distance) and was bored out of my mind. There was plenty of hikers I knew last night at the shelter, but just wasn't in the mood for just BS talking. Soooo, I didn't want to do that again, so I simply pressed on hiking. I figured I'd hike until 7 pm and then stop at the first "campsite" I saw. Well at 6:30 I came across a nice, flat, well-used spot so I decided to call it a day.The Trail today remained PA Standard; wide footpath, easy hiking, with some rocks thrown in to make sure it didn't get too easy. By the way, I finally had to use my Crocs today to cross a stream. The stepping stones for normal crossing were all under water. Nice current too! So off with the Trail Runners and on with the Crocs. They worked perfectly. Camp towel to dry off the feet; back into Trail Runners and off down the Trail. By the way, they make Crocs with velcro straps on the back so you can adjust the tightness around the heel. If you are going to go with Crocs as camp shoes....might was well get the ones with adjustable heel straps.So looking at my charts and because of extending my mileage today, if I can go 27+ miles tomorrow, I could get into Port Clinton a day early! Hmmmm? That's a long way though, and further than I've gone so far. So I think I'm going to get up with the sun and give it a try. Worst case; I stop and camp somehwere!Oh, one thing I forgot to mention about Duncannon.....Mutzbaugh's Market! It's a local grocery store. They send a van down to the Doyle Hotel at 4 pm every day to take hikers to their store for re-supply....and back of course! Brilliant!! Smart business practice. Very nice grocery store also.OK. To bed early. Big challenge (for me) tomorrow. I say "for me" because there are hikers out here like "26.2" (a marathoner of course) who do 30 mile days almost every day....incredible.
Date: 2009-06-23
From: Random Campsite

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter
Miles today: 27.4
Weather: overcast clouds

OK...up and at 'em early. A hiker named "Steps" passed by my campsite as I was having breakfast. I joined him and we walked all morning together into the William Penn Shelter for lunch. He's a nice guy. He does pretty big sections each year and actually hiked with Peanut and Wrongway during their thru-hike last year. He said he really liked those two and that they were good people. Small world!There was an initial climb up the ridge today and then the rest of the day was along the ridge. This is actually how I envisioned the whole A.T. to be....climb up on a ridgeline and walk the ridgeline all day.For those of you not so familiar with the A.T. and it's characteristics; the A.T. through PA is usually summed up with one word...."rocky". (And as I'll find out over the next week, it gets worse the more north in PA you get...and even a day or two into New Jersy). Well, the rocks started big time after the 501 Shelter. Up until this point, I kept asking myself what the big complaint was about rocky PA....it wasn't that bad.....and it wasn't.It was also very wet in spots along this section of trail and it hasn't rained in a couple of days. I would hate to hike through this section while it was actually raining.....what a mess that would be!Got to my destination shelter at 8 pm. Wow, what a long day of hiking. Ouch! Luckily for me there was still room in the shelter. No energy or desire to set up my tent tonight!OK. Going this far is truly my limit. I'm glad I did it because I did want to do a marathon distance once while I was out here just for grins. 20 miles is do-able if required, but anything over that just hurts! I think right now, 18 is my perfect distance.Tonight's objective is quick chow, quick journal, and to bed!I did catch up with Zipper today....I had been hiking with her for a couple of days before I got the flu. She had actually got sick in the Town's Inn Hostel in Harper's Ferry also.So I like to consider the PA Trail as the Dr. Jeckyll and Mr Hyde of the Appalachian Trail. At times (Dr. Jeckyll) it is flat, wide foot path, and rock free and you find yourself flying down the trail. Boom, Mr Hyde shows up and you are selecting each foot location over a nothing-but-rock footbed and the pace goes way down. Also, when the trail is really rocky, you really do have to watch each step to avoid the really pointy rocks and ankle twisters, so you can't look around in the woods as much.....who knows what scenery/wildlife I missed at some points?
Date: 2009-06-25
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

Got up this morning around 6:30, layed there 'till about 7 am, then showered (yeah), and went down for breakfast around 8 am. Shuttle was right on time at 9:00 and we were on the Trail by 9:30. Hiking out together were me, Mississippi, Half-Moon, Sunbeam, Miss Scarlett, Newt, and Squeegie.It was a lazy hike for me today. I've been pushing hard lately trying to catch the group and my legs are feeling the miles. Part of me questions whether or not I should have taken a zero day here in Port Clinton. But I just caught up, plus I'm catching up on my original schedule, planned months prior to starting the hike. There are tons of towns just a couple of miles off the Trail during this next stretch, so if I start falling apart, I'll be able to stop on almost any day and get some rest.The Trail today was once again PA Standard.....wide, rocky, and mostly flat with just a couple of good climbs.I saw a snake today that I think must have been a rattlesnake. I got a couple of pictures. It looked slightly different than the other black snakes I had seen and looked like it might have had a rattle that had been chewed on by some other creature.There were a couple of good break points at rock outcroppings with views of the PA valley below.The shelter we are staying at is unique....the Eckville Shelter. It has a privy building with a flush toilet and shower. And it has a nice big field for tenting....which is what I am doing. There is a water spigot on the side of the caretaker's house for water. Nice spot!I saw in the register that Goof, Mr Buffalo Man, and Sunnuke (yep, that's right) were at this location last night. So I am exactly one day behind them. Hmmmm...maybe I'll catch them this week.Nice relaxing day on the A.T.. Time for bed. Should sleep well tonight!
Date: 2009-06-26
From: Eckville Shelter

To: PA 309
Miles today: 11.5

Weird day on the A.T.. We had planned on going 18 miles today to the Bake Oven Knob Shelter. I've been pushing hard lately trying to catch up. I'm feeling good, but not fresh, if that makes any sense. Basically, my legs and feet are feeling the miles from the push.OK. So to do 18 comfortably, I know I need to get up early and just set an easy all-day type of pace. So I get up early and am on the Trail by 7:20. The first part of the day is pretty rocky so it's slow going. But I just plod along for the first 7 miles to the Allentown Hiking Club Shelter. I take a huge break there....shoes and socks off, good foot rub-down, lots of food for brunch.I stay there for over an hour and am surprised that no one has caught up yet. I find out later that everyone is moving slowly over the rocks this morning.So I start hiking again and the trail just opens up......smooth and wide, no rocks, and I'm flying down the trail without even thinking about it. I meet a south-bounder who says the meatball sandwich at a restaurant on PA 309 is excellent. I'm way ahead, got plenty of time, so I stop in for a meatball sandwich and a beer. Ken, the owner, says a young girl just called asking permission to set up 4 tents and 2 hammocks out back this evening. That sounds like my groups set-up, but here is not where we had planned on going. I'm worried that Sunbeam might be feeling ill because of the lyme disease, or the antibiotics. Nope! Thank God. Squeegie was meeting some people tomoroow in Palmerton, so they wanted to stop here for the night and go into Palmerton tomorrow. I was catching up on my shcedule so I mentally did not want to stay here for the night.....but physically, my feet and legs could really use a short day or two. So it made sense to go with the flow in this case.There was a live band playing there tonight so basically we all just stayed in the bar all night and ate and drank, listening to the band. We'll see how this affects my schedule going into the July break. Just a weird day.The Blue Mountain Summit B&B was an expensive but comfortable place to stay. I justified the expense of the room by telling myself it was no more money than if I would have zeroed in Port Clinton as planned (which is true). It rained pretty good tonight so I was glad to be indoors. Plus, another hiker (not with our group) had had a few too many and the group had to listen to him throwing up in his tent all night long.Like I said, weird night!
Date: 2009-06-27
From: PA 309

To: Lehigh Gap PA 248 / PA 145
Miles today: 13.6

Nice night's sleep last night.....very comfy bed. Up, showered, and on the A.T. by 7:30. Nice brisk walk today along a PA Standard rocky ridgeline. Beautiful day.....sunny, breezy, not too hot. We all hiked as a group all day and just mosey'd down the Trail.Squeegie and Sunbeam had family coming into Palmerton to meet them. So we only did 13 today into Palmerton. My legs and feet were actually happy to only be doing 13 miles today. I think it would be good to keep the mileage down until I can get a zero day in and get some good rest.So it's Saturday and there were a ton of day-hikers out on the Trail making it a busy place. We have to make our own entertainment out here, sooo...in Port Clinton we had all watched an episode of "So You Think You Can Dance". If you have ever watched the show than you know how Mary Murphy gets excited about good performances......she screams, and talks about being on the Hot Tamale Train. Well, when we saw something cool on the Trail today, we would scream or yell "get on the Hot Tamale Train"; it was funny....maybe you had to be there!Squeegie slowed down the whole group today everytime we came by a blueberry patch....which was about every 15 minutes! So it was a nice, relaxing day on the Appalachian Trail! Good day.Luck was with us again....right when we got to the A.T. trailhead (highway), Tom, a guy with a pickup truck, pulled in just as we arrived and gave us a ride into Palmerton. Thanks Tom!So I've definitely been getting spoiled lately. Hunan House, Chinese restaurant, for dinner.....hit the spot....definitely needed the veggies.We're staying at the "Jailhouse Hostel" tonight. The city allows hikers to stay in the basement of the old borough hall, which is the old police station. Free!! Thanks Palmerton. The place is packed tonight with 20+ hikers.Early day tomorrow. Shuttle shows at 7:45. Good day....good night.
Date: 2009-06-28
From: Lehigh Gap PA 248 / PA 145

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 18.5

Interesting night at the "Jailhouse Hostel". All the bunks were full. Five or six people had their hammocks hung from basement support poles.....one even hung his hammock over another....crazy.So there is a shuttle scheduled for 7:45. I figure he'll have to make 4 runs with as many hikers as we have. Sir Richard and I are ready to go at 7 am. We decide to just go and try to hitch a ride....it's 2 miles to the A.T.. No luck.....100 pick-up trucks pass us....not one stopped. So we ended up walking there the entire way, getting there around 8 am.The Group was nice enough to wait for me at the A.T.....I'm glad because the morning hike was awesome.....total rock scramble out of the Gap....much fun! When we got to the top of the hill and started walking the ridge, it totally changes to a grass field/trail. All grass, soft on the feet....I'm telling you, PA hiking......Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde.So basically today we had 20+ hikers playing leap-frog with each other. We were spread out enough so it wasn't really that bad though.OK. So my near-term goal is to get to the Mohican Outdoor Center to pick up my next mail-drop. I have enough food, so there is no real hurry. The twins have a package to pick up in Delaware Water Gap (DWG). So it's 36.1 to DWG from here. That's easy......two 18-mile days.I actually wanted to get to Wind Gap today, which would leave only 15+ for tomorrow. But my legs are just worn out, and I set up my tent about 2 miles short of Wind Gap. Plus, it is going to rain tonight and I wanted to make sure my tent was set up prior to the rain.So I set up the tent and ate dinner. It started raining and I got in my tent for the night. Shortly after, the rest of the group rolled in and hurried to get their camps made.Talked with Mr Buffalo Man today. They are at DWG right now, one day ahead. I told them I would call them tomorrow when I got into DWG. They didn't know what their plans were.
Date: 2009-06-29
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Lazy morning. But got going and on the Trail at 8 am. Last day in PA! And it has been rocky. And I'm told it continues into New Jersey a bit.Not too much sightseeing today as we were trying to get into Delaware Water Gap (DWG) and get some chores done. I did see a huge rattlesnake today....and got some great photos.We hiked pretty fast today and were glad to just be done hiking. Unfortunately, there are tons of hikers here....long shower line.Dinner at Dough Boy's Pizza.....huge turkey sub, salad and chips. Then over to the Apple Pie Bakery for dessert....some fudge and a carrot cake cupcake (yep, not a misprint, awesome idea).....both were fantastic.Now time for chores.....need a cab to get to Stroudsburg....about 7 miles away. Go to first laundromat which is close to grocery store....it's closed. Other laundromat is open but too far away to walk to the grocery store. Time to divide and conquer.....2 stay and do laundry for all.....the other 3 go to the grocery store.Chores are done! Long day! Going to bed at 11 pm. Way past normal bed time. Only going 10.5 miles tomorrow to the Mohican Outdoor Center. I have a maildrop waiting there and I look forward to a short hike for some foot rest!Only have 0.2 miles left in PA in the morning....into New Jersey.Crazy amount of hikers in one spot right now. Here at the hostel tonight are Chance, Shimmy, Miss Scarlett, Newt, Sunbeam, Half-Moon, Mississippi, Squeegie, Ketchup, Matchstick, Hardcore, Papa Kiwi, Veggie Steve, + at least 10 other hikers. Hopefully we all break apart tomorrow coming out of DWG.