morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-19
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: Campsite on trail 
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I stopped today to rest midday by a stream that was south of I-81. I wanted to do what I could to help my legs feel better and also to find a way to come up with some more energy since I've feel like I've been dragging along the last few days. Since AWOLs guide didn't show any water ahead I filled up with my dinner water from the stream before heading off to hike under I-81 and then up the mountain to the tent site that I had picked out ahead of time on the map. I ran into an older SOBO hiker who told me that there was a small stream ahead that crossed the trail right as the AT headed up the mountain. Because of this I dumped out the extra water that I was carrying so that I wouldn't have to haul the extra weight for the next 2 or 3 miles - why not just get it at the stream, I thought. Right after crossing under I-81 the trail crossed a small cement drainage ditch and headed uphill. "Is this the stream that he mentioned?" I asked myself. "It couldn't be.. or could it?""It's probably full of all kinds of chemicals from the water that washes off the interstate highway." I started hiking past it and then wondered what I would do if there wasn't actually a real stream ahead. So I turned around and walked the 50 steps back to the drainage ditch and filled up with water for dinner. I justified this to myself by thinking, "It's just one day, and there can't be THAT much chemicals in a few liters of water."After starting out hiking up the mountain I was happy to see a small stream crossing the trail after about 5 minutes. I dumped out my water for the second time that afternoon and refilled from the stream. "Haha.." I thought "This water is just going downhill to fill up the drainage ditch that I just filled up from." That's ok, I like it better from here. I found my campsite at about 5 pm, set up my tent and laid down to rest. I didn't make a fire or do any walking around other than hanging my bear bag because I wanted to rest up as much as possible. I've made my dinner and it's getting dark. Time to go to bed.
Date: 2016-05-20
From: Campsite on trail 

To: Rock n Sole Hostel
Miles today: 9.5

I'm feeling a little better today - I'm learning to find ways to enjoy hiking on all these rocks rather than mentally complaining to myself about them. The trail is very narrow today with many green plants growing on both sides. I stopped at the shelter to get some water and called my daughter to wish her happy birthday. The water here is on the opposite side of the shelter which is a little weird. There is one couple heading northbound who join me to get water and he shakes my hand before he heads out. I'm too slow to distract him with a bow or knuckle bump and end up shaking his hand in a reactionary habit. As soon as he walks away I'm getting out my soap to wash my hands since I don't know if he washes his hands or how many other grubby hikers he's shaken hands with lately. I met a SOBO hiker who looked like his pack weighed 70 or 80 pounds. He said that he thought it was about 40 pounds but that he hadn't weighed it. I was impressed that he wanted to make it at least 100 miles before accepting a trail name. "I've only got 15 more miles to go" he said. About a half hour later I met a SOBO hiker who said he had just seen a bear about 1/4 of a mile up the trail. I pulled my glasses out of my pack and listened and looked carefully for the next hour but didn't see the bear. Then my daughter, the one with the birthday, sent me a text with a bear walking in her backyard. I should probably mention that she lives in Anchorage, Alaska. When I got to Rt 501 I was planning on going to the nearby 501 shelter where you can have pizza delivered. After seeing a flyer on the trail kiosk I decide to go to the newly opened Rock n Sole Hostel which is awesome. It's very nice and clean, has a hot shower, AND you get home cooked dinner and breakfast!I met Dis funk schewnal (phonetic spelling.. ) who is a NOBO that I had spend the night with down by Mcafee Knob in Virginia. She's a doctor, has hiked the PCT, and is interesting to talk with. She likes to slack pack which is what Im planning on doing the next few days with the Rock n Sole Hostel as my base.
Date: 2016-05-21
From: Rt 501

To: Rt 183
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It was rainy this morning however by midday I had my raincoat off and was enjoying a nice cool day of hiking under the clouds. I'm getting better at hiking around all these rocks. I've discovered that like many things in life, one of the biggest challenges with rocks is how you think about them. I've been worrying about rocks, asking other hikers about rocks, and wondering how the rocks will affect my foot. It turns out that the rocks are never as bad or as good as other people lead me to believe. They do slow me down a bit but unless they are really bad, they don't seem to affect my injured foot too much. I've decided that I'm going to enjoy hiking on the rocks... Well, as much as I can anyway. The trail divided into 2 parts and then into 3 or 4 separate trails all headed in the same direction. It appears that this has been caused by the original trail getting too muddy, but it's interesting in that all 4 options appear to be hiked regularly so you have the choice of which lane you want to take. I'm slack packing today so I made it to Rt 183 sooner than I thought I would. I'd left my car there and am now back at the nearby Hostel getting cleaned up for dinner. "No Regrets" is here with his wife who has broken the metatarsal bone in her foot and is catching a flight home tomorrow. It sounds like this can happen just by stepping between two tightly spaced rocks with lighter weight hiking shoes. We've just heard a ton of funny stories from Craig, the Hostel owner about his career as a PA state trooper. Both him and his wife are very friendly and eager to make sure us hikers are enjoying our stay.It's nice to have someone helping to make the trail a little nicer.
Date: 2016-05-22
From: Rt 183

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: few clouds

I took the advice of the other hikers who encouraged me to slack pack a long day today. I don't like to go much past about 12 miles, especially with all these rocks. I need to make sure that I don't overdo it with my foot. My almost son in law (they're engaged) was racing his motorcycle on a road race track in Colorado today and I was treated to updates via text, photos, and a video. He did really well getting a 1st in one race and 4th place in another race. I worry about him getting hurt but also realize that life is a series of tradeoffs. I found the slogan in today's photo in the journal at the Hostel and I've been thinking about this while hiking today. I have at times wished that I hadn't gone motorcycle racing and broken my hip. But when I think about this, I realize that I'm been living my dreams - and sometimes that means taking some chances. If I hadn't shattered my hip then I wouldn't be hiking the AT. And hiking the AT is another dream of mine that is now coming true... One rocky day at a time : ) I also thought about some of the other things that I want to do.. one of which is to get better at playing the piano. Ideally I'd like to find some way that I can play or perform for other people rather than just playing for my own pleasure. I asked Jodi and Craig at the Hostel if they had a piano, hinting that I might like to play it. They said they had one in their house but didn't offer to make it available. They'd probably say yes if I pushed it but they've been so nice with everything else that I don't want to push them on access to the piano.It's late and my foot is hurting from all the miles I hiked today. I'll decide in the morning if I'm going to zero tomorrow or not.
Date: 2016-05-23
From: Rock n Sole Hostel

To: Rock n Sole Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I could barely stand up this morning, and my foot is still bothering me, so I decided to rest today. I showered and then managed to shave by pulling the shower hose around the corner to bring hot water to the outdoor sink. I had thought yesterday about playing the piano and wanted to see if I could find someplace to play today. I searched around online and found a piano teacher in Harrisburg who was willing to provide me with a piano lesson and some practice time on his piano. I made the 45 minute drive ahead of time and went to a crepe place downtown before going to my lesson. I learned some more about chords and enjoyed meeting another person who is passionate about music. There's another nice dinner waiting for me so I'm going to sign off.. I'm back out on the trail tomorrow but it should be an easy day. I want to make sure my foot is able to fully recover from my long day yesterday.
Date: 2016-05-24
From: Port Clinton

To: Reservoir Rd
Miles today: 5.6

Ironman from the Rock n Sole Hostel shuttled me up to Port Clinton to continue my northbound journey today. I decided to make it a short day today to maximize my rest the day before. The trail started out flat for the first mile or so before heading uphill to get back on the ridge line.There weren't too many rocks today and it was nice to be back in the green forest. I was working my way down a hill towards the end of this easy day when I noticed another hiker coming my way. I turned off the audio book that I was listening to (The Science of Power Generation) so that I wouldn't disturb another hikers wilderness experience. I looked up a few times to see where this hiker was but for some reason he wasn't getting any closer to me. I finally figured out that he must be going the same direction, northbound, that I was. I was able to go a little faster and catch up to him, which seemed really strange. The only hikers I've ever passed before were extremely out of shape people who were going up a steep hill. I finally caught up to this mystery man as he was slowly poking his way over a stream crossing. His name is Dr Fix-it, he's about 10 years older than me, and he's from Branson, Missouri. I got to talking with him and quickly realized that we had much in common. Hmmm... this guy hikes slow like me, we have fun stuff to talk about... maybe he'd be willing to hike with me for a day or two. We talked for the next 30 minutes or so and then came to Reservoir Rd which is where I would hike .3 miles down to where my car was parked. I told the Dr all about the Rock n Sole hostel hoping that perhaps he would join me in going there for the night. He thought about it for a moment but realized that he had promised to meet 2 other hikers there for the night. We exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet up the next day either on the trail or at Hawk Mt Rd which is in about 10 miles. Dr Fix-it explained that his body is high mileage but that he has low mileage legs. "They can only handle 10 miles a day", he said. Hmmm.. That sounds just like me. I got back to the Hostel early enough to enjoy a nap on the porch swing as a nice breeze made its way by. I also had fun playing the piano. Ironman opened up the door out to the porch so that I could entertain the other hikers with an after dinner concert.I have the supplies here to make Smores but I"m so full from the great dinner I just had that I'm crawling into my bunk to rest up for tomorrows hike.Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. I'm hiking without many rest days now so it may take me a while to get back to you - but I promise to respond to anything you are nice enough to send my way.
Date: 2016-05-25
From: Reservoir Rd

To: Hawk Mt Road
Miles today: 9.4

This morning I shuttled over to Reservoir Rd and hiked up the .3 miles to get back to the trail where I left it yesterday. I've decided that I'm going to try to slack pack the entire way through the rocks of Pennsylvania. I've been worried that my foot wouldn't be able to handle going over so many rocks and have thought that I might need to bypass Pennsylvania. So far this is working out well. By slack packing and also by doing shorter miles each day so that I can really take my time I think I may just be able to pull it off. I hiked past this observatory this morning and stopped to use the privy that the club there is nice enough to share with AT hikers. I had looked online to see if I might be able to "join the club" so that I could look at the stars but it turns out that you have to go to three monthly meetings and get voted in before you are able to become a member. I saw my first posionous snake today - a copperhead. Some other hikers where nice enough to point it out so that i wasn't surprised. I sent Dr Fix-it a text to let him know that I started late today. I ended up meeting him at the end of the day on Hawk Mt road. I've just had another great dinner at the Rock n Sole hostel and I'm looking forward to resting up for tomorrows adventure.
Date: 2016-05-26
From: Hawk Mt Road

To: PA Rt 309
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Today started out the right way at 7 am as the Rock n Sole owner Craig ¢Ironman¢ brought out hot coffee for myself and the other hikers who are here with me. Next was another good breakfast including fresh cut fruit and orange juice. Ironman shuttled us up to Hawk Mt road which is where a serial killer named Mathias Schaumbacher lived in the 1800s. The old building he operated as an inn is still standing there and is currently used as a personal residence. Some of the travelers who came and stayed at the inn were never seen again. It turns out that on his death bed he confessed to killing over a dozen people and let people know where to find their remains in his well. The undertaker and minister had to run for cover in the cemetery because (reportedly) lightning kept striking his headstone while they were trying to bury him. I enjoyed having someone to talk with today - Dr Fix-it and I had plenty to talk about as we made our way up the first hill of the day. Before long we were into a seriously rocky section - and then it got even rockier. The Dr and I slowly picked our way along, taking turns coming up with something to say to keep us moving along in good spirits. ¢Each step takes us a little closer to the end of Pennsylvania¢¢¢This isn¢t as bad as I thought it would be¢¢Once we conquer this we¢ll be able to do anything¢And later in the day when the trail smoothed out for a bit¢¦ ¢Hey Flash, we¢re getting credit for Pennsylvania miles on this section too¢By 3 pm or so we were really dragging along when we stopped at a shelter to get more water. The blue blased trail ran paralell to the AT for about about 3/4 of a mile so we followed the blue blazes to the spring, got some of the cool water and contiuned on to meet up with the AT a bit further north. This, of course, is not purist AT hiking since we effectively skipped 3/4 of a mile of the AT. Before long the trail improved dramatically as the AT turned down an old fire road. The last few miles were smooth so I turned up my speed to a whopping 2 miles per hour which is still slower than most of the younger hikers roll along at. Before long we were back to the car, drove ¢home¢ to the Rock n Sole hostel and enjoyed a nice hot shower in preparation for dinner. Tonights meal was awesome (once again). Ironman had gotten a deer during the hunting season and tonight¢s meal was venison stew. To make it even more memorable we invited the deer himself, well, actually just the deer¢s head. Ironman had the white skull with antlers on it which you can see if you look closely at today¢s photo. Thanks so much for reading my journal!
Date: 2016-05-27
From: PA Rt 309

To: Ashfield Rd
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today¢s hike started out nice enough, then got pretty rocky, then we made our way over knifes edge. I had to go monkey style on my hands and feet. After that it was rocks, more rocks, and even more rocks. Then we came to another big rock pile to climb over. It wasn¢t as long as the knife edge but it required the same type of clambering. After that it was - you guessed it - more rocks, and the more rocks, what a day! Luckily the last few miles were ok. We knew that we were really close to the end of the day, all we had to do was make it across the power line to get to the car. The power line ended up being another rock hopping section : ) The upside to all of this is that both of us felt like if we could do this then we could handle anything. Look out Maine, here we come!In the car on the way home Dr fixit was letting me know that his new boots he had gotten a week ago were still bothering his feet. I didn¢t want to sound like I had all the answers (because I don¢t) so I said ¢I could be wrong but if my feet were hurting and I was hiking the AT then I¢d want to go talk with someone who knows all about feet and boots¢¦ basically ¢hey why dont you get new boots¢ So we stopped at cabellas and the Dr got another pair of Solomons since they had worked for him previously.Back at the Rock n Sole hostel we each had a huge homemade stromboli for dinner along with ice cream and hot home baked cookies for desert. Yum!
Date: 2016-05-28
From: Ashfield Rd

To: Palmerton Superfund Site
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Today¢s hike was far enough north that we got in touch with another shuttle driver rather than relying on Ironman from the Rock n Sole Hostel. He¢s known by his old trail name which is Mechanical man. I¢m hesitant to write this about someone who is willing to help hikers along the trail but if anyone was to come by this way I think you might want to know that this guy seems to have uh¢¦ issues. He talks non-stop in a slightly too loud voice while taking a pretty aggressive stance on most everything. Then there¢s the fact that he brings his doberman along unless the car is packed completely full of hikers. When we stopped to drop a few other hikers off at the trailhead the doberman jumps out of the car and races up to another hiker growling and barked menacingly. The hiker impressed me when he says in a cool, matter of fact way, ¢Call off your dog or I¢ll shoot it¢So Mechanical man hollers at his dog who then runs away from the hiker and over to stick his snout in my pack and promptly gobbles down my breakfast sandwich. Very nice. Very nice. Once we drive off - and of course the other hiker can¢t hear him, mechanical man says ¢That guy¢s crazy. If you shoot my dog I¢ll shoot you!¢ So I feel funny sharing this with you but quite frankly this was such an odd morning that I didn¢t have any choice but to tell you all about it.I will say that I¢m glad that Mechanical man is here to shuttle us (for a fee). And I also hope that he finds his own way to becoming more calm and who knows¢¦ he could even invest in a leash or perhaps leave the dog at home. By the way, our hike today was awesome. Plenty more rocks but I¢m starting to -almost- enjoy them. I just go really slow, at times pretending that I¢m doing Tai Chi from one rock to the next.
Date: 2016-05-29
From: Palmerton Superfund Site

To: Smith Gap
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

Today¢s hike took us up the rock pile near Palmerton which is where there was a zinc mining and smelting operation for over 100 years. The zinc and pollution from the smelting killed all the vegetation in the area and has polluted the water with heavy metals. The hike was pretty steep and in a few places required clambering up using hands and feet with my poles on my pack. There was one part where I was downright scared, really scared, but I somehow managed to work through the fear and make my way up. You can see the Dr making his way up that section in today's photo.I realized that he looked um.. terrified. He was sweating so much that his shirt was soaked and his phone wouldn¢t work when he took it out to take a photo. Despite this he was determined to make it up no matter what. I will say that I¢m extremely impressed with this guy.Later in the afternoon I listened to my audible version of the the NY times update on Inchworm, the thru hiker who had died after getting lost off the AT in Maine several years ago. What a shame. We were almost back to the car where today¢s slack pack adventure would come to an end when we met D Squared who was slacking southbound. He told us that he¢d seen a couple of rattle snakes up ahead so we should keep an eye out. He said that the first hiker who comes along wakes the snake up, the second hiker who comes along makes him mad, and the third hiker is the one who gets bit.It feels great to be resting here at the motel 6 after such a long, hot, rocky day. Dr Fix-it is getting cramps in his legs so I¢m running out in a moment to get some potassium tablets along with some cool gatorade and perhaps some ice-cream. Thanks so much for following along on my adventure. I feel pretty lucky to have met Dr Fix-it. We seem to make a good hiking team.
Date: 2016-05-30
From: Smith Gap

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

We debated whether or not we should shuttle with Mechanical man again today before deciding to give him a chance to redeem himself. He was much more mellow today and actually almost pleasant to be around.The reason we are using a shuttle each day is that Dr Fix-it and I are slack packing our way thru the Pennsylvania rocks. We drop my car at the north end of an 8 to 10 mile chunk of the trail and then shuttle to the south end to start our hike each day. When I mentioned this to my wife she said ¢Isn¢t that cheating?¢ Slack packing is considered by some purist hikers to be a lazy hikers method but I haven¢t heard anyone call it cheating yet. I will admit that slacking everyday like we are is overdoing it a bit. Before getting to Pennsylvania I was worried that my injured foot wouldn¢t be able to handle the rocks and that I might have to skip or bypass Pennsylvania. So from my standpoint, I¢m thrilled to be able to make it thru Rocksylvania. Dr Fix-it says that hiking your own hike applies especially well in this situation. Once we made it back to the car at Wind Gap we drove up the trail to Delaware Water Gap to check out the church hostel in town. Dr Fix-it said that the hostel smelled really bad when he went inside but I didn¢t notice anything. There¢s a shelter out back here behind the church where we¢ve decided to spend the night. I hope you are having a good year. I¢m enjoying the adventure of my life here on the trail.
Date: 2016-05-31
From: Wind Gap

To: PA Rt 191
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: few clouds

Last night was not my best night ever. In the shelter behind the church the bugs were biting me so much that I zipped up inside my sleeping bag. The problem was that the temperature was up in the 70s somewhere. I sweated so much that my bag was soaked this morning when I got up. Next time I think I¢ll set up my tent instead. : ) We shuttled today with a new driver, Kenny. He¢s a nice older gentleman who doesn¢t talk much. This was quite a change from our last driver. He drives a little slow, about 35 in a 50 zone, but I felt nice and safe while being shuttled today. My stomach was bothering me just a little today so I took my time going up the hill northward out of Wind Gap. The Dr had hiked ahead of me and I found him sitting down and waiting for me on a log along the trail. We stopped at about 12:30 to take a nap and avoid the hottest part of the day. I fell right asleep and Dr Fix-it took a photo of me sleeping with my head on a log that he posted on his Facebook page. It was 2 pm when we made our way across Wolf Rocks, a series of ledges that required a bit of scrambling. Soon after the trail smoothed out and we enjoyed hiking the last 2 miles of the day without much of any rocks in our way. We are almost done with Pennsylvania! The plan is to hike the last 7 miles tomorrow. We were both feeling a little worn out late in the day and the Dr offered to treat me to one last stay at the Rock n Sole hostel. It took us 1.5 hours to drive here but we¢ve showered, enjoyed a delicious dinner, and had a good time hanging out with the other hikers who are here. In the morning we¢ll say goodbye (again) to hostel owners Ironman and Jodi. They have been super nice and friendly. We¢ve felt like part of the family while staying there.