morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-01
From: South Mountain, Pa.

To: Campsite near Toms Run shelter
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: scattered clouds

It's the weekend, it stopped raining late last night, so when I came to Caledonia State Park around noon it was packed with people. A lot of barbeques but nobody offered this hungry hiker any food. Don't feed the bears. Don't feed the hikers. Maybe it's my appearance?I overtook Jukebox and the General on the trail. The General is a retired Sergeant Major of the British army enjoying his retirement the army way. He's a big man with a heavy pack who claims anybody carrying less than 40 pounds is slackpacking.I also spent some time with the little guy in the photo. He was rolling the dung ball (horse manure, I think) across a blacktop park road. Thankfully for him there was little traffic which I diverted. The dung ball was about the size of a meatball and must have been heavy. He pushed it across the road and when he reached the camber at the edge he and his load rolled 4 feet onto the shoulder, thump-thump-thump. He held on. He has the perseverance of a thruhiker.
Date: 2008-06-02
From: Campsite near Toms Run shelter

To: Boiling Springs, Pa.
Miles today: 26.1

It was easy hiking today and I was doubly motivated. Firstly, I reached the halfway point, 1088 miles, near the Pine Grove Furnace state park in Pennsylvania. I was here last January attending a small thruhikers convention at the park hostel, the Ironmasters Mansion. At that time it was 20 degrees outside. The Ironmasters Mansion, now a member of hostels-international, was on the underground railroad and has a secret room. It is a very nice place to stay but it is only noon so I'm not staying.It is a tradition that a hiker reaching the halfway point here scarfs down a half gallon of icecream. That's Kanati in the photo beginning his. I passed. If the challenge had involved a half gallon of Budweiser then count me in. That brings me to my second source of motivation. There's a popular hiker tavern in the next town. I'm outta here. I hiked a one-day personal best of 26.1 miles to get to Boilings Springs around 8PM. But the tavern is closed on Mondays and I'm still ticked off.
Date: 2008-06-03
From: Boiling Springs, Pa.

To: Duncannon, Pa.
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: broken clouds

I got to Boiling Springs late last night and in a foul mood when I found out the tavern was closed on Mondays. And there are few places to stay in this small town. Fortunately the Mideast regional office of the Trail Conservancy is here and has a hiker bulletin board with camping info. A few friendly locals make available their backyards for tired hikers.I chose the nearest backyard and spent the night in my own little "hotel", a child's playhouse shown in the photo. It needs plumbing and cable TV.I ran into DoubleTime while in town. We last met in HotSprings two months ago. He hikes very, very fast and I shouldn't have caught him but he took three weeks off to deal with his own case of trail madness. I don't think I'll see him again.Discouraged by the closed tavern I hiked almost as far today as yesterday. The next town, Duncannon, has the only hiker hotel on the trail. Not a hostel, a hotel. It is the infamous Doyle Hotel, built in 1903. $25 gets you a room for the night. The room comes with a twin bed, an old chest-of-drawers, a fan on a stick, and a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Two windows supply fresh air. The bath is down the hall.All the action takes place in the bar/lounge/dining room. If you are practicing sobriety you may not want to stay here. The food was good, too.
Date: 2008-06-05
From: Duncannon, Pa.

To: Clark's Valley gap
Miles today: 19.1

There were many hikers coming and going through the Doyle hotel. Some were thruhikers, some section hikers, and others just out for a day or two. Damian and Denvuh (a Denver transplanted Bostonian) are two thruhikers beginning their journey here or close by.Denvuh is in that rare age group on the trail, 35-45. Family and careers get in the way but her child is 18 and she's a nurse, so jobs are plentiful she tells me. Damian and I went through her pack to lighten it up some, it was 40 pounds. The photo is Damian and Denvuh next to the pile of debris we tossed out of her pack. She had three pairs of hemostats/forceps, a scalpel, saline solution,..., bandages. Enough medical supplies to perform major surgery. Her 6 pound tent stayed as it's all she has. A typical light backpack tent is 2-3 pounds. Good luck to you, Denvuh.Out of Duncannon I crossed the Susquehanna river and up a very long ridge. I stayed up there most of the day. About 2PM I bushwacked down off the mountain and into the valley below. The country road I walked along was too narrow to warrant a yellow line down its center. Numerous times I was passed by manure trucks hauling liquified cow manure to be dumped on some field. The trucks are part dump truck and the other part tanker. It was the same two trucks over and over.At the end of their day one of the two drivers stopped to talk to me, we had waved at each other throughout the afternoon. He is Murray Lavaschlaeger and owns a dairy farm and 500 acres of crops. He is very proud of his farm and took me on a tour. He has a lot of very big cows. They are all fed and milked mechanically now so all he has to do is haul all that manure away. Reminds me of that hard working dung beetle I wrote about on June 1. Thanks, Murray.
Date: 2008-06-06
From: Clark's Valley gap

To: Swatara river near I-81
Miles today: 21.7

I climbed up out of Clark's valley and along another long ridge for most of the day. There was very little up-and-down making for easy fast hiking.I'm thankful that low clouds shrouded the ridge most of the day because the predicted high was to be our first 90 degree day. It didn't happen but the humidity was certainly there.I looked for a decent sized river to camp next to as I needed a bath desperately. It was a very humid day. I found the Swatara river about 7:30PM which, unfortunately, runs next to Interstate 81. The sound of diesels was my nighttime lullaby.
Date: 2008-06-07
From: Swatara river near I-81

To: Nearing Port Clinton, Pa
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I started hiking before sunrise because of a predicted heatwave. The prediction was correct as a clear day allowed the sun to heat the air rapidly. And the air was very moist, as we say, "It's not the heat but the stupidity."My thru-hikers data book listed a Quality Inn with pool so I hitched a ride there. The clerk said the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and its hiking "Members" get the low corporate rate. All I cared about was the pool.The weather forecast for the next few days is highs near 100 and high humidity, an excessive heat warning is in place for the east coast.
Date: 2008-06-09
From: Home in New Jersey

To: Still home
Miles today: 0.0

The thermometer reached 100 degrees here in northeast New Jersey and it's still early June. Oh my, what will July bring?The local schools are closing at noon because we don't air condition the classrooms. That means my friend Jim can easily drive me back to the trail tomorrow afternoon.The cooler air is expected to arrive tomorrow night behind some strong storms. Thank you, Canada.
Date: 2008-06-10
From: Still home

To: Port Clinton pavillion
Miles today: 0.3
Weather: light rain

My local hiking friend, Jim, drove me back to the trail. I am spending the night at the Port Clinton picnic pavillion in case the predicted storms arrive during the night.Cooler drier air will be here tomorrow.I'm a happy hiker.In a week or less I will cross the border at the Delaware Water Gap into New Jersey.
Date: 2008-06-11
From: Port Clinton pavillion

To: Hawk Mountain
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Spent the previous night at the Port Clinton pavilion with JC (junior counsel), a Columbia University law student out hiking for a few weeks to get as far away from books as possible, HighLife hiking from Harper's Ferry to Maine for the second year in a row, and fellow thruhiker Pusher. I learned that Pusher is only 19 years old. It was either go to college, get a job, or hike the A.T., good choice I say.Overnighted near the Eckville shelter with section hikers Capt. Blue and DayTripper. A couple hundred miles is far enough for them, they say.Tomorrow the infamous Pennsylvania rocks are suppose to be at their worst. I'll talk to my feet tonight and give them a pep talk, "You can do this!"
Date: 2008-06-12
From: Hawk Mountain

To: Lehigh Gap
Miles today: 26.4

I was on the trail before sunrise hoping to sneak up on the infamous rocks of Pennsylvania while they were still sleeping. They heard me coming.Hiked over places called the Knife Edge, Bear Rocks, and Bake Oven Knob. It is here that trail crews ensure that all the rocks on the trail are pointed side up. Good work guys.Fortunately, although the trail is very, very rocky, there is very little climbing. I climbed from 500 to 1500 feet in the dark this morning and then stayed up on the same ridge the entire day until the descent into Lehigh Gap this evening. I found a wonderful campsite near a little stream flowing into the Lehigh River and hobo camped next to the railroad tracks there.
Date: 2008-06-13
From: Lehigh Gap

To: Unknown campsite south of Wind Gap, Pa.
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: scattered clouds

For one hundred years zinc was extracted from the mountains surrounding Palmerton , Pa., in particular, Blue Mountain. That's the mountain in the photo as I'm about to hike up its flank from the gap below. The ore extraction completely denuded the mountain and the zinc processing earned this area a Superfund designation.At the trailhead I ran into Bob and Michelle who are 'associate regional representatives' of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. They get the long title in lieu of a living salary. They are attending yet another meeting on relocating the trail during the revegetation process. Revegetation on steep mountains is very difficult and will take a long time.The hike up the mountain is very difficult because it's covered in loose rocks about the size of potatoes. These cause numerous back slides. Once at the top it is very hot because there are no trees to shade the sun.I think they should relocate the trail near the Marriot. Preferably next to the pool. What do you think?
Date: 2008-06-14
From: Unknown campsite south of Wind Gap, Pa.

To: Fox Gap, Pa.
Miles today: 11.2

It's Saturday, I'm really, really close to New Jersey, the hard hiking on Pennsylvania rocks is almost over, and my friend, Jim, has driven here to rescue me. Life is indeed very good.Cricket called me today from Highpoint, New Jersey. He reports that the hiking is much nicer after the Delaware Water Gap and he has scene four bears so far in 'Jersey. We have really good garbage. He also reports, somewhat sadly, that many of our hiking family have chosen to leave the trail. These include the 'kids', Respect and Applicator, and oldtimer HalfTime. I also think the last two hikers who stepped off Springer Mountain, Ga., with me in March may have departed the trail. I haven't seen or heard of TearGas or Darkhorse, the Chinese smoking chimneys, since Harper's Ferry. Many people call it a day at that point.
Date: 2008-06-15
From: Fox Gap, Pa.

To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.2

I'm back on the trail after a wonderful weekend at home. This is the last day in Pennsylvania, goodbye rocks. Since it is Sunday there are many dayhikers particularly on Mt. Minsi. The trail is abuzz with rumors of a large bear, I saw none.I arrived at the Delaware Water Gap which is not only a location but a small eclectic town. I checked into the Presbyterian Church of the Mountains hiker hostel. It has hot showers, a bunk room, living room, etc. I slept on the couch. The church provides a free concert on Sundays complete with hotdogs and lemonade. I ate some while listening a cool-jazz quartet at the bandstand.With me were HighLife, Pusher, the General and RisingStar. They chose to see the Celtics/Lakers game at the local tavern while I watched the quartet.
Date: 2008-06-16
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: YMCA camp on Long Pine Lake
Miles today: 22.3

The photo is the bandstand at the Church of the Mountains, Delaware Water Gap. I listened to a jazz quartet play. From there I hiked into New Jersey first thing this morning. It is appropriate that I crossed the Pa/NJ border on an interstate highway bridge (I80).Within two hours after entering New Jersey I saw my first bear of the entire trip. New Jersey has great garbage. I got out my nail clippers just in case.It is Monday and the trail company is sparse. Although I met no other hikers I did run into a trail angel, Butch Cassidy and his Sundance Dog, distributing goodies and stories along the AT.I hustled into the only available shelter with a roof, the YMCA camp, at 5:30. The squall line with high winds and heavy rain arrived at 5:31. I am leading a charmed life.
Date: 2008-06-17
From: YMCA camp on Long Pine Lake

To: Water hole near Sunrise Mountain
Miles today: 21.9

I am near Highpoint, New Jersey, and the hiking is among the best so far. The mountain laurels are in full bloom, the honey suckle vines are on the way out along with their powerful perfume, but the Gypsy Caterpillars are at their worst.Tonight I had to set up my tarp over the hammock, not to keep off the rain, but to protect me from the downpour of caterpillar feces from the oak trees above. The pitter-patter of cat-scat striking the tarp sounds like a constant rain. It is nauseating. It is unlikely that the state of New Jersey will be able to save these trees near the highest point in the state.
Date: 2008-06-18
From: Water hole near Sunrise Mountain

To: Mayor's house, Unionville, NY
Miles today: 22.5

While hiking today I got a call from "Cricket" advising me to stay at the Mayor's house in Unionville, New York. It is an unadvertised hostel of magnificence.The Mayor, Dick Ludinsky, opens his house to all hikers. He provides a warm place to sleep, hot showers, big screen TV, free beer, wine, and cooks dinner and breakfast. No charge. He won't even let a hiker wash a dish.Pusher and Highlife spent the night here with me.
Date: 2008-06-23
From: Harriman Park

To: Graymoor Spiritual Center
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I'm back on the trail again after a weekend at home. There's nothing better than a familiar bed, I say.I crossed the Bear Mountain bridge which is the gateway to New England. It's also the lowest point on the trail at 150 feet. I guess I got some climbing to do.Spent the night at the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center, a very old and very large Franciscan Friar retreat. I roamed about the campus and came across many shrines, gardens, meditation rooms, and, of course, a gift shop. On the grounds you'll find the very large cross of intersecting I-beams found among the ruins of the World Trade Centers. It was transplanted here in a very nice meditation garden.The Friars allow us hikers to use the picnic pavilion near their ballfield, far, far away from most everything else. The area has a cool shower, running water and marvelously clean and tidy portajohns. A local pizzeria delivers here.Staying with me tonight are 3 section hikers heading south, Pilgrim going north along with thruhikers ChiefDaddy and Crow. Crow is the youngest thruhiker I've met so far. He was 17 when he started Feb 24. He's getting off soon to attend University in Juneau, Alaska.
Date: 2008-06-24
From: Graymoor Spiritual Center

To: RPH shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: light rain

I walked and talked a bit with Pilgrim who is goofing around some on the Trail. He hikes a section or two each year. In five years he'll be 60 and probably do the whole thing, too.The shelter is a modified cinder-block storage building. The National Park service requires that all the shelters be 3-sided. No problem, they knocked out one wall. The mice use the castoff cinder blocks as a bomb shelter. I hung my hammock outside.With me are Hobbes, a German on a 4-week hiking visa. If he stays 5 weeks we draft him and send him to Iraq. He's 6'6" tall and has an enormous hiking stride. Also here are a young couple of recent college graduates, one astrophysicist and one molecular biologist. Guess which one found a job? There's also a hiker I call the recliner. He was asleep when I arrived at 6PM and still asleep when I left the next morning.
Date: 2008-06-25
From: RPH shelter

To: Wiley shelter
Miles today: 25.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I said goodbye to Hobbes about 10AM as he went east off the trail to get a late breakfast. Auf Wiedesehn.Ran into a flock of rare mountain flamingos as they foraged for carelessly discarded legos, their favorite food. That's them in the photo.Caught up with Buns 'n Roses, a young couple hiking the trail since Feb 24. They just returned from a 5-day visit to Brooklyn where Roses recovered from a Black Widow spider bite. I looked forward to some lively evening conversation with them but when I arrived at camp around 7PM they were already asleep. Long day.
Date: 2008-06-26
From: Wiley shelter

To: Stony Brook campsite
Miles today: 22.1
Weather: light rain

I left camp quietly at 6:30AM 'cause Buns 'n Roses were still sleeping. A 14-hour cat nap.Speaking of cats, the Trail crosses numerous small roads now congested with country commuters. The photo indicates who pays the greatest price on these roads.I came down off another mountain and crossed into Connecticut. YAYYYYY! For most of Connecticut we hike along the Housatonic river instead of a high ridge.The new nuisance pest is the slug.
Date: 2008-06-27
From: Stony Brook campsite

To: Salisbury, Conn
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: haze

The photo shows the state flower of Connecticut, Poison Ivy. Stay on the trail, people, it is everywhere.The hiking has been somewhat easy with long level sections high on a ridge and others, equally long, through farms and small towns. I pushed a long day to get a much needed hot shower and cozy bed in Salisbury, Conn.I spent the night at Vanessa's house where she has made enough room upstairs for four hikers. Kind of like a B&B without the B. A lovely backyard provided a relaxing sanctuary for this hiker. I'm sorry I was too tired to be of much company.The town of Salisbury is quite small without many services but it did have a very upscale little market and a select wine store. I gathered together the ingredients for a no-fuss and pleasant little dinner: A demi baguette, some kippered herring, a Caeser salad with grilled chicken and a nice Italian red of Toscana. Oh, and two bananas and an orange.Steve, who runs the autobody shop, resupplied my stove fuel, no charge, and applied several Obama stickers to my backpack. If you take your car in for repair at his place, you get it back slathered in Obama stickers. Nobody minds in this liberal part of the country. These are smart people.
Date: 2008-06-28
From: Salisbury, Conn

To: Sages Ravine
Miles today: 20.3

Can you tell what state I am in now?On the way out of Salisbury I ran into Buns and Roses so we shared coffee at the Roast. They hiked out at a furious pace so I doubt I'll see them again.About noon the trail crossed a road leading to the small town of South Egremont about a mile away so I hoofed it into town hoping to get a good lunch at the grocery/deli listed in my guide book. Closed on Sundays, the sign said. Who closes a grocery store on Sundays?????I stuck my thumb out to hitch two miles to a bigger town, determined even more now to get that hot lunch. An older couple in a beat up Chevy (the cars and trucks that stop are always this way) picked me up. They hardly said a word. When I got out of the car with my pack, the old man shook my hand and slipped me a twenty dollar bill. I was speechless.It is said that the only difference between a hobo and a hiker is Goretex. I guess I really need a shave and a shower.
Date: 2008-06-29
From: Sages Ravine

To: Mt Wilcox South Lean-to
Miles today: 24.8

The trail descended steeply off the ridge via the Jug End. The Jug is a huge pile of borders cascading off the higher mountain and is a treacherous descent. I heard from Cricket that he took a bad tumble coming down here two days ago and is now walking slowly and in pain.The trail below is through a swamp for ten miles, usually you walk on wet planks or borders placed along the path. It is agreed that the state bird of Massachusetts is the mosquito. Most live near this swamp and have a fondness for my blood type.I hung my hammock behind the shelter but took cover under the roof when the heavy thunderstorms rolled through at midnight. It's about time they showed up. The weatherman has been bragging about these storms for days but they've been late in arriving.You may have noticed that a "shelter" is now called a "lean-to". They're still as dirty, leaky, drafty, mousy, as before, just a different name. No room service.
Date: 2008-06-30
From: Mt Wilcox South Lean-to

To: Upper Goose Pond cabin
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: broken clouds

Ahhhhh, the cooler air has arrived. Now that's good hiking weather.I took it kind of easy today arriving at my destination by 4 O'Clock. It's a cabin on the shore of a small lake (called a pond in these parts). The cabin is run by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and has eight bunkbeds upstairs for hikers. There is no charge. There is also no electricity or water (running or otherwise). It is still heaven.The bunkbeds all have thick foam pads, ahhhh. And, since I was the only one there that night, I scored the only pillow.Peace is enforced by the cabin's caretaker, Kim. She's a volunteer who teaches 7th grade when she can't be here. With her are her daughters Mary and Rebecca. Each day they canoe across the lake and fill water jugs from a spring on the far shore.I did a little light swimming in the pond. It was too cold for total immersion. I am such a wuss.
Date: 2008-07-01
From: Upper Goose Pond cabin

To: The Birdcage, Dalton, Ma.
Miles today: 21.2
Weather: few clouds

The BirdCage hostel is the private home of Rob Bird, transformed into a hiker's hostel with the addition of three beds on the front porch, three more in the basement, several upstairs, and some in the garage. The remainder of the house is unchanged except there are warm bodies everywhere and the washer/drier never stops.Rob owns and operates several gas stations but spends most of his time shuttling hikers to and fro, talking to hikers, eating with hikers, soothing hikers. The BirdCage is among the best oases on the trail and its host the most beneficent. Thanks Rob.Among the residents are Pounder and Crumbs from Scotland, HollowLeg from Switzerland, Tupperware, Spoc and Twiggy, Bullseye (a wanderer), and semi-permanent residents Nyquil and Shane.
Date: 2008-07-02
From: The Birdcage, Dalton, Ma.

To: Unknown campsite near Mt Greylock
Miles today: 20.5

Today's hike included a long slog up Mt. Greylock, Massachusett's tallest mountain. I once ran up this mountain during a half-marathon race in less than three hours. It took longer this time.Tomorrow I hike into Vermont.
Date: 2008-07-03
From: Unknown campsite near Mt Greylock

To: South Stream Pond
Miles today: 18.2

About ten O'Clock this morning I crossed into Vermont, the Green Mountains are indeed green. I'll walk a hundred miles north sharing the Appalachian Trail with the Vermont Long Trail. Near Killington the Long Trail continues north while the Appalachian Trail turns east towards Maine. This location is called the Maine Junction, bring it on.I've come down off the high ridge to camp near Bennington. Tomorrow Lee will rescue me and we'll spend the 4th of July together with our feet up eating at least three large meals a day. The plan is to relax around the pool at the Knotty Pine motel and explore the town a bit. Fireworks are planned.