morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-17
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Stealth tenting about 1135
Miles today: 18.1

I was up at 6am, eating a high sugar continental breakfast at 7am and now I have the shakes! Too much sugar! Going back to my room to pack and head out soon before my body goes into shock. I hike up to the trail head with Cash and he goes into town and I start my hike for the day. About two hours later, I look back. Oh no, it can't be! There's no place to hide. I'm in the middle of a hay field. I know they see me. Oh well, I stop at the edge of the trail just before it goes into the woods and wait, my ¢cold¢ is back ¢ oh, I mean ¢JD¢ and ¢Trip¢. We laugh about it and end up hiking the rest of the day together. I notice a graveyard in the woods and we stop and look at it. Some of the stones date back to the 1800¢s. A little way up the trail I yell out, ¢Hold up guys! I see something else.¢ So I go back, and up off the trail a little ways are several bottles of beer. We¢re thinking some kids left it because it¢s off the trail and there's a path to what looks like a neighborhood nearby. Sorry kids! We couldn't help ourselves and thanks for the four beers! We go through a tunnel under a road and I say, ¢That cheese I had for lunch is working on me and I'll see you all at the shelter¢. The only reason I'm telling you all this is because this is where I lost my sun glasses! This is a big deal for me. I've had this pair from the start and it usually takes me going through about six pairs to find a pair that I like. Oh well, now I guess I'll have to get me one of those bright framed ones. Don't ask me how, but I caught up the ¢JD¢ and ¢Trip¢ and we hike into Darlington Shelter. There are a lot of hikers here so I tell them the terrain was flat for most of the hike today and I'm feeling good and I'm going to hike a little further so that tomorrow¢s hike into Duncannon won't be as long. To my surprise, ¢JD¢ and ¢Trip¢ decide to go with me. Our goal was about five miles away to a pipeline clearing with a view, but I noticed ¢Trip¢ was starting to limp and my feet were killing me and all of a sudden we came across a stream and several places to pitch a tent, so here we are. They¢re on one side of the stream and I'm on the other side. We put our beers in the stream, fix supper and now I'm sitting by the stream with my feet in the water and eating my Mac and cheese and drinking beer. What a life!
Date: 2013-06-18
From: Stealth tenting about 1135

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Today¢s goal is to stop off at the Doyle Hotel / Bar in Duncannon, PA and grab something to eat and resupply. The hike there was going pretty good. The nice rocks are popping up more and more, some little and some big. We were on our final descent when the trail took off sharply uphill and very rocky. I was working up a lather like a race horse and I told JD I'm going to give him some room because I felt like throwing up. I was getting too hot but once I got down to the road I was doing better. We made it to Doyle's and JD bought a round of beers and I had a turkey burger and house salad. A couple of hours later, we leave and go to the Riverfront Campground and pay $3 each for a shower, which felt great. Then we hiked along Hwy 322/22 across the Susquehanna River and then the trail went straight up. After about twenty minutes I asked ¢Why did we shower?¢ I was soaking wet. Once we reached the Clark's Ferry Shelter, I went down to the spring and washed off again. I was talked into sleeping in the shelter because of the chance of storms, wish me luck!The rocks are my friends.
Date: 2013-06-19
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter

To: Rattling Run
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night in the shelter may have been my very last night in one and this is why. First off, I know I snore (a little) and I was afraid I'd keep ¢JD¢ and ¢Trip¢ up so I had a hard time sleeping worrying about that. Second, a roach crawled across my neck and down my back- brrrrr! Third, I was on the top bunk and worried I'd roll off onto them sleeping on the floor. Fourth, two night hikers came in and looked around at 2am but then went on up the hill to camp. Fifth, around 4am I wake up because I heard something and I thought it was JD scratching on the floor to wake me up because I was snoring. So I'm sitting up and I still hear it so I turn my light on and JD is still asleep but wakes up thinking I was making the noise. What the heck is it? I bang on the walls and nothing. JD takes the broom and bangs the wall next to where his feet are and it stops. The next morning, JD finds a roach in his backpack, then finds a big spider in his shoe. I go around the back of the shelter and along the back wall something big has been gnawing at the wood. What a night! We didn't leave till nine this morning and we took our time hiking, stopping several times. Trip tripped today, landing on her knee but she said she¢s fine. There¢s a group of about ten of us that pass each other or camp close to each other every day so we are getting to know one another. Well for some reason I was born with the gift of being able to be easily startled and today ¢Better Man¢ got me good. Just like ¢Bamboo¢ got me a couple of weeks ago - snuck up on me from behind - his time¢s coming! We passed this section hiker and he said, ¢There's trail magic at the road one mile down, but he may be packing up.¢ So we pick up the pace and for some reason I was leading and JD had just said to me, ¢That guy is probably a paramedic hoping for someone to fall and get hurt so he'll have something to do.¢ We are rushing down the trail and bam! - Down I go, landing on my left hand and shoulder, scraping my arm and cutting my palm near my thumb. Trip keeps saying, ¢Don't move, don't move.¢ So after about thirty seconds I try to get up. I can't. I'm stuck. I look like a turtle on its back, trying to flip over! So JD pulls me up with my right arm and I'm bleeding from both places and yes folks, it hurts. But we make it down and find a little trail magic left - deviled eggs, drinks, cupcakes and fruit cups. And ¢K Fox¢ was nearby tenting. So are Shaman, Better Man, Smothers and Etch-a-sketch. But we three keep going another four miles to this place called Rattling Run. There's a stream and a couple of tent sites.And no, the rocks didn't make me fall. It was my own carelessness and knowing trail magic was close by. I'm still enjoying the rocks of Pennsylvania! My hand is swollen a little and is starting to turn blue. Oh boy, this is going to feel good in the morning!
Date: 2013-06-20
From: Rattling Run

To: Swatara Gap, PA 72, Lickdale PA
Miles today: 13.4

We found a place near the stream last night just before dark. This morning the palm of my hand is turning a deep purple and my upper arm is also bruised. The good news is, it only hurts when I use it! Which is all the time (hiking poles) and it takes my mind off my feet pain. We left at 8am. Today's hike was mostly downhill. About four hours later, ¢K Fox¢ catches up to us - man she can fly! She stops off at a shelter for lunch and we continue down to an old cemetery that dates back to 1850's and we have lunch. We pass ¢Shoe Fly¢ who is a trail runner and works for the ATC. We later found ourselves on the road to Lickdale. JD sticks his thumb out and the second vehicle stops. We jumped in the truck bed and the driver takes us to the Dairy Queen and from there we walked down the road about five hundred feet and are tenting at the KOA. Word on the trail is that creature from last night was a porcupine. Eight miles into tomorrow's hike and my ¢miles to go¢ will be under 1000!
Date: 2013-06-21
From: Swatara Gap, PA 72, Lickdale PA

To: Stealth tenting
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up this morning at 5:15am. I was tenting five feet from the Swatara creek and it was light out. The summer solstice began around one am and also brings what is known on the AT as Hike Naked Day, the one day where it¢s ok if you hike naked or at least that's what I've been told. This morning we stopped by Subway and got us a sub for later, and then we went to McDonalds for breakfast. Afterwards we started thumbing, hoping to get a ride back to the trail. After about twenty cars, a yellow truck pulls over and gives us a ride back to the trail head. Right off the bat it was a thousand feet climb. Once we reached the top we had a break. I can definitely say that there were those who did participate in Hike Naked Day. Later on we reached the 501 shelter and ¢K Fox¢ was there along with a couple of other people. At this shelter you can order pizza and they will deliver it to the trail head about three tenths of a mile away. We decide not to stay as we're trying to do fifteen miles or better a day to make it to Hamburg, PA by Sunday. I also had to pop two new blisters on my heels last night. I think it¢s time for some new footwear and there is a Cabela¢s store in Hamburg. It's kind of funny, Trip and I have blisters but JD doesn't, so late in the day our feet will start to hurt really bad and every time this happens, we always find a nice place to stop for the night. Like tonight, we¢re on a hill top with flat ground and a fire ring and JD had a fire going. There¢s even a place where I sat down to watch the sun fade away. Tomorrow we start it all over again.I almost forgot - I have less than nine hundred and ninety four miles to go.
Date: 2013-06-22
From: Stealth tenting

To: Phillips Canyon Spring
Miles today: 17.0

Sorry folks, there's just not much to talk about other than it¢s a hot, sweaty day and the gnats are constantly buzzing my ears, nose and eyes and these nice rocks are chewing up my feet pretty good. I know, I know, the best is yet to come! Just before lunch, this hiker comes up and introduces himself as ¢Humen¢ and tells us that this is his first day back from a leg injury. He¢s testing his leg out before he continues on his thru hike. He ended up hiking with us for maybe four miles or so. He said he and his uncle had left some trail magic near PA 183 and when we got there, the cooler was full of sodas and there were apples, oranges, fruit roll-ups, suckers and Fourth of July glow sticks, which I'm proudly carrying. To Humen and his family - Thank you! That coke felt great on such a hot, muggy day and the apple and oranges hit the spot. After the trail magic, Humen went home with his uncle and we got back to hiking. We stopped off at the trail head that goes down three tenths of a mile to the water source and to the Eagles Nest Shelter. ¢JD¢ and I took off our packs and walked down to get water, because where we plan on tenting later tonight, the water is unreliable. And it¢s a good thing we did because when we arrived at our camp site, we couldn't find the spring. So carrying two quarts of water 4.6 miles was worth it. Tomorrow we go into town. (The rocks are my friends)
Date: 2013-06-23
From: Phillips Canyon Spring

To: PA 61, Hamburg, PA
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: clear sky

I packed up this morning and stopped by JD and Trip¢s camp. I ate my morning junk food and started hiking into Port Clinton. Just before you enter there¢s a massive descent and all the way down to the railroad tracks I'm thinking, man I'm glad I'm not hiking this going south. But like every town once you leave, the trail goes straight up and I'm sure this is no different. I stopped under PA 61 Hwy bridge and took a little break and ¢Easy E¢ goes by, said he'll see me later (I doubt it. He's fast and he's with two other hikers so they will hike faster together.) Once I'm on top of the bridge, I call Cabella's for a free shuttle, but there¢s no shuttle today. So 1.7 miles of death defying, car honking, hair raising, sun beating down on me, highway walking to my first stop - the Walmart. I did my shopping and made my way over to the Microtel hotel where K Fox is waiting for her room as well.I¢m in my room now and the first thing on my list is to shower. It took two showers to get the funk off. Then I played Frogger once again and crossed four lanes of traffic to get to Cabella's outdoors super store. I'm needing hiking pole tips. That last hill down ate them up and also I'm needing either new feet or new shoes, along with my exped pillow/pump - it leaks. This place is massive. There are more stuffed or fake animals here than my state zoo has alive. No luck on the tips or the pump, but I bought a pair of Keen shoes. I hope they are what I'm needing because I don't know how long the recovery period is for feet replacement. The hiking gear section could use a little help as there is not too much here. I made my next stop at McDonalds, then the Dollar Tree and then played Frogger once again. Three and a half hours later, I'm doing laundry in the hotel. I'll be leaving late tomorrow as I need to go to the post office. I'm wanting to bounce my old boots and some other stuff up the trail, just in case the new shoes don't work out.
Date: 2013-06-24
From: PA 61, Hamburg, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

This morning at the hotel, I thought I had overslept. I jumped out of bed and looked at my watch and it was only 5:25am. I turned on the TV and watched The Three Stooges, then got dressed and ate breakfast, went back upstairs and packed up, then went back to Walmart to pick up a few items and found a box big enough for my boots to fit in so I can mail (bounce) them to myself at the next town so I won't have to carry them. I went back to my room and gathered my stuff, checked out and asked the lady at the front desk if I could leave my stuff there while I go get a sub before I call a taxi. She said sure, so I walk out and two hikers are getting out of a car, so I asked the driver if he's a shuttle driver. He says he is and that he will take me. The first stop was Subway. The second stop was supposed to be the post office but he takes me to this peanut/candy store first, so now I have about one pound of candy to carry. Then he takes me to the Port Clinton post office and then up the road to my drop off point. Come to find out, his name is Michael and he has a B & B and a shuttle service in Boiling Springs. I thank him and I get out and he drives on. So I'm sitting here on my pack eating my sub and guess who walks up? JD and Trip. So we begin our climb. At the top we see ¢Big Red¢ and ¢Yooper¢ along with their nephew. I asked the young man how's it going and he said good and that he's got a couple of blisters. I asked him if he had a trail name and he said no, so I suggested ¢Blisters¢. His eyes got big - I think he likes it. JD, Trip and I hiked on and off together today but unfortunately I had to stop hiking. I had to POP another BLISTER on my heel. Will it ever stop? Those last few miles to the Eckville Shelter were in the dark. JD and Trip were already there, so I set my tent up and went to sleep. I was even too tired to eat.
Date: 2013-06-25
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Before Knife's Edge
Miles today: 13.8

Last night I tented in the grass and this morning there is heavy dew, but I go ahead and pack my wet tent anyway. I eat a big junk food breakfast, tend to my blisters and head out. About twenty minutes later, this animal next to the trail is making noises. I can't believe it - it's a rooster, and he's playing ¢now you see me, now you don't¢. I turn back and he's walking south. I just met my first south bound rooster! The temperature is in the low seventy's and it¢s only eight thirty in the morning. The humidity must be 100 percent because that or this thousand foot climb is soaking me. I reach the top and ring out my shirt. 3.5 miles later, I hike down to this spring. I dig out a place in the stream to put my feet in and I wash off and man that water is cold! I go ahead and eat, then I go back to hiking on the rocks of all sizes. The American ¢Road Runner¢ passes me (there are about five hikers using Road Runner as trail names) and we meet back up at the Allentown Hiking Club Shelter. We talk about food, blisters, feet and rocks. I was ready to leave and JD and Trip show up to have lunch. Road Runner leaves and I soon follow. I'm not going to make the next shelter as I¢m tired and hungry and my feet and legs are sore. Hiking on these rocks sometimes reminds me of a Tennessee walking horse. So I found this campsite just before Knife¢s Edge and so here I am. And my new Keen shoes lasted less than 29 miles. The soles are coming off! I just hope my old boots are in town at the post office when I get there.The rocks are my friends!
Date: 2013-06-26
From: Before Knife's Edge

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 11.6

Last evening when I was setting my tent up, I had moved a nice sized rock out of my way. My tent was up and I was ready to put my gear in when I noticed ants all over my shoes. The rock I had moved had ants under it ¢ great! So I moved my tent to a new location and I think one or two of the little boogers must have bit me behind the knee. I'm laying here and I hear big rolls of thunder and the wind has picked up. Lucky for me, it goes around and I just get light rain. This morning I wake up at three but it¢s too early to get up. But at six I do get up and leave camp at six forty-five. I hike along all day, up and over the Knife¢s Edge, which I think should really be called the Chain Saw, since either way if you fall and survive, it¢s going to hurt. I'm low on water so I come up to Bake Oven Knob Shelter and the water is straight down an overgrown trail and very steep, but I made it down and back up. I see this south bounder coming my way and it¢s a guy I met at Jacob Shelter. He said he's going where I just tented and I'm going to where he came from - the Jail House Hostel in Palmerton PA. He's the only hiker I see all day.The descent to the highway is not bad, but crossing it is another story. My left shoe felt like I had something under it, so I checked and nope, it¢s the sole that has come off. The only thing holding it on was the toe part (see my Photos for pics). So my MacGyver instincts kicked in and I used a piece of my bear bag rope and tied it around the heel. This should work just fine ¢ I hope! Then I had a 1.5 mile walk, high above the highway and on the side of a mountain that has over-sized chicken wire with cable loops holding back loose rocks and every now and then you can hear small rocks falling. I made it through there and the first stop is the post office where I was reunited with my blister boots that I had mailed ahead to myself, just in case the Keens didn't work out. Next stop was the police department to sign in. Ok, I'm going to stop before I say something nice (which some of them just were not).Next I'm in the basement of what is called the Jail House Hostel (which has never really been used as a jail) and Bamboo comes in. I have not seen him in awhile. He says Morning Kid is about an hour behind so I invited him to pizza and beer. We saved the last two slices for Morning Kid and when we walked back to jail, she was there. Later we did laundry and went to the Family Dollar Store (I hope this helps you stockholders! - David)Time for bed, goodnight folks!
Date: 2013-06-27
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Leroy A. Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night I was sitting outside of the hostel when all of a sudden the town air horn goes off and scares the heck out of me. Come to find out this town has a curfew. The Jail House Hostel was a good, free place to stay for the night and everything in town was close by. This morning I packed up and left my pack at the hostel while I went to the Family Dollar store and picked up a pack of hot dogs and buns for later this evening, where Bamboo is going to have a fire waiting on me at the shelter. When I got back to the hostel, JD and Trip were there. Trip had fallen the day before and her knee was still swollen but she's a tough lady and she'll be back hiking tomorrow. I gathered my stuff up and met them at Bert's Diner across the street for breakfast. Then I stopped by the post office to mail my new, but already falling apart, Keen shoes home. Kathy will send them back to Cabella's for a refund because Keen just wanted to give me a voucher for a new pair. I just didn't trust the rice glue they used in the sweat shops enough to try them again. By the time I walk back to the trail and start up one hell of a climb, it¢s 11:20am and I do mean straight up. And then it was a lot of hand and knee climbing. I really need climbing gear for this part and all the way up I had to keep telling myself, ¢A blind man did this - shut up and climb.¢ And I have to say I was sweating more than I have before. I don't know if it¢s the hot 86 degree sun beating down on me or my nerves. After I reached the top, it was about two miles of easy hiking, although it was covered with high grass. I was able to pick some blueberries and blackberries along the way and I'm glad I carried three quarts of water and one quart of Gatorade because it¢s dry. By the time I went four miles, I'd already drank two quarts. I really thought I was making good time until I saw the sign that said Leroy A. Smith Shelter 6.1 miles. This has to be the low point of my day and then I hear big rolling thunder. All I could do was hike and whatever happens, happens. I told Bamboo and Morning Kid I would be meet them at the shelter with the hot dogs and come Hell or high water, my word is good as gold! It was thundering all around me. I was soaked to the bone. But when I got to the shelter, Bamboo's word was good as gold too. He had said he'd have a fire going and there it was! Plus, he had gotten me some water so I didn¢t have to do that when I came in. So what turned out to be a hot, wet, aggravating day turned in to a great day with friends, standing around the fire roasting hot dogs in the rain.
Date: 2013-06-28
From: Leroy A. Smith Shelter

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: broken clouds

I know, I know, I said my shelter days were over, but the thunderstorms changed my mind. My plan for today is to go to the next shelter because of the chance of more storms. On the way there and after very long thought, I've decided that the rocks are not my friends and that I'm at war with them. The time I tripped and fell on my hand and arm - I blamed it on me being in a hurry. But now they have tripped my hiking friend and made her knee look like a grapefruit. They have bruised my feet to the point they wake me up at night with sharp pains, not to mention the countless times I've stumped my toe, slid off of them and almost fell and planted my face. Let¢s not forget they broke the tip off one of my hiking poles. (This is the kind of crap that goes through my mind as I hike.) I, and everyone I've talked to, can't wait to be done with Pennsylvania. Okay,I'm off my soap box now.While I was strategically placing my feet around the all the SOB'S (rocks), a group of about ten day hikers came by and I stopped and talk to them awhile. A couple of them are trail maintainers and I thanked them and moved on. While I was boulder hopping I came across ¢Cash¢ sitting on one of them enjoying a smoke. I kept going and he soon followed and just before PA 191, I spotted number nine bear, running down the trail. It was too fast for me to take a photo. At the road we took our packs off and this lady gets out of her car and comes over. It¢s one of the day hikers from earlier today and her name is Kathy - that name sounds familiar? So we¢re talking about when we started our hikes and this and that and she asked if we were going into Delaware Water Gap tonight. I said no and that Coke I've been craving will just have to wait. Then she asked Cash what he was craving and he said pizza, the next thing we knew she said, ¢Give me ten minutes and I¢ll be right back.¢ Cash said you don't have to get the pizza and she left and came back with a 2 liter Coke, 2 cups with ice, 4 slices of pizza and 2 bowls of ice cream! We must have died and went to heaven! We sat and ate and talked with Kathy awhile. Then we heard thunder so we both thanked her, had our picture taken with her and headed up to Kirkridge Shelter. When we got there 15 minutes later, the bottom dropped out.Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Anne!