morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-10
From: YMCA

To: YMCA
Miles today: 7.6

'Guana and I waited at the trailhead for Fly & Smoothie. We were only going to wait until noon for them, but hikers kept pouring of the forest and engaging us in conversation. So time passed and we were going to leave this time for sure at 3 Pm, when a hiker passed through who knew that Fly & Smoothie were nearby. So we waited. At 4 PM, they were in site and they didn't realize they were near the road as they were pulling off the trail to take a break. We yelled to them not to take their break there and come and see us. They were amazed, they thought that we were four days ahead of them. HA - we,the ultimate lollygaggers, fooled them!We caught up on all our comings and goings and they told us of their plan to get as close as possible to the bakery in Culver's Gap! We agreed to this plan and began hiking by 5 PM to go over seven miles by nightfall. We were aiming for a YMCA camp we had heard about. So off the four of us went!We cranked through the seven miles talking all the way and time just flew by. The terrain was rocky but kind to us and soon we found ourself near a lake. Sitting on a rock and nervously smoking a cigarette was a hiker - Goat is his name. He warned us that he would wait a bit to go down the tr4ail as he just walked up on the biggest bear he's ever seen in his life and that the bear was not moving off the trail. Fly & 'Guana wanted to see the bear so they starte dto move on. Well, we figured there was safety in numbers, so we all went. No bear was to be seen, but we found lots of blueberries and ate them on the way. Goat hiked with us for the rest of night. We arrived at the YMCA camp and were welcomed to two screened in shelters on the lakefront. It was beautiful and we all decided it was worth the one mile diversion from the trail to get to such a beautiful place.
Date: 2003-07-11
From: Pie in the Sky

To: Pie in the Sky
Miles today: 10.6

With pies in our eyes and dreams of sticky buns dancing in our heads, we rose early to make the hike to the Bakery on the AT in Culver's Gap. Inspired by sheer sugar and carbohydrates, we pressed on. Only one stood between us and the bakery - bears! Fly had hiked ahead of us and had a scarey but pleasurable encounter with a mother and two bear cubs. He was both frightened and thrilled at the sight of them and we all look forward with anxiety and eagerness to our bear encounters. When we got to the bakery, we placed our orders and Fly went off to call family who are in the area with whom they were supposed to meet. Their family invited them and us to spend the weekend at their home in the guesthouse. We accepted
Date: 2003-07-13
From: Water Skiing

To: Water Skiing
Miles today: 0.0

Such great hosts and we are enjoying another day at the Walpack Inn. Today was a real treat - we got to go water skiing if we wanted. Fly & Smoothie skiied while 'Guana and I opted to just go for a boat ride. 'Guana had slipped on a rock yesterday and bruised her ribs on her right side, so we thought it best to take it easy. This break from the trail came at a good time since she was feeling some pain from the fall. Still she seems to be healing, we just can't make her laugh too hard and we try to keep her away from the peopper as sneezing makes her ribs hurt. Nothing's broken, we figure, and not much to be done about a bruised rib but take it easy. So here we are doing just that! Our plan is to hit the dusty trail tomorrow!!
Date: 2003-07-15
From: Close Encounters of the Rock Kind

To: Close Encounters of the Rock Kind
Miles today: 16.1

So we were delayed another day. As it turns out we wanted to get 'Guana's ribs checked out so our hosts hopped us to the nearest emergency room where a gruff doctor pronounced 'Guana's ribs to be "not broken." So at least we have that peace of mind which is worth it, believe me. Still 'Guana is very sore and achey and we figure she might have pulled a muscle. So this is how we passed July 14th. As you can see we did a pretty big day today, despite nearly meeting my creator today. I can't even tell you how I got to falling - it involved crossing a log. All I know is that all of a sudden I was airborn and not much I could do about it except try to land the best I could. The major problem being that we were in a rock pile. I remember flying, I remember my knees crashing into the rocks but most of all I remember seeing my face speeding towards a rock and watching in slow motion as it got closer and closer to my face. I knew that I had to resist with all my might so that the rock would not become a permanent part of my forehead. I was able to stop my body weight when the pack weight came crashing down on me. I resisted again and somehow managed to keep my face less than an inch above the rock. I rolled over slowly to assess my wounds. Meanwhile, Fly, Smoothie and 'Guana all came back to see how I was doing. I was moaning since my knees took a good amount of the blow of the rocks, but I assured them I was all right. My knees got away with some scrapes but my left knee is swollen and bruised from the fall. Still I managed to hobble along for another 12 miles making it a 16.1 mile day. I don't mind falling really, it has always been a part of my "getting down to earth" legacy. An interesting way of keeping me humble. I am hoping in the future I can find less painful paths to humility, however, I don't mind falling as long as it doesn't result in a serious injury. So now 'Guana and I hobble along, each with our various bruises and aches and such is life on the trail. It takes stamina and always it is a matter of no matter what happens, you are willing to stay the course - to perservere.
Date: 2003-07-16
From: Swarming in New Jersey

To: Swarming in New Jersey
Miles today: 18.9

What a surprise New Jersey has been - such diversity in hiking and such beautiful areas! Today we hiked through wetlands, swamp, mountains, cow pastures, farmland and through pine trees. The most memorable or horrifying are the swarms of misquitos that greeted us in the swampland! It was enough to drive you insane. Sure we had put a ton of misquito repellent on us, but did it stop them from swarming? Not a bit! They were just waiting for an opportunity to find our weak point - the spot where we had missed. They were flying inside my ears since I hadn't put bug spray there. Meanwhile we were trying to balance ourselves on wooden planks that made a path through the thick swamp grasses. The planks would sometimes bend or sink into the swamp waters. There were places where they were broken or missing. So navigating through the swamp was difficult enough without having a swarm of misquitos trying to open an "all you can eat" restaurant on your body. I made the best of it by holding my hiking poles in one hand and my hat in the other hand. My baseball cap made a handy misquito swatter while I ran across the planks to try to get out of there. After surviving the swamps, we went up a steep climb to Pochuck Mountain which ended in an even steeper rockpile climb. The day dragged on and the heat was intense, still we were determined to get to the hostel in the next town, Vernon, NJ. Onward we went, now down to four miles left. The last four miles took forever it seemed. We did have a beaufitul walk on an extensive boardwalk through a field of cat nine tails. Finally the miles were done and we stood thumbing a ride on the side of the road. Our daily toil of almost 19 miles resulted in laundry, a hot shower and Burger King in Vernon. In short, hiker heaven.
Date: 2003-07-17
From: Camping on Rocks

To: Camping on Rocks
Miles today: 12.0

What a day - on our way to meet up with 'Guana's sister Karen so we had to get close to the road. We hiked over hill and dale and many rocks, even climbing a rock face with a wooden ladder on it. Today we saw two bears - who just sat and looked at us as we looked at them from afar - and an owl. Beautiful encounters really! The night wore on and we couldn't find water, so we had to make due with some purified swamp water. The brook we ran into was plentiful but skanky, so we collected water but promised only to drink it as a last resort. Onward into the night we hiked until we could see no more. Nothing but more rocks that is and that is where we camped. When the rocks provided a space of about 5 feet wide and 10 feet long - it was the closest to a campsite we had seen. So there, the four of us camped. We enjoyed the night - watching the afterglow of the faded sun and the stars which came out in abundance. The distant glow of New York City was on our horizon and planes passed overhead occasionally. Then it was time for bed since we had to get up early to meet Karen.
Date: 2003-07-18
From: From Rocks to City

To: From Rocks to City
Miles today: 13.4

We set our alarms - yes, occasionally we have to - for 5:30 AM so we could be hiking by 6:30 AM. I did not sleep well at all and I discovered exactly why. When we lifted our tent back up there was a bolder that was in the middle of my back. Of course, I knew that since I couldn't find a way to get comfortable all night! However, I had to prove this to my hiking partners. They got a good laugh out of it, but I was grumpy....for at least 5 minutes. We dragged ourselves out of our tents and were hiking just after 6:30 AM and made it with two minutes to spare for our 8:30 AM deadline to meet Karen. Karen had been told she would find us somewhere on route 17A between two towns. Sometimes that's all the directions we can give people. Karen came through with flying colors and showed up soon. She took us into town to get some Gatorade (since we refused to drink the stanky brook water) and then to get some breakfast. After, we hiked a whole seven miles before we whimped out on the next part of the trail. The call of New York City was stronger than that of walking the trail which looked very rocky for the next part. So we left the trail at West Mombasha road and hiked 1/2 mile to the Deli. We spent the next four hours at the Deli talking and eating while we waited for Karen's boyfriend Stephen to pick us up. Stephen hit horrific traffic and he is a saint for going through that for us. We had a great time cacthing up with some of 'Guana family in New York (Ma 'Guana, Pa 'Guana and Mary B). Thanks for your hospitality and that great meal!! We even managed to get some of our boots repaired or stretched while in town. What a day!
Date: 2003-07-19
From: Time to catch up on Movies

To: Time to catch up on Movies
Miles today: 0.0

Ah - thanks to our hosts we were able to take a day off to get stuff done and relax. We went to a park on Long Island Sound near Karen & Stephen's place and had a great time hanging out with family and friends there. As the family pushed off to the Yankee's game - the hikers did what hikers like to do when they get a chance - catch up on movies. :) Tomorrow - back to the trail.
Date: 2003-07-20
From: Lemon Squeezer

To: Lemon Squeezer
Miles today: 15.4

Stephen graciously took us back to the mountains today (via a breakfast burrito stop) and we faced the rock pile. Good thing we hadn't continued that day with Karen, there were a lot of rocks and as the rain was falling that day they would have been very slick to cross. Steep uphills greeted us and some rock climbing was involved. We also went through the lemon squeezer today - a famous trench that takes some effort to get people and pack through. Photos will be forthcoming of our various wedged positions. Today ended near Lake Tiorati and a ton of weekenders on her shores. We cooked at the park and bugged out to find a campsite which we found just before Black Mountain. Little did we know what awaited us that night.
Date: 2003-07-21
From: Bear or Ghost?

To: Bear or Ghost?
Miles today: 9.0

In the middle of the night, I was awoken by Fly who was clanking his head lamp inside his tin cup and yelling "Go away Bear!" He had heard a bear or something stalking around our campsite for sometime and now it was getting close and huffing. Awoken by the sound, naturally, my bladder kicked in and I had to go. So out of my tent I hopped, no bear going to stand in my way. I clanked my poles and went not too far from the tent. Smoothie was relieved because she too had to go but the noise had frightened her. It gave us all a good scare but we managed to get back to sleep somewhat. The next morning we talked about it and Smoothie read in her book that the place where we camped had also been a place where a lot of old mines were. So it left us wondering, was it a bear or a ghost? Our food bag was still in tact, so maybe we will never know.Anyhow, on the trail we went for we wanted to make it to Bear Mountain Zoo which we thought was open until 5 PM. We met up with some trail magic near Bear Mountain Inn - hot dogs and hamburgers, pies and cokes. What a treat.Then it was off to the Post office for resupply and then off to the zoo.By the time we reached the zoo it was 4:20 PM and they told us we had better hurry or we would not make it through. Our notes were wrong...apparently they close at 4:30 PM. The trail goes right through the zoo, but if you don't make it, you have to walk around on route 19. Ugh, we really wanted to see the animals, so we did a quick walkthrough on the trail and made it out the back exit. We spent some time, the four of us discussing our next move. The Bear Mountain Bridge lay before us and a steep uphill climb. So we decided to go across the Hudson on the bridge. The bridge was very long and very high above the water. It was frightening to be on a bridge that big. Then it was off into the woods. As we entered the woods, the rain began to fall and it turned out to be a vicious lightning storm just as we were climbing the mountain. Fly & Smoothie had found a flat enough spot to camp and that's what we decided to do since the weather did not look any better. We all huddled under a tree waiting for a break in the weather to set up our tents. When there was a pause in the rain, we promptly set up our tents and just in time for the next storm. The storms continued late into the night and into the early morning with fantastic lightning. Again, we were awoken around 3 AM, not by a bear this time but a large thud just three feet from our tent. A large and weighty branch had missed our tent by only three feet. We thanked the heavens and again tried to sleep.
Date: 2003-07-22
From: Off to the Friary with you

To: Off to the Friary with you
Miles today: 5.4

Groggy the next morning, from another interrupted night of sleep we decided not to go too far. We wanted to explore the Graymoor Friary which welcomed hikers and fed them dinner too. On our way there, we heard gunfire and explosions eminating from West Point Academy, not far from the trail. Then the distant din of the Friary Bells ringing. It was a bit strange experiencing the two sounds at once - the sound of people preparing for war and people preparing for prayer. This paradox continued for quite some time.True to the legacy of the Friars, we found a ballpark shelter and immediately layed out all our rain-drenched equipment to dry. At 4:30 PM a friar, Father Fred came to see who might be interested in 5:30 PM dinner. Only one out of seven hikers turned him down. So the rest of us were in. We were redirected to another shelter which was more rainproof than the current one and we greatly accepted since more thunderstorms seemed to be moving in. At 5:30 we went up to the four story brick building and were greeted by Father Fred who took us to the hikers' table. We were then served by some of the homeless men who work there. A dinner of rice and beans was layed out with salad and soup. It was a king's feast for us hikers and we eagerly received the food. Father Fred then said that we could go on a tour of less than an hour if we would like. Again 6 of us agreed to this and Father Fred graciously told us of the history of the Friary. It was a great diversion from the day to day drone of hiking and an interesting piece of history. Satisfied we retired back to our tents which we had set up under a pavilion. The night again brought thunderstorms and we were greatful to be under dry shelter.
Date: 2003-07-23
From: Graymoor Friary

To: Ups and Downs
Miles today: 13.4

Today was a tough part of the terrain. We begin to return to lots of ups and downs. We ended the day, fairly uneventfully and fairly tired at Canopus Lake. At Canopus Lake we enjoyed tenting under the pines and walked to the Lake, where we were the only ones there, to cook dinner. Back to the tents and the sound of owls hooting in the night.
Date: 2003-07-24
From: Bushwacking

To: Bushwacking
Miles today: 17.6

No longer content to follow the white blaze of the Appalachian Trail, unquestioningly, we bushwacked our way up a steep cliff to intercept the trail not far behind Lake Canopus. We were rewarded with just 15 minutes of the steep climb by landing ourselves on the trail and cutting out unwanted miles. We hiked a long day with lots of ups and downs again. We hiked into the night and had to use our headlamps to find a campsite - at least one that we could make. There was a fire ring but not much else. We quickly went to sleep from the collective tiredness of the days behind us and the general lack of uninterrupted sleep.
Date: 2003-07-25
From: Post - haste

To: Post - haste
Miles today: 19.0

In an effort to get our mail in Kent, before the post office closed the next day at 12:30 PM, we had to put in another big day of hiking. So on the miles went, up and down the hills until we came to a campsite near the Husatonic River. There we camped and promised to get up by 5:00 AM the next day.
Date: 2003-07-26
From: A stitch in time

To: A stitch in time
Miles today: 15.5

Wow - we only had 8.4 miles into Kent to our mail drop but the terrain was horrific. We knew this and this is why we allowed 5 hours to reach the road near the town where our mail was to be. Still we had to hustle up and down some rock faces and managed to make it to the road by 11:30 Am. We were fortunate enough to find someone at the bottom of the hill who would take us to the post office. Okay, you are saying, we made it with one hour to spare - not true because not only do we have to get mail, but ship whatever we don't need out. So it was we rushed in, got our packages and weren't finished with our mail until 12:28 PM - just making the 12:30 PM deadline by two minutes. WHEW!!! Who says we don't have stress. If we didn't make it, we would've had to wait until Monday. Then it was off to groceries, for what else we needed. Again defying the white blaze of this year, we took a prettier road walk along the river. We returned to the AT for some of the most horrifying rock climb - downhill, that I have ever experienced. St. John Ledges (Patron Saint of hysteria!) proved to be challenging for all of us and we had to take our time moving down the rocky ledge which went on for a descent of about 700 feet.Again, darkness was upon us as we tramped on to a campsite. Ahhhh, sleep once again.
Date: 2003-07-27
From: Over the Hill - Silver Hill

To: Over the Hill - Silver Hill
Miles today: 4.1

A short, but steep hike over silver hill to the town on Cornwall today to a hotel...the cheapest we could find in this area. We hiked near the Cornwall Covered Bridge, one of two in Connecticut. The kind man at the hotel lent us his car so we could do laundry in a neighboring town. Talk about generosity to strangers!!! Connecticut seems to be full of steep hills and few have rewarding views. So they tell us we are preparing for the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hmmm, do we really need it I wonder. We will see.
Date: 2003-07-28
From: Cornwall Bridge

To: Choosing the Road Less Traveled
Miles today: 12.2

When we first started the trail - we unquestioningly followed the white trail blazes. Like infants we took them to be the all knowing white blazes of wisdom and the only true path. But as we reached the adolescence of our trail experience we learned that not all of the white blazes made sense. In fact, some of them were senselessly painful running us up and down rugged and steep mountains just to avoid walking on a road. Earl Schaeffer, one of the original AT hikers, walked the trail 50 years later and he admitted that it was "too hard" - not because of his age but because of the terrain. I mean, yes, it is supposed to be tough, but pleasure should be in there at some point. As far as I am concerned, as long as I have walked from Georgia to Maine, by white, blue, or rainbow blaze, as long as I have walked it under my own power - then I can say I have completed the journey!And so in our adolesence of our trail experience, we question the white blaze and in fact rebel against it when it seems unfair. So it is a day like today that we chose the road walk where the old AT of years ago used to lead along side the Husatonic River. We were rewarded by a beautiful road walk along this enchanting river. By the end of the day we had camped across the street from a Diner, eagerly awaiting the morning and a fresh breakfast. Goodnight fellow hikers. We hope you have enjoyed your journey as much as we enjoyed ours today. The trip is, after all, what you make it!
Date: 2003-07-29
From: Last Day in Connecticut

To: Last Day in Connecticut
Miles today: 14.7

We awoke in the morning to find the wee diner, near where we camped, was open and serving a wonderful breakfast. Great way to start the day. Then we stumbled across the waterfalls in Falls Village and played there for a while. In the end we camped at Brassie Brook, looking forward to entering the state of Massachusetts tomorrow.
Date: 2003-07-30
From: In the Woods

To: Black Rattlesnake 
Miles today: 14.0

Today, we conquered three steep climbs which included Bear Mountain, CT and then Race Mountain, MA followed by Mt. Everett, MA. Whew!!! As we continued our journey towards town 'Guana and I stepped down a rocky slope and a black timber rattler, no less than 5 feet long let us know he was there. We enjoyed taking a good long look at him, but kept our distance. He was a beautiful and frightening creature. Fly & Smoothie finally got to see their first rattlesnake with us. yeah!Yes, we have arrived into Massachusetts. The states in New England are just flying by us and so our apologies for not being able to contact everyone we wanted to in a timely manner. Also internet and telephones have been less frequently accessible than we expected hindering this effort. We hope you can catch up with us at some later point. The day passed with us hiking 14 miles and we found a place in the middle of the woods to pitch our tents.