morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-05-31
From: Hahn's Overlook

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: broken clouds

I knew by the end of the day today that this would be the end of Pennsylvania. It's hard to see how hard a state is until you can look back at the entire scope of the state. The rocks, and fewer thru-hikers, plus my shoes have taken a tremendous beating. I really enjoyed the towns in PA, but it's gonna feel good to conquer another state and onto New Jersey.Lots of weekend hikers means it's the weekend, but it also means the potential of trail magic, and low and behold there it was! At Wind Gap the trail magic came from a past thru-hiker from last year named Pumpkin Pie. He and his wife had everything you can imagine, cold cut subs, fruit, cookies, drinks, a chair to sit on, and of course some awesome company with trail stories. I ate a bunch of the cold cut subs and took some other things to go as they kept filling my bag with goodies. Always a good thing to see some trail angels! Thanks guys!However I didn't realize at the time but the trail magic wasn't done for the day. About 5 miles from DWG, I ran into a day hiker named Scott. Someone around my age with so much energy it was beyond scary, but it was welcomed. We talked the whole way down about business, moving out west, nutrition, and of course females. It made the miles go by quick and gave me something to do other than talking to myself. Scott gave me a ride into town and told me about the Apple pie bakery that was near the church hostel I was planning on staying in for the night. His business/expertise is nutrition and cross fit, so I picked his brain about what I needed to do after this trail was over. He bought the apple pie ala-mode, gave me some great info, and off he went. What a great day! Maybe I don't hate weekends after all! I strolled to the Church on the Mountain Presbyterian Church in DWG with my shoes now barely in tact. 2 section hikers that I have never met before were there already, and for the first time in a while I saw Trillium again. I jumped into the shower, got all situated, and sat outside with the 3 of them, and the section hikers offered me a cheap Swisher Sweet cigar. Sat up till dark till one by one they all went to bed. I took some shoe glue to try and fix the bottom of my soles so I can continue on. But, I'm not sure how much longer my shoes can take the abuse. We shall see.The big black couch was mine and it looked damn comfortable. Another great night on the trail!Song of the day, Stand, -REM "Now face North"
Date: 2014-06-01
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Stealth Camp 1299.0
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I did sleep very well on the black couch, probably the best I have slept in a while. Trillium and I headed down to the diner for breakfast. The food was ok, not the best, but fresh coffee is always good, and Trillium and I talked about just about everything. It's always cool to run into hikers you haven't seen in a while. Her boyfriend is actually starting his thru-hike SOBO this very day. Pretty cool.Since it was Sunday, I attended the 10am service at the church and it was pretty good. This was the first service for the new pastor at this church and she did a very good job, and gave a CL Lewis quote that I feel I needed to hear. So it seemed destined to be there. Plus I planned on attending several different churches on this journey, which hasn't really happened. So this is actually the 1st one.I walked into the outfitter in town just to see what they had in shoes. Its a small place so I wasn't expecting much. They did had the new Solomons which everyone seems to be wearing. I tried them on, and just went ahead and bought them hoping it will last me the whole way to Maine.The weather is hot and humid, so it makes it harder to get out of town. The Jersey brother showed up, along with Jules, and Canary. We went down to the pizza place to enjoy a pie and a few Yuenglings. By the time all of this was done it was pushing 2pm, and I'm still in town. That's it! I'm leaving!Walked the next 3-4 miles on a bridge and road. Sometimes that's what the AT is, flat and concrete. No major sign to say, "Hey welcome to NJ" But when I crossed the Delaware River you knew where you were. Lots of people out at the state park heading to the AT, and got a lot of odd looks that I haven't got in a while. It must be my beard. Or smell.I camped in a nice spot as seen above, with another good view of a sunset.Song of the day, This is the song that never ends...... it goes on and on my friends....
Date: 2014-06-02
From: Stealth Camp 1299.0

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to a cool morning above the clouds down below in the valley. Cool! But it did warm up very quickly, actually got real hot.I'm in a fog right now. I'm tired and warn out in all aspects, and I could feel it coming on, but now it has hit. Physically My legs just plain hurt! From my knees down I can feel the jarring pain of the PA rocks still. My new shoes are nice, but like any new pair they take a bit to get used to. I can feel that I have a blister UNDER my callus on the bottom of my foot near the toes. It goes away when I walk, but when I stop it kinda balloons up. When I sleep my legs still feel like they are hiking as they twitch and pulsate. The rest of my body seems fine with the exception of the itchy mosquito bites that somehow end up on my back where I can't really reach. I have now lost over 25 lbs, and I just can't get enough to eat, and now my hunger has somehow dropped. Very odd. Mentally I have been in a rut. I hate hiking this way. I'm hiking to "get somewhere" instead of hiking for the moment which is something I have done the whole entire trip. I'm looking at the miles, hoping they will just be easy, and I get there as soon as I can. I have no intention of quitting mind you, but I hate feeling this way, when only a few days ago I was enjoying the hell out of it. Just a funk? Need a break? I hate taking zeros, but maybe I should just listen to my body and chill. After all what is my hurry? Maybe go into the city? You know the Big city? NYC. I'm close now, and public transits are easier as the Metro North enters some of these towns. Just find a hotel and lay down and watch TV in bed all day, while ordering pizza? Or do I just hike through it? Man-up and deal with the challenge. after all I knew I wasn't going to enjoy every moment of this thing. Everyone says you will mentally shut down from time to time. We shall see. But right now, I'm hiking.Stopped in Branchville, NJ and it's just an awful place. I didn't really go deep into town, but they have a couple places within a quarter mile of the trail. I stopped at Gyps Tavern for a quick break. It's a nice property right on the lake, and the food is relatively cheap, but the service sucks to the point that you wonder if they even want hikers there or not. I had the feeling that they didn't. But I did eat, and drank a Stella, and onward I moved. The water is iffy at best on the trail, and not all water you find looks very drinkable.   There was a couple fire towers to climb and look over which broke up the day pretty well, and by the end of it I was surprised to get in 22 miles. I ended up at Gren Anderson shelter late in the day, and what a dump that was. Might be my least favorite shelter so far. Super mosquito ridden, smelly, dirty, and water was so so. I put up my tent without trying to get bugs in it, but to no avail. Creepy noises kept me up as well which really never happens, but over all I did get a good nights sleep.Hope to get out of this funk, there is still a long way to go!Song of the day, Leroy Brown, Jim Croce
Date: 2014-06-04
From: Murray Property

To: Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Was an easy going morning at the Murray Farm and actually met Jim as he drove by the see who stayed last night. He is an avid hiker, and thru-hiked the AT back in 1989. Learned a lot about other hikes in the area from him, with one in the Finger Lakes area in Upstate New York that sounds wonderful.I headed on a mile or 2 to Unionville to get a couple packages at the post office. A bunch of food that I have to carry now which has made my pack super heavy, but much needed and very much appreciated. Across the street is Annabel's Pizza which I stopped by grab a pizza or 2. Now I have been a pizza snob for a few years now, and only like the best. Since I'm in the NY, and the north east area I will be taking advantage of the food culture which is heavy in the pizza world. I grabed a supreme pizza which was good, but the buffalo chicken pizza could possibly be the best I have ever had. Yummy.The hike is interesting at this point. A 3-4 mile walk over what is called the boardwalk was a cool change and very flat. The boardwalk is over swampland and very pretty. Some more open farms and even hiking with some cows that completely ignored me. Not all of New Jersey looks like East Rutherford. Arrived at NJ 94 and headed east towards Vernon NJ, and 2.5 miles to St. Thomas Episcopal Church who has a hostel in the basement that I felt like I can stay for a couple days and rest. I'm just going to force myself to do just that even though I'm not a fan of zero days. My mental game is a bit shattered, and physically I believe I just need to get over some tough miles that occurred in PA. Plus I feel I just need a mental re-set of the brain. Took me a while to find the place and once I did it was about 8 at night. I crashed on the couch, due to other section hikers taken up the cots that were available. Only 4 of us here in this huge massive basement, with showers and laundry. a great little place to stay.Song of the day, Pittsburgh Pirates fight song 2013. Yes, I'm getting baseball fever, they are now playing well.
Date: 2014-06-07
From: Vernon, NJ

To: Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

OK, Never thought I would take this much time off, but when your body says stop you just stop! I knew I was going to take 1 complete Zero, but 3? 4 nights in the same place? Let me tell you. Even yesterday I still didn't feel it, and I was literally packing to leave this morning, as I was at Dunkin Donuts at 5:45 getting my caffeine on, and still felt like I should stay they day. And I did just that.The 1st night was cool as a lot of thru-hikers showed up to crash for the night. Slow bro, SlumberJack, Andy, Pedro, Windscreen, Tree, Canary, and Jules among others. About 15 in all compared to the 4 of us the night before. I kinda enjoyed the onslaught of company which is odd but I guess my psyche needed it. Went out to the local tavern and had a few beers, (some more than others) (Slo-Bro, myself, and Tree in pic) I went back way earlier than some. Every one of the knocked down the box fan we had on the door to bring in some air as they came in late. Kids.... The next day everyone slowly left one by one, and only Andy and I decided to stay for another day. Two other thru-hikers came in Friday with the names of Fresh, and Stretch both I have never seen before. My legs and feet were still bothering me, so I had no intention to go anywhere but to the store for some more Epsom salt a another foot bath. Actualy, not exactly true, the Dunkin Donuts is a lob wedge away, which isn't really fair, so I stopped in there a few times. :/ I did get caught up on a bunch of journals and almost up to date which feels nice, so it was also a productive day. Watched a movie called The Internship with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson which was just plain awful. You guys already did Old School! No need to do a bad version of another one. Ughhh.Like I said I woke up Saturday fully expecting to hike on. But after a coffee and a shower, the more I thought about it, I just felt that another day was in the cards for me. Don't know why, but I still wasn't ready. Andy and the other boys left, and to my surprise no one came into the hostel. It was me and me alone which was just ok with me. (That's a lot of "me")   I watched The Women's French title match, lots of Belmont preview, Stanley Cup Game 2, and channel flipped for a while which just felt great!Right now I feel ready to go. I'm looking forward to the hike and my legs seemed to have calmed down a lot. No 4th zero day for me. Back to the Ole' Dusty trail I go!
Date: 2014-06-09
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Fingerboard Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

I think I know why I have been so sluggish last few days. It's the sun. I love the bright sun at the beach or pool side, maybe in the tropics somewhere, but most other times I'm not a fan of the sun and the heat beating down on me. Even when I play golf, give me a cloudy day where I don't have to cover my eyes all day due to the brightness. When I started my hike this morning it was cool, overcast, and misty and I felt great! Maybe... just maybe thats what the deal is.I did however get up late cause the cloud cover and rain made it seem like it was earlier than it was. Almost 9:30 when I got going! New York has caught me off guard a bit. You never hear anyone say that this state is hard in anyway, but I have found it very challenging. Lot of quick up and downs mostly on big rocks and boulders. With the dampness of the day, the rocks are even harder to traverse cause now they are slick! There was a lot of throwing your poles ahead while you climb on all fours today. Even more than yesterday. There is a place called the "Lemon Squeezer" that is a very narrow 20 yard trudge that if any tighter you would have to carry your backpack on your head. It's cool to mix it up, and there will be a lot of those type things in Maine, but still tough on a rainy day.Today was full of trail magic though. With the water supply limited and not to high of quality, 3 separate times near road crossings there were jugs of water waiting for us as we went by. This one shown above had blueberry muffins, peaches, and bananas! Thank you trail angels!Speaking of rain it finally did start to downpour about 4pm and never really let up for the next several hours. I would have no choice but to stay in a shelter tonight. With the rocks and the rain this had to of been the longest 15 miles on the entire AT. Seemed like I did 25 today and was ecstatic to see this shelter. When I got here there was 2 day hikers and a guy I met earlier named F-1. I guess we can call F-1 a section hiker, but he's doing half the trail on his summer break from school. Is half the trail a section? I suppose. This is also the only shelter I have seen with no water, no privy, no table, and really no place to pitch a tent even if you wanted to. Just a lean-to on top of a rock. Ended up being 5 in the shelter and I can't tell if I'm gonna sleep well or not tonight. We shall see.Song of the day, The NY Mets fight song? Really?Movie of the day, Diehard, "Shoot... the... glass"
Date: 2014-06-10
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Fort Montgomery, NY
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: broken clouds

I'm guessing that some of you are reading my journal who have never done the AT but are planning to in the next few years. Learning some do's and dont's based on my experiences. Well here is a couple. #1. New York is not easy. It's like the Virginia roller coaster only in shorter spurts with on-all-fours boulder climbs. Especially when the rocks are wet, it just makes it that much more difficult. #2. Don't bother coming into Fort Montgomery unless you are really desperate. 2 of the 3 dining establishments were closed and the pizza that I did have was ok, but when you are 30 miles from NYC, it needs to be way better that what was here. However just off the trail about a half a mile is the visitors center for The state park of Fort Montgomery. If you like Revolutionary War stuff it's cool to gander around, but what's best is the stealth camp in the back. I'm not sure if I am allowed here, but there are no signs that say otherwise. I have a roof, picnic table, water supply, and several outlets to charge stuff. What more do you need huh? Also a nice view of the Bear Mountain Bridge towering over the Hudson. Now you didn't hear about this spot from me, OK? Also, #3, I wouldn't wait till 2016 to thru-hike unless you want to attempt with a million others. The Bill Bryson Appalacian Trail book, 'A Walk in the Woods' is becoming a movie. Robert Redford and Nick Nolte are supposed to be staring in it, and scheduled to be released November 2015. Could make the trail pretty crowded afterwards. At least in Georgia. Again, on a slick, rocky trail the MPG's are limited. The views are nice when the clouds break, but not enough to see the skyline of the big city which you can on a clear day. On top of bear mountain at Perkins Memorial Tower, I see 3 vending machines which always is exciting especially when all you have is NY stream water to drink. Oh boy! They take debit cards! Yes! Cause I only have $1.25 in my pocket. I threw down my pack and did a happy jig right in front of the things. I whip out my card, swipe, all with a big smile on my face, only for the automated computer to tell me..... sorry, please use another card. Long story short I swipped my card about 50 times in both machines but to no avail. Tip #3. Don't get excited when you see a vending machine. This has happened twice now only for my hopes and aspirations to be severely dashed. I did stop and talked to a nice man on his $5k Tour De France road bike as he asked me about the AT. He just retired from work and was in the Trade Center buildings during 9-11. He asked me if I was retired. Lol. Ok, I have been asked if I was retired 3 times now, yet I have been also carded for a beer twice. Man, I have everyone confused. Just the way I like ot actually. Song of the Day, How Bizarre, -I actually can't stand this song and never did. I have no idea who sings it and it's not worth my energy to look it up either.
Date: 2014-06-11
From: Fort Montgomery, NY

To: Clarence Fahnestock SP
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: moderate rain

Feels good to get in a good chunk of miles finally. After about 2 days of slugging it out of Jersey, I feel I got my mojo back a little and into a hiking groove. It does help that the trail was a little simpler after crossing the Hudson. Less of the hand climbing and more hiking. With the overcast and a welcoming cool June day, it was a good trek.After crossing the Hudson and the 1st 600' climb, my mind starts to wander and think of God knows what, as it usually does. I was in the zone just motoring along and after about 9 miles I see what looks like a convenient store/gas station. I thought it was a mirage cause I wasn't prepared to see this. I guess I didn't study the guide book in detail but an instant smile on my face came. A Boars Head deli and a NY style pizza place was also inside with just about anything else I wanted. I felt like I was st Disney World. I got the Bronx Bomber which was roast beef, pastrami and swiss. She asked if I wanted the small or large.... I almost blew Diet Coke out my nose it was so funny. At the deli I saw Moaglee and Tree walk out of the woods headed towards the hiker Disney World. How in the world are these guys behind me? Either way, they were and you could see the big smiles on their faces as well, and it's not because they ran into Figgy either. After about $20 at the store I headed back up the trail to attempt to get to Clarence Fahnestock SP for the night. The trail was lending itself for a big mile day. I ran across Old Albany Post Road which supposedly is the oldest still used dirt 'Highway' in the country. It was the main road back in the 1700's to connect Albany to NYC. The milage post are still seen on the road from those times. Pretty cool.Stopped and took a break at Dennytown Rd to fill up with water from a spigot thank goodness, and within minutes a hiker convention broke out. Tree, Moaglee, Snow Plow Man, Skitter and Trillium all emerged from the woods. Seems like all of our goals was to make it to the state park 3.5 miles away. I arrived pretty late, about 8 and we all tried to get a pizza place to deliver but to no avail. However I still had a couple slices from last night which I downed very quickly, and off to set up for the night. The temperature dropped considerably which I was very happy about. Afterall those are the best sleeping nights. Song of the day, Can't You See, -Marshall Tucker Band 'take me a southbound, all the way to Georgia, till the train runs outta tracks'
Date: 2014-06-12
From: Clarence Fahnestock SP

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

The whole day reminded me of my last day in Virginia. It didn't really rain hard or even rain at all, but just completely damp and misty. Like we were already in the cloud.With the cloud cover keeping it dark, all of us had a hard time waking up and a late start ensued. As usual it takes me longer to get packed up and going than these youngsters and it was almost 9 before I hit the brand new .2 "Green" side trail to get back to the 90 year old AT. Fortunately when I climbed I got above the low lying clouds I actually was able to see a view or 2 in NY. There was a 9/11 American Flag painting on top of one of these views which probably needs to be repainted. Hard to believe that was almost 13 years ago. (Seen in pictures) When I did climb back down the damp and dreary atmosphere returned. I stopped at the RPH Shelter which is a four walled structure instead of the 3 walled you usually see out here. Around back Tree, Moaglee, Trillium and F-1 was eating Chinese food that they had delivered. RPH is also one of the rare shelters that you can order food to due to the proximity of the road. It's a good place to stay but being that its only noon, it's no good for me. Bad planning. LolHowever around 3 I came to the Stormville, NY 52 intersection and the guide book says there is a deli and a pizza joint only .4 to the east. Jack Pot! I ordered a ruben type sandwich that included pastrami, swiss, Cole slaw, and Russian dressing. So far this concoction on a poppy seed bun is the best deli sandwich I have had on the trail. A must stop. I sat outside on the bench and sure enough I see Tree coming in off the road to stop in. I guess the Chinese wasn't enough. Moaglee and Trillium also hiked in and we decided to split 2 large pizzas between the 4 of us. Seriously, all we do is eat! The pizza was ok. If you come to this spot stick to the deli as it also was a decent resupply and very good homemade brownies. Only 14 miles brought me to Morgan Stewart shelter and the same 3 were already there and in for the night. Man, I'm slow. Damp and dark nothing was going to get dry overnight. I still decided to tent as the other 3 slumbered inside the shelter. Seems like I'm just getting lazy. I need/want to get in a big day here soon.Song of the day, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, -Billy JoelMovie of the day, Dumb and Dumber, "Hey, these guys aren't just anybody. ..... they're good."