morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-04-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I don¢t think it¢s entirely dawned on me, but my first day on the AT will be tomorrow.  Technically later today, as I need to use the AT to get to my hotel for the night.I¢m currently in Washington DC, enjoying another beautiful day.  Sitting outside a Philz coffee enjoying my overpriced coffee.  From here on out I will have to make my own instant coffees, and I know they won¢t taste as good as this.Yesterday I took a very long walk and picked up some last minute items at an REI near Union Station.  Also grabbed some luxuries at Trader Joe¢s, including cheese and fruits.  Wow, I know I will crave these things on the trail.  I am not sure I appreciate just how much I appreciate these things.I struggled with the walk home with the paper Trader Joe¢s bag and a paper bag with REI stuff with a loaf of sourdough wheat from Paul¢s bakery (a place my friend Yuka showed me in Japan - and they only have locations here on the east coast).  Bread - another luxury I know I will crave.  Time to get used to backpacker food.I also bought a ton of nuts at Trader Joe¢s - much more than I can carry, so I shipped out my first USPS Priority Mail box to myself.  Kinda pricey at $20.  I hope my future self appreciates the goodies inside.  I shipped it ahead about a week, which may be too soon.  But the nice thing about Priority Mail is that, if left unopened, you can apparently ¢bounce¢ the box ahead of you.  In any case, I know one way or another that I have an appointment at a post office in some town I have never heard of until now.It was originally scheduled to rain a bit on my first few days of my hike, but now the forecast has cleared up a little bit.  I have still not setup my tent even once (probably a mistake - something I should try to tonight in my hotel room).  I am thankful if I won¢t have to learn how to set it up in the rain, but I will just need to deal with it.In DC yesterday I visited two museums I hadn¢t been to - the American Indian museum and the Natural History museum.  the former was interesting, but not as well done as the Smithsonian¢s exhibit on the American Indian in Anchorage, which was fantastic.  There were still some small things that resonated, even though this isn¢t really my culture.  Different cultures with different ways of viewing life as a series of stages, of seasons and as compass directions.  Each person has their own season, their own direction.  Stories of Sasquatch man - wilderness man.  Stories of boys who go on long wilderness treks and return to the village changed, as a man.  They return to a changed village as a changed person.
Date: 2019-04-08
From: Ed Garvey Memorial Shelter

To: Rocky Run shelter
Miles today: 0.0

It rained overnight, but I stayed dry and warm inside my tent!  A successful first night on the AT!Plus there was an unexpectedly tough hill climb in the middle of yesterday¢s hike.  This all lead me to turn in early.  I¢m glad I did, since I was able to take my time setting up my tent and cooking my first meal - freeze dried spaghetti (it was really tasty actually!).  After that I brushed my teeth and tucked myself in early, and not long after that the first few drops fell.  Turns out I setup the tent right - nothing got in.  I put my pack with my rain cover on it in the vestibule, but didn¢t quite trust it not to get wet, so I managed to bring the pack completely inside the tent.  It made for a tight fit, but it worked out surprisingly well.I did however leave my shoes out in the vestibule, a bit wrapped up with the rain tarp, so they didn¢t get wet!  I think I neglected to tie that front flap down - it seems too loose.Today a thunderstorm and rain was originally forecast, but now things have cleared up!  Rocky Run shelter is 9.1 miles ahead, and I¢ll aim for that.  The shelter I originally wanted to camp at tonight is about 4 miles ahead, so that will be a good lunch stop.I¢ll be sure not to make the mistake of not carrying water through the day.  That one ¢unsweet¢ iced tea from town had to last me through most of yesterday, and I was getting pretty thirsty by the time I arrived into camp.  How delicious that cold water tasted - from a plastic pipe sticking out of the stream.
Date: 2019-04-09
From: Ed Garvey shelter

To: Dahlgren backpackerÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs campground
Miles today: 0.0

Second nightDahlgren backpacker¢s campsite was amazing!  Flush toilets, free showers with hot and cold water.  Luxury.Tempted to stay here and rest, but I want to keep moving on.Saw some deep red bird, almost tropical looking.  Woodpeckers heard but not seen.  The usual crows.  Owls as well.  Other birds that sound new to me.Met Piper at the campsite today.  He also saw me at Ed Garvey shelter.Guesstimating two more days of walking till I go to a town to take a break.  I am trying to figure out how to guesstimate and budget the miles.Food is dwindling.  The luxury Mountain House meals are disappearing now, and I¢m running down to the tuna packets, the more traditional backpacker food.Hopefully will make good progress today.  If not, no worries - then I¢ll resupply in Smithsburg.
Date: 2019-04-13
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Only did 8.5 miles today.  Didn¢t want to overdo it, and also didn¢t want to hike in the rain today.  Big thunderstorm passed through here last night.Tumbling Run shelters were awesome.  Really well maintained shelters with a super clean privy (what they call outhouses out here) with air fresheners and hand sanitizer.  Nature Conservancy and AT magazines inside, and a nice covered table with a rose on it.  Only thing weird are these creepy ceramic faces they¢ve put up in the trees... seems familiar, like something folks used to do years ago, maybe in the 80¢s or so.The AT seems to pass right by here, so I suspect they were just passing through.  They had all their rain gear on, so I guess they were prepared to keep going.  I have my Frogg Toggs cheap raingear, but haven¢t used it yet.  I suspect I will eventually.They said the next week or two is a really nice stretch of trail.  After that it gets more rocky - the man used the term I¢d seen once before - Rockslyvania.  These two caretakers are avid hikers and I think hiked the entire AT.  They also hiked the John Muir trail, a 200+ mile stretch that I¢ve only done part of on a day hike.  After just these few days on the AT, my confidence is higher that I could tackle those scarier high-altitude hikes in the Sierras.Mailed myself a resupply in Duncannon yesterday.  It¢s nice to set these mini-goalposts, and have something to look forward to.  This resupply is a little farther away this time.  Interestingly, I saw an Amish or Mennonite lady at the post office with her daughter.  Pretty sure her daughter saw my pack lying in the corner and asked ¢what¢s that, mommy?¢I totally understand their back-to-nature or simple life aims, but there is enough modern tech packed into that backpack that makes it much easier to hike the AT.  At the very least all that modern tech makes things lighter, not to mention the advent of cellphones to help with navigation and also comfort (as much as I like the sound of rain and thunder, it was super comfortable to be able to listen to music on my headphones last night).  For all the evils that tech brings, there are also clear benefits... and those mysterious gadgets packed into my backpack helps get out in nature in many ways.Aiming for around 12 miles today.  There¢s a restaurant up ahead called Timbers, recommended by the caretakers of this shelter.  They even have the restaurant menu here, with recommendations highlighted!
Date: 2019-04-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday was a little bit rainy and very muddy all through the day.  After the marathon 19+ miles from the previous day, my feet were surprisingly ok, but my back started to give me a little pain through the day.  Seemed to have been helped by simply shifting the weight of my pack.  I think I have muscles back there that have rarely been used (I swear, years ago on some trip to Japan I overpacked and had a way heavier pack than this that gave me so many issues... thankful not to run into those sort of crippling problems... yet).First time using this goofy looking Frogg Toggs rain gear, just the jacket.  Turned out not to rain enough to even justify wearing it today... but it was handy to have in case of a sudden downpour.Some other hikers stayed there as well - looks like they got caught in the downpour and were a little soaked.  We chatted a little - the man had been working on the AT for 8-9 years in small section hikes.  This time they were starting up here and making their way down to Harper¢s Ferry.  I guess they will make it, but I was skeptical since they seemed to want to fall asleep in that shelter in the middle of the day.  I guess it¢s worth taking time to dry out!Made it to Pine Grove Furnace and grabbed a light resupply at the General Store.  Surprised that they also had a short order cook, so I ordered a hamburger with fries.  Managed to also down two Pure Leaf teas and an orange juice.  Cash only - first place I¢ve encountered that was like that.Bad timing - the AT museum across the street closed at 4pm and was only open on weekends this time of the year (before the peak of hikers comes through).  Oh well.Checked into Ironmasters Mansion Hostel and was able to pay with credit card.  This place was right on the train, and there is another thunderstorm coming through tonight, so I thought why not?  Got some laundry done and also got a shower out of it.  This is a really interesting historic mansion with some bunk beds setup in some rooms.  They also rent it out for special events like weddings.  Lots of history here for sure!  Iron was big way back when, in the 1700s.  They decimated the forest here to fuel the iron chimneys for smelting (?), but another industry took over soon after, which enabled this area to regrow.  You wouldn¢t know by looking at it today - it¢s pretty lush and beautiful.More blossoms spotted - spring is getting closer and closer.  It gets more green as I head up north, I guess more a function of time, since the ¢spring front¢ moves from south to north.Met a hiker named Chipper at the hostel - he was the only other one there.  Friendly and respectful, wouldn¢t mind running into him again.  I hope my snoring didn¢t keep him awake.Enjoy this town but it¢s small and the general store is closed weekdays, so on this Monday there¢s not much else to do.  Glad to have spent one night here to recharge my batteries (my body¢s and my phone¢s), but it¢s time to move on!Beautiful morning but chilly.  Appreciate this day even more when compared to yesterday.
Date: 2019-04-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.3

Stretch goal for today around 15 miles was the Alec Kennedy shelter, but you know what?  I knew I could do it but I was feeling like taking it easy, and the bottoms of my feet were sore (could have been easily solved with ibuprofen though I think).  Also, I don¢t want to arrive in Duncannon too fast.  It¢s just 30 miles away now, and one of my resupply packages will be mailed out just tomorrow.  Not sure if I should give my family a post office address further up the trail - it looks like the next convenient one near the trail is 100 miles ahead...In any case, I have more time now to catch up with my writing and reading.  I should post more photos to Trailjournals!Today was quite cold and windy, and a perfect day for my poof jacket.  No rain thankfully.  There are still a lot of muddy sections of the trail however, and some mud and water got into my shoes.  Just a bit.Passed another market with a grill and just had to order a burger and fries.  I don¢t know whether this is becoming a good habit or a bad habit, but it¢s been something to look forward to.  I even had a vanilla ice cream cone.Bought some more jerky and snacks at the general store, in addition to some mints I was craving.  I should have read the ingredients more carefully - they had aspartame in them.  I won¢t go into TOO many details, but further on up the trail was my first pooping-in-the-woods experience on the AT, and I am pretty sure it¢s related to that aspartame.  It went ok.  Heck I¢m glad I got practice with those old Japanese squat toilets, it¢s basically the same deal.I think I almost have my sleeping situation worked out, and it seems my sleeping pad may be more annoying than not.  But it provides a great reflective warmth, which I will miss out on...  wonder if I can maybe partially inflate it to get the same effect...  hmm, maybe this sleeping situation isn¢t quite squared away after all...
Date: 2019-04-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day today.  Time for some philosophy.One of the earliest trail logs I read had a hiker describing a butterfly that followed them for miles, giving some sort of cinema quality or special meaning to their hike.  Like the universe letting them know they are somehow special.When we are younger I think we have the sense that we are somehow special, that we have some unique place in this world - some gift to offer the world.  But as most of us grow older, we lose this sense, as we never find what we were supposed to offer the world anyway.  The new battle becomes just struggling to stay afloat, for extending out lives and giving us more possibilities, more ways to find that meaning.  And just to stay out of pain and maybe go on a few vacations a year, that becomes enough somehow.  And so we settle into the routine.We grow old and become not relevant to the world.  The world cares little about us, will go on turning without us, and we are nothing but a little irrelevant blip on its radar.  But how freeing this is - shouldn¢t this also mean that the world becomes less relevant for us?  We travel more and experience more, and see so many peoples take themselves and their lives so seriously.  Can we not laugh at that?  Can we care less or zero about others¢ opinions?As I get older I find myself caring almost zero about what most folks think about me.  Is this not a free country?  I go to the bar downstairs and decide to have a water with my meal today and another patron cracks a joke about it.  What character role do I need to play to fit the mold for this place?  Do I need to always order a beer and smoke and sound gruffy and put on a show to maintain an appearance?  Or should I do what is most comfortable, others be damned?  The world is not completely irrelevant now, but it is less relevant than ever, thank goodness.  Give me water please.
Date: 2019-04-20
From: Doyle Hotel

To: Peters Mt Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: light rain

Not too eventful today, just hiked a 11 mile day, which is in my ¢reasonable¢ range / not too hard, not too easy.  There were a bit of rain showers along the way - not in the forecast of course.  I broke open my umbrella and waited it out.  Also scrambled to put my rain cover over my pack.  I realized that having my electronics at the very top of the bag may be convenient, but it ensures they will get soaked first...  I will probably end up just keeping them there, but placing them in a ziplock bag.Arrived at Peter¢s Mt Shelter around 3pm, a little early (I started today around 8am).  The shelter was so nice, and some trail angels left some food and drinks in the bear box, which made me feel more at home, so I decided just to retire here for the day.span class="Apple-converted-space"> 300 rock steps, plus 300 regular steps.  But the water is the only source for miles around, so it had to be done...  it was nice and cool, and I was able to sit down on a rock besides the piped water while refilling my bottles (and myself!).  The hike back up was the toughest of the day.  Even without a pack, my heart was pounding and I started sweating profusely.  Took a few breaks, but finally made it.  That little excursion cinched it: ok, that¢s it for the day.Some folks on the Guthook app call that little walk a ¢descent into Mordor¢ because of the difficulty and the rock steps...A few hours later, Long Legs arrived.  Super nice man who just retired from IBM.  He¢s definitely going at a faster pace than me, so this may be my only encounter with him.  Like most things in life - sometimes people or places will be met for the first and last time all in the same day.  And then life goes on.I am pretty sure this is the man who stayed next to me at the Doyle.  There is some significance here for just me to remember in private.
Date: 2019-04-26
From: Microtel Hamburg

To: 1220.5 tentsite
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Been a while since the last update.  These last few days were a little challenging, and I stayed out longer than I have before - 5 nights out hiking before ducking into a hotel here in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.Over the past few days a few blisters have started to develop on the sides of my feet, where I¢ve never had them before and never expected them.  I suspect a lot of the rocky trails have done this, with my feet rocking and bending on all sorts of angles.  I¢ve treated the blisters by draining them with a pinhole and then covering them with leukotape, which I hope will be enough.  The largest one is unfortunately dime-sized.  I have been checking my feet everyday but that one seems to have gone unchecked.  These biggest blisters are on the outside edges of my feet, which are tricky to see or reach, so I suspect that¢s part of the issue with the failed early detection.span class="Apple-converted-space"> We all stayed at the Microtel Inn here in Hamburg, and they bought me some drinks last night.  We didn¢t do enough rounds for me to buy them drinks, which I regret, so I will try to pay that forward.It does seem to be getting rockier, which isn¢t so much of a challenge as it is tedious.  Looking down, trying to find optimal foot placements, then looking up occasionally to make sure I have a white blaze within view to follow.From what I¢ve heard, one of the toughest rock challenges in this state is just up ahead after town, so I¢m prepared.  The kind caretaker at the 501 shelter, Borderline, advised me to try out some shoes with ankle cover, but I have been doing ok so far with the shoes I have now (despite the new blisters).  I can feel the rocks and my ankles bend to the angles of the boulders below me, but it¢s a reassuring feeling that I¢m used to.  I will see how it goes, but I am feeling good because this next week or so I should be finishing up Pennsylvania.  There are some rocks going into New Jersey, but they should taper off.After that I am sure some new challenges lie ahead!Was hoping to take a zero day here today, but this hotel was fully booked for a family reunion.  There is some rain today, but I may end up just going a little ways to a nearby campsite.Happy to get a shower, laundry, and a Cabela¢s run in.  The Wal Mart even had a ton of camping stuff, including the tent repair kit that I used to finally patch up my air mattress.  I located a second leak and patched things up, so I hope it will be good to go for a while!  I have been missing this barrier against the cold below me more than anything.
Date: 2019-04-26
From: Port Clinton

To: Stealth camping outside of Port Clinton
Miles today: 1.0
Weather: light rain

Wanted today to be a lazy zero day, but it wasn¢t meant to be.  I checked out of my room and headed to downtown Hamburg to pick up packages at the post office.  One was a package I had mailed myself from Duncannon which provided various refills (mouthwash, contact lens solution, etc).  The other package was one my mom mailed out to me, containing a lot of Mountain House meals which I¢d previously ordered in bulk, plus a lot of other goodies and sweets and mints.  Thanks Mom!After that I walked a few blocks to 1787 Brewing Company.  Ordered a flight of beers to sample, as well as a blue cheese burger.  To be honest the food was better than the beer, though I did enjoy the Blue Rocks (New England style IPA), the namesake of which was the massive boulder field northeast of town.  I suspect tomorrow will be the day I finally tackle this.After lunch I ordered a Lyft and it dropped me off back on the trail.  It¢s kind of a strange feeling - I enjoy visiting these trail towns and spending time here, just like traveling really.  But just before I get that existentialist tingly feeling - that ¢what am I doing here alone just eating overpriced food¢ - I get the urge to jump back on the trail.  Despite life being a directionless goalless void, my life now has a clear direction: North.Made just a tiny bit of progress up the hill out of town (the trail on the ridge line ducked down at a steep angle to come into town, and it¢s just as steep going up to the ridge on the other side).  Started to rain and I found myself getting a little wet.  Found a little unofficial campsite and decided to camp, out of laziness and wanting to stay out of the oncoming thunderstorm.Windy day tomorrow, then more rain after that.  Lots of rain in the forecast for the next week.  But through that week I¢m hoping to make progress to bring me mostly out of Pennsylvania and onto the next state - New Jersey.
Date: 2019-04-27
From: Stealth camping outside of Port Clinton

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Decent hike today, just about my perfect range - about 13 miles.  Very windy all night and all day today, a really violent wind at times, that seemed determined to knock down trees.It¢s the weekend again, and you can tell by the amount of people out hiking on the trails.  Pulpit Rock seems to be a popular lookout with the locals, especially a good place for selfies and picnics.  I ate lunch in a secluded area before summoning here - first time boiling up water for a large lunch - and I¢m glad I did.  Pulpit Rock had a group of gabby teens gossiping about something or other.  There was a middle aged couple there that passed me eating lunch on the way up - told me I picked a great spot for lunch.  Only after did I realize it was a jab against the noisy group up there!Made it to Eckville Shelter just after 5pm.  Great shelter with flush toilet and even a place to charge my phone!  Love it.Found hiker TwentyTwo in the shelter - looks like it¢s just us tonight.  He¢s going about my same pace, so I suspect we¢ll meet up again.