morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-03
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I got up a little before 6 and Sam and I went to breakfast at a nice local joint in Carlisle. Back at Sam¢s house I got repacked and caught up with Brenda. We left Sam¢s house about 10:30 and drove back to Boiling Springs. It was a sort but very enjoyable visit with Sam. I mailed my bounce box to Port Clinton then went across the street to the ATC office to visit with Seuss and Nice and other hikers before hitting the trail.I left the ATC office at about 11:30 and began the long traverse of the flat Cumberland Valley farmlands. This section used to be the infamous Cumberland Valley Road Walk, a long hot walk on pavement that has now been completely rerouted to trail. The next water is 10.3 miles away at an ATC work center. It took nearly 2 hours to walk the first 2 miles because I kept stopping to pick black raspberries growing along the trail. Eventually I filled a 12 liter water bottle to take with me for dinner at the shelter and share with other hikers. There were lots of ripe mulberries in this stretch too so it was a real grazing feast and I made little progress down the trail for much of the early afternoon.Most hikers did not like today¢s walk, but I did. I enjoyed the rural farm fields we passed through all day, as well as comfortable forest and the basically flat terrain and smooth trail tread. The only climb of the day was the final 2 miles up to Darlington Shelter. I knew the spring at the shelter was dry so I filled my 4L waterbag at a spring about 1 mi from the shelter and thus had to carry an extra 8 lbs up the only steep grade of the day. Weather today was very nice for early July, clear, light winds, a bit warmer than yesterday but low humidity and a high of 70 in the shade of the forest.
Date: 2007-07-05
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I had breakfast across the street from the Doyle with Sven and Uff-Da. I again had a great visit with these 2 wonderful folks. Mattewski was there too and talked with us quite a bit. I had seen quite a few of his postings on Whiteblaze and wasn¢t real fond of his e-personality, but in person, he seemed like a pretty good guy. Later, I was able to reach Brenda, and Mom and Dad, on the phone and made arrangements to meet Randi in Port Clinton. By 10:30 I was all packed and sitting on the porch at the Doyle finishing a cup of Vermont Coffee Roasters coffee and watching it rain.I finally decided to go during a break in the rain. It was a long walk thru town and across the river bridges. It took me 9 minutes to walk across the Susquehanna River on the Clarks Ferry Bridge. It is a big broad river with that makes the western ¢rivers¢ I am used to seem small by comparison. The high traffic zipping by within a few feet as you walk across the bridge was something I wasn¢t used to and it was good to get back into the woods on the other side. There was a short but steep climb up to the crest of the Peters Mountain ridgeline, but it went by fast. The high humidity and off and on rainshowers kept things feeling much hotter than they really were. I got to Clark¢s Ferry Shelter just before another big rain squall hit so I sat and ate lunch with Crazy Horse. I left the shelter about 2:00 during a break in the rain, but another big squall hit within about half hour and I was soaked again. I hiked most of the way to Peters Mountain Shelter with Sleeping Beauty, who had been hiding from the rain under a rock overhang. This was not a good place to hide given the close lightning that was hitting nearby. So, together we kept walking in spite of the close strikes because there really was no other option.Given the wet weather, I staked out space for 3 in the loft of the shelter. Then, I walked the 280 stone steps from the shelter down to the spring, filtered up 2 gallons of water, and hiked all 280 steps back up to the shelter.Laurie and Peter arrived about 6:30 and brought dinner for all of us, plus fresh blueberry cobbler for the whole shelter! We had a great Thai chicken-curry over rice with spinach/mandarin-orange salad. What a treat on the trail! Just before dark a number of other hikers rolled in from town making about 15 folks total including Julie, Hand, Sleeping Beauty, J.B., Spock, Chapsticks, Lightweight, Way, plus 2 other hikers I didn¢t know. Laurie¢s blueberry cobbler was a big hit with everyone!
Date: 2007-07-06
From: Peters Mountain Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Laurie and Peter had brought oatmeal for breakfast, but had also brought a big tub of blueberries that the boys had picked. So, we had blueberry oatmeal! The 3 of us headed north on the AT together with Laurie in the lead, leaving the shelter around 9. It was nice trail with easy walking and we made good time to an overlook about 3 miles north of the shelter. There was a nice view over Clark Creek and to Stony Mountain. Peter had recently had knee surgery and I was very impressed that he seemed to be walking well. We had a nice snack break at the overlook, took a few photos, and Laurie gave me the rest of the fresh cherries ¢ they were wonderful and I ate about 12 on the spot then shared the rest with sheltermates that PM.I parted trails with Laurie and Peter about 11:00, I northbound and they southbound back to their car parked at a trailhead on the east side of the Peters Mountain ridgeline. From the overlook the trail quickly became rocky and rough so it was good that Peter had turned around when he did. Not long after leaving them the trail crossed an open rock scree slope that had a den of rattlesnakes right on the trail. I saw several snakes and heard several others rattling under rocks as I walked by. Other hikers passing that morning had left notes on the trail warning about the snakes. It was good to know that now hikers generally leave snakes alone and pass by, rather than in past decades where hikers would have taken time out of their hike to stop and kill them, believing they had done the world a service.I took about an hour break at Clark¢s Creek and PA 325 in an attempt to dry my boots. They didn¢t dry much but it was worth a try. My feet needed the dry time too. The rest of the day was spent walking along an old carriage road that climbed up Stony Mountain then ran the ridge crest all the way to Rausch Gap Shelter. Along the crest of Stony Mt, I found an unusual white rhododendron in bloom. By the time I got to the shelter my feet were pruned from wet boots and sore from rocky ground. My ankle was also a bit sore, which is a nearly daily occurrence, although the brace seems to doing a good job at preventing a serious ankle turn. The infamous rocks of PA (most hikers call PA ¢Rock-sylvania¢) are beginning to appear! There was only Spock, Julie, and Sleeping Beauty at the shelter, with no appealing tent sites nearby so I stayed in the shelter too, which I rarely do.I prefer not to stay in shelters but instead to pitch my tent near the shelter. The primary reason is that I normally spend an hour or so after dark working on the days¢ notes and I don¢t want to do that in a shelter where I might be keeping other hikers awake. I also seem to sleep better on the ground rather than the hard wood of a shelter floor. Perhaps the best reason to sleep in my tent is that I have rarely been bothered by mice, whereas when sleeping in shelters mice seem to be a constant at every shelter. I always hang my food bags, either on a mouse deterrent in the shelter or on a tree line that I rig up just before dark.
Date: 2007-07-07
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: broken clouds

Today I passed the mark for 1,000 miles left to go! About 1,200 miles are now behind me! I got on the trail about 8.30 and made good time to Rausch Gap where there used to be an old settlement, although there is little evidence of it today.The walk to Swatara Gap and PA 72 was mostly along old stagecoach road beds and was generally easy grades and good walking surfaces. This section was about 6 miles and entirely under thick forest canopy with no views.After crossing under I-81 there was a continual climb up to the crest of Blue Mountain, then a long (7 miles) and hot walk along the ridge top to the Blue Mt Campsite. Many of the overstory trees had been hit hard by gypsy moths and the sun shown through hot onto the trail the whole way. At least the humidity was lower than previous days and the skies were clear.The remaining 4 miles to 501 Shelter were mostly on gentle and clear trails, except for the last several miles which suddenly turned rocky and rough. The rocks were mostly small, loose and turned at all angles. Progress was slow. This is shades of terrain to come, likely very soon.I finally got a nice view from Fischer and Kimmel Lookouts out over the valley to the east of the Blue Mt ridge. The views were excellent and much appreciated after a long day of walking through thick forest. The skies were clear with good visibility and the views were out over wide expanses of gently rolling farmland, hay pastures and corn fields.At 501 Shelter Julie, Sleeping Beauty and I decided to stay and order pizza from a local shop that would deliver right to the shelter! This shelter was excellent! It was fully enclosed with real bunks, several large picnic tables, a large dome skylight in the roof, a solar shower out back, and running water. Definitely not your typical AT shelter! We all took showers while waiting for pizza to arrive. What a great place to stay!
Date: 2007-07-08
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: broken clouds

I left the shelter about 7.30 and headed north with a full load of water. It looked to be a hot day and the map showed a number of springs along the way but I was guessing that a few of them might be dry.The first few miles the trail was covered with little rolling ankle-busting rocks that were like walking on large marbles, so my progress was slowed quite a bit. There contiued to be rocky sections of trail thru out the day but they were not too long or too bad. They just wore out my ankles.The views from Round Head and Shikellamy Lookouts were nice but pretty limited by the narrow outlooks and the growing humidity.I stopped briefly at the Fort Snyder Monument, a monument to a pre-Revolutionary War era fort built there to defend the area from raiding parties during the French and Indian War.I spent the remainder of the day walking along the crest of broad ridges along generally gently sloping terrain. The weather was hot, dry and humid and I was carrying and drinking a lot of water. There were 7 springs marked on my map between Hertlein Campsite and Port Clinton. I finally found water at one of them (Sand Spring), about a half mile off the trail down a dry creek bed. The rest of the springs I either couldn't find or I found them dry. This turned out to be an 18 mile stretch with only 1 marginal water source along the way.Julie, Sleeping Beauty and I had intended to camp at Phillips Canyon Spring then walk into town the next AM but the spring was dry so we decided to push on into Port Clinton and stay in the town pavilion. We arrived about 8.45 PM, just in time to order burgers and a cold beer from the bar at the Pot Clinton Hotel! Immediately after we ordered they turned off their outside lights and locked the door so we had arrived just in time. There were 2 others at the pavilion, Mt Squid and Can Do - Will Do. They were trail angels who had been there nearly a week looking for thru-hikers to help. They were great guys!
Date: 2007-07-09
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I zereod today in Port Clinton, or there-abouts. This was a great day NOT to hike. It was very hot (90+) and humid. It is supposed to break more heat records tomorrow. Great!Mt Squid took Julie, Sleeping Beauty and me to breakfast, then to a local outfitters for showers, then to the post office to pick up our mail drop boxes, then to the laundromat, and finally to the supermarket. He also fed us lunch from his cooler along the way. What a great guy!Julie will be catching a shuttle to Delaware Water Gap from the outfitter this PM to go to a friend's family reunion. But, she intends to get back on the trail in DWG later this week so I may see her again. She has been wonderful to hike with the past week or so. Sleeping Beauty left Port Clinton in the early PM because she is trying to reach DWG by Friday noon in order to drive to Quantico, VA for the weekend to see her husband while he has leave from Marine Corps training. She intends to be back in DWG by Sunday night so I will probably see her again too.Randi Baker picked me up at the pavillion about 4.00 PM and showed me her bike store in Hamburg, then brought me to her farm for the evening. I finally got to meet her husband Doug and son Evan - two great guys! I had a wonderful evening with them, a great tour of their old farm by Randi, and got to watch Doug fly one of his model airplanes over the back pastures. These guys keep very busy and it was great to see Randi again after so many years!
Date: 2007-07-10
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: scattered clouds

I visited with Randi a while before she left for work then Doug took me back to the trail by 8.30. I wanted to get the climb out of Port Clinton and back up onto Blue Mountain out of the way early before it got too hot. I made it up the steepest section in about half an hour but it was a continual climb all the way to Pocohontas Spring, a distance of about 3 miles. By the time I got to the spring it was already nearly 85 and very humid. I filled all my water containers again at the spring having drank nearly 2 liters already.The walk to Windsor Furnace Shelter was generally decent with only brief rocky areas. I got some nice photos of a pair of Eastern Phoebe's that were feeding young in a nest in the shelter rafters. Soon after, a 5' foot Black Snake appeared out of the firepit and began cruising around the shelter trying to get up into the nest. I took quite a few photos of the snake too as it crawled all over the shelter and my pack. Finally I left to go get water and the snake was still touring around the shelter. When I got back about a half hour later the snake was in the Phoebe's nest and had already eaten all the young. Black snakes are well known bird nest predators because they are excellent   climbers.The views from The Pinnacle and Pulpit Rock were mostly obscured by the heavy haze and high humidity so I didn't stay long at either spot. A group of Civil Air Patrol volunteers were practicing rapelling at Pulpit Rock when I went by and they told me the heat index was 105! There were several longer stretches of large rocky areas that lasted until well past The Pinnacle but I took it slow and kept going. After that, most of the trail was along old roads and went by quickly.I arrived at the Eckville Shelter about 4.45 PM but decided to stay since there was thunder in the air and it looked like rain. Besides, the next shelter with water was 9 miles away. The Eckville Shelter is in the back yard of a house and has a solar shower and running water. Unfortunately the gnats and biting bugs got bad after dark and ended up keeping me awake most of the night - I should have tented instead.
Date: 2007-07-12
From: Lehigh Furnace Gap

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 5.3

I had a little under 1 liter of water left after breakfast and the spring at the next shelter, about 4 miles away, was supposed to be running well so I decided not to waste time looking for the spring down the road. I was dry but had plenty of water to make the shelter if I got going early and the rocks weren't too bad. The day was clear, the temps and hymidity had dropped substantially overnight. A front must have gone thru overnight.Soon after leaving my campsite the trail came out in a long series of old meadows and overgrown blueberry fields along the crest of Blue Mt, passing just above the PA Turnpike tunnel. There were excellent views looking NW off the ridgeline in the now clear blue skies. This short (about 2 mile) section was without doubt the most enjoyable stretch of trail so far in PA! The few groves of trees were low and stunted with lots of white and yellow birch, white pine and cherry.Field sparrows were singing all around, along with towhees and Chestnut-sided Warblers. I spooked up 2 broods of turkeys with barely flying poults. They were feeding in the deep fern glens along the trail. Blueberries were coming on but I didn't do any picking because the effects of the nearby zinc smelter were clearly visible in the vegetation. However, there was ample evidence that bears were taking full advantage of the ripening berries.I got down to Outerbridge Shelter before 10.00 and refilled just enough water from the nice boxed spring to get me the remaining 2 miles into Palmerton. Just before crossing the bridge over the Lehigh River I got a fine view avross the rivee at the cliffs I would climbing through in the morning. It was a sloping cliff band with lots of talus above and below, but it didn't look too bad. In many ways it looked much like any number of CO canyon towns such as the area just west of Glenwood Springs or just north of Silverton. Ignoring why there were so few trees on the slopes, it looked very much like the canyon country at home.I walked on into Palmerton but couldn't get into my room at the hotel until 2.30. With the afternoon half gone, I took a shower, walked the half mile down Main St to the supermarket, then to the laundromat and repacked my supplies while my few clothes were washing. I also got a haircut across the street. It was 6.00 before I got back to the hotel where I called Brenda and my parents. I had a nice steak and a stout at the pub downstairs in the hotel then wrote up some notes in my room. It was time to sleep sooner than I expected after another long day but few miles to show for my time. I notice that my clock has readjusted itself, I now am awake most mornings about 5.00 and can rarely stay awake past 10.00.Tomorrow AM I take on the infamous Palmerton cliff climb and EPA Superfund site!
Date: 2007-07-13
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning was my favorite stretch of trail in PA, up and over the infamous rock ledges out of Lehigh Gap and through the Palmerton EPA Superfund site. The weather was perfect; clear blue skies, relatively cool temperatures, good visibility, and a light breeze to keep things cool. This mile of trail has the reputation for being the most challenging climb on the AT south of New Hampshire. I found it to be quite fun and not really that difficult. The views were excellent and the terrain was very similar to trails I often hike at home. It reminded me a lot of hiking trails in CO and I thoroughly enjoyed the wide open views both up and down the Lehigh River.The rock scramble was really a walk up and across a steeply pitched open scree slope. There were only two places where hiking turned to hand over hand and rock handholds were briefly needed. But, the route was well marked and well worn so route finding was easy. Having waited until morning to do this climb was a good decision and the fine weather made the climb much more enjoyable then if I had done it during the heat of the day or when a storm was imminent. As it was, this will probably be my favorite piece of trail in PA.Once up and over the open ledges the trail climbed up and across open scree slopes towards the top of Blue Mountain. On top, the ridge was quite flat with wide expanses of low vegetation. Field Sparrows were singing from all directions. The next nearly five miles was through the EPA Superfund site along an old service road. In some areas there were thin stands of stunted trees with grass and ferns below, and in some areas there was no vegetation at all with large expanses looking like the site of a nuclear detonation. All the vegetation damage was due to acid deposition from the nearby zinc smelter that operated at the base of the mountain for more than 100 years.Beyond Little Gap the trail returned to the normal PA green forest tunnel and rocky trail. There were two nice views, one from the trail just north of Little Gap and the second about 0.1 mile off the trail at a series of small ledges. I stopped for lunch here and ended up spending nearly 1.5 hours enjoying the view. The remainder of the hike to Leroy Smith Shelter was similar to the trail before lunch, forested without views, rocky trail off and on, nothing too difficult just tiring on the feet and ankles. Also, all but one of the springs in this 16 mile section were dry. The Smith shelter had a spring with water but it was 0.6 miles off the trail near the bottom of the ridge and was quite a hike coming back up to the shelter.Another fine day on the AT!
Date: 2007-07-14
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: broken clouds

Baltimore Jack called the section of trail from Wind Gap to Delaware Water Gap a "rocky mean little stretch", and I agree with him. This 16 miles was almost continuous rocks, mostly small sharp rocks turned on end; some were loose, others were not, but all were tough on the ankles, shins and knees and there was rarely any significant stretch of smooth trail to provide the feet with some relief. In some places the small rocks were replaced by stretches of large rocks that you have to jump onto then walk a few strides on, then jump to the next one in line, and so on. To add to the excitement, these rocks were often along the crest of the ridgeline and tilted at odd angles. They rarely move when stepped on, but sometimes they do. It can be somewhat disconcerting when a rock the size of a small car begins to move when you are standing on top of it!Wolf Rocks were the most interesting rock formation of the day. It was a stretch about 200 yards long of hopping from one large rock slab to the next with often good distances between them. Most of the slabs were tilting at odd angles, but the views were good because it was along the crest of the ridge and higher than the surrounding tree tops.Aside from short climb at each of the gaps, the terrain has been surprisingly consistent, flat ridgetop walking. For the last seven days now I have been walking entirely along the crest of Blue Mt. it has been one long ridgeline!Coming down into Delaware Water Gap there was a rock lookout that had a great view of the gap and across to the large cliffs on Mt Tammany on the NJ side of the gap. There were quite a few folks sitting on the rocks as I stopped to take a few photos and several saw my pack and began asking questions. When the others heard where I had hiked from they all asked questions and a few asked if they could take my picture. It was hard to enjoy the view or break away and leave, but neat to see such interest in a thru-hiker!I got into the town of DWG about 6.00 PM and had dinner at the DWG diner while calling hotels in Stroudsburg for a room. All the hotels near the supermarket were full so I decided to stay at the DWG church hostel instead. Spock and The Director were there so it was good to stay with familiar folks.My feet and lower legs were tired from the rocks and a 20 mile hike, but another state has been finished and the views the past few days have been wonderful! Who knew I'd be looking forward to being in NJ?!