morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-06-29
From: High Point Shelter 

To: NJ-94 Vernon NJ
Miles today: 18.9

We all woke up at 5:00 AM with the intention of being on the Trail at 6:00. However, it was raining heavily and there was lightening all around us. None of us were very happy about having more water on the Trail. Needless to say, we stayed in our bags and about an hour later the storm passed and we were able to get on the Trail by 7:15. The Trail would have been fairly easy if it wasn't for all the flooding on the Trail. There was only one section of boulder climbing and there weren't many rocks. We climbed 2,030 feet, and it was accumulated by a lot of short ups and downs. The bad part was at every down we encountered a swamp- like environment. It was quite difficult because of how hard it is to walk in water and muck and how heavy our boots became as we started to climb again and-- the mosquitoes were relentless!. Our feet also are quite sore as a result of being wet so much over the past week. There were several boardwalk sections which helped, including one that is a mile long. It was a challenging day and we were exhausted by the time we reached NJ-94 at 4:00 PM. A Trail Runner was there when we were going to start hitch hiking and offered to take us to the St. Thomas Episcopal Hostel. When we arrived, Steech and Free Bird were there and showed us around. It's located in their basement and you have use of there kitchen, shower and laundry. It's a nice set up. After showering and laundry we watched the news and then went out to eat. When we returned the other hikers were watching a movie that we finished with them. No other hikers joined us, and we were in our bags by 9:30.
Date: 2006-06-30
From: NJ-94 Vernon NJ

To: Wildcat Shelter 
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: few clouds

Once again, we found ourselves in a warm, dry spot, not wanting to get out of our sleeping bags. We both slept over 10 hours last night! We got up and to Burger King for breakfast, then hitched a ride to the trail. A man shuttled us in his BMW Z-3, making the 4-mile trip twice. He said that he is from a trail town and wants to do his part to support the hikers. Thanks! Our hike today began at 10:15 and was varied terrain. We started the morning with a 1000-foot climb that was a mixture of a rocky path and a path which had dried up some, but still had spots where we were dodging water. We were determined to keep our boots dry today, and even removed them to ford a large, deep overflowing stream. Just before crossing the state line into New York, we began a new terrain--boulder crossing. We walked along the crest of the mountain on solid rock, dipping and climbing at tmes, including occasions when we needed to use our hands. It was very tiring but the views were beautiful. New Jersey would have been a fairly easy state to hike if it hadn't been for all the rain. Our elevation gain today was 3090 feet. Getting such a late start made the day really feel long. The boulder cimbing was quite strenuous and tired us. A light rain shower cooled us whwn we were a couple of hours from the shelter. Our biggest fear was that we would get wet boots after working so hard all day to keep them dry all day! The storm stopped, then threatened to downpour again, and did so right after we reached the Wildcat Shelter at 7:00 PM. Marley was already there, and we were soon joined by Lush, Freebird, and Sourdough. It continued to sprinkle when we went to bed at 9:30.
Date: 2006-07-01
From: Wildcat Shelter 

To: Tent Site N. of Arden Valley Road
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

We seem to be getting into a late start pattern lately. Everyone at the shelter didn't get on the Trail before 8:30 AM, we got on at 8:45. We're enjoying our sleep a bit too much as well as all the shelter talk. We thought today was going to be a somewhat easy day in that we were only hiking 15 miles. However they were probably our hardest miles yet. We climbed 3,820 feet and did the most hand assisted climbing yet. As soon as we reached the top we'd go down. We felt like we were on a stair machine all day. We passed several other hikers who were also surprised by this challenging terrain. The temperature was also around 85 degrees causing us to refill our water bags and to take more breaks. Later we found that this sections nickname is the "grind". Given our overheated condition we decided to stop at the Tiorati Circle Park which was .3 of a mile off the Trail. We took showers there and then ate our dinner in the picnic area. We then returned to the Trail and found a tent site a mile later. We didn't get there until 8:30 PM so bedtime came shortly after we got the tent set up. it was quite warm so we left the rain fly off. We're hoping for dry skies. Tomorrow we hope to hook up with Doodle's family at the end of our hike.
Date: 2006-07-02
From: Tent Site N. of Arden Valley Road

To: US-9W
Miles today: 14.1

We had a good nights sleep with no rain, pretty nice. We woke up at 5:30 AM so we decide to leave early since they were forecasting severe thunderstorms by the afternoon. We were on the Trail by 6:30 and were hoping for an easier day. It started out that way but then after a couple hours we started having rock climbs that resulted in 2,650 feet. We had several great views from Black and Bear Mountains and the Trail scenery was quite beautiful. At one point we were only 34 miles to New York City which was unbelievable given the wilderness that we had just hiked. The temperature was 88 degrees when we finished hiking so we werr glad we started early and had short miiles. We arrived at Bear Mountain at 1:00 PM and then called David, Doodle's father. He picked us up shortly and before long we were showered and sitting in their comfy family room. We enjoyed wonderful dinner with fruit pie ala mode, something we can't find on the Trail . We had a relaxing evening watching TV, using their computer and talking Trail with David and Cathy. What a great day of hiking and relaxation. We went to bed late but will find our way back to the Trail tomorrow.
Date: 2006-07-03
From: US-9W

To: Dennytown Road
Miles today: 15.2

We are getting spoiled by Trail friends and their Trail Magic--and we love it! We woke to a breakfast of eggs, sausage, and fresh fruit and lingered over coffee enjoying our conversation with David and Cathy--even though we were up long past hiker midnight talking last night too. We had such a great time, but there were miles to cover and we got back on the trail at 11:30. We vowed to be more positive about the New York AT, and it really seemed an easier hike. The ascents and descents weren't so steep, and we only had 3 sections of boulders to cross, but no hands needed. Still we managed to climb 3225 feet. There were a couple of nice views of Bear Mountain Circle and surrounding area, and the Trail goes right through the Bear Mountain Zoo, but at midday the animals were in their caves, keeping cool. Probably our favorite moments of today's hike were when we crossed the Hudson River. We stopped to watch a sailboat pass under the bridge and reminisced about when we were that sailboat 18 years ago heading up the Hudson to Michigan after sailing the Bahamas for seven months. Ah...memories of a more leisurely and comfortable adventure! We hiked to the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center where the Monks allow hikers to stay in the ballpark pavilion where there is a privy and (cold) shower. We stopped and took showers, then had the sandwiches and cookies we brought from Booths. There were several--about 7 hikers hanging out under the pavilion and talking about a party tomorrow (July 4th) for Thru-Hikers given by a past Thru-Hiker. We decided we'd like to go to the party, but that meant more hiking today. We left at 5 PM and arrived at Dennytown Road to camp at 8:45. We got the tent up, then took a second "shower" under the spigot of the pump house adjacent to the tenting area. The mosquitoes were devouring us, so we dried off and climbed in bed as quickly as possible. We read, worked on our journal and listened to the sounds of the fireworks competing with the sounds of the forest.
Date: 2006-07-04
From: Dennytown Road

To: Hosner Road
Miles today: 13.1

We heard light raindrops and Craig had to get out and put our rain-fly on the tent at around 2:00 AM resulting in many mosquito bites. It did stop raining at around 5:30 allowing us to get packed and on the Trail by 6:30. We had a short day but wanted to get to the 4th of July party as earl as we could. It wasn't a particularly hard hike but the temperature was over 84 degrees, the humidity was over 90 percent, and there was no wind. We only climbed 2,370 feet but we felt like our energy was zapped. It finally started to rain at around 11:00 which lowered the temperature down to 75 degrees. This helped but it was too little to late--we were drenched from sweating so the rain had little impact on cooling us off. We finally reached Bill's home for the party about 2 pm. Bill Tru-Hiked the AT in 1999 and has hosted a 4th of July party for the last four years. Sumo, Figgy, Marley, Sanford, Parkbench, Lush, and Mountain Goat were already there. Bill's mother and father, from Austin, TX were also staying with him. We were warmly greeted and were soon relaxing after a much appreciated shower. Bill took several hikers, including Cathy, to town. Craig on the other hand enjoyed just talking to others in his Bill's air conditioned home. We were able to do our laundry, and he has a room above his garage where there was room enough for all to sleep. We were joined later by Lunchbox and his girlfriend as well as Bill's girlfriend. There was plenty to eat and drink all afternoon and at a barbecue later in the evening. At dark he lit a 12 foot high bonfire and put on an impressive fireworks display. It was a fantastic party. It was also great being everyone as well as meeting Bill and his parents.
Date: 2006-07-05
From: Hosner Road

To: Telephone Pioneer Shelter 
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

We had a great night's sleep and didn't get up until 9:00 AM. Bill had set out breakfast food and several hikers were already eating. We hit the trail at noon, and we had not walked long when it began to sprinkle. It was light, though, and didn't penetrate much down to the forest. As we walked, we were talking about the conversations last night and how so many hikers, like us, vacillate between the excitement of summitting Katahdin and the desire to quit hiking tomorrow! As Bill said, while we were sitting in his living room eating chips & salsa, "mostly you have hard days and bad hard days and once in a while days like this". Luckily today wasn't even a particularly hard day because it's was only 75 degrees and the Trail was fairly easy. We only hiked around 13 miles and only climbed 2,190 feet. We had one view that was nice and one area that still had wild flowers. We ran into Sunshine and Lost & Found who are doing a 600 mile section hike, starting at Boiling Springs. We took a break at the Morgan Stewart Shelter where Mountain Goat was already there doing the same. We reached the Telephone Pioneer Shelter at around 7:00 PM and again Mountain Goat was already there. Sunshine and Lost & Found came in later as did Hobbit and then Gloworm. We found that Lost & Found and Sunshine started their section hiking in April of 2004 and have completed all of the trail up to here. He was in the Navy for 20 years and was in charge of supplies on Submarines. Sunshine worked with Medicare. We had a great night talking around the fire and the mosquitoes were taking a break tonight. Tomorrow we're planning to stay with Rob and Kate. They invited us to stay with them in our guestbook. Life is good.
Date: 2006-07-06
From: Telephone Pioneer Shelter 

To: Bulls Bridge Road
Miles today: 14.0

Alrgough it stormed during the night, we slept well. We only had 14 miles to hike today and didn't need to hurry to get going. Gloworm had already left when we got up and had breakfast with Lost & Found. We were onthe Trail by 8:30 AM and took our first break at around 1:00 PM at a shelter. Mystic was there trying to dry his tent from the rain last night. We later ate hotdogs with him at a roadside stand, but didn't see him the rest of the day. He's trying to catch up to Marley. Rightside and Scoot passed us at around 2:00; they just returned from celebrating the 4th in New York City. The hike was perfect today. Running into friends we hadn't seen in a while while hiking in temperatures below 75 degrees and on easy terrain helped make it so. The views were great and provided varieties we hadn't seen in awhile including in the woods, in pastures, along rivers, roads, near homes and businesses. We saw the oldest & largest Oak Tree on the AT, and a covered bridge dating back to the 1800's (see pic). We also left New York and entered our 9th state-Connecticut. New York was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde terrain. The first section between New Jersey and the Hudson River was quite difficult and even challenging at times. But after the Hudson the terrain continued to become easier each mile and turned into a very relaxing hike. Today also was the beginning of our 5th month on the Trail. It's hard to believe that we've been hiking for 4 months nearly every day and now only have 5 States left to hike. As the old saying goes "we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel". We got to Bulls Bridge Road at 3:45 PM and Kate and her daughter, Charlotte, picked us up at 4:00. We had sodas and chips & salsa while talking and relaxing on their deck before dinner. Dinner was excellent and later Charlotte explained to Craig how to play "Sudoku" while Cathy enjoyed seeing Rob's garden. It was a good hiking day and a wonderful evening with Rob, Kate and Charlotte.
Date: 2006-07-07
From: Bulls Bridge Road

To: Stony Brook Tent Site
Miles today: 15.1

After a delicious breakfast, Kate drove us back to the trailhead, and we were hiking again by 9:15 AM. We always have a difficult time getting ourselves moving again after we've experienced the comforts a home! One thing helping us today was that Kate and Robb had told us to expect   the Trail to be fairly easy except for specific difficult ascents and descents. We made it to Kent, CT by 1:00 PM, but we were unsuccessful in hitching a ride so we walked the mile into town. Craig needed his hiking poles repaired, and while we were in town we wanted to go out for dinner. We also spent some time on the computers at the library When we were finally done with everything, it was 5:15. We saw Sumo, Sanford, Figgy, Lunchbox, Park Bench, Gloworm and Fast Break at the various places we went to in town. We we able to hitch a ride back to the Trail and were hiking again by 5:30. We had a difficult ascent, ridge walked a while, and then a difficult descent. After that we had about 4 miles of flat hiking along the Housatonic River. We climbed 3,245 feet today, but the most difficult section was not an ascent but the descent from St. Johns Ledges. It was very steep and challenging at times. We reached a good tenting site at 9:00 PM and were in the tent relaxing by 9:20. We felt pretty good today. The easier Trail and good weather is helping us to mend physically and emotionally.
Date: 2006-07-08
From: Stony Brook Tent Site

To: Falls Village, CT
Miles today: 16.5

We didn't set the alarm and had a good nights sleep in the tent getting on the Trail labout 8:15 AM. It got down in the low 60's and by morning it was only 65 degrees. We were told by some park rangers last night that the first 6 miles were on an old road, and that we were on roads off and on all day. As a result, we were looking forward to another easy day! However after 2 miles we didn't see anymore white blazes and after about a 1/2 mile a car stopped and asked if we were looking for the trail. They said that the trail had been relocated and now goes up Sharon Mountain. We had to backtrack and climb. And climb we did--all day, 3,710 feet. Some of the climbs and descents were difficult; we had to ford the Guinea Brook. One hiker refused to cross it and went back to the road bridge instead. It was also hot-82 degrees-with absolutely no wind. It was one of those days that we had to force ourselves to keep going. It was also the kind of day that reminded us why people leave the Trail. We finally reached the Hydroelectric Plant at 6:00 PM where we could take a cold shower and eat our dinner at their park. After dinner, we were on our way back to the Trail and a car stopped and asked us if we were Thru-hiking. We talked shortly about our journey but also asked them if there were any good tent sites close by. Jim explained that the only good close spot was not on the Trail but back up the road a 1/2 mile. As much as Craig hatesbacktracking, we took his advice and started walking. We made it about halfway when we saw their car coming back. They said they had room for us to sleep at their house tonight rather than tent. It was Jim and Andrea Salvadore and their daughter Allisa and 7 year old grandson Maxwell, who were visiting ftom Rhode Island. Five minutes later we were in our bedroom with our clothes being washed. Their home is newly remodeled but was originally built over 200 years ago. They ran a Bed & Breakfast, "Skinny Dog Farm", for years but now will just take in hikers once in awhile. We had ice cream sundaes and were given an educational tour of their home. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing on their porch. It's surprising that at the end of one of our more trying days, Trail Angels would come to the rescue and make it such a nice day afterall.
Date: 2006-07-09
From: Falls Village, CT

To: Sages Ravine Tent Site
Miles today: 15.3

We woke up at 6:00 AM since Jim was planning to leave early to go golfing. After packing up, we found that Jim had already made a great breakfast for us. When we were close to leaving, the other three were up so we got to say our good-byes, and then Jim brought us back to the Trail. It's times like these that make the Trail so special. We had to climb 1,300 feet on our way to Salisbury CT. We met Jersey Judge yesterday and ran into him again today. He's a retired judge from New Jersey and is trying to finish the Trail this year.   He was forced to quit at Cornwell CT due to knee problems last year. We met him again in town, so we had brunch together. He returned right away to the Trail but we took a couple hours break lying by a creek. We got back to the Trail at 3:00 PM and started off with a 1,600 foot climb up to Lions Head Mountain and then Bear Mountain the highest Peak in Connecticut. The climb wasn't too difficult but the descent was very steep and rocky. We climbed a total of 3,260 feet but the ascents were fairly easy. We left Connecticut and are now hiking in Massachusetts. Connecticut went quite quickly and we never stayed in one of there shelters or even saw one. The terrain wasn't very difficult but it had a lot of ups and downs. We felt less exhausted today probably because the temperature was 84 degrees or cooler and there was a light breeze for most of the day. We reached Sages Ravine at around 7:00 PM, and were in the tent relaxing by 7:45.
Date: 2006-07-10
From: Sages Ravine Tent Site

To: Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

Craig was sick the last half of yesterday's hike and during the night. And other than waking up a couple of times to kill mosquitoes buzzing in the tent, we slept well! We were on the trail by 6:10 and had a pleasant but difficult hike along the river through Sages Ravine. Then we started climbing, first up Race Mountain where we hiked right along the edge and had some beautiful views. From Race Mountain we could see Mt. Everett, and knew we had an even bigger climb ahead of us. We climbed entirely on rock to the summit. The climb down was a series of MUDS-meaningless ups and downs. Our elevation gain today was 2,380 feet. On our way down the mountain we met Flat Lander and Mama Lipton. They thru-hiked in 2003 at age 65. Mama Lipton told us it will take as many as 3 years to really appreciate what we accomplished in our thru-hike, we can believe that! The last four miles were flat and went from meadodows, swamps and piine forests. It took us finally to Route 7 where we hitchee into Great Barrington. We got two hitches--each with an independent contractor remodeling houses. When we walked into McDonald's for lunch, there was Right Side with 4 other hikers! We walked to the Monument Mountain Motel where we thoroughly enjoyed showers, doing some hand wash and airing out our sleeping bags. After dinner we spent the rest of the evening watching TV and getting our journal caught up. Our bodies ache a little but we hope to feel better in the morning . We also have planed for three short days.
Date: 2006-07-11
From: Great Barrington, MA

To: Mt. Wilcox North Shelter 
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

We slept great and had a difficult time leaving the comfortable surroundings. It had rained during the night and was forecast to rain all day.   Craig was still not feeling well (intestinal bug) so we stayed in bed until 10:30 AM. We thought about taking a zero day, but when Craig started to feel better we thought we'd better go. It took us 15 minutes to get a ride, but we were finally on the Trail at 11:30. It was around 80 degrees when we started; the humidity was close to 100 percent, and there was no wind. We sweat so much that it was hard to hold our hiking poles, and sweat was dripping from our elbows as we walked. It didn't rain all day but we were wet anyway. The Trail did not offer anything new until late in the day. We then came upon two ponds that were quite beautiful. One even had a Beaver Lodge in it. (see pics). We climbed 3,230 feet but the Trail was fairly easy. The ascents were gradual except for two which were around 400 feet each. We did have some swampy/mucky sections but the Trail maintainers had placed boardwalks across some. Rightside, Dub and Misfortune passed us on the Trail and were at the shelter when we arrived at 5:30 PM. They already had a fire going because of all the mosquitoes. The water source was only 20 feet from the shelter, which was a pleasant change. Another short 14 mile day tomorrow so maybe well have some time to relax in the afternoon.