morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-07-08
From: Palmerton 

To: Leroy Smith shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: scattered clouds

16.0 miles to Leroy Smith shelter I had lined up a ride at 6:30, so I didn't feel a need to get up before 5:30. Turtle was up & out before I awoke, & Gravy left before I knew he was ready, or I would had invited him to ride. No one else was ready. The Reinhardts from church had volunteered, & they were out front just before 6:30; so I was on the Trail by 6:35. After crossing the highways & traversing a bit of rocky trail, the rock climb out of Lehigh Gap begins. This involves going up, over, & around a lot of large boulders running all the way up the hill. There are some challenging spots, including places where you can't see any blazes ahead, but it actually seemed easier this time than I recall from last time. That's nice, since other places have turned out harder! Once you get to the top of the boulder field, you enter the Superfund remediation area. It has very few trees because of years of pollution from the zinc smelter in Palmerton. Trees & other plants are being grown in controlled areas protected from deer until they are established enough to spread into the surrounding portions. It'll take many years. Meanwhile, we walk thru open areas & along the ridge where there is a good view of the town & the old factory. It appears that they have gotten some new industry in while working to clean up the old. Lots of blackberries & a few blueberries up there-- I'm not sure whether they might be poisoned in some way by heavy metals. Probably better not to eat them. Starting early meant that the sun hadn't warmed up the rocks yet, but it was partly cloudy for the first couple of miles, till we began to get into some stunted woods that provided a little shade. It got warmer & less breezy as the day went on, with a few sprinkles of rain that didn't produce much cooling. Gravy passed me right away, & I soon passed Turtle (seeing her a few times when I stopped to eat), but I saw only few day-hikers after that. Part of the challenge of this part of PA is finding water. There aren't many springs, some of them are dry, & the rest are a long ways off the Trail . I had read that there was a spring about 5 miles in, but I didn't find it & neither did anyone else I talked to. I had taken an extra bottle to fill AFTER climbing the rocks, so that plan didn't really work. As it turned out, my water lasted till I got to the shelter, where the spring is only a few hundred feet down the hill, rather than .4 or .6 miles, like the other places. At the Leroy A. Smith shelter: Turtle, Flavor-Saver, & another hiker stayed, while Sweet-pea & Oak, & 4 others stopped by but went on to go drinking in Wind Gap (4.6 more miles) & then camp behind the bar.
Date: 2013-07-10
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Rattlesnake Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

It might sound like my morning was devoted to food: first I had the salad from last night; then an omelet at the diner with a younger hiker. I went to the PO: no maps or sections of the trail guide book. Susan apparently can't find them to send to me. Looking to buy another one, I found that neither outfitter had a guide in stock. Along the way, I got a Dr Pepper, & a hot dog & apple pie combo.I was going to get out earlier than yesterday ¢ not so! By the time I decided what I wanted sent from the post office, I was even later than yesterday. I weighed myself on the scale at the hostel: it looked like I was down to 147 & my pack was up to 45. Not where I wanted to be, but I don't know how reliable that is. There were a few sprinkles crossing the bridge -- welcome to NJ! Then it stopped. I was feeling really good, walking quite fast on the road & the easy trail up the mountain. Leaving the PO at 11:40, I got to the South end of Sunfish Pond by 1:55, trying to make time on the easy trail.Nobody passed me except Garden Girl, who was slack-packing (in her home stase of NJ, with help from her mother). At 2:35 l left the North end after lunch (following difficult rocks around the lake). I did miss the Trail at one point, but so did the Czech couple, & we soon got straightened out. When I finally got to the campsite, the Czechs were there, plus Jabberwocky, Goldilocks, Lone Wolf & his wife ("Beowulf"!), who was hiking with him for a few days. After supper, I figured out that I had left my battery charger plugged in at the hostel. I had heard that some of the other hikers staying at the hostel were going to be slack-packing the next day. Goldilocks had the number for one of them, & I tried to get him to bring it to me or get their driver to help. We didn't get anything worked out for sure, but my phone was getting low already.
Date: 2003-09-24
From: Abol Slide Campground

To: Katahdin Stream Campground
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today I started a southbound hike from Mount Katahdin to Gorham New Hampshire. Old friend Colleen Ford drove me here yesterday. We left Lincoln New Hampshire around 6:00pm and checked into the Best Western in Millinocket about midnight last night. We got up around 6:00am, showered, checked out, ate breakfast at the Appalachian Trail Cafe and drove to Baxter State Park. She dropped me off at the Abol Slide Trail at 9:00am.    I started my hike with close to a dozen finishing north bounders: Blaze & Face, Tipperary, Wizard, Leapyear & Starbuck were the names I got. I had good conversations with many especially Blaze and Face whom summited just after me and shared the descent for a few miles. Tipperary is Irish and his brother, a bagpipe player, met him and all of the other triumphant north bounders near Katahdin Stream Campground and piped all into the campground. I had only just finished my hike and was checking in at the KSC Rangers Station when I heard the piping and cheering. I went over and hung around and had a beer with the happy thru hikers. This was a great start for my hike. I also bumped into an old friend from Lincoln on the summit of Katahdin. Coincidentally she is also a 2000 miler. There is so much magic on this trail, it makes such wonderful things happen.        The weather today was great. 68 degrees in the woods, mostly blue skies except for a great cloud over the Summit and the Tablelands. The summit cloud cleared off late in the afternoon.
Date: 2003-09-25
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Hurd Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: few clouds

I went to bed early last night (7:30) and slept well until 4:00am. I strained a shoulder muscle at work and it gets sore easily. Broke camp at 6:15 and after a hot breakfast started hiking at 7:30. I stopped by the site of the old thru-hiker lean-tos at Daicy Pond Campground. The trail now goes through the old site and avoids Daicy Pond altogether. That is too bad, the old route had a great view of Katahdin. Yesterday I checked out The Birches lean-tos at the new thru hiker campsite built last year near Katahdin Stream Campground. They¢ve been stained recently and the logs are still wet. Thru hikers have been staying in the day use lean-tos at Katahdin Stream Campground, right next to the trail.         Hiking mostly downhill today, all the way to Abol Bridge at the West Branch of the Penobscot River. I saw a black bear cub, a female spruce grouse and a great blue heron all in the section. I also saw 11 north bounders along the Penobscot. Groovy was the only one to stop and talk; Great guy. I saw a total of 19 north bounders today. I ate lunch at the Abol Bridge Camp Store. I bought some junk food to go with my bagel and GORP. I stopped for the day at Hurd Brook Lean-To. Beautiful forest between here and Abol Bridge, in some places spruce trees and moss covered rocks as far as the eye can see. So far only a section hiker and me are here. He is backtracking to Abol Bridge after aborting a south bound hike to Monson because of a twisted ankle.        Great weather today: a comfortable night in the 40¢s, good hiking in the 60¢s. No rain.
Date: 2003-09-29
From: White House Landing

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I had another big breakfast in The Lodge and then rushed to pack up and pay my tab. This has been an expensive day of rest but it was worth it to me especially considering we got over three inches of rain here yesterday. The last hiker finally paid up and Bill the owner came down to the dock full of hikers and began shuttling us back across the lake. Apparently guests usually get a ride part way up the Nahmakanta Stream to a point a mile closer to the trail than the air-horn pickup but gas for the outboard motor was low and with 16 hikers needing rides, at six hikers per boat load, Bill only took us to the air horn.         The trail was very wet today as expected. It was an all-over-the-place kind of wet; rivers, streams, seasonal stream all overflowing. Boggy areas were overrunning the trail in many places. In the low areas the hiking was like a seemingly endless rock hop across a brook. The only body of water that seemed unaffected by the rains was Potaywadjo Spring which was as big as always but serene with just a steady flow of water. I took an early snack break at Potaywadjo Lean-To to read the register. I saw many more hikers today but not as many as Saturday. Some still carried signs of frustration from having hiked all yesterday in the rain. I met one guy at Antlers Campsite with all his gear hung out to dry in the breeze. Antlers Campsite is a gorgeous place. Jack Pine Trees on a point of land on Lower Jo Mary Lake. The campsites are a soft bed of pine needles. I should get a tent. Around mid afternoon I met four hikers with news of difficult fords ahead. The East Branch of the Pleasant River was impassible this morning. This group of four walked around the crossing via logging roads. I¢m staying at the Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To tonight. The brook and falls are beautiful with all the extra water. The pool in front of the shelter has a brown, frothy layer of foam on the surface. A hiker who was here this morning said it looks like a cappuccino. I¢m in the lean-to with section hikers Rick and Janet, north bounders Zero and Yo-Yo (who are hiking south to finish a section Zero missed to catch up with Yo-Yo). Four hikers pull into the lean-to after dark, around 7:00. They¢d forded the East Branch at 3:00pm with the water thigh high and swift. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.
Date: 2013-07-21
From: Telephone Pioneers shelter

To: Ten Mile River shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: broken clouds

This morning, I awoke to the usual bird calls, plus a different sound: cows -- on the farm a half mile down the hill. I left the shelter at 6:00 to be able to get to church at 10:00. After the downhill, there were some meadow crossings & boardwalks thru marshes. I also passed the largest oak tree on the AT & the AT railroad station North of Pawling. When I got to the highway, I had to walk the 2+ miles into Pawling, & I turned off at the wrong street initially; so I ended up seeing more of the town than planned. I still got to church in time to get cleaned up a little & change clothes. Afterwards, a kind couple gave me a ride back to the Trail. I appreciated that, but it did mean I didn't get a chance to eat at a restaurant in town.Today it seemed that the only breeze was on open fields. To benefit you have to stand in the sun! Still it was cooler than yesterday. The principal flowers were Queen Anne's Lace & Yarrow. After some tedious ups & downs, I stopped to eat at Wiley shelter. There I saw Achilles & Nema, whom I hadn't seen since just before the Smokies. Soon after that, I crossed Hoyt Road & entered Connecticut. Nine states down -- five to go! I stopped for the day at 10 Mile River shelter. Also staying there were Two-Buck, Nanner, & 2 guys from NYC.                            PACK MOMENTUMThe last few days, I've been experimenting with pack momentum. When we walk without a pack, our body weight gets moving in a certain direction & we adjust our leg movements to keep up. With the extra weight of a backpack, we have to make slightly different adjustments. Doing a "face-plant" usually means our pack weight kept going forward even tho one or both feet don't. Pack momentum can also cause various other difficulties.Is there some way to make use of this momentum? It seems that if I move my upper body & the pack in the direction of one leg as it goes forward & then catch up with the other, it makes hiking a little easier. Probably only works with one hiking pole rather than two. Actually, it seems like the same idea as doing the side stroke in swimming. I find that pack momentum is very important in climbing up over big rocks. It's helpful to lean forward to aid in getting up there. But I find I have a bad habit of lifting up my head just as I get to the top. That's enough to slow the pack's momentum & threaten to tip me over backward; so it's important to always be conscious of this effect. The only problem is, if I keep my head down & pack weight forward, it's easy to miss something above that I'll ram my head into. It's a good thing that my Tilley hat has padding in the top!
Date: 2003-09-30
From: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To

To: Logan Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

I¢ve been sleeping well lately; the temperatures at night have been in the low 40¢s, low 60¢s during the day. Today was a better day than yesterday, less water on the trail. Beautiful fall views from Crawford Pond of the colorful foliage covering the surrounding hills. I had one short climb in the middle of the day, that was Little Boardman Mountain, and I ended the day by climbing half way up White Cap Mountain. The ford of the East Branch was still very high but I was able to rock hop across it with some very careful balancing, pirouetting and pole planting. Early in the afternoon I stopped for the day at the Logan Brook Lean-To, I¢ve decided I can do more miles in the next three days. My pack still felt heavy today, I just couldn¢t seem to get it to sit comfortably. I saw many more north bounders today and because many stopped at the lean-to while I was relaxing and eating I got some names including Martin and Model-T. Many more stopped here for the night- Wolverine, No-Pepsi, Janet and Rich are in the lean-to and many more are tenting out.
Date: 2013-07-22
From: Ten Mile River shelter

To: Stewart Hollow Brook shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I tried to get out of the shelter as early as possible -- only one of the guys from NYC was up when I left. Of course, a couple of hikers passed me before I got very far. The Trail crosses 10-Mile River on a very nice steel truss bridge, then follows the Housatonic for a little bit before going up on the ridge. On Shagticoke Mtn, it goes back into NY for a bit before returning to CT. The Indian tribe of that name somehow necessitated that strange routing. I met several hikers at Mt Algo shelter, just outside Kent. Some of them were going to leave their packs at the shelter & go into town: I took mine since I wanted to go on. I walked the mile into town -- no one stopped for the other hikers either. Kent is a very expensive town. The outfitter is a combination ice cream store, cosmetic shop, & outfitter. I didn't see anything I needed, but Achilles was able to get some fuel for his stove. He wanted to go to the pizza place, & I went with him, past a couple of perfectly good-looking restaurants. When we got there, he decided it was to expensive, but I stayed & had a very good hamburger. There were a couple of other hikers eating there, just out for short distances. I ended up walking with them for the afternoon. I got to plug in my phone & battery charger at the restaurant, but had disappointing results: the phone didn't get connected properly, so I wasted most of that opportunity & had to go on without much power. The afternoon was fairly easy ups & downs. It felt unusual for me to have some hikers who were going about the same speed I was. The most exciting part of the afternoon was stopping for water & meeting my first Southbound (SOBO) thru-hiker, named The Bear, who had started 27 May. At a place called St John's Ledges, we came down some New Hampshire type rocks. I did quite well on those -- I feel ready for the White mtns; hope I'm still ready when I get there. The last 3 miles was a road-walk along the river. I did it in one hour, which proved to me that I CAN go faster when I don't have so many rocks to contend with. At the shelter we found a couple more SOBOs; one named Righteous stayed with us in the shelter; the others camped nearby. They started 1 June, meaning they have averaged about 13 miles per day. We have done two-thirds of the Trail, but they have done the hardest third!
Date: 2003-10-01
From: Logan Brook Lean-To

To: Chairback Gap Lean-To
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I was colder last night, in the mid 30¢s, but it could¢ve been the elevation of the shelter. There was a Great view from the rocky summit of White Cap. Katahdin was clearly visible to the south. I could trace the route of the A.T. curving through the landscape, over hills and around lakes, although it was hard to locate the lakes closer to Katahdin.   It was good to have a big mountain to climb after sixty-plus miles of lakes and little hills but I think it did wipe me out towards the end of this long day. The ford of the West Branch of The Pleasant River was in shin deep, slow moving, flat water. The river bottom is partly covered with basketball-sized rocks with smaller, gravel-like rocks in between. The river bottom was easy to see through the water and so I decided to ford barefoot. After the ford I had one final four-mile climb up to Chairback Gap Mountain and down to the Lean-To. Chairback has many beautiful ridge-top ledges with good views. The lean-to was overflowing with north bounders. . I arrived a bit late as I did a few more miles than usual. I find I like to finish hiking by 4:30 because the sun will be setting by 6:30 and I like to cook and set up camp in the day light. I didn¢t get into camp tonight until nearly 6:00pm. I managed to get into the small shelter, which was not so crowded but there are tents all over the place. I¢m estimating I¢ve met 138 north bound thru hikers since I summited Katahdin.
Date: 2013-07-23
From: Stewart Hollow Brook shelter

To: West Cornwall Road (Bearded Woods hostel)
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: light rain

The rain had pretty much stopped by morning; it didn't impede my getting out of the shelter. The soil is very sandy along the river; so the Trail wasn't very muddy. After seeing Yarrow for some time, I'm now also seeing Queen Anne's Lace in the low, open parts of the Trail. After walking along the Housatonic for another mile or so, it went up the Mtn, & I had ups & downs the rest of the day. I stopped in Cornwall Bridge (there's a covered bridge near there) because someone had told me there was a good sandwich shop there. Sorry, it was closed. By that time the young man from Connecticut had caught up with me. We got water & used the rest room at the gas station. He was going to wait for some others to get to town, but I wasn't back in the woods long before he caught up with me, & we walked together off & on. He was headed for the next shelter but changed his mind later & decided to go help his dad with drywall. But he did seem interested in doing more backpacking. I usually think old pickup trucks are most likely to pick up hitch hikers, but this time I hitched into town in a BMW & back out in a Volvo. There were a few good views of the Housatonic valley, but mostly just up & down in the woods. When I thought I had 3 miles to go, I told the hostel when to pick me up. An hour later, I found I had 1.7 miles to go, so I called back to tell them 3:30. There had been just enough rain to put my poncho on in the morning; otherwise a very nice day. Then, a few minutes before 3:00 it got so dark in the woods that it felt like 8:30. Right at 3:00 the heavens opened & rain just poured down for a half hour, the strongest rain I've seen on the AT. The rocks & roots became slippery, & the Trail was either muddy or flooded. I had to slow down to minimize slipping. I did slip once & ended up wildly jumping from to rock to rock down the hill for 15-20 feet till I could come to a stop. Thank God, I was able to do that -- those were not rocks I'd pick for hopping even when dry. Professor was the only other guest at the Bearded Woods hostel. I hadn't seen him since Southern Virginia. The supper was an all-you-can-eat Italian dish -- very good. We each had a bunkroom to ourselves, which was good, since I was trying to sort out my stuff & reduce pack weight. It's really a great place to stay, & the $50 price isn't bad when you consider 2 meals, laundry, & shuttle to & from the Trail. Hudson & Big Lu are wonderful hosts!
Date: 2003-10-02
From: Chairback Gap Lean-To

To: Wilson Valley Lean-To
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: light rain

Nighttime temperatures have been seasonally warm for most of this trip; last night was in the 40¢s, which makes for really comfortable sleeping. I¢d say the seven miles from Chairback Gap to Barren Slide is one of the roughest sections in the 100-mile wood: rocky, rooty and with lots of ups and downs. I took the side trail to Cloud Pond Lean-To to eat lunch. The pond is beautiful and the lean-to is a typical MATC cedar log type. Its in a nice spot just up from the pond but it seemed a bit dumpy and funny smelling in the shelter. The ford of Long Pond Stream was tricky. The spot where the trail reaches the banks the stream was a swift and deep channel, more like a river. Not long before the ford I met a north bounder who told me of a blown down tree across the stream about a quarter mile down stream. I easily found the tree spanning a far channel of the stream about three feet above the swift water. I rocked hopped out to a gravel bar in the center of the streambed where the crown of the tree had come to rest. I threw my hiking poles to the far bank and with my pack belt undone I shimmied onto the 30 inch diameter tree. I dangled one of my legs down and hooked the other over the trunk behind me. I balanced with my arms and pushed forward with my hooked leg. It wasn¢t too hard. I then bushwhacked to a nearby logging road and walked it back to the trail and continued on towards the Wilson Valley Lean-To. I listened to the Red Sox / Athletics playoff game on my radio as I hiked. A north bounder had stopped me and when he saw my earphones he asks excitedly, ¢are you listening to the Red Sox?¢ I hadn¢t thought about baseball in days, I wasn¢t even sure if Boston had clinched the wildcard spot in the playoffs but here they were in game two of the first series. The north bounder gave me the frequency of the station and I tuned in and continued on. Unfortunately Boston lost 5 to 1 and fell two games behind the A¢s. I missed the end of the game because I soon arrived at the shelter and turned off the radio. The lean-to was one above capacity with eight hikers and me fresh out of Monson with huge packs filled with food and in general very excited and all very nice people. I¢m glad we were all able to squeeze in because it began raining at dusk- a strong thunderstorm rolled overhead dumping rain on us for quite a while.