morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-01
From: Gren Anderson Shelter, NJ

To: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

I'm off the trail again. This is disappointing. Everything was fine this morning until I started walking into town. Mousetrap, good man that he is, offered to walk with me. I walked in my Crocs, and my foot didn't hurt, so the 3 miles back to town went quickly. We got to the road just as Boy was walking by. We all had some breakfast, and then I called my grandmother. Or rather, I tried to. Despite having great service at the shelter, service at the road was very patchy. After several disconnections, we eventually worked out that I'd get picked up at the ranger station down the road, but it would be a while, since nobody was free right then. It turned out to be almost 5:30 by the time my uncle, who lives in Tenafly as well, but works about an hour closer to where I was, showed up. We drove back here, stopping for some dinner, and my aunt and cousins drove over to say hi. It was great to see them, but they're very high-energy, so I'm a little drained now, and in need of a full night's sleep.The Brain
Date: 2007-06-02
From: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ

To: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

Last night, when I climbed into bed, my big toenail, which has been threatening to fall off since Hot Springs, started catching on the sheets. It was time for it to go, so I got my scissors and cut it off. It looks pretty messed up underneath, but it doesn't bother me anymore.I wanted to go swimming in the pool, but my box with the bathing suit wasn't here yet, so I had to wait for my shorts to go through the wash so I could swim in them. Just as I was about to jump in, the mailman arrived, with my box! It was a hot day today, so it felt great to jump in the water and splash around a bit.This weekend, the Greek Orthodox church in town is having its annual Greek Fair, and John and Robert (my cousins) had to help with the Scouts' booth, so we all went up for a while. It was like a small fair, but with lots of Greek food. The boys dragged me on a couple of rides, and I watched some dance performances, before it was time to go back and go to bed.The Brain
Date: 2007-06-03
From: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ

To: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

I went out for a short test run with my boots today. There's a nearby camp area where the cousins' dog can go to run, so we drove there and we all walked around for a while. It was a short, easy walk, and I didn't carry any weight, but it was a start, and my feet didn't hurt at all. It also felt as though my boots had stretched out a little to accomodate my feet. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get back on the trail soon.The Brain
Date: 2007-06-04
From: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ

To: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

It poured today. The remnants of a tropical storm were coming through, dumping rain. Nevertheless, I suited up, put on my boots and pack, and went for a hike. There's a large nature center in town, with some nice trails, so I went out there and walked around in the rain for a couple of hours. My feet felt great, and I think the wetness helped break in the boots even more.In the afternoon, my aunt drove me out to the nearest EMS, so I could get some new Superfeet. My mother had suggested finding some trail runners to wear for parts of the day while breaking in the boots, so I looked around for some, but they didn't have in stock the shoes the fitter wanted to put me in, so I didn't get any.Over dinner at a very nice steakhouse, we discussed how I would get back to the trail. Tomorrow works best for them, and the easiest way will be for me to take a train out past where my uncle works, and he'll pick me up there. It sounds complicated, but we'd already looked at the schedules, and it should work.The Brain
Date: 2007-06-05
From: Grandma's house, Tenafly, NJ

To: Mashipacong Shelter, NJ
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: few clouds

I'm writing this as I'm riding the train out toward the rendezvous. After I packed up this morning, I went for another swim, and took yet another shower. I had to go down to the library, to get on my email; the college housing surveys have started to come in, and the deadline on the one sitting in my inbox is tomorrow.I said my goodbyes, and my aunt drove me to the train station. It was enormous, beautiful, and largely empty. It's too bad that so few people use the train system. It's not a bad way to travel. I've got a comfortable seat, the ride is smooth, and the view is nice. However, it looks like it might rain this evening. Hopefully it'll hold off. I'm going to try to go six miles this evening. We'll see how that works out.(Writing later) The plan worked without a hitch. I got off the train, called my uncle, he picked me up, and we drove to the trail. The new Superfeet felt great, and my foot didn't bother me at all. This shelter has no water source, so I had to carry water all the way here, and even with the extra weight, it felt good. I'm still going to take the next two days a little easier, before I get back up to speed.I'm all alone at the shelter again tonight. Last time it didn't bother me much, having just spent four days surrounded by hikers, but this time I wish I had some company. I haven't seen another hiker since Friday morning.The Brain
Date: 2007-06-06
From: Mashipacong Shelter, NJ

To: Jim Murray's , NJ
Miles today: 12.5

It feels a little silly calling it a day at 1:30, but I know that taking it easy for a couple of days is the right thing to do. I couldn't have picked a better place to do it, either. Jim has a beautiful shelter here, with four walls, running water (from a well, not city water, so it actually tastes good), and even a light and electric heat. The heat is nice on a cool night like tonight. It's been cold all day today, with a strong wind as well. It felt like the kind of wind that blows before a big storm, but nothing came in.This evening Spike showed up, back from a wedding on Martha's Vineyard. He said that Pinky was in front of him, and she'd been planning on catching me. I'd left notice that I was coming here at one of the shelters, hoping for some company tonight, but she must have gone by wtihout stopping. Hopefully I'll catch up to her in town tomorrow, although she may go straight through.The BrainMurray shelter - Click picture to see full size
Date: 2007-06-07
From: Jim Murray's, NJ

To: St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 13.6

I got to see Pinky today! When I got to the first shelter this morning, I saw she'd left a note for me, saying she'd be in town, but was getting picked up to go home around 3:00. I tried to call her using Spike's phone, but she didn't answer. So we hurried into town. At the road, we met two section hikers, Governor Kitten and Jersey Fresh. They were both getting picked up today, so I waited around for a ride, but Spike headed back into the woods.The hiking today was fairly easy, but boring. There was a lot of crossing swamps on boardwalks and puncheons, and only a couple of hills. At one point, the trail came out of the woods for a long road walk, then turned off the road, and went around three sides of the Walkill River National Wildlife Refuge. It was flat, easy walking, but boring, and a little annoying, because they could have cut the trail up the short way around the refuge, but went the long way instead. Later, the trail crossed the Pochuck Swamp, on a long boardwalk, with an enourmous suspension bridge over a creek in the middle of it. The whole project must have cost a fortune.I met Pinky in town, just chilling out near the fire station. Her dad was driving down, and she was going home for a few days. I was very tempted to go along, and probably would have had I not just taken several days off to heal. I did send some things home with her, though: maps, journal entries, and hugs for people back home. She's been burning up the miles, so she may catch up to me eventually after she gets back on.At the hostel tonight with me is Coach K, who's been hiking with Pinky since Harpers' Ferry. He thru-hiked last year, and is just out for some sections this year. I'm going to try to keep up with him for a few days at least, to have someone to hike with.The BrainWalkill River NWR - Click picture to see full sizeBoardwalk over Pochuck Swamp - Click picture to see full size
Date: 2007-06-08
From: St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Vernon, NJ

To: Wildcat Shelter, NY
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: clear sky

I've only done 10 miles of New York, and I already dislike the state. The trail goes up and over huge piles of rock that it could just as easily have gone around. In some places, I had to climb hand over hand. I don't mind rocks, or climbing, but I do mind when it's completely unnecessary. Add in the hot weather, so humid it almost hurts to breathe, and it made for a long afternoon.At one of the road crossings, there was an ice cream stand nearby, with a tap that hikers can use to fill their water bottles, so I went over to fill up. When I got there, a guy started following me in his car. He was sitting at a stop sign when I came by, and he just sat there, even though there was no traffic. When I stopped and dropped my pack, he turned around and went and parked nearby. I decided to get back on the trail at that point, skipping the ice cream, so I filled my water and started back towards the trail. The guy went past me, parked by the trailhead on the south side of the road, got halfway out of the car, and stopped. I walked past, and he got back in, drove up and asked if I needed a ride to town. I declined as politely as I could bring myself to be, and he drove off. I was glad to get back in the woods and away from the road.Eventually, I did get to the shelter, although it is definitely more than the 0.1 Wingfoot says it is from the trail. Gene and Coach K were here already, and Little Spartan Warrior and Spike showed up later. Spike had spent most of the day with his grandparents. Just before I got to the shelter, I saw a bear. It heard me coming, and took off away from me through the woods. It looked just like a large, black dog.The BrainVulture near Prospect Rocks-2 - Click picture to see full size
Date: 2007-06-09
From: Wildcat Shelter, NY

To: William Brian Shelter, NY
Miles today: 19.6

Some 20's are easy. Others, like today, make you glad to be done. Over the first half, the trail climbed and descended steeply, but never more than a couple hundred feet at a time. It just went up and over steep, rocky ridges. The most amazing part was that it could have just as easily gone around, making it an easier walk. The trail also wandered in every direction, going out of its way just to go to the top of a pile of rocks. Oh, well. Nothing to be done about it.Because the water source here is marked in the book as unreliable, Coach K and I stopped about 4 miles short and walked down to a picnic area to eat dinner. It was crowded (being a weekend), and everybody had the grill going, so we tried to yogi some food, but with no luck. There is a happy ending, though. A little kid ran over and left a giant package of hot dogs on the table next to us. After about 45 minutes we'd eaten our dinners, and nobody had gone near the hot dogs. So we sliced it open, tossed a bunch in a ziplock, and quickly left. We figured that since it had been so long, they were up for grabs. (By a pure coincidence, we heard sirens while we were bagging them up.)When we got up to the shelter, after a mercifully easy walk, Coach K built a fire, and there was a grill sitting around, so we grilled up the dogs and shared them with the two SOBO section-hikers here tonight. The only thing that tastes better than grilled hot dogs are free grilled hot dogs, especially when you carried them for 4 miles.The BrainMt Laurel in bloom-2 - Click picture to see full sizeThe Lemon Squeezer - Click picture to see full sizeHot Dogs on the grill - Click picture to see full sizeCoach K, grillmaster - Click picture to see full sizeDelicious! - Click picture to see full size
Date: 2007-06-10
From: William Brian Shelter, NY

To: Hiker Pavillion at Greymoor Friary, NY
Miles today: 15.2

I'm feeling a little spoiled right now. I've had so much food today, I might just burst. But more on that later.It was grey and overcast this morning, and I didn't really want to get up. I had to be at the Bear Mountain Inn at 11:00 though, to meet my grandmother, so I dragged myself out of my cozy sleeping bag and set off. It didn't exactly rain, but I was walking through a cloud, so I got a little wet, and didn't get any views. Fortunately, by the time I got down to the Inn (and only a few minutes late, despite a late start and rough terrain), the clouds were lifting, and it was turning into a nice day.Nobody was waiting around for me, so I sat down in front of the Inn to wait. A few minutes later, a car pulled up, with not just my grandmother, but also my aunt, uncle, and two cousins. We drove up to West Point, had some lunch, and were going to drive out and look at the river, but the guards wouldn't let us past. We'd have had to take the hour-long bus tour, so we just drove back to Bear Mountain, where I packed up my new load of food, said my goodbyes, and set off.At Bear Mountain, the trail passes through the Trailside Zoo, a small zoo with many of the local animals. For some people, the bears there are the only ones they'll see on the entire trail. The trail in front of the bear exhibit is also the lowest elevation on the entire trail. I found the whole thing rather depressing, seeing all the animals in cages. The bobcat in particular looked unhappy, pacing around its tiny cage. It was a beautiful animal, but it was rather forlorn.The next section of trail was much nicer, crossing over the Bear Mountain Bridge, then climbing steeply up to the ridge. Once it got to the ridge, though, it stayed on top, so the distance flew right by. When I got to the entrance road for the Friary, there were a ton of busses, as well as cars, and people all around. I asked a security guard about it, and he said that it's the Feast of Saint Anthony, a huge Haitian festival.The shelter here is a picnic area with a roof, next to a large ballfield, which was covered with cars and people, and filled with loud music. Coach K told me that there were more than 10,000 people spread over the monastery grounds, mostly Haitians from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The upshot of so many people is that there was a ton of food. The family at the pavillion offered us food, and told us that they've been coming for years, and always come early so they can get the pavillion. Everyone finally cleared out by 7:00, leaving a kind of quiet emptiness, as if something were missing.The BrainBear Mt Ski Jump - Click picture to see full sizeCousins John & Robert at Bear Mt Bridge-1 - Click picture to see full sizeGrandma at Bear Mt Bridge - Click picture to see full sizeWalt Whitman Statue - Click picture to see full sizeBlack Bear at Bear Mt Zoo - Click picture to see full sizeFeast of St Anthony-1 - Click picture to see full size
Date: 2007-06-11
From: Hiker Pavillion at Greymoor Friary, NY

To: RPH Shelter,NY
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: clear sky

The terrain changed a little bit today, to more rolling hills, and less sharp ridges. It was nice not to have to climb straight up and down all day long. This afternoon, though, I was feeling sick to my stomach. Several times I felt like I was going to throw up. It think it was from the water I'd gotten from a tap near the trail. It tasted of sulfur, and drinking any of it made me want to gag. It sucked, but it was all I had, so the last few miles were no fun at all.I've realized that I've run out of things to think about during the day. Day after day, I'm thinking the same thoughts. I haven't hiked along with anyone for a while. Coach K and I have been walking the same miles each day, but he walks a lot faster than I do. Wirenut (a retired electrician) says he saw Diablo about a week ago, so maybe he'll catch up soon.The BrainDead frog - Click picture to see full size
Date: 2007-06-12
From: RPH Shelter, NY

To: Telephone Pioneers Shelter, NY
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: light rain

When I went to bed last night, there were just the three of us in the shelter. When I woke up this morning, Wirenut was already gone, but the shelter was full. Late last night, Chips, plus a group of four calling themselves the Iron Chefs rolled in out of the rain. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk with them, leaving the shelter before they woke up. Two of them, Hellbender and Strider, briefly this afternoon stopped in at the shelter here, but kept moving. The five of them are catching the train from Wingdove into NYC tomorrow, so they hiked on in the rain.The hiking wasn't too bad today, although for the first 6 or 7 miles, I could hear I-84 rumbling in the background. It was nonstop from the time I started until well after I'd crossed over and headed back up the hill. In the afternoon, instead of the highway, there was a new rumbling in the air: thunder. I had perfect timing, though. Within minutes of getting to the shelter, the first raindrops fell. By the time Strider and Hellbender got here, it was an outright downpour. I'd been thinking about going into town today to do laundry, because the road is only another 0.7 miles from here. When I heard the thunder, though, I changed my mind. I didn't want to walk 3 miles into town in the rain (nobody picks up hitchers in the rain; also, someone told me that hitching is illegal in New York), with only a picnic pavillion to stay in, and 3 miles to hike back to the trail in the morning, so I stayed here. It was the right choice, I'm telling myself as I listen to the rain pouring down on the roof.The Brain
Date: 2007-06-13
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter, NY

To: The Fife'n Drum Inn, Kent, CT
Miles today: 21.7

What a day! I'm finally back in New England, and getting closer and closerto home! I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed this morning, evenknowing I was planning on a long day. The first few miles of the trail werequite easy, although I'm glad I didn't have to do them in the thunderstormslast night. There was a lot of walking through open fields, with the grassalmost as tall as I am. In some places, the grass was so tight around thetrail that it was almost impossible to see where the trail was. I only knewbecause there was a little patch of dirt where the trail was instead of justgrass. By the time I was through the fields and out the other side, I wascovered in dew, grass bits, and ticks. I sat down for a while and gavemyself a very thourough searching.At one of the road crossings, there was a wonderful bit of Magic set up.Someone had left a few chairs, a cooler full of good ice water, and anothercooler with bagels, PB+J, drink mix, mac and cheese, and even some pieces ofthe Sunday NY Times. It was everything a hiker needs. I sat down for asnack, and was just about to leave when Dirty Blonde and Backbend came by. Ihadn't seen them since Kincora, so I sat and talked with them for a bit. Iasked them if they'd seen Diablo, and they said he was right behind them!Sure enough, a few minutes later, he came rolling up. He knew he was gettingclose, and was planning on catching me at the last shelter before towntonight, where we'd both been planning on staying.We hiked together for the afternoon, and decided that, rather than stay atthe shelter, we'd go into town and split a room, so we booked it into town,flying all day long. Kent is an upscale town, not exactly a hiker place, sothe rooms were a little expensive. The Inn had a big room that it usuallysaves for hikers, though, and it was about $50 each, but it was worth it.The beds were wonderful, and the room was enormous, big enough for at least5 hikers. We went to dinner at a nearby restaurant, and then we've beenchilling out in the room all evening. The outfitters doesn't open until 9tomorrow, so we'll sleep in a little bit, too. What luxury!The BrainAT train station - Click picture to see full sizeOld water tower - Click picture to see full sizeField crossing-1 - Click picture to see full sizeNY-CT border - Click picture to see full size
Date: 2007-06-14
From: The Fife'n Drum Inn, Kent, CT

To: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To, CT
Miles today: 17.0

It felt good to sleep in this morning, but I¢m paying the price now. It¢s late and I¢m just finishing dinner. For a few days, I¢d been going to bed long before it got dark, but it was practically dark by the time Diablo and I got here. It was worth it, though, to get some extra sleep, take it easy and enjoy the room we had. After breakfast in town, I went over to the outfitters to get my box, and picked up a fuel canister. They didn¢t have the regular MSR canisters, so I grabbed one that was made by somebody else. When I got back to the room, though, I discovered that the nozzle didn¢t fit my stove. Fortunately, they let me return it, but I¢ll have to stretch my fuel for a few days.We didn¢t get started hiking until noon, somewhat of a mistake. The trail is easy no longer. There were lots of steep climbs, between 500 and 1000 feet, up over small mountains. There was also a nice 5-mile section along the river that was just about flat, but that went by quickly, and the rest of the day was hard work.I have a few requests for the Connecticut maintainers: first, put up signs for the shelters. The signs mention the campsites at the shelters, but say nothing of the structures themselves. Also, please mark the trails a little more clearly. There was a part today where the trail turned and climbed steeply between two boulders, but the turn wasn¢t marked, and there weren¢t any blazes at the top of the climb either. We spent a few minutes trying to figure out where the trail went, and only went the right way because it looked like rock steps leading up. Okay, enough ranting, it¢s past my bedtime.The Brain
Date: 2007-06-15
From: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To, CT

To: Brassie Brook Lean-To, CT
Miles today: 21.0

I¢m feeling the load in my pack today. I picked up another box in Salisbury, and it had 4-5 days worth of food, but I only need 3. Fortunately Diablo needed some meals, so I got rid of a bit. It was still heavy, though. Fortunately, it was only 5 miles up to the shelter, and we¢d had a good lunch in town, so it wasn¢t too bad. There¢s a huge crowd here tonight:   two section hikers going south, three going north, and a guy who started by hiking the Long Trail, and is headed south to Kent.I¢ve really enjoyed hiking the past couple of days. For one, it¢s good to be back in New England, and getting closer and closer to home. Also, having someone to talk to during the day. It makes hiking so much easier. We¢re also catching up to Dice a little bit. Hopefully, we¢ll catch him in the next week or so.There¢s a couple things over the past couple days that I¢ve forgotten as I¢ve been writing. A few days ago, I was walking along, and I heard chittering. I looked down, and saw a fledgling bird running towards me. I just watched as it ran right between my feet! Behind it came the mother, freaking out. I think it was an oven bird, but I¢m not sure. Then yesterday, we had our first river fording. Guinea Brook was high and rushing, and no bridge. I took off my boots, and was choosing where to wade across, when I saw a big log upstream. It spanned from bank to bank, so I climbed up on it and did my best tightrope act. I walked then got down on my hands and knees, then finally on my stomach. It was probably 8 feet above the rushing water at some points. It was terrifying (falling into a stream is one of the things that scares me the most out here) but I made it across, and didn¢t even get my feet wet!The BrainGiant's Thumb - Click picture to see full size