morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-14
From: Devils Racecourse Shelter

To: Rocky Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: clear sky

The crossing of a state border is such a big deal to an AT hiker, and this week I cross three! Feels weird after being in Virginia for over a month! Pen-Mar is the state owned park just south of the border. The park has a lot going on: volleyball nets, playground equipment, a ¢sunset pavilion¢ where bands play. Pretty quiet this time of year-the bathrooms aren¢t even open, but there is a soda machine!I move on to cross the Maryland/Pennsylvania border, also the Mason-Dixon Line. It feels good to be in the North! The first half day in Pennsylvania is unimpressive. Lots of road crossings, and many creeks labeled ¢do not drink!¢ Terrifying for Hydro!I¢m coming down with a head cold, so I¢ve got sniffles and an aching body to deal with. An afternoon nap at the Tumbling Run Shelters and Comtrex cold medicine helps the situation.All three shelter areas I see today have double shelters. This is new and probably nice when the trail is more crowded. One shelter for ¢snorers¢, one for ¢non-snorers¢.When I get to the Rocky Mountain Shelter in the evening, I have both to myself. At least I don¢t have to share the shelter with my toxic socks tonight!
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter

To: Toms Run Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: clear sky

Vitamins, vegetables, ten hours of sleep, and another sunny clear day make my head cold seem better. Mixing morning coffee and Comtrex non-drosy is probably not a good idea, but I sure was walking fast!My second day in Pennsylvania is much better. Rolling hills, and yes-flat for long stretches. I feel like I¢m back home in Wisconsin! The trail isn¢t even that rocky - I¢m walking on soft pine needles most of the day. I am able to make ¢good time¢ but still feel like I¢m taking my time. Met some locals on the trail today. I have walked far enough to loose the southern accent for sure. I¢m going to miss that!Thin Man is out on the trail training for his hike in a few weeks. This is the 4th time I¢ve walked with someone carrying a pack just for training purposes. This has got to stop! There has to be a way of working this out day hikers! No need to bring the pack-I can provide that for you! Carry mine, and I¢ll just follow you!Thin Man knows the trail in Pennsylvania well, and is able to tell me exactly where the infamous rocky sections are. We get to talking about trail ¢perspectives¢ and I¢ve decided that there are 3 types of hikers:1. The hiker that overexagerates the difficulty of the trail to make he/she seem tough2. The hiker that underexagerates the difficulty of the trail to make he/she seem tough3. The hiker that IS tough and just thought a difficult part was easy.The thing is, you never know what type of hiker is giving you the ¢preview¢. I¢ve been hearing about the rocks of Pennsylvania for weeks, and I¢ve heard all ends of the spectrum. My advice is to not listen to anyone, including a thru-hiker! Especially a thru hiker that is almost halfway!
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Toms Run Shelter

To: Little Dogwood Run Stream
Miles today: 19.1

When I was a child, say grade school age, my parents put me on an ice cream restriction. You see, I wanted ice cream every day after school. The parental restriction only allowed ice cream every other day. Mom, there certainly weren¢t any ice cream restrictions today! A thru-hiking tradition - I joined the half gallon club. The Pine Grove Furnance Campstore, just near the mid-way point between Georgia and Maine is where this tradition takes place. The ¢Half Gallon Challenge¢. Eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. Peanut Butter Swirl, 19 minutes! A challenge it was. I really only enjoyed the first half, but now I have my wooden spoon that will proudly be used and I am in the Club. The store owner, Don, was very supportive thru the challenge, telling me stories of fellow club members. The guy who polished it off in 6 minutes; the girl who took over two hours, the guy who ate an entire gallon. 400 hikers joined in 2004. Just one so far in 2005. After letting the 3,200 calories I just ate ¢settle¢, I got back to hiking, lots of energy to burn. Pine Grove State Park is packed! First day of trout fishing season. Shortly after, I pass the midpoint marker, halfway between Springer Mountain and Mt. Katahdin. In 1985, it was the midway point, when the sign was put up. With trail reroutes and relocations, the trail gets longer every year. I don¢t know where the actual midpoint for 2005 is, so I celebrate here and let out a few whoops. A pitiful, pitiful sounding celebration with my head cold and raspy sore throat voice. Imagine Marge Simpon cheering, that¢s me in the woods. The MMC is working on the trail just minutes beyond, about 25 people. They inform me that the actual midway point is several miles ahead. I guess I¢ll just have to celebrate all day. The truth is, being halfway overwhelms me more than it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Every thing I¢ve experienced, and that was really just half way?Forest and his dog, Gump, are heading south and we cross paths as I¢m thinking about the last 75 days. It is their first day out and they are going all the way to Springer. ¢How is the trail south of here¢, Forest asks. ¢What Part?¢ ¢To Springer?¢ Are you kidding me? "It¢s a surprise," I say with a smile. And it always is, regardless of how many hikers you talk to.Many more groups are seen today, including three different large scout groups. I¢m not that surprised to find the shelter full to the max by the end of the day. Half way thru my hike and this is only the first time a shelter was full. With my cold, I don¢t want to sleep near anyone, so I continue on until I find a flat place to set up my tent.
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Little Dogwood Run Stream

To: Farmfield, Pennsylvania
Miles today: 21.5

I climb Center Point Knob first thing in the morning where some backpackers have packed up and left camp with their fire still going. I do my best to smoother it with dirt, but it is still hot when I leave. The four miles into the town of Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania would be my only miles today in the woods. Most of today¢s hike is crossing Cumberland Valley, 17 miles long. The valley connects the Blue Ridge and valley province (North). The majority of Cumberland Valley is agricultural, so the AT follows a lot of property borders, often making sharp 90 degree turns in the midst of the farm fields, sixteen road crossings, and a few short road walks. Temperatures are in the 70's, but the valley is exposed with little shade and I am hot! Oh, it was just a month ago when this proud northerner was out in 30 degree temps and was comfortable. Now my tail is between my legs and the southerners are proud. ¢Just wait, this is Spring, very cool compared to summer¢. At least I am walking north with Spring. I am walking fast enough that the buds of the trees are smaller as I travel north. Maybe if I walk fast enough, I can walk back into winter!I certainly am not alone on the trail today. There are day hikers everywhere, enjoying the farm fields on this sunny Sunday afternoon.I leave Cumberland Valley late in the day. Up and over Blue Mountain, then I¢m crossing more fields again. I finally call it a day around 6:00 when I realize I can¢t make it four more miles to the shelter. I pitch my tent in narrow corridor of trees with a small stream nearby. I hope this isn¢t private property.
Date: 2005-04-18
From: Farmfield, Pennsylvania

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: scattered clouds

I wasn't woke up by an enraged land owner during the night, and I'm packed up early and back on the trail at daybreak. Not a trace of my stealth camping was left behind, so no harm done!Just a few easy miles into Duncannon with views off Hawk Rock of the Susquehanna River and town. The temperature is high again, and the air feels thick. When I get to town, the bank clock reads 85 degrees at 11am. My first stop is at a gas station where I buy the biggest soda possible. As I follow the white blazes through town, there is a welcome sign that claims Duncannon to be the midpoint. "NO! " I exclaim out-loud, that was days ago! Years ago it was the halfway point, but the trail keeps on growing.I check in at the Doyle Hotel. Nine-hundred hikers stayed at the Doyle last year, so it's safe to say that the Doyle is a thru-hiking tradition. Cheap rooms (17.50), and even cheaper beer makes the Doyle an affordable attraction for most hikers.The owner Vicki gives me the low-down on trail activity, ahead of my anyway. The only other 2005 NOBO ahead of me back-tracked to the Doyle and got off the trail. Of the 2004 NOBOs, one has recently got off the trail in Vermont, and Hellkat is still out there, 5 weeks ahead of me. No idea who is behind me, 100's maybe.Town chores after a glorious shower. I pick up my maildrop and send home more clothes and other items I don't use every day. Two more pounds off my back! Yes! It is just a half-mile walk to the Pharmacy/Grocery store, so I am walking in my flip-flops. Bad idea--this highway should not be road-walked! There is no room for pedestrians--just inches in some places. I dart from one side of the road to the other, whichever has a wider shoulder. When I get back to the Doyle after this high-stress excursion, the other owner Pat is shaking his head. He doesn't "let" hikers walk that road. During the busy hiker season, the store will even send a shuttle.The day ends with an excellent dinner off the bar menu, involving beer and greasy food made by Shrek, a hiker from 2002.
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Duncannon, PA

To: PA 325
Miles today: 17.1

"Hiker Vortexes," they are called: places where hikers get sucked in, spend a lot of time, or get off the trail all together. The Doyle Vortex got me a second night! I meet two hikers NoTea and Hertz at breakfast, across the street from the Doyle. They did a slackpack yesterday, and are getting shuttled back to PA 325 this morning. I decide to sneak along with them for a day of slackpacking south back into Duncannon. Slackpacking is always a nice psychological boost, but this also allows me to go back to the Doyle for it's Birthday Bash. The Doyle Hotel is 100 years old!Trail Angel Mary, a local with a soft spot for hikers, gives us a ride to the trailhead. Mary really is an angel, she goes out of her way to help hikers. She must be quite busy during hiker season.It is another hot day on the trail, it feels like temperatures are in the upper 80's again. North of Duncannon is where the much talked about "rocks of PA" begin. There are enough rocks that you can't take your eyes off the trail when moving. Mostly small, jagged rocks that stick out of the ground. A real treat to walk on! I find them to be bearable, they just slow you down a bit. I find another abandoned smoking campfire at Peters Mountain Shelter. Again, I save the Appalachians and stomp out the hot ashes!My 17-mile slackpack takes most of the day, I'm back at the Doyle by 5:00. The first thing I do is stop down by the bar to pay my delinquent room bill. I had left a note on my door that I was staying another night. The Birthday Bash is well underway and Vicki and Pat where too busy to notice my room was still occupied.I'm not in the bar five minutes and there is a beverage in my hand, put there by "Sedentary Steve." Sedentary Steve is a non-hiking retired man that interviews hikers as a hobby.   He has put together a 4-inch thick binder of these interviews along with pictures. This collection is kept at the Doyle Bar, so I get to scan the book. Sedentary Steve isn't a hiker, but he sure likes talking to them! I am the first hiker he has seen all season, and he is real excited the hiking season has begun!Tonight there is live music and the local Troeggs Brewery is at the Doyle giving out samples. I manage to celebrate with the locals until past 10PM, very late for me. I cash out for the night, but the Doyle continues to rock past midnight.
Date: 2005-04-20
From: PA 325

To: Raush Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: broken clouds

Trail Angel Mary brings me back to PA 325 where I continue to head north. We get to talking about Trail Days (a hiker festival WAY back in Damascus). She knows of people that make the drive to Damascus from as far north as New Hampshire and Maine, so she is going to try and find me a ride if I decide to go!   She also tells stories of the trail magic she does. When the crowds come through she organizes "feeds," or feasts for the hikers. I get a kick out of the terminology. "The Feed," sounds like something for wild animals!Temperatures are in the 80's again today. I am not feeling particularly motivated to hike after the Birthday Bash last night.   I call it a day when I reach Rausch Gap Shelter by 3:00PM. I relax the rest of the day reading my new book: Life of Pi, and catching up the journal.
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Raush Gap Shelter

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

I am up and on the trail by sunrise for a change. I haven't been on the trail much before 8 since daylight savings. This really is my favorite part of the day (out here anyway), much cooler for hiking. There are lots of dark clouds all day, but it never rains. PA has had two inches over it's average April rainfall, but it all fell the first week of April, long before I was here. I haven't seen rain since my first day in the Shenandoah's! The hiking today is nice with a break from the hot weather. Temperatures are in the upper 50s. Yes, there are more rocks in the trail. Big and small rocks, sharp and dull rocks, PA has it all!I am staying at the 501 shelter tonight, just a two minute walk from HWY 501. Another shelter where you can order Pizza if you have a cell phone. At least I was prepared from the disappointment this time! Anyway, if I eat something out of my backpack, it will be lighter! The 501 shelter is more like a hostel. There are bunks, a table, a solar shower, and four walls for a change! The caretaker "Youngblood" lives next door in his home, but he never stops in. I bat down the spiderwebs with a broom and make myself at home.
Date: 2005-04-22
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Twenty-one days without rain was a blessing, and I'm not complaining about the rain I finally see today. The temperatures are cool, in the 50's, and the rain is real light and sporadic. The terrain is fairly level all day with the same mix of rocks I saw yesterday. Nothing terribly interesting, nothing terribly hard. I will say that if you were having feet or ankle problems before, Pennsylvania would really hurt. I've had hikers tell me that PA is mentally the hardest state to get through. This, of course, is highly subjective, but I am finding this to be true. For me it's lack of spectacular scenery and unchallenging terrain that is getting to me. The maps say "flat" and imply easy, but the rocks really slow you down. I find myself stopping earlier in the day out of boredom. So I'm sitting in Eagles Nest Shelter, out of the rain, thinking about my mental state of mind. Just as I admit my boredom, in walks some amusement! "Thirsty Joe" is his name. He is out on his first backpacking trip ever, and tonight is his last night. What an adventure he has had! The first shelter he stoped at happened to have a water spigot that wasn't working. He then assumed that all the water sources where piped in, and the water wasn't turned on yet. This was the reason he wasn't seeing other hikers, he decided. Twice he hitchhiked into town to fill his water containers, carrying 24lbs of water alone! I saw him on day 7, and it was only yesterday that someone helped him out and explained where water could be found. Through all this he was still loving the adventure and hopes to section hike the whole AT. If he loves PA, he is really going to love the rest of the trail!
Date: 2005-04-24
From: Windsor Furnance

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 16.0

A blue-blaze shortcut trail, 16 miles of trail walking, a long hitch-hike, and tonight I am in the city of Palmerton, sleeping in Jail. And to think yesterday I was bored with the trail in Pennsylvania! Team GameFace leaves the shelter before I do, and I am never able to catch them as I hike today. Late in the day, I stop in the Blue Mountain Bar/Restaurant, another AT oasis that by this point is nearly impossible for me to walk by. There is Team GameFace again, reunited with Germy who accidentally passed the shelter turn-off and didn't want to back track. Yes, he had a wet night curled up in his tarp. The Team has been here for an hour already and have arranged for a ride into Palmerton where the town lets hikers sleep in the old police station at no charge. The "Jailhouse Hostel." It has been a long day on the trail, and I this sounds like a good idea. The last trail section I hiked was really wiped out by an ice storm in the early spring. The fun of scrambling over the boulders was enhanced with a brushy tree in the trail every few feet. Yes, I am ready to go town. I am willing to bypass the next 20 miles of trail. The hostel is real nice: a shower, a bed, and a care package of personal hygiene items from the girl scouts--what more could you ask for?
Date: 2005-04-25
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Wind Gap, PA
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: light rain

I've temporarily joined the fun of Team GameFace on their tour-hiking expedition of the AT. Today we road walked from Palmerton to Wind Gap. I've discovered that the scenery from the road is actually better than from the trail today. From the road you can look up at the ridgeline, from the ridgeline you just see the road and towns.It is a cool and rainy day, there is not much traffic in the road. It is a good change to not walk on rocks! It is also a good change to have company--this is fun! We really are hobos I declare as we eat lunch on a guard rail. Germy toasts a bagel, using his trekking poles, over a burn-barrel. Stunt Double finds amusement in others trash. Chris spends most of the day singing. I guiltily keep glancing up at the trail. I am having fun though, and that is more important right now. As Chris and Stunt Double where hiking through the Shenandoah's, they met a section-hiker named "Scarlet". She lives right off the trail near Wind Gap. Tonight she is letting us stay at her place! What a night of luxury is in store for us! Scarlet is a fascinating women that has lived and worked on every continent except Antarctica. The night is filled with great conversation and fascinating non-AT stories! Stunt Double grills our steaks and we feast on potatoes, crab cakes, fresh greens, and Pennsylvania white wine. Dinner goes on for two hours, as it should, and three bottles of white wine later we are relaxing in a Japanese Spa! A night full of great conversation, lots of laughing, and much relaxing.
Date: 2005-04-26
From: Wind Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was my last miles of Pennsylvania. This has been a hard state for me. A mental challenge, not physically hard. The scenery is unspectacular and monotonous, and you can constantly see or hear civilization. The terrain is rolling hills and flat, but the rocks force you to walk slow. I found myself questioning the purpose of this journey the most in this state. If I'm not hiking just to say I hiked the whole AT, then why am I hiking 230 miles in a place I was not enjoying? I am now in Delaware Water Gap, the last PA trail town on the PA/New Jersey border. How I got here was a combination of trail walking, road walking, and hitch-hiking. All together I bypassed about 40 miles of the trail north of Port Clinton. Are you surprised, shocked, disappointed? I would have been too, if someone would have suggested this at the beginning of my hike. Of course I was planning on hiking the trail in all of it's entirety. But my ideals have changed in the three months I've spent living on the AT. Skipping the miles doesn't bother me, in the end I think the experience will be the same. I was burnt out, and I did what I needed to do to stay on the trail. Spending a few days with Team GameFace was more important than hammering out miles just to get Pennsylvania over with. I can't say that my "ideals" won't change again. If I get to the top of Katahdin and I feel the need to hike these miles, then I'll go back. Right now that doesn't feel important.My conscious, however, is not guilt free. As I have my daily conversations with the hikers I meet, I call myself a "thru-hiker," but I find myself confessing the miles I yellow-blazed. "Yes, I hiked from Georgia, but..." ...stay tuned to see you this moral quandary pans out...
Date: 2005-04-27
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

The town of Delaware Water Gap is a small touristy town. As a hiker without wheels, I've grown to love small towns. The local Presbyterian Church has a free hostel for hikers. This is my second night staying here, taking a "zero" on this rainy day. I went into the town of Strousburg with Team Game Face. We had the brilliant idea of going to the movies, but we are shuttled into town before checking the movie schedule. The earliest movie is 7:30PM and we are there in the early afternoon. As hikers, we are incapable of staying up this late, so instead of the movie, we pass some time walking around the mall. The book and music store is really the only thing of interest to me. I pick up a copy of "Motorcycle Diaries," a book I've been looking for. It is fun to graze through the music store--so much is new to me now!After the mall we spend a few hours in the pubic library. Then the four of us assault an AYCE salad bar, and then it's back to Delaware Water Gap via our "Pack Shack" shuttle. The Pack Shack is the local outfitter. The van is an adventure itself. Stunt Doulbe and Germy are sitting in something I call the "ejector" seat, a seat not attached to the floor that tips forward and shifts with the van. The Pack Shack is only partially in business. They are still picking up the pieces after the early spring flood. Most of the town was flooded, and the streets are still lined with the aftermath of the disaster: damaged furniture and garbage waiting for pickup.That's that, not much happened today. An excellent zero day!