morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-22
From: BearÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Den Hostel

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: scattered clouds

We left the hostel at 7:30. We put our pack covers on as it was surely going to rain. I made good time for the first our before it rained. We were still in The Roller Coaster so we¢re dealing with more ups and downs and now even more mud and water in the trail. I gave up keeping my feet dry right away.Once we were done with the Roller Coaster, we had a long ridge walk to Harpers Ferry, WV. The Trail crossed into West Virginia, but was on the border along the ridge so doesn¢t leave Virginia permanently until about 2 miles before Harpers Ferry.As there¢s rarely water on the ridge, I needed to get some and took a side trip down to The Blackburn Trail Center to fill up for the 2nd half of the day.  With about 6 miles left into town, the thunder started and the skies opened up a torrent of hard rain for about 20 minutes. We were soaked and the trail turned into one big river. When there weren¢t puddles, or a stream, there were rocks. It was a very challenging afternoon.  Ultimately, The Trail came to a long bridge over the Shenandoah river. I missed the turn to the motel and ended up going up into town and then down the roads and extra mile and a half.  To add insult to injury, when I called to reserve my room, I called the wrong hotel, so I had no reservation when I finally got to the hotel, which was no big deal, but I had reserved at another hotel which thankfully did not charge me for cancelling. Phew.All the regular stuff in priority order got done; explode pack, get wet stuff in front of the heater/fan, shower, laundry, ordered delivery from a local pizza place, celebrate the completion of Virginia, plan for the next day. Get rest.
Date: 2018-05-23
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Harpers Ferry 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

After breakfast at the Quality Inn, Maverick and I walked about 3/4 of a mile (uphill!) to the ATC headquarters. We were early so got some pictures and waited with about a half dozen others for it to open.  When Laurie got there and let us in there was a lot of discussion about whether the pedestrian bridge over the Potomac and the Tow Path on the Maryland side was open. They were closed for about a week due to flooding and a road washout from the heavy rains.  Stories of hikers jumping the fence and walking the closed section were swapped. About 30 minutes later, the official word came in that the section was reopened, so no drama or shuttle was needed.  Everyone got their official ATC pictures taken and then Jeff gave us our numbers. I was NOBO number 316. That means I am the 316th person to arrive and sign in at headquarters this year. I walked every mile; no yellow or blue blazing, no skipping any section of The Trail. The Trail continues to provide daily interesting challenges. Over half of the journey so far has been in Virginia and I¢ve finally crossed into West Virginia, which will be a fleeting visit.After the ATC, Maverick and I walked to the historic old town of Harpers Ferry, looking at the old buildings and a couple of Civil War battle exhibits, visiting an outfitter and then heading for lunch at a deli.We tried hitching back up the hill to the post office, without any luck, and walked up to retrieve our boxes. Thanks to my wife, my box was there and full of resupply needs and my cooler quilt.  We walked back to the motel, where I went through all my food and decided to forward some of it about 100 miles north and grabbed my winter quilt, gloves, a long sleeve shirt and a few other items to send home. Back up the hill to the P.O. to send those boxes and then back to the room. I had to replace another hiking pole top and the maintenance guy helped me with a heat gun. In case anyone else ever uses a heat gun on carbon poles, be very careful, when it got hot it was really pliable and could have easily been ruined. I think boiling is a better choice.  I ate my leftover takeout for dinner and called it early in preparation to head out in the morning.
Date: 2018-05-24
From: Harpers Ferry 

To: Dahlgren Backpackers Campground 
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: light rain

We left the motel at 9:30 and hiked back to Harpers Ferry historic town via the woods. On the way we stopped at Jefferson Rock, which overlooks the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers and it¢s speculative that this was President Jefferson¢s inspiration for The Voyage of Discovery he commissioned Meriwether Lewis to undertake 20 years after Jefferson wrote about this spot. One of my favorite books is Undaunted Courage, so this was a real treat to see. We walked over the footbridge next to a railroad trestle that brought back childhood memories (to my brother) of a morning long ago.The trail was flat for about 3 miles so we made good time walking between the Potomac and the canal. It being Maryland, it didn¢t surprise me that thee were gazillions of turtles of all sizes in the canal. Terrapin!The track was pretty good, some rocks, some mud, but generally the elevation profile was nice. We saw a lot of civil war battle information about the September 1862 Confederacy¢s northern attack. There were places along the trail that looked like they¢d been dug out as trenches and probably cannon placements that hav never been filled in. We were slow in the afternoon as it was of course hot, but we were focused on getting to the Dahlgren backpackers campground. Right after The War Correspondents memorial, Not Dead came up behind me. We caught up while hiking for a couple of miles and then she went ahead; she was trying to catch her tramly (trail family) that is ahead a few days since she took a few days off.We got to the campground at about 6:00. There was flat ground, picnic tables, a bath house with running hot water and showers, and potable cool water out back. Luxury.There were quite a few people at the campground and we got settled, showered and fed and to sleep just before dark.
Date: 2018-05-25
From: Dahlgren Backpackers Campground 

To:  Raven Rock Shelter 
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

We left at 7:30 and by 8:30 we were at the stone Washington Monument that the people of Boonsboro, Md built in the early 1800¢s. There was a nice view and a cool breeze.  A ranger came up and unlocked the gate to the tower and we were able to get up to the stop and get 360 degree views including the towns below and the Antietam battlefield.  The Trail handed us little bit of everything today; a Nice dirt smooth path for a while, mud, standing water, rocks for a couple of one mike stretches, steep climbs, fields of tall grass, a challenging rock hop across a stream ( I made it with dry feet!), busy road crossings and finally a water challenge. Our shelter had water, but it was .6 mile downhill, so I choose to get water .8 mile ahead and lug it uphill (ugh!). It was a steep, rock staircase and I was dragging at the end of a long day so definitely a challenge to my legs. I made it but that last .8 took about 30 minutes.  There were nice tent sites, and I choose one with a bench near the back, which was a good call as a bunch of people came in near dark including a group of Scouts that had to set up and cook. Things settled down pretty quickly, but I was happy to be outside the chaos.I was tired and didn¢t have a lot of extra water, and ended up getting leg cramps and needed to drink a bunch to catch my hydration up. I slept pretty well after that.
Date: 2018-05-26
From:  Raven Rock Shelter 

To: Waynesboro, PA
Miles today: 7.2

I was up and out of my tent before 6:00. The birds were up and so I got up too. I broke down my gear and got almost packed before I headed to the privy.  Maverick was getting ready for breakfast when I got back. We took stock of our water and we had enough to get us to Pen Mar Park and make coffee, so we enjoyed that before we took off. We only had about 7 miles to hike today, so no rush. We hiked leisurely for an hour, took a break for a drink, hiked another hour and were at the park by 9:30. We caught a little trail magic someone had left on a picnic table, chatted with Professor and his son, got water and hung out for about 45 minutes enjoying the view.  We still had 3 miles and a 700 foot climb and it was getting hot, so we moved north at 10:15. We got to Route 16 in Waynesboro, PA at 11:30 after crossing The Mason Dixon line. Maverick has never been in the north so I teased him about how he needs to watch out and be careful and told him he¢d be alright with me with him.  Our shuttle driver got to the trailhead within 10 minutes and we were off to the motel. The town was spread out and it was so hot, so I asked if there was a rental car agency around as we needed to go shopping, to do laundry, get dinner etc. There was none except U Haul. I called and they had a van! We had 15 minutes to get there and we made it with time to spare. We drove out in a big Chevrolet Savana U Haul cargo van with our packs in the back.  We drove to the motel, got checked in, showered and then walked 2 blocks to Waynesburger for lunch. We walked back and grabbed our laundry and made lists of resupply needs at Walmart, then drove to do laundry and Walmart and finally for dinner. We were back for bed by 8:15. It felt pretty hilarious riding around town in this giant van.Once again, I want to remember how fortunate I am to be able to try this adventure. I thank my wife for her continued support both through her encouragement and sending me resupply and especially for keeping things going smoothly at home with everything she already has on her plate. Thank you honey, your support is critical and I appreciate it and love you.
Date: 2018-05-27
From: Waynesboro, PA

To: Waynesboro, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today was a zero day without much to report. I rested and spent time on the phone, picked low gear up from The Trail with the van, dropped the van off, and walked back, then walked to dinner at a Mexican place and went back to the room where I took an Epsom salts soak in the tub before bed.
Date: 2018-05-28
From: Waynesboro, PA

To: Quarry Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 18.2

Our shuttle back to the trailhead was scheduled for 9:00. It being Memorial Day, we hadn¢t factored in that the toad was closing for the parade. The best plan is a flexible plan!  We called the driver and had him meet us a couple of blocks away from the parade route and Maverick and I were hiking at 9:15. Low Gear had to go back 3 miles to where we picked him up yesterday so we weren¢t sure we see him again.  I ran into The Crawfords ( the family of 8 I have been leapfrogging since early innThe Smokies). The youngest promptly told me he was two. I ended up hiking between two of the girls ( 8 and 12) and they chatted me up for about a half hour until I excused myself and hiked ahead. I passed the other 3 kids in another 15 minutes and came up to a merger of The AT and another trail and there was a woman with a small cooler on her back. She asked if I was a thru-hiker, and in the affirmative, promptly offered me an egg-McMuffin and hash browns. Oh yeah!! 3 miles later, Little Blue¢s parents were at the road doing trail magic and I got an ice cold blue Gatorade-perfect. On to Caledonia State Park, where the plan was to pay to camp and use the shower.  It was chaos of a holiday weekend and we decided that since the park camp sites were a mile away, we¢d hike north 2.4 to the next shelter instead. First we got burgers and fries from the snack bar.  We got to the Quarry Gap Shelter at 6:15. An amazing shelter. Actually 2 shelters, with two picnic tables, hanging flowers, a clear spring, two tent platforms, lots of little statues, a bench, a swing, and the privy had air fresheners in it!Low Gear got in later and set up in one of the shelters after a longer than he expected day. He wasn¢t too happy about the extra miles but we explained our logic to him.Thank you to all the current and former military service personnel for their work and sacrifice.
Date: 2018-05-29
From: Quarry Gap Shelter 

To: Pine Grove Furnace Stare Park
Miles today: 17.7

We were all up early and had breakfast and were hiking by 7:15.  Today I hit the half-way mark. 1095.5 miles. We also hit the 1100 mile mark, and did a 12 by 12:00; 12 miles by noon.  Our goal was to get to Pine Grove furnace state park to camp. They have showers. Maverick and I walked into the park at about 2:45 and wandered around looking for the park office to get a tent site. Unfortunately, all the signs were geared towards drivers so we walked about 2 extra miles and finally found the office. We got a site and walked another mile to it. We set up and took turns going to the shower. I washed my clothes in the shower, then hung them to dry at the campsite. Maverick and I walked back to the general store and I got the Hiker Burger-hamburger with bacon, lettuce, tomato, bacon, avacado, double cheese, mayo and a fried egg. Plus fries. Then ice cream. Then a chocolate milk. Low Gear joined us and had dinner, then we all walked back to the campground and built a fire and chatted for an hour before it was time to get to sleep at 9:00.
Date: 2018-05-30
From: Pine Grove Furnace Stare Park

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 18.4

I woke up at 5:00 and had to go to the bathroom, so tried to be quiet as I walked through our campsite. The birds were already singing, and when I got back Maverick and Low Gear were starting to get packed up.  We walked back to The Trail and were following white blazes by 7:00.I made good time early, but then it got really hot, so I slowed down. I started getting a headache and recognized I wasn¢t drinking enough, so made up for that and drank as much as I could.  The Trail gets near Boiling Springs flowing out of the woods through hay and wheat fields and was downwind from a pig farm that literally choked me from the odor. Apparently you should breathe through your mouth.  Maverick and I got to the Boiling Springs backpackers campsite at 3:30.  Low Gear, stopped at a shelter a few miles back and was planning to hike in tomorrow. We learned that the pool and showers were not open until the following week, so that was a disappointment.We walked into town and found a place for dinner and stopped at the ATC office for water for the night before heading back to the camp.There were 4 of us camping. The camp is about 100 yards from a train track and trains went by about every two hours all night. I could hear the horns ahead of the rumble by about 2 or 3 minutes; the first one that came by at around 9:30, blew his horn right next to. Camp and I thought ¢oh boy, this is going to be a long night¢. The others that went by didn¢t, so I think that first engineer was just having fun.  I slept surprisingly well under the circumstances, I just had sleeptus-interuptus. I guess the heat and fatigue of hiking made me immune to sleeplessness.
Date: 2018-05-31
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Carlisle, PA
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: broken clouds

We broke camp in a light rain at 7:00 and headed back to the ATC office to drop our packs. We went and got breakfast and then back to wait for the Post Office to open so I could get my boots back and bounce my box of snacks and stuff I mailed Fromm Harpers Ferry to Port Clinton; all the snack bars and town action left my food bag still pretty intact so no need to open the box-the post office allows you to ¢bounce¢ mail forward for no additional charge.   As we waited, Low Gear came in and we all went to the Post Office. I got my boots and put them on and ohhh, what a great feeling. My feet were sore from the trail runners and the boots felt so much better. I left my trail runners in the Hiker box at the ATC.  We only had to go 8 miles to a planned Nero, so at 9:30, off we went!  We got to the Days Inn at 12:30, we¢re greeted warmly, got checked in, showered, did laundry which was an absolute priority, and headed next door to the Middlesex Diner for lunch. Maverick went on a PA road walk and found beer and we sat back and watched a movie and ordered Papa Johns for dinner.  We made a good call as the weather was iffy at best, with high humidity and late afternoon thunderstorms.
Date: 2018-06-01
From: Carlisle, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: overcast clouds

After breakfast at the diner next door we went back to our rooms to grab our stuff and walked back down the road 1/2 mile to The Trail.As soon as we got into the woods, the mosquitos descended on us in a swarm. I struggled to get my Deet spray out of my hip belt pocket and swat them and tried to keep moving to hopefully keep more of their kamikaze attacks away. Once I got the spray out and liberally sprayed my arms and neck I rubbed some on my face and hat.  The attack relented some, and we got to a muddy wet trail. There were lots of little creature tracks to see including really tiny deer prints. The Trail went around and through a bunch of fields and at one point through hip-high grass that overgrew the path. Once we started climbing a ridge that eventually went back down to the Susquehanna river, the rocks started to get rough. They were harsh all the way to the road.  Maverick had tried to call a local motel to see if we could get a room. Even though we had just had a night in a motel, we were gross. The dew point was over 70 degrees and I was literally soaked. I could wring ¢water¢ out of the bottoms of my shorts. Disgusting. Anyway, the Motel was sold out. Siri couldn¢t find me anything, so I gave up and focused on the rocks. I stopped for a rest and Maverick came by to let me know he had contacted one of his YouTube viewers who had offered to help him. We met Mike Burton at the road and he immediately gave me a Powerade. He drove us to the Lutheran church, which runs a hiker hostel in Duncannon where we got set up on the air conditioned basement floor. Mike wanted to take us to dinner, so we arranged a pick up time for later and went to the laundromat.While we waited for our clothes to get sort of clean ( they¢re never really clean anymore-they¢ll need to be burned) we went to a The Doyle hotel and had a beer.  The Doyle is an old hotel, in an old town with an iconic Trail reputation, so it was nice to see it.Mike picked us up and drove us to a really nice diner and treated us. Thank you Mike. You are an amazing Trail Angel. It was nice to meet you!We got dropped off at the hostel and got ready for sleep. There were about 15 people there, mostly thru-hikers. Lights out is late here, 10:00 PM, so I was very tired by the time I tried to sleep.
Date: 2018-06-02
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Stealth site at 1165
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: broken clouds

I slept surprisingly well given the number of people in the hostel.Mike picked us up at 7:30 and dropped us off where he met us yesterday and we walked the 1 mile back to Goodies restaurant which is right on The Trail in town. After we ate and said goodbye and especially thank you to Mike Burton, who made our Duncannon stay most pleasurable, we headed back, on the road which is The Trail, to the hostel to get our packs and then through town to cross two rivers. We went up a steep series of switchbacks to a rocky trail . We saw many day hikers while cruising the rocky ridge.  The rocks cause me to slow way down as foot placement is difficult. The Trail gets you with a muddy spot, then hits you with rocks that stick in every direction, tilt and move-even though they look stable, physics takes over and the lever concept will shift a huge rock when you step on it. If the rocks aren¢t boulders that shift, they¢re sharp and constant.  In the afternoon, Maverick texted me from .3 miles ahead that he had spied 2 large rattlesnakes just off the trail. I went hyper-aware, and despite looking for them, never saw them. He showed me pictures later. I was looking 2-3 feet off The Trail, thinking about getting struck, and they were apparently 6-10 feet off the path- but one on each side; surrounded! I wonder how many more of the Devil¢s I¢ve walked by without knowing.  I ran out of snacks and water and was struggling the last hour or so before I reached a spring where thankfully, there was a campsite and beautiful running clear cool water.  We set up, I lit a fire to clear the vampires of the woods and then ate and went to my tent exhausted.
Date: 2018-06-03
From: Stealth site at 1165

To: Camp site at 1184
Miles today: 19.0

It rained at 2:00 AM; I heard the first drops hitting my tent and got out and grabbed my clothes off my line and guyed-out my tent beaks. It didn¢t rain much and stopped until I was almost packed up at 7:00 and while I was having morning coffee. My tent was packed away wet. It was cool and breezy, a nice relief from the previous days when it was muggy.  Within 15 minutes we hit a road crossing and Melanie and Gene were there providing trail magic. It¢s never too early for second breakfast! Thanks!The track was pretty good, not too rocky so that was a relief. We met the caretaker of the 501 Shelter doing trail maintenance who told us that The Trail ahead was flooded by a beaver dam. Sure enough, a stream was dammed up and The Trail was a 1 1/2 foot deep muddy mess 60 feet to the other side. Off with my boots and on with the Crocks to get across and keep the boots dry.  In the afternoon, approaching the point in the day, where we had to make the call about where we¢d stay and if we¢d need to haul water, we came to a road crossing and the edge of Swatara Park and someone had left water and snacks. Perfect timing. We carried some water which gave us the flexibility to find more spots to camp. Thanks!Leaving Swatara Park we ran into Flo-Gear and got an Apple, propel and cheese sticks. Thank you!Just after crossing under I81 again, we had a short steep climb to our camp spot- it was raining. A local day hiker gave us each 2 granola bars.Thank you!I got my tent set up in the light rain but I was damp. As temperatures were in the 50¢s I got chilly. Even though it was still pretty early, I got into the tent and under my quilt. In a few minutes I felt fine. It rained hard most of the night, and other than some dampness from condensation, my gear and I stayed dry and warm all night. I¢ve been fortunate this hike as I haven¢t spent too many nights in the rain.
Date: 2018-06-04
From: Camp site at 1184

To: Stealth Site at 1203.8
Miles today: 19.1

Today was a contrast in trail conditions. One mile it was smooth dirt and then boom! Rocky boulder hops with no place to step except the sharp edges then there¢d be a section of dirt again.  We stopped at William Penn shelter for a break and Maverick realized he¢d lost his Nalgene bottle, probably when he had to duck under a blown down tree. Bummer, but at least he had another bottle so wasn¢t in trouble.  As we left, I was sauntering along daydreaming and thought ¢I wonder how much further it is to the mile mark where I¢d be under 1000 miles to go¢. I stopped and pulled out my phone to check the app....I was at the point right then. How crazy is that? 1191. 1000 miles to go. We stopped at the 501 shelter for a break and One Gear - not Low Gear- showed up with Maverick s bottle! He had seen it and knew it must be a Northbounders because it had a Waynesboro,VA sticker on it. He took a chance and carried it forward. Lucky for Maverick!We left with the goal of making 10 or so more miles and we were going along some rocks when Maverick slipped and fell onto his gluteus Maximus. It was a loud and painful hit. He shook it off, took some ibuprofen and we slowed a bit. It hurt though I could tell.  We stopped at an overlook and spotted 2 Copperhead snakes on a ledge below, they¢re very well camouflaged little nasty beggars. Happily, they were far enough away that there was no danger.We arrived at a turn in The Trail, left to a spring, right continued north. We found a place to camp and dropped our packs and then went about a half mile to get water and then back to set up camp.  Right after we got settled and had eaten and were in our tents and it was getting dark, a deer came by and started ¢blowing¢; it was making a noise apparently because it was used to walking through and we were there so it was either trying to scare us off or figure us out. We talked out loud about it and it went away.