morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-11
From: Hostel, Palmerton PA Jail

To: Tent, Leroy A. Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

I SAW A BEAR!!!! I SAW MY VERY 1ST BIG BLACK BEAR IN THE WILD!!! I only saw the bear's rear end. It was an enormous bear. The boys got to see it cross a dirt road before it crossed into the woods. I got to the right spot just in time to see the big black bear's butt as it lumbered off into the woods. But I got too see it and it was good. Skywalker was with us and was convinced the size of the bear was due to the quantity of human heads that the bear had consumed.    We started the day off early with a slack out of Palmerton. The climb leaving Palmerton is a class 4 climbing route. That means that there are places where you must go to all fours and death is possible if you fall. Don't ask me what that kind of crap is doing on a hiking trail. Death was definitely possible if you fell. Boy was I glad that I did not have my heavy pack on for that. I knew what it was like when people kiss the ground after a plane ride, I would kiss Gordon and Sue when I saw them.    It was cool in a sort of Thank God I didn't die sort of way. Oblivious kept yelling yee-haw and awesome. Troll kept saying cool. I kept saying what the f*** is this. We defiantly perceive near death experiences in different ways. I hugged and kissed Gordon and Sue when I saw them.    I think today was the 1st day that we saw a praying mantis on the trail. We actually saw 2 of them. I don't know if I'd actually ever seen a wild praying mantis. Now I've seen 2 of them. Oblivious was pretty excited to see them.   To see all of this wildlife was pretty amazing considering that we were in a superfund site. After we climbed up out of Lehigh Gap on the death climb we were in some really weird landscape. Most of the vegetation had been killed of at some point by the old zinc smelting plant. The trees were stunted and dead. There were rocks everywhere (big surprise). I've heard it described as a moonscape. I expected it to be worse. But superfund money paid for grass/sludge spraying. The vegetation is recovering. Mother Nature and time are healing the wounds.      The rocks really make the daylong. They either poke right into your feet or roll when you step on them. I'll be glad to see them go.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-12
From: Tent, Leroy A. Smith Shelter

To: Tent, Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's journal entry was inspired by the shelter register at Leroy A. Smith.Dear PA,   We need to talk. I hate to tell you that I am toughly disappointed with our relationship. When we first met I was enchanted with the way that you treated me. I spent long days walking with you and enjoyed those days immensely. Every now and then you would do something that hurt my feelings. Do you remember that the climb out of Caldonia, the dry stream Rattling Run or the I-81 detours? Those seemed like issues that we could work out. I mean how could I hold those things against you when there were those gorgeous field walks and graded inclines and ridge walking. And the berries, Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Yes we will always have the berries. But PA, you have hardened your heart against me. Maybe you sensed that I would someday turn away from you. You have hurt me for days on end now. My feet, knees, ankles and hips are crying out from your cruel and thoughtless treatment of me. I cannot continue like this. PA, I can no longer take the abuse. I must move on to a healthier less painful relationship. I'm going to New Jersey.Regards,Anchor   Today I finally got a picture of a bear. It was digging for grubs from the forest floor. It had something wrong with it. When it walked the front paws were fine but it dragged a bit with the rear paws. Either it had hip problems or an injured leg.   We were recognized on the trail today. A hiker told Oblivious "I know who you are, you're Oblivious". They were hikers from New Hampshire out here on their vacation. They are friends with the Eastman family who we met through trail journals. They knew that we were a kilted family. And we met them and took our lunch break together. They told us about the wonderful clearing we are camped out on tonight. It's a small world.   We were slacked part of the day by Gordon and Sue. It was wonderful as always. Oblivious picked a cup full of raspberries for Sue. The hikers who passed them at Wind Gap and Fox Gap were really happy for the Gatorade that they pass out.   We are camped out on a grassy overlook. Ug, Ox, Mouth and 2 others are also here. Swinger is nearer to the shelter. We have a nice cool breeze blowing into our tent. Earlier there was a gilder airplane riding the thermals off of this overlook and the valley below. He kept going back and forth. Sometimes above us and sometimes almost even with the overlook. We could see the pilot in the cockpit and he waved to us. Oblivious has gotten waves from semi trucks and train cabooses, but never from an airplane. That was something new.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-13
From: Tent, Kirkridge Shelter

To: Hostel, Delaware Water Gap PA
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: broken clouds

Oh boy, was Troll a very unhappy camper this morning. Yesterday we saw a group of campers from a local summer camp - Camp Dehydration (aka camp Watonka). We were annoyed at the leaders because they took the boys on an 8-mile hike in the heat with less than a liter of water each. We followed behind to check for stragglers. Somehow they all made it to the shelter with no injuries and that was that.   This morning at around 0730, I heard voices of boys as they went past our tent on the overlook. I was getting up and glanced out. There sitting on the overlook was a big hefty bag of garbage. I told Troll that I thought the campers left their garbage. We got up, looked thru the trash and it was theirs. Oblivious checked the shelter and the campers were gone. So Troll packed up quickly and left with the bag of trash in his hand. Realize that this means he cannot use his poles because of the bag of garbage. He wanted to swing it over his shoulder but it leaked on him. You can only imagine how happy that made him.   After chasing the campers for one and a half hours he caught up to them. He had a few colorful comments for the leader as to how the AT is not a !@#$%^^!! Damn garbage dump.   Oblivious and I packed up the rest of our stuff and headed out. It was pretty nice hiking. The rhododendrons in this area were still out. They all seemed to be white or very pale pink. The flowers on the ground were almost completely intact.   Gordon and Sue drove us to the church of the mountains hostel. We took a quick shower and started out on chores. Troll had to go in search of an outfitter with Kelty backpacks. His excessive sweat is making a weak spot that a support bar is starting to wear through. Same thing happened to him before. I had to do laundry. Gordon and Sue dropped Oblivious and I at the Laundromat and took Troll in search of the outfitter.   When Troll and I finally got back together, we each had our own unique adventures to report. The Laundromat had gas dryers. After my 3rd attempt I found a dryer that the delicate low setting meant delicate low. The 1st dryer had a delicate low setting that was approximately the same heat as the fiery flames of hell. I actually set the fire alarm off as one of my sock liners melted. The 2nd dryer was pretty much the same as the 1st but without the fire alarm. That dryer ate 3 sock liners.   Troll had about the same luck. He called Kelty back when he couldn't find the outfitter. They checked the order inventory at the outfitter to see how many packs were there. The outfitter had only ordered 2 Kelty packs in the past year, so there wouldn't be any for Troll to try on. So Troll arranged to have a pack mailed to our next mail drop. We both more or less accomplished our tasks but with issues.   We stayed up late at the hostel talking with Swinger, Tink, Ox, Mouth, Cantaloupe, Knees, Lojack, Socks, Knees, and Afraid of the Dark.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-14
From: Hostel, Palmerton PA Jail

To: Shelter, Ken-Etiwa-Pec YMCA Walpack NJ
Miles today: 17.8

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That sentence sums up the day for me. I will start with the worst of times.   Today I saw my 1st big rattlesnake in the wild. I have joked about my irrational fear of rattlesnakes before. I think that my husband thought I was joking and exaggerating about my fear of rattlesnakes. I have told him for years that I hate snakes. Still, he assumed I was overstating my fear. Heck, we have provided a temporary home for many a garter snake (caught by my son). Oblivious even had a boa for a while. I go inside the snake house with the boys when I go to the zoo. Now my husband has an entire new understanding of my snake phobia.      We were hiking along the beautiful sunfish pond. We had to walk across some rocks. Oblivious was leading. Troll said to oblivious "If you want to see a really big rattlesnake, look back here". Troll pointed to a crack in the rock that Oblivious had just stepped over. There was a black arrowhead shaped head. Obviously a rattlesnake. And in on of those rock cracks that I have been scared of. Its head was about the width of my 1st 3 fingers put together. I froze. I concentrated on breathing and on not screaming at the top of my lungs. I could not move.    Troll somehow got me to turn around to get the camera out of the daypack. He took a picture and then tapped on the rocks to disturb the snake so it would leave. As it was SLOWLY inching a little off the trail in the direction of the pond, troll coaxed me to move around the huge f***ing rattlesnake on the opposite side. As I was passing, the rattlesnake TURNED its head and looked back at me just to let me know that it could kill me at any time that it wanted to. Once past the rattlesnake I broke down in tears. Over the next hour I discovered that when I had frozen I made both my neck and back hurt. Over the course of the next hour, Troll discovered my rattlesnake terror started in 3rd grade with a 30-minute bull snake ordeal. After almost 15 years of marriage, I now think he believes that I HATE SNAKES, ESPECIALLY RATTLESNAKES. Ok, on to other things.   We started the morning with a 1.5-mile push. The trail was over road and sidewalk; so we were able to push Sue. She always is happy to get out on the trail.   New Jersey still has rocks but nothing like Pennsylvania. New Jersey's rocks are rounded not pointed. You would not believe what a difference that makes.   Today was our best berrying day yet. We gorged on blueberries. We picked half a Gatorade bottle of blueberries for Sue. We ate handfuls of blueberries and blackberries. It certainly makes the pace slower when you stop and eat berries. It also makes the tummy happier.    Tonight we are staying at some little cabins on a lake at a YMCA camp. Last night we got little sleep due to late night and the homeless guy who wandered in at around 2330. So off to bed.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-15
From: Shelter, Ken-Etiwa-Pec YMCA Walpack NJ

To: Tent, Tinsley Trail
Miles today: 15.0

We got a good night's sleep last night, a really good night's sleep. We only had one mouse hanger in our cabin, so we hung up 2 packs and our food bag on the mouse hanger. In the morning all 3 of the bags were on the floor. Sometime in the night the mouse hanger broke and we never even heard the bags fall. The mice however did notice that the bags fell. They chewed into the food bag. Once in the food bag they chewed into a snack baggie of trail mix and into the garbage bag. Luckily they didn't nibble into our backpacks.   We got lost on top of Rattlesnake Mountain today. We probably wasted about a mile of walking. There was a blaze on the rocks that curved to indicate a turn. Unfortunately it seemed as if the trail continued straight ahead. The path was even beaten down. Since every other turn for the past 1200+ miles had 2 blazes, we missed this new oddly shaped blaze. Troll and Oblivious were waiting for me just past the poorly marked blaze. Luckily I also missed the blaze so they didn¢t have to stress out that I got hurt again. We spent a good 30 minutes wandering around looking for the trail. Boy was that fun.   There were no rattlesnakes on Rattlesnake Mountain. There was however a rattlesnake sunning itself on the bump before rattlesnake mountain. Troll and Oblivious said it rattled at them when they got about 6 feet away. Troll chased it off before I got there and he guided me around away from its home. He's a pretty good troll.   It was another good berry day. We were able to get sue another 1/2 Gatorade bottle of berries. We ate a lot of berries.   I was cranky and mean to the boys today. They say the rocks should mostly go away after tomorrow. We'll see.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-16
From: Tent, Tinsley Trail

To: Shelter, Unionville Village Park
Miles today: 17.8

It's a newt-i-ful morning. La la la la. We saw 87 orange spotted newts along the trail this morning. How cool is that. Oblivious likes to move the ones actually on the trail off of the trail, so they won't get stepped on.   After a great newt start, you would think the day would be awesome. WRONG!!! We got lost again. This time we had stopped at a shelter on the trail to sign the register. When we left we followed the big wide trail leaving the shelter area. Of course no blazes. We got to the road and tried going in both directions before we gave up and went back to the shelter. There on one corner of the shelter was a 2-mark turn blaze. Believe me, Troll had some very colorful words to say about blazes.   We passed by the highest point in New Jersey today. It had a monument that looked like the Washington monument in DC. They say on a clear day that you can see New York City in the background. It wasn't clear. Too much haze for any views.    The trail did get somewhat better after High Point. We will see if that trend continues for a while. Tonight we are sleeping in a city park gazebo in the village of Unionville NY. We got our permit to sleep out like vagrants at the general store. Sue and Gordon are in their van in front of the park. It looks like rain so we didn't tent. But the bugs are eating us alive. We also got to listen to a teenage breakup. It's a small town - boyfriends and girlfriends still hang out at the park. Even though the streetlights don't go out and there is a town chime that rings on the hour - it's all good. It's free; the porta potty was serviced 3 days ago and has hand sanitizer. There are garbage cans and a water fountain. Not bad. I just saw a skunk looking for food. It ran away when it heard us without spraying.   Well take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-17
From: Shelter, Unionville Village Park

To: Hostel, Vernon NJ
Miles today: 12.7

Oh how the mighty have FALLEN. Troll recorded his 1st fall of the trip. He started sliding on a slippery rock. He tried to stop with his poles and they slid. Down he fell on his side. I heard Oblivious yell YOOHOO about .1 mile away. Oblivious was still dancing the happy dance when I caught up to them.   I guess Troll could claim tiredness. We had an awful night. We thought it might rain so we set up in the gazebo. The town bell rings EVERY hour on the hour. The mosquitoes were out for blood. There was a teenage couple breaking up. She was sobbing about broken promises. All of that was annoying but doable. Just as we were drifting off we saw a skunk sniffing around the garbage can. It was cute. But then it put its cute paws on the gazebo and stuck its cute face through the gazebo rails. At that point it no longer seemed so cute. We didn't think it would be a cute idea for the skunk to be up with us and get startled by Oblivious thrashing around and talking in his sleep. We already stink and certainly didn't need any skunk help. So we set up the tent at midnight. And roasted. It was a pretty miserable night.   Today we did a lot of bog board walking. Then we walked through a marsh that had a boardwalk. That was cool. There was a suspension bridge over a creek in the middle of the marsh. It was hot to walk over, but it was something different to look at.   Tonight we are at a hostel in a church basement. There is a shower and laundry on site. So totally wonderful. There is also Internet. We have a mail drop to pick up tomorrow and then continue on north.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-18
From: Hostel, Vernon NJ

To: Tent, New York Hwy 17A
Miles today: 15.2

We finished another state today. New Jersey can be declared DONE. New York started us off with an interesting welcome. We rock climbed. And then we rock climbed and then we rock climbed.    Let's put it this way. Vultures. You know how in cartoons and movies, buzzards or vultures are used to indicate something bad goes on here. We were about 1/3 of the way done with the rock climbing series when Oblivious saw a big vulture sitting in a nearby tree. It was maybe 15 feet away from us. I've never been that close to a vulture in the wild. We climbed up the rocks by the vulture. The vulture flew DOWN to another tree where their nests with its half grown babies were. In front of us was a LADDER to help us up the sheer rock face that the trail went over next. So here we are climbing up a ladder, which allows us to look DOWN on a vulture's nest. We were climbing where the danger / death indicator bird wouldn't nest. Oh yeah, it was drizzling, which made the rocks slick. The radio was talking about the spooky weather conditions. All that was missing was an abandon hope, all ye who enter sign.   Am I the only one who finds something very wrong with that?   We had a really busy day. Troll did a mail drop run. We had food from home (thanks Terri), treats from the Eastman¢s (thanks Jen, Jonas, Eben & Allen), and a warranty replacement pack for Troll (thanks Kelty). While Troll was gone, I verified our mileage on trail journals. It was off. I checked my math and corrected the incorrect mileages. Apparently my friend Terri is not psychic. She updates my trail journals with the information that I give her. She can¢t divine what information I really meant to provide. I had made mistakes all the way back in the 1st month. Well no need to worry, the journal now reflects the correct mileage.   Troll fell again today. He now has 2 trail falls. One took place in New Jersey and one took place in New York. I think he is on a one fall a day program. I wonder how that will work out for him.   We got milkshakes from a creamery at day's end. Now I am roasting in the tent. The heat index is expected to be between 100 and 105 tomorrow. Oh boy that sounds fun.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-21
From: Tent, Hemlock Springs Campsite

To: Tent, Clarence Fahnestock State Park NY
Miles today: 16.0

Today the trail was mostly kind to us. We wore our packs with light food bags for the 1st time in 10 days. We realized that we needed to wear our packs to keep up our strength and stamina for the Whites. I can't believe that we are less than 90 miles from Massachusetts. Wow.   Today New York actually did not go over every boulder bump that God made. I knew something was wrong when we were almost weaving between boulder pile bumps. Yeah, Yeah, some might try and say that these boulder piles today were unstable. But I've got to say that stability issues didn't stop designers from sending me over all of the rockslides I've climbed over the past few days.   Don't I sound like a big whiner? We really are still enjoying ourselves most days. The heat and humidity is getting to us. Unfortunately the only respite from that will be further north. On foot going north takes a while. It is really exciting to see the states finish one by one. We'll be done with New York AND Connecticut before you know it.    Today we saw lots of teeny tiny hopping toads. They are pretty much the same color as the dead leaves on the ground. I don't know if they stay little or if they get bigger later. Its kind of cute to see them hopping all around.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-22
From: Tent, Clarence Fahnestock State Park NY

To: Shelter, Morgan Stewart Shelter 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Another hot and humid day. Another day sprinkled with PUDs. Another bug infested day. Another long day.   I think my favorite part of today was when I could hear Hwy 52. I descended the steep hill down and ran into Hosner Mt. Rd instead of Hwy 52. Then I did a 1.6-mile loop shaped trail with a steep up followed by a steep down. I then was on Hwy 52. It looked like the trail could have been routed through a valley. Basically, we advanced 1/3 of a mile on Hwy 52 by heading in a loop back over a different part of the same mountain I had already climbed down to get to Hosner Mt. Rd. Troll was more than a little pissed when he confirmed this on the trailhead map.   Recently there has been a spat of truly unsafe things. Playing frogger across the death traffic circle was somewhat unsafe. Climbing up a ladder on a sheer rock face was somewhat unsafe. Today our little family crossed over interstate 84 on a temporary bridge made out of 2x4's and plywood. If 2 people were on the same sheet of plywood at the same time, the bridge was somewhat bouncy. Definitely somewhat unsafe.   We saw Rocky, Bullwinkle, and Skywalker today. They got some good trail magic at HWY 17 the other day. That's where we had hiked to on the day that I wrote my I hate New York rant. They also are hating New York. The trail magic guy, Patio, said that he has seen people leave the trail for good from that same spot on Hwy 17.   Today we carried full packs. They were heavy, but not too heavy. But we really need to carry the heavy packs for conditioning for the dreaded but highly anticipated Whites.    Nothing really exciting to report. I'm tired and going to bed.   Take care and we will see you on the trail.
Date: 2005-07-23
From: Shelter, Morgan Stewart Shelter 

To: Tent, Wiley (Webatuck) Shelter
Miles today: 16.6

This is our last night in New York. Thank God. Tomorrow we leave this God forsaken state for Connecticut. We dip back into New York for a 1000 ft climb. Hopefully Connecticut will treat us much more kindly.   We resupplied today. Our packs are super heavy. That's always fun. We got some great trail magic just before the last climb up to the shelter. There were some cold drinks (soda, Capri sun, frozen lemonade) and assorted goodies. I had the most refreshing slushy Capri sun ever. Troll and Oblivious had soda. Troll and I also had 1 beer each. It was awesome.    Troll and I are getting the bad hiker hunger again. When we resupplied, we bought subs for all of us which we ate before we left the parking lot. That was at 1000. At 1400 we had another lunch with tortillas, cheese, and pepperoni. Then supper and snacks. I'm starting to be hungry all the time.   Apple Pie and Ug caught up with us today. Ug was carrying life size head photo of Jesse James of west coast chopper fame. Different people are taking turns carrying the head. The note on the back of the head says that it is trying to make its way to Khatadin. Oblivious really wants to carry the head for a while. Jesse James, of west coast chopper fame, is supposed to be related to Jesse James of Wild West gunslinger fame. I am also related to Jesse James of gunslinger fame. My great grandfather's mother was a James before she married and she was 1st cousin to Frank and Jesse. Oblivious may get to carry the head later on the trail.    Tonight a section hiker asked Oblivious if he was a little boy or a little girl. Oblivious was not amused.    Well take care and we will see you on the trail.