morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-28
From: Bear's Den Hostel

To: 4 Mile Campground
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It was raining when I got up this morning. Glad I was in the hostel. By the time I made and ate some pancakes, the rain had stopped. It was almost 9 by the time I started hiking. After yesterday's heat and my late start, I decided that I wouldn't push the 20 miles to Harper's Ferry and instead shoot for a campsite 4 miles short of there. The first 4.6 miles today were finishing up the Roller Coaster, so it was up and down. I chatted with a couple from Philadelphia doing section hikes. A bit later there was a group taking a break on the trail, and they asked if I wanted a brownie-- I dropped my pack and sat down! They were celebrating one women's 70th birthday. They gave me some chicken, watermelon, blueberries and pistachios to go with the brownies! Two of the women had hiked the John Muir trail, so they know hiking. I took a lunch break about 2:00 and realized that I had only hiked 8 of the planned 16 miles, so figured I'd better hike faster for a while. The terrain was easier, so that helped. Two miles before this campsite, I came to a road crossing and hiked the extra 0.3 miles to a deli/convenience store and bought dinner. No cooking again tonight! It's almost 9 and I'm the only one at this site. The rain brought cooler temps today, so that was nice.  Tomorrow I finish Virginia!Fitbit steps 44202 floors 282
Date: 2018-05-29
From: 4 Mile Campground

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 3.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Nero day today, but I finished Virginia. Four states done. Foggy hike this morning but mostly downhill. I crossed the Shenandoah River, then hiked through town to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) headquarters. I had my picture taken and am the 419th thru-hiker to register here. I also looked up my picture from 2007, I was number 88 that year. I stopped to eat lunch on the way to the hotel. Ironman, Quesadilla, and Overdrive saw me through the window and came in to eat also. Good to see them again. We all went to Wal-Mart to resupply then had Chinese food for supper. I'll head out in the morning and cross into Maryland. My next scheduled day is to meet Brewmaster in Duncannon on June 8th. He'll hike a couple weeks with me.Time to sleep!Fitbit steps 15880   floors 56
Date: 2018-05-30
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Dahlgren Backpacker Campsite, MD
Miles today: 17.8

I didn't get a real early start this morning. I ate the hotel breakfast and slowly packed up. I'm so used to hiking on my own that I didn't think to tell Ironman, Quesadilla, and Overdrive that I had left. Oh well, I was sure they would catch me anyway. I stopped at the ATC on my way back to the trail to see who else had checked in. There is so much history in Harpers Ferry and plaques everywhere, you could read for days. Back on the trail, I passed by Jefferson Rock which looks out over the junction of Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. I passed the ruins of an Episcopal church, one of the first churches in Harper's Ferry. Then I dropped down to river level, hiked past John Brown's stronghold, and crossed the Potomac on a bridge that hikers share with trains.I'm already done with West Virginia and into Maryland! Five states done.The trail was good today. The first 3 miles in Maryland are along a canal-- wide and flat. Then there was a climb of close to 1000 feet, followed by fairly flat ridge walk. I got to Gath State Park which has a archway memorial to war correspondents. It started raining just before I got there, so I hid under an overhang and had lunch. Moondrop, Doughnut, Bean and his friend showed up and then Quesadilla and Overdrive. Ironman came in a few minutes later. Ironman and I hiked together the rest of the day. This campsite has bathrooms with showers along with picnic tables-- so it is a particularly good site. The whole lunch group is here, plus 3 other section hikers. I won't be hiking with this group long, as Quesadilla needs to pick up the pace. She has vet school to get to in early August.Fitbit steps 45806   floors 296
Date: 2018-05-31
From: Dahlgren Backpacker Campsite, MD

To: Raven Rock Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: fog

Woke up to some rain so I didn't hurry to get out. It did stop soon, but I was the last to get hiking. I planned to do a shorter day today but I didn't! I got to Washington Monument State Park, and since I wasn't in a hurry, I walked through the little museum. I then hiked up to the monument, took a couple pictures and hiked on. Normally there's a good view, but today it's all fog.I hiked over I-70, hello to Kansas City friends! I took a break at Black Rock Overlook. There was no view today, but the rocks were dry-- as opposed to everything in the woods.I debated staying at Ensign Cowall Shelter but knew Ironman, Quesadilla and Overdrive were at the next shelter. It was 4pm so I figured I's do the 5 more miles and be there by 6:30. Ten minutes after I started hiking, it started raining and rained the whole way. Just before getting here I caught up to Fairy Floss, nice to know I wasn't the only crazy hiker. It did stop raining while I set up my tent and hiked to get water, so I'm in my tent and dry. (My boots and hiking clothes are in my tent but are not dry!).Wildlife highlights, a box turtle heading south on the trail and a black snake when I went to get water. I also saw a couple deer.Fitbit steps 48356   floors 371
Date: 2018-06-01
From: Raven Rock Shelter

To: Swamp Road, South Mt Tavern
Miles today: 17.8

I got sucked into keeping up with the group again today. Peer pressure or maybe just the talk of burgers and beer! I still wasn't in a hurry to put on wet clothes and go hike, so I was the last one to leave camp, again.The trail was very rocky to start the day, but I made my way to Pen-Mar park which is right on the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland. I took a break there and dried my tent. 300 yards past my break spot, I came to the Mason Dixon line which is also the state border. I'm done with Maryland-- 6 states done and 8 to go.The sun came out today, and I had some views. It was still humid. Tonight we're camped behind the South Mountain Tavern. They have a shower for hikers and a decent menu. There is a large group of hikers here, at least a dozen.Fitbit steps 46407   floors 287
Date: 2018-06-02
From: Swamp Road, South Mt Tavern

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Happy anniversary to me. First, this is Julie's and my 39th wedding anniversary! Second, this is the end of my third month on the trail.Ironman, Quesadilla, Overdrive, and I stayed together again today. We packed up, and I was the first to hike out this morning. After 5 miles, we came to US 30 and a quarter mile down the road was Timbers Restaurant. Very hiker friendly, they have a charging station to charge our electronics and filled our water bottles when we left. We all had breakfast (Ironman had 2), and then we got ice cream for the road!We hiked through Caledonia State Park and then climbed to Quarry Spring Shelters. Jim, the caretaker who also designed and built the shelters, was there. There are wooden tent pads, covered picnic areas, a swing, and potted plants. We hung out there for an hour and dried our tents. Did I mention it rained last night? Also as a point of reference, if you wash your stinky hiking clothes in the shower, lay them over your tent to dry, go inside to eat and it rains, your clothes don't get dry!After our long break, we hiked the last 7.5 miles to this shelter. I got here before 6, and its been a good evening-- no rain and cooler with less humidity. There are about 14 people camped here tonight. Tomorrow we have the Half Gallon Challenge to look forward to. That's eating a half gallon of ice cream. We'll see how far we hike after that!Fitbit steps 41664   floors 221
Date: 2018-06-03
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: PA Route 34
Miles today: 18.4

It rained most of the night last night and was still raining this morning. I heard Ironman packing up, so I figured I'd better get moving. I was the first of our group to start hiking. When they caught up to me at the next shelter, they told me that John and Susan, a couple out for a section hike, had offered to pick us up at a road crossing later in the day. Trail Magic! On the hike to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, we passed the halfway point of the trail. We stopped and took pictures. At the park we all purchased our half gallon of ice cream. I finished in 54 minutes, Quesadilla in 59, Ironman and Overdrive didn't finish theirs. Quesadilla and I were awarded our wooden spoons, then we needed some time to rest!We walked through the AT Museum which had a lot of info about the building of the trail and the early thru-hikers. It also had a Mt Katahdin summit sign, and as I read the plaque, I realized that this was on Katahdin when I summited in 2007. Brought back a flood of memories of that day. Very cool.Eventually it was time to hike again, and that's when it started raining again. I hiked the 8.5 miles in 3 hours, good time for me. The others showed up shortly. John pulled up in a few minutes, and we piled in his pickup. Kylo is with us, so there are five of us staying with John and Susan. We laid our wet tents out in the garage, showered, did laundry, and they fed us!Fitbit steps 44007   floors 181
Date: 2018-06-04
From: PA Route 34

To: US 11
Miles today: 18.6

We left paradise this morning-- but not before John and Susan fed us a great breakfast, eggs, sausage, toast, and several kinds of fresh fruit! Susan drove us back to the trail, and we started hiking about 10. What an amazing stay we had, thanks again!!The hike today was nice-- the weather was cooler and less humid. There was a section of trail over, through, and around some large boulders. It was fun.It was less fun was when I fell. Things were still wet from yesterday's rain. I stepped on a wet rock and that foot just kept going. No real harm done, but I may have a bruise or two! I did hike a little slower after that. When I got to Boiling Springs, the gang was at Cafe 101, so I joined them there. Epic was there too. I hadn't seen him for a couple weeks. I didn't know how far I was going to hike today, but I formulated a plan this morning as I hiked. I decided to hike to this hotel, zero tomorrow, then have 2 relatively short days to get to Duncannon. I meet Brewmaster there Friday.Ironman, Quesadilla and Overdrive are staying here tonight but hiking out tomorrow. We hiked together from Boiling Springs. (They let me lead since I'm the slowest.) We had dinner together. Another good day on the AT!Fitbit steps 47037  floors 264
Date: 2018-06-05
From: US 11

To: US 11
Miles today: 0.0

Lazy, lazy day. I had breakfast with Ironman, Quesadilla, and Overdrive. Then I hung out in their room while they packed up. We said our goodbyes, and they hiked out about 10. They are a good group to hike with!The rest of the day included a lot of sitting with my feet up. When you hike this much your body gets good at pumping blood to the legs and hiking helps get the blood back up to your heart. When I sit with my feet down, they swell, I either need to walk or put my feet up.I did walk to get lunch and dinner!Other chores included drying out my tent, soaking my feet, and doing nothing else!  Tomorrow I'll pack up and get back to hiking. Toes update (for those with a strong stomache): I've lost 3 toenails in the last few weeks, including one yesterday. This is from the damage that occurred in the first 100 miles of this hike. I still have 2 or 3 more to come off. Fyi-- it doesn't hurt when they come off, but I sure have ugly toes right now!Fitbit steps 2090   floors 1
Date: 2018-06-06
From: US 11

To: Campsite near stream
Miles today: 10.0

Nice day to hike. Cloudy and cooler with the high in the 60s. I didn't have too far too hike though, so I didn't hurry. By the time I had breakfast and packed up, it was 10:30. The first 4.5 miles were finishing Cumberland Valley, so very flat. At the road crossing just before I started climbing, there was trail magic. Ange had a good spread, so I was there for a while and carried a Coke out with me. There were a couple climbs, but neither was to tough, and some trail through pastures. I got to this campsite a little before 4, setup my tent, and started a little fire to chase the mosquitoes away. Stinger and Produce stopped by but didn't stay. First time meeting them. Moondrop came by next and decided to camp. He gave me a swig of Fireball. Epic got here a little later, and he's camped here also. The sky is clear now and it's cooling off, a nice night to sleep!Another short day planned for tomorrow into Duncannon. Fitbit steps 26753   floors 153
Date: 2018-06-07
From: Campsite near stream

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 7.2

Short day into Duncannon, PA. I was hiking by 8 and got into town about noon. The hike started with a 600 foot climb at which point I had cell service (none at campsite). I sent yesterday's journal entry and checked in with Julie. The trail was fairly rocky today which is what Pennsylvania is famous for. The rocks get worse as I go east (north on AT but mostly east on this next stretch).I stopped at Hawk Overlook. It is a nice view looking down at Duncannon. On the hike down I met several day hikers heading up to the overlook. When I got to town, I checked into the Doyle. The downstairs is a bar/grill, so I had a burger and a beer. The Doyle is an old Anhuiser Busch Hotel. It was probably very impressive in its day, but that day passed a long time ago. The Doyle was rundown when I stayed here 11 years ago and is worse now. On the plus side the burger and beer were good, the shower was hot, they had a free shuttle to the grocery store, and sold me denatured alcohol (fuel for my stove).Tomorrow I meet my high school buddy, Paul "Brewmaster" Seegers. He's hiking 2 weeks with me so stay tuned-- this should be fun!Fitbit steps 22911   floors 100
Date: 2018-06-08
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Campsite
Miles today: 4.6

Woke up this morning and walked across the street for breakfast. Next Step was there. I hadn't seen him since Hot Springs, about 900 miles ago. He was hiking with his wife, Which Way, but she's having some back problems so is taking a few weeks off. Dave, a friend of Next Step, paid for breakfast for all 3 of us! Thanks, Dave! I went back to The Doyle and slowly packed up. Brewmaster would arrive about 10:30, so I didn't need to hurry. When I left The Doyle, I hiked to the post office and mailed my current boots home. I had a new pair sent to Brewmaster's house, and he was bringing them. I hoped they fit! I got to our meeting spot right at 10:30, and Brewmaster had just arrived. My new boots fit and felt great all day.We crossed the Juniata River and then the Susquehanna River to start our hike-- then we started climbing. We climbed 900 feet, and towards the top, it got very rocky. We took several breaks along the way and had plenty to talk about. It's been about a year since we'd seen each other.We got to this campsite about 4 and decided to camp. It has a water source and a picnic table. We are the only ones here. We made a small fire and had a relaxing evening.  Tomorrow we'll do a few more miles and see how Brewmaster does. His beard is in AT shape, but I'm not sure about the rest of him!Fitbit steps 14483   floors 103
Date: 2018-06-09
From: Campsite

To: Campsite
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Nice day weather wise today. We woke up fairly early and were hiking by 7:30. Brewmaster is still figuring out where everything fits in his pack; we will get faster at getting out of camp. I stopped to use the privy at the nearby shelter and had to chase a porcupine away. It was chewing on the privy! We were mostly on the ridge, but there are always ups and downs. The infamous Pennsylvania rocks showed up now and then which makes for slow hiking. We decided to camp at this site, but there isn't water here. So we had to load up 5 miles back at a shelter. The water source at the shelter was 0.3 miles and 300 feet down to a spring. Our packs were heavy carrying so much water, but we got here. This is a nice campsite. We did have a campfire, ate dinner, then called it a night.Espresso and Clover hiked by. They were going to camp by the next water source. I've seen them off and on since Tennessee, but it's been a couple hundred miles since the last time. Tomorrow is calling for rain all day. We'll decide in the morning what we want to do!Fitbit steps 35530   floors 208
Date: 2018-06-10
From: Campsite

To: Campsite near Horseshoe Trail
Miles today: 5.0

Short day today for several reasons. First was the weather- it was forecast to rain all day. Second was to give Brewmaster a little break after yesterday. The last couple miles yesterday were tough. When we woke up this morning it wasn't raining, so we packed up and started hiking. Fairly steep downhill to start with, and after 1.4 miles we came to a spring, so we stopped to get water. Espresso and Clover were camped there and packing up, so we got to chat with them again. Brewmaster developed a blister on the downhill, so he taped it up while I filtered water. We crossed PA 325, and there was some Trail Magic. We each drank a root beer but could have had about 18 beers each! The hike from the road was a climb from 545 feet to 1644 feet. We loaded up with water 1.3 miles before this site, so we could camp if we wanted to or hike on. It started raining before we arrived. That decided it- we set up camp . Brewmaster was feeling good, so if the weather had been better we would have hiked on.We were here before noon and in our tents until about 3 when the rain stopped. We got out and built a fire. That was a challenge with wet wood, but eventually we had a nice fire going. With the rain and temperature in the low 60's a fire felt good. We cooked and ate supper about 5. Around 5:30 it started raining again, so we are now in our tents again-- probably for the night!Fitbit steps 13807   floors 112
Date: 2018-06-11
From: Campsite near Horseshoe Trail

To: Campsite
Miles today: 11.5

Much better weather day today. It rained all night but quit about dawn. We packed up and were the first ones out of camp. I forgot to mention some of the hikers I saw yesterday. Rick James camped with us-- he started the same day I did. We knew a lot of the same people, but surprisingly we hadn't met before. Mrs T hiked by, I just met her in Duncannon. Plod Along and Grandma Shorty also hiked by. I hadn't seen them since Tennessee. This morning's hike went well, although the trail was very wet. There were orange salamanders on the trail in several places. We hiked by an old mining area including what was a town of 1000 people-- not much left now.We came to a stretch of trail that was under 4-12 inches of water due to a beaver dam. We took our boots off and waded it.We then had a 500 foot climb. Brewmaster was feeling that climb because a climb like that in the afternoon of your 4th day on trail is truly tough. We got to this campsite about 4:30 and called it a day. We hung our tents up to dry, built a fire, and sat down!It was a nice evening! Fitbit steps 30223  floors 72
Date: 2018-06-12
From: Campsite

To: William Penn Shelter Tent Site
Miles today: 9.8

Today was a beautiful day. We could see our breath while we were packing up. The sun was shining, the humidity was down, and it warmed up into the low 70's. We hiked through the edge of Swatara State Park, then crossed under I-81. We then had a 1000 foot climb. Chick-a-pea and Rooster passed us on the climb. I hadn't seen them since just after Glasgow, VA. Once we got on the ridge, the trail was fairly level, but there were several very rocky areas. Pennsylvania is living up to the hype. I think Brewmaster is starting to get his trail legs. A couple miles before we got to this campsite the trail was smooth, and he asked if I could hike faster. I picked up the pace and he stayed right with me for quite a while. He even suggested we hike a couple miles further. But there weren't any good options and this is a nice campsite, so we stopped here about 4 o'clock. We had a campfire with benches to sit on. There are more people camped up near the AT and more at the shelter which is on the other side of the AT, but we are the only ones here. It's cooling off tonight and looks like a great night to sleep!Fitbit steps 27769   floors 178
Date: 2018-06-13
From: William Penn Shelter Tent Site

To: Stealth Camp
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up to rain this morning, so we didn't get out of our tents for awhile. It let up and we were hiking before 8. It was foggy with rain blowing off the trees. We saw several more orange salamanders. The trail started getting rocky a couple miles into the hike. We took a break at 501 shelter which is totally enclosed with both picnic tables and chairs inside. The trail varied from 100% large rocks to small rocks covering most of the trail; hiking was tougher than usual. In the afternoon we came to an overlook with good views, the 1200 mile mark laid out with rocks (I've hiked 1200 miles and have less than 1000 left), and several snakes! There were 2 black snakes, 2 copperheads and a rattlesnake. These were my first poisonous snakes of the trip. They were far enough away that it wasn't scary-- just cool! We have a nice campsite again, and we are the only ones here. We made a fire despite the damp wood. Fitbit steps 30265   floors 148
Date: 2018-06-14
From: Stealth Camp

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 17.1

The beautiful weather was back today. We packed up and hiked the 2.6 miles to Hwy 183 where Karen, aka Mrs. Brewmaster, met us. I unloaded most of the gear from my pack as I was going to slackpack to Port Clinton. The current plan is for me to slackpack 14-ish miles tomorrow, zero on Saturday, then Brewmaster and I will hike another 60 miles together to finish Pennsylvania. This lets me get some miles in with less wear on the body. Brewmaster gets almost 3 days to rest. He ended the week with 4 toes and both heels taped!The slackpack today was awesome. I hiked the first half (7.2 miles) in under 3 hours. There was one good view today, otherwise the trail was in the woods. The highlight of today was meeting Chin Music. He followed my 2007 journal, thru-hiked himself in 2013, and we've been Facebook friends for several years. He was headed to DC for a wedding, and it worked out for us to meet at the Port Clinton hotel bar just when I finished my hike. Great to meet you, Chin, and thanks for the beer!I'm now at the Brewmaster's house, showered, laundry done, and well fed. It's nice to hang out with friends you've known for over 40 years!Fitbit steps 42984   floors 152
Date: 2018-06-15
From: Hawk Mt. Road

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 15.1

Slackpack day today! Brewmaster dropped me off at Hawk Mt Road at 7:45, and I hiked south back to Port Clinton. Highlights of the day were views from The Pinnacles and Pulpit Rock. I sat at each view for 20-30 minutes. Beautiful day and awesome views! I saw Savage and Mrs T, They are hiking together at least to Delaware Water Gap. They are 2 women who don't want to camp alone, so hiking together should work well for both of them. I met Brewmaster and Karen at the bar in Port Clinton at 3:30. We had a drink and snack then went back to their house. I've had a shower and a good dinner so now it's time to sleep!Fitbit steps 36718  floors 254
Date: 2018-06-16
From: Hawk Mt. Road

To: Hawk Mt. Road
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day today. I did normal chores; aired out gear, resupplied, patched a hole in my tent (ok thats not normal), and started loading the pack. We'll head out tomorrow morning. Brewmaster is hiking with me to Delaware Water Gap which is the end of Pennsylvania. It's about 60 miles from here. This afternoon the three of us went to a winery. It's a hippie themed winery. We sampled several wines and purchased a couple bottles to go with dinner.It's been a great stay at the Brewmaster house. They fed me well, and I got some slackpacking in yesterday. The pack will feel heavy tomorrow!Fitbit steps 5350   floors 20