morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-06-10
From: Blackburn AT Center

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

Belch, Brooklyn, and I hiked out late after spending all morning (until 10) on the phone trying to get a good deal on hotel rooms for that evening. My sister Kristen was helping. Eventually we learned of a cheaper place "The North Gate Inn" which is actually in Charles Town and therefore not wicked touristy and expensive. As we approached the Shenandoah river valley, the terrain became flatter and easier. However, the weather was wicked hot and humid. After 10 miles we hit the VA/WV border and were finally out of Virginia for good! It had only taken about 550 miles. Switching from the longest state on the AT to the shortest was weird. We crossed the Shenandoah River on a large automobile bridge and then climbed up the other side to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. They keep an official register and logbook as part of a data compilation endeavor. Everyone has their picture taken and is given a number. I was the 299th thru hiker to go through Harpers Ferry out of several thousand that registered at the beginning of the hike. Fig was number 282, but he'd been there for a few hours. We're at the tail end of a big bubble of hikers; my buddy Maple was there only a week before and was over 100 people ahead of me. Everyone is very skinny in their pictures!I made it to the Post Office in time before it closed, picking up my care package. My sister Kristen had sent me a jogging radio and headphones, along with 2 new pairs of hiking socks. Somehow the US mail managed to lose the radio. Hmmmm. Luckily there was a Walmart right in the area so I'll see about getting one there.A shuttle came to take us to the North Gate Inn. We split 2 rooms; Brooklyn, Belch and I in one (We're all taking a zero day tomorrow), and Cheese, Fig, and Supermax in the other (all hiking out). Brooklyn and I are resting up for the 4-State Challenge. Belch is meeting her parents here in a couple days. We might not see her again, so we all went out for a big group goodbye dinner at a an Asian buffet. It was called "Jumbo Buffet". Yes, that is the name. We're South of the Mason Dixon line so stuff like that still happen. I found my first deer tick, it was attached to my stomach. Since I caught it before it detached on its own, I should be safe from Lyme Disease.
Date: 2010-06-11
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: VA/WV border
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day! Well somewhat. We did hike 1.7 miles backwards on the AT, Southwards to hit the VA/WV border in order to do the 4-State Challenge. But that was much later in the day. Firstly we said goodbye to our departing buddies at 7:30 AM, and then ate the crappy cereal and donut breakfast provided by the Inn. Belch and I had stayed up all night watching TV and goofing off, so I'd been able to grab about 4 hours of sleep. The three of us then resupplied at Walmart and did laundry. Then Brooklyn and I said goodbye to Belch and shuttled back to Harpers Ferry to hit the outfitter. We kept running into Mr and Mrs Limestone all around town. After lingering around town for a while, we hiked backwards (Southbound, not physically backwards), over the Shenandoah River and up the big hill to where Funk was waiting for us at the Virginia/West Virginia Border. We arrived around 8:30 and goofed off for a while. Funk had whiskey and was in a very celebratory mood. We finally went to sleep at about 10 PM, but kept hearing little gremlins or something sneaking around our campsite. Everyone's alarms were set for 11:45 PM, which should give us enough time to be up and rolling by midnight at the start of the challenge.
Date: 2010-06-13
From: MD/PA Border

To: Deer Lick Shelters
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: light rain

Funk and Spiritwalker took us out to breakfast. Everyone is walking funny today. I had "scrapple" with my breakfast. Notice how it has the word "crap" encompassed within it. This is because it is made of all the extra scraps of the pig. It was similar to a sausage meatloaf. Yum. We went back to the AT Conservatory for bragging rights. We also met Belch's parents. Brooklyn and I were dropped off at Pen Mar park again at about 6 PM to hike up. We lingered around the park and met hiker "Lint" who has already completed the trail before. He has a tattoo of a map of the AT, and another one on his chest that says "Hiker Trash". The two of us night-hiked up to the shelter where Conan and Backwards had already set up a tent. The shelters in PA seem to often come in pairs. Also the privy was RIGHT ON THE AT! Ahhh! That's very poor planning. What's worse is that there is no lock on the inside, and the seat is too far away from the door to hold it shut. That is absolutely a recipe for disaster. Just what everyone needs, to be in there and some idiot boy scout comes and yanks the door open.
Date: 2010-06-14
From: Deer Lick Shelters

To: Quarry Gap Shelters
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I Didn't get moving until about 11 this morning; residual 4 State Challenge issues. Saw a bear long off in the woods! A non Shenandoah bear counts for like 10 Shenandoah bears. Inexplicably, Pennsylvania has 3 shelters within a 3.6 mile stretch of trail. They are all double shelters too, so there are bascally 6 of them. I can see the state differences already. There are many more campsites everywhere. Also it looks like every tree has been cut down and only recently started growing back. It's only slightly rockier than normal, nothing ridiculous yet. We've got to hurry up to catch Fig, Cheese and Supermax if we want to do the 1/2 gallon challenge with them tomorrow! We're in for the night at Quarry Gap Shelters with Funk, Spirit Walker, "Uncle Jaybird" and "Fish". We just met those last 2 guys, they're thru hikers from Lancaster PA. This is the nicest shelter at which I've ever stayed; there is a spring right in front, a nice picnic table, a big windscreen that can be pulled down for windy nights, a checkers/chess board, and the caretaker has even brought in lots of flowering plants. Tomorrow I'm going to hit the AT midpoint.
Date: 2010-06-15
From: Quarry Gap Shelters

To: James Fry Shelter
Miles today: 24.5

Today we got up and ran to ice cream! Brooklyn and I hiked 17 miles to catch up with Supermax, Cheese, Fig, Conan, and Backwards at Pine Grove Furnace. Immediately prior to that we passed the halfway point of the AT (1089.5 miles). I'm still waiting for the "1000 miles left" point. Then I'll start the countdown. That will definitely be a sad day. We met "Rest Stop"(guy), "Orbit"(girl), "Stryder"(young guy), and "Cheeseburger"(guy, Germany) today during the ice cream fun run. Also found a box turtle in the trail, but it wouldn't pop its head out, so we put it over in the bushes. The terrain is still flat, slightly rocky, and very open. The underbrush is always small and inviting. You could pitch a tent anywhere in there. This is a direct contrast to Virginia (Shenandoahs and onward) where it was basically impenetrable. So the tradition is to eat a half gallon of ice cream when you hit Pine Grove Furnace (the closest establishment to the actual halfway point). They rip you off but no one cares. It's called "The Half Gallon Challenge" and was my third challenge of the entire AT hike. Everyone had given up on us showing up, and had actually brought their ice cream outside to the table and were about to start. I had to run in and decide between "Chocolate", "Cherry Jubilee", and some horrible flavor similar to "Cake Frosting." They were expecting the ice cream truck to arrive any minute but it was too late for me. I was interested in going Cherry but I didn't want to get slowed down by the chunks. The record for 2010 so far is just under 10 minutes. After much provocation, Fig went in and hilariously grabbed the Cherry Jubilee. Unfortunately I wasn't afforded the time to sit around and let my ice cream become softer and more malleable, so I had to just dig right in when we started. It was too hard at the beginning to get much on my spoon, but it went faster as it broke up. Brain freeze was a factor at the beginning, but only for a minute or two. Everyone started getting cold. People were putting on their jackets and fleeces. Cheese actually zipped herself into her sleeping bag. Conan was going fast but slowed down in the final stretch. I think his undoing was leaving the table to get another layer of clothing. Anyway, I finished in just over 20 minutes. Supermax had 35 minutes, Cheese, Fig and Conan had about an hour. Backwards didn't finish. Brooklyn didn't participate. Upon finishing you get to sign the official register and get your crappy wooden souvineer "spoon". Just one of those little tongue depressor things that people to use to eat italian ice. Nothing spoony about it. It is stamped with "Member of Half Gal Challenge Club". The fastest time I saw in the register was 16 minutes. Most of them were in the 30 minutes or longer range. After finishing I went in and got a cheeseburger. Then we all hiked up the next 7 miles or so to the shelter. It was a high-energy hike.
Date: 2010-06-16
From: James Fry Shelter

To: Boiling Springs
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Today was a race into town. Terrain was mostly flat but definitely included some rough bouldering sections. Giant rocks were everywhere and the trail went unpredictibly through and around them. It was like playing peekaboo with everyone else in the immediate vicinity. Everyone was waiting around at the ATC Mid Atlantic Office. I went to the post office to grab my care package, and it was great! The ATC woman took a picture and said it was the best care package she'd seen. My sister Kristen had packed it up like a game of tetris, with about 20 pounds of food and goodies all smooshed into a small box. Boiling Springs is a very nice town with a shallow man-made lake right along the AT. There are tons of waterfowl in the lake and everyone walks their dogs around the perimeter. Very picturesque! The lake is fed by a huge spring that comes out of ground near the tavern. It an underwater cave with a continuous blob of water spewing up through it, called "The Bubble" Fig borrowed a bike and rode to his appointment, possibly Lyme disease. I haven't had a tick since Harpers Ferry, and that was my first deer tick. They'll get worse around Connecticut, but we'll see about it then. I shaved the mighty beard and moustache. I figured half the hike was enough. It was getting incredibly hot and I didn't need a wet sponge covering half my face all day. I'll grow another one right now for Maine though. The girls and Fig camped out. Brooklyn and I took advantage of an incredible $25/room deal at the Allenberry Resort and Playhouse. It's the equivalent of that resort in Dirty Dancing (I saw the play, there was a girl involved). All of the main rooms have names and there are pictures of old guys playing golf and riding horses everywhere. It is a very ritzy place and the rooms normally go for over $150. There is a huge game room in the basement with pool, ping pong, foosball, and air hockey. I met "Royce", "Sunshine", and "AD". All the hikers are staying in the old building. Luckily the rich people are separate. I figure that they wanted to get some use of their extra rooms, but didn't figure on so many gross hikers showing up. They should raise their rates because it's such a great deal.
Date: 2010-06-17
From: Boiling Springs

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: few clouds

Great buffet breakfast! $6 hiker rate! Normal price is 12. We ate, played games, swam around the pool, relaxed. Somehow played a 6-person, no teams game of ping pong. Finally left at 3:30 in the afternoon. Duncannon is 26 miles away but that wasn't going to happen after such a late start. After a couple miles Brooklyn and I caught Skippy in the trail and hiked with him. The AT goes through a really beautiful stretch at this point, along giant farm cropfields and past Conodoguinet Creek. Black raspberries and mulberries were all over. We went through a field with cows grazing all around us. The area is also home to a hellish quarter mile of mosquitos. It was the first serious bug attack I've encountered, besides the Hellgrammite of course. A few mosquitos were biting me as I hiked, which is unusual because they're not too good at hiting moving targets. It was becoming annoying, and Brooklyn and I stopped to put on bug spray. Apparently the ones which managed to bite us were the top fastest 0.001% of the total mosquitoes, because the second we stopped, hundreds swarmed over us. Skippy wasn't carrying any bug spray and just ran for his life. I gave a few futile sprays around my socks, pack, shirt, and hair, and then just ran out of the woods into the nearby open field. They ALL followed me! I turned around to face a giant cloud of little buzzing fiends. They stayed with me for the next half mile until I reached the I-81 overpass. The wind blew them away, phew. However we did lose Skippy for the next 3 miles until reconnecting at the Scott Farm Trail Work Center. I was expecting to find a dried-out human skeleton on the side of the trail, but apparently he survived. 9:30 PM: Arriving at the shelter after a steep ascent (still not that rocky!) it was dark. We were able to catch the sunset up on an overlook which showed the valley we'd just traversed. Lots of boyscouts were camping out everywhere. I was making dinner and listning to the Celtics/Lakers championship game. Dropped my lighter into the lit stove, oops. After several seconds of flailing and shoving stuff away from me, the lighter noisily exploded. Luckily the only one in the shelter was Hiker Bill, and he'd probably already had a full night's sleep at that point. (Hiker Bill is usually asleep by about 3 PM each day)
Date: 2010-06-18
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Off to Duncannon to celebrate Fig's birthday! Everyone always stays at "The Doyle", a nice big old cheap dumpy hotel with food and a bar. It is a great place because no one goes there who isn't a hiker. There is also a juke box and pool table. The route there wasn't too easy. Temperatures in the mid 90s tend to slow a person down when they're doing thousand foot ascents. At Cove Mountain Shelter I learned that they have been having porcupine issues, mainly nibbling on the shelter wood to get the salt from people's sweat. They solved it by installing "sacrificial plywood" for them to eat. I was also able to listen to the US v Slovenia World Cup game, which was entertaining enough to get me through the day's heat. The Pennsylvania rocks issue is starting to become real, not too difficult yet but definitely a lot more rocks than anywhere else on the trail thusfar. Shortly before Duncannon the trail drops 1000 feet to reach Sherman Creek and goes under US 11/15. Then it continues right into the town and up to the Doyle. Brooklyn and I split a room, Cheese, Fig, and Supermax are sharing another. Funk and Spiritwalker, Conan and Backwards are also here. It's a big fun group of friends today. I got a $5 hiker rate haircut and look like a little boy again. I'm also down to 166.5 lbs, so over 33 lost. Everyone was drinking that evening and we had a little celebration for Fig.I met a new hiker "Ray" who doesn't have a trail name yet. I wanted to call him "Rage" but it might not be appropriate for him. After the real hikers went to bed, 4 of us went out to a real bar/night spot called "Tubby's". Yes that is really the name. It was pretty fun to interact with real people. We were wearing ridiculous hiking clothes but no one seemed to notice. Funk, Conan and Backwards showed up later and it started getting out of hand. Everyone was buying everyone else drinks, people were dancing, locals were interacting with us. We all went back to the Doyle and were up WAY too late. The girls who drove us home came up on the balcony for a little bit. I was so tired and out of sorts that I quickly went to sleep. Tomorrow Brooklyn and I are supposed to hike out and meet his dad, so this might've been poorly planned. However, it was one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time!
Date: 2010-06-19
From: Duncannon

To: PA 225
Miles today: 8.4

After a miserable morning (Extreme dehydration, starvation, being discovered sleeping in a weird place by Fig), Brooklyn and I hit the trail. It was tough to start out by about 3 miles of city walking with the sun bearing down on us in the urban sprawl. I'd forgotten how miserable Pennsylvania was in the summer. We crossed over the Susquehanna and began the thousand foot ascent up the side of the valley. Somehow in the next 5 miles, Brooklyn got about 30 minutes ahead of me. Well, Landfills don't do so well in the heat. Climbing up the first ascent I met some guy I'd seen at the Doyle the night before. He'd taken a spill somewhere and was heading back to receive medical attention. He had a horiffic bloody face and had patched himself up with gauze, duct tape, and neosporin. This guy hadn't been on the trail for long, so he'll probably get a trail name from this incident. Brooklyn's dad and cousin Todd met us at the road crossing. It was nice to be able to stop hiking and get out of the heat. Brooklyn's dad put us up in a hotel and took us out for dinner, where we met the rest of Todd's family. We also did laundry, resupplied, and went to the local outfitter. It was probably the best way to recover from schenanigans at the Doyle.
Date: 2010-06-20
From: PA 225

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 20.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Brooklyn's dad bought us breakfast and dropped us back on the trail. It was a good way to do Father's Day. The next shelter (Peter's Mountain Shelter) was very cool. It had a double decker sleeping area and benches. However the water was ridiculously steeply downhill. That guy who had the face incident the previous morning was there. His new trail name is "Rockfight". The trail today was mostly flat with bushels of poison ivy. If North Carolina was the land of Woodpeckers and Virginia was the land of Ponies, Pennsylvania is definitely the land of chipmunks. Every 5 feet you'll walk past one which will chirp and then run into the woods. Sometimes they don't chirp and then you have to look around and make sure it isn't anything to be concerned about. This part of the trail also leads near a military area, and we heard lots of gunfire. The reason for today's flatness (minus an 1100' ascent) is that a lot of trails in PA were once old roads or railroad beds. All the logging and other extractive industries have taken their toll and left plenty of evidence. We passed two springs which were completely copper/orange colored. The final destination shelter is actually an abandoned mine. The surrounding area is almost completely level. Fig, Cheese, Rage, Conan and Backwards were there. Supermax has departed from the trail for about a week, though we did get some great trail magic that she'd left for us at a road crossing. Tomorrow is the 501 shelter (from which you can order pizza!)
Date: 2010-06-21
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: Hertlein Campsite
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: overcast clouds

The no-see-um black flies ate me alive last night! Today is "Naked hiking day", apparently a real thing that gets practiced by some percentage of hikers each year. Rage says that he'll do it but he leaves early so we may never know. Brooklyn and I left way after everyone. Lots of delaying. Apparently the idea of hiking in the high 90s and 90% humidity is a bit offputting. I've got to work on my morning routine. It's a bit ridiculous to actually start a fire in the morning just to make coffee and scare the flies away. After departure, we caught up with Conan and Backwards after a 5 miles. They'd had great trail magic; some guy had set up a grill and was making burgers for everyone, we'd missed him by only a few minutes. Booo/hiss. We continued and found a huge (6' blacksnake) in the trail. I picked it up and took a good picture of him around my neck. First however, came the most poison ivy I'd ever seen in my life. The trail narrows to about 10 inches and is encroached upon by 75% poison ivy, 20% wicked thorns, and 5% miscellaneous other plant matter. The poison ivy/thorns were as high as eye level at times. Some was just hanging right into the path. There was absolutely no way to not have skin contact. The trail itself was littered with pointy sharp rocks so you couldn't even keep your footing. This continued for 5 miles. I don't know what the trail maintenance people of PA are doing in this area, but it isn't enough to make it acceptable. They should just nuke it from orbit and start over again. The only good part about that stretch: I hit the 1000 miles left mark. It's a good thing I didn't want to participate entirely in naked hiking day, because this would've been hideous terrain for it. Although it was wicked hot and humid, so nudity may have helped in that regard. No naked hikers yet, though we'd seen a couple clothed southbounders. I hatched a plan that when we got to the 501 shelter, we'd all get into our underwear and roll in on Fig as if we'd hiked like that all day. It was hilarious except that there were like 5 other random people there when we showed up. 2 Caretakers had shown up and gave everyone a great meal of chili and 10 bean soup, followed by brownies. All for a $3 donation. They provided this because the pizza place isn't open on Mondays and they know that everyone plans on getting it when they come here. After dinner I called Bob Krug. He's going to meet Brooklyn and I in Port Clinton on Tuesday evening and put us up for the night. The next day he's going to take us to Centralia PA and the Yuengling Factory. A great nero day! Port Clinton is about 23 miles past the 501 Shelter, so Brooklyn and I continued on and left everyone else behind. After 5.6 miles we were at Hertlein Campsite for the night. I was lagging behind and nearly stepped on a rattlesnake in the trail. It rattled between my legs and I did an epic 8 foot hiphop-esque jump forward. Then I went in after it and took a picture.
Date: 2010-06-22
From: Hertlein Campsite

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: light rain

The rocks got worse today! They are all pointy and sharp, also they appear to have been carefully placed pointing upwards. Finally I have reached the part of Pennsylvania that everyone has been warning me about since the beginning. "Rocksylvania", "The place where boots go to die", etc. I can see what that's all about now. Luckily it has been a pretty flat state and full of history. Today I traveled past the old site of Fort Dietrich Snyder, used in the French and Indian War. I'm always surprised how random points of interest will just pop up in the woods. During a long straight stretch, the trail inexplicably zinged more than 90 degrees to the right and then directly up. It produced a pretty tough extended uphill climb. A large part of its difficulty was that the section was completely flat in the book; it must've been a very recent change. At the top of that elevation gain, someone had written "NICE ONE, P.A." on a rock. I got some trail magic that "Fiddler" had left for us. He'd put a bunch of soda in a stream and put a sign on the AT directing everyone to it. After that treat it began to thunder and rain. I found a box turtle and took a video of him running on the trail. Tremendous steep downhill (1100') into Port Clinton. Brooklyn and I arrived there before 6, just in time for trail angel Bob Krug to pick us up. He and his wife Amy fed us a great lasagna, blueberry pie, did our laundry, then put us up for the night.