morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-12
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Allentown Shelter
Miles today: 16.5

Okay, so the Pennsylvania rocks really do exist, but they still don't impress me as much as how much poison ivy there is in Pennsylvania along and invading the trail.It was very hot and humid today, with sweating occurring even when hiking on level surfaces. We are actually sleeping in the shelter tonite as there are no good tentsites here. Also, it's supposed to rain fairly hard, so it might be nicer in the shelter. Here at the shelter with us are through hikers Rael and Red Hoya, and section hiker Calves.The privy here at the shelter is a composting one, and it even has a handle one can flush in case one is missing flush toilets!!Weather for tomorrow sounds rainy, hopefully it won't be too bad as we are hoping for a 17 miler.
Date: 2006-07-13
From: Allentown Shelter

To: George Outerbridge Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Todays keywords, (Rocks, views, blueberries, snake).Tstorm last night, cloudy am, clearing with NW breeze, high 80.More sections of trail with lots of sharp rocks today, sometimes large, sometimes small, especially along Knife Edge, Bear Rock, and Bake Oven Knob. About 1/4 of the day with few rocks.Great views of PA farmland from the three above-mentioned high, rocky places, as the tstorm had cleared out most of the haze. We're still on Blue Mtn, which we've been on since back near Duncannon, PA!3.5 miles before shelter, Jeanne spotted a huge (only 3-1/2 feet long, but thick and with many rattles) Timber Rattlesnake. He was stretched out waiting to cross the trail, like a pedestrian at a crosswalk. She saw it from about 1 foot away when it moved slightly as she passed. She yelled and ran and I ran back. It was one mellow, relaxed snake! It never coiled, rattled or hissed, just calmly slithered across the trail, smelling leaves.Later, we encountered an open ridgetop area full of blueberries. We ate many, then filled a quart sized nalgene bottle with berries for breakfast and to make blueberry sourdough bread with.
Date: 2006-07-14
From: George Outerbridge Shelter

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: few clouds

Rocks, rocks and more rocks. The morning part of the hike was great, we hiked down to Lehigh Gap, and then up the steep, exposed rocks fact on the north side of the Gap - it was a lot of fun, and great views. After we crossed the road at Small Gap, the rocks began in earnest. Not big rocks, but little pointy rocks that try to pierce the sole of our sandals and into our feet.After we got to the top of the climb after Lehigh Gap, we were in the area of the Superfund Site from the Zinc Smelter that had run in the valley for many years without proper pollution control devices. It was amazing how barren it was, how ghostly it all looked, with the skeletons of the many great trees that once covered the hillside and the top of the ridge.The Mosquitoes have continued to be quite a nuisance all day, especially when one stops to take a break. We have to put our long pants and shirts on at the end of the day so we won't get eaten alive.Today was nother hot and humid day. You know it's going to be a hot one when it's not even 8:30 a.m., you're waling downhill in the shade, and have a perspiration moustache.
Date: 2006-07-15
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Kirkridge Shelter, before Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: scattered clouds

You know it's going to be a hot and humid day, when it's before 8:30 a.m., it's cloudy out, you're walking slowly because the rocks won't allow you to walk fast, you're walking either downhill or on level surfaces, and you have sweat rolling down your fact!!!!!! It was very hot and humid today. We had a rainshower for about 1 1/2 hours around noon which temporarily cooled things off.Tehe terrain was a mixture of small, pointy rocks (large sections), large rocks (small sections), and smooth trail (small sections). There were also many, many viscious, bloodsucking mosquitoes.We have finally left Blue (Poison Ivy) Mountain, and are now on Kittatinny Mountain. We are just 6.4 miles from Delaware Water Gap, and almost into New Jersey.The mosquitoes are so bad that we have jumped into the tent early, and are reading and doing journals in the safety of our bug-free zone.
Date: 2006-07-16
From: Kirkridge Shelter, before Delaware Water Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap, Church of the Mountain
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: clear sky

Slept latish, met Jeanne's nephew Tim and wife Heather, who were hiking up to meet us, at a viewpoint on Mt. Minsi overlooking the Delaware River Valley and Delaware Water Gap. Together, we all saw a small black bear (Heather's first!) near the summit. That was neat.In Delaware Water Gap, we went out for pizza, which we ate while talking with Tim and Heather about our favorite subjects, organic farming, healthy food, sustainable living, etc. It was neat to see them both again, having visited them at their home on the bicycle trip down last fall. They then drove us to the next town so that we could resupply at a good grocery store, and dropped us off at the church-run hostel in Delaware Water Gap with a big bag of home-made chocolate chip cookies. Thanks you guys for meeting up with us, and thanks too for the cookies!At the hostel, we showered, at store bought salad greens, plus steak provided by another hiker's (Solive) visiting parents, then put in earplugs and tried to sleep as other hikers stayed up late talking.
Date: 2006-07-17
From: Delaware Water Gap, Church of the Mountain

To: 1/2 M S of Blue Mtn Lakes Rd
Miles today: 17.3

Yay!!!!!!!!! New Jersey, our 8th state. We have completed half of the states - 7 down, 7 to go.Got started about 8:00 a.m. today, feeling a little tired as we didn't get to sleep as early as we would have liked. Too much noise at the hostel.The terrain was quite interesting today - from the Gap we climbed up onto a ridge, meandered along the top or just below the top all day, sometimes in the trees, sometimes in the open, with some nice views. The areas with low vegetation turned out to be blueberries and blackberries - making for delicious, if not slow hiking.We went by Sunfish pond - a beautiful pond with lots of little fish in it. Linc floated in the pond and I just used my cup to get myself wet enough to make the hot day feel not quite so hot. It was in the 90's and humid again.Now that we are through Pencilvania, we have decided this: We didn't see any pencils in that state, so we have decided to rename it based on what we did see, so now its official name is "Poisonivyrockmosquitovania". We know it's a mouthful, but it is more accurate.We have a very nice campsite just off the ridge, and there is a snake skin hanging off a lib of the tree that we hung our food on - cool
Date: 2006-07-18
From: 1/2 M S of Blue Mtn Lakes Rd

To: Crigger Road, Kitattinny Mtn
Miles today: 17.3

Another hot day with lots of mosquitoes. What do you think, it's all fun and games out here? :-) Highs in the 90's, clear then clouds, tstorm passed by to south, little wind from west.We continued along Kitattinny Mtn (a ridge), stopping for an incredibly refreshing swim in Crater Lake, a small lake lined by granite boulders, cliffs and blueberry bushes. There were nice views in either direction, east into western NJ forested low mountains and lakes, west into forests and fields of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Still seeing flowering Black Cohosh, no more Bloodroot. First floweringt St Johnswort today, blueberries and blackberries ripe. The heat and a late start took it out of us and slowed us down. A late day stop at a roadside store for salty chips and gatorade renewed us slightly, and a two hour break at a shelter to cook dinner and bread helped us sprint the last three miles to this campsite, pursued by an evening tstorm.
Date: 2006-07-19
From: Crigger Road, Kitattinny Mtn

To: Jim Murry Secret Shelter
Miles today: 15.3

Today, we finished walking the long ridgetop of Kitattinny Mtn, with dry woods, good views to teh SE of northern NJ forests, ponds, and farms, to High Point State Park. There, we swam in pond, then descended from 1800' to around 500' into the Walkill River Valley, through buggy woods, into lush lowlands and through beautiful old farm fields.The abundant flowers in the farm fields made us wish we still were carrying the plant ID books that we bounced ahead in Harpers Ferry. So many plants we don't recognize and could be learning, but the focus now is on getting to Katahdin, can't carry the extra weight. Saw wild turkey mom and football-sized chicks.Found, with thru-hiker Routestep, the Jim Murry Secret Shelter near Unionville, NY (we're walking along the northern NJ, southern NY line now). The shelter is a beautiful old farm, with mown, rustic buildings for hikers, a hot shower, lots of birds, walnut, catawba, mulberry and tulip trees, and two resident male donkeys. The donkeys bray like the world is ending and kick and bite at eachother every 20 minutes or so. We tented here with Routestep, and with our friend Willow, who we hadn't seen since the Shenandoahs, and her son Switch, who came out to hike a long section with Willow during his summer break. It was a neat evening, hanging out and catching up on trail talk and just enjoying the peaceful feel of this place.
Date: 2006-07-20
From: Jim Murry Secret Shelter

To: Vernon, NJ Fire Station lawn
Miles today: 13.4

Although the location of the Jum Murray Secret Shelter was wonderful, it was not a good place to sleep. The two male donkeys fought all nite long - making very loud braying and snorting noises about every 20 minutes to a half hour - it was very annoying.The hiking was fairly easy today, with some climbinb, few rocks, old railroad grades, and a walk in a wildlife refuge along a swamp (where we heard a Killdeer). Also a walk through another swamp/refuge area where there was this very long, high boardwalk for at least a mile (if not longer) that meandered through the swamp. The mosquitoes were not bad today in the open areas because there was enough of a breeze to keep them at bay - good thing given the swampy areas we walked through today. HOwever, in the wooded areas, they were really bad, and we had to continue with self flaggelation with our bandana and hat.We got to NJ 94 outside of Vernon at about 2:30. McGraw and Geezer were just ahead of us, and had just managed to hitch a ride, and we were able to hop in with them. Turned out well. We got to the shelter, and it seemed very crowded, so we just checked email real quick, and headed out with our packs to get our resupply shopping done, and to check out the free camping at the Fire Station. We got to the fire station, and some of the volunteers were there, told us where we could camp, and offered us use of their showers, as they were going to be there for a while - they even got us towels. That sure felt good. It also sounds like we have our ride back to the trail already, going to pick us up around 7:00.
Date: 2006-07-21
From: Vernon, NJ Fire Station lawn

To: Wildcat Shelter, NY
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: light rain

Today we crossed into New York!!!Vernon Trail Angel Shamrock picked us up, gave us both bagel with cheese, egg and bacon sandwiches and OJ for breakfast, and drove us back to the trail. Wow, we are getting a lot of help on this trip. I think we're going to have to spend another winter volunteering again to pay off the karmic debt!As we started up the trail, a huge tstorm moved in, and banged, growled and downpoured as we moved up the steep climb from town onto Wawayanda Mtn. Strangely, it felt great to splash along in the rain, senses alive. We crossed the NY on a high, glacier-scoured ridgeline above Greenwood Lake, stopping to celebrate three times at three different perceived border points until we got the right one. Jeanne danced with one foot in either state.Then, north along rugged glacier scoured granite ledges above Greenwood Lake to Rte 17A, bought adn shared an expensive, tasty milkshake and gabbed with other hikers at an ice cream stand, then smooth trails to the shelter. Lots of little, rugged ups and downs today made for slow hiking, but enjoyed being up on those rocks, reminded us of northern NEw England.
Date: 2006-07-22
From: Wildcat Shelter, NY

To: Tiorati Circle, NY
Miles today: 15.4

Another fun, but tough day, over many glacial rounded rocks, and many ups and downs, and rock scrambles. So far, New York is showing us some pretty tough terrain. We arrived at Tiorati Circle for the Fatfest 2006, and were immediately fed steak, a curry rice/chicken dish, chicken wings and fruit. There were also cookies and cakes. Plenty to eat and surprisingly few through hikers - we expected a large crowd, but there are only about nine other through hikers here.It was too hazy to have many views today from the various viewpoints we crossed. We stopped near the top of Arden Mountain for lunch and a little contemplation break, and both almost fell asleep - if it had not been for the fact that we were getting rained on, we would have had naps.Even though it's tough hiking, we are both thoroughly enjoying the AT in New York.
Date: 2006-07-23
From: Tiorati Circle, NY

To: South shoulder of Bear Mtn, NY
Miles today: 9.4

We partook of more of Night Eyes and the other Fat Fest hosts generosity this morning. They provided fresh, warm (bought that morning!) NYC bagels with cream cheese, whipped butter, lox, scrambled eggs, fruit. Wow. Thanks Night Eyes and friends!!!A trail angel named Gene Meyers then drove us and Willow and Switch into the town of Fort Montgomery to resupply at a grocery store. Thank you Gene!We didn't start hiking until noon (had to eat another bagel for the road). Steep ups and downs to a gorgeous clifftop view on Black Mtn of Bear Mtn State Park, New YOrk City skyline in the distance (35 miles away), and the Hudson River below. Wow! Picked a quart of blueberries on Black Mtn for breakfast. Then, down and up onto West Mtn where we had cliff edge views of Bear Mtn and the Hudson. We are "stealth" camped on the south shoulder of Bear Mtn in a small glade.
Date: 2006-07-24
From: South shoulder of Bear Mtn, NY

To: Graymoor Friary, NY
Miles today: 10.1

We started out very slowly this morning. Decided to hike the mile to the top of Bear Mountain for breakfast. Had a great breakfast with a view up there, with a nice breeze, and no one else around. We ran out of water with breakfast, and had to wait until we found a spring at the bottom of the mountain to refill. We got to the zoo, and spent at least an hour making phone calls to family. We then entered the zoo (yes, the AT goes through the zoo). It was not good to see the agitated, caged, pacing animals - they obviously were not happy in their confined circumstances.We finally got through the zoo, had lunch and started to hike again around 1:00 p.m., having only hike about four miles so far - of well, so much for our planned long mile day.The weather was beautiful - sunny and not too warm, and less humid. We had planned to continue another 4 miles after cooking our dinner here at the Friary, but when the Wanderers showed up, we decided to hang out and visit with them for the evening. Also here at the Friary are Willow, Switch, Weatherman, No Pliers, Routestep and Dubbs. Plenty of space for all our tents. It's great that the Friary allows us to camp here, and provide us with water, a shower, portapotties, picnic tables, and a dry pavillion.
Date: 2006-07-25
From: Graymoor Friary, NY

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: clear sky

Sunny , PM cumulus, breezy west wind, highs in the high 80's. Early start (7am), hiked fast to try to get the miles in. Lots of ups and downs, but good footing with few rocks. Swam in Canopis Lake, which felt great. Saw a 5' long Black Rat Snake in the trail. We're both tired, looking forward to a rest day!
Date: 2006-07-26
From: RPH Shelter

To: Pawling, NY town park
Miles today: 17.3

Very hot today (90's) and very humid, a sweat bath. Another early (7am) start. Lots of ups and downs again, but again, good footing with very few rocks, and the miles flew by, especially during one stretch when we hiked in a group with four other thru-hikers, discussing politics and the environmental crisis. We were fading towards the end, but came upon beautiful Nuclear Lake, a gorgeous mountain pond, lined with rocks and forest, that used to be the home of a nuclear fuels processing facility. Yep, we swam in a nuclear fuels processing pond. It was that or sweat to death, we chose immediate satisfaction over the long term effects of radiation poisoning. Besides, the government has "remediated" the area, says it has tested clean, and there were two local women swimming there, one of whom says she has swam there for years. She seemed fine, despite having two heads and three arms...The swims revitalized us, and we climbed the last mountain, had a mountaintop, cliff edge view of Pawling while we ate a late day snack of oats, nuts and cinammon, then climbed down to Rt 20, and caught a ride from the first passerby into town and the grocery store to resupply, then a ride from someone outside the store to the town park, where we met up with our thru-friends The Wanderers and No Pliers, had a swim, cooked egg and cheese and dandelion green tortillas, and went to sleep.
Date: 2006-07-27
From: Pawling, NY town park

To: Pawling, NY town park
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day! Good zero day. We lazed in bed until 8:00 a.m., waking up slowly and reading. Ate a leisurely breakfast with fresh fruit and yogurt in it!!!!!! Just hung out and chatted with our thru hikers who were going to zero also at the park, and eventually made our way to the library for internetting. Came back up to the park for lunch, swimming in the pond, more sitting around and chatting, and more eating - super of tortillas, eggs, cheese and veggies, together with corn on the cob. The day was again hot and humid, but we did have a little breeze up on teh hill under the Pavillion.Nice way to spend a rest day.
Date: 2006-07-28
From: Pawling, NY town park

To: Schaghticoke Campsite, CT
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: light rain

Into Connecticut today - state #10 - 9 down, five to go!!!! We had a nice smooth path today, except for the last mile which was steeper, rockier and rootier. The weather was again hot and humid and we used all opportunities to soak ourselves in creeks to help keep us cool.We had a couple of thunderstorms this afternoon, which slowed us down some, as we had to wait them out before heading up onto the ridge - we tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to thunderstorms and ridges.Plan to head into Kent tomorrow for resupply and post office, so plan to get an early start so we can make the post office before it closes at noon.
Date: 2006-07-29
From: Schaghticoke Campsite, CT

To: Silver Hill Campsite, CT
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: few clouds

The campsite here is beautiful. It has nice flat areas for the tents, a covered picnic table (which turned out well as we got a shower while we were cooking dinner tonite, and it has a swing, which actually does not swing since it is not set up properly, and touches the ground. Looks like there used to be good views from here until all the trees grew up.Got down to the road to Kent, CT about 8:30 this morning and quickly got a ride into town by a couple who was meeting others at the trailhead for a 9:00 a.m. hike and had some extra time. Got our grocery shopping done, and mailed some food off to ourselves further up the trial, refueled with white gas for cooking, and refueled ourselves with foods we can't carry on the trail. Got a ride back to the trail fairly quickly, and headed back up into the mountains.Again, hot and humid, and we got ourselves wet in streams as often as we could.
Date: 2006-07-30
From: Silver Hill Campsite, CT

To: Housatonic River Rd, CT
Miles today: 15.6

Another hot, humid day today, with lots of climbing, gradual to steep inclines. We aer both tired - this heat really zaps one's energy.We stopped to cook our bread and our dinner at a picnic area next to the Housatonic River near the little town of Village Falls. Once we are done with this, we will have to pack up and hike a little to try to find a stealth campsite, as we will not be able to make it to the shelter tonite.The terrain hs been quite rugged today, and because of the heat and humidity, we aer both getting "diaper rash" - sore red rashes where our packs rub on our hips. We use the healing balm that I made last winter and that helps, but since we continue to irritate the rashes, they don't go away.Linc was hiking ahead of me (as usual) this afternoon, up a steep portion of the trail, when he saw something black move away from him and into a cave above. He figured it was a bear, and stopped to wait for me, as the trail was going to go right by where the bear disappeared. When I caught up to him, we were trying to decide whether to try to walk by quickly together or one at a time, when suddenly from about 10 feet away, and to our left, a Black Vulture erupted out of the bushes and flew off to a tree. When we looked in that direction, there was a second one watching us - it quickly flew off into a tree too. We assume that what actually disappeared into the cave was a young Black Vulture, but decided not to venture over to the cave to see if it was. So we wandered on up the hill. Nothing came out of the cave as we walked by, so we'll never know if it was a bear or Black Vulture. If it was a bear, was he having a meeting with the vultures?????We found a nice little campsite about one mile from the picnic area.
Date: 2006-07-31
From: Housatonic River Rd, CT

To: Laurel Ridge Campsite, MA
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Into Massachusetts today - State #11 - 10 down, 4 to go!!!! We are actually only a couple of miles into Massachusetts.Another hot and humid day, but places to soak our heads to make the climbs a little cooler. We hiked past Salisbury, CT today, which is an area we biked through last fall on our trip to Florida. It was quite exciting to pass by the exact spot where we had camped last fall - we had ridden our bikes about 1/2 mile onto the AT in tihs area since we could find no other stealth campsites in this area, and had camped on the AT. Too early in the day to camp there again, so just stopped briefly when we recognized the spot.Had good views from Lion's Head and Bear Mountain above Salisbury.Campsite is not bad, there's a group down the hill camping in the group site, and there are bear boxes, so we don't have to go through the food rope hanging process.A very nice and welcome site today - we've started seeing white birches again!!!!!!!!!
Date: 2006-08-01
From: Laurel Ridge Campsite, MA

To: Moon in the Pond Farm, Sheffield, MA
Miles today: 12.7

Taking a break to work on an organic farm in southern MA.We hiked, again, in very hot and humid conditions - it's amazing how much energy this weather zaps from us, and how exhuasted we feel today after such a short day of hiking.While hitchhiking into Great Barrington, a man offered us a ride if we could wait whilte he shopped at the farm stand. While waiting, a former thru hiker came up and asked if we wanted to work on an organic farm for a couple of days for food and a place to pitch the tent. So we took him up on the offer.After working in the field for about an hour, we ate a delicious supper of shish kabobs, with beef that they raised themselves and veggies from the gardens. We also had homemade ice cream from their cow's milk, real vanilla beans, duck eggs (from the farm), nad organic sugar - the best ice cream I've ever tasted.The hiking today was hot and slow, but we had some really good views from Race Mountain, together with a nice breeze. No view from Everett, but did have the cooling breeze up there also.Looking forward to some garden work tomorrow.