morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-06
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It did rain last night. A lot! I haven't seen a tunderstorm like that since the early days of the hike. I woke when it started, checked the water integrity of the tent, and shortly thereafter fell back into a good sleep. In case any of you don't know, I am packing a Tarptent and you can get real wet if it isn't pitched properly. An example of that would have been the time we camped at the Hurricane Shelter area. The rain had stopped by the time I got up but the tent was wet. Since I was only doing 15 miles today I decided to hang out at the 501 and dry things out before I left. I wasn't the only one with that idea. The Trolls, Bubble Toes and Rawhide also did the same. I left at 11:00, excited that I was walking on new ground. That excitement quickly changed when I ran into the rocks. We have run into rocks before, but now I am beginning to see what PA is famous for. Big rocks, little rocks, flat rocks, round rocks, and sharp rocks. Not for just a few yards but for many, many yards. Concentration on foot placement and the terrain in general is as tiring as walking. One misstep can mess you up with either a twisted ankle, wrenched knee or a face plant! This goes on for awhile, quits, levels out where you get a breather only to walk into the next boulder field. Rinse and repeat! Funny thing is, we haven't even hit the worst of the rocks yet! Early in the afternoon I was contemplating pushing on into Port Clinton today. That changed as the day wore on. I could have made it but there was no real need to and the potential for injury was greater after dealing with the rocks I had dealt with so far. I decided to pull into the shelter instead. Sleeveless, Moose, and Skylark were there so we cooked up dinner and waited for the rest of the group. Discussion tonight hinged on where everyone was going to resupply next. Port Clinton, the town we hit tomorrow, has nothing in the way of resupply so we were deciding on where to stop. I am in a different boat than the rest because I can resupply back in Duncannon over the weekend. My plan was to go into Port Clinton, spend the day there and then hitch back to Duncannon for the "hiker feed" on Friday. I'm not sure if Free or Scholar got my email from the other day but I hope to see them there, as well as Gypsy, Touk, and Sunshine, who were also planning on attending. Also, the last I heard, Break was also hoping to get back on the trail this week. I really hope so and I hope her foot allows her to walk well. I also hope she decides to jump up to the hiker feed. I would love to see her again! The hiker feed is my last planned, and I repeat, planned, multiple zero. After this I have very few zeros planned. Doesn't mean that won't change as we go along. Nice thing about being out here, you don't really plan too many days out. As Break always tells me, "There are just too many variables that can come into play."
Date: 2005-07-07
From: Eagles Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The short trip into Port Clinton involved more rocks and a steep little downhill. Somehow I just missed getting hit with the first of the storms that would hit the area during the day. I knew it had just poured because the trees were doing a lot of "raining" on their own. I reached Port Clinton and was struck at how much it reminded me of Duncannon, another town that had passed its prime. I headed toward the pavillion, a place in the park where the town allows hikers to sleep. It was nice to know that I was going to be covered tonight. The rains are supposed to really hit tonight. All the rain is from the remnants of tropical storm Cindy. When I got to the pavillion LiveStong was just leaving. He and Quixote had pushed in last night. Quixote was leaving also but she wanted to go to the outfitters first. I walked with her. The outfitter carried next to nothing for resupply so we walked to the Peanut Store. Now here was a store! An old fashioned candy store! I have not seen a store like this since I was a kid. It was great! I got a couple of pictures and one good one of Quixote. Talk about kids in a candy store! Quixote headed out of town after that. She is a pretty fast hiker but I may see her up the trail. She will be getting off for a few days in August. I looked for a phone and eventually found out there wasn't a single pay phone in town. The 3 C's Restaurant allowed me to use their phone which was nice of them. I went back to the pavillion where some of the crew was starting to come in. The only ones that were pressing on from here were Skylark and LoJack. Everybody else made the pavillion their home for the night. Tomorrow I am going to try to work my way back to Duncannon. It is the weekend of the hiker feed and we have been planning this ever since Funkee Monkee was with us after Trail Days. It will be tough because of the rain. Cars don't stop when it's raining. I may wait and see what happens. I heard that some of the Billville folks may drop by to shuttle people down. Billville is the name of the group of folks who are putting on the hiker feed. Should be a lot of fun.
Date: 2005-07-08
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Whew! Did it ever rain last night and it hasn't stopped yet (10:00 AM). This is one time I am very glad to have had a roof over my head even though it was only a pavillion. Evryone was debating what to do. Most wanted to hike but nobody wanted to leave until it died down some. I wanted to wait a little before I attempted the hitch back to Duncannon. It was going to be tough enough with the rain, not to mention trying to get a ride from the freeway which means travelers that are not familiar with AT hikers. Around 11:00 I had had enough. The rain had slowed some so I made my signs saying where I was going, said my goodbyes to the rest of the crew, and off to the main road I went. It took about 45 minutes to get the first ride I needed, this one just a few miles to the freeway. At this rate it was going to take forever to ge to Duncannon which is going to require at least 3 hitches total! After another half hour I had a new thought. There was one person I knew that was coming down that was on the same travel track that I was going to take. Funkee Monkee, from Hard Core and our personal trail angel for the week after Hard Core. I walked back up to the gas station and called. Sure enough, he was going to head down around 3:00. I told him where I was and he said he would pick me up. Mission accomplished! Sure beats trying to hitch in the rain! A had some time to kill before he got there so I went to the Cabela's that was close by. Cabelas is a large outdoor related store. Talk about sensory overload! I thought I was going to fry a bunch of synapses while I walked around! The place is huge with everything imaginable for the outdoors person. What was humorous was the fact that there wasn't a whole lot there that the long dstance hiker could really use. It is mainly geared for the weekend/car/family camper as well as hunters, boaters, and fishermen. Still, it was fun walking around though I did have to get out of there after a bit. Way too many people in one place for me! Funkee Monkee got there later in the afternoon and we headed to Duncannon. It took about an hour to get there but once we got there it was like old home week! Gypsy, Touk, Sunshine, Bassline, Stilts, LiveStrong, TDS, Piker, Ms. Mileage, Squid Jerky, Clearwater, Toolman, Peanut, Slap Happy, Tree Trunks, and a whole lot of others were there! It was great to see everyone again! I found out that Free, Serenity, Scholar, and Poet were supposed to arrive tomorrow. One piece of sad news I found out about was that the Bruce's had gotten off the trail. This one really surprised me! Goes to show you how fast it can happen, whether through injury or personal decision. The evening was spent listening to live music, eating, and talking. Funkee Monkee put on a show with his yo-yo's. He has an attache case with some real nice yo-yo's in it. He can make those things do some incredible stuff. Very impressive and he makes it look so easy! Tomorrow will be a fun day, catching up with everyone and doing what hikers like to do most. Eat!
Date: 2005-07-09
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

People awoke to shouts of "Pancakes and Coffee", coming from across the field. Of course, I was already awake and had my laundry done by time the shouts started plus I had already had my fair share of coffee. It was a beautiful morning, especially when compared to the rains from yesterday. Groups of people wandered around, some going to take care of town chores, others eating, others talking. A group of us went to participate in the horseshoe tourney. Slap Happy and I got teamed up against Professor Nutbag and Clearwater. We lost 11-6 but it wasn't without a valiant effort! Volleyball games were in progress and a frisbee football game was also underway. Basically, people having fun. All of this came to an abrupt halt when the word, "Pig's on!" was shouted. The main, lunch course was a roasted pig, baked beans, and a potato salad. It was excellent. One of the local townspeople provided dessert, 50 gallons of homemade ice cream. It was more than excellent! I was talking to Welsh Nomad, a hiker from last year, when Free, Poet, and Serenity showed up. They had hitched back from Port Clinton. Not more than 10 minutes earlier I had handed a note to Miss Janet, from the guy down at the Doyle. It was from Poet asking about a shuttle from Port Clinton. I said to Miss Janet that I wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do about the note. So, Poet, Free, Serenity, and I are talking when Poet's phone rings. I look over and Miss Janet had a phone to her ear. My immediate thought was she was calling Poet. Sure enough. I looked at Poet and pointed at Miss Janet. Poet is laughing and talking to her as she heads toward her. Miss Janet finally sees her and everyone busts out laughing. Miss Janet shouts, "Cuppa Joe, I'm gonna get you!" I laughed and shouted back, "I'm innocent! It's none of my doing!". She thought I had set her up with the whole note thing! Scholar wasn't going to come down but she would catch us when we got back to Port Clinton. Talk led to more talk and it looks like we may have a side trip on Monday, to the Yuengling Brewery, the country's oldest brewery. We'll confirm that with Welsh Nomad when we get back to Port Clinton tomorrow. The whole day and night was a lot of fun and well worth the trip back. One nice thing is that a lot of us are catching back up with one another. On Monday, Gypsy, Touk, Sunshine, Stilts, and Clearwater will be in Port Clinton with us. It has been a long time since we were all together. I think it was that week after Trail Days since it last happened. As the group of us were talking we realized just how soon we would be out of PA. By the 16th, most of us will be at the Delaware Water Gap, ready to cross into New Jersey. We are ever so slowly getting closer to New England!
Date: 2005-07-10
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Whew! Late night! I got to bed around 3:30 and then up again at 7:00. I immediately went for the coffee. Now, this coffee was "real" coffee. The kind made by throwing about one and a half pounds of coffee into a large pot and cooking it. One cup will set you free. I was on my 4th large cup when Mala, the maker of the coffee, told me that I'd be up for week if I kept going on it! Everyone was getting up early today. Time to clean up the park, get packed, and catch the rides back to the trail where everyone came in from. However, breakfast was first and it was a first class breakfast, Eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes, french toast, fruit, juice, and scrapple. I had never tried scrapple so I decided to give it a shot. Not to bad, if you don't think about what it is. By late morning people were heading out. Poet, Free, and I were going to get a ride back from Redneck. Redneck was one of the trail angels back at the "mothership" magic in early June and he had offered to bring us back. Serenity had relatives come in so she was going back with them. We all said our goodbyes and headed out. I want to thank all the members of Billville for inviting us and providing us with a good weekend. Bag of Tricks, Jester, Funkee Monkee, Baltimore Jack, Chump, Mala and all the rest, a big thanks to you all. Also the same for Trail Angel Mary, the people and town of Duncannon for allowing us to be there and making us welcome! We got back to Port Cinton around 2:00. Most of us didn't get much sleep over the last couple of days so we were pretty tired. Not much of anything was done for the rest of the day. One good thing with the time off, I think it is helping with my leg. I am not feeling the ouch as much in the mornings. Tomorrow we may do the brewery thing and I might head out and do six miles or so later in the afternoon. Not sure yet. Just as long as I make Delaware Water Gap by Saturday. I have mail there and I don't want to have to wait till Monday to get it. It won't be a big deal about getting there by then so it's not like I have to rush.
Date: 2005-07-11
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: clear sky

A little surprise when I got up this morning. Three people had hiked in real late. They made hardly any noise so I didn't give it much thought. It was still real early and I was going to go to the diner for coffee. I walked past all the sleeping people and I saw a bandana that looked like Touk's. I paused and thought to myself that there was no way that they would have done the twenty plus to get here especially since they wouldn't have gotten started till late afternoon. I went for coffee and came back. It was lighter and I spotted two other bodies. Sure as hell, it was Gypsy, Touk, and Sunshine. They had left the 501 Shelter when they got back from Duncannon and decided to make the push. They said they were glad they did it. It seems, not just from them, but from most of us here at Port Clinton and a lot of folks at the feed that the feeling to get out of PA, NJ, and NY has hit. Everyone wants to get to Conn. and beyond, so I think there is going to be a big push till then. Not in the sense of doing huge miles but not stopping in towns as much. The stops that are made will be quick in and outs for resupply. Around noon Welsh Nomad and Andrew picked us up and we headed to the Yuengling Brewery. It was a pretty cool place and well worth the side trip. We ran into Epic and Free Radical while we were there. After the tour we sampled two of the brews. Since I already like the Lager I chose the Ale, which was to "hoppy" for my taste, and the Porter, which was real good. Thanks so much, Welsh Nomad and Andrew, for taking us over! On our return to Port Clinton I decided that I was going to go the six miles to the first shelter out of town. I told Free, Serenity, and Poet that I would see them in a day or two and off I went. It wasn't a bad climb out of town, hot and humid, but that is par for the course these days. I reached the shelter around 8:00, pitched my tent, ate, and went to bed.
Date: 2005-07-13
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Leroy A. Smith Shelter
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: broken clouds

Owww! Did my feet ever ache this morning! It took a minute before I could walk without hobbling. Felt like my feet did last year when this was an evryday occurance. First thoughts were to make sure it was just "normal" aches and pains from the abuse of yesterday. It didn't seem anything was out of the ordinary but I hated the fact that I was going to put them through the same meat grinder today! Gypsy was also up early and she and I left camp around 5:30. This was her earliest start yet but with 23 to do today she wanted to get out early. We hiked the first three miles together and then I pulled ahead. I had 10 more miles to go before I got to Little Gap and it included the climb out of Lehigh Gap. What can I say about Lehigh Gap! It was, by far, the biggest climb we have done, and most of it was a boulder/rock crawl. You go up a 1000 feet in a half a mile. Pretty steep but actually, a lot of fun to do! Once you get to the top you enter, what can only be described as hell on earth! It is an EPA Superfund Site. This place used to mine zinc and the desolation that is left is beyond belief. Nothing can grow here! It looks like the landscape of Mars, but with dead trees standing or lying all over the place. It totally blew me away. Amazing how much we can screw up the land! I'm no tree hugger but at least have some sense of resposibility when it comes to the environment. I made it to Little Gap where I finally got to meet Pilgrim. He had brought me a sandwhich and that was gone in short order. He also had some trail magic for others that passed through. We talked and rested for a couple of hours and then it was time to press on. Thanks for everything Pilgrim and I'll see you up the trail! 10 more miles to go to the shelter and the next water source. The terrain was just as rocky and had been all day. My feet were truly on auto pilot and I could feel every step. Another fine thing happened along the way. I got caught right smack in the middle of a thunderstorm! The kind where the lightning flashes and the thunder is instantaneous. You really feel vulnerable is those instances! Thank goodness this was a fast mover. All Igot was soaked! I made it to the shelter which had water. I set up the tent, ate, and collapsed. Tomorrow will be a good day. 14 short miles with a resupply in Wind Gap. My feet are already thanking me.
Date: 2005-07-15
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Up early, no surprise there. I headed for the diner that opened early and drank my share of coffee. After coffee I went to the post office and picked up my mail. I received a couple of goody boxes! Thanks so much to the two of you! I wasn't in a hurry to leave. The plan was to only go ten miles today so the start time could be afternoon without any problem. I did pack up in case there was going to be a shower. It was a sitcky day and it looked like it might rain some. Getting wet sounded like a good plan so I hopped into the shower. It felt good to be clean again. Real clean, not the clean from washing off in the streams but the kind of squeaky clean feeling and you know you haven't just shifted the dirt around. The only problem is you have to put on your same hiking clothes and they have developed their own unique smell that washing doesn't even get rid of. Not to mention the pack. The pack is a story in and of itself. I have got to find a car wash to blast it down in or a bottle of Fabreeze! After the shower I updated the journal and figured it was time to get going. I threw on the pack and told Gypsy I would see her later. She asked if I had seen Free yet. I guess she had come into town while I was on the computer. The pack came off and I went in search of her. There are only a couple of places that you look for another hiker in, the post office and the restaurants. I found her eating some pizza. We had a soda and talked. She was going to be off till Sunday but, she too, felt like it was time to do some miles. We made tentative plans on where we would each be in the near future so one or the other could catch up. We figured that Poet, Serenity, and Scholar were two days back, at this point. I said my goodbyes and headed out. I crossed the Delaware River and entered New Jersey. Aother state down. This will be a short state, only 70 some odd miles of trail here. I made the climb out of town and reached Sunfish Pond. This is a glacial lake and it's quite large and pretty pristine. Too much of a walk for civilization to have messed it up yet. I then reached another ridge top that offered a great panoramic view. Views are something we haven't had much of in the past little while so this was a treat. So far I am impressed with NJ. A lot prettier than I would have thought. I reached the Mohican Outdoor Center around 5:30 and here is where things begin to fall apart. They had a phone and I checked mail. There were several messages to call home which I did. I learned that my mother was involved in an auto accident and that she was in the hospital. To make a long story short I made plans to get off the trail, tomorrow, at Culvers Gap, about 18 miles further north. Plane reservatons were for Sunday morning and my uncle would pick me up at the Gap. I plan on calling my sister again in the morning, before I head out. If all goes well I will be back on the trail next Saturday, at the latest.
Date: 2005-07-16
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Culvers Gap
Miles today: 17.9

I made one last call early in the morning to firm up the plans and off I went. It was a little foggy to start but when it burned off there were some pretty cool views. I also ran into my first blueberries. Only a few were ripe but I am looking forward to them further north. I guess I was in cruise mode because I did the 18 miles by 1:00. I headed into Branchville, the little town near the gap and waited for my uncle. He arrived and we headed to his house. Sometimes things just work out right. My aunt and uncle live in NJ and they are only an hour from where I was picked up. Newark airport isn't far from there house either so the trip to the airport tomorrow morning should go smoothly. When we got to their house I called my brother and sister to get an update. Some good news! They took my mother off the respirator which means she can breathe on her own again. That was one of my big concerns so this was good to hear. She is still in the ICU but things are looking better. ... (SUNDAY UPDATE .. She is doing real well and will be moved out of ICU by tomorrow) I cleaned up again. Another real shower in a real tub, in a real bathroom. A bathroom with a mirror. Jesus, do I look like a mess! Heat rash, bug bites, and poison ivy on my wrist, (I must have just gotten that) and I have to go out into civilization! Another problem was I had no clothes other than my hiking stuff. Figured I would send through the wash a couple of times and go from there. I was told I could use some of my nephews clothes. Now I know I have lost weight, a lot of weight, but I didn't think I could fit into a nineteen year olds jeans and shirt. Believe it or not, they fit! I am wearing a size 33 waist. Something I haven't seen since the days before I quit smoking. I can't wait to find a scales to see what the actual weight is. Free, Poet, and Serenity have been saying I need to quit losing weight. I say I still have some more I can dump! Tomorrow it will be back to Florida for a few days.