morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-28
From: Darlington shelter

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light rain

We got up at 6 am hoping to get to town early afternoon. The trail was nice the first ew miles, after it got extremely rocky. My feet didn't like it and I was so slow, I put my feet down carefully since I didn't want to twist my ankle again. It took forever to do the first 10 miles. We finally got to the downhill part to get to the valley and into town. It was steep and I hurt me a few times. Then almost at the bottom the trail went steep uphill again, on the same hill we just came down! It went up, over a boulder field and steep back down. Unbelievable, who designed this part of the trail? Do you hate hikers? Do you want us to get hurt with all those rolling boulders and then on purpose you make us doing it twice for no obvious reasons? This absolutely sucks!We made it to Duncannon. Toasted toad has fallen twice on the trail down and got slightly hurt. Our friend vagabond jack has decided to leave the trail for good. He was thinking about it since the Shenandoah and today made his decision final. He has a ride out tomorrow and will be back home in Wisconsin within a few days. I have my bad day today too, I'm seriously trail sick and would like to quit here and now. My feet hurt every step I take and I just don't see a good reason to go on. We will stay on the campground at the edge of town tonight. Marco wants me to hike on to think it through. If I still want to leave the trail when we get to Hamburg (70 miles north), this probably will be it.Tonight we will drink a few beers with vagabond and say goodbye, I hope we will be able to visit him in Wisconsin one day.
Date: 2014-06-29
From: Duncannon

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday evening we hiked from the tavern about a mile to the campground. By the time we got there it was dark. We put up our tent and I went to bed. Marco wanted to have one more drink with toad. About 3 hours and I don't know how many drinks later Marco came to bed too, he was completely drunk and after he woke me up, he past out within seconds. I wasn't amused to say the least! I had a hard time going back to sleep. At 7am I woke him up with a devilish joy. I sent him to take a shower and started packing. Marco had a horrible hangover and told me he didn't want to hike today and that he wants to quit the trail. I went to ask if we could stay another night and we set up the tent at a better place. By now toad had gotten up. He was in a bad mood and didn't really say goodbye when he left the campground. I'm not sure if he was mad at us for changing our plan or if he just had a hangover as bad as Marco. Marco went back to bed and slept till noon. I read my book and just enjoyed my zero. In the afternoon we made a short walk to a gas station (small grocery store), sorted our food and all our other bags, took showers and had an early dinner. But most important, we planned our next two weeks of hiking. We both decided to go back on the trail, test how our feet are doing and just see how far we get.Thank you Anna and Pablo for telling me: Never give up! This zero was perfect, unplanned and not for a pleasant reason but more than welcome. We enjoyed not meeting any other hikers, just being to ourselves for a while (the last time is long ago), just hanging around and not feeling any pressure. We don't need to report to any one, it's our vacation and we will spend it the way we want! We hike our own hike!
Date: 2014-06-30
From: Duncannon

To: rattling run tent site
Miles today: 21.7

What a crazy day. (One of today's daily miles we have done the day before yesterday evening from the tavern to the campground.)For some reason we have thought today would be the 1st of July. Then late last night I realized that we were wrong. This morning thinking this through during our first break, we realized what this ment for us. We had planned to be in Hamburg on Friday to pick up our package. But Friday is the 4th of July, Independence Day of the US! In our plan the 4th would have been on Thursday, so we could have watched the fireworks from the top of the hill and hike to Hamburg the next morning. We could still do that but the post office isn't open on Friday the 4th of July! (I called and asked to make sure). There isn't really a place to stay in town and it also never was our plan. Now we have two options: 1st we slow down so we would get to Hamburg on Saturday when the post office is open in the morning or we hurry up/do more miles than planned and get there on Thursday afternoon before 5pm. We could still just yellow blaze (hitchhike) but we don't want to do that, except for emergencies. We decided on doing more miles, checked the book again and found a place with water (there was almost no water at all today, the first 12 miles no spring!) and probably a tent site about 20 miles from Duncannon. We wanted to give it a try. We made it but the last 3 miles were tough. The trail was okay but our feet hurt badly. We just hope they will be able to relax tonight since our plan for tomorrow looks the same. Again 20 miles! Will we be able to do this twice in a row?
Date: 2014-07-01
From: rattling run tent site

To: William Penn shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Yes we can! We have hiked a second 20 miles day in a row! We got up 5:45am. We have realized the last few days that it is a lot easier to hike in the early morning when the heat is still bearable. Just the mosquitoes are already bad, but we have a great repellent from Brazil that works wonders. The first 10 miles were great to hike, almost flat, only a few rocks and lots of soft earthy trail. It was great and we did those 10 miles within 5 hours including breaks. Then we had to hike down the so called second mountain. The trail looked like a dried out creek, steep downhill, no steps just rolling rocks and dry earth. It took us forever to do that mile. Finally in the valley we had to cross several streets. We realized that we could get to the closest town to watch the second half of the soccer game Switzerland vs. Argentina. We tried to hitchhike but after 15 minutes in the heat of the midday sun we gave up. We hiked on, got to a creek which we had to cross by walking over a big tree trunk. Quite scarry, if we would have fallen down we couldn't only hurt ourselves but we would also have all our gear in the water. We made it across and stopped right afterwards for lunch and to cool our feet in the water. A mile later we had crossed the valley and had to hike up the next hill. Today we had the choice of hiking 11 miles to the tent site with water (where we had lunch), carry all the water we needed for hiking and cooking (about 8 liters) up the hill, or hike 20 miles to the next shelter/tent site where there is a spring. We went for the shelter. We both carried two liters of water for drinking. By the time we were on the mountain we each had already drunk more than a half liter. I had the feeling I was in a steam bath, my clothes were completely wet from sweating and the sweat ran down my face and arms, we were both dripping wet!We realized we had to rationalize our water, 2 dl per mile. Tough, we both could have easily finished a liter right there. Doing miles in the afternoon heat is difficult, we needed a stop after every mile to drink and got really tired. We heard it should cool down tonight and be less hot the next days. We dragged us along and the miles seemed to last forever. If we would have had water we would definitely have stopped after 17 miles. From then on every step hurt! And the shelter didn't come and didn't come. But finally we got there. I feel completely drained! How far will we be able to go tomorrow?
Date: 2014-07-02
From: William Penn shelter

To: eagles nest shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: scattered clouds

A long hot and humid day. We left early again to get miles in in the morning. A lot of rocks, snake country! I saw a small copperhead snake just under one of the boulders that I crossed. It didn't seem to like me hiking over it's den. We went on fast but careful. We enjoyed a shower at the 501 shelter. In the afternoon we decided to hike the gravel road instead of the trail. It goes straight, no turns, minor up and downs, no boulders but snakes. The first scared the hell out of me, an indigo was slithering in the grass beside the road. Now being warned, we could at least spot them more easily. It started to thunder around us, we couldn't really make out where the thunderstorm was. We got a bit of rain and took a break under a pine tree which kept us dry. Then we hiked on. We camp just before the spring and the shelter. Two section hikers are here too, they gave us some good information about new jersey and new york since they come from this area.According to the radio which they listened to it should thunderstorm all evening, well it sure did, luckily not where we are!
Date: 2014-07-04
From: port Clinton

To: eckville shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained all night and still in the morning. I was glad we didn't put up our tent but slept in the pavilion. I was warm and dry and our tent was dry and packed in my backpack. People started to move and make noise early but we couldn't get ourselves to get up. Most hikers went for breakfast at a diner. We preferred to lay in our sleeping bags a little longer. I think we finally got up around 9 am, it was still raining. The weather forecast said it should stop to rain late in the morning and brighten up in the afternoon. We just hoped it to be true. We wouldn't have mind a zero but we knew there would be a big party at the pavilion tonight with people we don't really like, I think that's the main reason why we decided to hike today. Slayer and Moses showed up while we had breakfast. A nice couple, she's one of the smartest persons I've met on the trail, and we were happy to meet up again with them. They are some of the few who aren't in a rush to get to kathadin and seem to enjoy every second on the trail. When they like a place they stay, they take long breaks, they appreciate the wildlife. Unfortunately Moses has hurt his foot, he's going to Palmerton to see a doctor while she hikes there. I hope it's nothing bad and he's able to hike on soon! Yes, the trail takes its toll! But today wasn't that bad. We met a guy who is in the trail club who is responsible for the trail from Duncannon to a few miles north from here. I told him my/the hikers opinion on this part of the trail. I don't think he liked it. First he tried to find cheap excuses, like "do you know how hard this maintenance work is?" Then he kinda blamed the hikers for wearing trail runners instead of boots. I hope I explained him good enough why we choose those kind of shoes and where we think they could improve the trail. I also tried to explain him that it is a whole different story if you slip with a daypack or with a 30 pounds pack. With the 30 pounds pack, once your off balance you fall. And I actually told him why a good trail is so important to thru hikers. We hurt our feet, we're done! It's not like a dayhiker who can go home and come back a month later. It's a dream that gets smashed in seconds because some people aren't doing their job. I guess it's difficult for someone who hasn't tried to thru hike to understand what a thru hiker needs. But they should think: "I build this trail for a thru hiker who has a big, heavy pack and feet which probably already hurt and I don't want him to have an accident on the trail I maintain!"We hiked to a really nice shelter, it's a bit like a garden shed, 4 walls, bunk beds, flushing toilet, solar powered shower, a house where the caretaker lives, a spigot with drinking water, a plug to charge our electronic devices, wonderful! The caretaker had friends over who had brought sausages, they invited us to hot dogs, tasty. There are only a few hikers here tonight and we finally catched up with toasted toad. We all sat on the front porch, chatted and watched the hummingbirds at the feeder.Thank you so much, we enjoyed 4th of July here.
Date: 2014-07-05
From: eckville shelter

To: bake oven knob shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

We slept really good last night in that neat shelter. Well, I did, the others were a bit disturbed by my snoring We had a good start, the trail wasn't great but also not too bad. We had a bunch of rock fields and my feet got tired of it fast. After the lunch we had 4 miles of really good trail and we hoped it would stay that way. For about 100 yards the trail reminded me of a roman road. The rocks had been removed and built a small wall along the trail, big flat boulders were put into the earth like stepping stones. Great to look at and great to walk on. It actually showed us that it would be possible to make a great trail there if they put some effort in it. We got trail magic from a section hiker, thank you! We needed the energy shortly after. First the trail was rocky over several miles. I hurt both ankles a few times and after 14 miles I felt like I couldn't go much further. Then the fun started. I had thought the trail has been bad but compared to what we hit next it had been good. We came to a boulder field. I like to boulder, with a big mattress on the bottom of the boulder, my climbing shoes and no backpack. But with a 30 pound backpack and tired feet? No thank you. My ankle were so worn that I didn't have the power to push me up. I couldn't go on. Marco went past the boulder field with his pack and came back to get mine and show me the best way to cross it. I needed my hands, my feet and my but to climb up and down those boulders. Discussing it later with Blue Butterfly I think the trail was quite dangerous. One wrong step, or the backpack sliding and pushing in the wrong direction you could fall dangerously deep down on those boulders. Then another rock field and a nicer path. We had only one mile left and didn't think much of it, according to the profile just a tiny hill. It was another rock-boulder-rock field. I don't know how I got across it, my feet felt numb and still do, my ankles hurt and I was really happy when I heard toad calling us, telling the tent site was right there. We put up our tent, had dinner, made plans for tomorrow and marco went to get water. It took him over an hour to get back. There were supposedly several springs down the hill. Unfortunately all were dry except for the one more than a half mile down the hill. Toad had slipt, fell and hurt his knee. And it got darker and darker and they couldn't see much since they had only one working lamp. Finally they made it back up, than hanging the bear bag and finally getting into our tent and trying to kill all the gnats, mosquitos and all the other little insects which like to feed on us. Marco had a tick crawling on him.Now two ibuprofen to be able to sleep and not being kept awake by my hurting feet. Tomorrow 8 more rocky miles, then town!
Date: 2014-07-06
From: bake oven knob shelter

To: Palmerton
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

We are in jail! But one thing after the other...We got up late, knowing we wouldn't have to hike far it was difficult to motivate ourselves to leave our sleeping bags. Blue Butterfly left the trail today, she's a section hiker who just finished another 150 miles hike. Am I jealous? I don't know, sure I'd love to be able to go home right now and lay around on the sofa for a few days (she goes back to work, don't miss understand me!) but then I would probably miss the trail and get bored. I know I couldn't be a section hiker, it needs a lot of self motivation to come out here over and over again for several years to finally one day finish the trail. I look up to all the ones who come again and again. We had a few rock fields but nothing as bad as yesterday. And then there was trail magic. A box full of goodies, even fresh fruit, wow! Thank you so much! It gave us a reason to take a break and the power to hike the last miles faster. We got a ride to town easily, I'm still surprised how many people help strangers.Then we went to the police station. There is a jail house hostel, in the basement of the borough hall and check in on weekends is the police station. No, don't worry its not the "real" jail, they just call it this. It is for free and for hikers only, it has everything we need and the laundromat and the diner are just across the street. Plus the point that you have to check in at the police station and you have to show an ID/passport keeps certain people away. It's a small town, everything in walking distance and hikers are easily recognized. In the grocery store all hikers get an apple or an orange for free! Everybody here is really nice, they seem to like hikers. We had dinner at the diner and they let me stay forever to do all my online stuff and didn't mind. Later Marco and me went to the park. On Sunday evenings they have free concerts. Tonight a brass band played Italian and American songs. They had a really good singer with them and they played mainly Musicals, songs the mostly elderly people there knew. And since it is the 4th of July weekend they also played "God bless America" and finished with the National Anthem for which even the people in the wheel chair got up!Today was a good day!
Date: 2014-07-07
From: Palmerton

To: Leroy A. Smith Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I couldn't sleep for a long time last night, people came in late, people moved in their bunks, a sirene went off outside in the middle of the night. Just the noises of a town and bunk rooms. I guess I'm not used to it anymore. We got a ride out of town from another hiker, his wife slack packs him, so they got a car. We started at the famous Lehigh gap. The trail goes up a hill which only consists of rocks! Just one huge boulder field. It had been a zinc mine in the 19th century. It is still almost deserted, so it was a hot climb in the sun. And yes, a climb! The trail was in existing, just white blazes on rocks giving the direction. It felt like bouldering but again with the pack on. Honestly, I barely made it and my legs hurt now from the strength they needed to push me up. I'm glad I have a bit of experience in rock climbing and knew how to find good places to put my feet and my hands. On top were blueberries and they were delicious. Unfortunately I didn't know what a superfund site is. Toad told me later it ment they have found a lot of environmental unfriendly things in the ground, its completely polluted from the zinc mining. Which means it's unsafe to drink the water or to eat anything that grows there. Oh well I hope doing it once doesn't hurt me. It was the only boulder field of today, the rest of the trail was just really rocky. There was no water source from where we started to the shelter where we are staying at. We were out by the time we got here. Marco had to hike half a mile down to get what we needed for tonight and tomorrow morning. I put up the tent and made a fire against the bugs. Once again our feet hurt so bad that we take painkillers tonight to be able to relax and sleep. I hope they feel better tomorrow. Someone told me today that the White Mountains will be just like the uphill today, a lot of rock climbing. I guess I have to clean out my bag once more and get rid of some things. My pack is to heavy for me to rock climb with.
Date: 2014-07-08
From: Leroy A. Smith Shelter

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: scattered clouds

And the thunderstorm came last night at midnight. Heavy and strong, I was afraid the lightning could hit the high pine tree under which we had set up our tents. It would have fried not just Marco and me but also toasted toad and golly green giant. Actually golly had to put up his tarp when it started to rain, he had cowboy camped. I felt really sorry for him. Most of his stuff got slightly wet. Toads tent leaked again and he had a puddle in his tent. He got up early and started to dry his things out. Later after we hiked a quarter of a mile we got to a windy ridge where we stopped to dry everything out, things got dry within 5 minutes! It's good to know everything is dry especially since the weather forecast promised more rain and thunderstorm for today/tonight. We didn't hike far today and even those miles we were only able to hike with the help of ibuprofen. Southbounding section and day hikers had told us the water pipe is broken at the shelter which meant 20 miles without a water source. We got a ride to a gas station to by water. Marco carried 9 liters of water up the hill and on for 9 miles! When we got to the shelter the pipe had just gotten fixed. Oh well, at least we didn't take any chances and he knows now how it would be to hike the PCT.It was cloudy by the time we got to the shelter so we decided to sleep in the shelter and not hike to the tent site. Golly and toad made the same decision, can't blame them after last night. Let's see when the thunderstorm strikes tonight.
Date: 2014-07-09
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: few clouds

Another bad thunderstorm hit us last night, I was so glad we had stayed at the shelter. Especially when we saw the tent site this morning. It was on an exposed spot and the wind would have hit us bad.Anyway I slept great last night and didn't have any intention to get up in the morning. By the time I got up toad was ready to go, we agreed to meet him in town. Yes, we are already in the next town, towns are so close to the trail here. Anyway we hiked those 6 or so more or less rocky miles. At the trail head was sugar, she does trail magic and takes it to the extreme. It looked like a kiosk to us. We had each two cheese burgers fresh from the grill and chips, potato and macaroni salad. Then we were allowed to help ourselves to what ever we needed from the resupply she offered. Wow this was really awesome! In town we went to the outfitter, the bakery and to the ice cream place. When we were finally ready to hike on the clouds were black and it was just a matter of time till the next rain would hit. Toad decided to stay in town at the free hostel the church runs. We followed thinking this would be a smart idea. We reserved our bunk beds and I read all afternoon and finished the book from Pablo and Anna. The rain hit late afternoon but has finished by now. The bunk room is full, the shelter behind the church is full and some have put their tents up. The place is crowded with thru hikers, all people which we know since a while, they hike faster and further than us but get stuck in town. Oh well this will probably be a noisy night.