morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-06-27
From: Duncannon PA

To: Peter's Mountain shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

I want to again thank everyone who has emailed us and offered their prayers and support. It means so much to Carol and me. We read all the emails but we can not answer many of them because we make our entries at town libraries and there is always someone else waiting to use the computer.We enjoyed the 2 days in Duncannon with our daughter Heather. Carol and I both teared up when we had to go back to hiking, but perhaps she will be able to visit us again on the hike as we move north. We hiked over the Juniata river and the Susquehanna river bridges and out of town. The hike up to the ridge was very steep. We had a modest hike planned for today because we got a later start. As we hiked up to the ridge there was some trail magic waiting for us - fruit yea! We both took and apple and hiked on. The ridges in Penn. are just rocks and boulders. Crossing these areas is slow and painful on the feet. The vistas of Penn are not as spectacular as the vistas we previously have seen because the elevation is lower but when you look into the valley there are family farms everywhere. Because the foot path is so rocky it is necessary to constantly be looking down and concentrating as to where you will place your foot. At one point the rocks just started to clear a little and I crashed into a tree overhanging the trail. I saw stars and almost went down. Instantly my cap was wet from blood. Carol reached into her pocket for her stash of toilet paper, applied pressure, and in about 15 minutes had the bleeding stopped. I had lacerated my scalp and the wound was about 2.5 to 3 inches in length. Carol said that it needed sutures or at least steri strips to approximate the wound edges; but we did not have any so we had no choice but to hike on.I was not feeling very well (a little sick to my stomach) but did not say anything to Carol. Suddenly we hiked into a parking area where day hikers leave their cars. We spotted a man we met in the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon. His trail name was Bag of Tricks. He had a bag of tricks with him. He sat me down, gave each of us some gatorade and pulled out a large first aid kit. He had all the things necessary to properly treat my wound. Carol steri stripped my wound and covered it with a bandage and in a half hour I was feeling better and we hiked on. Thank you so much Bag of Tricks.Now I need to expain that I am not the biggest klutz out here. Everyone falls (like me) and of the 7 people camping with us tonight 3 hikers hit their head on the tree; and the next day we met another hiker who hit the same tree and had a minor injury.Water is getting sparse in Penn. and when we get to the shelters it is along way down. Carol went down and up 300 rock steps to get water. The quality of the water is pretty poor also. She filtered it through her bandana to remove silt and we always chemically treat the water we drink to purify it. The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-28
From: Peter's Mountain shelter

To: Rausch Gap shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained hard last night but did not clear the air of humidity, and the relentless 90 plus degree weather is still with us.The trail was a little more clear of rocks today and we only had one 1100 foot climb stretched out over 3 miles. It was comfortable compared to some up the steep uphills we recenly have been having. I have decided to wear my cap backwards as much as I think it looks silly on a man my age. The only people that are older that look cool with a cap backwards are African American's like Samuel L. Jackson. He is stylish in anything. The reason I turned my hat around is so that the bill does not block my upward gaze as I am picking my way through the rocks. This way I can see overhanging trees more easily.Tonight we are camping with old hiker buddies Wizard, Mountain Man, Snook; and some new friends Boomer (from Melbourne Au.) and Caribou and his dog. Caribou is deaf and does not speak. He is an amazing hiker, however. He hikes at 4 miles an hour over the rocks. It is almost like he is levitating. It is very impressive to everyone.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-29
From: Rausch Gap shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

We have been told the weather is going to change and be cooler today. We sure hope the weather person is accurate.Today we had great insentive. We read in our hiking guide that the shelter was near a road and a pizza company delivered pizzas to the parking area a short distance form the shelter. Yea for pizza!We had two big climbs today and as we finished the last climb a tree was near the trail that had been cut to form a bench for us to sit at. We sat and had lunch. After lunch we hiked to the William Penn Shelter for our PM break and reflected on the fact that we now had less than 1000 miles left to hike. We don't usually think about the distance left to hike as it is overwhelming. What we do is think about where we want to be in a week and where we want to end each day. This helps keep our sanity.At the Rausch Gap shelter we ordered a large salad and large pizza. The pizza was huge and we had the remainder for breakfast. Pizza is the food for champion hikers.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-06-30
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

The weather person was right it was very cool outside. The trail was very rocky but we know we can hike 15 miles no matter what the conditions so we did not hurry. When we got to the shelter the hiking guide said the water was in the ravine we passed on the trail just before the shelter. To me the ravine looked dry and several hikers had written in the trail log (kept at all the shelters) that there was no water. Carol confidently said "I will find some water". In about 15 minutes she came back with the bottles full. She had found a pool and used her bandana to get the debris out. I treated the water chemically and we cooked dinner. Carol has become quite the outdoors person.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-01
From: Eagles Nest shelter

To: Port Clinton / Hamburg PA
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: few clouds

The trail was fast and flat at first and then the last 3 miles was awful. Rocky as can be and then a steep downhill into town. We are going get more substantial footwear in Hamburg as we have been told that the rocks from here into the first part of New Jersey are absolutely terrible.In Duncanon I read an email from a previous thru hiker (1988)who was considering another thru hike and he had been following my journal and wanted to talk to me. I took down his number and a few days before we got to Port Clinton I called him and we set up a place to meet.Rainbow and his wife Pam showed up at the restaurant we had planned to meet at and we started talking about the trail and the hike. They are a very likeable couple and they even paid for lunch, and drove us to a hotel in Hamburg. Rainbow had maps printed out of where the library, grocery store, laundramat etc. were located in town. Pam had made brownies for us. Not only that, despite living 30 minutes or more away, Rainbow came back in the evening to drive us to Cabela's for new boots. He is also coming back to take us to the trail on Saturday at 7 AM. He and Pam are the greatest trail angels to date!I can't say enough times that the kindness we have found on the trail is indeed humbling. If people were this nice in "real life" what a great world we would be living in.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-02
From: Port Clinton / Hamburg PA

To: Port Clinton / Hamburg PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

We are staying at a 200 year old hotel (The American Hotel) that has been renovated. It is really great. Hamburg was famous as the broom making capital of America in the late 1890's. They made 6000 brooms per day.The only chores left for this afternoon is purchasing some snacks for the trail. We got the dinners at Cabela's last night when we got our new boots and socks.Our next stop will be Delaware Water Gap in 5 days of rock hopping.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-03
From: Port Clinton / Hamburg PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: clear sky

Rainbow picked us up at 7AM and we were at the trailhead by 710AM. We took each others pictures and then he gave Carol and I each a small metal cylinder containing a small piece of rock from Kathadin (he thru hiked in 1988). He said it would serve as further inspiration. He also gave me some fuel for my stove as I had not been able to find any in town. Rainbow is a very thoughtful individual. Thank you so much for your kindness.The weather is turning hot and uncomfortable but we have been able to get enough water up to this point. We hope this continues because Penn. has less water than other areas of the trail. As always when we leave town it is with mixed emotions because we always have fun in town, and then get back to the hike which is often ardorous. We climbed out of town and got a great view of the town below from an area called The Pulpit. The trail was turning more rocky and we hiked on to another spot called the Pinnacle where there were a lot of day hikers. The birds of prey cirle the area using the termals to coast in the air. It seemed amazing because we were 1600 feet up. We stopped for lunch and answered the usual questions from the locals (When did we start? What do we eat? etc.).We hiked on through the rocks until the trail turned into an old woods road downhill to the next shelter at Eckville Road. This shelter has a caretaker. The shelter itself is on his property with tenting pads across the road. Water is obtained from a spigot at his house. We tented as we saw mice and insects in the shelter. King Crawler and Supermax came into the shelter; we have not seen them for along time (more than a month). Snook soon followed and confired a rumor that Mountain Man had left the trail. He felt it necessary to work toward getting a job. We can understand his motives but will miss him alot. He is a very funny man and we always enjoyed seeing him. King Crawler also told us that JB and Veto are also off the trail. We had hiked with them very early on.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-04
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

The shelter is well named as the weather is like an oven. It is just over 90 degrees and not much of a breeze.Today we had one big climb of 1000 feet and the rest was on the ridge. There were just a few clear areas of trail. Most of the trail was covered in ankle busting rocks, reminding us that this is Pennsylvania (also called Rocksylvania by hikers).As we hiked along I heard Carol say, in a quiet and suprisingly calm voice, "Richard a rattlesnake". Sure enough right along the edge of the trail going in the opposite direction was a 3.5 to 4.0 foot timber rattlesnake. It was as thick as my skinny arm, and gave a little rattle as we approached. I counted at least 12 rattles on its tail. I took several pictures before leaving the area.Parts of Penn. have been glaciated. During the glacial period more than a mile thick piece of ice moved south plowing up the landscape. As the glaciers melted the rocks and debris were left tipped up on end. As erosion of the trail (mountains) has taken place the fertile soil was washed away into the great farming valleys of Penn. This has left very difficult hiking in the mountains.I is July 4th and we planned on stopping at a restaurant at the intersection of PA 309. When we got there a sign read closed for the 4th. We felt really dejected as we had been counting on it. We filled our water bottles and sat at a picnic table for about 20 minutes before hiking on.We had heard that there were some very difficult areas approaching. One is called the knife edge by the local hikers. It is about a quarter of a mile in length and consist of climbing up 150 feet on huge granite slabs tipped at 35 to 40 degrees. We then had to hike along these tipped up pices and make our way down the 150 feet at the other end. To make matters worse the trail is very poorly marked at this location. During the day we had several of these knife edge type rock areas to traverse but this was the worse one.We knew we were getting near to the Bake Oven Knob Rd and Carol started saying that it was Sunday July 4th where is all the trail magic. As we crossed the road we saw a canopy and there it was!!! July 4th trail magic. Knitting Bull and her husband The Kid had hot dogs, cokes, pasta salad, cookies, watermelon, strawberries, chips, snap peas etc. We ate, talked and rested for over an hour before continuing the last mile to the shelter. Thank you Knitting Bull and The Kid. It took us about 1 hour to go the last mile because of the rocks, but we finally made it safely.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-05
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Lehigh Gap / Slatington
Miles today: 7.4

We were the only people at the shelter and we got up at 515AM to beat the heat. We left at 6AM and it was already hot. We had heard that the weather was going to be very hot today, and the weather people were right.We wanted to get to Lehigh gap and up the other side in the morning but the rocky conditions slowed us down. There were several boulder fields to traverse. At one point we were walking over the Penn. turnpike that was running in a tunnel 800 feet below us. As we hiked along I suddenly stopped as a copperhead snake slowly move across the trail. We got to the gap just after 11AM and the heat was becomming very intense. At this point, and because the climb out of Lehigh Gap is the toughest climb between this section of the trail and New Hampshire, we decided we would need to stop for at least today. I looked in our guide for a place to stay and found someone who would pick us up at the trailhead. Ira Fine picked us up took us to a pharmacy and grocery store, and then back to his hotel (Fine Lodging). This hotel is an extended stay hotel. He keeps a few rooms for hikers. We have a room with a bathroom. Most of the tennants do not have a bathroom adjoinjng their room. They use the bathroom down the hall. We are getting to see a slice of America on this hike we would never see otherwise. We will be staying here until we feel the weather is safe enough to hike in.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-06
From: Lehigh Gap / Slatington

To: Lehigh Gap / Slatington
Miles today: 0.0

We are doing laundry and entering in the journal. We have seen the weather is to hot to hike until Thursday (two days from now). We will be staying put until that time.We have about 50 more miles of rocks to navigate and then the trail is going to become easier (we are told). It can't happen too soon for us. I call Penn. "hiker hell".The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-07
From: Lehigh Gap / Slatington

To: Lehigh Gap / Slatington
Miles today: 0.0

The weather is still unsafe today as they are calling for a day of 99 F. We will be hiking out tomorrow when the temperature will be around 90 F. We hope to get going very early and get up the mountain early. It is an 1100 foot climb in one mile. This is a very steep climb that is open to the sun as the mountain has been denuded by a former zinc mine.Today we met Coby, Stickwalker and Beans in the restaurant. They came in yesterday due to the heat. Stickwalker is hiking with his dog Belle and the dog has come down with Lyme Disease. He will be staying for another day or two until Belle starts to recover. Coby and Beans will also hike out tomorrow. We all just want to get out of Penn.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-08
From: Lehigh Gap / Slatington

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Slatington was a great town to zero in. The restaurant, library, laundry and hotel were all on the same block. Ira Fine, owner of Fine Lodging is a great friend to hikers. He drove us to the supermarket twice and to the pharmacy. He also got up at 6AM and drove us to the trail head so we could hike out of the Lehigh Gap before the heat set in. The weather was to be in the low 90's today. We started up the climb at 6:15AM and were up 1100 feet om an hour and fifteen minutes. This climb was hand over hand during parts of it. This is noted to be the most difficult climb from this location north to New Hampshire. When we got to the top we were still exposed because the zinc mine had killed most of the vegetation in the area. The trail is still rocky and we understand that these rocks continue into NJ for a day or two. My feet are beginning to breakdown. We try to walk where there are no rocks but it is not always possible. One particular area was a 2 or 3 hundred foot waterfall of boulders (without any water). We climbed up over this are feet aching. Water is scarce and we were starting to get concerned until we got to a road crossing and found gallon jugs of water left for hikers by some trail angel. We filled up and moved on to the shelter. The first water source at the shelter was dry but Carol persisted down the dry stream bed until she found water. It was .6 of a mile down the mountain.We went to bed early as we were the only people at the shelter.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-09
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Deleware Water Gap / Pocono Inn
Miles today: 20.2

We got up early and silently got ready to hike. We have a set routine now but today was different. Carol finally asked if something was wrong. I finally told her I was feeling depressed. It is not unusual for hikers on the trail to feel this way according to many of the journals I have read. It usually happens in Virgina because there are so many miles in the state. I was feeling it now and Carol confessed she was also feeling down.Mainly the problem we are having is with our feet. It is very difficult to hike 15 - 20 miles when almost every foot placement brings pain. We try not to step on the rocks but it is almost impossible. The worst rocks are 3 or 4 inches tall, shaped like a pyramid and seemingly attached to the center of the earth. When you step on these it sends a shock wave through your entire body.In addition to these little rocks we had several long boulder fields to walk through. Finally we got to a gap and walked to the gateway motel for cokes and chips. The staff filled our water bottles up and we turned and marched down the road and back to the trail.We hiked over an area called wolf rocks and were again up very high having to negotiate our way down off the boulders. They are flat, slanted and the size of small cars. We hiked two miles of small ankle busting rocks, followed by a mile of grassy jeep road and then 2 miles of downhill that had areas that were very steep with 40 inch step downs. I always have trouble with these, especially when it is the end of the day.We finally reached town and a young man asked if he could drive us to the hotel. We thanked him and he took us to the Pocono Hotel.Our feet really took a beating today. Portions of our feet are numb and I have developed several blisters. We were going to stay at a hostel but decided that we needed more space to tend to our feet. My left knee (that has been replaced) is also swollen and needed to be iced. When I put my foot down on the rocks my foot wiggles and this is transfered up to my knee. After miles of hiking my knee starts to swell and be painful.It is a night of ibprophen and ice.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-10
From: Deleware Water Gap / Pocono Inn

To: Camp Mohican Hostel
Miles today: 10.5

We got a very late start today as we needed to go to the post office, sort through our box and return it to the post office. We left at 12:40PM. We sent more photos to Donald to post.We were only headed to a hostel just over 10 miles up the trail. It is operated by the Appachian Mountain Club. This is primarily a trail maintaining Club, but of course there is a social aspect of these clubs also. We are still feeling down as we enter New Jersy. The trail has not changed and our feet are very painful. We met Boomer as we were leaving town. He has been laid up for a few days with a staph infection. He is the 4th person we know of who got a staph infection.Because it is not possible to shower everyday our skin build up a larger amout of bacteria (including staph). All it takes is a bug bite and the staph that is present has a portal of entry. The other problem is Lime Disease. Deer ticks spread this and at least 4 hikers we know have come down with this disease. They all received treatment early and are back on the trail.We got great sandwiches and drinks at the hostel and later that night there was entertainment. This seemed to brighten our mood somewhat.For the next few days we will be hiking with one foot in NJ and the other in NY>The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)
Date: 2010-07-11
From: Camp Mohican Hostel

To: Culver's Gap / Holiday Inn Express
Miles today: 17.9

Today there were a few less rocks but my feet are still very sore. I kept thinking about our three girls today. We always encouraged them to complete everything they started and they always did. We have resovled that it will take something catastrphic to halt the hike, not just sore feet. We have been told that the rocks diminish greatly after mile 1328. The trail takes a turn from the ridge at this location. The trail repeatedly took us down in valleys and then up steep 100 foot climbs on to rocky ridges with no tree cover. This must have occured 10 times today.Our feet are still sore but we are feeling better about the hike. At the Brink Road shelter we met Eric the Red and his dad, Wookie and Jaybird were also there. We filled up with water and hiked on. About a mile from our destination we met On the Loose. She is hiking the trail and was going to meet her dad at the road. She asked if we needed a ride and after a very short moment we said yes. We decided to baby ourselves and our feet for the next few days. When we got to the road there was On The Loose and her dad with the best watermelon we have ever tasted. After a short visit they drove us to the hotel where they were staying. It was over our budget but we did not care. It was another night ov 1bprohen and medical attention to the feet. We saw our second rattlesnake today. It was also a big one. I am amazed at how thick they get.The Canadian Geese(Never quit on a bad day - Bison 2009 thru hiker)