morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-19
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: Annapolis Rocks camp 
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: mist

It was quite warm last night but managed to sleep decently due mostly from baking in the sun and drinking yesterday. Broke down camp and saw Tumblina and Wahoo off as they had to get to work in Harpers Ferry this morning. We told them to travel up north and see us again if they can get a couple free days later this summer. Started hiking and found the Maryland terrain to be quite forgiving, nice wide track without too many rocks or ups and downs. Made good time to the Dahlgren campground after 10+ miles. Have come across some interesting civil war sites today and love reading about the history that this area has seen. I also am reminded how little I actually know about the civil war and wish I had the time to tour more battle sites as I go along. We all waited out a brief rain shower at the campground bathrooms and learned that there was a pizza place nearby that will deliver to the road gap up ahead. Hello dinner. I also spoke to my dad for a few minutes and he said they would be heading out east again during the end of August. Hello hotel rooms AND dinner! The pizza was delivered on time and we were fully fueled for the remaining 7 miles up to camp. Along the way, we passed the original Washington monument, an impressive stone tower atop the ridge that apparently was not large or phallic enough to hold down the title. They eventually built the bigger one in DC and this one is now more of a curiosity but has a nice view anyway. I arrived at the Annapolis rocks campsite a bit before dark and did a full circuit around the sprawled tent sites and back to the spring before finding the others and deciding on a camp. We went out to the view at the rocks to watch the sunset and made our plans for tomorrow. My uncle ray has graciously offered to come down from Fairfax VA and meet up as well as put us up in a hotel in Waynesboro PA. No argument here. We will meet him at Pen Mar park tomorrow afternoon right near the mason Dixon line.
Date: 2018-06-21
From: Waynesboro PA

To: Rocky Mt shelters
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: few clouds

We slept in a bit because hotel beds and chef made a quick trip over to Walmart and picked up fresh berries and whipped cream so we could do proper Belgian waffles downstairs at the continental breakfast. Two traveling businessmen marveled at our spread and we proudly feasted. Froot Loops, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, followed by a Belgian waffle, power food. We also chatted again with Oak and Twin Oak in the lobby, twin brothers that like to spend a few days each season providing shuttles and other trail magic. We checked out at 10:45 and made a quick resupply stop at Walmart. The girls went over to the Sheetz gas station to get subs and caught a fast hitch back up. Chef, pony and I met a nice woman with her 3 boys who section hikes a lot in the area and she offered us a ride back up. We all crammed in to her van and were back at Pen Mar park in just a few minutes. We thanked her and got back on the trail. We passed the border into Pennsylvania shortly after and along with it, the mason Dixon line. We are now officially in the north and it feels like every few days now we are reaching a new milestone that would have felt very far away at the beginning of the trail. These nebulous and far off goals are coming more and more into focus and the possibility of finishing the trail seems less like hopeful thinking and more like something attainable. The afternoon terrain was pretty straightforward despite a couple decent inclines; I was grateful for that due both to the significant afternoon heat and the after effects of whiskey, beer, and sangria yesterday. It had poured last night while we ate dinner and there was a chance of afternoon thunderstorm but we were spared any trouble and made it 15 miles to the shelter. I had packed out a Subway sandwich and destroyed it immediately along with a 32 ounce Gatorade I¢d hauled out, worth every gram of the added weight. The others arrived and sat around the picnic table and did their dinner routines as well. It may rain overnight so I¢ve grabbed a spot in the shelter. Packing out a wet tent leads to more work the next evening so more and more I¢m willing to duck into a shelter to avoid heavy rain which still presents a constant threat.
Date: 2018-06-22
From: Rocky Mt Shelters

To: Toms Run Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

Slept warmly enough in the liner with all my clothes on last night, I¢m still walking a tightrope with the overnight temps but I¢m confident summer will arrive at some point. Unfortunately, that day is not today as the forecast says we would be getting wet alllll day. The morning started out merely gloomy and cloudy but no rain falling so we made quick work of breakfast and got on the trail. It held off for the morning and we passed a super cool shelter with a full patio area, bench swing, pavilion, even potted plants. Say what you will about Pennsylvania, their Shelter game has been on point. We decided to push to the next shelter for lunch and the sky turned darker and the rain began just as I was rolling in. It was another really cool setup with  built-in bunks and a privy the size of a summer cottage. We waited on the rain for a couple hours and decided that eventually we would have to push out to our planned stop six miles on. Chef brewed a strong pot of coffee and I warmed up and got a caffeine kick to power me through. It rained consistently and I barely stopped to celebrate the official midway point of the trail. Dubs was at the road gap where it was marked and we merely shared a fist bump before slogging on. I arrived in camp and it was still coming down so I decided to snag the last spot open in the shelter. It might be cool, but I¢m determined to keep my tent dry until I can actually set it up again in a non-deluge situation. The group dined under the pavilion at the shelter and we were treated by a couple of weekenders to some whisky shots. Johnny walker black label never tasted so good and we could officially celebrate being past the halfway point. It¢s all downhill from here! Except of course for the literally hundreds of miles of uphill climbing that we will still do.
Date: 2018-06-23
From: Toms Run Shelter

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The rain was steady all night and I was glad to be in a shelter yet again, the temps didn¢t drop too low so I slept comfortably. We got out of camp rather quickly as we knew we could buy breakfast at the general store down in pine Grove furnace. It rained for the first couple miles and cleared off a bit as I descended to the road gap. Pine Grove furnace is also infamous for hosting the half gallon challenge. Essentially, it¢s a tradition for thru hikers to attempt to down a half gallon of ice cream as quickly as possible. I ordered a breakfast wrap first and after I¢d finished, decided against the ice cream. My fingers were still partially numb from the morning rain and I didn¢t particularly want to lower my body temperature any further by inhaling a bucket of ice cream. Luckily, there¢s always Head Chef to take on an eating challenge and he did not disappoint. The previous timed record for this year was 21 minutes, chef did it in 12 minutes, 50 seconds. This was both greatly entertaining and somewhat horrifying, he must¢ve taken down the last pint in about 40 seconds. He did manage to give the interior of his mouth a pretty good freezer burn and he belched loudly on the trail as we hiked on. There was another grocery/grill later in the day that we stopped at because why eat any of your own food that you¢ve carried for a hundred miles when you can buy a sandwich at a deli? We avoided the rain this afternoon and found a nice flat spot down by a creek to set up for the night. Tomorrow we will hit Boiling Springs early for brunch (I mean, it¢s sunday and we are civilized people) and also the outfitter before pushing on.
Date: 2018-06-24
From: Alec Kennedy shelter

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: scattered clouds

It was a nice rainless night and there were blue skies this morning when I lit out of camp. I was eager for town food so I went for it on an empty stomach. The terrain was good, just a slight uphill out of camp before a long descent out of the woods and a mile or so of field strolling through farmland before the town. Boiling Springs is a very charming little place with a huge stocked pond at the center of the town surrounded by well-kept little houses, very Norman Rockwell. I first popped in to TCO outfitters and perused some of their gear. It was a very well stocked little shop despite its emphasis on fly fishing gear. I swapped out my pair of Darn Tough socks that had developed holes (ok, it was my fault for applying super glue to my shoe while wearing them and then having it leak onto said sock and tearing a whole when I tried to get it off-sue me). The outfitter gal also showed me some pics of the famed Pennsylvania rocks that would be waiting for us in the northern end of the state. I finished there and went over to the cafe and grabbed a table before the others arrived. We all contemplated how nice this town was and how much we¢d love to stay but ultimately decided we would have to move on. The tavern was closed because it¢s sunday, so what would really be the point? After breakfast, I made the decision to go back to the outfitter and throw down for a new pair of trail runners. They had the same style of salomon that I¢ve been wearing and I sized up again to an 11.5. I also needed another fuel canister which I grabbed. Glow stick had also decided it was time for new kicks so we both were styling on the walk out of town. This lasted only moments before the trail became a mud bog that intermittently went on for the next few miles of forest walking just behind the farm lands. I cringed every time I stepped into a new pile of slip and my shiny new blue shoes were properly trail baptized. Oh well, they don¢t stay young forever.The rest of the afternoon was almost entirely flat, nearly ten miles of field/forest walking through farm country. I could see the ridge we had to climb in the distance and it looked impossibly far away. Just after I had crossed a highway, the afternoon rain storm descended. I was walking near ibex and foreman when the worst 35 minute storm I¢ve yet seen came whipping in. Rain was coming at me sideways like standing in front of an open fire hydrant. As soon as it had come though, it passed and the sky returned to mostly blue with a few puffy white clouds. Ibex and I laughed maniacally at the absurdity of the weather we have been through and dripped with rain water. The climb up to the shelter was short but strenuous and it was late in the evening when I finally got set up. We will pass through yet another town tomorrow, Duncannon, where we are going to stop in for resupply. Even though we have been restaurant blazing pretty hard lately, we do still need some food items.
Date: 2018-06-25
From: Darlington Shelter

To: ClarkÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Ferry Shelter 
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Went for a quick breakfast before starting the 10ish mile hike into Duncannon. Although the AWOL guide warned of the rocky trail conditions on the ridge before the descent into town, it wasn¢t difficult at all and I was dropping down before I knew it. I walked along the road/trail that cuts through town until I arrived at the Doyle, a trail famous hotel/bar that is known for its divey blue collar vibe. It definitely didn¢t disappoint and I texted the tramily that I¢d need a tetanus shot if I was going to stay in town for the night. I definitely wasn¢t going to skip having a beer though and I talked with the owners and a couple regulars about the trail and waited for the others. They rolled in and had a drink and we then mobilized to get a load of laundry done and eat lunch. The Doyle ran an afternoon shuttle up to Mutzbaughs grocery store so we all jumped in on that along with a few other thru hikers. I peppered in several beers between the Doyle and lunch and then the Doyle again; I don¢t do my strongest resupply shopping when buzzed but it is usually more fun. After we finished, they ran us back down to the Doyle and we decided to get back on the trail rather than stay for the night. We will try to get a rest day soon but this didn¢t really feel like the town for R and R. It was a brutally hot afternoon and I made the questionable decision of downing a malt from the ice cream shop before leaving. I battled beer and malt burps as we climbed up the ridge to the shelter. We set up on a slightly pitched area and hopefully won¢t be sliding into the bottom of my tent all night. Hoping to get another decent mileage day tomorrow and continue to chew through Pennsylvania.
Date: 2018-06-26
From: ClarkÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Ferry Shelter

To: Horse Shoe trail camp
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: few clouds

The sloped hillside where we camped was not great but slept decently anyway, we got gathered up, ate breakfast and left. We decided to stop at Kinter viewpoint to have lunch as it was reportedly a rattlesnake den and we kinda wanted to see some. Brilliant, right? I was the first to arrive and I slowly made my way around the rocks searching for any sign of snake. I clicked my trekking poles around the ledges and slowly checked under shrubs and low tree branches but found no sign. The others showed up and we snacked on lunch and basked in the sun. Ibex had laid down next to the shade of a pine tree whose trunk was just below me from the rock ledge I was sitting on. From there, I watched a medium sized rattler slither up to the trunk and curl up for a nap. I reported what I was seeing and the others crowded around to check him out and Ibex slowly put her boots and moved just in case he decided he¢d need more room. Chef used his trekking pole to move back the branches over him and he watched the trekking pole for a moment before starting to rattle a bit. He had slid off behind the tree and down the hill a little and we started gathering up our things when I noticed he had returned. Then I noticed he was larger and a lighter gray color as opposed to brownish. In fact it was an entirely different snake and when chef lifted his branch to get a closer look, we heard a much larger rattle and saw a much thicker snake. He started to slide back under the rock ledge when the brown one returned and also headed for the same ledge. Rattlesnake den indeed! I decided I¢d seen about enough for one session and got back on the trail. We hiked down the ridge toward a road gap and glow stick and Ibex pulled off for a spring refill while I hiked on with show pony and chef just behind me. I heard a pretty loud crashing in the woods and spotted a big black bear butt charging up the hill away from the trail. I thought bears in Pennsylvania were less prevalent but apparently they are out here after all, glad that they still seem skittish though. Glow stick will be upset as she has still yet to see a bear on the trail. The hike up the other side of the ridge was gradual and we found our campsite up top with a nice pine needle cover. Supposed to get into the rain again tomorrow but still want to get a good mileage day.
Date: 2018-06-27
From: Horse shoe camp

To: William Penn shelter
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: broken clouds

With rain forecast for the entire day, I prepared myself for a long one, we are shooting for 21 miles as well. It was cloudy from the get go but I made it out of camp before any precipitation really began. It did start to get wet after a couple miles and I was hustling to get to the first shelter after 8 miles to eat lunch. I made it there and show pony followed a few minutes later and then the friendly South Africans. I didn¢t take too long with lunch since it was supposed to rain until tomorrow and there was no point in trying to time my hike for better weather, this was as good as it gets. The precipitation remained fairly light and I was content with that until I reached a point in the trail that had flooded. I would find out later that a beaver dam had busted under the heavy rain of the season and left this low point full of water, shin deep. I stood there and contemplated my route before realizing it was not to be circumvented. Since the mosquitos were particularly vicious, I said to hell with it and stomped through, totally soaking socks and shoes. I came across glow stick and chef who had taken the time to remove their shoes before walking through. I figured soaked, muddy feet going back into damp socks and shoes and then walking all afternoon in the rain would achieve roughly the same effect as stomping through the puddle so it¢ll all even out. The rest of the afternoon kind of dragged on for obvious reasons and the ascent to the top of the ridge and shelter was a bit grueling, I was properly beat when I finally got in. I scoped the top floor of the shelter that had room for around 5 people and asked the couple already set up if they minded more company. Ibex also threw her stuff up there and show pony decided to set up downstairs too. Once everyone had arrived at camp, we called to see about shuttle options to get into Hamburg tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be really wet overnight and we haven¢t taken a day off the trail in a while. The Rock n Sole hostel is going to grab us tomorrow morning and we will go in on a room at the Microtel in town. Chef also nearly stepped on a big rattler while screwing around on his phone and hiking at the same time. They got some video and this one was a monster. Gotta watch your step in Pennsylvania, if not for the rocks then the deadly vipers.
Date: 2018-06-28
From: William Penn shelter

To: Hamburg PA
Miles today: 4.1
Weather: light rain

Never in my life have I heard or seen such a rainstorm as last night. It came down like an inland hurricane and lasted for 3+ hours. There were also lightning strikes that could not have been more than a tenth of a mile away. The window of the shelter loft was flashing like a strobe as I lay awake watching it for close to an hour. I worried for glow stick and chef who opted to tent up on the ridge near the trail. Since we had very few miles to make our shuttle pick up at the road gap, I quickly scarfed some dry granola before leaving the shelter for the ridge. Glow and chef had made it through the night but glow stick had to move her tent into some very high grass in order to escape the flooded muddy ground in the camp and chef merely sat awake while the floor of his tent began to float in several inches of rainwater. We were all eager to get down and into town and we hiked quickly to the road gap. As soon as our ride pulled in, we saw that the left rear tire was riding low and upon closer inspection, heard are hissing out. One of Pennsylvania¢s smaller rocks had pierced the wall and punctured the tire. We made quick work of changing out to the spare and were soon on our way. Several roads had flooded in the night and we had to take a couple detours to get to town. We learned that the storm had dropped five inches last night! That is an obscene amount of accumulation but the evidence was everywhere with swollen creeks and streams and standing water in many places. Can¢t even imagine how messy the trail is going to be the next few days but at least we don¢t have to endure it today. Once at the hotel, we did our usual defilement of the room in five seconds flat routine. We then popped across the highway for Five Guys burgers and I went next door to Great Clips to clean up the mohawk and beard. Hit wal mart for resupply and then mosied back to the hotel. A new brewery had just opened on Main Street so we hailed a lyft after a while and went down for beer and eats. 1787 brewery was solid and we met the owner who let us taste one of the beers that we had heard much about but was still fermenting and not on tap yet. It would have hardly felt like a town day without a brewery involved. We made it back to the hotel and will get back out tomorrow, hopefully to decent temps and drier conditions. Looks like it could get hot this week.
Date: 2018-06-29
From: Hamburg PA

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

We partook in the complimentary breakfast at the microtel and got ourselves collected before heading back over to the shopping area. Chef still needed to hit Walmart and I went over to the sports store to get some superfeet insoles for my new trail runners. I figured why change it up when these had worked so well on the old pair. We then met Pony and the girls over at WaWa to get sandwiches and wait for our shuttle. Craig arrived shortly thereafter and we were on our way back to the trail. Craig was a former patrolman in Hamburg and knew everyone and everything about the surrounding area or at lest talked like he did. We paid him and started our hike again but somehow completely missed the 501 Shelter where we were supposed to water up. I had lost everyone within a quarter mile so I found the next available spring and filled up before hiking on. The terrain was semi-rocky but not terrible and after 6 miles, I came upon the rest of the crew stopped at a creek crossing. The girls knew there was a pond with a rope swing on a short side trail so of course we would go down and check it out. The two of them and I did partake in a dip via the swing and the water was very brisk. It felt great once I was out but I wouldn¢t be swimming too long in there. We all debated staying by the water for the night but ultimately decided we needed more than 6 miles for the day. Onward. The trail went back up to the ridge but it was a wide and forested area that had collected a load of rain water after the recent deluge. We spent several miles tromping on the side where people had formed a social trail of sorts that circumvented the flooded trail. In a couple spots, the forest on either side had been turned into a marsh and we picked through and bushwhacked the best we could, trying to keep our shoes dry. It was pretty late in the day when we made camp and we were eating around the fire ring as the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the forest trees. The bugs were getting kinda nasty so everyone made haste jumping into their tents.