morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-06-06
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: light rain

When we all woke up in the morning, the first question usually arises: "where should we eat breakfast?" As we went over the options, a boyscout leader comes up to us and says that they are hosting a community AYCE breakfast, and it is ONLY $2!! So you can guess where we ate. After we rolled out of there we started hiking around 9:45 in the morning, with a long hiking day planned. Today was probably the hardest day of hiking we have had in PA, even though compared to other states it wasn't very hard at all. I've been hiking the past week or so with Beefstick and Sonic, so the days usually go by quickly as we hike together and joke around. We were promised that in all of PA, there is one overlook that is worth seeing: The Pinnacle. We got up there about 11 am, and as soon as we stepped on the overlook the sky opened up on us. It was the hardest rain I have hiked in yet, and it lasted about 45 minutes, so we got soaked to the bone. At least it cooled everything down, I thought. The hike today lasted all the way until sundown when we got to the shelter, tired and hungry. We left town this morning, and tomorrow we will be getting to another town. I guess that's one good thing about PA... lots of town stops.
Date: 2010-06-07
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 17.7

I think almost every day in Pennsylvania there has been some form of trail magic... it really is amazing. On our lunch break today we stopped at Bake Oven Knob, which is an excellent overlook. We ate our pathetic lunches, and in the middle of that an older super hippie type couple day hiked up to check out the overlook as well. They were of course completely speechless about what the 3 of us were doing; hiking in the mountains for 2,000+ miles. They carried up an entire watermelon and cantelope with them, and shared most of it with us, along with a big jug of powerade. They were the type of people that don't believe in coincidences, and were convinced the "Great Gig in the Sky" sent them there to feed us! However much I agreed or disagreed with that, the watermelon and cantelope were fresh and tasty. Also, Sonic found an unopened box of cigarettes on the rocks, so more trail magic for him. There are some funny people out here. When we were done hiking for the day we got down to the road and almost instantly someone pulled over and asked us if we wanted a ride. Of course we wanted a ride. We got into Palmerton, checked into the free jailhouse hostel, and went to eat some pizza. Palmerton seems like a very hiker-friendly town. It's a typical small everything-on-main-street type of town, and it's pretty welcoming.I can't believe I've been on the trail for over 12 weeks! It seriously feels like I've been out here forever, that this is where I belong, that these are the friends that I have always had. Memories fade, new ones become more prevalent, time stops meaning what it used to. It's a crazy phenomena.
Date: 2010-06-08
From: Palmerton, PA

To: LeRoy A. Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: broken clouds

The town of Palmerton was a great place to stay. Everybody was so nice and friendly to hikers, the grocery store gave all hikers an apple and at the book sale at the Library the hikers got a free book. We had alot of errands to run so we didn't end up leaving until about 12:30. Today was a large swing of emotions. In one day I experienced my favorite part of PA and my least favorite part of PA. To start things off, the climb out of LeHigh gap was incredible. It was a little over 1,000 ft. climb of hand over hand rock scrambling all with wide open scenery. It was tough but really fun to use my hands the whole time to climb up the boulders. It was also the absolute perfect day of 70 degree sunshine with a cool breeze and spotted clouds. My enjoyment for the day lasted about 4 miles. The last 12 miles of the day was just hiking on small wobbly rocks THE ENTIRE TIME! Absolutely miserable. Walking on rocks all day is just mentally exhausting and stressful.   My head was down the entire time watchin every careful step I took. Ok enough complaining... but I was happy to get to the shelter tonight where there were cold Cokes waiting for us in the spring!
Date: 2010-06-09
From: LeRoy A. Smith Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I crossed a huge mental barrier... I'M DONE WITH PENNSYLVANIA! The day was actually pretty miserable with temps around 50 degrees with heavy rain and wind the entire day. Everything soaking wet walking 15 miles through the rain with one thing in mind: get to Delaware Water Gap. And that we did. Staying at the Church of the Mountain Hostel with Beefstick, Sonic, Make Time, Cob, Gumby, EZ, and Trail Trash. New Bearsy here I come.
Date: 2010-06-10
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Brink Road Shelter
Miles today: 24.8
Weather: light rain

It's insane how much better I feel now that I am done with PA and am in New Jersey. The trail in itself seems like it is in a whole new ecosystem or something, it's just prettier. There are still some annoying rocks, but they aren't that bad and I hear that they end soon. Twas a long day today especially after leaving late out of town. Got my new shoes in the mail so my feet are kickin' and feelin' good. I'm surprised at how well the first pair held up. 900 miles and they were still going strong (pretty good for trail runners). Looking forward to seeing some more bears in New Bearsy.
Date: 2010-06-11
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

New Bearsy has lived up to it's name! Withing the first 3 hours of hiking today I saw 3 full sized beautiful black bears. The first one I saw was massive, and absolutely jet black. The very definition of black. It was beautiful, but I didn't get any pictures because I was more worried about getting some distance between it and myself. The second one I saw off in the woods, so again no picture, and the 3rd one was walking in the trail as I came around the corner, just waddling along. I really want to get a good picture of one though, well maybe tomorrow. The rest of the day was nothing to write home about, just plenty of rocks and bad mood hiking. I dunno, sometimes the conditions get to me. P.S. - That picture is of a sweet owl that was flying around, I couldn't get much closer
Date: 2010-06-12
From: High Point Shelter

To: Unionville, NY
Miles today: 7.2

In Unionville, NY there is a man named Dick Ludwig who was the former mayor and lets hikers stay at his house. It is basically a hostel, and for the generous price of $10, a hiker gets a bunk, shower, laundry, TV, internet, dinner, and breakfast. What a deal eh? We woke up this morning knowing we were only going the short distance into town, and it was a nice walk through some meadows and by ponds and through peaceful wide trails in the woods. I am not in NY yet, the trail just comes close, and the short 0.4 mile walk into Unionville went over the border. Only people here tonight are Me, Beefstick, Sonic, Cob, and Gumby. It's a really cool place to stay, and the men who run it are alot of fun, especially the 81 year old Bill. The breed of people up here are totally different than I am used to. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, plus the World Cup is on this weekend, so we might be taking a 0 day.
Date: 2010-06-14
From: Unionville, NY

To: Furnace Brooke
Miles today: 21.3

Usually, hikers including myself plan their days or at least their breaks at shelters. I personally like to camp in the woods by a stream or something since I don't need a flat spot for my hammock, but Beefstick usually sticks to the shelters in case there are no flat spots to set up camp. Sometimes the shelters are awkwardly spaced apart depending on where you are, kind of like today. The hiking today was pretty easy, but hot and muggy through the swampy marshlands we had to go through. We crossed the infamous New Jersey boardwalk today, which was strangely disappointing. Everybody, including my guide book, said it was about a 3 mile board walk through the high grass swamps, but it turned out to only be around one mile plus another 2 miles of overgrown crap on a normal trail. Oh well. We stopped at Heaven Hill Farms in the afternoon to get some fruit, drinks, and ice cream. When we got to the shelter, which was only 17 miles, we decided to keep hiking to shorten our planned 26 mile day tomorrow. The only problem was that the water sources were pretty sketchy and there were no places to camp until almost 5 miles after the shelter. We kept hiking as the daylight was dwindling, and actually crossed the NJ/NY border unexpectedly until we finally found a decent water source. Right before that though, we saw a person hiking southbound that I recognized; DangerMouse! I hadn't seen her since Damascus, and she had to quit the trail because she ran out of money a few weeks ago when her wallet was stolen. She is from New Jersey, so she was hiking around hoping to see people she knew. It's a shame to see people leave the trail, but I guess that's just the way things go sometimes. The mosquitoes are out tonight, which seems to be a trend.
Date: 2010-06-16
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Graymoor Monastery
Miles today: 20.6

The trail through the state of New York has thus far surprised me. It is surprising how difficult it is. The past 2 days have been the hardest 2 days I have had on a long time, probably in the last 400+ miles. In southern NY, when you climb a mountain, you tend to be sent straight up the thing. None of the mountains are very tall (the highest on the AT in NY is a mere 1,400 ft.) but the trail is super steep. Two 20 mile days in the first part of NY was all that I could handle. There are also lots of open face rock scrambles, which are sweet, but the novelty of it wears off after you climb about 10 of them and you are already 15 miles into the day. Another surprising NY trail feature is how pretty it is. The woods are very tall, old, thinned out, solitary, green, open, and full of all the noises of the forest. I went through the famous "lemon squeezer" between boulders about 30 ft. long and just wide enough to scrape my pack through. Contrary to our nickname of "Rude York", the people have been as nice as they come. Since the water sources are mostly dry or bad, there have been lots of coolers set out with water, and 2 older ladies bought us bottles of Powerade yesterday. We have also gotten a couple of rides to town for lunch and stuff, so I have livin' it up here in New York. Today the trail crossed over the Hudson River via the Bear Mountain Bridge, and it was there that the AT reached its lowest point of elevation: 124 ft. So technically, it's all uphill from here......Tonight we are staying at a monastery that lets hikers sleep at the ball field picnic shelter for free. It's a cool place, and there are some new faces here.
Date: 2010-06-17
From: Graymoor Monastery

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: broken clouds

Not much to say for the trail today, but I will say that it was easy breezy strollin' along! A much needed easy day. Officially, as of who knows when, Beefstick and I are venturing into New York City! Tomorrow we are going into Pawling, NY and hoppin' the train into the Big Apple on Saturday. We will be there for 3 days, staying at a hostel I think, and we have tickets to see David Letterman on Monday. I'm pretty excited because I've never been before, so it will be an adventure inside an adventure. From the sticks to the city ya'll, rags to riches.
Date: 2010-06-18
From: RPH Shelter

To: Pawling, NY
Miles today: 17.5

Our last day of hiking today before we head to NYC, and man was it an easy day today. In New York there are lots of Delis and convenient store like places at road crossings within a stone's throw from the trail, so Cob, Beefstick and I stopped at Mountain Top Deli today, hoping to catch the USA soccer game on TV. They unfortunately didn't have any TV, but we chowed down and relaxed outside anyway. Later on in the day we came to Nuclear Lake, which doesn't sound appealing, but it actually was a beautiful spot. We sat there under the shade of the tree by the waters edge for about an hour, because there really was no rush at all, and it was a beautifully hot day. We wanted to hitch into Pawling since that is where the train leaves from tomorrow, but we didn't know where to stay. As we were leaving the shelter a guy by the name of Sasquatch and his dog Hank (who is a maintainer and the shelter caretaker) showed up and asked me "you guys want some beer?" I did, but we needed to get into town before dark. "How about if you stay and drink beer with us, I will give you guys a ride into town." Done deal. 6 of us hung out there at the shelter shootin' the breeze, then we hiked down mountain, and he gave us a ride into the town park, which lets hikers sleep in the pavilion. It's funny how things just work out here, especially when you don't think they will.
Date: 2010-06-21
From: Pawling, NY

To: New York City
Miles today: 0.0

Our time in NYC was great. Friendliest little town on the trail. I felt ridiculous walking off the train at Grand Central, then we walked around the city for what seemed like forever trying to find a hostel, ANY hostel, to stay at. We got a few strange looks for sure. We ended up staying at the YMCA (which I didn't know you could actally do). Most of our time in the city was spent riding the confusing subway routes or walking around for hours trying to find things to do. On our last day though, we had tickets to see David Letterman, and we were on the VIP "diamond list". We got priority seating, tshirts, hats, a rundown of the show, went backstage, and took pictures in Letterman's desk! It was awesome. I couldn't believe how different it was to go from the trail to NYC. Everything was stressing me out. The taxis stressed me out (especially riding in them), the subway, the amount of people, and the amount of choices of places to eat! Two completely different worlds...
Date: 2010-06-22
From: New York City

To: Mt. Algo Lean-To
Miles today: 20.4

I was glad to get back to the woods, where I belong. The first thing our eyes set on after we left the car was Dover Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT. 20 ft. circumference! We left the state of New York today and entered Connecticut (aka Connecti-cash). So far CT has been very beautiful, more difficult, but in a good way. I guess I am officially in New England now. It's gonna be nice to get up to some elevations that earn the name Mountain. I can't remember the last time I was above 2,000 ft. So long for now.
Date: 2010-06-23
From: Mt. Algo Lean-To

To: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 17.3

I was hoping that since we have taken 4 days off in the past week and a half that we would be seeing some new faces, which has so far not been the case. Another tough(er) day today in good ol' Connecticut, even with a 5 mile river walk along the Housatonic River. Any day where 1/3 of the day is spent walking on a flat trail beside a river on a gorgeous sunny day is a recipe for an OK day in my opinion. Enjoyed a nice long lunch break on the river bank, and then a quick nap in the shelter. The day was kind of a short one since we had to walk to the town of Kent in the morning to resupply, and of course eat breakfast. Life is tough. Also, we fortunately (or perhaps, unfortunately?) missed out on the June 21 official Hike Naked Day. I wonder how that went?
Date: 2010-06-24
From: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To

To: Riga Lean-To
Miles today: 19.8

Today was just as good of a day on the AT as it gets. The first part of the day was nothing special, but it was very peaceful and steady going. We once again got down the the Housatonic River, got lost a couple of times, and then continued along. At about lunch time we saw a nice spot down th river as we were crossing Iron Bridge where we could swim, and so swim we did. There was a nice set of small cascading waterfalls over the smooth worn rocks with a nice swimming hole where all the water landed. Today was 91 degrees and pretty humid, so it was the perfect day for a swim. Afterwards we packed back up and kept hiking only to discover that there was a much better spot about a half mile north. I'm talkin huge 50 ft. falls that were also 50 ft. wide, and much bigger swimming holes. It ws kind of a let down to know that we could have swam in THAT, but I can't be disappointed either. The stretch of trail that we hiked next to get to Salisbury, CT wasprobably the prettiest stretch I have seen in a while. No rocks, soft dirt, well graded trail. I enjoyed it thoroughly. We went half a mile to go into the town of Salisbury to resupply again, and I was very tempted to stay there. It was hot, and so I was drained, and we just hung around town for a couple of hours. We finally got off our lazy butts and ket hiking, and the moment we stepped on the trail there came a hard rain that lasted about 30 minutes. Usually I don't like this, but it was very refreshing, and it was extra motivation to get up the mountain to the shelter. Thankfully, there was a kick-A view at the top of the mountain, and now as I sit at the shelter there is an equally awesome view in front of me.
Date: 2010-06-25
From: Riga Lean-To

To: The Corn Crib
Miles today: 18.0

One thousand five-hundred miles. That is a long way to walk, and that is the solid number I reached today. I consider that considerable. Less than 700 miles to go, and more than 2/3 the way done. It has not been the easiet way to travel, and it has been more challenging mentally than anything. You gotta keep on truckin'. Today was no exception for hard days. It was great because there were 3 "legitimate" mountains, the first ones over 2,000 ft. since the Shenandoahs. The descent from Bear Mountain, CT was as steep as they come, and I almost had a terrible fall, luckily balance overcame gravity. On the way down into Sage's Ravine we crossed into Massechusetts, the 11th state on the trail. Sage's Ravine was spectacular, an awesome ravine with a beautiful stream with waterfalls right alongside the trail. Next was the long climb up Race Mountain, , and the last mile of the climb was all open views with a sher drop off to my right. It was just awesome. Basically the morning was climbing, and the afternoon was un-doing what we did. The morning was hard, and the afternoon was me feeling eager to be done. We are staying at a place called the Corn Crib tonight, just a run-down business on the road that lets hikers stay for free and use their facilitis. We hitched a ride into Great Barrington, MA to get some dinner and had a hard time hitching back. Some random guy called a cab for us and paid for it himself. How about THAT.
Date: 2010-06-26
From: The Corn Crib

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

For some reason today, I just did not want to hike. But of course I did, and the day was one large mental blur. I didn't want to go uphill, I didn't want to go downhill. The only memorable thing about today was Benedict Pond. When we made our lunch stop there, my mind seemed to go back at ease. It's a beautiful pond, and as I was walking around it's perimeter, I was hoping a nice chill spot would reveal itself to me, and sure enough it did. I went for a swim in the pond, as did Beefstick, ate lunch, and went on my way. Occasionally when I have a "bad day" on the trail (which of course, is not that bad) something usually seems to occur at the end of the day to cheer me up. When I was sitting at the pond, somebody walked by that I recognized: Seminole. I have not seen her since Tennessee, and all the sudden there she is. Her husband is kind of like a one man support team for her, and he meets her at road crossings to pick her up or whatever, so I knew he would be at the road coming up. Since he sees thru-hikers every day passing by, he sort of know where everyone is, so as we sat there drinking chocolate milk he got us, he gave us a nice update on who is behind us and how far. Some people I know are just behind, so I hope they will catch up. At the campsite we are at tonight there are plenty of people, we two being the only thru-hikers.
Date: 2010-06-27
From: Shaker Campsite

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: light rain

Waking up in the morning knowing you are only doing 10 miles is quite different than knowing you are doing 20 or so. We planned this out so we would only be doing 10 miles into Upper Goose Pond Cabin. The hike to get there was whatever, nothing more than rocks, shrubs, and trees, but we got there around noon to have the rest ofthe day to relax at the cabin on the pond. It's a wonderful thing going on here, a rustic cabin by a good sized pond, complete with canoes. It is run by rotating caretaker, and open to hikers for a small donation. Beefstick and I took the canoe out for a spin for an hour or two, just gliding across the still, untouched water, and exploring the area. A great way to kill an afternoon. Right now I am sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, and it is pouring down rain. I wonder if anyone else will show up?
Date: 2010-06-28
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: few clouds

Rocks, roots, mud, overgrowth, blah.The trail sucked today. 20 miles of nothing. If it weren't for the town stop at the end of today, it would have been worse. I am in Dalton, MA right now staying at Tom Levardi's house, and it is great. He has been taking in hikers here for 30 years, free of charge. We weren't originally going to stay here, but you walk right by his house walking through town and we hear him say "you guys want some ice cream?" YES. After sitting there on his porch eating ice cream with other hikers there already, we knew where we were staying tonight. It's been 8 or 9 days since shower or laundry, so right now I am feeling pretty good after completing both. Plus, Tumbleweed and Skyrocket showed up later, so finally some familiar faces around us.