morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-28
From: NJ 94 Crossing

To: NY 17A crossing
Miles today: 15.2

Donna and Rennie continued their hospitality by giving us unlimited access to their kitchen, which we took shameless advantage of, and then they took us to the trailhead.   Early in the day we crossed the NJ/NY border. 8 down, 6 to go!   While this was inspiring, our motivation was also a planned ice cream stop at the 17A crossing. We had a mission to compare this ice cream with the ice cream at NJ94 crossing. It was good that we had this motivation because it was a miserable stinking hot day, the water was scarce (in spite of a few trail magics) and there were some intense boulder climbs designed to reduce our fear of heights some more.    Our original plan was to hike several miles past 17A, but 2 things conspired to reduce our daily miles. The first was the heat and increasing slope to the terrain. The second was a trail angel. When we got to 17A (about 2 hours later than planned), an electrical truck pulled over, honked and the driver asked if we wanted a beer or water. Of course we did! While drinking the beers with him, he asked what our evening plans were. We told him we were doing ice cream, and then looking for a place to stay. We had heard a rumor that we could sleep near the ice cream stand, but didn't know because our guidebooks never mentioned it. Roy Petersen, the driver, instantly offered to put us up in his yard only a quarter mile away. Just what we needed! He said to use his hose and electrical outlets as needed. He would be out on a date, so we would be on our own. We wondered what his date would think if she came by the house and saw a tent city in the front yard, but Roy didn't seem concerned. I thought maybe providing housing for pathetic smelly homeless people might seem noble to her, scoring him points? Whatever, the night passed without incident except delicious ice cream and a great night's sleep for the 5 of us, plus Janet and Yonder who showed up strategically when Roy was talking to us.
Date: 2007-07-29
From: NY 17A crossing

To: East Mombasha Rd
Miles today: 8.8

Trail Angel Roy continued his magic, cooking us bacon and eggs in the morning. Then we met Rex's cousin in law for a few hours and then hiked far enough to position ourselves to pick up maildrops for some of the hikers in our group at Fort Montgomery. It was incredibly hot day again - looks like it will be for a while.The morning began interestingly, though. Janet was the first one up. For about 5 minutes she complained to no one in particular (maybe Yonder, her hiking partner) about putting on the same skanky smelly shirt every day, and Why doesn't anything ever dry out? She was incredibly bitter and although she mirrors much of our feelings I was doing the silent chuckle the whole time. I felt bad, but what can you do? Quit the trail? Hardly.
Date: 2007-07-30
From: East Mombasha Rd

To: 7 Lakes Drive
Miles today: 17.6

Those who believe in southern hospitality as the superlative example are having to rethink. NY has been great! Donna and Rennie, Roy, numerous water bottles (incredibly appreciated because it has been very dry on the trail, and even if a stream even HAS water in it, it is usually a little smelly or red-tinged), Paddy-O, and a note at a road crossing of someone willing to put hikers up in their home. Those who think the north is cooler are also having to rethink. Today it was already hot and muggy when we got up. Nothing had dried completely. I was worried about chafing starting to develop due to constantly wet skin, even in the morning. Interestingly, the afternoon turned better. 4 of us hiked as a tight group today - Rex, Bruce, Peach and myself. Radar has jumped ahead to meet friends from his days of living in the Binghamton NY area. We also ran into Bag Lady and Thumper several times. EZDuzit is a little behind because he experienced back problems yesterday and besides he is meeting his son at a location where he can afford to slow down for a bit. Bag Lady watched me struggling to put Kool-Aid powder into my water bladder. She came up and showed me an easier way. Goes to show, I've still got a lot to learn about camping. This will probably save me 5 minutes a day!The most interesting part of the day was a boulder climb near the Lemon Squeezer. It was a skinny opening between 2 boulders followed by a short vertical wall. We had to remove our packs to get through. It was followed by a challenging rock climb. We all took our packs off before that too. As usual, the woman in the group proved superlative. The rest of us (men) handed our packs up before climbing. Bag Lady waited until last, and then proved it could be done with the pack on. We later found out that Peach, who had gotten a bit ahead of us at that point, had done it with the pack on as well. We men are beginning to develop a theory that there are Fembots on this trail, and who they might be.We spent some time at another NY beach, Lake Tiorati, before moving on to camp on an (we hoped) abandoned trail. We are developing a theme that Peach is our trail boss. However, she seems to believe that we don't want a mother/wife on the trail telling us how to do things. She is wrong. Fembots always know best.We camped on an abandoned piece of trail, all our tents in a line. Went to bed with the threat of thunderstorms, but once again they never got to us. Probably someone else got clobbered instead.
Date: 2007-07-31
From: 7 Lakes Drive

To: Graymoor Friary
Miles today: 10.5

Highlight of the day: Radar's birthday, celebrated at Hessian Lake. Even though he was not hiking with us, he was borrowing a vehicle and came to see us. Hard to believe he is 50 - very athletic with a youthful outlook on life. Hikes as fast as any 25 year old on the trail. He will be behind us for a while - visiting friends, and will be doing some shuttling for/with Tenacious T.2nd highlight of the day - got to take a shower at the shelter. I am definitely getting tougher as a result of this trip - I never enjoyed a cold shower so much in my life.big group at the Friary - Peach, Loose Bruce, Rex, Bag Lady, Thumper, and some new faces (all the names were familiar, though): Bobcat, Lifesaver, Turbo Turtle, Tim (4th time thru hiking).
Date: 2007-08-01
From: Graymoor Friary

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: few clouds

Peach proved that she was indeed the trail boss - a superior hiker, and a considerate human being. She raced ahead of all of us today, we thought it was so she could swim at a lake. Figured we wouldn't see her until the shelter, since the beach was a good bit out of the way. In fact, somewhere beyond the lake we rounded a corner, and there she was - with sodas for all of us. What a lady! Late in the day, we planned on stopping at a campsite, When we got there we saw a sign on a post advising us of trail magic at the shelter 2 miles ahead. Because it was late in the day and since I have a reputation for speed within the group, I began a 2 mile "sprint" to catch them before they left. In fact, about halfway there, I met some hikers going the other way - they were checking one last time to see if anyone was coming before they left. We were getting dinner! Wow! Clearwater and Seeker were 2006 thru hikers and had trail magic set up at the shelter all day, but nobody came by! They had just about given up when we rescued them. Beer, Soda, sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit, desserts. What a spread. I complimented them, saying how great New Yorkers had been so they told me they were on vacation, from Georgia and Massachusetts respectively. Well, shut my mouth!Eventually more hikers showed up, making Clearwater and Seeker's efforts all the more worthwhile - Gus (a female thru hiker) and Puddinghead (a high speed thru hiker)Rex, Loose Bruce and Peach had their picture taken under the shelter sign, because they are all Registered Pharmacists (RPH's).
Date: 2007-08-02
From: RPH Shelter

To: Telephone Pioneer's Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: clear sky

Today's hike is dedicated to my favorite commando, Greg Kappler. The heat inspired me to do something that he said he would do if he ever hit the lottery. The key word here is commando. Clearwater and Seeker continued the trail magic, serving us breakfast. Thanks for all you did!We all swam at Nuclear Lake - presumably some of the fish had 3 eyes. Fortunately they did not develop teeth, since we could feel them nipping at us, particularly at any scabs we had. It was refreshing of course, but I also squeezed a weeks worth of scunge out of my clothes, since we haven't laundered in a while. It was amazing the filth that I left in the water. Should have laundered first, then swam. That way the fish would have stayed away. Found out there had been a uranium mine in some of the mountains surrounding the lake.I have never sweated this much, worn such wet clothes, worn such dirty smelly clothes....evern. At first all my bodily functions and body odors competed for dominance. But eventually they joined together to form ammonia, and it is profoundly pungent. I inhaled once while taking my shirt off and felt my throat burning. I am bashful about standing near other people even to talk to them or have my picture taken.We met a trail maintainer today - Elvis Trailsley.. He was the 311th person ever to thru hike the trail, back in the 1970s. RPH shelter, where we started this morning, is named after him (RPH = Ralph's Peak Hiker). He advised us against working on a schedule to finish the hike - you only do it once, take your time and absorb all you can. Makes sense, even though Bruce and I have been obsessing over staying on schedule for October 1. We are rethinking Quite a character - he actually gets in trouble with the ATC, which I figure is a group of free-living mavericks anyway, so he must really be extreme. One thing he does is he paints the tops of rocks that he has tripped on, so hikers will see them and not do the same. What a troublemaker!I met my first SOBO through hiker today. Actually he is the 3rd I've seen but I talked to this person. Unfortunately I forgot his name. Heat is horrendous. What am I doing about it?1. starting early'2. Trying to clean myself regularly3. Taking a mid-day break4. Using anti-chafe cream5. Swimming as often as possible6. wear clothes to bed to dry them out7. The "Greg Kappler Measure"
Date: 2007-08-03
From: Telephone Pioneer's Shelter

To: Schaghticoke Mtn Campsite
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: few clouds

Entered Connecticut!Met Bump, a friend of Loose Bruce and Rex, who section hiked with them in the Smokies. He was with his wife Sassafras(a former thru hiker) and 2 grandchildren. They put on a spread for lunch that only someone who had hiked the trail would know to do. We were joined by a few other hikers as we visited.Swam in 10 mile lake. Only did 100 yards though. These swims keep us sane, cool and relatively clean. I wear my clothes when I swim to get some of the ammonia out. It comes back quickly when hiking, though. I can't wait for the weather to break so I can complain about cold nights again.I met a very cute pair today, a young girl with a freaky haircut & a recently acquired degree in environmental science, hiking with her very proud father. In my earlier life, I would have been surprised that a young girl with that "look" would have found it uncool to hang out with dad, but now it makes perfect sense. Now, though I see the freaky people in a very different way, having hiked with so many of these gifted individuals.I hiked with Snakecharmer for a while today - he was surprised he didn't have to slow down for me. I guess I am getting faster. Also, what he didn't know was that I was struggling on the uphills - had they been steeper or longer, he would have had to wait or just go ahead. Among other things he mentioned that Tuna Bag had been off trail for Lyme disease (which I knew), but was back on again (Yay!) Figgy and Stitch wrote in a register that they removed 100 ticks from each other one evening. Sounds like they will be the next victims. What is the most dangerous animal on the trail? Easy - deer ticks.Insects in general are insidious now. I do not use my repellants except on rare occasions, but you can see them lining up on my tent's bug net waiting for me to come out for breakfast. I actually have a special procedure for entering my tent so they can't get in. And, they seem more active if you stop moving.
Date: 2007-08-04
From: Schaghticoke Mtn Campsite

To: Kent, CT and Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 10.2

"A Magical Day"   We needed to stop in Kent to pick up mail, do laundry, and grab some grub. Magic appeared as soon as I popped out of the woods - I asked a gentleman parked near the trailhead which way to Kent, and he immediately offered me a ride, water and soda. As Yakov Smirnov would say, What a country! I mentioned I had 2 friends still up in the mountain who would be showing up shortly (Rex and Loose Bruce) and another already en route to Kent(Peach). He had no problem taking as many of us as would fit in the car. He had some interesting hiking plans of his own - he had just dropped his bicycle at the trailhead, and was driving to a point 5 miles up the trail, where he was going to walk back to his bicycle, and then ride the bike back to his car. Whew! Anyway, when he dropped us off, he offered to wait a while for us to finish our chores and then he would drive us back to the trailhead. We didn't know how long we might be, so we thanked him and sent him on his way. The next thing you know I run into Chaco and Wrong Way, who told me of more trail magic - a local realtor let them sleep in his office overnight. Water and electricity were available there. As it turns out we didn't use it, but still it was an awfully nice offer.    We eventually decided that although Kent was nice, the majority wanted to either move on or really didn't care if we stayed or not. We started hiking again and were looking for campsites along a dirt road when an SUV came up it. They told us they were looking for hikers to feed - a station about 1/4 mile up the road - hot dogs, sodas, beer, desserts. Holy Near Miss, Batman! Just a half hour earlier I had told Loose Bruce how great it would be to see Roy Petersen with a Coors Light. Instead, we got Clearwater with a Budweiser - a perfect substitution (Clearwater was also a co-host of the RPH shelter trail magic). He was with 4 other alumni thru hikers - Monologue, Pace Car, Ramps and one whose name I unfortunately forget. Thanks guys, it was great!   We partied at the trail magic until after dark, assured by the veterans that it was an easy night hike to the next shelter. I didn't know what that meant, because the only night hiking I'd done previously was from my tent to the privy. Fortunately I had Gnarly (formerly Slick, who I walked with a lot just before Harpers Ferry) to hike with - he has done this quite a bit. It was no problem. As a result of the trail magic, the shelter held a large group - Rex, Bruce, Peach, plus Chaco, Snake Charmer, Tim(working on his 4th thru hike!), Calves (a section hiker since 1983 who has about 400 miles left) and of course Gnarly. Only Gnarly slept in the shelter - he has no tent. Everyone else slept in a tent to get away from the bugs. At the shelter we strategized the formation of a second identity for Bloodstorm. The group will also be known as Peach's Posse.
Date: 2007-08-05
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to

To: Falls Village, CT
Miles today: 18.2

We set an aggressive schedule because we heard there were beers and a german restaurant in Falls Village. We were disappointed to find a nearly dead town that closed earlier than we arrived. Fortunately the camp sites we had heard about were still open - a local resident and cafe owner who allows hikers to use his back yard, his spigot and an electrical outlet on the side of one of his buildings. He even opened his store long enough for us to buy a few treats - in my case a cream soda and an ice cream sandwich.Another disappointment of this day was that I checked the shelter register at Pine Swamp Leanto for a message left by Socrosse during his section hike in June. The register had been replaced on July 14 so even if he did sign that register, I wasn't able to read it. I'll keep looking.
Date: 2007-08-06
From: Falls Village, CT

To: Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: haze

A quick hike, through terrain that has shown more ups and downs than we have seen since the Roller Coaster in Virginia. However, it is fairly rock free, so it was actually a very pleasant hike. Especially with the cloudiness early on and a light refreshing rain at the end, which ended about when I got to the town of Salisbury, where we had agreed to take a nearo. My #1 pet peeve of the day - there are these bugs that keep trying to climb into my hair right at my future bald spot in the back. My theory was that the bugs live off of black bears, either by biting off pieces of flesh or by laying eggs in their skin. I figured my head hair was probably the right density, length and color that they mistake me for a bear. I was later told they were deer flies. Fortunately I always feel them climbing through the hair, so only 1 has successfully bitten me. The others met a horrible fate, trapped by my open hand, and then crushed. Irritating Edge is a capital offense, at least if you are a bug. One last try to find Socrosse's message resulted in a 1 mile detour that took me down 300 feet to the shelter and then back up 300 feet on the way out. So actually I did an 8.5 mile day, but one mile didn't count! And it clearly wasn't the shelter he wrote in. Once in Salisbury, we had a good day, showering and laundering (aahhhhhh!) and polishing off a 12 pack with Loose Bruce and Fuzzy Monkey, who is in town with a bad back. I hiked with FM a lot coming into Harpers Ferry, and was very happy to see him again. He hurt his back 4 days ago, and is finally recovered enough to be ready to go tomorrow. Hopefully we will hike together again for a while. He has an interesting trail diary at davegates.blogspot.com (Yes, I know he was much more glamorous when you didn't know his real name).
Date: 2007-08-07
From: Salisbury, CT

To: Race Brook Falls Campsite
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Entered Massachusetts today!. The hike included the longest climb in weeks but, as the locals assured us, it is a beautiful area. As time goes on, the trail should become progressively more difficult, because since West Virginia we have been mostly ridge walking, albeit often on rocky terrain which partially compensates for the lack of slope. The group which is now called Peach's Posse (Rex, Loose Bruce, me and of course Peach) left together. Our plan was to leave at noon, but we didn't get on trail until 1:30. As a result, we had to hike until almost dark. ... Again! We want to break this habit, because it puts us in a position of having to race sunset to get tents up, dinner made, bear bags set up. Somehow, though, we keep doing this to ourselves. We need to look into this.More good news is that Fuzzy Monkey is on the trail. He left before us, and appears to be further up the trail. I did run into Chuck Norris and Troll at the shelter before we camped, so with any luck we will be leapfrogging their group as well for a while. In a shelter register I found a routine message from Socrosse - weather conditions, highlights of his day. Apparently his arrival message to me was in the Pine Brook Swamp shelter, where the register had been replaced on July 14 (after his trip)Thanks to my friend Walt Matthews for reminding me that I only have 43 Million inches left to hike! How encouraging.
Date: 2007-08-08
From: Race Brook Falls Campsite

To: Tim Leonard Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

An interesting but tortuous day. Hot, muggy,mosquito infested. In fact the main valley we went through today had been called Mosquito Alley by some SOBOs. There were also Boulder climbs that required great exertion and a little bit of courage. One portion of the trip was known as mosquito alley - a swampy valley section. I got a little insanely philosophical during my solitary race through this mess.... thinking how much I would like to replace mosquitos with mojitos, and wondering why mosquitos are so plentiful in a swamp where food opportunities are limited but much less so in areas of heavy human population such as cities.   Drinkable water is still an issue - I ended up getting a liter of water from the Housatonic River, where there were warning signs about not eating fish because they were high in PCBs due to a nearby plant that had once been used to manufacture PCBs. I know that the health effects require a large accumulation, so the little bit that might still be in the water was no big deal. As it turned out I did not drink much of it anyway, and was rewarded in camp with some of the best spring water of the whole trip. It was also another day where I got into camp very late, and almost needed my headlamp to finish the hike.   When I got there I was very happy to see Fuzzy Monkey had made it. His back problem still hurts but apparently has had little effect on his miles. Typical thru hiker toughness. However, I was disappointed when I got to camp to see that Peach wasn't there. Last I checked, she was the only posse member ahead of me. I figured she must have pulled into one of the towns that I didn't check. It was so late in the day I figured the rest of the posse stopped in town too, and decided to stay. 10 minutes later they all showed up, so all was right with the world. A while back I said that as long as I went to bed warm and fed and dry all was fine. I have to add to that healthy, bug free, and with friends. I actually ran into 5 NOBO thru hikers I hadn't met before.... Uphill, Pippie, Pittsburgh, and the twins Little Bug Shoe and Scuffles.    While cooking dinner I overfilled my alcohol stove so that it overflowed burning alcohol over a large portion of the picnic table when I lit it. I kept my cool, asked people to move their stuff away from the portion of the table I'd been using while moving my own stuff. I knew that this was a chemical fire, so the table itself wasn't actually burning yet. I let the fire continue, and used precious water to keep the table cool until the overflowed alcohol burned itself out. No problem, just a routine part of the thru hiker's life. I hated to waste the water though.... that spring with the great water was a half mile round trip down and up a really steep slope.