morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-09
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: light rain

Day 89-June 9, Mohican Outdoor Center to Gren Anderson Shelter, 20.6 miles. After a good night's sleep in the cabin, we were hiking on the AT at 6:50 AM. We were happy to be in the cabin because it rained for a couple hours overnight. It was an overcast day with mild temps so we walked 20.6 miles. We had a few more ups and downs today which added interest to the day. We came upon a huge beaver dam, which we had to cross. On the far side of the dam we saw Survivor Man and The Machine stopped, looking at something along the side of the trail. There was a big snapping turtle who had dug a hole and was laying her eggs! Amazing-certainly one of the highlights of the day. Another highlight was the continued trail magic by our Trail Angel Tom. This morning before we left the cabin he told us that he could drive quite close to the shelter where we planned to stay tonight and he wanted to bring us subs for dinner! He made a plan for us to call him when we got to the road crossing about 3 miles from the shelter and let him know where we were. When we got to the road he was there waiting for us so we didn't need to call. He told us about the next 3 miles to the shelter and we moved on. When we got close to the shelter, there was Tom, hiking towards us! He had parked his car and decided to hike in to meet us. So for dinner tonight we had Cokes and subs. He also brought in some Honey Buns and Cherry Danish for our breakfast in the morning. We said good bye to Tom tonight and could not thank him enough. He shared his magic with the other thru-hikers who have been with us yesterday and today and was willing to do anything we needed. We appreciate all his efforts and wish him well. He is a good man. The Mountain Laurel are in various stages of blooming and they are beautiful! I look forward to the next few days, hoping the Mountain Laurel continue to decorate the trail. Our plans are a bit looser for tomorrow. Jim needs to pick up his boots in Unionville and whether we stay there or move on a short distance is undecided. All is well.
Date: 2014-06-12
From: Vernon, NY, Mile 1352.9

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: light rain

Day 92-June 12, Vernon, NJ to Wildcat Shelter, 17.1 miles. I Love New York! Well, actually I was cursing out NY when we first crossed the state line. NY welcomed us with miles of fractured, dome shaped rocks that were extra treacherous because they were wet. The fear of falling slowed me more, but the good news is that we successfully negotiated all that NY threw at us so far. We started our day by successfully hitching a ride back to the trail. We then had a steep climb up Wawayanda Mountain. The guy who gave us a ride back to the trail told us his Cub Scout pack used to hike to the top and this gave me the confidence that I could make it! The rest of New Jersey treated us pretty nicely. Our trail treat today was found 2 miles before our destination shelter when the trail emerged onto a road that was home to Hot Dogs Plus-a little trailer by the side of the road that sold hot dogs! Life is good! Jim and I split the Special-two hot dogs with toppings, a bag of chips and a can of pop-all for $5.50! We probably each could have eaten the Special on our own! One good thing from all that rock walking today was that there was quite a floral display of Mountain Laurel. It appears that we are in the right place at the right time for the Mountain Laurel in this area. I took frequent breaks from focusing on the rocks to enjoy the beauty these bushes/trees provide. Last night we were most surprised to be the only people at that lovely hostel. Tonight at this shelter, there are plenty of hikers! It has been raining or misting most of the day and the forecast is for the same tomorrow. There is hope for the sun to make an appearance over the weekend. Right now we are feeling the frustration of being away from home with unreliable cell service. Thanks to family and friends who have helped out and been patient when we are not always available. Tomorrow we plan to hike almost 20 miles and we have to go through a rock formation called the Lemon Squeezer! All is well.
Date: 2014-06-14
From: William Brien Memorial Shelter

To: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center
Miles today: 16.5

Day 94-June -4, William Brien Memorial Shelter to Graymoor Spiritual Life Center, 16.5 miles. The sun came out! Life always looks better through sunglasses!Our 16.5 miles included at least 4 mountains, over 400 steps up one side of a mountain and 1100 steps down the other side, one bridge, 4 dry boots, one deli dinner and 1400 miles completed! The trails were in good shaped today and the rocks had dried out in the rocky places. One highlight of the day was getting to Bear Mountain. The trail crews had built over 400 steps on the climb to the top (we counted!) and once on top the trail was built for the general public (smooth and flat). On the descent we were quickly impressed by the huge number (1100) of rock steps built into the side of the mountain. We had heard rumors about the 1100 steps but it's hard to imagine such a feat of trail work until you see it. We emerged from the woods to Hessian Lake in the Bear Mountain Recreation Area to the joyful screams of families on the lake in rental boats! We ate a nice lunch at the 1915 restaurant at the Bear Mountain Inn before continuing to follow the white blazes through the park. The trail goes right through the Bear Mountain Zoo with the bear den being the lowest point on the AT (124' above sea level). We then crossed the mighty Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge and it was about half way across that we passed the 1400 mile mark! I took out a piece of charcoal that I had picked up at a campsite we passed in the morning and wrote "1400" on the cement barrier on the bridge. We each put up a foot by the number and I got the photo! Hopefully I won't be arrested for defacing public property! One thing we've noticed lately as we walk through the woods are all the well-built stone walls which at one time must have marked property lines. These walls are testament to the number of rocks that are in the area and to the dedication of the early settlers. One mile before we got to our camp spot for the night we had a road crossing and right there was the Appalachian Deli/Grill/Pizza and gas station. We had snacks (Jim-a quart of chocolate milk, me-a frozen Dove ice cream bar and bottle of juice) and then bought some resupply food for the next couple of days and 2 deli sandwiches for dinner. Good stop! We are camped on the ball field at the Graymoor Spiritual Lfe Center. The friars started letting hikers camp here in 1972. They provide potable water, a shower (cold), picnic tables, park benches and 2 clean porta-potties. And it is free. We are serenaded hourly by the bell carillon which we understand goes all night! The bells count out the hour and then play 2 hymns. It is actually quite lovely, unless it keeps me awake tonight! Plans are loose for tomorrow. All is well.
Date: 2014-06-15
From: Graymoor Spiritual Life Center

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

Day 95-June 15, Graymoor Spiritual Center to RPH Shelter, 18.8 miles. I just had this whole note typed for today's journal and then I deleted it! So here is an abbreviated version. We hiked 18.8 miles going through Clarence Fahnestock State Park hoping to meet the mother of a friend from church. This did not work out but we enjoyed our time at the park's concession stand and used their bathrooms! We are at a shelter where pizza can be delivered so pizza, salad and pop were our dinner. Many of the hikers who arrived late to Graymoor have just arrived here so it will be another social evening. Happy Father's Day to Jim and my Dad and all the Dads who read this journal. Thanks to Corey and Tucker for the phone calls today!Sorry this is so short but I don't have the motivation to re-type all that I had written. All is well.
Date: 2014-06-16
From: RPH Shelter

To: Native Landscapes-mile 1444.8
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 96-June 16, RPH Shelter to Native Landscapes-Mile 1444.8, 19.9 miles. It was a quiet night last night and once again we were back on the trail at 6:45 AM, enjoying the cool of the morning. We planned to go about 16-17 miles to a shelter today unless we were able to get reservations at a B&B in Pawling, NY, where we hoped to spend 2 nights. It looked like a good spot for a zero day. However when I called the B&B I got a recorded message saying that they were fully booked for June and July, at which point I disconnected the call. I guess the summer travel season is full swing! So Jim looked at our guide and suggested we push on 3.1 miles beyond the planned shelter to this landscape business which lets hikers camp on their property. They also sell cold drinks and offer hot showers for $5.00. This sounded good to us. The camping here however is not ideal, or even particularly desirable. We have our tent set up on one of the few flat spots in their camping area, which is between a busy road and the railroad tracks! It will definitely be an earplug night tonight! Some highlights from today's hike: Nuclear Lake- not sure where the name comes from but it was a lovely, small lake that must have been dam-formed. We were able to look down into the lake when the trail went high and see old stone walls in the shallows of the lake. We saw no homes or camps along the shore. It would have been a very serene spot except for the constant sound of gunfire! There must have been a shooting range near the far shore! The next highlight was during the last half-mile when we had to cross a large marshy area. We had a sturdy boardwalk to traverse this area and were usually dwarfed by the tall vegetation on each side of the walk. There were several spots where benches had been placed and one spot had two wooden Adirondack chairs, one labeled AT-Maine and the other AT-Georgia! This marshy area had large clumps of yellow iris in bloom-very pretty. So we've had our showers and cold drinks and will now cook up our dinner. We won't be up late because it was a hot hiking day (85 degrees) and that sapped some of our energy. We are looking forward to tomorrow. We are getting picked-up by the parents of a friend of Corey's who live near Kent, CN. This plan all happened quickly over the course of the day with emails and phone calls. When we first arrived at this landscape store we made another plan for taking a zero day in Kent but when the opportunity came up to spend a night in a house we cancelled our zero day reservations. We won't forget to work a zero day in, just postpone it for a day or two. Thanks to Corey for making this possible. Dinner time! Happy 63rd Anniversary to my parents! You know how to do things right!All is well.
Date: 2014-06-17
From: Native Landscapes-mile 1444.8

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 97- June 17, Native Landscapes-Mile 1444.8 to Kent, CN, 18.4 miles. Several good things to report from today so here goes!First off, we passed into a new state-Connecticut! We're not here for long (50+ miles) but what we've seen has been beautiful. Next, we have now completed over 2/3 of the trail! And to celebrate, a former thru-hiker and now trail angel left a cooler of beer at the 2/3's mark so we could toast the moment. Thank you to Dora the Explorer for the trail magic! We also saw our first rattlesnake today! He was about 3.5 feet long and slowly moving up the side of the trail. I stopped very quickly when I saw the snake in my path and backed off even quicker when I realized that it was a rattler! He gave his rattle a good shake for us and we gave him the respect he deserved. He didn't seem to concerned with us though and slowly slithered off he trail while we tried to take some photos. And now we are at the home of Pat and Ron B, who we had never met until they picked us up at the trail this afternoon! We made this connection thanks to our kids. Corey is friends with their daughter, Tess, and they made sure we 4 parents got together! They have invited us to stay tomorrow also, so we will enjoy a zero day here with them. They are wonderful people and have opened their lovely home to us. Tonight they took us to a picnic that was out on by an organization in which Ron is involved and we were made to feel very welcome! We enjoyed wonderful and plentiful food as well as conversation with their delightful friends. Tomorrow we may do some sightseeing with them, but we don't have a definite plan yet. Stay tuned. So thanks to Tess and Corey for setting this up. We are thrilled to be here! Today was a hot day for hiking-temps in the high 80's. We had to stop twice at streams to make water to refill our water bottles. Time to go sleep in a real bed! All is well.
Date: 2014-06-18
From: Kent, CT

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 98-June 18, Kent, CT, zero miles. We have had a great zero day! We were especially appreciative of being in Pat and Ron's last night when a thunder storm blew through around 1 AM. I rolled over and didn't worry about the rain. This morning Pat and Ron took us on a car tour of this corner of Connecticut including a stop to view the Great Falls at Falls Village. The AT will take us by there tomorrow or the next day. It is a beautiful waterfall on the Housitonic River, which we followed by road several times today. We then visited the Beckley Furnace, part of the iron ore history of this area. The furnace has been beautifully restored and had several plaques around it which provided a good history of the furnace and how it worked. By then we were feeling hungry (or was that just me?!) and we stopped at the local grocery store so we could resupply for a few days. After a leisurely lunch at their home we were back in the car for more sightseeing. Our afternoon destinations were a couple of museums. The first was Chesterwood, the summer home and studio of Daniel Chester French, the man who carved the Lincoln Memorial that sits on Mall in Washington, DC. Unfortunately when we arrived we discovered the buildings were closed for the day due to budget cuts, but we were invited to walk around the grounds and view some of the large sculptures. That's when we discovered that all these sculptures were the work of Albert Paley, a famous sculpture from Rochester! After our sculpture tour we continued on to the Norman Rockwell Museum, which was open and wonderful. I've always enjoyed seeing Rockwell's illustrations and artwork and this museum featured many of those works. A highlight was seeing all 323 cover illustrations that he did for the Saturday Evening Post-some that were familiar and others that were not. The museum was set on a high piece of land which provided us with beautiful views of the surrounding hills (mountains?). We ended our tour with a delicious dinner at the Barrington Brewery. Jim is packing up our food purchases as I write this journal and we will finish packing up all of our stuff so we can get back on the trail tomorrow. We have had a great time getting to know Pat and Ron and our conversations came easily. We should warn Corey and Tess that we parents are going to plan a trip to DC so we all can get together! Thanks to Ron and Pat for their hospitality!All is well.
Date: 2014-06-19
From: Kent, CT

To: Pine Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 99- June 19, Kent, CT to Pine Swamp Shelter, 17 miles. After another good night with Pat and Ron, we all piled into their car on a rainy morning and drove 45 minutes to the place they picked us up on Tuesday afternoon. We said our thanks and goodbyes and agreed to meet up in DC in the near future with our kids! Thanks again to Pat and Ron, we are thrilled to have met you. It was lightly raining with temps in the mid-60's when our boots hit the trail but the rain quit after an hour or so and the sun was trying to make an appearance by 10 AM. Conditions were good for hiking today until we noticed that the humidity was creeping up as the temps were rising. Fortunately most of our hiking was in the shade of the forest. After we were dropped off we had a mountain to climb and the descent was treacherous. The footing was terrible as we worked our way down a very steep slope of rock vomit, with the rocks either wet or covered with wet leaves. But, we made it and as we got near the bottom of the slope we heard familiar voices and there was Survivor Man and The Machine. We hiked with them for about an hour and during that time we found two acts of Trail Magic- a bag full of granola bars from Shy Bear's sister who came to hike with him and a bit later cold pop and snacks were in a cooler along side the trail from an anonymous angel. We had 4 mile flat stretch along the Housitonic River and that cold Coke energized me to the point that Jim couldn't keep up! The river walk was fast and flat and then we had hills and mountains the rest of the afternoon. As we approached the shelter our last challenge was a climb to a rocky outcropping where there was another rock formation similar to the Lemon Squeezer in NY. This version was slightly wider and was not followed by a hand-over-hand climb. We are at a shelter and many of our friends are showing up- Survivor Man, The Machine, Thin Mint, Trail Wife and Prom Queen. It has been a good day. All is well.
Date: 2014-06-20
From: Pine Swamp Shelter

To: Brassie Brook Shelter
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: broken clouds

Day 100-June 20, Pine Swamp Brook Shelter to Brassie Brook Shelter, 20.1 miles. Today we celebrated our 100th day on the trail! WOW! We celebrated with food. It was a wonderful day to hike and it may be one of our favorite days. We were on the trail by 6:30 AM and about 5 miles into our day Jim asked if I wanted to walk into Falls Village (8.1 miles from our start) for a second breakfast. Well, heck yes! Thin Mint was right behind us and we asked him to join us and he was most agreeable. The town was .4 miles off the trail and we headed to the Toymaker Cafe, which was recommended by Pat, Ron and their friends. It was a quaint place with an interesting menu. I had a Fluffernutter Waffle which was the most delicious treat I've had in a long time. It started with a perfectly cooked Belgium waffle, which they spread with peanut butter and then they added a very generous dollop of Fluffernutter and they topped it with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. I felt like a 9 year old eating something my Mom would never allow me to eat! It was great! Here's what Jim ate: a chocolate smoothie, a bagel with cream cheese, OJ, biscuits and gravy (2 biscuits, 3 sausage patties, gravy and scramble eggs). We were stuffed and we had 7+ miles to the next town of Salisbury. We needed to do a resupply in Salisbury so we hiked the .5 miles into town. We sat and figured out our miles for the next week and what food we would need. We grocery shopped and then bought some stuff to eat as a late lunch. We shared some raspberries and a half gallon of lemonade and each had a yogurt, chips, and a chocolate bar. This fueled us for the last 5 miles to this shelter. Right before the shelter we crossed the 1500 mile mark! Another big milestone! This was the first of four 20-mile days. For a variety of reasons, mostly the spacing of the shelters, we have this schedule planned. We have friends that want to meet us on the 25th and there is one particular shelter/cabin that we want to stay at and we want to have a shorter day for the day my folks pick us up to take us to camp so if we do these 4 long days, things may just work out! We are here tonight with Shy Bear, Prom Queen, Thin Mint, Trail Wife and Guy on a Buffalo. We've had a lot of laughs. It was a wonderful day and all is well.
Date: 2014-06-21
From: Brassie Brook Shelter

To: Thom Leonard Shelter
Miles today: 23.2

Day 101- June 21, Brassie Brook Shelter to Thom Leonard Shelter, 23.2 miles. What a day! It was long and tiring. I'll do my best to capture the highlights but all I really want to do is eat dinner (Pasta Sides-Chicken (2) with a large pouch of tuna, cookies) and go to bed. Today being June 21st, on the trail that means it is Hike Naked Day, so we did, for about 3 minutes! We have photo documentation! We stripped down after it warmed up but was still early enough for nobody else to be around. My fear is that I would be hiking in all my glory and a group of Boy Scouts would come around the corner and they'd be scarred for life! But we saw no one, and we participated in this time-honored tradition! We had 3 mountains to climb this morning which went well and then traversed along a rocky ridge line for some miles and that was tough walking-small ups and downs on a variety of rocky surfaces. We thought we might make good time through that section, but it actually was pretty slow, especially the downhills. Plus we weren't paying attention and missed an AT turn and went down a side trail and had to backtrack when we realized our mistake-and it added about a mile onto an already long day. We did have a long stretch (6 miles) of flat walking through forest, fields and on the roads. The mosquitos were so thick in one of the forest sections that I couldn't walk fast enough to keep away from them. We added another "favorite" spot on the AT and that is Sages Ravine. We followed a tumbling creek for a mile or so and enjoyed seeing the waterfalls and deep swimming holes. The mosquitos are a bit of a nuisance at this camp/shelter but our tent will keep those pesky buggers away from us. It was another glorious day to be out and early in our hike we saw a good number of day hikers. We got some trail magic today in the form of water. We came out of the woods to a parking area and some kind soul had left 8 gallons of water which we used to top off our bottles. We like when we can get water we don't have to purify! Tomorrow we have 21 more miles and that will take us to a famous cabin/shelter run by the Appalachian Mountain Club. It will be the motivating factor as we hike tomorrow. All is well
Date: 2014-06-22
From: Thom Leonard Shelter

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: broken clouds

Day 102-June 22, Thom Leonard Shelter to Upper Goose Pond Cabin, 21.1 miles. Today's miles were more pleasant than yesterday's which was a treat. And the weather continues to be hiker-friendly (mid-70's, mostly sunny). Apparently there was one and maybe two bears wandering through our camp last night. Jim sleeps through anything and I had my earplugs in so neither of us heard anything! We passed several small ponds before arriving here at Upper Goose Pond and they were still in the morning air with perfect reflections of the surrounding trees. The trail was in good shape with an acceptable amount of rocks and roots to maneuver around. This cabin on Upper Goose Pond is maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club, the same group that maintains the huts in the Whites in New Hampshire. This building was donated to the AMC by an outdoor organization that is now defunct. There are bunks for 14 in the upstairs and the downstairs is a common area. There are 2 outdoor privies and a covered cooking/ eating area. There is no electricity so as darkness comes we'll either use our headlamps or go to bed! There is a volunteer caretaker, Nancy, who is here for a week and then will be replaced by another volunteer. The cabin sits above the pond and we walked down to the beach to swim and clean up. We later took out the AMC canoe and enjoyed our water tour of Upper Goose Pond. Nancy will make pancakes in the morning for all the hikers!This was our 3rd of 4 20-mile days and the caretaker says tomorrow's 20 miles into Dalton, MA has a nice long, flat section. I'm beginning to feel the exhaustion that comes from so many long days but I know that 2 zero days await us at camp and that will be total relaxation! Guess who's excited! We have a motel reservation tomorrow night which means a shower, clean laundry, a soft bed and town food. And a place to charge my phone so if I owe you an email, maybe you'll hear from me! All is well.