morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-16
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: Terrapin Station Hostel, Chester Gap, Va
Miles today: 9.6

The king of all hostels. I encourage everyone who is hiking thru the area to stay here (during thru-hiker season). The 2004 season was listed in Wingfoot as May 1 thru July 19, closing in time for the proprietor, Mike "The Grateful Greenpeace Guy" Evans to follow the Grateful Dead. Directions: The side trail is .2 south of the north boundary of the park, and 1.8 mile north of Skyline Drive at Compton Gap. For northbounders, go straight when the trail veers left, for southbounders, go left when the trail veers right, then it is .4 downhill down a wide trail to a dead-end road. First house on the left is the hostel. Go around back and make yourself at home. Which is exactly what I did. The hostel is Mike's basement, with a fridge and freezer overflowing with Ben and Jerrys, frozen pizzas, drinks, snacks. The rest of the downstairs features a nice hot shower, laundry, bunks with air mattresses, a cozy, tree-hugger ex-hippie atmosphere with an awesome mini-library, a 60s and 70s record collection on vinyl, and lots of amenities. All the basic stuff one takes for granted in civilization and means everything when you come in from the woods hot, tired, and sweaty. I took advantage of being by myself when I arrived and hit the showers first thing, did laundry, ate and relaxed with a copy of "The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" for the rest of the evening.
Date: 2004-06-17
From: Terrapin Station Hostel, Chester Gap, Va

To: Terrapin Station Hostel, Chester Gap, Va
Miles today: 0.0

13 days and over 150 miles since my last zero, so here i crash. Had to go into town to replace my missing headlamp (I left it behind at the last shelter), and found one I liked better, the Petzl Zipka Plus. This is the headlamp I recommend to anyone in the market for one, it is the most lightweight and comfortable I have ever worn, with 3 brightness settings and 1 flasher setting. The highlight of the evening was a congenial game of trivial pursuit, with 2 teams of 4. My team was way ahead, but the other team roared back from desolation and won. Tomorrow it will be time to leave Shenandoah, I've basically been all the way through it. I will miss the park.
Date: 2004-06-18
From: Terrapin Station Hostel, Chester Gap, Va

To: Manassas Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

Scenery today was really disappointing after the beauty of Shenandoah. Back to the rather bland, flat countryside. After I-66 it improved a little bit and got a little wilder. One thing keeping me going is knowing that 1000 mile mark is getting much closer now. Jim and Molly Denton Shelter (see picture) was very extravagent as shelters go, with furniture, a covered picnic table, and a cold shower. Sweet! However, I trekked on to Manassas Gap Shelter, where I spent the night
Date: 2004-06-19
From: Manassas Gap Shelter

To: Rod Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: broken clouds

Took first break of the day at Dicks Dome Shelter, a small and oddly-shaped construction. It's round! Not that that is an odd shape, but it is if you're trying to put rows of sleeping hikers inside. I arrived to find Beatbox, Skippy, and Poppins, along with way too many boy scouts. I don't have a problem sharing the woods with boyscouts, until they over-run the place and you simply cannot relax because of their congested, noisy presence. Boyscout leaders, please, just take a half a dozen at the most at one time, it's not fair to those of us who escape to the woods to run into your giant groups hogging the facilities, trampling the vegetation, and just being boisterous. On to Rod Hollow Shelter. Got there early and in plenty of time to do another 7 miles to the next shelter. It had been threatening rain for most of the afternoon, but I thought it would hold off, and besides, it was really hot out and I figured a little rain would not bother me. I wish I would have just stayed put. Right after I left, it started sprinkling, gradually getting more intense, until it got really hard, and then after about 3/4 mile, a loud lightning crack sent me running back to the shelter dripping wet and unhappy. And then, of course, not long after I got back, it stopped raining. That figures.
Date: 2004-06-20
From: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: Blackburn AT Center
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: clear sky

Seven miles into the day, I got to see my first poisonous snakes in the wild: two adult copperheads, curled up together for warmth in the mid-morning sun, a stone's throw from Sam Moore Shelter. Beatbox, Skippy, and Poppins stayed at the main trail, having no interest in getting near.At Snickers Gap, I took a side-road to Horseshoe Curve Restaurant, which was closed for renovations, so I walked another 1/2 mile to another little local restaurant, where I was joined by Shepherd, Mad Hatter, and Gator. Mad Hatter is under the assumption that proper trail etiquette means all uphill climbers have the right of way, and that law may be enforced, even if it means bumping little old ladies off the trail : )Back on the trail again after Gator shamelessly crossed the yogi line and begged us a ride, we crossed the border into W. Virginia. I was saddened, for I really loved Virginia. It has been my favorite state so far, with the great hostels, meals, scenery, wildlife. Shenandoah, the Graysons, Dragon's Tooth were all excellent. However, I'm not leaving Virginia yet, for we are hiking the state line, and staying on the Virgie side tonight. At mile 996, my Wingfoot book has this to say: "The Lookout...no views" Huh?I toyed with the idea of going on to David Lesser Shelter, mile 999.8, then walking .2 just to break 1000, but I decided to save it for tomorrow: the first day of summer, my 3 month anniversary, and nude-hiking day (not that that has anything to do with it)The Trail Center was very nice. There was a nice young family serving as caretakers in an old log cabin. They gave us sodas, cooked an incredible pasta dinner and their adorable little girl handed out freeze-pops. When I took off my boots and socks, she scrunched up her face and informed me "you're dirty". It was priceless.Going to be cold tonight. I have just my fleece blanket for warmth, going to be wearing all of my clothing. Gator has no blanket or sleeping bag. I do not envy him tonight.
Date: 2004-06-21
From: Blackburn AT Center

To: Harpers Ferry Hostel
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

Before I started the trail, a long-distance hiker was defined to me as one who has hiked 1000 miles of a trail. Well, today I became one. A thousand miles. Holy cow. A thousand miles. Exactly three months after I started. The southern states are behind me, and the beauty of the north lies ahead. Woke up this morning quite cold, and so was moving and on the trail before 7. Warmed up quickly enough, and after 12 easy miles, I had left Virginia behind and was in Harpers Ferry. Sadly, at the bridge was a memorial for a baby girl who had been tossed off the bridge on the day that I left Springer. I felt really bad about this and thought about her often today. I said a short prayer for her, as well as for her mother who gave her up in such an awful way.The hostel tonight is really nice, even though the owners are a little cranky. It's a corporate-owned American Youth Hostel, and has annoyingly strict rules, due to the heavy usage by teen groups. However, tenting on their lawn is only 5 bucks (but they kick you out of the house at 10 pm if you're tenting, and kick everyone out between 9 am and 5 pm). The hot shower was nice, however, and it felt good to go to bed clean.
Date: 2004-06-22
From: Harpers Ferry Hostel

To: Harpers Ferry Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

After they kicked us out at 9, I took a bike and rode the C & O Canal Towpath back into town (the hostel is about a mile and a quarter past town). Spent most of the afternoon in town sightseeing, reading "Bicentennial Man" and one other short short story by Isaac Asimov, hanging out at the Appalachian Trail Conference, flying down the hills, and getting a buckle on my pack repaired by the famous Baltimore Jack.
Date: 2004-06-23
From: Harpers Ferry Hostel

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Got a ride with Beagle, Moo Juice, and Slowpoke back to the point where I got off the trail (back at the highway bridge), hiked with them into the ATC office, got our official pictures taken and celebrated reaching the "psychological half-way point." The literal half-way point is still a few days away, but Harpers Ferry is a major milestone, because the Appalachian Trail Conference is here, and its a major stop near the halfway point. After the celebrations and lunch were over, we hit the trail again for an easy day to Ed Garvey Shelter. About half the hike was an easy stroll down the towpath, which is a national historic park. The AT goes through six segments of the National Park system, in addition to the National Forests, and state parks and forests. The six are Great Smoky Mountain NP, Shenandoah NP, Harpers Ferry and C & O Canal Towpath National Historic Parks, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and the trail corridor itself, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The shelter structure was another display of ingenious design, with a really nice loft entered from the back. We met some weekenders who had an interesting job: investigating train wrecks.
Date: 2004-06-24
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: Pine Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: clear sky

From "Walking Tour Stop 7: War Correspondents Memorial Arch" in Gathland state park, near Burkittsville, Md: "This stone arch...was built in 1896 as a permanent memorial to newspaper correspondents, artists, and photographers of the Civil War...the Arch's unusual design was inspired by two Hagerstown structures: the former B&O Railroad passenger depot...and the Antietam Fire Co. Station No. 2...Names of 157 men from the North and South, who documented the Civil War, are inscribed on tablets embedded in the east facade. Biblical and classical references to the skills of the war correspondents are incorporated into the design."Today was a day with alot of historical and architectural significance. In addition to the War Correspondent's Memorial, on the trail today was a restoration of the original Washington Monument, and a beautiful old-fashioned stone-walled church.Don't know when I'll get a shower again, so I took a nice hot one at the Dahlgren Backpack Campground. It's tempting to head into Boonsboro for a nice slice of pizza, but I really don't need to go into town since I just left Harper's Ferry yesterday, so I'll skip it.Crossed over I-70 at the end of the day. It's funny to see a road from my home state of Indiana all the way out here. I guess I could scramble down and thumb a ride all the way back home, but I'm not the least bit tempted.Got in to the shelter to find it deserted. Not surprised, the traffic from I-70 only 1/2 a mile away is not conducive to a wilderness experience. The trail to the water was kind of long and I wondered if I would ever find it. Well, have a long day tomorrow, I'm planning on getting up at 530 am and being on the trail around 6. Got to do 17.7 miles plus post-office and re-supply, which will require a hitch.
Date: 2004-06-25
From: Pine Knob Shelter

To: Pen-Mar Road, Pennsylvania
Miles today: 17.7

Well, I ended up not being alone last night. Slowpoke came in well after dark just as I was falling to sleep. I was walking by 5:53 am this morning, the earliest ever! Hiked past Pogo Memorial Campsite, which Scorchfire, Treebeard, Mapleleaf, and a few others will remember from December of '03 as the campsite for "Colder than a Blair Witch's Teat". Boy, was that night cold. Yes, right now I am passing through country in which "The Blair Witch Project" was filmed, although I do not know if any of it was on the AT. I could've walked into Burkittsville yesterday if I had any reason to.As I complete the last few miles of Maryland, she's starting to give me a taste of what Rocksylvania is going to be like. As I approach Pen-Mar park on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, the trail is getting rocky and rugged. Yippee and Jabberwock were at the park, and they ordered pizza delivery. Sad to say, but the amount of trash, especially broken glass, on the trail in and near the park was appalling.Getting around Cascade, Md was a breeze! So many people were eager to help out with rides, one even asked before I stuck my thumb out. I made it into the post office to pick up some maps, and the clerk there was extremely friendly. She told me a story about a hiker who had attempted the 4 state challenge (Virginia/W. Virginia state line to Maryland/Pennsylvania state line, a distance of 43.1 miles, in 24 hrs or less). He had collapsed in the post office from exhaustion and not eating during the challenge. Someone had given him some food and water and he was off, because he wasn't quite to the finish.I hitched a ride back to the park easily in the late afternoon, and ran into Enigma, who had just made it to the park. We hung out in the park for awhile, meeting some locals and watching a train go by, and when a rainstorm came we ducked under the pavilion. I finished off my leftover pizza from town and organized my food. Eventually, the rain let up and I headed up the trail to find a campsite. The Pennsylvania state line was just a quarter mile away, and I stopped and set up my tent in the woods just beyond the famous Mason-Dixon Line. Don't Mind and Don't Matter were nearby, along with their nephew Don't Bother. They had just finished their first 20-mile down and were happy with it.
Date: 2004-06-26
From: Pen-Mar Road, Pennsylvania

To: Rocky Run Shelters
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up this morning with 14 Daddy Long-legs in my tarp-tent, all gathered at the back. Glad I'm not squeamish of them. I like Pennsylvania's sense of humor. The first shelter site I came to had two shelters, one marked "snoring", the other marked "non-snoring".Came to the Antietam Shelter to find it had been taken over by a local family out to party, as this is the weekend and the shelter is right next to a small picnic ground. They were friendly and gave me a Mountain Dew, but I was glad I was not planning on camping there. This was probably the reason there were two other shelters a mile or two in either direction on the trail. I do not want to sound elitist, but I wish the sleeping shelters would be left alone for their intended use.After a long break taking in a leisurly lunch at a nearby picnic table and sunning myself on the ballfield, I headed out for the night's destination. Again, there were two shelters at the shelter site, and some of the middle-aged to elderly ladies wanted to have it "boys and girls" shelters. I didn't see any point in that, especially if a lot of men showed up making the "boys" shelter crowded. But, they didn't, so it wasn't an issue.
Date: 2004-06-27
From: Rocky Run Shelters

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: broken clouds

Heard there was a swimming pool in Caledonia State Park, but I got there too early, it would not be opening for a few hours. No matter, it was really too cool for a swim. Did get a lukewarm shower at the campground that was barely worth it. Hung out with Bucket for awhile and moved on.The shelter at the end of the day was quite nice, with a nice big overhang covering a nice new picnic table, and floors that looked like they had been lacquered. I had intended on heading to Toms Run Shelters after taking a leisurely lunch here, but the shelter and the site are so nice with the stream nearby, plus the Dont's and Beagle and Moo showed up, so I decided I was going to give myself a break and quit early and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. It's funny to think of doing 13 miles and calling that "taking a break", but when you're on thru-hiker pace, that really is a break.
Date: 2004-06-28
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: James Frye Shelter
Miles today: 17.2

Hit the half-way mark today. I have now done more of the trail than I have left to do. The exact half-way point is 1087.05 and is marked by a rather non-grand pile of rocks on the side of the trail shortly before entering Pine Grove Furnace State Park for northbounders. There is a much more spectacular marker just north of the park, but since the length of the trail changes every year due to relocations, it is no longer accurate, but is still very close. It was exciting to reach when Jester and I reached it. I don't know what idiot thought of it, but years ago, someone decided the best way to celebrate getting halfway would be to eat a half gallon of ice cream, and your reward would be a tiny wooden spoon and a sense of accomplishment. Well, how could I resist? Pig out for a cause. And no, it's not free if you complete it. The store owners know better than that. Most under-fed thru-hikers can pack it away. It took me longer than most, but after an hour or so, my half-gallon of Hershey's Cookies and Cream was empty, and so were Beagle's and Slow-poke, who was ironically the fastest.All those extra calories really gave me a boost, because I did the last seven miles to the shelter in about 2 1/2 hours, and it was mostly uphill. It's really satisfying to be able to lounge about in the middle of the day and still get 17 miles in without too much trouble.
Date: 2004-06-29
From: James Frye Shelter

To: Appalachian Motor Inn
Miles today: 20.2

Today we heard a bear charging away from us through the underbrush. That's what we decided it was, anyways. It couldn't have been a deer because we would have seen it since a deer is taller, and it wouldn't have made as much noise.Hung out at the regional headquarters for the Appalachian Trail Conference in Boiling Springs, but the staff was not very friendly. The town is very pretty and the trail goes right into the heart of it. It looks like a typical quaint New England town, with a nice park with a small lake and lots of colonial-era architecture.We're in a big long stretch of no camping allowed because of all the private farm-land the trail stretches across, so tonight Beagle, Moo Juice, Slowpoke and I made plans to get a motel once we got to US 11. It made for a long day but we really did not have a choice. Being the fastest hiker in the bunch, I blazed ahead and got us a room. The rest showed up eventually, even poor Slowpoke, who I believe had done his first 20 mile day.
Date: 2004-07-01
From: Cove Mt Shelter

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a very frustrating day. When I tried to pay for my groceries in Duncannon, I could not find my debit card anywhere. Fortuneately, I was able to pay in cash and made my way down to the Doyle Hotel, a seedy on the outside but ultimately charming and comfortable bar/cheap motel, and called home to make arrangements to have some money sent to me by western union and to get another card sent ahead of me to Delaware Water Gap. Played a couple games of pool to relax and after a few wasted hours, hit the trail again. As the trail leaves town, it crosses the Susquehanna, at 444 miles the longest river the AT crosses. As usual when coming out of town, a climb is involved, and shortly after I got off the cliimb out of town, I was truckin' pretty good, probably doing at least 3 1/2 mph, when I was stopped dead in my tracks by the distinctive sound of a rattlesnake rattling. I looked down and no more than a foot in front of me it lay stretched across the trail. It finished crossing my path and went to the right and curled up in a ball, hissing. I very carefully got my camera and took two pictures, put the camera away, climbed on the rocks on the other side of the trail, and headed on. The trail was on very narrow ridge at that point, and manuevering past was a tiny bit tricky, but not difficult. Boy, was that exciting. A cool experience like that made up for the crappy rest of the day.The other bad thing is I've gotten behind my friends who I had decided I was going to stick with, Beag and Moo and Slowpoke, and so now I have to work hard to make up distance. I'll have to do 24 miles tomorrow to catch up. We'll see how that goes.
Date: 2004-07-02
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: clear sky

Longest day yet, over 24 miles. Once upon a time, days half that length would be all I could handle. Now, it's just a matter of, how long do I want to spend hiking and how far am I willing to go without taking a break? Obviously, I could do a 25 if I made myself, and even a 30 is not out of the question. But I see no point in over-reaching myself if I do 30 one day then can only do 6 the next unless I had some real reason to do it.I really wanted to catch Beag and Moo, I've known them for so long, they're like my sisters, and even though they're older (in their 40's) than me, I relate to them better than a lot of the young girls in their 20's. And then Slowpoke is like our crazy uncle.Lots of rocks on the trail today. I hate these Pennsylvania rocks. They're everywhere and you have no choice but to walk on them. If they were bigger they would not be so troublesome. They're just the right size to make walking on them a major pain. You can never take your eye off the trail, you have to deliberately place each step so as not to twist an ankle or do a face-plant. It's really tiring.At one of the highway crossings today, I went the wrong way for a good half-mile or more. I went down a path that had trees that appeared to have sloppily painted white blazes, and went that way for a good long way before I realized they were just splotches of white paint on the tree for some reason. I don't thing they were intentionally misleading, because I also noticed "no trespassing" signs. I don't know what the deal was there.Despite their big 7 mile lead, I caught my trio of friends towards the end of the day. I caught Slowpoke much sooner than the other two, for he was struggling on an uphill rocky section. Catching him encougared me to try to catch the others, and with just a mile or two to go, I did.The guidebook stated that the shelter was .3 off the trail, and there was a ton of gorgeous tentsites next to Rausch Creek, so I made my home for the evening there.
Date: 2004-07-03
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

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

When I got up in the morning, I discovered the .3 as noted by Wingfoot was wildly inaccurate. I don't think it was even half that. Had I known that, I would have come down and visited for a spell, for a lot of friends were at the shelter or tenting around the shelter. Slowpoke stopped about a hundred yards short of the shelter trail last night, but had no idea how close he was. To his delight in the morning, he had found he had made it to his destination after all. Beagle and Moo Juice were pleased also, for they were concerned about him. He has gotten lost before, after all.Later on in the day, being a warm July day, a group of us guys could not resist jumping into Swatara Creek, and some of the braver ones jumped in by rope-swing.There was a really nice lookout with a panoramic view overlooking the valley right before tonight's destination. It's too bad it's not a day later, for it would be a wonderful place to watch fireworks.Again, I took a seriously wrong course, went for probably 1/2 mile in the wrong direction, this time while on the blue-blazed trail to the shelter, so that I ended coming into the shelter from the opposite direction as everyone else, much to their puzzlement.The Sleeping quarters for tonight is more of a cabin than a shelter, featuring a cold shower and a resident caretaker, along with some very bizarre religious propaganda left behind. Someone had a cell phone, so the dozen or more of us ordered from the local pizza place since we were right next to highway 501 (hence the name). Caterpillar entertained us with stupid human tricks (see picture) and I teased Mousebait about her "sexy" cut-up, scratched up legs. I actually like Mousebait very much, she seems to be one of the more intelligent ladies I've met. We're all getting to be quite the family, and quite familiar with each other.