morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-07-23
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up around 5:15 and was on trail by 5:45. I needed to get to the P.O. by 11:30 or I would have to wait around till monday to pick-up my package ( another phone swap). In recent days rocks and heat have had me slowed down to 1mph at times and I have no way of knowing the actual trail conditions. Turns out it's rocky with a 1.5mi smooth section in the middle. I'm at the P.O. by 9:30 then off to the hostel for a shower and Laundry. Doing laundry here means handwashing my clothes in a bucket in the parking lot and hanging them to dry on a line strung between 2 trees, there is no washer and dryer here. A fair number of hikers are holed up here and at the motel waiting for the heat to break. Among them are Cope, Red Beard, Stretch, John. I decide to join them in the wait. I hit the outfitter's for fuel on the way to a long awaited breakfast. I found the perfect breakfast, a VF sandwich. Sausage, egg and cheese between 2 thick slices of french toast (made from fresh made bread) drenched in honey. When I told Pat about it she thought it was too much, I think it's just right. This is the same place with the hotdog and a slice of pie for $2.49 what a great idea. I loved eating at this place and i've never seen so much pie in one place. As usual I'm spending too much on food but at least the hostel is free. I'm thinking of taking a zero to let my feet heal up a bit, the rocks of PA left me with a good set of blisters.The congregation at the Curch Of The Mountain (where the hostel is)is very good to thru hikers!!!
Date: 2011-07-24
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

There are all kinds of good excuses for taking a zero today.It's still hot and humid with cooler weather predicted tomorrow, there is a free concert at 6:00 and a meeting at 8:00, more town food wouldn't hurt and my feet could use the break. I'm Convinced! I walk down to the Village Farm Bakery and have another VF sandwich. Home made rasin bread french toast with egg and sausage in the middle and honey poured over the whole thing, perfect. I went to sunday services and enjoyed it but not as much as the coffee and food afterwards. After the congregation broke up all the leftovers went down to the hostel for us to graze on. I spent a good bit of the afternoon playing with my new phone and setting it up. It's time for me to grab a bite before the concert and the meeting. I keep running into a big yellow blazing group but they have hitched ahead and the hostel will probably be quiet again tonight. My plan for tomorrow is to hit the P.O. then hike at least to the Mohican Outdoor Center 10mi out.
Date: 2011-07-25
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I had acouple of cups of coffee at the meeting last night and ended up staying up till midnight playing scrabble in the hostel with John, Bounce and another hiker. So this morning was a late start. I went back to the bakery for yet another VF sandwich then to the P.O. to mail my journals and old phone home to Pat. After poking around a bit I finally started out the door about 11:30 and a small thunderstorm immediately hit. I decided to wait till it quit to walk out since the bridge crossing the Delaware River is long and exposed. By noon I was crossing the Delaware and headed into New Jersey. As soon as I got across the river the rain started again, this time it didn't stop until after I quit hiking for the day. There were a few thunderstorms but mostly it was just a good solid steady rain. The trail was flowing better than the springs we were using last week. Mohican Outdoor Center is a nice enough place but resupply is non-existant. John and Bootlegger were ordering a pizza for delivery so I got a large antipasto for my dinner. This should leave me with enough food to get into the next town. Another rousing game of scrabble and some trivial pursuit till the manager threw the 3 of us out an hour past when he was supposed to. I just pulled another tick off my back, at least it's a big one, not a deer tick.
Date: 2011-07-26
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 13.8

Spent the morning drying out gear. After getting everything reasonably dry and packed up I stopped by the outdoor center for a sandwich and a coke. I also grabbed 2 snickers for the trail. I am always worried about running out of food, it's become an obsession. It was sunny this morning and all afternoon with some nice views, I went to take a picture with my new phone and it was dead. I must not have gotten it turned off when I put it away yesterday. I finally finished the antibiotics for Lyme Disease today, that will be one less thing I have to remember to do everyday. Around 5pm the first rumbles of thunder started. I had to cross some open ridges and I hate to do that anytime lightning is anywhere at all. For the most part the thunder was distant any time I was on an exposed ridge. The first off and on sprinkles started bu 6:00 and by 7:00 the first big thunderstorm came in. I was soaked to the skin in under 5min, what's really depressing is I had almost walked my boots dry from yesterday. After a half hour break another storm rolled in at 8:00. Now the trail was a fast flowing stream a couple inches deep. The mosquitos are as vicious here as in the Everglades. I tented up in the first flat spot I could find to get away from them. I was paid for putting up with todays rain and bugs with beautiful sunset views. I almost forgot I saw a bear, a deer and a rattlesnake today. The rattlesnake was slowly hunting along the trail in a cold rain, wouldn't have expected that.
Date: 2011-07-27
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: overcast clouds

3 days of hiking in wet boots has destroyed my feet once again. A group of young hikers with leaders,one a past thruhiker, passed me as I was taking a break on the trail. A little while later they were all stopped on the trail with both leaders up ahead of them, I asked what was going on and they said there was a bear asleep on the trail, sounds funny to me. I walk up to the leaders and sure enough it looks like there is a bear sleeping in the trail. I'm ready to go into town and eat bear or not so I yell at the "bear" and nothing happens then I grab a rock and chuck it at the "bear" still no movement. Finally I just start walking towards it after another 10yds it becomes apparent that the "bear" is actually just a stump along side the trail. The power of suggestion is amazing. The kids probably dogged their leaders for the rest of the trip about this one, I certainly would have. As my boots were starting to dry today they rubbed the tops of my toes raw. I ended up hiking the second half of the day in my sandals. Hiking in sandals went better than expected. I got everything except my boots and socks dried out and was in town at a diner by 1:00. Wisper was there and Bootlegger had just left. When Wisper left the waitress told my friend smelled bad, I said I couldn't tell because I smelled bad too. She said "you smell but nowhere as bad as he did" I honestly couldn,t smell Wisper but it made me feel a little less self consious about how I smelled. While I ate I charged my phone and then it was off to Dales Market to resupply. Resupply was a little weak but I was able to get 3-4 days worth of food. On the way out of town I grabbed a couple of peaches at a farm stand I was planning to get water there as well but they didn't have any. Across the street was another fruitstand selling plants they said all their water had fertilizer in it. They offered to sell me .5L water bottles for $1 ea. Fortunately the Blue Ribbon Resturant was nice enough to fill me up with water and ice. In the parking lot Whew saw me and got me a lift back to the trailhead. Today was the first day in NJ without rain. I'd like to put in some big miles but i need my feet to heal first.
Date: 2011-07-28
From: Gren Anderson Shelter

To: High Point shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was another low mileage day due mainly to sore feet. Although my feet are improving they are still a concern and slowing me down.Trail today was rocky with lots of PUDs There were a couple of views today and when I went to take a picture my phone was dead again, something is draining the thing but I don't know what. Bugs are bad today. I passed a newbie section hiker who was going the wrong way, he used his compass at the trailhead, newbie mistake. I ate an early dinner with Whew at the park office while my phone charged on an outlet I found behind the building. The High Point Monument is quite impressive, I took a pic on the way into camp. Hopefully I'll do a better job of hiking tomorrow. It would be wrong not to mention Snores a trail angel who made the open ended offer "what can I do to help you?". I was in good shape,so I got some water,a soda,an apple and some cookies. The biggest thing though was just knowing there was someone there to help if I needed it, Thanks Snores! Met Coach Mike at the shelter and tented nearby.
Date: 2011-07-29
From: High Point shelter

To: Pochuck Shelter
Miles today: 12.4

After some overnight rain I awoke to heavy fog this morning. No rain but the heavy overcast made for easy hiking conditions. Even so the high humidity left me soaked after every small climb. Since I have enough food I changed my resupply plans and will go into Vernon NJ tomorrow. There is a church hostel there with showers and laundry. The town also has an A&P grocery so resupply should be good. I caught up with coach Mike a section hiker and hiked into the shelter with him this afternoon. I decided to stop there even though it was only 4pm. About 5pm Phew shows up and tries to convince me to to go on a few more miles with her since it was so early (mostly she doesn't like to camp alone). But I had already sat around for an hour and inertia had set in. It was a good thing too, about 6pm an awesome thunderstorm rolled through. Ground strike lightening started downhill from my tent and struck all around me as the storm passed directly over my camp. I was alone and tented about 100yds from the shelter and couldn't see it from my tent site. After a fantastic 30 minute light show the rain slammed into me but I was snug and dry in my tent. When the rain let up a little Coach Mike knocked on my tent to see if I was all right, It was good to find out everyone in the shelter was safe too. The lightening strikes really were that close. Had I walked out with Phew my boots would be soaked again and wet feet with blisters on top of blisters would have been the result. I wonder how Phew made out?
Date: 2011-07-30
From: Pochuck Shelter

To: Vernon NJ
Miles today: 6.5

The walk out to the highway was easy and I took my time. I stopped at the farm stand listed in the handbook but the prices were too steep for me. I was trying to hitch with no luck when I saw a young guy and a girl walk into the AT trailhead parking lot across the street. I ran over to them and asked if they were going into Vernon and if I could get a ride. They said sure. Neither one knew where the hostel was but they could give me a ride to the A&P. Even though they were just on the trail hiking they had never heard of thru-hiking. When I got out of the car the guy hands me a $20 and tells me to buy something to eat on him. I assure him that I have money for food and just needed a ride into town, but he insists, say's that he is impressed by what I'm doing. What a sweet bit of trail magic! I ate a huge salad in the AC of the store's deli then did my resupply shopping, still with no idea where the hostel is. The first person I ask is a FedEx driver that passed me while I was trying to hitch, she says it 5mi from the store. I decide that's crazy and ask an older guy where the church is, he's a local and knows he should know this so he starts accosting everyone who walks by to try and get an answer for me. This causes such a commotion that one of the cashiers comes outside to quiet things down, fortunately she's a hiker and knows exactly where I need to go and gives me directions. It's only a couple blocks and I could have seen it from the store if a tree wasn't in the way.The St. Thomas church hostel is pretty nice and the people are great. I just got out of the shower and all my clothes were in the wash when Ruth, a member of the congregation asks me if I would like to go to a BBQ. All I have to wear is my sleeping shorts (none to modest if you know what I mean) so I decline the invitation. When Ruth returns later with some other hikers she brings 2 huge to go dinners from the BBQ for me and anyone else who might have missed it. Because food is such a big deal right now to me excuse me for the frequent focus on it. Here is a list of what I ate between 1pm and 10pm today: 1 1/2 lb Chef Salad,4 Kiebasa dogs on buns, 1/2 apple pie, ear of corn, some BBQ beef, baked beans,a roll, a coke and a snickers. it took all that just to go to sleep with the feeling of a full belly.Cope, Sundance, Pacemaker, Phew, Baby Ruth are all here.
Date: 2011-07-31
From: Vernon NJ

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Ruth from the congregation came downstairs at 8:45 to see if anyone was ready to go back to the trail. I ha already been to Dunkin Donuts so I dumped my coffee into a Nalgene and I was ready to go. By 9:05 Phew and I were back on the trail. I called Pat and talked to her for about 30 minutes from the trail, then it was down to hiking. The trail ran along a rocky ridgeline for most of the day and I was having a hard time following it. I crossed the NJ/NY state line today and it was just painted on the rock. The rocky climbs continued all day with a fair bit of scrambling required. I ended up hiking until 8pm leaving just enough time to set up the tent and get water before dark. There is a good cold spring here, thank God. Water was a problem most of the day today. A lot of the creeks and springs in the guidebook were dry. For the first time I had to use water so stained it looked like weak coffee.
Date: 2011-08-02
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Hemlock Springs Campsite
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: clear sky

Woke up early in a beautiful but dry (no water here) campsite.I havt to pack up and hike a couple of miles to water before I can have my morning coffee. Today the area I'm hiking through is beautiful. Also a bunch of milestones are hit, less than 800 miles to go,lowest point on the AT at 124' above sea level and I get to cross the Hudson. Bear Mountain has the most civilized trails on the whole AT and some of them are actually the first sections of the AT to be completed. Bill Bodnar used to tell me how pretty West Point is and now that I have seen it from across the valley I can see why. The Hudson valley here is stunning. The bridgewalk across the Hudson was long and it's always wierd having cars wizz past you like that, where is everyone going in such a hurry.There were signs for suicide prevention on both ends of the bridge, new one for me. The hill on the far side of the bridge is called Anthony's Nose thank god I don't have to climb that.tonight's campsite is nice enough but the big deal is it's got a nice cold spring.As I'm writing this up I remember a couple of things that happened in the park that I didn't put in my journal at the time. On top of Bear Mountain they were remodeling the restrooms and had unplugged the vending machines and turned off the water. I had been looking forward to both for hours and was so pissed. The other thing was all these families were cooking down by the lakes and I couldn't yogi anything no matter how pathetic I tried to look. But I did pig out on ice cream and soda's from the vending machines. Then I couldn't find the zoo bypass, it was after 5pm.
Date: 2011-08-03
From: Hemlock Springs Campsite

To: Clarence Fahnestock SP
Miles today: 17.1

Today started out great but it didn't last. Trail was easy to the Apalacian Store, a gas station/deli. I got a huge breakfast suband an extra days worth of food so I could hopefully avoid going into town till CT. Once again the phone is dead, I'll have to find a place to charge. I cameled up at the deli withcoffee and water and hiked out. At my next break there was a cooler left by "Bad Moon" with ice cold soda and beer. I grabbed a coke and sucked it down, thanks so much for the magic.The sky became overcast and it looked like rain. Sure enough the rain started around3 and it's still raining tonight. The trail got progressively worse as the day wore on. On the way into the park there were signs saying to take the green trail into the park.The green trail turned out to be a blazed but horrible bushwack that takes you into the wrong part of the park with no directions to the campground. I finally find the campground and there they want you to go back out to the road and down to the office to register. I'm done walking in the rain for today! OWF & Keeper are here and I just tent up by them and don't bother registering. I get a wonderful hot shower and Keeper & OWF give me a peice of pizza to supplement my dinner. Freshly showered with a full belly makes me a happy camper.
Date: 2011-08-04
From: Clarence Fahnestock SP

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: broken clouds

As I was starting to pack up this morning a guy came walking over from the park road, my first thought was I'm busted for not checking in. Instead Joe was inviting me over for breakfast at his campsite, Thanks Joe. I'm almost out of white gas and that saves me from cooking this morning. I got a chance to charge my phone and make some much needed calls, including ordering new boots. By 11:30 I was having second breakfast at the camp store/grill. I still wanted to get some hiking done so I set my sights on the shelter about 15mi out. Todays weather was great, mix of clouds and sun, temps in the low 80's. The trail also progressively improved the farther I got from the park. Around 10 miles out there was a deli 1/2mi off trail. Rather than cook dinner I headed there and also carried a half sub out to eat right before bed. All these deli stops may seem like a waste but they enable me to avoid doing a major resupply and also double my normal intake of calories. I may be able to make the CT border tomorrow, I'll have to see how the trail treats me. For big mile days prayer helps alot.
Date: 2011-08-05
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Ten Mile River Shelter
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: broken clouds

Today started off cool and misty, a good thing. My last day in NY had a bit of everything, but mostly far better trail than the southern parts of the state. Mountains,lakes,swamps,and farmland all in one day. No roadside or trailside deli today but there was Tim's Tasty Dogs. Tim was selling hot dogs out of an RV at the intersection of the AT and a state highway. I ate 3 there and packed 3 out for dinner. I'm planning on getting into Kent,CT tomorrow and having my daughter Lil pick me up for a couple of days off with my grandkids. To make sure I get into Kent early I pushed the extra 4mi to ten mile river shelter today. That leaves an easy 8.8mi into Kent, at least that's the plan. Before I forget Nuclear Lake in NY was very pretty, but I'm glad to be in CT.
Date: 2011-08-06
From: Ten Mile River Shelter

To: Kent,CT
Miles today: 8.8

Today was a late start and a long slow hike into Kent.I don't know if it was the big day yesterday or underestimating the trail today, but it was way later than I expected by the time I actually got into Kent. The junction of the 10 Mile river and the Housitonic River was beautiful this morning. The last couple of miles of trail today was a miserable mess of rocks. On the way into Kent I went past the Litchfield Jazz Festival and got a little taste of that. Kent seems like a nice little town and I hung out at the outfitter/ice cream shop until Lil could pick me up. Turns out it's a 2 hour drive for her since no highways run east-west in CT. We didn't get back to Glastonbury till 9:30 at night.
Date: 2011-08-09
From: Kent,CT

To: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I spent the last 2 days pigging out at my daughters house and hanging out with grandkids. It seemed a shame to leave all the creature comforts and go back to living in the woods but I have to finish my hike. Lil, James, Katie and Mark took me back to the outfitters in Kent, of course we stopped for lunch on the way and ice cream at the outfitters. After they headed home I sorted gear and met another bunch of SOBO's at the outfitters. Around 3pm I finally started hiking, I got out of town and about 1/4 mi down the actual trail when the rain started. It started of light but soon a steady rain was falling. I personally dont mind hiking in a little rain when it's warm out, what I do mind is GNATS. In a cloud around your head,flying in your nose, ears,mouth and eyes, BITING GNATS! As far as i'm concerned it's just wrong to have to put up with bugs attatcking you while you're hiking in a steady rain. The rain stopped around 7pm just before I reached my campsite for the night. I'm tented up warm and dry and hoping for a pleasant day tomorrow. I just started a flat section of trail and should be able to do some big miles if the weather is decent.
Date: 2011-08-10
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter

To: Sharon Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: light rain

Hiking in the rain yesterday and heavy rain overnight gave me a good excuse for a late start today and I took it. Even so I had tostart hiking in wet clothes. Today was a beautiful sunny but Humid day. Trails were easy for the most part. The first few miles followed the riverthen it was all short ups and downs. the water sources through here are mostly small warm water creeks, not at all what I prefer, but there are plenty of them and i can be choosey. I lost the tip off one of my trecking poles today, so I whittled a wooden plug and duct taped it in to protect the end of my pole. My camp spot tonight is nice enough and only 30yds from water. John is here with his father, who joined him for a few days. I think I finally have a trail name for him Steady. The only other person here is Spank, a roller derby skater. It's his second night backpacking I met him this morning when I was breaking camp, he was in the shelter. I have to start getting out early because it's now dark at 8:30 and it's only going to get worse. There's a nice breeze and the temps are starting to fall, it should be a great night to sleep.
Date: 2011-08-11
From: Sharon Mountain Campsite

To: Ball Brook Campsite
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: broken clouds

I got up and got hiking around 8am today. Weather was great, sunny and cooler with low humidity giving us great views. Hiking is mostly easy and water is everywhere. I hiked the entire day with Spank, a section hiker out for a couple of days. Hiking with someone new is usually a lot of fun and today was no different. The waterfall in Falls Village, CT was impressive and a couple of miles later we emerged from the woods into a field and received an awe inspiring panoramic view. Our next stop was Salisbury, CT for some town food. We hit the grocery store for some sandwiches and I extended my food out a couple more days. The final views of the day were from Lionshead, a beautiful valley dappled with lakes surrounded with mountains to the south and to the north Mt. Greylock the tallest point in MA. I should be climbing it in a few days as the AT goes right over the top. Even the finish of today was perfect, We just finished all the camp chores as darkness fell and a full moon rose through the trees.PS. less than 700 miles to go