morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-13
From: Manasas Gap Shelter

To: Hwy. 605
Miles today: 17.1

The start of today was less than promising as it started raining at 6:30 but it turned out very well.I got away at 7:30. By then the rain had stopped but it was still cold and wet. I hiked the 5 miles to Dick's Dome Shelter where I stopped for early lunch. While I was there, who should appear but Little Tree! Before leaving, she said The Walking Stomach probably had skipped the shelter but was not far ahead.I quickly finished purifying a refill of water and gathered my things. Then I flew up the path as fast as my legs could carry me. I had not seen Little Tree and The Walking Stomach since Damascus.It took me more than a mile to catch up. They were slack-packing with Stomach's friend Ann and Aloha Ann, who had hiked the Trail in 2001 and 2003. I had read her journal but had never met her. They invited me to join them and we hiked together to Hwy 605, two miles past Rod Hollow Shelter where I had planned on spending the night. It was a nice opportunity to get caught up. Aloha Ann and I got a chance to talk and get acquainted. I liked the advice she had and it was nice to hear her say she thought I had what it took to get to Maine. Between that and meeting old friends my aches pains and doubts seemed to evaporate. Even the weather cooperated by turned sunny but cool.For weeks now my right fingers have stiffened up whenever they are not moved for any length of time and become painful to move. It has gotten steadily worse, especially at night. At first I feared arthritis was setting in, until my left hand began to be affected as well. That made arthritis seem less likely. I discussed it with Aloha Ann and she thinks it is from clutching my trekking poles all day. She suggested I try using the wrist straps to take the load so I do not need to grip the poles so hard. I hope she is right. The pain has been wearing me down.We were met at the road by Aloha Ann's friend Shar, who drove us to Ann's car. Then Stomach, Ann, Little Tree and I had supper and drove to an AYH Hostel in Maryland for the night.So I got to see old friends, meet new ones, find a better supper than cold ramen and tuna and then had a warm comfy bed for the night. What could be better?
Date: 2004-06-14
From: Hwy. 605

To: Snickers Gap
Miles today: 6.8

Today I joined The Walking Stomach, Little Tree and Ann for a day of slack-packing. So I left the heavier things behind and just took water, snacks and map in my pack. It was a long drive to the trail so we did not get to hiking until 10:30. Already the weather was hot and humid, making for slow hiking. So we ended up going just 7 Miles to Snickers Gap. We have entered the area the Brood X cicadas are in. The forest hummed with them, sounding like an invasion of flying saucers. The ground was littered with cicadas both living and dead. It is a pretty unusual sight, one that will not recur like this for another 17 years. The infamous Roller Coaster does not seem very hard. It is a section where the Trail is off the crest of the ridge so it goes up and over 10 side ridges in 13 miles. The humidity slowed us down a lot more. It may intimidate day hikers but there are much worse sections of trail than the roller coaster. I actually liked how there was a stream crossing every mile or so. That meant lots of water whereas the ridgetop is often dry for miles at a time.Once we got to the road, we called the hostel and hostelkeeper Ray picked us up and drove us back to Ann's car. Stopping at the Dollar Store for supplies I finally got around to buying iron supplement tablets. It was nice to discover that those huge heavy-looking bottles that had intimidated me for weeks were really filled mostly with cotton, with just a thin layer of pills on the bottom.We rounded up the day with a nice spagetti dinner at the hostel.Slack-packing gives less time to hike bacause of all the shuttling but it does give my feet a break. The lighter load also let me use just one trekking pole. That should give my right hand a break. I need to be careful because there are a lot more miles to go before the end of the Trail.
Date: 2004-06-15
From: Snickers Gap

To: Keys Gap
Miles today: 13.5

Today the four of us got an earlier start and were hiking before 7:00.It was hot and humid again but it was a good section of trail. First, we finished off the Roller Coaster. Then, joy of joys, WE FINALLY CROSSED THE BORDER OUT OF VIRGINIA! 535 miles in one state is a LONG time. I heard a yell up ahead and found The Walking Stomach and Ann standing by the border sign with big smiles on their faces. Of course we had to take lots of pictures.The next event was coming to a stone on the footpath on which was written "1,000 miles. Congratulations!" I have now hiked 1,000 miles since Springer Mountain. That meant lots of hugs and picture taking in honor of the occasion. Just for fun I bent down and kissed the stone for good measure. Stomach and Little Tree still need to finish 19 miles of Shenandoah Park before they reach 1,000 miles and finish Virginia but that won't take long.On the drive back to the hostel we looked at the huge billowing cumulus clouds with awe and felt thankful they were heading away from us. But when we stopped at a Wal Mart for food another cloud was bearing down on us and the sky was darkening ominously. The storm broke as we were about to leave. We sat on a bench just inside the door and waited. And waited. The storm lasted quite a while and got very severe. We watched with fascination as a woman opened her umbrella, went out the door and made for her car. She had trouble hanging onto the unbrella, then it blew inside out and nearly took her away like the nanny applicants in the movie "Mary Poppins". Finally she got into the car but had to wrestle with the unbrella for nearly a minute before she managed to get it inside and close the door. The wind was so strong we could see spray streaming over the roof past the rear window like the smoke trails in a wind tunnel or as if the car were on a freeway in the rain.I was glad I had decided not to try to hike all the way back to the hostel today because if I had I would be out in the storm. Soon fire engines were going everywhere. Again and again the rain seemed to slacken and one of us started to get to the car only to have it come down with renewed force before she could get to the door. When we finally got away the traffic on the road to the hostel was stopped to let rescue workers deal with an overturned car. Right near the hostel a blowdown tree blocked half the road and fallen branches were everywhere. Little Tree had tented last night and left her tent up while we were hiking. By some miracle the tent was still up and her sleeping bag inside was dry, much to her relief. I suspect there will be a lot more fallen trees across the Trail tomorrow.
Date: 2004-06-18
From: Dahlgren Backpack Campground

To: Cowell Shelter
Miles today: 13.9

I met Fire Marshall and Palm Tree as I reached Dahlgren Chapel. They had stayed at the shelter a few miles back. I could not resist telling them about the nice dinner they missed.Next stop was the Washington Monument. I spent about 20 minutes looking for the phone before a ranger let me know it had been moved from where the map shows to near the museum.The monument itself was up a hill and consists of a stone tower shaped rather like a giant milk bottle. Did George like milk? Wait, milk bottles did not exist in 1827, so it must be a coincidence. Anyway, it was made that year by the citizens of the nearby town of Boonesboro. You can climb spiral steps inside to a viewing platform at the top with a view of the valley to the west.Much of the trail here looks like a country lane, a nice change from the often overgrown stretches I found in Northern Virginia. There seemed less poison ivy and undergrowth in general. Alas, the raspberries seem further away from ripening too. Will I ever come to those magical acres of berries past thru-hikers write of gorging themselves upon? I hope so.In compensation, some sections were packed with rocks and boulders. I would either step between them on the flat ground if there was any or pick my way carefully along on the top of the rocks using my poles to keep my balance.At Annapolis Rocks I stopped to rest and had around 20 girl scouts arrive. They were the first I had seen on the Trail and the largest group of any sort. One of their leaders asked my trailname and said she had done about 1,000 miles in 2000.It was a humid day and even though only 80 degrees felt very muggy, especially in the sunlit patches. By the time I neared the shelter I was chafing in the usual places as well as some new ones, like my arm under the sleeve of my t-shirt, so I was more than ready to stop for the day.My one concern was that the shelter was near a road and it was a weekend so locals might come to party. So I was expecting to be prepared to leave and camp on the trail. But a youth group with several adults showed up to tent as well as a thru-hiker and a section hiker so it seemed populated enough to not worry.White Stag, the section hiker, was a librarian from City University of New York. He had lots of information on the trail to the north. But I wonder, are two librarians in one shelter a little much? After all, most shelters don't even have a library!
Date: 2004-06-23
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Hwy.11
Miles today: 11.9

This morning dawned rainy and it was 7 before I got going. I broke out of the woods just as the sky cleared and found: Raspberries! Lots of them as the Trail led along the edge of a field before cutting across it towards the town of Boiling Springs.Just before the town I found something new, what look like raspberries only longer and growing overhead in the thornless branches of a tree instead of thorny shrubs. I guessed, correctly it turned out, that they were mulberries. They taste sweet and watery, even more refreshing than the tart raspberries.In the town I got a snack and bought some food to mail to myself at Port Clinton as trail guides said it was hard to buy food there. Then I went to the post office to get my bounce box. At the ATC regional headquarters I got what I needed from it and readdressed it to Delaware Water Gap. There are so many hikers opening their mail drops that it looks like Christmas! Then back to the post office to mail off the bounce box and food shipment.Leaving town, the Trail led down a long lane shaded by mulberry trees! I couldn't begin to make a dent in the feast of ripe berries overhead. At intervals the rest of the day there are more ripe raspberries. I practically ate my way along the trail, though I took care to leave lots for those behind me. The Cumberland Valley may be short on safe water, but it is berry heaven!I decided to stop for the day at Highway 11 and spend the night at a nearby motel. There was a nice diner next door so I could eat up and rest.Tomorrow I have about 18 miles to Duncannon.
Date: 2004-06-24
From: Hwy.11

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: clear sky

I asked for a 430am wakeup call to get an early start and was hiking by 530. The morning was a bit foggy but clear and by 9am it was downright warm and muggy.There were not as many berries at the north end of the valley. Almost as if the Trail were preparing us to leave paradise and return to the rigors of the mountains. There were lots of mosquitoes and for the first time merely hiking at a good pace was not enough to keep them at bay. My hand was getting as red from squashing bloated mosquitoes as it had been the day before from picking berries! Finally I had to resort to insect repellant.The climb over Blue Mountain and up Cove Mountain was not too hard but making my way through the rocks along the top of Cove Mountain seemed to take forever in the afternoon heat.Finally I descended and got into Duncannon about 3. With a bit of trepidation from stories of its condition, I checked into the Doyle, Duncannon's famed hiker Mecca. Contrary to what I had heard, the mattress in my room was new and the sheets clean. The only downside was that my room was hot and there was no AC but what do you expect from a century old hotel?The grocery provided a shuttle van to avoid walking on a dangerous section of road. In the van I ran into Socks, whom I had not seen in some time. JoAnn was also there, preparing to jump ahead past the rocky section to New York. She had made it clear back when she started that she was hiking ALONG the AT, not HIKING the AT. At her age it makes sense to skip the worst spots.I had supper at a nearby pub: a thick slab of ham glazed with pineapple and a baked yam. Yum! I was stuffed when I went back to rest until bedtime.
Date: 2004-06-25
From: Duncannon

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I had two honey buns and orange juice I bought the day before for breakfast. That turned out to be fortunate, for breakfast at the Doyle apparently is a slow ritual. I was away by 7 and most were lucky to get away by 830.I walked through the sleeping town and across the big bridge over the Susquehanna River, the next of the really big long rivers the AT crosses.I had worried about the steep climb up Peters Mountain on the other side with me loaded down by five days of food. I needn't have worried, as the trail up was very well graded. On the other hand, once up, there WAS the way the AT went through the huge upended slabs of bedrock along the crest. Still, clampering along them was sort of fun and not as hard on the feet as walking on a rock-strewn path like yesterday. Lowering myself down a complicated series of ledges I came face to face with: RASPBERRIES! Nice big lusciously sweet ones and more than I could pick. For the rest of the day more appeared at least every ten or fifteen minutes.I discovered a new tactic to gain a, er, moment of privacy when there are male hikers coming up behind. Just leaving several clumps of berries unpicked worked like a charm to slow them down.The shelter is a veritable mansion complete with a balconied loft. Just as well, for an amazing number of hikers have shown up. I guess everyone decided to leave Duncannon on the same day. Then a family group of nearly twenty out for the weekend showed up and had to settle for their tents and the still existing old small shelter.On the other hand the path to the water source reminds me of the spiral staircase leading to the undergound pool deep beneath Jerusalem. I counted over 300 stone steps before I finally reached the spring! Equally bad, there is a nice composting privy that was so badly neglected that it was heaped nearly to the level of the seat. Bleah! That sort of neglect seems inexcusable, especially with a composting privy that requires regular looking after to function properly.
Date: 2004-06-26
From: Peters Mountain Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I got hiking at 530 because of the long distance to the next shelter. It was hard to tell if the water coming down was rain or just getting shaken out of the foliage by the wind. The fog did not relent until after noon.I still found raspberries but not as many as yesterday. Then the Trail cut across the valley to the next ridge to the south, called Second Mountain. That meant a thousand foot climb, but again the trail was well graded so it was not too difficult.This ridge had no raspberries or poison ivy. Instead it mostly had laurel and some rhododendrums that were actually in bloom. I had not seen them blooming since southern Virginia.Later I discovered more blueberries among the laurel. They were sparse so took a bit of looking. I found myself faced with a dilemma. If I walked slowly looking for berries everyone else who had stayed at the shelter last night would pass me and the next shelter was much smaller. So I could have berries or a spot in the shelter but probably not both. Oh the hard painful decisions we thruhikers have to make!I opted for the shelter. I passed a section hiking couple on the approach trail then found Hobbes standing up ahead. "Come see the shelter mascot" he called and pointed down the bank. It was a really big rattlesnake! I had never seen one on the Trail before, only nonpoisonous black snakes. With a trailname like Mouse I knew I should watch my step; rattlesnakes like mice.With Hobbes, Chill Out and Chasqui, the sectioning couple and I filled up the shelter. When Socks came a few minutes later she had to go set up her tarp.The shelter was very interesting. The approach trail looked like an old road bed and there was an elaborate retaining wall with stairs leading down to the shelter. The retaining wall formed two sides of the shelter and the third was a four foot thick stone wall. Everything was so elaborate and massive I was left wondering if it had originally been built for a different building, like an inn. When I see the guidebook for this section I need to remember to look it up.
Date: 2004-06-27
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

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

Socks and I hiked most of the day together. For the first couple of hours we could hear the sputter of small arms fire from the busy ranges of Indiantown Gap Military Reservation.Just past I-81 we and Hobbes saw a first. A big orange sign that said "Appalachian Trail. Detour". Of course that called for some photos. Then came the steep rocky climb up Blue Mountain. The trail got rockier and then abandoned switchbacks and went straight up the slope. "This had better be worth it." I grumbled. "There had better be berries at the top!" There were. At the top we found a bush with three raspberries for each of us. I had to admit that that was as much as I asked for, berries, plural."I should have specified the quantity" I commented ruefully."Like a quart each" Socks replied.We came around a corner and were faced with bushes and bushes of raspberries, the big sweet juicy ones. We ate and ate until Socks said in a slightly berry-muffled voice "That will do me for another quarter mile". A moment later she found some more and added "As soon as I strip this bush."A bit later Socks made an even better discovery, a ripe mulberry tree! I pulled a branchful down into reach and happily picked several dozen.Finally the berries thinned and were guarded by thick lush beds of poison ivy. Then both were replaced by ferns that quickly became waist high."This is like Jurasic Park" Socks observed."Look out for Velociraptor.""Hopefully he is off eating raspberries and we can make our escape."Then we hit one of those evil spots where the trail led over an immense pile of slabs of rock. We had to pick our way carefully through them. Here and there a slab would tip alarmingly when stepped on and once we nearly lost the trail when it cut off to one side.Then the trail became easier for several miles but with no berries. Socks went on ahead when I stopped at a spring four miles from the shelter for water. After that the berries started up again. The last mile was the worst. It was another of those spots where a fiendish trail planner had decided that the only way we could appreciate a giant pile of rocks was by clampering over them. Then the trail was well-strewn with rocks all the way to the shelter.501 Shelter is one of those memorable ones. Named for the highway it is near, it is a former pottery studio. It has four walls, doors, and a huge octagonal skylight in the middle where the potter's wheel used to be. It also has running water, a solar shower, and you can order pizza via cellphone.One hiker had been given a ride to the store by a Mennonite family and brought ice cream. The family had a relative who had thruhiked so they all came back to the shelter from the road to see what the inside looked like. We assured them that most shelters are a lot simpler than this one.We quickly organized a feast. Well more like three feasts as new arrivals added more pizza to the menu. Yum!
Date: 2004-06-28
From: 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: light rain

The underbrush on these ridges seems to be one of three types: poison ivy with raspberries, ferns, or laurel with blueberries.Today was entirely a laurel and blueberry day, which is just as well, since the rash situation was starting to get a bit out of hand. A friend sent a treatment she has used for years but I beat it to Boiling Springs and had to have it forwarded to Delaware Water Gap. Until I get there it is just as well to minimize the exposure.The pickings were more abundant than ever. They were scattered here and there, sometimes a few berries, sometimes handfuls. To be sure other famished hikers got a share I started picking only on the left side of the Trail and leaving at least half of what I found. Even so, I got a handful every fifteen or twenty minutes. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.The weather was perfect for hiking, cloudy and cool. At the nine mile mark there was even Trail Magic, two beers and a bag of oranges. I skipped the beer but took a big sweet juicy orange to go with my lunch. There was a road crew there with a jackhammer so I had to go up the Trail a bit to find a quiet spot to eat.To bad they were not there to break up all the rocks on the Trail. There were more than one doozy of of a boulderpile to negotiate as well as stretches of rock-clogged trail.About a mile from the shelter it began to threaten rain so I sped up and got there before the rain started coming down. To my surprise, the shelter was deserted. I guess everyone before me decided to try to make the 20 plus miles to Port Clinton.
Date: 2004-06-29
From: Eagles Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: clear sky

A thunderstorm rolled through at 11pm and the rain continued most of the night. Socks and I slept in a bit to let things dry out.There were still a few blueberries and miles of rocky trail. Eventually the laurel, blueberry, poison ivy, raspberry and ferns were intermingled chaotically and ripe berries became scarce.We made the steep descent into the Schuylkill water gap into a railroad yard with quaint old coal company signs and huge boulders of coal on display, past a memorial to war dead, over the river into Port Clinton.We tried the bed and breakfast and found it locked shut. The little Port Clinton Hotel had no space, and the outfitter was not very helpful. I did find the clerk at the post office friendly and helpful, but we were a bit discouraged by the town in general.Frustrated, we went down the Trail to Rt-61 and walked about two miles to a Microtel where we booked a double room for the night. On the way along the river we found our very first ripe blackberries!Socks did laundry and took a nap while I went to the Cebalas sporting goods superstore across the street. I did find a new hat, a light blue one. Hopefully I won't loose it soon. But I did not find a new bite valve for my Platypus or even AquaMira water purifier. Aside from the sort of things one finds at K-Mart, the stock of camping and hiking supplies was very spotty. We had a big dinner at a Cracker Box restaurant to round out the day. Mmmmmm, comfort food!