morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-06-25
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Dahlgren campground
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

We didn't have an alarm set this morning but we were up at 700am. Or should I say Fat Finger was so I figured I may as well follow. Breakfast was hearty with a waffle, yogurt, a hot chocolate, an apple and a bagel. I try to eat up before leaving town. My pack was extremely heavy and I needed to pack the food bag in first instead of on top as usual because there was so much in it. We took the trail where we left off when we arrived in town. I would not have minded a short cut but it seemed easier to get on near the hotel. It was good that we did because we got to see John Brown's fort (he was against slavery and started a failed rebellion then was hung near Harper's Ferry) and other historical buildings in the downtown area.I forgot to mention that we crossed from the state of Virginia to the state of West Virginia before Harper's Ferry and today upon leaving Harper's Ferry, we crossed the Potomac and we moved into Maryland. The Americans pronounce it as "Marilyn".
Date: 2010-06-26
From: Dahlgren campground

To: Devil's Racecourse shelter
Miles today: 18.8

Fat Finger slept with the food bags as we determined that she'd had a good life and I still have more of mine ahead of me. When we were in Harper's Ferry, we saw an episode of the US naval investigation drama, NCIS. Not a favourite but you make do. However, it was a great episode to watch as it related to bear baiting for hunting in the Shenandoah National Park. Someone had been gnawed by a bear. Of course an expert AT hiker like myself knows that hunting is not allowed in the Shenandoah which leads to a large number of slightly tame bears. It was funny to see Agent Gibbs look at all the maps of the areas I hiked through. Today was quite flat but rather rocky. Early in the day we saw the Washington Monument which is a lookout tower in memory of George Washington. It was only 0.1 miles off the trail so worth the visit! We made good time and had soon done 14 miles. As a break we decided to go to the Free State Hostel run by a former thru hiker. We needed water, that was the main reason for the visit. I offered to make the trip by myself but Fat Finger was keen to come as I told her there might be ice cream.I was right. I had 2 Koinke ice creams which are vanilla covered in chocolate. Fat Finger had one. I also had a coke. We debated whether to stay as it was very peaceful and pleasant. However there were only bunk beds in a big room and we like tenting and it was only 230pm! So we continued down the trail. Shortly after, Fat Finger yelped and I screamed in response, not knowing what was going on. In fact she'd seen a rattlesnake. The snake obligingly rattled off the trail. The noise was like a baby's rattle or a maraca (?) and the snake was gold and brown. It was our first rattler. Exciting! It was hard work getting up the hill to the shelter but we made it and the tenting area is lovely. The water was 0.8 miles downhill but was a gushing stream so worth it. This was Fat Finger's longest day yet. Congrats.
Date: 2010-06-27
From: Devil's Racecourse shelter

To: Tumbling Run Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

It was a full moon or almost last night because when I went to the loo last night I didn't need my torch (flashlight). I have a very nifty Princeton Tec torch which the size of a thumb - very lightweight and handy. The trail was very flat today and early in the morning who did we bump into... Warren Doyle! Last time I saw him and the group of slackpackers he leads was in Damascus. It was great to catch up with him and we had a good chat about the trail and hikers on it. His group is going strong so that's good news. I was glad Fat Finger got to meet him as many sentences start by "Warren says...", "This is how Warren does it". Shortly we reached the Pen Mar Park (Pennsylvania-Maryland) which is near the border of the two states and the Mason Dixon line which separates the South and the North.The park was lovely. It had a great view from one end, bandstands for live music which is played frequently, park benches, restrooms, a little museum and the place all hikers gravitate towards...a vending machine. We spent a good hour there while we washed our shirts in the sink, had a snack and chilled out. The atmosphere was very 1930s or 1940s. I would have liked to stay longer but we had to continue. By entering Pennsylvania I was now officially in my seventh state and in the North with the yankees. We had lunch about midday and Fat Finger said, finally, that she is starting to enjoy trail food. We had a summer sausage and Philidelphia cream cheese on a hamburger bun. We had hoped to stay in a hotel tonight but when I rung to check availability, I was told they don't do rooms any more. Not sure what they do! It was a good thing because we ended up in one of the lovliest shelters I've seen. The caretakers visit every day and are wonderful about its maintenance. We pitched our tents near the stream. We had read in the shelter register that there was a bar 0.5 miles up the road from the shelter. We walked up, almost 0.8 miles and saw nothing. Maybe it was a joke but it wasn't funny to us, we were sad. To cheer us up, we ate 2 Mountain House dinners. When we were in Harper's Ferry, I went through the hiker box (there is a box in most lodgings where hikers can leave bits and bobs and other hikers can help themselves) and I found 2 dehydrated dinners which are worth $7 each. They were delicious. One way beef stew (and full of veggies) and one was chilli mac. We made a little fire and Fat Finger held my titanium mug over the fire to heat the water required for the dinners. Delicious. We saw the caretakers and they had brought trail magic, apples and coke, but other hikers scoffed them all before we had the chance to have some. Oh well, bet our dinners were nicer than theirs! Saw a black snake today.
Date: 2010-06-28
From: Tumbling Run Shelter

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The tenting area was lovely and we were able to hear the creek all night. However my tent was very hot. Fat Finger is using my Henry Shires Tarptent and I am using my Terra Nova Laser Competition which is not really adapted to this heat. Also I was on a slant so I didn't sleep very well. We had a 1000 foot climb to start the day but Fat Finger made good time. We knew that we were headed to the Caledonian State Park for lunch and I think that spurred her on. Upon arrival we paid four dollars for access to the swimming pool. I had a cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake. Not such good quality but something a bit different from trail food. Fat Finger went for a swim but I was lazy and just had a hot shower. I should have gone in but I liked just relaxing on my sleeping mat. Fat Finger even thought about having a second ice cream for lunch. That was new! After the pool, we called the Manager. The weather was looking thundery and I was thinking about getting a hotel in nearby Fayetteville. The Manager gave us the weather forecast for Fayetteville from Paris, France! Cool how technology works! It wasn't too bad - 60% chance of rain. While on the phone I suddenly saw an insect diving towards my hand and before I knew it, it had stung me. I barely even saw it come or leave. Immediately I had searing pain in my hand. The sting was like a large needle being pushed into my skin. Then the after effects were like adrenalin shots of pain through my arm. The Manager quickly asked what was wrong then googled how to look after a wasp sting. I had to give Fat Finger the phone. Luckily the pain went away and I saw that the wasp-hornet had a nest with his buddy inside the phone booth. He must have felt threatened by me.The weather cleared so we headed up the mountain. I still maintain my 7.5 hours of hiking through rain which must be a record after 1000 miles on the trail! We finished the day with a total of 19.6 miles. Nice!Tomorrow I cross the half way point of the trail. To celebrate, it is tradition at the store near the half way point to buy a half gallon (just less than 2 litres) of ice cream and to eat it in one go. I have been planning my flavour since the start. Neopolitan. Then you get 3 flavours to make yourself sick on. I can't wait! Fat Finger is disgusted and she's not even doing it!
Date: 2010-06-29
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: James Fry Shelter at Tugg Run
Miles today: 0.0

We were allowed a lot of cereal today as we were resupplying at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park. The scouts who were camped here last night were very well behaved. Three were working towards badges so had to build wilderness shelters as if they had been lost on a day hike and had to survive overnight. The only items they were allowed were a space blanket and some string. The shelters they had made had a space blanket roof and pine branches around the sides. They looked very well constructed but the night was a bit cold for once so I would not have fancied sleeping out with no sleeping bag. After we'd left the shelter, I realised that we'd passed the half way point without knowing it, so we took a photo and celebrated being closer to Katahdin than Springer. Then I looked at my guide more closely and realised that we had NOT reached the midway point! Oh well, we just celebrated again shortly afterwards. I have now walked over 1000 miles or 1600km. Yahoo!We were fast approaching the location for the ice cream challenge. I had been awake at night thinking perhaps it was a bad idea to eat so much. When we arrived at the store, Puck (AT class of 1995) was trying to finish a half gallon of vanilla. He didn't manage to complete the challenge in 1995 so had come back to finish the task 15 years later! The flavours on offer were: vanilla, chocolate, peanut brittle, chocolate cookie dough and mint choc chip. I was stumped, what to choose! Fat Finger was no help as she thought I was stupid for doing it. Puck recommended a non rich one. Plain is best. Then, to my delight, I saw Black Cherry. This is my favourite ice cream flavour! However it was in a 1.5kg container, not a half gallon. I figured that I have skipped 90 miles of the trail so far so I can cheat on the ice cream challenge. The owner of the store, who is the judge of the competition, told me that the container would count as a half gallon as it was so close. I would like to say that I struggled to finish almost making myself sick, however it was easy. I never felt like I was forcing it down and I enjoyed every bite and finished in about 35 minutes. Puck looked on in jealousy at my ease! He was not feeling so well! I went to show my empty tub and was given a little stick which says that I completed the challenge. I also bought some Pringle chips as I was still hungry. Nearby was the AT museum where I saw gear and history of the early thru hikers of the trail. More about them at a later time. The walk to the shelter was 7 miles and I was pumped. I could have walked for a long time. The tub of ice cream had 1600 calories and even just one of the 12 servings I polished off gave me 25% of my daily allowance of saturated fat. Fat Finger bonked on the way to the shelter through because I didn't make sure she ate enough lunch. I am normally in charge of calorie intake but I was too obsessed with my challenge (which was a pleasure, not a challenge!).
Date: 2010-07-01
From: Boiling Springs

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

The B&B breakfast had been advertised by the owner as "gourmet" so we had high expectations. We were not disappointed and started with a fruit platter - not much of it - but the raspberries came from the garden of the son of the owners. Then we had eggs florentine/benedict with two poached eggs, spinach, ham and hollandaise sauce. It was beautifully presented and delicious. It wasn't too fatty so that made a pleasand change from some of the US breakfasts I've had. There were also some home made breads (banana, date and nuts) on offer. The portions were not hiker size but the quality made up for it. At breakfast we met a lovely couple also staying who were from North Carolina. They were from the county where Dirty Dancing and Last of the Mohicans were filmed. One was of the clergy (he didn't mention his position or denomination) and he had studied at Duke University which I think is where my sister in law did a student exchange. They had a lot of interesting things to say and we were particularly impressed with the fact that although clergy, they didn't impress any religions views or comments on us. We are very open to all religions but we don't like to be preached to (at least at breakfast!). They were going to the Amish country which was 45 miles away. I would have loved to visit the area (although I'd already been as a teenager) and I almost asked if they would let us ride with them, but I didn't want to impose!We started late on the trail but with only 14 miles to cover, we had plenty of time to spare. THe reason we have been hiking low mileage for the last week is because I have been in contact with Ernman, a member of White Blaze, which is a website and forum dedicated principally to the AT. Erman (his trail name) has offered to drive us from Duncannon to Bear Mountain in New York. His kindness didn't just extend to the shuttle but he also invited us to stay at his house in an extension for as long as we liked and to celebrate 4 July with him and his wife and children. Therefore we don't need to be in Duncannon until Saturday. Although the trail was flat today, it felt very much like it was filling trail. I mean that it was only trying to get us through the area. We passed road after road and we could hear cars all the time. The vegetation looked like the shrubs you'd find on the side of a town. Not very pleasant! It made me very glad to skip the remainder of Pennsylvania and New Jersey...I want to be in the mountains of New England, not skirting towns!We set out tents up in a lovely tenting area near a shelter and had sardines for dinner. A change, but this was only because there were no mashed potatoes at the last resupply. The evening was a lot colder than it has been so I had to wear my jacket for dinner and even then I had goosebumps on my legs (I changed from long hiking pants to shorts in Harper's Fery and threw out the pants).
Date: 2010-07-02
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Two hikers decided to have a loud conversation outside our tent at 615 this morning which was a pity as we'd planned to sleep in. We only had a short day to Duncannon and had not heard especially exicting tales about the town. We had a rocky downhill to negotiate after leaving the shelter then a fairly long uphill which was steady but not too steep. Rocks are tricky because they require concentration so as not to trip and fall or twist and ankle. Both Fat Finger and I did had have both of these results today after going through lengthy rocky patches. Once after we had stopped for a break, I had been sitting on a rock a few cms from the ground. I managed to fall on my bum when getting up. That was not very glorious but I think it was due to not taking off my pack during the break but how many people fall while sitting down?When we reached Duncannon, it was a less than overwhelming town. Boiling Springs had seemed like a very wealthy town with beautiful buildings, excellent eating spots and people with amazing cars (we saw a Corvette there!). Duncannon looked a bit run down, old and tired. We headed with apprehension to the Doyle Hotel and Bar as it was the only lodging place in town. We had heard of this infamous place along the trail. It is a must see place where people come to drink a lot. The owners, Pat and Vicky, were very welcoming and they took our photo for their records of hikers before making us feel at home. They had a board of all the thru hikers of 2009 who had sent them a photo of themselves on Katahdin, finishing the hike. To my delight I saw that both Gangsta and Wags (the two girls whose trail journals I had followed every day in 2009) had their photos on the wall!The room was cheap, $35 for two. HOzever it was one of the iffiest rooms I have ever seen. I can't really even explain it. We decided to use our sleeping bags rather than the sheets and I proposed to Fat Finger that we have a beer prior to a shower to lessen the shock. The beer was cold and refreshing and after my mind had been affected by a rosy glow, the shared shower did not seem so bad and definitely felt hot and cleansing after a night on the trail. In the evening at around 730, I spoke to Ernman by telephone. He proposed to come and pick us up tonight and take us back to his place, a whole day in advance of the plan. Fat Finger and I were delighted! It was a long drive for Ernman as he had not realised how far it was, 2.30 hours. He lives in the Poconos which is in Northern Pennsylvania near the Delaware Water Gap, which is part of the AT. We chatted all the way up to his house about hiking and the States. I was exhausted as we arrived at about 130am, well past my usual 830pm bedtime! More on Ernman in the next entry but how glad were we not to have to stay at the Doyle!
Date: 2010-07-03
From: Duncannon

To: Poconos
Miles today: 0.0

It was such a late night that I slept well and late this morning. In only got up at 930am because Fat Finger got up, so I was awoken. We met Ernman's wife who was also extremely welcoming of two Australian strangers who were coming into her home. She's not even a hiking fan! We were treated to pancakes and bacon for breakfast. This was the first time I had "all you can eat" pancakes. Ernman kept them coming and coming! I think I must have eaten about 10 or 15, drowned in syrup. The bacon was also the best I have eaten on the trail. It was crunchy and quite lean. I had a few slices of that too. Finally I rolled off my chair to chill out on the hammock on the deck. Ernman is a contractor who fell off a roof while working and seriously injured his leg. While he was recovering, he decided to hike the AT. He has hiked a lot of Pennsylvania (the Poconos where he lives is near Delaware Water Gap). He knows a lot about the trail for someone whose interest in it started not too long ago. He has done quite a few hikes with the members of White Blaze, an AT dedicated forum online, and has invited a number of hikers to stay at his house. We got in touch when I asked the forum members about how to skip from Duncannon to Bear Mountain and he offered to let me and Fat Finger stay with him AND to shuttle us the distance we wanted to skip. He has a little extension on his house which has its own bathroom and living room and he put us up there so that we would have our own space. He washed all our clothes and I was able to wash my backpack for the first time and to get it back to fresh smelling. For lunch we had massive subs with cold cuts with various salads. I wasted away the afternoon chilling out on the deck, reading a book I'd picked up from the Doyle and generally being lazy. Good times. Ernman and his family were just so welcoming it really warmed our hearts that someone would take a complete stranger into their house just because of a mutual love of hiking. As Ernman knew I wanted to celebrate 4 July with an American family, he got his family over so that we could have a big celebration all together. Looking forward to it.
Date: 2010-07-04
From: Poconos

To: Poconos
Miles today: 0.0

A double zero, this is a first for me! As there is a tv in the extension at Ernman's, I was able to watch the Tour de France in the morning when I woke up. I really am going to miss it. Normally every weekend while it is on and I am in Paris, I head out to a little cafe and watch it with all the old French men. Parisians are too cool to watch the Tour which is considered a bit quaint and hillbilly to them, but I love it. We met Ernman's twin sons and his daughter today. They had all come from different parts of Pennsylvania (his daughter from Scranton, famous for the American version of "The Office") to celebrate the national holiday. I believe the States are 235 years old today. Not very ancient by French standards but old for Australian ones. All the houses we have seen in the lead up to 4 July have been heavily decorated with wreathes and flags and other such national signs. The Americans are very proud of their flag, much more so than we are in Oz. We chatted some more about the differences between the States and Australia and with Ernman's daughter, about the education systems, because she is a teacher. Ernman took us for a trip to Walmart to pick up our resupply. Things are so much cheaper there than on the trail. The choice and the size of the store against was overwhelming but apparently that is quite a small size store! We checked out PeopleofWalmart.com when back at the house. This shows horrendous photos taken by people in Walmart. 4 July had led people to dress up and the day's offerings were suitably shocking!Then we started the feast. We had hot dogs and burgers, potato salad and pasta salad, corn, green salad and ribs. It was the first time I'd had ribs and they were delicious but I'd have to say that the hot dogs were my favourite. Enrman's wife had also made brownies and I had one straight out of the oven. Delicious. American food can be very good when it's home cooked. It's just the store bought junk food which is not so good. We had quite a few beers and an alcopop (what we call drinks which mask alcohol but taste like soda) called Mike's Lemonade or something like that. I knew we had to walk tomorrow so should have taken it easy....but whatever, it's a party!I ended up sleeping most of the time at Ernman's, catching up on the exhaustion of the trail. It was very relaxing and many thanks again to Ernman and his family.
Date: 2010-07-07
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Kent
Miles today: 11.0

We got up at 500am this morning to try to avoid the heat. I usually get up no earlier than 600am as I feel exhausted if I get up before then. Sure enough I was yawning away and feeling generally tired. Then the bugs came out in force. The speciality of New York and Conneticuit is the deer fly. I think it is a type of black fly (March fly) which buzzes around and is attracted to sweat. It bites hard and leaves a welt much bigger than a mosquito. They are charming creatures. Their only positive is that they are very slow so they are easy to swat when they land on your arm. I decided, a few hours into the morning, that I was not enjoying myself. The trail was ugly and without interest, the heat was killing me, chafing hurting me and the insects intolerable. I'd had enough. So at the next road crossing, I rang the outfitter in Kent, Connecticut and asked them to pick us up in a couple of hours a few miles down the trail. I didn't want to continue subjecting myself to torture. Luckily a lift was forthcoming so suddenly instead of 10 miles to go, we only had 2 before a shower and laundry. The trail suddenly seemed more pleasant and I perked up! Our lift was arranged from the Appalachian Trail Railroad station. The AT has its own stop on the train line to New York. If you want, you can hop off the trail directly onto a train and in 2 hours you are in New York. It was tempting! Dave picked us up and drove us to Kent. We found an expensive hotel (the cheapest in town) and relaxed away from insects and heat in our air conditioned after a cold and refreshing shower. I call this "doing a Bill Bryson". He had the right idea about how to hike the trail.