morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-24
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

When we woke up we decided to go eat breakfast at the hotel. I had cereal. We walked to a laundromat, put our laundry in and walked to a diner called Weasies. After breakfast, Songbird went to make a call while Spook and I went to a Kroeger for food and resupply. After walking around all morning my shin and ankle were even more swollen and my toe was black. I decided to stay in Waynesboro and take a zero day while Spook and Songbird continued on. I checked out of one room into a single room. I said a short goodbye and told Spook and Songbird that I would catch them in a day or so. Then they called Cindy and left to hit the trail. I stayed behind and iced my shin and ankle all day.(30 minutes on-30 minutes off) I also walked across the street to the CVS and got some peroxide and Epsom salt for my feet. I soaked my feet in the Epsom salt and then soaked in the peroxide. Every time I soaked my feet in peroxide my blisteres foamed alot. I snacked and watched TV all day with my feet up. I was doing every thing I could to be ready to hike tomorrow. I soaked my feet in peroxide several times and my blisters foamed every time. I ended up going to bed early since I did not have much to do. I put some stuff under the mattress to try and keep my foot elevated throughout the night. I slept great again in a comfy bed all to myself. My plan was to get up early and get breakfast and then get a ride to the trail and start the catchup game with new shoes. So I set the alarm and fell asleep.
Date: 2012-07-25
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Langhorne, PA
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up with every intention of going hiking, but when I got out of bed and tried to walk I was in pain. Then I looked at me toe and it was black and I had a rash on my feet and my entire foot was discolored. I called my friend Sara, the athletic trainer, and asked her opinion. I then went to the complimentary breakfast and had a couple bowls of cereal and 2 bagels. I asked the lady at the front desk and she told me about an emergency care walk-in clinic. So I asked how far and she said, " oh it is only a mile, can't be much further than that." So I started walking. I figured a mile on a flat street could not be that bad. Well, turns out I walked 2.5 miles to get there on a super busy highway. I had cars flying by me at like 60-70 mph. When I got to the clinic I filled out some paperwork and sat. Once I got called back the nurse asked what was wrong. So I tried to explain how I was hiking the AT and she asked me what was that! Then she saw my toe and started freaking out. Then I waited an hour for the doctor. Once the doctor came in and she saw my toe, she started freaking out. Then she called in a couple more nurses and said look at this guy's toe! They gave me 2 shots, one in each hip. My guess-it was penicillian. Then a different nurse told me my foot was infectred and by the looks of it the infection could be in my bloodstream. They wanted me to come back for the next 3 days to get shots-one a day. So I explained I could not afford to stay in my hotel for that long. So they made me sign paperwork that said they were not liable if I DIED. The nurse scrubbed my feet with a special soap and iodine and wrote ne a perscription. They said the pharmacy was 10 minutes away. I asked if that was 10 minutes walking or 10 minutes driving and she looked at me like I was crazy. I explained that I walked from the Quality Inn and she just laughed. I called a guy from the trail angel system and asked for a ride-he was happy to come and get me. The nurse told me not to walk and to stay off my feet as much as possible. They also wanted me to take 10-14 days off the trail. When I got back to the hotel I called my Dad and told him what the doctor said and he told me he would come and get me. So I got the perscription filled at the CVS across from the hotel. I made some calls to catch up with people while I waited for my Dad. When he got there we packed up my stuff and checked out and then were headed home. We ended getting home about 2:45 in the morning-it was a 6 hour drive. I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow!
Date: 2012-07-26
From: Langhorne, PA

To: Langhorne, PA
Miles today: 0.0

My Mom made me an appointment with our doctor for the afternoon. When I saw him I explained what the emergency clinic said and he laughed. He took a culture of my toe to test which kind of infection it was. He explained that it was not in my bloodstream but he did warn me that if I did not get it looked at the the infection could get in my bone and then there is the possibility of the toe having to be amputated! When I was at the doctor's and waiting for him, there was a knock on the door and my friend Ashley was there. She said hello and wanted to know how I was doing. She laughed at my beard! Turns out she works at my doctor's office. It was good to see her. Now I have to rest and rehab my leg and feet. He started me on a different antibiotic-the one the clinic gave was not right.
Date: 2012-08-06
From: Langhorne, PA

To: Allenberry Playhouse, Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up this morning really excited because today is the day I am getting back on the AT. My Mom made me a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and waffles. I packed up all my stuff after putting everything into piles of stuff I wanted and did not want anymore. I got one last really GOOD shower and got dressed in my new hiking shorts. My old ones were too big since I lost a lot of weight. The new ones have an elastic waistband which should work a little better. I did one last look around the house to make sure I had everything and then said my good-byes to my Dad and brother Tyler. Then we were off. My Mom drove me to Boiling Springs, PA where I was meeting up with Spook and Songbird. I caught up on my journals the whole ride there. When we got there, Spook and Songbird were st Cafe 101 getting milk shakes. After hanging out and catching up, my Mom drove us to Allenberry Playhouse. We got a room for the three of us and put our stuff in the room and went to get some dinner. We went to Anile's and the food was delicious! After dinner I said goodbye to my Mom and we all went up to the room. I journaled and watched the Olympics, Songbird went to make calls, and Spook went to do laundry. Later that night we all walked about .5 miles down the road to a Getty's gas station to get snacks and drinks. After a short re-supply we walked back to the hostel and pigged out on our snacks as we watched the Olympics. I slept in the one bed while Spook and Songbird shared the other. The room was cold and dark which makes for good sleeping.
Date: 2012-08-07
From: Allenberry Playhouse, Boiling Springs, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 25.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We decided to sleep in a little bit this morning. I packed my bag and taped my feet. Spook went down to breakfast, Songbird and I finished packing around the same time, but she walked over to breakfast first. When I went over I could not find Spook and Songbird, so I asked an older lady behind the counter. She was very rude to me. I met three older gentlemen who walked in behind me. They were asking questions about my hike. We all walked downstairs together where the breakfast was being served. It was a buffet but I only ate a little bit. After breakfast, Songbird went to the Outfitter and Spook went to pack up. I just hung out with Spook until he was ready, then we left. It felt good to be out hiking again and the terrain was not too tough. We walked through the woods, cornfields, open grass fields, down roads and over highways. It was quite a variety. Songbird caught up to us during one of our breaks. Then we all hiked together for most of the day. On the morning portion Spook and I got a chance to catch up on what has happened since I was gone. I was not in hiking condition, so Spook and Songbird kept pulling away from me. We stopped at Darlington Shelter where the Taj Mahal of priveys was. (not the nicest, but the biggest) We also met Wholegan who told us about the trail going North since he was a South Bound hiker. After this, we decided to push for Duncannon, PA for dinner. It took me forever. I was tired, dehyrdrated, my feet hurt and I took lots of breaks. Going 25.7 miles on my first day back was a questionable decision. We were going to the Doyle and the kitchen closed at 8pm. Spook got there first and ordered us food. I rolled in at 8:30pm and ate my food. It was semi cold but freaking awesome. I had a burger and fries with about nine cups of water. We met a woman named Vicky. She was so nice, she really liked us too. She gave us the best room and treated us really special. When we got up to our room everyone showered, cleaned up and got ready for bed. My foot was pretty swollen but I tried to keep it elevated. Spook and Songbird shared a bed again so I had a bed to myself. We had two fans on so sleeping was really nice.
Date: 2012-08-08
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Peter's Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

We decided to sleep in a little bit since some of the things in town did not open right away. After we got up and dressed we walked to the laundry store, threw our stuff in the wash and went to breakfast. I limped all the way there. We went to a place called Goodies. The food was pretty good. I had two pancakes, sausage and toast. My pancakes were about 12" in diameter and were really doughy. The record is three pancakes which I could probably do if I was not hiking the trail. After breakfast we walked back across the street to the Doyle where we hung out, listened to music and relaxed until the Doyle opened. We talked to Vicky about walking to the grocery store and she said, "no, it is too dangerous". She called someone to give us a ride. We got picked up and dropped off at the store. I did my shopping and re-supply and then we got a ride back into town. Trying to pack my bag again was really tough because I had so much food and stuff. Then we went and ate lunch back at the Doyle. I had a BBQ beef brisket and a side of cheese burger and fries. Vicky got our picture and gave us all a big hug goodbye. We ended up having to leave some food in the hiker box because it just wouldn't fit. After getting our clothes back from the laundry we headed through town and back into the woods. We walked across a bridge with so many spider webs, Spook and my trekking poles were white with cob webs. We crossed the Juniata River. Then we hiked up hill for about 4 miles. We stopped at Clark's Ferry Shelter for water and hung out for a lttle bit. Since we didn't start hiking until 3pm, it was hard to get motivated. We left and continued on, stopping at a really nice view for a snack break. Then we wanted to push to the shelter before it got dark so we picked up the pace. When we passed PA 225 foot bridge we took our last water break. We passed some day hikers that gave us really weird looks. Maybe they could smell us, maybe they never seen real through hikers, or maybe they thought we were homeless. Anyway, we rolled into the shelter just as it was getting to dark. There were three guys in the shelter alredy so we talked to them and then made dinner. The water was a apparently .3 miles straight down hill so we decided to wait until morning. The shelter had two levels, so Spook, Songbird and I slept up on top and the other three guys slept on the bottom. It was really hot that night. I didn't even use my sleeping bag. I felt like a rotisserie chicken for as much as I rolled around that night. I just slept OK. For having such a late start we only hiked 11.2 miles. Peter's Mountain Shelter was really nice though. Everyone had their stuff hanging everywhere to dry.
Date: 2012-08-09
From: Peter's Mountain Shelter

To: William Penn Shelter
Miles today: 31.4
Weather: clear sky

In the morning when everyone woke up, it was early. We set the alarm for 5am but didn't quite get out of bed until 6am. Everyone got packed up. We were going to wait to get water. I wanted to be responsible and not push on with little to no water. I took my bottles and Spook's and Songbird's bottles down the .3 miles to the spring. The water was good and cold. The way back up to the shelter seemed forever long. I almost wanted to stop and take a drink but I thought that I should conserve water. I was slightly out of breath when I got to the top of the hill. I took a five minute break and then we headed out. The plan was to do 23 miles and camp in our tents. We stopped at Kinter View to take some pics and we found a copperhead snake. It was dead but I got a great picture of it anyway. When we stopped again for water we met a hiker named Dogman and his dog. His dog was beautiful, looked like a wolf. The water here was good and cold also. After PA 325 Clark's Valley, it was straight up hill again, but I enjoyed it. We stopped for lunch at the Yellow Springs Village site. I had a cold lunch. (Nutella, tortilla sandwiches, clif bars and a bagel) The Rausch Gap Shelter was closed and that is where we were planning on tenting but we found out it was going to storm. We collectively decided to push out 7 more miles. After our 23 miles, 7 more seemed OK, but it ended up being tough. We went down and then back up after the I-81 underpass. It started raining. I was so beat. My body is not used to these big mile days anymore. I took several water breaks while Spook and Songbird pushed on in the rain. Once we got to the top of the mountain, it level out and we walked on a ridgeline. It rained on and off the whole way. Every time I thought I was getting close, I was wrong. Then it got dark and I hiked as long as possible before I put my headlight on. I was moving pretty fast in the dark when I caught Songbird. She hates night hiking and calls it fright hiking. When I passed her she was flustered and I pointed her back in the right direction. She almost started running. It started raining again but we were almost there. When we finally hit the shelter, it was really dark. Lucky for us, no one was there. I went and got water in the rain and it took a while since the water was coming out pretty slow. When I got back I cooked up dinner (a big one because I was starving) William Penn Shelter had two levels, so we slept upstairs and left all of our stuff downstairs. This was a long day and my body was yelling at me. We had hiked 31.4 miles. A funny line we thought of was "Man my feet are crying, O'well they are just bleeding" (haha) We planned on sleeping a little bit the next morning as a short recovery stage. I slept so good that night.
Date: 2012-08-10
From: William Penn Shelter

To: Eagle's Nest Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: moderate rain

When I woke up in the morning, Spook and Songbird were not upstairs. I heard music, so I knew they had not left yet. They let me sleep in. I got up at 9am. We ate some breakfast, had some morning laughs about last night and started packing up. Just when we were nearly ready to go, two South Bound hikers (SOBO's) came to the shelter. Their trail names were Beachfeet and Flakes. We exchanged information about the trail; water sources and things to see going forward. Then we left in the rain. We hiked 4 miles to the 501 Shelter in Pine Grove. It was a totally enclosed shelter. This shelter had a water spiket, solar showers and a privy. It was super nice. The best part was we could order food from it. I ordered a medium 12" pepperoni pizza and a side of fries. Spook got a meat lovers pizza and we split a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew. Songbird got a Chicken Parm sandwich. The food was awesome or maybe we were just hungry, or both. I finished my entire pizza and fries at possibly a record setting pace. (haha) We met another SOBO named Pink Panther. He was pretty cool. He told us about the Northern States and what to look for and what to look out for. The rain started letting up so after lunch we packed up, got water and continued on. We did not shower because we were already soaked, the water was cold and it was cold outside. We hiked pretty fast the rest of the day because Songbird hates night hiking. We stopped for pictures every once in awhile but there was not to much to see. The shelter was .3 miles off of the trail and it was a long .3 miles. The water source was a puddle, but we made the most of it. I had not been treating my water too much in PA, but we definately treated this. We met a hiker named Doug (realy cool guy) who was out hiking for just a couple of days. I had a huge dinner tonight but cooked all of it in the dark. I even gave my feet a bath in my water bucket. Since I previously had a staff infection, I was told to keep my feet really clean. We all joked around and just enjoyed being out here together. It was a great group bonding night. We slept in the Eagle's Nest Shelter. It was pretty nice. I slept pretty good. We set an alarm for 5am so that Songbird and I could make the 9 miles into Port Clinton, PA to the post office before 11am to get our packages. Thanks to everyone leaving my messages on my trail journals. A shout out to my West Chester family and my family at Lancashire.
Date: 2012-08-11
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton Pavillion
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Songbird and I got up at 5am and got packed up. I was ready to go in about 15 minutes, but I waited around for a while for her to be ready. Spook decided that he was going to sleep in since he did not have anything at the post office. Songbird and I hiked the 9 miles up and down pretty quickly. The trail going down into Port Clinton was super steep. I almost ran down it so I wouldn't fall. We made it to the post office by 10am and talked to the lady about getting our packages. She was very short with us and kind of rude. She did not have our packages. She didn't seem to be very helpful at all. Turns out, our packages were picked up by a trail angel that lived a block away just in case we did not make it to the post office by 11am. We walked to his house, met this really nice guy and got our packages. Then we walked to the Pavilion where we would be staying. Spook caught up to us at this point. We unpacked, relaxed and opened our packages. I ate some of my snacks. Then we went back to the trail angel's house and he gave us a ride into town to Cabella's and Walmart. He let us leave our packs at his house and on top of that, his wife did all of our wash for us. When we got to Cabella's, it was a bit overwhelming. I was not used to seeing so many people. Cabella's was huge, but they did not have what I needed. Then we walked over to Walmart to re-supply. We ate lunch at the Subway. Then, we started to charge our phones so I waited by the phones while Spook and Songbird did their shopping. They took forever, but once they were done I went and did my shopping. I was pretty quick. Then, operation getting a ride started. The first couple we asked were glad to give us a ride. They dropped us off at the post office. We walked back to the trail angel's house and we got our packs back and filled up our water. We walked back to the Pavilion, organized our stuff and got our sleeping gear set up. Then, we went to the well talked about Fire House Bar. It is a members club, so we buzzed the door and walked in. The bar tender said "I am sure if you ask someone, they will sign you in." So after she said that, a bunch of hands went up. A guy signed us in and then a couple of more guys bought us a beer. We ate dinner and had some more beer. We even played a couple of games of cut throat pool or 3-way pool. I won all the games we played, both left handed, which is how I usually shoot and right handed, which made the games a lot closer. We had a couple of celebratory shots and by the end of the night we were feeling pretty good. We walked back to the Pavillion and got ready for bed. It was a really fun night and our group of three got a lot closer. We all passed out pretty quickly.
Date: 2012-08-12
From: Port Clinton Pavillion

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up in the morning and finished up packing. We had some trouble fitting everything in our packs since I got 2 packages of food plus the food I bought at Wal-mart. I was ready first so I hung out and waited for Spook and Songbird. When we were all ready we filled up our water and gave our thank-you card to the trail angel. I also wrote them a thank you poem. We hiked through the small town to the trail. We climbed up a mountain which had a nice climb but I really enjoyed it. We saw alot of people day hiking and the weather was amazing. Songbird was wearing her new boots so we were hiking slower and waiting to see how her feet were doing. We caught up to 3-Shot and his sister who were at the pavilion when we got there yesterday. They had killed a copperhead snake and were going to cook it up for lunch. We stopped at Windsor Furnace Shelter for lunch. After lunch, Songbird left first and Spook and I left later. On the way up to Pulpit Rock, Spook and I saw a big snake in the middle of the trail. We tried to poke around it to get it to move but it would not move. Spook bumped it with his walking stick and the snake went into a striking position. So we started throwing rocks at him, but we missed a bunch of times. So,Spook got ready with a rock and I was ready with a big rock. I was done playing these silly games, so after getting hit with the first rock from Spook and it went to strike, I threw my big rock. It either paralyzed it for a minute or killed it, but we flicked it off the trail and quickly kept hiking. When we got to Pulpit Rock, Songbird was there taking pictures. We also took some pictures and talked to a guy named Ron who pointed out a copperhead snake. Then we left to hike to the pinnacle-which was awesome and the views were amazing! We met alot of people up here. One of them was a snake expert who explained what kind of snake we "killed or whatever!" We decided we were going to stop at the Eckville Shelter tonight. After the pinnacle the trail was pretty much a dirt road so we made great time. Spook and Songbird missed the sign for the shelter at the road and walked right by it I was waiting at the shelter when they had backtracked and walked the .2 miles to the shelter. We all took cold showers using a solar shower. Then we ordered food-we all got 18" chicken parm sandwiches. Even though the shower was cold it was refreshing. The food was really good as well. We slept in bunks-they were just okay. I tried to sleep with my foot elevated because it was pretty swollen again, but it was an uncomfortable sleep.
Date: 2012-09-04
From: Dalton, MA

To: Emergency Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

Left Birdcage (Song Bird left first, followed by Luke, Flash and then Spook and Big Foot left last) Walked through town of Dalton and entered the woods back on the AT. We all hiked separately to the town of Cheshire. Stopped in Cheshire for lunch. We got pizza at Cobbleview Pub and Pizzeria. We had 2 large meat lovers pizzas and Song Bird/Luke got small specialty pizza. Hiked in slight rain uphill, we separated on the uphill. Big foot and I hiked together all the way to Mtn. Greylock. I told stories on the way to help pass time. We took pictures in the fog of light house. Got ripped off at the Bascom Lodge. We stayed at the emergency shelter because of the rain storm.
Date: 2012-09-05
From: Emergency Shelter

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Song bird left first again, I left second, Spook and Big Foot next and Luke left last. The guys stopped into North Adams which was .6 miles off trail. We resupplied at the Price Chopper and then ate lunch at Friendly's. Song bird was already way ahead of us. We crossed into Vermont, took pictures by the sign and met about 8 SOBO's. I hiked faster and got to the Congdon Shelter just before dark. Big Foot, Spook and Luke night hiked to shelter. Shelter was mostly full with section hikers. (Luke/Big Foot slept in tents) Myself/Song Bird shared bunk bed in shelter and Spook slept on floor.