morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-13
From: Eagle's Nest Shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

3 + (-4) = -1 pt. Slept very well in my hammock last night, even though it got down to a little below 40 degrees. My back was a little cold, but otherwise OK. It was still cold this morning, so I left without eating breakfast and my jacket still on. LWOP complained that I was going to get all hot and sweaty if I left the shelter with it on. Apparently, he hasn't heard of these new fangled jackets that you can actually take off when you start to get too warm! It did warm up and I was actually able to take the jacket off. I also ate my breakfast. LWOP showed up just as I finished. We hiked for a few minutes and then he went on ahead. Squire showed up and past me a short while later. We eventually met up in Port Clinton and had lunch at the Port Clinton Hotel along with Half Way and Frijoler. After that we tried to hike over to the Microtel Inn, but there was construction going on over a river and there wasn't a safe way to get past it. Fortunately, someone looking for his son gave us a ride. After checking in, LWOP & I went over to Cabela's for new boots & shoes. My old shoes might have a few more miles in them, but not enough to get to the next good outfitter. I got a new pair of Keen shoes, it'll be interesting to see if they last.Points - a few people have been asking about my pts at the begining of my posts. We are supposed to meet Trail Gator at Glenclif, NH and the pts tell me if we're on schedule. If there are zero pts, we're on schedule, if negative we're behind and if positive we're ahead of schedule. If we go 13 miles, that's zero pts. If we go less than 13 miles I subtract that from 13 and we get that many negative pts. If we go more than 13 miles, I subtract 13 from it and that's how many positive pts we get. We need to average 13 miles a day to get there at the right time. If we want a day off, in theory we have to have +13 pts to do so. If we wanted to take one day a week off, we'd have to average 16 miles of hiking a day.
Date: 2009-05-14
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

(-1) + 1 = 0 pts. More rain today. Plus foggy & windy. After checking out of the Microtel Inn, we got a ride from Putz (she's getting off the trail for now) back to the trail. It was raining when we started and kept raining all day. It let up a little around 4:00 pm, but the wind really started up. Fortunately, no trees fell down near me. Wasn't able to stop to eat anywhere, but I had a big breakfast and made it to the shelter around 4:45 pm. Took me 8.75 hrs to hike 14.5 miles. Not very fast.   LWOP & Squire were at the shelter and had been here for quite a while when I arrived. The new Keen shoes are working great.
Date: 2009-05-15
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

0 + 4 = 4 pts. I hate PA rocks. They slow me down so much. I'm already too slow and they just make it worse. We had three or four rock piles to cross. We also had the "knife edge" (wonder where they copied that name from) and Bake Oven Knob to deal with. Bake Oven Knob wasn't too bad until you get to the north end where we climb down from the top. To make matters worse, my shoes are still wet and I'm getting blisters on my heels. Altogether, not a great day on the AT.It wasn't all bad. LWOP & I got lunch at the Blue Mountain B&B and also carried out a sandwich for dinner. There was some trail where the maintainers had laid stones flat, like a stone sidewalk - unfortunately it was only about ten feet long.Shelter was pretty full, so I set up my hammock in a field across the trail.
Date: 2009-05-16
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 7.7

4 + (-5) = -1 pts. Started out cloudy and there was a forecast of really bad weather for the afternoon and night. Plus, I did a bad job of covering up my blisters and made them worse. I eventually redid the duck tape. Because of the bad weather forecast, we opted to stay in Palmerton, at the city jail. The bunks didn't have padding and looked uncomfortable. I noticed several steel beams holding the building up were just about the right distance to set up my hammock, so I did. I'm glad we decided to stay at the jail. It started raining late afternoon and didn't stop until early morning. Water came into the building, but only flooded the boiler room.
Date: 2009-05-17
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Little Gap
Miles today: 5.1

(-1) + 7 (based on 20 m day) = 6 pts. This morning, the rain had stopped, but it was cold and windy. LWOP decided to take the white blaze trail, I decided to take the blue blaze alternative. The white blaze trail has a small rock climb I feel has no place on a "hiking" trail, LWOP thinks it's OK. I was pleasently surprised by the blue blaze trail. Very well marked and maintained. If only the weather would cooperate. Both trails were a little exposed to the cold wind. LWOP made it to the top about ten minutes before I did. After our climb, we hiked another four miles or so, where Bob had our packs. My feet were hurting, so I asked Bob if he could drive me to Wind Gap, where I could stay a couple nights to recover. Unfortunately, LWOP decided this would be a good time to do 20 miles. So, I only got an afternoons rest. I got a room at the Gateway Motel and LWOP got there around 8:00 pm.
Date: 2009-05-18
From: Wind Gap

To: PA 191, Fox Gap
Miles today: 8.6

6 + 3 (based on 16 mile day) = 9 pts. It was still a little cold, but everything was dry. We left the motel a little before eight am. My heels are still a little sore. After about four miles, Fence Man & Kz passed by. Fence Man asked me if I needed a ride from Fox Gap to Delaware Water Gap. His sister was going to be there to pick up his pack (we've been running into Fence Man & Kz every night for about a week now ). I said if they were there when I got there, I probably would. I was going so slow it looked like I woildn't get to Delaware Water Gap until dark. LWOP was way ahead of me since he wanted to get to the Post Office before it closed. When I got to Fox Gap, Fence Man's sister was there and asked me if I wanted a ride. Naturally, I said yes. LWOP was a little surprised when he saw I was at the hostel before him. Hopefully, my feet will be better tomorrow. To make matters worse, my new Keen shoe soles are coming off! I had to go to the local outfitters for new shoes. I got a pair of Vasque Mantra's. Vasque has a pretty good rep, so they should be OK.We're now at the Church Hostel in town. The local motel went out of business back in 2006 when they had three major floods, so this is the only place to stay. Pastor Karen came down and talked to us for quite a while. Plesant place to stay, except for the bunks - which don't have any padding. No place to hang my hammock this time.
Date: 2009-05-19
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

9 + (-3) = 6 pts. Short day, at least for LWOP. The blisters on my heel are still giving me trouble. I sent my new Keen shoes to Sunny's daughters house - will deal with them later. We had a fairly easy climb out of Delaware Water Gap. We stopped at Sunfish pond for a bite to eat. Then it was on to the Mohican Outdoor Center. We got a bunk & shower for $25 each. They recently remodeled the place and only another couple was there with us. LWOP & myself were able to have our own room. We had kitchen facilities, but had to eat our own food. Nice place.
Date: 2009-05-20
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Brink Rd Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: broken clouds

6 + 1 = 7 pts. Don't know what happened, but I could hardly walk today. I got what I thought was a fairly good nights sleep, but felt like I hadn't slept for a week. The weather was nice, sunny & warm, about the mid eighties by this afternoon. My feet were doing fine until we came to a rock climb at about 8 to 9 miles from the start. I wasn't going too fast before then and really slowed down after it. LWOP was ahead of me most of the day.   He kept stopping and waiting for me, follow me for a while, get board and pass me. We aren't very capatable hikers and kinda wish he'd just go on - I'll be fine.
Date: 2009-05-21
From: Brink Rd Shelter

To: Branchville, NJ
Miles today: 3.6

7 + (-9) = -2 pts. My heel is still pretty sore, so decided to take a day or two off. Told LWOP to go on without me. Maybe we'll meet again up near Great Barrington, MA.   I've done CT three or four times and may skip that section to catch up to him.
Date: 2009-05-22
From: Branchville, NJ

To: Branchville, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

(-2) + (-13) = -15 pts. Zero day at the Forest Motel. It's 1.8 miles from the trail and there isn't much here. The walk over to here was a little scary. No side walks, road shoulder is a bit small, hitch hiker is illegal in NJ and the cars & trucks are all going by a bit fast. The "Rosie's Pizza" across the street has been replaced by the Fratelli Family Restuarant. The food was good, but a bit pricey & formal for us hikers. But, there's nothing else around and am stuck with it (or maybe it's they're stuck with me).
Date: 2009-05-23
From: Branchville, NJ

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

(-15) + 3 = -12 pts. Nice days hike. Cool and the trail wasn't too bad. Lots of hikers out today. Had four thru hikers go by me. Anyone who started at Springer and is this far north is hiking a lot faster than I can. I checked out of the motel and asked if there was a way to get a ride to the ail. They said no, so I started walking down the road. A couple minutes later, the owner of the motel came and picked me up. He dropped me off at Joes2go sandwich shop. I picked up a couple 12" grinders and took off. The day was cool and threating rain all day. Everytime I stoppedit would sprinkle a little, only to stop as soon as I start moving.   It finally rained for real about six pm, but only long enough to get everything wet. Got to the shelter about eight pm. There seemed to be more than a dozen people there. I talked to a couple of them, then set up my hammock quite aways from the shelter and then went to bed.
Date: 2009-05-24
From: High Point Shelter

To: Unionville, NY
Miles today: 7.1

(-12) + (-6) = -18 pts. Got back on the trail about 7:40 am. Two hikers got out earlier, two thru hikers I'll probably never see again. I came into Unionville expecting to eat lunch, get a couple sandwichs and go on to Pochuck Mtn Shelter. But got caught by Butch, the former mayor of Unionville. Turns out LWOP is here and doing a slack pack today. At least I get to watch the Indy race. Not sure what we'll do tomarrow, I don't really want to skip any more trail to catch up to LWOP right now.
Date: 2009-05-25
From: Unionville, NY

To: Warwick Turnpike
Miles today: 17.3

(-18) + 4 = -14 pts. A nice days slack pack. Started around 8:45 am and got back to Unionville about 6:15 pm. Not a lot to say about it. The "Outhouse" hostle (they need a better name!) is a wonderfull place to stay. Dick, Butch and Bill are all wonderful hosts. They let me hang my hammock outside. I enjoyed Bill's cooking, particularly his breakfasts.
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Warwick Turnpike

To: Greenwood Lake, NY
Miles today: 6.9

(-14) + (-6) = -20 pts. Miserable day. I waa tired all day and couldn't make much progress.   The trail was pretty in a lot of places, but was all rock.   I needed to make 12 miles, but by 3:00 pm had only gone half that distance. There was a 100% chance of rain tonight, but it had shown up early and was getting cold. Decided to go into Greenwood Lake, NY and get a motel room. Can't afford the money or the time, but was just too tired, cold and sore to continue. Guess I'm just a big wimp. As far as to catching up to LWOP and also getting to hike with Hammock Hanger? I'm thinking it's just a dream (or is that a nightmare?). I'll be able to jump forward four to five days in Connecticut, so my meeting Trail Gator in Glencliff, NH should still work.For those very few people reading this, I need help. About June 1, 2 or 3 I'm going to be at the Gaylordsville, CT parking lot. I need a ride up to Great Barrington, MA. Normally, I'd ask Sunny's daughter, but she has to work. If you get any ideas, either email me at pjguyon@att.net or call 561-801-2063 and leave a message. Thank you so much!
Date: 2009-05-27
From: Greenwood Lake, NY

To: Little Dam Lake
Miles today: 12.2

(-20) + (-1) = -21 pts. Got a late start, plus had to spend an hour climbing back to the trail. Didn't get to the AT until noon. Had a good nights sleep at the Linden Motel. Then had a good breakfast at the Side Street Cafe. There wasn't nearly as much rain as predicted. But I missed the trail to the Wildcat Shelter, so it was probably just as well I went into town. I was going to make a short day of it, since I can't really do the 20 miles it would have taken to get to Fingerboard Shelter. So, I just went as far as I could. So I'm stealth camping at Little Dam Lake, probably illegally. LWOP is waiting for me at Bear Mtn Bridge Motel. I'm 21 miles away and am not sure I can make it, but am going to try tomarrow.New York, along with New Jersey & Connecticut have made it ilegal to camp anywhere except at "designated campsites". The problem is that New York (and New Jersey) don't have any "designated campsites". They depend on the ATC to build shelters and not everyone can hike from one to the next, particularly the ones that are 31 miles apart.
Date: 2009-05-28
From: Little Dam Lake

To: West Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 15.3

(-21) + 2 = -19 pts. Kind of a long wet day. The distance would indicate a normal days hike, but it doesn't show all the steep up and downs. It's just as slow going down a steep hill as it is going up it. Plus there was a cold wet wind blowing most of the day, getting colder and wetter with each passing hour. It never seemed to rain, it was just a lot of water in the air that got everything wet. I was hoping to get to Bear Mtn Bridge, but it was getting dark by the time I got to the trail to West Mtn Shelter. Plus, I got three text msgs from LWOP, the 1st said he was going to CT because their were too many rocks in NY, the 2nd said he was hiking the "bearmodabjp" (what ever that is) and the last one said - "I will be hiking the adirondacks near the canadian border". I think what he was really saying was he didn't really want to hike with me anymore! Not that I would blame him - he gets a little bored with my slow pace. So there I was - too dark and no reason to kill myself trying to get to Bear Mtn Bridge. So I hung up my hammock. It started raining, got cold and I was really beat. I didn't even cook dinner. Just went to bed, knowing I was going to regret not eating, but too tired to care.
Date: 2009-05-29
From: West Mtn Shelter

To: Bear Mtn Bridge
Miles today: 5.8

(-19) + (-7) = -26 pts. Woke up about 5:00 am, but wasn't planning a lot of miles, so went back to sleep. Everything was damp from the rain, which lasted all night. Finally got going about 9:00 am. Saw a couple deer just as I was leaving with my heavy waterlogged pack. Again, the trail was all up and down, except for a couple short road walks near the top of Bear Mtn. Saw an intereting bird perched on top of the Bear Mtn building. He was large as an eagle, all white, except for his wings, which were dark grey. Clearly a rapter of some sort. I would guess a kite of some sort, but I didn't think they got that big. Saw a couple section hikers on the way down to the zoo. The zoo was closed, so had to walk around it. Then walked over to Ft Montgomery and got a room at the Bear Mtn Bridge Motel. I think it's the longest "seven tenths of mile" mentioned in the AT Guide I've done in a long time. The M&R Gorcery store was closed, so tried to resupply at the Mobil Quick Mart. Slim pickens. Will have to try to get to the big store two miles further away from the trail tomarrow.
Date: 2009-05-30
From: Bear Mtn Bridge

To: Bear Mtn Bridge
Miles today: 0.0

(-26) + (-13) = -39 pts. Decided tp take a zero day. My body just didn't feel like hiking and I still haven't resuppied yet.I've now resupplied and should be ready to go tomarrow morning. I'm three days behind skedule for meeting Trailgator, but hope to jump forward at Gaylordsville, CT. Not sure how I'm going to get a ride to Great Barrinton, MA. I'll be at Gaylordsville June 2nd or, more likely, the 3rd.
Date: 2009-05-31
From: Bear Mtn Bridge

To: Dennytown Road
Miles today: 14.5

(-39) + 1 = -38 pts. Nice day for a hike. I had a 500 ft climb after the bridge, but then the trail was nice. About five miles into todays hike met a young couple slack packing the other way. After telling them what a wonderful trail it's been, it turned rocky again. Still, it wasn't nearly as bad as what I've been on since the beginning of PA. I stopped for ice cream & a ruby red grapefruit drink at a shell station about noon. The rest of the day was OK. There was a little rain, just enough to get all the rocks wet. Then it stopped, the sun came out and the world was good. I'm in my hammock now, it's windy and getting cold, but I'm OK all snuggled up in my sleeping bag.Not sure what I'll do tomarrow. My choices are ten miles to the RPN Shelter or twenty miles to the Morgan Stewart Shelter. Nothing legal in between. Really not liking these rules about not camping anywhere except designated campsites.
Date: 2009-06-01
From: Dennytown Road

To: N of Hosner Mtn Rd
Miles today: 14.5

(-38) + 1 = -37 pts. Long day. Weather was glorious, trail sort of OK. Couldn't make it all the way to Morgan Stewart Shelter, so I'm illegally stealth camping again. I stopped by the RPH Shelter, but it was too early to stop, plus there wasn't anyplace to hang the hammock. Looks like I'll be at Gaylordsville, CT on June 3rd.
Date: 2009-06-02
From: N of Hosner Mtn Rd

To: Telephone Pioneer Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

(-37) + 0 = -37 pts. Good day of hiking. Didn't get caught camping in the wrong place. The day started out overcast and drizzely. Then it warmed up and the sun came out. At about seven a.m. I reached Hwy 52 and hiked the extra thee tenths of a mile to the Mountain Top Deli. I was able to get coffee, breakfast and a sub sandwich to carry out. They were all good. I ate half the sub for lunch and the other half for dinner. The hot dog stand that was suposed to be at hwy 55 wasn't there today.Just after I started hiking this morning, I saw a couple baby turkeys. Didn't know what they were until I saw mama. I know turkeys are large birds, but never realized just how big they can get. Her head easily came up to my waist.I met the same couple I met a couple days ago. They are section hiking up through MA.   They plan to finish the rest of the trail next year.I should be at the Gaylordsville, CT parking lot about mid-afternoon tomarrow. Hope to be able to get a ride up to Great Barrington, MA.
Date: 2009-06-03
From: Telephone Pioneer Shelter

To: Gaylordsville, CT
Miles today: 10.5

(-37) + 63 = 26 pts (based on 76.2 mile day). Fairly nice day. Got a late start. Spent a lot of time talking with Violet & Clock Tower about nothing in particular. Then I had to pick up some extra water at the stream. The trail was a little steep going down to the next road, but not too bad. My biggest problem was something was iritating my eyes a bunch. When I got to the second road I could hardly see and everything was itching - obviosly having some allergy problem. It was too early for the hot dog stand and I elected to pass on the deli sixth tenths of a mile off the trail. We had to hike through some tall grass, which is probably what was bothering my eyes. The trail then went into some Nature Conservacy land and I stopped to eat some candy bars. Fortunately, my allegry symptons went away. Just as I got up to hike some more, Violet & Clock Tower came by. I decided to try and keep up with them, but ultimately couldn't. We met up again at the next shelter and had lunch. I was able to make arrangements with the Kent, CT outfitter to have some one pick me up in Gaylordsville and shuttle me to Great Barrington (whenever I see "Great" in a name, I always wonder what happened to the "Lesser" town or place). When I got to the Gaylordsville parking lot I said my good byes to Violet & Clock and waited a short time for my ride to Great Barrington. When I got there, I got a room at the Days Inn. Plan to take a zero day tomarrow to do laundry & resupply.
Date: 2009-06-04
From: Great Barrington, MA

To: Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

26 -13 = 13 pts. Zero day for resupply and laundry. Looks like I'll need about four days of food to Dalton and another two days to North Adams. There is at least one or two places where I can get lunch in the middle of the day - if they're still open.
Date: 2009-06-05
From: Great Barrington, MA

To: Mt Wilcox North Lean To
Miles today: 13.5

13 + 1 = 14 pts. Got a late start due to waking up later than usual. After having breakfast at the motel, I got a cab ride out to the trail. The weather was overcast and cool, about 61 degrees all day. Good news is there was no rain. Trail was easy to hike most of the time, but the ups & downs are getting longer. Some of the blazes are a bit old and hard to see, but otherwise the trail seemed to be in good shape. Only saw four other people today, two section hikers and a couple day hikers. I got to the shelter pretty late. I cooked my dinner and went to bed.
Date: 2009-06-06
From: Mt Wilcox North Lean To

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

4 + 1 = 15 pts. Got another late start, plus it was a half mile to the trail. Not much speed today, too many steep ups & downs. But the trail was good. There were a couple good views along the way. This morning, about a half hour after I started, a large turkey took off just a couple feet in front of me. Startled me no end. Just as I was recovering from that, I almost stepped on a newborn baby turkey! He looked fine and I left him alone, sure that his mother would be right back as soon as I was far enough away. After a hard day of hiking, I set up my hammock in the tenting area of the Upper Goose Pond Cabin. The caretaker is going to cook pancakes in the morning - can't hardly wait - but I guess I'll have to.
Date: 2009-06-07
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Kay Woods Lean to
Miles today: 17.6

15 + 5 = 20 pts. Long hard day. It started up pretty with pancakes & coffee for breakfast. Trail wasn't too pretty until I got toward the end on top of Warner Mtn. They had a bad ice storm last winter and it has devastated the whole area. At least the trail maintaners have cleared most of the downed trees from the trail. There were three other hiker the shelter when I got there. It looked like rain, so I set up my hammock underneath the overhang.
Date: 2009-06-08
From: Kay Woods Lean to

To: Crystal Mtn Campsite
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: clear sky

20 + (-5) = 15 pts. Busy day. Stopped in Dalton, MA for laundry, big lunch and resupply. Got a little lost trying to find the laundromat, so lost an hour. Had lunch at Jacob's Pub because it was remored they had great Reubens. It was good, but I think putting two pounds of meat on a sandwich can be too much of a good thing. I think I'll have to eat about ten more to be sure if I like the concept. Also stopped at Angelina's Sub and hike out with one of their roast beef subs. Got out of town about two thirty and got to Crystal Mtn about four thirty with another couple who are section hiking and plan to get off the trail in the next couple days. They think Buscom Lodge on Mt Greylock might be open now. Hope so, it's a long way between places to get water without the lodge. Tomarrow I'll know.