morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-28
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Blue Lake
Miles today: 18.0

Back to the trail after a restful zero day. The AT crosses the Delaware River on Interstate 80, the stateline for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I have parted ways with Team Game Face, as they were distracted by the zooming cars on the Interstate. It turns out you can take a car all the way to Maine, and you¢ve got to draw the line somewhere. For me, that line is here. I¢ll be returning to my own hiking style, no more yellow-blazing now that I¢m out of Pennsylvania! Team Game Face is skipping ahead, maybe as far north as Vermont. Each member wants to do something different, and they were still without a plan when we parted ways. New Jersey is a gem compared to Pennsylvania. Yes, it changed that fast! The rocks are still there, but the scenery is getting better and better. The trail has views of forests and rolling hills in the distance, not agriculture fields. There are great views of the Delaware River and a dozen or so lakes throughout the day. The trail goes right by Sunset Pond, a glacial lake. ¢One of New Jersey¢s seven natural wonders,¢ a sign declares. This is gorgeous, just what I needed to get my head back into the trail.The Mohican Outdoor Center is right off the trail today. I stop in for some much-need iodine tablets. I¢ve been having more complications with my water filter, so I sent it home and will be treating my water with chemicals instead. Another pound off my back!For those of you keeping track, add the filter to my ever-growing damaged gear list. In my planning, I budgeted $200 for gear replacement on this hike. Ha! So naive I was! I¢ve had to replace rainpants, a thermarest, pot grippers, hiking pole tips, a sleeping bag (warranty covered), water filter, a ruptured platypus, and I¢m about to buy my 3rd pair of boots! Let¢s just say I¢m well over my budget, with hundreds of miles yet to walk.The Mohican Outdoor Center has a bunkhouse and would be a real nice place to stay, but the day is young and the sun is shining. I hike a few more hours and set up my tent above an unnamed lake, just north of Blue Lakes Road.
Date: 2005-04-29
From: Blue Lake

To: Mashipacong Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today is another great day in New Jersey, the sun is shining and the views are nice. I was just six miles away from staying in a shelter last night, but that would have made for three more hours of walking! A few hours into my hike I meet up with Glenn, a section hiker. It is his second day heading north, and he will keep on walking until he looses a certain amount of weight. Ironically, it is he that reminds me there is a bakery on the trail today! We walk together for a few miles, then he stops for a break and I continue on. I get to Culvers Gap and find the bakery is no longer open. There is an advertisement right on the trail, stapled to a tree. There is a restaurant just beyond the bakery. Since I was in "town food" mode thinking about the bakery, the restaurant it is! It turns out to be the local tavern. I find myself counting my cash, as they don't accept debit cards. A local is watching me, and offers to take me into town to an ATM. It is just one mile, but I wouldn't have walked it. Trail Magic! A few hunting and fishing tales and 1000 greasy calories later and I'm back in the trees. I'm not sure if Glenn has passed thru yet, but I'm sure he handled the bakery closure fine.I spend a few more hours on the trail, Sunrise Mountain being the highlight. There is a large pavilion at the top, and it is there that I start seeing a lot of backpackers. Only then does it occur to me that it might be the weekend. Since the shelter I plan on staying at has no water source, I fill up at a stream two miles south, and also fill up some ziplocks with water. Risky, but the ziplocks held up and I have enough water to cook with.I get to Mashipong Shelter and there is a group already there. "It must be the weekend," I ask as someone who lives in the trees forgets from time to time. Tonight I'm sharing the shelter area with Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, and Bill. Six friends, none of who is actually named Bill, all of who will respond to Bill (they made introductions easy for me).The Bills are highly entertaining. One Bill has a tent so big 3 Bills could fit in it, it even has a dog run. Another Bill disappears for an hour getting water. Then a Bill almost lights his pants on fire as he is bent over the campfire trying to dry them out while still wearing them. Another Bill lights his Jet Boil stove while turning it every-which way, causing the stove to project flames. Another Bill makes a "zorch-torch." (A zorch-torch, I learn, is when you roll up a ziplock, light it on fire, and as the plastic melts, it looks like a sparkler and makes a "zorch" noise). The same Bill then wonders off into the woods and comes back with a large tree and is bashing it against a standing tree to make firewood-size pieces. This is not working.All this happens as I lazily lay on my thermarest taking it all in! The weekends can be so much fun!
Date: 2005-04-30
From: Mashipacong Shelter

To: Secret Shelter
Miles today: 12.5

It is raining this morning, but somehow I am still up early. I'm the first one up, but one by one the Bills open their eyes. I guess there was some serious snoring action last night, the Bills are fighting. Some have been sleep deprived. I must be able to sleep through everything, or maybe it was me that was doing the snoring.The rain continues all day long. I pass thru High Point State Park and stop at the Headquarters where there is park information and a heated bathroom. It's hard to go back into the cold rain, but I manage. Next it's up and over the high point. There is an observation deck, but I skip it, no sense in climbing it to look out into a cloudy abyss! It is foggy enough that I missed the monument, or the trail that leads to it. The trail leaves the woods and crosses some fields and residential areas. New Jersey is having an identity crisis! For a few moments, I could have been back in Pennsylvania!   Even in the weather, the trail is busy. I see 15 people headed to High Point Shelter. They are going to have a crowed and wet night. Good thing I know where the "secret shelter" is. Jim Murray, a former thru-hiker has built a shelter for thru-hikers on his property. It is "secret" and therefore is not on the maps, and there is not a direct sign to it. There is a sign for water, and if you continue up that road, there is the secret shelter! I am walking up the rode, rain pouring by now, and meet the owner Jim just as he is leaving the property. What great timing! We talk for a while, and he ends up bringing me into town to the store and back. It is still early in the day, but the shelter has heat, electricity, and a warm shower. In the beginning of my hike I may have went back out in the rain, but those days of discipline are gone! I shower and rinse out my hiking closes. I am without soap, but still doing what I can to battle with my filth! The afternoon is mellow. I lay on my thermarest (my favorite pastime), and catch up the journal. Three hours later there is a knock on the door---it's the Bill's! They have made it after looking for the shelter the last 4 miles! The shelter is small, it sleeps just four, but all seven of us hang out in the loft, savoring the warmth and the dry. One ambitious Bill makes a beer run. Unionville is just a mile away. Then we are warm, dry, with beers in our hands! The Bills are tired from the long day, but the night is not uneventful. Jim's property has two grazing donkeys who are ridiculously loud! Their hee-haw's have us cracking up everytime. We are sleeping by 9, four people fit in the loft, I'm sleeping on the porch, and the snoring Bill has been annexed to a far-away porch of a locked cabin. It is raining through the night, but I sleep good. Interrupted only by the occasional Hee-Hawing of the local wildlife.
Date: 2005-05-01
From: Secret Shelter

To: Wawayanda Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: few clouds

After days like today, I am thankful that I started so early in the year. Much of the trail today is through swamp lands and bogs. This damp area will be infested with mosquitos in a few weeks, not today! The AT is lined with wooden plans thru the muddies spots. Short five foot planks that sink down and kick back muddy water up the backs of my legs and pack as I pass over. My soapless shower yesterday was pointless!There is a short road walk where I am stopped for directions. Surprisingly, I am able to provide useful information, despite my lack of map! The AT then passes thru the Walkill National Wildlife Preserve, a bird watchers paradise.   Shortly after, I take a side trail labeled "water" and it leads to the spigot on someones house! I am in the wilderness now! Today the trail has short climbs of just a couple hundred feet of elevation, but already I can notice the difference in grade. Far away are the sweet switchbacks of Virginia! Walking thru the swampy lands south of Pochuck Creek is unique. There is a mile long board walk busy with people, mostly parents with their young kids looking for wildlife. The girl with the huge pack (that's me) is stopped many times for the usual inquires. I answer the same questions many times in a day, but when they come from little kids, they never seem to be tedious. "Do you have parents?" a 4-year old boys asks!
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today is the second day in a row someone stops on the road to ask me directions. A trail angel has left a gallon of water at the Warwick Turnpike, and I am filling my bottles when the lost semi driver pulls over. I am helpful again, and I must say it feels weird to walk out of the woods and be able to oriente people in the civilized world. I believe there is a metaphor there!Another stateline today as I pass from New Jersey to New York, the border marked with white paint on a boulder. The usual celebratory whoops are let out as I enter my eighth state, six more to go. The trail is quite rugged for long stretches today. Lots of boulders, some requiring hand over hand climbing, but most are long and flat. The blazes are usually painted on the rocks, I can't imagine trying to find the trail in the winter snow and ice as Icebound and Hellkat (early Nobo's) did.As I approach NY17A, there is another advertisement for a food business right on the trail. There was a time when I thought such advertisements were intrusive and out of place, making the trail feel commercialized, but by now I follow the advertisements in the same mindless way I follow the white blazes of the AT! The trail may feel commercialized at times, but commercialism sure tastes good at the Bellvale Creamery. Homemade ice cream 500 feet off the trail! It is warm and sunny for my ice cream break, but in the hour that it took me to walk to Wildcat Shelter, the sky clouded up the rain began. I was planning on walking further and tenting tonight, but it just seems foolish to push on in the rain, especially over these rocks. That is just an excuse though. Secretly I don't mind stopping early, I'd rather lay on my thermarest and read the book I'm hooked on!
Date: 2005-05-03
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Fingerboard Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

If my journal had headlines, today would read "Girl with gigantic backpack gets stuck walking thru the Lemon Squeezer." It doesn't, and I'll get back to that later.The sun is just reaching over the ridges as I start my day, giving Fitzgerald Falls some interesting lighting as I walk by this morning. I than walk up Mombasha High Point, where my guidebook claims a vista of NYC may be visible, but I see nothing on this clear day. Nothing is a good thing, I see no development at all--this hasn't happened in a long time! The trail is really getting better every day.That is, until the white blazes ended. Mid-day I come to a road called Orange Turnpike. I step out into the road and there is no white blazes to guide me in either direction. I try each direction for a few minutes, no blazes. I try each direction for 1/2 mile, no blazes. I am feeling really lost, staring at my guidebook on the side of the road. Magically, a car pulls over. I happened to be standing next to a piped spring, and a woman is filling up her containers. She doesn't know where the trail is, but she offers to take me into the town of Southfields, somewhere I was planning on going anyway, just not from this road. We pass the AT, over a half of a mile from where it exists the woods heading north. I saw no white blazes from the car. I can't say this has happened before. It wouldn't have been a problem if I was carrying my maps either! Town is pretty much just a gas station and a deli. I resupply at the deli: a sandwich, an armload of snacks, and a cookie the size of my face. "Really loading up on the carb's today, huh?" exclaims the cashier. I guess so! I phone home to coordinate plans with my mother. She and my stepdad are flying into NYC and are coming to meet me along the trail. To avoid another catastrophe like the visit in Virginia, we've decided to meet in a town, where I can wait in a hotel room instead of the side of the road. This time if they are a day late, I'll be living it up and not out in the rain.I leave Southfields and walk back to the trail. Soon I cross the New York State Thruway into Harriman State Park, 46,000 acres and NY's second biggest park. It feels noticeable more remote as compared to the last couple hundred AT miles. I pass a sign that has the millage to Katahdin. It is finally below 800 miles, I can do this! The Lemon Squeezer is the last obstacle of the day. I barely fit thru this narrow rock slot with my pack on. All my weight is on my left side and I'm inching forward using my arm strength. Tonight I am at Fingerboard Shelter with views of the NYC's skyline. It is another quiet night at the shelter, such a contrast from the weekend. I like the mix of solitude I am getting. Twenty-five deer come running down the hill in front of the shelter tonight, probably to get to Lake Tiorati, also visible from the shelter.
Date: 2005-05-04
From: Fingerboard Shelter

To: Peekskill, NY
Miles today: 20.0

Another vista of NYC from Black Mountain today. It is great to be in the mountains again. There is nothing meandering about these trails, when its time to go up, you are going up!I'm glad I didn't push on to the William Brien Shelter last night, it is trashed: garbage everywhere, the largest mess I've seen. I can't believe anyone that would hike out here could have such a disrespect for the land. Normally I'd pick up a small mess on a day into town, but this is too much to even fit in my pack!I cross over the Palisades Interstate Highway in the late morning. The road is still thick with traffic commuting into the city to work. Strangely this gives me a burst of enthusiasm. There is so much freedom on this hike, living this lifestyle! I am feeling particularly inspired, so just as Team GAME Face taught me, I do the backpackers dance for the commuters to share my happiness.Yes, I might be losing it!I can see Bear Mountain a few miles before I walk up it, there is a visible tower that I recognize across the ridge line. I am expecting a hard climb, but the trail ends up following the road for most of the accent. Yes, you can drive up Bear Mountain, so it is one of those mountains with bathrooms, garbages, and soda machines. I use all three. There are great views today, cloud build up makes for some interesting pictures overlooking the Hudson River. The lookout tower is still locked for the winter season.After climbing down Bear Mountain, the AT sends me right through a zoo. The Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center. A small-scale zoo, less than a half-mile. I was looking forward to the Black Bear Exhibit, but he is not on display today as the cage is being renovated. I finally wanted to be able to say that I've seen a bear on the AT! Oh well. The bear display has another significance: it is the lowest point on the AT at 124 feet. A long way from Clingman's Dome!A dayhiker walks with me thru the zoo area. She is my age and is thru-hiking next year. Her enthusiasm and curiosity about the trail remind me of myself, how I anticipated this hike for so long. It is good to be reminded that I am living my dream. She fed me a banana too!All of these animals remind me that I myself an turning into a wild animal. In my lack of hygiene, having no schedule, rarely knowing the day or date, the way I look at my watch less and less, the way I eat for energy only...So it might be time to go to the big city! I am meeting my mom and stepdad in Peekskill, then heading into NYC. Peekskill is 4.5 miles off the trail and after a 20 mile day I was really hoping to hitch a ride. Not here. Heavy rush hour traffic is whizzing by at high speeds, and there is not even a place for a car to pull over, much less a shoulder to walk on. Road walking is terrifying. I trot nervously along about two miles, where I find a gas station. I'm about to call a cab, but a lady overhears me and offers me a ride into town. Saved!There is just one hotel in Peekskill despite it's large size. Pricey, but the rooms have a beautiful balcony overlooking the Hudson River.
Date: 2005-05-05
From: NYC

To: Back to the trees
Miles today: 10.9

A subway ride, an hour in a train, ten minutes in a cab, and I'm back in the trees after 4 days off, most spent in NYC. I played the role of turbo-tourist with my parents, touring the many highlights of the city. Our family friend Annette has lived in the city for 40 years. She took us under her wing and drove us all around this turbulent city! What chaos! Fun chaos though, I needed a good dose of a big city.
Date: 2005-05-11
From: Back to the trees

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

It was supposed to rain my first full day back on the the trail, but the sun burned off the morning fog and today ended being warm and muggy. The mountains in the horizon have a haze to them, it reminds me of what the smoke of a distant wildfire does to the horizon. Today was opening day of bug season, and I am in the woods unarmed. Nothing is biting yet, but the gnats are out in full force, diving at my face most of the day, reminding me why I started this hike so early.As my gear is always in a chronic state of disrepair, my backpack jumps back on the fix-it list. I discovered last night that a screw is missing off the internal frame, causing my pack to hang slightly to one side. This, as you can imagine, is not conducive to comfortable trekking. Two more days to a hardware store. I'll survive, I'll just be short of skin on my left shoulder and my right hip!A mid-day break is RPH Shelter, a name I had flagged in my mind but could not remember why. It is full of section-hikers who inform me of a pizzeria very near the shelter. Ah, this is why I knew the name. Strangely I have no desire to eat town food, I think my body is still working through all the garbage I ate in NYC! It is quite a contrast going from carrying food for days to seeing a restaurant/store/hot dog vender every 10 feet!After my break, I am soon passed by Thicket, a NOBO. I figured someone would catch up to me on my days off from the trail. Two NOBO's Jaybird and now Thicket are ahead of me. I hike with Thicket all afternoon, but he is cruising! I am walking much faster than my normal pace to keep up. Thicket has a lot of energy and is trying to keep a long-running streak of 20-plus mile days. See-ya Thicket! I stop at Morgan Shelter and call it a day, he pushes on. Ironically, I decided earlier today that my motto is "just say no to 20's." But that's just me, hiking my own hike. I guess this will be the start of me getting passed by the March NOBOs doing 20-30 mile days!
Date: 2005-05-12
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: broken clouds

Happy 100th day on the AT to me! Long way to go, but a longer way I¢ve come. I finally feel like I¢m in the homestretch! Last night I camped with two schoolteachers. The rest of their six-person crew never showed up at the shelter last night. They are having difficulties having hiking partners with different plans/desires/ and hiking speeds. ¢It¢s hard having a hiking partner,¢ I suggest with much irony. I have been hiking solo for about 90 of my 100 days! These hikers remind me of the freedom that comes with a solo-hike. I can have 6-mile days; I can have 23-mile days. I can sleep until 8, or be hiking by 5. No plans, no compromises!Today is another beautiful clear day, though thunderstorms were predicted. The wind really picks up in the afternoon, but that helps to keep the bugs under control. The trail follows the shore of Nuclear Lake, a real gem despite it¢s misleading name. It would have made a great place to camp, an even better place to swim!Today the AT also passes right by an Amtrak stop, connecting into NYC on the weekends. It is the middle of the week, otherwise I bet this section is packed with hikers from the city. There is a little taste of NYC near the station: a camper is selling Hot Dogs. Still I am not craving town food.After the Amtrak Station, the AT crosses farm field for a mile or two. It is very windy on this exposed section. At one point 12 cows surround me!There is ¢tree mail¢ waiting for me on a gigantic tree. It is a note from Thicket. Yesterday we thought we passed the ¢Dover Oak,¢ a gigantic tree that rivals the size of the Keffer Oak back in Virginia. Yesterday we took pictures of each other hugging a random tree, not the Dover, but still gigantic! A southbound section hiker tells me that he saw Thicket pushing for a 27-mile day! Long gone Thicket¢first place is yours!There are several groups out looking for a missing person. Their suicidal friend has been gone for three days and they suspect he fled to the AT. I am of no help, as I¢ve been off the trail for so many days.There is not a full house at the shelter tonight, but I set up my tent anyway on one of the tent platforms. I am feeling particularly exhausted by the end of the day, and I just want to crash for the night and be antisocial!
Date: 2005-05-13
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Stewart Hollow Brook 
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: clear sky

I wake early in the morning, relieved that I am not in the shelter. No one is up yet, and it¢s nice to not have to make an effort to quietly pack up. Morning are much louder these spring days! The birds are my wake up call. Quite a contrast to the silence of winter! An hour into my hike is the New York-Connecticut border, marked with a wooden sign high in a tree. There is also a gigantic bulletin board displaying the long list of restrictions in this state! Camping is restricted to shelter sites and designated sites. That is really the only rule that will affect my hike-eat-sleep routine!There is a beautiful walk today in a river gorge along the Ten Mile River. A nice flat stretch before the climb up Shaghicoke Mountain: a 1000 ft climb. For me, the climb felt long compared to recent weeks on the trail. During the climb, I meet a southbound thru-hiker, three days into his hike. He asks a lot of questions: what is Virginia like, how hard is the south¢¦ The truth is, he is going to see completely different things, it is a whole new season. Just this past week the canopy is full. It really changes the look of the ridgeline.I drop down into town today: Kent, CT to resupply and deal with my broken pack. The outfitter is wonderful, very helpful, having the exact screw my pack was missing. Kent has everything I need and is only a half-mile off the trail. I don¢t spend too much time in town; I¢ve got a long hike to the next legal campsite. I am pushing dark to get to Stewart Hollow Shelter, and by the time I show up there is quite a crowd. A large group from Yale is using the shelter, the second Yale group I¢ve seen today. They offer me space, but I¢d rather set up my tent then get in the middle of their outdoor training session! Ten groups from Yale are out in CT and MA training leaders for the freshman orientation trips in the fall.