morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-10
From: Eagles Nest Shelter

To: eckville shlter 
Miles today: 24.0
Weather: clear sky

So we heard from some other hikers that the barbershop in Port Clinton, PA was the place to be. So we woke up early and headed that way ! The 9 miles into town were long and monotonous. The rocks in this section seemed so bad to me, yet I hear the worst is still yet to come. Anyway, we made it into the small town of Port Clinton and found our way to the barbershop. Besides the post office I think it is the only thing in town. The barbershop was exactly what you would think of in a small town. When we walked in there were two guys playing guitar and singing, they didn't look up when we walked in. The next few hours were full of insulting each other's home states (mostly Pennsylvania ) and other classic barbershop banter, it felt like something out of a movie ! After leaving Frank's shop we headed up the trail. The ensuing 15 miles were more classic PA rocks, which are really starting to get on our nerves. Our intended destination was eckville shelter, but there was no sign for the turn so Eli and I walked right by it. We found a campsite about half a mile down. David went to the shelter but realized that we missed it and met us at the campsite. All in all a pretty good day, but really hoping to be out of PA soon .
Date: 2016-05-11
From: eckville shlter 

To: George W. Outerbridge shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: broken clouds

Zack and I woke up to an unusual sight this morning. We were greeted by the yellow walls of our tent. We woke up and got going decently quick, and headed out. About 7 miles in we hit a shelter full of kids. We found out it was a trip of high schoolers with a program lead by there school. It was pretty cool seeing kids my age, and it was their last day so they gave us all there extras, including a mountain house cheesecake. Also at the shelter were a pair of vintage Vasque sundowners, with a note saying that they were for whoever wanted them. Since they were a woman's size 7 they wouldn't fit me, but I decided to carry them because I figured Paxton or mom might like them. Three miles later I regretted my decision, but I knew I had to keep carrying them or face the wrath of the group for babying out. It was a pretty hot day, so when I ran out of water I knew I needed to get more the only problem was the only water source for six miles was .4 off trail at Tripoli campsite. It ended up being straight downhill and bug infested. I think dehydration was the better option. After that I kept going and hiked the knifes edge and bear rocks both had cool views, but were tough on our feet. We met two guys who actually ended up knowing tinker a 70 year old guy we met on our fifth day which was bizarre. The shelter that night was sweet and we stayed with Jack sparrow, seam, rambler, murder, worm, and obviously das machine. It was quite a crew. We slept well that night knowing the super fund climb was ahead.
Date: 2016-05-12
From: George W. Outerbridge shelter

To: Leroy Smith shelter 
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a matter of not if but when the rain was going to hit us. According to the weather forecast there was about a 100% chance for most of the day. We knew there was going to be a tough climb at the marked superfund sight, and we definitely didn't want to do that in the rain. The superfund sight was a place where metals had previously been mined and the earth was void of all plant life. There was just a mountain of huge boulders. This climb was slightly enjoyable because it was actually like rock climbing in some areas, which was kind of fun. After making it off the huge rocks the rain started, and we trudged on through the small annoying rocks. At some point we got cold and tired of walking in the torrential rain, so we decided we would stop at the next shelter. This would be only 18 miles, a short day in comparison to our previous few weeks. We made it to the shelter around 2, and we couldn't have been happier. We took off all our wet clothes and hunkered down in our sleeping bags! We napped and talked all afternoon, which was a nice change from walking all afternoon. Tomorrow we have planned a big exciting day so going to bed early tonight !
Date: 2016-05-14
From: campsite 

To: gren anderson shelter 
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: fog

So we had got into camp the night before at about 9:30. We fumbled around in the dark and some how got our stuff set up. When we woke up in the morning we realized that we were surrounded by tents. Im not kidding when I say there could have been 30 tents, most of which seemed to be Boy Scouts. What we had though was a small camp area actually turned out to be huge ! We quickly packed down our tents and headed into the New Jersey wilderness. We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice change from the rocks of PA and beautiful views. We had all though of New Jersey as a densely populated state, but we welcomed the beautiful forests and lakes, anything is better after Pennsylvania ! Within the first mile we came to a beautiful lake. The sun was coming up and the water was blue we just had to stop here for a moment. We couldn't stay long though or else we would be overrun by the thousands of Boy Scouts heading our way. We too a break about halfway at a fire tower and talked with some nice section hikers who warned us of the perils in New York. Apparently there are a lot of steps at some point. We headed towards our destination which was a firepower A few ridges over. We had one last big climb that really did my legs in, but we made it to the shelter around 6:30. When we reached the shelter we met all these northbound hikers that we had never seen before. They were all really nice and we shared stories of our past, mostly asking of people that we had previously met/seen. We stayed up way past hiker midnight talking. Today was a good day, and can't wait to see what else New Jersey has to offer tomorrow!
Date: 2016-05-15
From: gren anderson shelter 

To: Pochuck mountain shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We woke up at 6 today, and said bye to our shelter crew. Hiking early on we saw some beautiful ponds and gained nice little bit of elevation. I really never would have guessed New Jersey could be this nice, so far it is definitely my favorite state north of Virginia. About 9 miles in we saw our old friend from the smokies wazo, he had gotten off trail for five weeks and then started a flip flop so it was crazy to see him we caught up and reminisced on simpler times in the smokies. After that we hiked on and saw the obelisk shaped veterans monument. We then hiked on for 10 miles and made it to beautiful Unionville, N.Y. The people in the town were very pleasant, we actually only got honked at and flicked off once on the way into town. When we got there we picked up a box and went to the general store. We split a quart of ice cream and burnt sometime in town and then got moving. We've decided the best way to catch a ride out of town is to hang out at post offices. Whenever it's time to leave it seems like someone always asks us about our hike, and that's when you know you have them right where you want them. Anyways a very nice man gave us a ride out of town (he was not from unionville). And we hiked are final four miles and got into camp. We had our first fire in ages, and everyone was impressed when I turned it blue with Nat's mystical fire. Anyways tomorrow's seams birthday so we might buy him a dinner in greenwood lake.
Date: 2016-05-16
From: Pochuck mountain shelter

To: wildcat shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: clear sky

We woke up this morning and ran over to our friends Seam's hammock. It was his birthday so we started loudly and poorly singing happy birthday. I think everyone else in camp was awake, but if not, they were after that ! We set out to cover the last bit of New Jersey terrain. Once we got on top we ran along smooth for what seemed like forever. It was different from the small annoying rocks of PA because you could actually walk without rolling your ankle the whole time. The New York border was painted on the rock we were walking on. Secs cross off another state !! A few miles down the trail we stopped because it was a clear enough day so that we could see the Manhattan skyline. It's crazy because we feel like we are in the wilderness, but we are only 30 miles from civilization haha. Anyway, we carried on a few more miles until we reached a side trail into green lake New York. It was 0.8 miles into town which is usually against what we stand for, but it being Seam's birthday, we had to do it right. We got to the pizza place and ordered 2 of the biggest pizzas they had (24 inches). It was way to much food, but we had the support of everyone in the restaurant. People kept coming around the corner to check in on how much pizza was left. 2 hours later we finished, but had to wait another couple hours before we were in any shape to walk. In typical fashion we planned to leave by 6:30 but didn't leave until 7:15. We hiked most of the remaining 5 miles to wildcat shelter in the dark. We were totally ok with that though because we had we were full on pizza ! We only got lost once, but quickly found our way again. Luckily when we got there the shelter was almost empty. We quickly set up our stuff and crashed. It was a great day in town and on the trail.
Date: 2016-05-17
From: wildcat shelter

To: West mountain shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we woke up late. After finishing late we decided to treat ourselves to a 7 o'clock wake up time. Once we got going we soon wished we had stayed in bed. The terrain in NY is deceptively difficult. There aren't any long climbs but short concentrated uphill a that fry your legs. Sometimes it's less of a hike and even more of a rock scramble. It definitely makes the day interesting. Early on in the day we saw our first waterfall since VA and it was beautiful. We crossed a four lane highway and went into Harriman State Park. On our way in we passed a couple baby deer hiding in the bushes. The state park started out with a tough hill, but flattened out once we got on top. It turned into really cool open forest with big trees and not much undergrowth, so it ended up being a pleasant walk. We then got to what's known as the lemon squeezer. A small crack in two big rocks more narrow than a pack. So we actually had to hand out packs up and then climb up through the rocks. Needless to say David was pretty bummed about slack packing. When he got to the top though he saw a route to climb around the lemon squeezer and so he went back down, had us hand him his pack and he came back up again. At the top of the lemon squeezer we ran into some New Yorkers who gave us some food. After that David separated we didn't make it very far when we got to a near stagnate water source. Seam is filter less and prides himself on this fact. So in typical fashion he filled up his water bottle out of one of the most questionable water sources I have ever seen. As of the writing of this blog post he is not sick. We then proceeded to dawdle around, not accomplishing anything in any particular hurry. We crossed a big four lane road and made it to a water source 3 miles before camp. There we ate dinner and filtered the water we would need that night. We made the climb listening to Empire State of mind by Jay Z. When we made it up to west mountain shelter it had a beautiful view of the city skyline, and now we are watching the Penguins game and life is good.
Date: 2016-05-18
From: West mountain shelter

To: campsite- state park 
Miles today: 27.0

Last night we did something that was very uncharacteristic of ourselves. We walked to a shelter that was 0.6 miles off the trail (that's a long way for us), the shelter had no water, no privy, and no bear box. Strangely enough though, we loved the shelter. They had out it on the point of bear mountain that was overlooking the Hudson River and the New York City skyline. When it got dark outside it was a truly amazing view. We woke up the next morning and headed to a campsite roughly 27 miles away. First, we had to climb up bear mountain ! This section was clearly well traveled because it was one of the best maintained trails I have ever seen ! They had put crushed gravel down on the trail and had friendly steps the whole way up ! We headed down into the town of bear mountain which was really small, basically just a post office. We picked up a package and hung out in the park in the park for a bit. A crazy squirrel almost stole all my lunch. After a nice break we headed into the bear mountain zoo (which the trail hoes through). We saw all kinds of birds and reptiles, David even saw a bear Haha!! At this point we had messed around in town for far too long. We still had 20 miles to hike and it was already 11. We hiked about 5 miles before coming to a road crossing with a gas station. We couldn't resist to stop and some tasty treats ! After breaking for way too long we slogged out the last 15 miles over pretty difficult terrain. We rolled into camp around 8 exhausted and ready to sleep. We ate dinner and crawled into our tents instantly. We are camped at a lake which was annoying to get water from, so we got water the next morning from a stream down the trail. It was a long day, but we are in good spirits because New York has been surprisingly nice ! We have a slower day tomorrow so can't wait to make it to camp early and prop my feet up !
Date: 2016-05-19
From: campsite- state park 

To: telephone pioneers shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We left the state park early and happy we had an easy day today. Unfortunately for David last night his sleeping pad got a hole in the bottom so he had missed some sleep, not to mention he still needed to patch it. The morning went by uneventfully until we got to RPH shelter. There we filled up on water and signed the logbook. Then David went on and Zack, Seam, and I kept on hiking we saw some nice rural sections of New York and before it was all said and done we had knocked out 13 miles by 12. We then were able to take the afternoon leisurely we hiked on until we saw an awesome lake in which we decided to swim in. Later on we found out it was called nuclear laker, but it is apparently totally safe. It was nice cause I had been dreaming of swimming since we started so it was awesome to finally get the chance. David got his pad fixed while we all played around. After the lake there were only 2 easy miles and we cruised those out. At the shelter we met orange crush and bananas. We talked with them for a while, and now we are watching the Penguins. Another shirt day tomorrow! All is right in the world.
Date: 2016-05-20
From: telephone pioneers shelter

To: mount agnos shelter 
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: moderate rain

We told ourselves to sleep in this morning because the hiker friendly garden center didn't open until 9. Well we all woke up around 5:30 as usual, and just talked until 7. We walked 3 miles downhill to the garden center. Here we charged our phones and treated ourselves to a cold Coke. While we were there we studied our fish and bird species in the pamphlets provided there. After hanging out for a while, we headed out toward the Connecticut border. When we got there we left our friends Seam and Das Machine because they are going to attempt the Connecticut challenge tomorrow. This is when you try and hike the whole state of Connecticut in 1 day (approximately 50 miles). Eli and I have a resupply package to pick up in Kent tomorrow, but I also remember the pain from the 4 state challenge still, so we opted out of this one. We are going to meet back up with them 2 nights from now! Anyway, good luck to those guys ! After leaving the guys, we paralleled the 10 mile river for quite sometime and then climbed to mount algo shelter. We met some new people here and pitched our tent (first time in a while) because the shelter was full ! All in all a good day, and we are headed into Kent in the morning for breakfast and a resupply !
Date: 2016-05-21
From: mount agnos shelter 

To: Campsite- 5 miles before Falls Village
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today we left camp around 7 and made it into Kent Connecticut by 730. We had a resupply box at an outfitter that didn't open till 10 so we had some time to kill in town. We went to a bakery and got carrot cake and a breakfast sandwich which was delicious. We then went and bought some groceries, and hung out outside the outfitter. We ran into orange crush, and just had a nice leisurely morning. Unfortunately, that translated into a hard day. We left Kent at 11 with the intention of doing 22 miles, but that quickly faded. Leaving Kent was very hilly and it was already so late. We made it through the first 6 and then had a nice flat 6 miles along the river, but after that Connecticut turned hostile. The final ten miles into camp where fairly unimposing on the map, but we quickly realized the deceit. We decided to just do 20 total and save ourselves some hiking. We made it into camp around 6, and pitched our tent for the second night in a row. Today didn't look to hard but I'm sure we will sleep like babies tonight.
Date: 2016-05-22
From: Campsite- 5 miles before Falls Village

To: hemlock shelter
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: light rain

Well we have spent the last few nights in our tent which is a nice change from the shelters. There is so much space for our stuff and Eli only snores a little.... With a good night of sleep we set off on our big day to reunite with David and Seam, who were going to wait 7 miles miles across the Connecticut border. We started walking earlier than usual so we could finish the 27 miles by a decent time. This was definitely the better half of Connecticut because the terrain was so much easier and the views were so much better ! Right before summoning bear mountain ( the tallest point in Connecticut) we ran into a thru hiker named Sparky ( we gave him the name) that we hadn't seen since our second night in Georgia! He had gotten off trail and decided to do sections of the trail from his house in Massachusetts. We never thought we would see him again, but we had a great time catching up and reminiscing of our time together so long ago. After reaching the top of the mountain we were greeted by many day hikers, so we headed down the steep downhill fairly quickly. Once we reached Sage's ravine we parallels a creek with some of the best swimming holes I have ever seen. The inviting water was SO cold, but we couldn't help ourselves but to go for a quick swim. Shortly after our swim we reached the Connecticut/Massachusetts border ! Our last big uphill of the day was up Everett mountain which was short but incredibly steep ( 700 feet in 0.7 miles). We made to the top and had a great view of our past mountain conquests. We headed down the hill to hemlock shelter where we met David. They had completed the Connecticut challenge the day before, but Seam had gotten unbearably sick, and gotten off trail at the first road crossing. We assume it is giardia because he hasn't been filtering his water lately. We are sad to leave him behind, but we are confident he will catch up with us. All in all not a bad day, and we are looking forward to getting into Tyringham, Massachusetts tomorrow !
Date: 2016-05-23
From: hemlock shelter

To: east mountain retreat (Great Barrington, MA) 
Miles today: 18.0

Well the shelter roof leaked last night so I woke up with raindrops on my face. Luckily I was able to scoot over a few inches and go back to sleep. When we finally did wake up we knew it was going to be a day of low motivation. The rain had seemingly set in, and we were all fairly tired from the previous few days of hiking. Nevertheless, we headed down the trail ! A couple miles into the hike we were faced with a steep downhill on wet rocks. David lost his footing and fell hard on his side. We bandaged him up and decided we were going to stop short today for some much needed rest. After the huge descent we were in the low elevations of Massachusetts, and we were instantly swarmed by mosquitos. There were huge clouds of them around everyone's head. We got out our bug spray and applied it to every open inch of skin. It seemed to work pretty well thank goodness ! The rain rain stopped and the sun came out. I think I preferred the rain to the humid sweat we finished the day. To make matters worse I badly rolled my ankle a few miles before the road we were trying to get to. Thanks to Eli and David for carrying my pack the last few miles while I hobbled out. When we reached the road we almost immediately got a ride, which never happens for the 3 of us ( the trail gods must have known I was in pain). The kind man drove the 2 miles to east mountain retreat, where a nice woman lets hikers sleep in her basement for very cheap. We were the only ones there and it was nice to finally have a shower. Our 15 day streak without a shower was finally over. Thank goodness, you know it is bad when you can smell yourself all the time. The plan was to rest tonight and hopefully leave in the morning (depending on my ankle), but around 6 David became violently ill. I won't go into details because it was disgusting, but we will just say he wasn't doing well. We he doesn't think he drank any bad water along the way, so we are hoping it is just a 24 hour bug. It seems that we are all falling apart at once. Anyway, we have decided to zero here tomorrow in order to rest my ankle, and hopefully give David some time to rest up and feel, excited for our first zero in a while, although I wish it was under better circumstances.
Date: 2016-05-24
From: east mountain retreat (Great Barrington, MA) 

To: east mountain retreat (Great Barrington, MA) 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Well today we took a zero. It all started off pretty slow, we hung out and talked, David looked considerably better than last night and all was good. Around 10 we decided I should go into town since Zack and David were still recovering. So I emptied my backpack and headed off towards the road. I walked maybe 100 yards and got picked up (Great Barrington, MA is turning out to be very hitchhiker friendly) by a younger guy who had done a quarter of a thru hike two years ago. He was a nice dude and he drove me into town and waited on me when I went to the supermarket and McDonald's and then gave me a ride out. I even offered to pay him and he actually turned it down and gave me ten bucks! Needless to say it was some hard core trail magic. When I got back I realized I had left Davids guidebook in the city so I definitely owe him one. The rest of the day we hung out and recovered and made big plans for all the miles we were gonna do once we got back on trail. Around 4 captain jack sparrow rolled up to the hostel. He was pretty much the last person we expected to see but we're still pumped nonetheless. Around 4:30 he ordered pizza and the hype was real. Then around 5 it hit... I started to feel a little queasy and decided I wouldn't eat any pizza, by 7 I was projectile vomiting. I'm writing this blog post the day after because I was busy all night. Let's just say it was very unpleasant, uncomfortable, and we are gonna have to zero again.
Date: 2016-05-25
From: east mountain retreat (Great Barrington, MA) 

To: East Mountain Retreat Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

The good news we get to stay in town and watch game 7 of the penguins vs lightning tonight, the bad news we are having our second consecutive zero day because I can't move at all today. I pretty much just laid around all day today while Zack and David went into town.They did not find his map. They did do laundry and got me pretzels and ginger ale. Unfortunately I was sick to the point where I couldn't touch any food but the clean clothes were nice. We are taking extra caution not to get Zack sick so anything dealing with me David helps with. To be honest I pretty much slept all day till 8 when the Penguins game started! We barely managed to say up, but it was well worth it to see the Penguins advance to the finals. Hopefully by tomorrow I'm healthy enough to hike on!