morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-09-04
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Wingdale NY
Miles today: 5.0

Kate's entry: We slept in today knowing we had a quick walk into town today - 5 miles. It stormed pretty hard last night, but the tent was almost dry when we woke up. The hike in was gentle rolling hills and went through the woods, then some fields, then cowfields, and dumped us at the highway. There was a landscape place there with an AT sign on it so we walked up. Pete helped us by giving us a ride to Pawling, NY to pick up our maildrops. We then asked a postal worker for a good place in town to eat and ended up at an amazing bakery/restaurant. I had the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had - it was on raisen bread, with cheese, bacon and then raw pears. MMMMMMM. It was spectacular and I hope I can recreate it at home. We then caught a cab to the Dutchess Motel in Wingdale NY. We showered, did laundry (we hung up all of it on the line - it smells sooo good). We then walked down to the train station where Beetle was going to leave from and also figured we would catch the train to Pawling tomorrow to get our chores done - significantly cheaper than the taxi. We ate a great little Italian place for dinner. Talked about the last couple of months, Beetle's plans, talked about meeting up in a couple of weeks at Harpers Ferry, etc. It was really nice. Back to the hotel - Beetle went to pack, and we started planning our next leg - we figure we'll be through NY and NJ and in PA in 10 days, if all goes to plan. We have some 20 mile days in there so we'll see how my legs like that. To bed for us - I'm sooo sleepy.
Date: 2008-09-05
From: Wingdale NY

To: Pawling, NY
Miles today: 0.0

Matt's entry: A zero today; just what we need, really. Beetle and Kate and I walked to a great deli - Cousin's it's called - and had breakfast. We slept in, of course, and that was a pretty great start to our day.    We got Beetle on the train, and we got on, too. WE needed to get to Pauling (a 7 min. train ride), and so we got off at the first stop. Beetle was bound for NYC.    I'm not sure how to express my feelings about Beetle's departure. No doubt, today was great. Kate and I were alone again and are doing our own thing. However, it's so strange for us not to have our buddy here. We have been hiking with her, after all, for almost 3 months.    The rest of the day and evening was spent resting; I made my flute bag and did the AT design on it. It turned out cool. I bought way too many beads, so I will maybeb do some additional eadwork around the edges of the bag, but I am not sure yet really.   I am not sure if we are getting back on the trail romorrow; Kate's boots came and it would probably be good to get going.
Date: 2008-09-06
From: Wingdale NY

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Kate's entry: We woke up to a very humid da. We thought we'd try to catch the train to Pawling, do PO breakfast, get cab to trailhead....we didn't want to walk the 1/2 mile each way to the breakfast place here...Got to the train station and the next train didn't come for another 2 hours, so we called a cab. Matt hit the bakery while I did PO and then the cab took us to the trailhead.Our packs were heavy with 7 days worth of food and I was struggling with the humidity - it was hard to catch my breath when we were doing the uphills. I'd get all wheezy and have to stop - no fun. Luckily, it was mostly rolling hills, ut the hot humidness was sweaterific. We were both soaked. We saw what is believed to be the largest tree on the trail - the Dover Oak. It was amazing to look at. Matt and I were seeing so many salamanders we started to count them and by the time we hit camp we hit 136. We were walking along when Matt stopped dead in his tracks with surprise - there was a yearling doe about 20 feet away from him. She just walked in front of us, looked at us, cleaned heself. She had no fear. It was very cool. We were watching the skies for Hannah - dayhikers and others told us it would be hitting this afternoon. As we came to the shelter, we decided that staying put would be smart - first day out stinks when you get soaked. As we pumped water, it started to rain. Once I got in it started to pour. HA! Bates 1 Rain 0. As Beetle would say "GOOD DECISION!" Matt said he kept looking back behind us looking for Beetle. It's definitely different without her. Popcorn, dinner, yahtzee and now we are snug in this shelter - just the two of us. Up early tomorrow - we want to try to make up miles...Note: we were told later that we got 6 inches of rain from Hannah.
Date: 2008-09-07
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Dennytown Road Group Camp
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: clear sky

Matt's entry: Well, we caught up the miles from yesterday - we got in at about 6PM, after pumping water. Today we walked about 20 miles. We actually ended up not needing to because there was still water at the building here, but oh well - we didn't know and we didn't want to be without water.   The big miles today weren't that hard - it was the last 2 that got us a bit. It had been a long day.   We met this guy - not sure of his name yet - but he's hiking with a goat! It's cool; the AMC said that goats aren't really considered pack animals (which are prohibited on the trail). And, he's not taking handouts. He is exchanging work for food and lodging. He is a neat guy and he says that the goat is a people magnet. I guess it would be.    Also, there is another couple here who we ate dinner with. They seem really neat, and I guess they're section hiking. The have a freezer bag cooking method - Kate and the lady had a great deal to talk about over dinner. It is so neat to meet people on the trail.    I am having a great time with Kate. We are hiking hard, and having a blast.
Date: 2008-09-08
From: Dennytown Camp 

To: Overlook Lodge, Bear Mtn Park NY
Miles today: 15.3

Kate's entry: We woke as the sun came up. Matt was really concerned how we were going to solve the "coffee situation." We were debating going further than Hemlock Springs into Bear Mountain and see what life brought us. We said goodbye to Tim, Sue, Yusef (spelling?) and the goat, Ali Baba. The goat started to follow us at first - that was pretty funny!We climbed Canopus Hill and Denning Hill. We scared up 3 deer early in the day. We really have been seeing quite a few since we hit NY. We decided to get water and have lunch at Graymoor Friary - they allow hikers to use a pavilion and waterspout on their ball field. At lunch, we called Beetle to tell her about the hiker with the goat and just update her on our hike. I was glad to hear her laugh. We are looking forward to seeing her in Harper's Ferry!Also, we had heard from other hikers about a hotel IN Bear Mountain Park, so we called it to see if they had rooms. We figured it would solve our where to stay provlem and allow us to resolve the "coffee situation." There was a hotel and it had rooms, so that was our new goal. We had 7 more miles to go, so we started moving. We crossed the Hudson River via the Bear Mountain Bridge. All over the bridge they had "life is worthe living" signs with suicide hotline phones. I thought it was funny (I think years in Reslife will do that to you). Matt told me I was sick, but soon he started in on the jokes as well.We got to the park, outside the zoo area and who shows up but Bearwalker. He needed to get into town and was planning on getting on the trail that night. We went through the zoo - yes the trail goes through a zoo! We hit the lowest elevation of the trail in front of the bear exhibit - 124 feet. We then went by Hessian Lake and went searching for the hotel. In 1/2 mile, we were there. We got a bunch of menus from places that delivered, but found out that the closest grocery store was 1. miles each way...and no cabs to there. BUT as we looked at the menus, and saw one of them delivered groceries!! We were soooo excited. So we ordered burgers, beer, and, of course, coffee. 30 minutes later, we were showered and eating. No walking for groceries! We then called the Knoblocks - talked to them a long time which was awesome. Then chill time and soo to bed.
Date: 2008-09-09
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: William Brien Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: moderate rain

Matt's entry: After we checked the weather from the hotel room, and ate our continental breakfast. We found out how wrong weathermen can be. It was supposed to rain this afternoon for sure, severe storms etc, and be cloudy in the evening. It was the opposite. It rained on us like crazy as soon as we summited bear mountain, and it proceded to get nice as soon as we hit our shelter at about 1 PM. It's a great old shelter - I guess it hs been around since the 20's. We built a little fire in the front and are drying out our things. Then, PattyO came by. He had beer and was doing some trailmagic; it was cool. We talked to him for a long time. PattyO Had to stop his trip in '00 and has been doing trailmagic ever since. He says this is his 8th and final year. I guess Achilles and Creeture and Dare are just a little way behind us. PattyO said he would even get us all together for one night; I think that would pretty much rock.I am surprised that a fire can put up this much smoke - there is a hole in the ceiling, but the smoke is still in my eyes - I am going to get off of the top bunk.That was quite a fire - I think that most everything will be dry in the am. I got down off of the top bunk now and really think that this has been a perfect evening. Bearwalker saw a bear today - he came in after us and is also drying out. I am hoping that it doesn't like fire - we have hung our food in the shelter.
Date: 2008-09-10
From: William Brien Shelter

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

Kate's entry: We hit 800 miles today! The sun was out when we woke up this morning. The shelter stayed toasty warm through most of the night until the fire died down. Bearwalker wanted to walk with us until he would pull off for his maildrop 9 miles up. We were shooting to make up our miles from yesterday so it was going to be a big one. In the morning, we spooked up a doe and a hawk eating a chipmunk. We climbed Fingerboard Mtn and saw teh Fingboard shelter. Paddie O said it's the oldest on the trail, built in 1927. Where we were walking is part of the 1st trails built specifically for the AT. The shelter was cool - 2 fireplaces.Then up Island Pond Mountain and through the lemon squeezer. The lemon squeezer was FUN. It was a lot of ups and downs to be sure. BUT we made our goal of 19.6 miles. We have gotten the huner back and have almost eaten all our lunch and snack foods so we are hoping to get to an ice cream/baked good place tomorrow. The terrain looks pretty flat so I think it's pretty doable.
Date: 2008-09-11
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Pochuck Creek
Miles today: 18.7

Matt's entry: We are stealthing tonight, after a rather long day of walking. I don't feel tired though, probably because we stopped at Heaven Hill Farmstand for ice cream and baked goods. Before it was all over, I had eaten 2 oreo cookie ice cream sundaes, and an outmeal raisen cookie. After our stop, which we hurried to because we didn't know if we would make it before it closed, we ended up walking even farther than we had originally planned because we felt so good.This morning was the third da in a row that we have heard Canadian geese, and we say at least 8 deer today. The grey squirrels are constantly out and about; their before-winter to-do list is short but has taken on a new urgency it seems. This morning's walk was beautiful; some of the leaves are turning and even though we had some minor scrambling we had a great walk. The scrambling isn't hard for us anymore, but it sure does slow us down considerably. At lunch we stopped by a small river and chilled out.. It was then we realized how fast we would have to walk to make the ice cream stand. We booked it and were able to go about 2.6 miles per hour. It was great! What a day!
Date: 2008-09-12
From: Pochuck Creek

To: THE Outhouse, Unionville, NY
Miles today: 10.2

Kate's entry: Clouds looked like rain we woke up. We got a little earlier jumpstart. We climbed Pochuck Mtn. We saw twin fawns and watched them for quite sometime. It was really neat. We came to a bird sanctuary with geese, ducks and swans. It was gorgeous. We got into Unionville, walked to the Post Office - no package. No biggie, the postmistress said she could forward the package ahead for us. We went to the General Store for resupply and sandwiches for lunch. We then called the Outhouse,aka "the Mayor's House" but the mayor wasn't going to be home for a couple of hours. Then it started to rain so we went to the city park's pavilion. We started to eat the sandwiches and work on planning for the next section. A SUV pulled up and a man asked us if we wanted a hot meal and a shower. We said that sounded good. He introduced himself as Butch who works with the Mayor. So we hopped in his car and we got the rules of the house:1) Treat the house as yours2)Jiggle the toilet handle3) don't touch any dirty dishes.We said we could handle that.We took showers, were given robes and our laundry was started. We chilled. Dinner was served and it was delish! The guys of the outhouse are Dick (the current mayor of Unionville), Butch and Bill. They are really great guys and have really made us feel at home. Other hikers there tonight: Mr. Nice Guy, Moses, Godzilla, Bearwalker and us. It was a good group to hang with. We watched a video about Paul Potts, winner of Britain's Got talent. All I have to say is Vincera! It made me think about dreams, making them happen and how that relates to the trail. As Butch was leaving, he said slackpacking is available tomorrow, so we've decided to do a 23.3 mile section tomorrow - our first day officially over 20 miles...hopefully we can do it!
Date: 2008-09-13
From: THE Outhouse, Unionville, NY

To: View Entry
Miles today: 23.3

Today we woke up, had Bfast, and then were slacked (for free, btw), to Culver's Gap, 23.3 miles from the Mayor's House. Our packs were SO LIGHT, as all we carried was water, lunch, first aid kit, rain gearm camera, map, compass, and knife. Bearwalker, Kate and I walked together and counted 207 spotted salamanders, a new record. We also saw some deer and, later in the afternoon, a bowhunter. It is SO strange not to be hunting this year; and when I wished that bowhunter luck, I secretely wished we could change places for a while. While only a fleeting wish, it was still there. On the other hand, I have been seeing deer every day, and sometimes we watch them for a long time before they run. In all, I guess I would take hiking this year for hunting occasionally. I still want to call my brothers and see if they are hunting this weekend - I think it's their season opener in WI.TTFN!
Date: 2008-09-14
From: THE Outhouse, Unionville, NY

To: THE Outhouse, Unionville, NY
Miles today: 0.0

Kate's entry: We woke to foggy humid hotness. Bearwalker wanted to take care of his feet. Matt and I both felt tired and thought a day of rest would be good. The Mayor added that dinner was ribs...Plus we weren't ready to leave - we were having a great time with the Outhouse gang. In the morning, we hung out with Josh and Keri. Butch took us to Gander Mountain to get a new filter for our water pump. Matt and Keri got us lunch while I made phone calls to friends and family.I talked to Keri at length. Soon everyone was watching some football game. I took a little nap. Then other hikers started to roll in - Raleigh, who we haven't seen in months; James - a section hiker; Ziplock - don't know his story. Plus the three of us, Moses, Josh and Keri. It was another great meal and we spent hours afterwards telling stories, and laughing with Butch, Dick and Bill. Dick has talked to us a lot about having dreams and impacting others. ..Things Matt and I have talked about at length on this trip with "the list" of things we want to do in our lifetimes; our plans about joining a trail maintenance crew at home; our desires to adopt/foster kids in the near future. But our conversations with Dick have made me think deeper about these things and my priorities for the future - it makes me feel excited for the "adventures" of our lives beyond this one.
Date: 2008-09-15
From: THE Outhouse, Unionville, NY

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: broken clouds

Matt's entry: We had a pretty easy walk today - mostly ridge walking. The rocks started getting bad during the last 2 miles today; Bearwalker hiked with us, and said that this is how PA is most of the time, except a little worst. SUCK. I am not looking forward to PA.We haven't seen any bears yet. Tonight some deer walked right through our campsite, and I was excited about that - a doe and her yearling at about 6:50 or so, browsing and walking. It reminded me of home because that's when I see deer at the Barker/Barton household. Good times...We had dinner with a hiker we haven't met before - Chet - he seems like a cool guy. He is looking for a place to settle down and is using the AT to scope out a new area.   I thought that was a neat way to go. I know I am a midwesterner though.Nothing else to report as far as I know. It was a great day on the trail after a SUPER rest. Thanks much to all the folks at the Mayor's house; Kate and I are looking forward to visiting when we aren't hiking! TTFN
Date: 2008-09-16
From: Mohican Camping Center

To: Kirkridge Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Kate's entry: Big day today!! Started CHILLY and cloudy. Our goal was Delaware Water Gap - hoping to do some resupply - hadn't decided if we would stay at the hostel or move on. We were still ridgewalking. We early on saw two does and watched them for awhile. Later a 4 pnt buck. I saw a hawk swoop in front of me as I walked...But the BIG excitement was we saw our first BEAR. And no, it didn't try to eat us. And no, I didn't have to pull out the pepper spray. It looked like a young bear, so we watched it for awhile and looked out for Mama. It ambled across the trail, paying us very little attention and then walked into the bushes. Soon we came to Sunfish Pond, which was a GORGEOUS glacial pond. Soon we were in Bearwalker's old stomping grounds and he was pretty excited. We crossed the Delaware River into PA - 7 states under our belt!! Into Delaware Water Gap!! Lunch first at the Sycamore Grille - tasty. Matt was excited as they had pumpkin beer. I had a dessert called Marzipan - which I'd never had before - yum! We found resupply possibilities at the Gap Mini-Mart - not perfect, but would suffice. At the post office, we found that we had cookies from the Sohms waiting for us! YUM! We decided to push on - we had big miles to cover if we wanted to hit our next maildrop on Sat by 11 am. We have to make up our zero at the Mayors. Well worth the push and if we don't make it, we'll have Matt's bday in town! We pushed on to the kirkridge shelter though several times the guys pointed out gorgeous stealth sites. I think they were tired of walking, but they kept agreeing to move on. Great views all along this ridge. I think we'll see a nice sunrise from the shelter =).
Date: 2008-09-17
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: 7 miles S. of Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 20.9

Matt's Entry: WE are in for a few strenuous days, as we are trying to get to Port Clinton by Saturday at 11 so that we can get our mail drop. Bearwalker got off the trail today to hang out with his friends and family. It was really fun hiking with him. He is so funny. Yesterday he showed a video of our bear sighting to a New Yorker and he was freaking out really bad. It was so funny. Bearwalker said that for a New Yorker, that was a pretty normal response in his experience. Lol...We saw an amazing sunrise today, and saw the moon this morning in a perfectly blue sky. The moon has been really bright the last few nights.We have been seeing deer - today we counted seven - all does I think. It's hard to tell sometimes when all we can see are their tails and butts bouncing away from us.We are camping in a neat little campsite on a ridge - we called Kate's Aunt Karen tonight and got the skinny on the flooding in IL; I guess the auto shop got some water, but we were relieved that noone was hurt and there was no major losses.The rocks here in PA are pretty tedious; the best way to describe them is imagine a trail with a bunch of 1/2 buried pointy rocks, so many that you really have to work to step around them. They are hard on your boots because you are always scuffing them. And, your ankles work extra hard to keep you upright. The rocks will go on for maybe 1/2 or 2/3 of a mile, then get better. Sometimes there are piles of rocks maybe the size of radio flyer wagons strewn all around and you have to climb on them for 1/2 of a mile or so and then they turn into the small rocks before dissapating. They are not hard to walk on, but they slow you down.Well, that's that. On to Port Clinton!!! TTFN
Date: 2008-09-18
From: stealth by Weathering Knob

To: PA309 - Blue Mountain Summit
Miles today: 22.3

Kate's entry: It was cold and windy when we woke up. I had a hard time lighting the stove. We climbed over Weathering Knob and then hit a reroute by Palmerton - apparently the ridge is a superfund site due to zinc mining and they are working on cleaning it up so we were rerouted 4 miles. There was a lot of damage to the ridge - dead/dying trees and very little vegetation.While we were taking a break, I was reading in the companion that there was a B&B that did lunch and dinner Th-S and it was THURSDAY today! It was 2 miles beyond our planned stop. We decided we'd make a decision on that once we got to the campsite. We went down Lehigh Gap - STEEP down - we haven't seen rocks like that since New Hampshire. It took us a while to get down. Then we crossed the Lehigh River. There were great views from this stretch of the ridge.We felt good and strong as we walked. We hit the campsite and called the B&B - they'd allow us to tent and they were open for dinner til 9 (it was 5:40). We were in the restaurant 40 minutes and 1.8 miles later. I had been hearing from Bearwalker the goodness of flounder the last couple of days. SO when I saw it on the menu, I was on it. Dinner was great! Matt decided to ask about room possibilities - they had one with a jacuzzi available...we were all over THAT! and he dropped the price. Breakfast wouldn't be until 8 which was slightly problematic as we had one more 20 mile day to go - but we did 22+ today and we were in by 6:20 so we figured we could make it happen. Jacuzzi felt AMAZING on sore muscles and sore feet.
Date: 2008-09-19
From: PA309 - Blue Mountain Summit

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 22.3
Weather: clear sky

Matt's entry: Well, it looks like we are going to make our mail drop tomorrow. This morning - in fact much of the day - was all determined my our decision to go 2 extra miles yesterday. At Bfast we met "Had," a section hiker who told us all about the trail down south of here (where to resupply, what to see, etc). He is a really nice guy. We told him about the parts up north that he hasn't walked yet while we ate our pretty amazing breakfast."Had" offered to slack us to Eckville shelter, which was about 11 miles away, and even lent us his lumbar pack for the morning. We took him up on his offer, and we made outstanding time. We left at 9:45, and hiked the 11.5 miles by 1:30. IT was so cool to be able to move that fast, even with the rocks. We ate lunch with "Had" and he offered to hook up with us when we were down south. I hope that works out. He gave us ice and diet cokes, both of which were awesome. We couldn't have made our goal today without his help.In the afternoon, we hiked the rest of the miles into this shelter - just before we got here we saw 5-6 deer running. WE had a great hike today, talking about all kinds of stuff, and generally had a great time. Tomorrow we will get up really rearly and hike our 6 remaining miles into town.It's pretty cold tonight - we are zipping together for warmth. We also called Beetle tonight - it was great to hear her voice. Time for sleep - we are tired! TTFN