morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-12-08
From: Port Clinton, Pa.

To: Eagles Nest Shelter, Pa.
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

8.6 miles todayEagles Nest Shelter, Pa. I woke up hungry, so Hippie and I walked down to Three C's for breakfast. Hippie had her usual ice cream, syrup and whipped cream for breakfast, but this time she had to have it on a dozen small pancakes because they didn't serve waffles. I had a more traditional breakfast and four cups of coffee. We are trying to waste a day so Hippie can finish her thru hike on the 10th of this month at Swatara Gap, Pa. That will give her exactly 10 months for this thru hike. She started it back on February 10th walking south with me from Fontana Dam to Springer while I was finishing my sobo thru hike. It's cool that I get to be there at the end of her second thru hike. I was with her at the end of her first thru hike in '01. I always wanted to stay at the Port Clinton Hotel when I was passing through, but now I never want to stay at the Port Clinton Hotel again. It was the worst place I've ever stayed. The matresses had springs sticking up everywhere and my butt was almost touching the floor.The shower changed tempertures from skin burning hot to ice cold every 10 to 15 seconds. They didn't give out any soap, but I found a small piece left from a previous occupant. The heat only came on twice during the night and I had no control over it. I could see all the stains on the ceiling from the roof leaking and I could hear something dripping inside the wall...it was raining outside. The good thing was the food and Yuengling. I had a huge hamburger and ordered a small fry that was plenty for Hippie and me. The bar opened just as we left, so we had a Yuengling for the first steep climb. That was the steepest climb I've had in quite a while. The rest of the hike today was easy and the weather was fantastic for this time of year. It got up to 60 degrees and partly sunny with some wind every so often. My pack weighed 4 1/2 pounds heavier today because I packed out a six pack of Yuengling for Hippie and I to have with our Ramen tonight. I haven't been seeing any deer, only deer hunters. I keep asking them how they're doing and get the same answer from everyone...not good. We only stopped for one break today, but we only walked about 8 miles. We got to the shelter about 3:30pm and by the time we ate dinner and drank our Yuengling, it was dark. The days are getting close to being as short on daylight as it gets. The sun comes up a little after 7am and goes down a little after 4pm. That leaves a long night for ALOT of sleep!! We brought cards along to play, but when the sun went down, I was ready to go to sleep. My friends should be proud of me because I'm sleeping outside again...I AM A BACKPACKER!!!Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-10
From: 501 Shelter, Pa.

To: 501 Shelter, Pa.
Miles today: 0.1
Weather: moderate rain

.1 mile today501 Shelter, Pa. I heard Hippie moving around so I got up and put on my coffee. We still had a whole large pizza left from last night, so that became breakfast this morning. Displaced Hippie even got up early. I don't know her real well yet, but I was under the impression that she was not a morning person. Hippie went out to the trailhead to see what happened to Tripod last night. He ended up sleeping in his truck because his sleeping bag wasn't in his backpack. He said when it got cold, he would just turn the truck's heater on for a while. We all got packed up and headed towards Pottsville, Pa where the Yuengling Brewery is. We got there right at 10am when the tour begins and really had a fun time. We didn't listen too much to the tour guide about the brewery because Hippie and I toured it last year with John Galt, Meander and Sage. We were just there for the free beer!! This time they took us into the cave where they used to store the beer before refridgeration and that was cool to see. We all messed around there for a few hours. We stopped by Cabela's to show Tripod and Displaced Hippie all the exibits they have. I ended up buying a few candles because I found it's really nice to sit around a shelter and talk in the candle light for a while. We still end up going to sleep by about 6pm, but by then it's already been dark for an hour or more. The candles give off enough light that we don't have to burn up the batteries on our headlamps. We stopped at a diner on the way back to the 501 Shelter for a late lunch. It was a perfect day for a zero (or the .1 miles that it took to go from the shelter to Rt 501...hey, I carried my backpack out to the truck) because it had rained all last night and rained all day today. Hippie and I had planned on walking four miles to the next shelter, but when Tripod dropped us off, it started raining harder again. We decided to stay at the 501 Shelter one more night and hopefully go about 16 to 18 tomorrow. Hippie will officially finish her thru hike tomorrow at Swatara Gap, but she is hiking with me down to James River in Va to finish my thru hike with me. We got out some cards and played some Gin for a couple of hours and then tried planning the next week on the maps. I don't know what went wrong, but there is no way that I'm even going to be close to finishing my thru hike by the end of the year...so much for a schedule for two hopeless hikers like us!! I should be able to finish by the middle of January though. Hippie and I both decided not to walk in the cold rain anymore for the rest of this hike. It's ok if it's snowing, we'll still walk in that, but no more freezing rain. We are going to try and carry an extra day's food with us just in case.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-14
From: The Doyle Hotel, Duncannon, Pa.

To: South of Cove Mountain Shelter, Pa.
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

7.6 miles todayStealth tentingSouth of Cove Mountain Shelter, Pa. I woke up about 5am again and that was good because I had some journaling to catch up on. Hippie and Tripod ended up getting their own room last night. This was the first morning I've had to myself in a while, so I made good use of it to catch up on some emails too. I walked down and knocked on Joe and Hippie's door at 8 o'clock to see about going to find some breakfast. They were awake and said they'd be out shortly. We walked across the street to Goodie's Restaurant and Hippie and I had breakfast. It was a good place and a very friendly waiter who brought plenty of coffee. We got Joe to drive us to the grocery store and we resupplied. I was glad to get the ride there and back because it was a very narrow, winding road. We got back to the hotel and packed our stuff up and walked down to the bar at 11am to check out. I went down to the po and sent ahead a few items to catch up to our bounce box in Harper's Ferry, W.V. and when I got back, Hippie and Tripod were having a Yuengling. I decided to have one for the climb up the mountain out of Duncannon...and then decided to have another...and then ordered lunch with another Yuengling. I told Hippie we really needed to get going because it was already a little after 1pm. I started climbing the mountain about 1:30 and Hippie said she would be right behind me. I've been sitting up here on top of the mountain now for half an hour and she still hasn't showed up. It's cold up here waiting on her, but I did find a big tree to sit behind to get out of the wind. She finally showed up half an hour later and we hiked on. I have to say again how much I enjoyed the Doyle this year compared to '02. They've done a great job on making it a nice, inexpensive place for hikers to stay and they really welcome the hikers. Vicky, the owner and daytime bartender was a real pleasure to talk to. I've even got a new favorite joke, but I'm not going to write it here. Next time any of you see me, I'll be glad to tell it. Hippie and I stopped by Cove Mountain Shelter and I walked down to the spring about 5 minutes down the mountain and got water for tonight and tomorrow morning. We weren't sure about water on the ridge and didn't know how far we'd get before dark. When I got back we hiked on carrying about 10 pounds of water...I wasn't going to go without my coffee in the morning. We are still walking on alot of the Pa rocks, but we should be walking out of the worst of them soon. It was cold and cooling down even more, so it took me a few miles to find the right tent spot that was out of the wind and not in a spot where the cold air would pool over night. I finally found a nice spot just as it was getting dark and set up my tent. I wasn't hungry because I had eaten enough in Duncannon before I left, so I just got in my sleeping bag and went to sleep. I love my warm sleeping bag especially when it get so cold out. Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-15
From: South of Cove Mountain Shelter, Pa.

To: Rt 11 trailhead, Pa.
Miles today: 10.0

10 miles todayRt 11 trailhead, Pa. It's chilly out!! I woke at 5am again and my nose was cold. It was the only thing sticking out of my sleeping bag. It was in the upper teens and had snowed litely overnight. I put on my midweight REI shirt, my windshirt and my new Montbell down coat and I was nice and toasty while I enjoyed my coffee. For some reason, I forgot to buy something for breakfast this morning, (maybe it was the Yuenglings for lunch) so I ate oatmeal cookies. Hippie and I decided to do a short day today and take advantage of a restaurant and motel at the Rt 11 road crossing. We walked thru alot of mud this morning, but it was great...it was frozen rock hard, so we walked right on top of it. That made it so much easier than all the mud we've walked through lately. We climbed to the top of the next mountain where Darlington Shelter used to be before it was torn down to be replaced late next year with a new one. We found a spot on the way down the mountain that had some rocks formed to make a seat at an overlook. It was out of most of the wind and in direct sunlight, so it felt very nice. We could see all the flat land in front of us and the mountains in the distance that we'll be climbing tomorrow. Even though it was on the chilly side, it was very nice out. There were thin clouds to the east and the sun was beautiful coming up through them. It got up to the high 20s by late morning and there were only a few places that we were in 20 mph winds. We stopped by the Scott Farm where trail crews live part of the year and took a break out of the wind, but in the sunshine and signed the register. We hiked on and came up to Rt 11 and went and got a motel room. We dropped our packs and headed right over to the restaurant next door. The oatmeal cookies I had for breakfast this morning just didn't do the trick...I was hungry!!! We got back to the room and I dried out my tent. It still had ice on it from when I packed it up this morning. We just chilled out the rest of the day with a few Yuenglings and some pizza we had delivered. I called a friend from my '02 hike and we tried to figure out how we can hook up to hike together in a few days. She has a short area that Hippie and I are getting close to that she want's to fill in. I hope it works out because it would be great hiking with her again. I watched the Weather Channel for a while and realized that winter is setting in pretty good. Oh well, that just means that I have to eat more to stay warm...such a rough life!!Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-18
From: Quarry Gap Shelter, Pa.

To: Front Royal, Va.
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

10.8 miles todayFront Royal, Va. I woke up at 2am and caught up on my journaling...must have been the coffee I had with dinner last night. I wrote for about 40 minutes and had to stop because my fingers were going numb from the cold. I went back to sleep until about 6am. Hippie and I both got up and made coffee and tea. We didn't have anything left for breakfast, but we only had 2.6 miles to hike before we got to Rt 30 at Caledonia State Park. I slept nice and toasty last night in my Western Mountaineering sleeping bag. We got up and started hiking towards the park. It was 22 degrees out with nice clear skies. I checked my email when we got down there and I called and left a message on Grassy Ridge's cell phone. I told her we were going to Hinicle's Market to get some food. We walked down there and bought a bunch of food. I got three pieces of fried chicken at 9am!! They had just finished cooking it. What great timing. We got a bag of potato chips, six bananas, a box of donuts and two sodas...nice breakfast!!! We sat down in front of the market and started eating when Grassy Ridge pulled up front. I went over and gave her a big hug. I haven't seen her since Trail Days. I introduced her to Hippie and we got ready and headed for Goosebump and Rainbow Slick's to pick up my truck. It took a couple hours to get there. It was fantastic to see Goosebump and Rainbow Slick, but I felt bad that we couldn't stay long. Goosebump made us some egg sandwiches for lunch. I took a quick shower and we ended up talking for a while. She gave me a birthday present...a baggy with a bunch of pennies in it. A real hiker's wallet!!! What great friends to get me a gift that I could really use. I just walked lopsided from the weight of all the pennies. We left, Hippie and me in my truck, Grassy Ridge followed us in her car. We got to Linden, Va right at dark. Grassy Ridge wanted to walk some of the trail today, so her and I got our headlamps and walked the 8.2 miles to the Front Royal, Va trailhead. This is the beginning of a mini flip-flop hike in the middle of a flip-flop thru hike...seems in line with the rest of my hike this year! Hippie was waiting on us there with my truck. It was a really nice night hike. Lots of stars and almost half a moon. We lost the trail once for about five minutes when the double white blaze for the turn was on the dark side of the tree. We weren't using our headlamps because of the moon. We did get into a rocky section and finally had to turn them on for the last three miles. We went to Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner and then went and got Grassy Ridge's car. Hippie had already got us a motel room and resupplied for the next few days.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-19
From: Front Royal, Va.

To: Pass Mountain Hut, Shenandoah National Park, Va.
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

13.5 miles todayPass Mountain Hut, Shenandoah National Park, Va. It has been so cold out that I'm writing the last three days (19th, 20th and 21st) on the evening of the 21st. I'll try and remember as much as I can. I couldn't write on the trail because my hands would freeze if I kept them exposed for more than a minute. Grassy Ridge, Hippie and I all went to a diner for breakfast and then dropped Grassy Ridge's car off at the Front Royal trailhead. We drove up to Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park and Hippie dropped Grassy Ridge and me off. We started walking north on the trail. It was quite different walking in Shenandoah compared to Pa and all the rocks. This was a smooth, well graded trail. We started seeing lots of deer right away. We even walked right by three bucks that were watching us from about 25 feet away. It was a cool day and kept getting cooler as the day went on. Hippie met us at another trailhead and we sat down and ate lunch before hiking on again. It started snowing at 1:30pm and I noticed right away that it was sticking. By 2pm, it was snowing heavier and kept getting heavier as the day went on. It was also getting windier in places and the left side of Grassy Ridge and me had snow sticking on us. We got to The Pinacle and Hippie was there with my truck. The ranger let her come in to pick us up, but Skyline Drive shut down right after that. We skipped 5.3 miles for now, but will come back in a few days to finish up that section. It was getting close to dark and we decided to go ahead to Rt 211 and park the truck for a few days and hike into the woods. The hut was about 1 1/2 miles down the trail. It was just getting dark and the snow was coming down pretty heavy. It was very beautiful and I was enjoying the heck out of it. I saw a large deer watching us as we walked by. I tried to get a picture of it because it was so beautiful standing there in the heavy snow, but it ran off before I could get my camera out. We got to the shelter at dark. It was cold and getting colder fast. Hippie and I went and got water from the spring, then came back and got into our sleeping bags to cook dinner. Hippie is getting creative with our dinners. She made some rice with real chicken while I steamed some frozen vegetables. She mixed it all together and it was fantastic!! I'll never be able to eat Lipton's or Ramen again. It was so cold that we couldn't keep our hands out of our sleeping bags for very long before our fingers started to freeze. After dinner, we made some hot chocolate and warmed our insides just before going to sleep. It was already down to 12 degrees and getting very windy when we went to sleep. The winds lasted all night and constantly blew snow in on us.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-21
From: Gravel Springs Hut, Shenandoah National Park, Va.

To: Luray, Va.
Miles today: 13.2

13.2 miles todayMotelLuray, Va. Happy first day of winter!!! Now, the fourteen hours of night will be getting shorter. Hippie woke up at 2am and wanted to start hiking...thank goodness Grassy Ridge was there or I would probably have gotten up and went. I woke up at 6am and started my coffee while Hippie made her tea. We shared a box of mini donuts. Grassy Ridge got ready earlier and left at 8:20am. Hippie and I let her go because we knew we would catch up later in the day. We left at 9:45 and were really enjoying the warmer weather. I didn't check, but it must have been closer to 30 degrees. There was still snow around, but with the nice, bright sun that was out, the snow was disappearing in spots. We were walking along and looking at the animal tracks. I saw one more bear track today. He must have been out last night or this morning because it was still a very good track. The ones that are there longer get the edges melted off and are harder to tell what they are. I had seen three different bear tracks yesterday. I had to stop for a few minutes and when I got back on the trail, Hippie was way ahead. I got to an area where I could see way ahead through the trees and I could see that see was running with her pack on. I started running and it took me over two miles before I caught up to her. I couldn't run very fast with my backpack on and I also had to watch for the ice and snow. When I did finally catch her, she was taking a picture of a buck with a large set of antlers. I was glad that buck was there or I may never have caught up to her. We hiked on and just enjoyed the rest of the warmer day. It got up to the low 40s with lots of sun. We caught up to Grassy Ridge a little later. She told us about a bobcat she watched earlier. We all hiked on to Tom Floyd Wayside Shelter and took a break. There has only been a few people sign that register in the last month. When we all hiked on, Hippie was behind me and Grassy Ridge behind her. Hippie kept up with me, but I lost Grassy Ridge. When she got to the car, I found out that she has a sore knee and was limping a little bit. I like the cold weather, but it sure does feel good to be back in warmer weather after the last two days. We drove into Front Royal and got some food to eat, then we drove up to where my truck was parked and picked that up. We all decided to get a motel roomnow that it's warmed up. I think we did that backwards...we should have gotten a room when it was so cold out!! Actually, I enjoyed the cold weather. It's nice to see just how comfortable you can be in the cold. I also think your body gets used to it. We got a room in Luray and went to the store for somemore food, then came back and watched The Weather Channel...the backpackers channel!!Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-22
From: Luray, Va.

To: Rt 601 trailhead, Va.
Miles today: 12.4

12.4 miles todayRt 601 trailhead, Va. I got up at 5am so I could catch up on my journaling. Hippie and Grassy Ridge were still sleeping, so I turned on the bathroom light and sat near there to write. They started to wake up about the time I was finishing, so I turned on the light and made some coffee. We had bought cerial last night, so we all ate breakfast in the motel room. I left the milk in the back of the truck last night to keep it cold. Grassy Ridge and I had the 5.3 miles to complete in Shenandoah that we skipped the other day due to the weather, so we headed up to do that this morning. Hippie stayed behind and was going to meet us in a couple hours. We drove up to Skyline Drive, but it was still closed due to snow and ice, so we drove back to the motel. We all finished getting ready and headed on up to continue our hike outside of Shenandoah. It's very mild out this morning with the temperature about 30 degrees. We stopped in Front Royal so Grassy Ridge could pick up a knee brace. Her knee is feeling much better today, but she's trying not to strain it anymore. We got to the trailhead at Rt 55 and dropped off my truck, then drove to Rt 50 and walked back to my truck. It was a very mild day. I wore a short sleeve shirt and shorts to hike in. It's hard to believe it was about zero degrees a couple days ago. Grassy Ridge walked by herself for about an hour. Hippie and I stopped when we found a nice sunny spot and waited on her. We weren't sure how far back she would be because of her knee, but she was only 10 minutes behind us. We let her hike on ahead. After another 10 minutes, we hiked on and caught back up to her. I walked with her for about 45 minutes before I hiked on up ahead. Hippie and I saw two backpackers in the middle of the trail and stopped to talk to them...they were thru hikers!!! They were the first thru hikers I've seen in over 2 1/2 months. One was nobo and the other was a sobo. What are the chances of a nobo, a sobo and two flip-floppers meeting up at the same spot on the trail this time of year?? We stayed and talked for about 30 minutes before hiking on. The nobo's name was Ice Bound and the sobo was Dude. I told Dude my truck was at the trailhead and I had cold cokes in it. He wasn't going to go that far today, but decided that the coke sounded too good to pass up. Hippie and I hiked the rest of the way to the truck and waited on Grassy Ridge. I had left her my headlamp just in case it was after dark when she made it. I told her if it got close to dark that I would hike back in and meet up with her. About half an hour later, she came walking down the trail with Dude. We all ended up talking until dark. Dude had another couple of miles to go and we headed in to Front Royal for dinner. Afetr dinner we headed to the trailhead where Grassy Ridge's car was and slept there in the back of my truck.Another great day on the A.T.