morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-08
From: Hertline Campsite

To: Microtel Inn - Hamsburg, PA via PA 61
Miles today: 18.8

Another day of no views and a bit tougher trail with some rocky sections and two very steep climbs and one extremely steep descent - but we made it into Port Clinton and Hamburg for a rest day tomorrow!It was a pretty uneventful hike out from camp this morning - we ran into another Scout Troop preparing for Philmont and some geocachers out in the woods but other than that we did not see many people or anything interesting. We passed by PA 183 where Big Dawg's grandfather used to have a summer home but we were not quite in the same area as the home - he remembered the area though!Stopped for lunch near the Eagle's Nest Shelter and ate at a campsite outside of it. One of my shoelaces broke while hiking in the morning and I had to make a quick fix on them - surprising the laces lasted almost 1200 miles! Leapfrogged with the Swiss several times today and stayed ahead of them after the shelter.Trail was pretty rocky in some sections today that took a toll on our pace and our legs - Big Dawg was ready to get the day over with! After several hours of hiking past the shelter we finally started the down into Port Clinton - boy was it steep near the end of the down! It took a lot of energy and the poles to stay upright on the trail.After the downhill we walked through an active trainyard to get into Port Clinton and followed the trail down to the PA 61 trailhead where we called Cabela's for a shuttle. Unfortunately they could not pick us up at that intersection because of construction so we had to SOBO back to the Port Clinton post office for the shuttle. We passed Long Haul Trucker and his son heading back out to the trail on our way back - chatted with them before they moved on. It was nice that they could come pick us up!Dropped us off at the store and we looked around for a little bit - apparently this is their biggest store and it was huge! Large amounts of products and taxidermy animals around the complex - very neat to see and nice to be indoors. From the store we went to the hotel and checked in and got cleaned up - ask for the hiker rate here for a better deal! Great rooms and great to get settled in. Had a nice dinner at Red Robin (yuuummm) and watched some F1 racing during dinner - great burgers and fries! We spent the rest of the evening at the hotel relaxing. Got a message from Chocolate later that night saying they had decided to stay at the Port Clinton Hotel with Mission - glad to hear that they made it into town since we did not see them come in! Prepared for a good zero day tomorrow - and glad to be out of the heavy rain that happened this evening!
Date: 2014-06-09
From: Microtel Inn

To: Zero Day 07: Hamburg, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Great night's sleep at the hotel - even slept in until 8:20ish! Ate a little bit of the hotel continental breakfast and then we decided to walk to Cracker Barrel near the hotel for a real breakfast - unfortunately when we got down there the restaurant was closed for a couple days for renovations!Bummed out, we walked over to Dunkin Donuts and had a good breakfast there - sausage sandwiches and a chocolate glazed donut and an iced Arnold Palmer - very good! After breakfast we walked over to the Cabella's to explore the store some more and take pictures of all the neat stuff in the store - so many taxidermy animals! I decided to buy a gravity filter to minimize the amount of manual filtering I had to do in camp. We needed to go to the Port Clinton Post Office to pick up our box and when we asked one of the guys in the store they made a staff guy available to take us up there and back - very nice of them! It probably helped that they were going to pick up two other hikers as well...We picked up our box from the post office and when we climbed back into the van we saw Quicksilver and Peaches - great to see them again! They had just gotten into town and were staying at the Microtel as well - we would see them throughout the day.We walked over to Walmart so Big Dawg could get his haircut and we ran into Chocolate at the store. Turns out Cheese was not feeling well and they moved from the Port Clinton Hotel to the Microtel since they did not have a good stay at the hotel - apparently they had a bad rundown room. We made plans to meet up with him later for dinner and Big Dawg got his hair buzzed.A nice lunch at Pizza Hut and then we went to the room to sort the food. A little too much extra so we packed a box to send ahead and then decided to go to Roadside America. We went down to the front desk to ask about shuttles and they told us a shuttle guy named Dad was sitting in the lobby - turns out it is the same Dad that we met way back in the Smokies before Clingmans Dome! He had hopped off the trail this year because of injury and he was shuttling hikers around the area. He dropped us off at Roadside America and returned later to pick us up.Roadside America was an awesome place! It is a miniature model town with trains and buildings and everything you could imagine over 8000 square feet - an entire miniature town! We walked around the model and looked at all the craftsmanship and hard work that went into each piece - Big Dawg said it looked almost exactly the same as it did fifty years ago! Look up pictures of it online to see what it is all about - my pictures could not do it justice!Returned to the hotel and met Chocolate for dinner at the pub in the hotel - Pappy T's. A great little pub that was full of hikers - good food and good drink! A great dinner with Chocolate before returning to the room and relaxing. Talked to momma for a while and then prepared to head out tomorrow - hopefully the weather cooperates!
Date: 2014-06-11
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: moderate rain

Today we really got into the infamous Pennsylvania rocks - the rocks themselves are not too bad but were made worse today by the wet drizzly weather all day! Lots of slipping and sliding around on some tough rock fields.Woke up before 6 am to movement and everyone heading out. Decided to rise with the group and get an early start for an early finish. After breakfast we were packing up and it started raining on us so we waited in the shelter for a while until the rain slowed. It was not going to stop so we had to press on in the drizzle.Last ones out of the shelter and we said farewell to Justin. Started the big climb up to the ridge and it passed by pretty uneventfully - no real bad rocks and nothing to see. Got around Dan's Pulpit and saw no views and ran into some rocks that made for cautious walking. Past Dan's Pulpit we ran into smooth sections of trail mixed with two big rocky sections that took a lot of energy and effort and concentration to not fall over and to stay upright - taking its toll on Big Dawg today. Struggled to make it to the first shelter for a rest and lunch since there was no good place to rest. At the shelter ran into Reset who was resting his feet - the rocks were taking a toll on him too. Great to have lunch under a roof and to stay dry!Tough times after lunch...Big Dawg and I had to work out some issues that had been developing between us over time and causing frustration. We talked things out and reset ourselves for the future hiking with improvements in mind!Two huge rock scrambles before the shelter - Bear Rocks and the Knife's Edge. Both slowed us down significantly and were tough hiking - required a lot of concentration and focus on where the trail goes through the rocks. Every footstep was carefully placed to minimize slippage and move us ever closer to the other side. The Knife's Edge was very neat but treacherous at times - Big Dawg took a little slip here and hit his hand on the rocks. Nothing major but hid hand was hurting!Between the rock scrambles we had very nice hiking trail where we made good time. Met Rice-A-Roni from Ohio after Bears Rocks and chatted with him while resting - he was doing one month sections of the AT. Finally arrived at the shelter and settled inside it - the forecast showed more rain and we did not want to deal with it. No one else was staying in the shelter until Mr. Jingles from Pennsylvania decided to stay instead of press on. While we were preparing dinner Reset and Rice-A-Roni arrived into camp and set up.Not much activity in camp - everyone was tired from the tough hiking today. We were lying in our sleeping bags and Tittycakes from Colorado arrived and joined us in the shelter - very cool because we finally met him after hearing about him! Cool talking to him and resting in the shelter - tomorrow is a short day into Palmerton for a day of rest and resupply!The Pennsylvania rocks just get a bad rap - they are not so bad unless they are slippery with water!
Date: 2014-06-20
From: NY 17A

To: Anton's on the Lake via Seven Lakes Drive
Miles today: 19.6

To those thru-hikers who carried their packs through the section between Wildcat Shelter and Fingerboard Shelter - hats off to you all! Reset, Sharp Knife, Hiccup, and Poker Face - you guys are my heroes! A tough section even slackpacking.Slept in a little bit since Matt could not take us to the trailhead until 8:30 and ate our trail breakfast in the room. We rode to the trailhead with Reset and told Matt where we needed to be picked up. A nice start to the slackpack - gentle trail at first and a nice rock scramble up the Eastern Pinnacle that gave us a nice view. A little tougher climb up Cat Rocks but nothing compared to the wet rocks yesterday! A surprise at our first road crossing - all sorts of thru-hikers enjoying Chinese food left by the road! We let Sharp Knife, Hiccup, and two other hikers enjoy the food since they were carrying full packs. Before we left we saw a helicopter airlifting tools and materials to two workers up high on powerlines - very cool to see but it left before I could get a photo!More nice scenery after leaving the road in Fitzgerald Falls - first falls very close to the trail in a long time! Took in the beauty of the falls before climbing up to the Mombasha High Point. Ran into some rocky terrain up the hill but nothing to crazy.Ran into huge amounts of water jugs at the road crossings today - the people of New York are looking out for hikers! Good to see the generosity of people towards hikers on the trail - we did not need much of it but still glad it was available.Passed near a lot of lakes or ponds today - nice walking and good views around the water. The climb up Arden Mountain was surprisingly tough and the climb down to NY 17 was even tougher - found out it was called Agony Grind after making it past the steepest toughest part. It is appropriately named for this hey rocky steep climb - it would definitely be a grind going up the hill!At NY 17 we met Poker Face and wished her a belated Happy Birthday - Reset told us her birthday was yesterday. A very pretty thru-hiker it was good to talk a little by the 40 or so jugs of water by the road - crazy amounts of water! Nicer climbing up the next mountain with a twist or two - got squashed in the lemon squeezer and stumped by the climb immediately afterwards. Of course I did not take the easy way...this is the AT! We also passed a long distance trail that led into Manhattan - we could have walked it in four days and been in NYC!Along the trail we found a new stove that no one we met had lost - we will look for the owner but if not we might donate the stove to the Boy Scouts. After the Fingerboard Shelter we rested by the road and gave Matt a heads up for our pickup and continued on to Seven Lakes Drive (the first crossing). It is appropriately named since on the drive back we crossed by three of seven lakes it runs along - very pretty scenery! A good night of rest and relaxation and Anton's before meeting the family tomorrow! Super excited to see Mom and Stef again!
Date: 2014-06-22
From: Fairbridge Inn and Suites

To: Zero Day 08: Highland Falls, NY
Miles today: 0.0

A great rest day with the family! Besides a little runaround for our food box, it was a fun day of visiting West Point and watching US soccer while spending time with each other.Slept in while Stef went for a run - good to catch up on a little sleep! The continental breakfast at the hotel was not great so we went down to Andy's Restaurant in downtown Highland Falls for breakfast. Upon entering the diner we saw it was super packed! It definitely was the place to be and we found out why - great food and good service! Mom went off to church while we finished breakfast and got the laundry started.While waiting for church to get over we went to the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel to get our box - but they did not have it. We thought it went USPS so they were going to check tomorrow and see if it was at the Post Office still. We decided to check and see when Mom sent out the box.We picked up Mom and found out she sent it UPS instead. Opted to return to the motel later to check again and went to West Point Military Academy to tour the campus. A very neat place to walk around! Full of history and views and great monuments - if you get a chance (and make it through security - they do a great security check) it is a great place to visit. We walked around on our own little walking tour and explored armaments captured in wars and even saw weapon instruction going on near the parade field - neat! Also walked past the Beat Navy tunnel on the campus - our family friend is still at the Naval Academy so we are rooting for Navy still!Left the Academy and visited a little farmer's market while the laundry finished up. Big Dawg and I walked by the West Point Museum and admired the Abrahms Tank outside - very cool piece of machinery! With laundry complete and resupply needed we returned to the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel to look for our box again.Still could not locate the box at their motel - extremely unusual since we had a tracking number showing it was delivered and signed for by someone. At the suggestion of the owners we tried to call the Bear Mountain Inn just in case it was delivered there - no answer. So we went to Uno's Chicago Grill for lunch and finally we reached the hotel - apparently the UPS guy delivered it to the wrong place AND the hotel did not check the label - crazy!Resupplied at Walmart and then stopped by the Bear Mountain Inn for our box. With all the running around complete we sorted all the food and packed up Mom and Stef's backpacks in the hotel room while watching the USA soccer match - what a crazy finish! So close to moving on without any drama. It was a great day to be with the family and I think we are ready to hit the trail tomorrow!
Date: 2014-06-23
From: Bear Mountain Bridge

To: Clarence Fahnestock State Park via green trail
Miles today: 20.2

Hard to believe that this is our 100th day on the trail and we have walked over 1400 miles - seems like such a long time ago we were standing on Springer Mountain! Katahdin is ever closer and it is a great feeling.After breakfast and a quick stop at the post office we hit the trail for a long day to the park - Hello Kitty is back on the trail! We hit the 1400 mile mark while crossing the very cool Bear Mountain Bridge - great views of the Hudson below and of the bridge structure above! From there we climbed out of the valley and started the rest of the hike. Although we had several ups and downs today on the profile I thought it was a much nicer trail in this section - a few steep rocky ups but mostly forest trail like the southern AT and old road beds like PA. We moved fairly quickly through the first part of the trail to our rest point at the Appalachian Market gas station on NY 9 - a very nice rest point that had an outstanding bathroom! It had a palm tree and a TV on the wall and was very spacious - surprising to find at a gas station!After enjoying some sodas we pressed on towards lunch. Several roads and one big hill later we ran into Seabiscuit and his sister and dad taking a break on the trail - they were out hiking with him and they were already tired! It is great that his family was out with him and we chatted with them all before moving on. Even in the nicer sections with not as much elevation gain the trail can be tough!Disturbed several wild turkeys on the trail and sent them running - no good photos but it was cool to see four or five off in the distance moving as a group! Enjoyed a nice trail lunch by a brook and a road and then had to pick up the pace a little - the day was getting later and we had more miles to go! Seems to be a trend on the trail...Stopping for water at a water spigot near a road Hello Kitty and I picked up some trash to carry out. Luckily three day hikers came out of the woods and Hello Kitty nicely asked them if they could take the trash - and they did! Score one for her!Momma arrived to meet us at the lake just shortly after we hit the road - enjoyed a little of her trail magic before pressing on to finish the last two miles of the day around the lake. The last walk turned out to be tougher than expected - ran into some surprisingly rocky trail with bigger ups than anticipated. Must be an end-of-the-day phenomena. The green blazed trail to the beach area and the campsite was not much nicer and a little longer than 0.2 miles but...WE MADE IT!Even with our late arrival to camp we still had everything completed before dark. The free thru-hiker campsites were ok but left a little to be desired for hammocks - Mom and Stef had a good tent spot though! The mosquitoes were also surprisingly bad and the picnic table oddly wobbly - tough cooking conditions but nothing really terrible. After hiking this far anything simple like that can be overcome!In bed and ready for tomorrow - hiking with Momma!
Date: 2014-06-25
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Dutchess Motor Lodge via Leather Hill Road
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: moderate rain

A good night at the shelter and an earlier start to the day - looking like things will go well! We all hiked back out to the car and dropped Mom off with their camping gear and then Hello Kitty slackpacked while Big Dawg and I regular backpakced.Much nicer hiking since Bear Mountain in New York - Momma would have been better off hiking today! The trail was much friendlier on the hiker and less rocky. We walked past Nuclear Lake and did not drink the water - no radiation poisoning for us! (I do not think their is radioactive material in the lake - only a joke). We walked by another swampy area (surprise) and then got to the largest oak tree on the AT - the Dover Oak. The tree itself is impressive in both diameter and height - it looks like it has regular trees growing out of it as limbs!Hello Kitty got her first taste of trail magic that was not run by Trail Mamma - and it was a good one too! Lots of soda and mini candy bars and baked goods. Shared the magic with our new friend Mobius who is a thru-hiker from Minnesota. He seemed to be about Big Dawg's age and was a very nice fellow. We walked with him from the Dover Oak halfway to the AT train station.Speaking of the station, we crossed it right before we got to our lunch stop and it was a neat little setup. You can actually catch a train here to NYC and it even said Appalachian Trail on a big sign right next to it - talk about service!Met Trail Mamma at the Native Landscapes and Garden Center for lunch - a very hiker friendly place with bathrooms, showers, snacks, and a picnic table where we ate lunch. The humidity had picked up from the Dover Oak to the Garden Center and thunderstorms and rain were predicted for the evening so we decided to get indoors so as not to get the tent soaked - they gotta get it back to Indiana.From lunch we had a big climb from the road to the top of the nature preserve nearby. The field walking was very hot but we passed a cool wooden water tower. We made good time up the hill but all of us ended up drenched from the climb. Big Dawg slackpacked the rest of the trail and Trail Mamma picked us up from a road crossing before the shelter and we headed to the hotel.We stayed at the Dutchess Motor Lodge and it was a fairly nice place with an outdoor relaxing area and decent rooms. It was a little cramped in the room but we got most of the gear packed up so it opened up. Showers were in order followed by a trip into town for laundry and food. We ate at Mama's Pizza near the laundry and it was a great find - very friendly service and great food! The owner Mike has been running the place for 19 years and has been helping hikers with rides and good food - eat here if you can! A very laid-back and relaxed atmosphere and a good chat with Mike.Returned to the room to catch up on journals and more family time - ready to head into CT tomorrow!
Date: 2014-07-05
From: Williamstown Motel via MA 2

To: Zero Day 09: Williamstown, MA
Miles today: 0.0

After the adventures and late return yesterday, we decided to sleep in and take the day really easy. Since we had arrived early into town yesterday, we got a lot of our work done so we did not have much to do. Enjoyed the breakfast at the motel and then settled in the room planning the day. We had a little bit ot work to do on the computer so we decided to walk to the library and explore Williamstown College campus. A very nice campus! Lots of old historic buildings and very well-maintained buildings and lawns and the campus was laid out nicely. The walk to the library was nice although fraught with a little confusion - the library marked on the map provided by the hotel did not match the actual location of the library. But luckily a helpful Williamstown resident directed us to the right location.Journals and photos updated and after Big Dawg got new replacement boots from REI going to Rutland we walked back towards the hotel and ate a late lunch at Moonlight Diner - set up as an old 50s diner with lots of nice waitresses! A good meal at the restaurant and then back to the hotel for rest and preparation to head out tomorrow. Watched some TV and I read a book outside and enjoyed the nice day - good sun instead of gray clouds!Small dinner from Subway and the rest of the evening was spent relaxing in the room. Soon we will be in Vermont!