morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-30
From: Port Clinton

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I left before 6, skipping the motel's free continental buffet to beat the heat with an early start.I had not heard a cicada since leaving Duncannon but this morning there they were, humming away. The berries are more scarce and I only found one or two every hour, but that was enough to continue the berryfeast that has lasted my entire trip through Pennsylvania. The short blueberries are nearly finished but were still the most common. The taller blueberry bushes are crowded with still-green fruit, promising feasts in the future. I found only a few raspberries but the blackberries were ripening. I even found one teaberry, which Socks had taught me about and I have been seeking out for two days.At Windsor Shelter the register had a mixed set of reports of no lodging or high prices, poor service at the hotel and outfitter and even the post office but also of very helpful Trail Angels.I guess my advice about Port Clinton is send youself a maildrop of all the food you need as well as some goodies like canned meat to eat before departing, and be ready to fend for yourself. There may be room at the hotel and there may not. The best options seem to be camp at the pavillion, go down the road to the Microtel, or just keep going to the next shelter.I am doing better than expected foodwise. Socks got two mail drops of food at once in Port Clinton, leaving her with more than she could carry and she gave me some of the excess. Near the Pinnacle overlook I met a sectionhiker who turned out to be a retired firefighter from Philadelphia who had once fought a fire in the apartment building I live in. Talk about a small world!Eckville Shelter is actually a shed in a back yard of a house. It has four walls and a door, bunks for six, a solar shower and even a flush toilet. Snacks are available, paid for on the honor system. That makes it about as nice as a shelter can get! We learned from the caretaker that both it and the 501 Shelter were bought with their houses by the Trail Club and the houses rented to caretakers. By doing that, they created shelters just outside State Game Preserve land, avoiding regulations regarding shelters there.I arrived at 230 and Socks made it at 330. She has been hiking with two older men, so yesterday I playfully dubbed them Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. There was no sign at first of the "Dwarves" at first. Then a hiker arrived who saw them at Windsor Furnace at noon, nine miles away. They finally showed up at 630.By evening the shelter was full and the overflow were selecting tent sites. Then we placed a mammoth order to the local pizza shop. I only ordered a cheesesteak sandwich, so I can save room for the food in my pack. I need to eat it up to reduce my load for the climb out of Lehigh Gap.
Date: 2004-07-01
From: Eckville Shelter

To: New Tripoli Campsite
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: scattered clouds

The first nine miles were fairly awful. There was boulder pile after boulder pile. Negotiating them was a nervous business. Again and again either a foot or a pole would slip on the stone and I would have to scramble wildly to regain my footing and avoid tipping over. It would be so easy to break a leg getting through the mess. In between, much of the trail was rocky, making for slow going and sore feet.I still managed to find some blueberries from time to time. I made sure to leave the easiest to see for Socks coming up behind. Gobbling up all the berries would be a poor way to thank her for all the food she gave me and for sending me my toilet paper, which I had accidently left at the shelter. I had another surprise at lunch. Apparently I had left the cap loose on one of my Aqua Mira bottles, so I found it empty. Without both chemicals, it is useless for purifying water. For now I have just my filter bottle with a rather old fitler element. Thank goodness I never put it in my bounce box on my pack-lightening rampages! Fortunately I asked my brother to bring more Aqua Mira when he meets me in three days at Wind Gap. If that falls through, Delaware Water Gap is just a day or two past that, with spare filters in my bounce box and an outfitter to buy more chemicals at.I got to the campsite at 230. As soon as my tent was up, I went to the spring to fetch a bag of water. Then I laboriously squeezed enough through the balky filter bottle to fill my two liter Platypus to the brim. That would last the eleven miles to Lehigh Gap tomorrow.I had considered staying tomorrow night at the Outerbridge Shelter just this side of Lehigh Gap to save time hitching or hiking the two miles from the town to the trail the next day. That would have meant skipping the famous jailhouse hostel in the Palmerton Borough Hall. But with the water problems, I think I will go into Palmerton so I can fill up with safe tap water for the climb up Lehigh Gap.Because of a large area polluted by zinc smelting, it is ten miles past the Gap to the next water and 16 to the next shelter. So I will have a very long day two days from now. I had better relax while I can!
Date: 2004-07-04
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: scattered clouds

The hike to Wind Gap was rather rocky (What else is new?) but at least there were blueberries every so often. At the highway at Wind Gap there were also raspberries. So the Pennsylvania Berry Bash keeps going unabated.I got there at 830 and discovered to my consternation that the parking lot was at a side road, not the highway where I had told my brother to meet me. I sat to wait, hoping he would figure it out.Sure enough, he and my housemate arrived by 11. We went off to the southern Poconos to spend the night at a comfy motel. After I got a shower and changed, we rested part of the afternoon and drove off to Delaware Water Gap to get a preview before supper. They had brough two packs of AquaMira, a complete Platypus hydration system to replace my moldy and cracked bite valve, an interesting looking cherry flavored treat from Hawaii, a fresh pair of Capeline socks and a lightweight flashlight. That will take care of my outfitter needs for a good while.
Date: 2004-07-05
From: 5 Mi. Wind Gap

To: Kirkbridge Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: light rain

After a nice visit my brother dropped me off at Wind Gap a little before 10am. The spacing of everything is a bit awkward, I will end up doing only 9 miles today and six tomorrow into Delaware Water Gap. Then the best spot to go in New Jersey is the Mohican Center just ten miles from the Gap. That means four short days in a row, or else try to do my maildrop, laundry and resupply and then try to get to Mohican, a very crowded day. Today's section of trail was full of rocks and full of blueberries for the first seven miles to Wolf Rocks. That was another of those boulder-hopping overlooks where the hopping went on rather far. As my housemate's grandmother would have said, "Too much of a muchness".Despite what some guides said, aside from the overlook the rocks along the trail were not particularly awful. And after Wolf Rocks the rest of the trail was fairly smooth and forgiving. Unless something changes soon, the "Pennsylvania Rocks" seem to be much ado about nothing. My feet got sore at times but there has never been the jagged boot destroying rocks I had expected.I was the first one at the shelter a little before three. As I settled for an afternoon nap Titanium Man, an 84 year old section hiker with artificial knee and hip joints, arrived with his granddaughter and her girlfriend. Then came a pair of weekender couples who headed off to tent. Then a Japanese hiker. Then sixteen 12-14 year olds and their three counselers on a summer camp outing. They laid out their sleeping bags on a huge tarp right behind the shelter. Then three thruhikers came, who squeezed into the shelter. They reported that yet another group of kids were on the way! When the camp teens came to the front of the shelter for supper just as I was going to bed and started singing camp songs right outside my sleeping bag I had had enough.Even though it was 730 at night I hastily bundled everything back into my pack and headed up the trail. About a mile away I found a quiet clearing, pitched my tent and hung my food against the bears reported to be in the area, then settled down for some rest in solitude.
Date: 2004-07-06
From: Kirkbridge Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Eager to get a room before they were snapped up, I made my earliest start yet in semi-darkness at 5am. It gave me a chance to try out the flashlight my brother had given me.There was just a mile or so of rocks before the Trail followed a fairly smooth roadbed along the rest of the ridge. As far as I am concerned, the infamous Pennsylvania Rocks are overrated as a trail obstacle. Sure they made for sore feet but not as sore as the steep high ups and downs had made my knees further south! And they usually alternated with long smooth stretches that gave my feet a rest before the next rough spot. The berries started early and kept up until town. First blueberries, scattered most of the morning and one spot near a powerline that had as many per foot as I had seen at Lehigh Gap. Then raspberries scattered along the rest of the hike. By now I was eager to get to town and then finish off another state, so I never stopped to truly pig out on berries. But it was nice to continue the Berry Bash.When I came in sight of the Delaware River far below, I could not help a "Woohoo!" of delight. Another state border in sight and two weeks or so would see me all the way in Connecticut. Time sure flies when you are having fun, and I was elated. The Delaware was also the next of the Great Rivers the Trail crosses and it goes past Philadelphia where I live. So I called out "Hello Philadelphia!" Now I will be hiking away from home instead of to it but getting closer and closer to the end of the Trail.Descending down off the mountain into the Gap I went through more Rhododendrum trees. They were casting their flower petals onto my path in adoration. Mouse, Hiker Empress of the Delaware! Okay, I was getting a bit silly. In the town of Delaware Water Gap I called the Ramada Inn at 8am. Not only did they have a room at the hiker rate but I could check in as soon as I wanted. I checked in, showered, and went to the post office. There I got maps and guidebook pages and other supplies from my bounce box and added my spare water bladder and spare AquaMira to it before sealing the box and mailing it to Salisbury CN. I told the clerk I liked the cute little tinklely bell at the counter instead of a harsh sounding one. Even the pens had big flowers on the end so real looking I had to sniff them. She beamed and asked "Can you tell it is an all-woman office?" sending us both into giggles.Back at the motel I had some breakfast, then hand laundered my dirty clothes and set them on the balcony to dry.Chores done, I could relax the rest of the day.I ran into Socks and offered to share my room with her so she could get a break from the men who were hiking with her.
Date: 2004-07-08
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Glen Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 20.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Adam's foot was still sore this morning and he reluctantly decided to take a zero day. Then Socks decided she would stay too, to ruminate about thoughts she has been having of leaving the Trail and going home. It was an emotional scene, sort of like The Breaking of The Fellowship Of The Ring. I gave her a big hug before setting off at 6am and she told me to eat lots of berries for her. Whether she stays or goes, the delay may mean I will not see her again. I am going to miss her and could not help feeling a bit sad. She is a strong hiker and in good shape and she and her sense of humor have been a bright spot that will be missed by many.The weather in the morning was damp and foggy, somewhat matching my mood over Sock's departure. The sun brightened the sky and my mood brightened a bit as well. Whoever was with me, Katahdin still beckoned me forward.Much to my relief, there were not as many rocks today and there were fairly long smooth stretches. What is more, it was an excellent day for berries. Lots and lots of blueberries of all shades and sizes, some late raspberries and early ripe blackberries.I covered the 14 miles to the sidetrail to Brink Road Shelter by 130. Socks had planned on everyone going a full 21 miles to Glen Anderson Shelter. My left foot was a bit sore, but I decided to stick to her plan. It would make up for the short day yesterday and open up options for tomorrow. Besides, the Brink Road Shelter was said to have high bear activity making it an undesirable place to spend the night.At Highway 209 I stopped in at the Worthington Bakery, a longtime thruhiker tradition. Sadly, according to a note on the door Mr and Mrs Worthington had passed on and the bakery was closed. Thruhikers will miss them.Another sign directed us to Gip's Tavern nearby. Palm Tree and Sixtyfive And Alive were already there eating. There was a picture window behind the bar with a great view of Kittatiny Lake right out back. Judy the bartender directed me to a cooler of sodas, got me a glass of ice, filled my Platypus and fixed me a cheeseburger with all the trimmings.Well fed and thirst quenched, the three of us started the last three miles to the shelter. A group of girls from a summer camp got there right after us. I had to shoo them away from the snacks trailmaintainer Desperado had left in the bear box as Trail Magic. I was a bit relieved when Desperado himself arrived and took care of them, explaining that the food and supplies in the box were meant for thruhikers only. He had a good touch with teens, but told us that when they raided shelter supplies he did not hesitate to turn them over to the Park Rangers. Since this was a fairly well behaved group he rewarded them with a little treat. Nothing like positive reinforcement.Then Desperado turned his attention to us. Besides the lemonade mix we had helped ourselves to from the box, he gave us each a soda, fruit, cupcakes and a runthrough of the best places to stay all the way to Maine! He is one helpful maintainer!
Date: 2004-07-09
From: Glen Anderson Shelter

To: Secret Shelter, Goldsmith Road
Miles today: 18.0

Wow, a double Ibuprofin day! The rocks were nasty and unrelenting. My arches were starting to pop before I reached High Point and the trail finally descended off Kittatinny Ridge. Add to that some chafing caused by yesterday's high humidity and miles that today's hiking only made worse and I was not a happy hiker. Walking quickly became painful and slow. At one of the shelters I tried the talcum powder Desperado had included in his Trail Magic first aid supplies. It kept the irritation at bay for an hour but the rest of the day was not pleasant.On the other hand the weather was very nice, cool, dry, breezy with lots of clouds for shade. Had I not done 21 miles yesterday and 18 today it would have been avery nice day. Of course with fewer miles I would have stayed at bear haunted shelters and still be struggling through those rocks.I am at an unofficial shelter thruhikers call the Secret Shelter. It is a cabin just off the trail on Goldsmith Road whose owner allows thruhikers to stay in for free. It has hot and cold running water and a shower, so is very nice. The shower was just what I needed to relieve the chafing. I am too lazy to sleep in the loft, so I am making like Cinderella and sleeping on the floor under the sink on the lower level. There is just as much headroom as many shelters have. There is even a junky romance novel for me to read!
Date: 2004-07-11
From: Vernon, NJ

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: broken clouds

The day started innocently enough. I weighed myself and found I had gained five pounds since Front Royal VA and my pack was 18 pounds without food and water and about 31 with. Palm Tree and I got a ride to the Trail from an older couple the wife of whom had thruhiked in 2002.After a few red raspberries came the thousand foot ascent to Wayawanda ridge but that seemed easier than I had expected. For the rest of the morning the trail was shady and smooth, with red raspberries starting out and lots of black ones later.The real fun started just before the NY State line. The trail shot to the top of a long ridge high above Greenwood Lake. The spine was vertical strata of bedrock that rose and fell like sawteeth. The trail went right along the crest forcing one to clamper over the rock baking in the hot sun. It was pretty awful while it was happening yet sort of satisfying to have gotten through. The one compensation was that the sunny ridgetop was packed with blueberries so I could nibble almost constantly.The last section was the worst, with the most potential for a serious fall I have seen so far. After clampering up a series of ledges I gaped in disbelief. The blazes pointed right up a rock spine formed by the intersection of two steeply pitched rock faces. There was no avoiding it, so I looped the straps of my poles around my wrists and let them dangle to free my hands, then straddled the spine and shinnied cautiously up. Slipping off either side would have meant a high drop down one face or the other. Finally I reached the top and had some more berries, then confronted a narrow ridge with a sheer drop to either side. For the first part I did not dare stand up, but inched along on my bottom until it widened a bit. At last the trail turned downward toward the shelter.At the shelter were four young men hiking fast who had caught up with us. According to them, Stomach was a few days behind but Socks seemed to have gotten a ride back to near Port Clinton so it looks like she is leaving the Trail for good.
Date: 2004-07-15
From: Graymoor Friary

To: Shenandoah Tenting Area
Miles today: 17.5

Last night it rained fairly heavily but we stayed dry in the pavilion.Today the Trail looked more like the trail had before New York, no rock climbing. But between steep upgrades, clampering over blowndown trees and puzzling over bad blazing it still took longer than usual. Even by the first five miles my achilles tendons were sore from the climbing. Thank goodness tomorrow will be a short day.The most interesting spot was a stretch before Hwy 301. At first it seemed like I was walking on top of a well preserved stone wall. Then it crossed a ravine and suddenly was twenty feet high! It was obviously a stone viaduct. After the ravine it went through a cut, then became an embankment on the side of the slope with a nicely built retaining wall that was anywhere from a foot to twenty feet high. Here and there it became a free-standing viaduct again to span ravines. It was too narrow for a wagon road and WAY too massive and well built to have been made for the Trail; not even the CCC work in the parks was that ambitious. My best guess is that it was the bed for a narrow gauge railway serving a mine.The tent site was nice: a well with an old-fashioned pump, a privy, and an awning-covered picnic table. I had barely gotten my tent up and everything inside when a late afternoon downpour started.
Date: 2004-07-16
From: Shenandoah Tenting Area

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: broken clouds

I slept in until about 7 then took my time drying the tent as much as I could. I finally got on the trail about 830am.About noon I got to Hwy 52 where I headed for the deli and pizza shop .3 miles east. There I got food for the next two days and a meatball sub for lunch and a pastrami sandwich for supper. Palm Tree and Boonie were there already, having lunch.From there it was just 4 miles to the shelter. There I relaxed and finished a copy of Michael Crichton's "Timeline" that I had found in the hiker box at Graymoor so I could leave it here and not have to carry it anymore. Hikers often read a book, then leave it for anyone else to take and read. Usually I just read a few chapters of a book and leave it at the shelter I found it in, but this one was interesting enough that I brought it along to finish. I am a readaholic and after just snatches of books for so many weeks it is nice to finally read an entire book.
Date: 2004-07-17
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

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

I seem to have walked right past the biggest oak on the AT. The Dover Oak was on hwy 20 and all I could think about was finding water. I seem to have missed every famous tree on the entire trail. I wonder if having lived the past five years about an hour from a redwood grove and four hours from the giant sequoyas has changed my perspective on big trees?Anyway, if I want to see it it will have to be by car. Oh well.I DID get to admire two other New York landmarks. Nuclear Lake was the site of a nuclear fuel research site until 1972. I got there too early in the day to try swimming in it, too cold. Then about noon I got to see the Metro North Railway's one and only Appalachian Trail Station, complete with two thruhikers anxiously awaiting the next train to New York City. I was half tempted to ride a few stops then back again just to sit in the air conditioning!The berries are getting a bit sparse the last coupple days. I still found four different kinds today but not very many. I wonder how much longer I can keep up my berries every day streak?Speaking of streaks, ever since my first full day in New York State it has rained at least once a day. That is one streak I would rather break. Today's installment so far has been a quick afternoon shower out of a sunny sky and a thunderstorm that rumbled through at 630pm. I tented to get a break from the mosquitoes so my tent got a good dousing.Rain was not the only thing falling today. While hiking I heard a crack overhead and a dead branch fell ten feet in front of me. Next to the branch was a slightly dazed squirrel. It had stepped on the branch only to have it give way. It shook its head to clear it, fluffed up its tail and climbed a tree back upstairs as I admonished it to watch where it was stepping next time.
Date: 2004-07-18
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 12.7

Early today I crossed into Connecticut. The trail appeared better maintained, with less underbrush and no blowdown trees to clamper over and around. I found just a few red raspberries in NY and a few black ones in CN. Then the Trail climbed a mountain and swung back into NY. There I found lots of nice sweet blueberries, more than I have seen in days. After that the trail swung back into CN and entered the only Indian reservation it passes through. Next it started getting more difficult. It swung up down and around a string of knobs and hollows, then went steeply up Mt. Algo. I found myself running out of steam, plodding more and more slowly and finally getting hit with a "I want to just sit and not move anymore" sort of blah feeling. That was a bit disconcerting, especially after the fairly easy time I had had up to then. Even going downhill left me feeling hot and tired despite temperatures in the mid 70s.It seemed to take forever to cover the last three miles to the road to Kent but just being there and walking on level ground for the .7 miles to town seemed to revive me a bit. Along the way I passed the driveway of a prep school where what looked like a student asked me the way to town. I was a bit incredulous since it was barely a quarter mile away. But we librarians are compulsively helpful, so I dug out my map and showed him the way.Back when we parted at Harpers Ferry, The Walking Stomach and her friend Ann had invited me to come visit. So as soon as I got to Kent I gave Ann a call and she came to get me. When I told her of how tired I had gotten, she grinned and said she knew exactly the spot it had happened, having lugged a chainsaw over the same stretch on more than one muggy day clearing blowdowns. That made me feel better! So did her suggestion of spending a zero day then a day of slackpacking. It was also fun meeting their two cats, Otis and Charles. Charles looks just like Morris in those old Nine Lives commercials complete with the same personality.