morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-08-05
From: Bennington, VT 

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

We slept in late today and after another glorious shower we went through all of our packages. We made a stop at the post office to send our rainpants and fleece hats home for now along with some rocks that I have collected in each state. We ate at Friendly's for breakfast and checked our email at the library. We saw Loot coming into town as we were leaving. No way, we thought we were a day ahead! We got another quick hitch and we were on the trail by 2pm! And who do you think was standing there?! [Come on now, take a guess!] King David! We about died! He was getting on the trail with a friend from school - Todd. Todd was going to be hiking a 20 mile section with him to Williamstown. David had blue blazed to catch up after visiting with his wife for a few days. It sure was neat to see him again. We hiked to the next shelter together. It was only 4:30PM so Flounder and I decided to try for the next shelter. We said our goodbyes to David once again. We crossed some really cool beaver ponds. What amazing creatures. These structures (dams) hold back hundreds of thousands of gallons of water! Still the animal eludes us. The trail is only muddy in patches and we feel the NOBOrs have exaggerated the trail conditions. [They probably sense Little Bump's fixation with mud and make up huge stories to get him excited!] We were hearing 18 miles of solid ankle deep mud and wading through water knee deep. [See! What did I tell you?!] We haven't even gotten our feet wet/muddy even midway up on our shoes yet! Maybe the worst is yet to come. [We can only hope!] We get to camp about 7:30 and 2 day hikers and 1 section hiker are there. It is raining so we eat inside the lean-to. About 9PM a young NOBO arrives and throws down his sleeping bag between me and Uncle Walt (looks like Walt Whitman). We all enjoy some conversation before going to sleep. *** IF you feel comfortable sleeping with several strangers every night...you might be a thru hiker!
Date: 2004-08-08
From: Pittsfield Road (pickup to Henry and Carla's house

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 20.9
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke up feeling truly blessed to be out here doing this and especially blessed to be meeting such nice/generous people. Henry and Carla had really gone out of their way for this MAGIC. After breakfast we packed up and we all drove back to Pittsfield Rd (our exit point from the trail). This happens to be where the Cookie Lady and her husband, Roy, reside. It is also the U-pick blueberry patch. We picked blueberries with Henry and Carla for about an hour. It was fun having never picked them before. We had to say goodbye to our friends. It was sad to leave them but we promised to keep in touch. It was sure nice to receive more hugs! Thanks! Roy had us come to his porch and he brought out some cookies for us. He said that his wife made 1200 cookies last year for the hikers that came through ( a popular stop!) Yummy! Thank you! We were back on the trail a little after 10AM and we were a little depressed after leaving such great magic. The weather was just beautiful and it was just one of those days when you want to just crawl off somewhere and take a long nap. [I can relate! It doesn't even take good weather to make me want a nap!] Definitely a dog day of August. The hiking, although beautiful, was slow going today. Just when we hit a low in morale we found some more magic! This time it was cold water, Baby Ruths and brownies... in a cooler left by Deb, a trail angel. We happened to meet her later on in the day on the trail. What a nice person...a real angel. Massachusetts has been just beautiful and the magic absolutely the best. Several miles later we found a huge orange hanging in a bag on a tree and we split it. We can't believe how blessed we are and how generous people have been. Somehow with the late start and dog day we managed to eek out 21 miles by days end! We met only one NOBO hiker today at Shaker Campsite and we set up our tent on a platform for the first time. Quite interesting. Nice to be tenting here because there were mosquitos. **** If you cut tags off your clothes and equipment to reduce pack weight...you might be a thru hiker!
Date: 2004-08-09
From: Shaker Campsite

To: Hemlocks Lean-To
Miles today: 25.6

Beautiful hiking again today with some great views from some ledges and around ponds. We hiked through lots of pasture today...some with nice wildflowers. We saw cornfields for the first time. We encountered a couple of nasty snakes which stood their ground and hissed at us. They didn't rattle but we didn't want to get close enough to see if they were poisonous. A hiker was biten a few days ago and had to be airlifted to a hospital. No word on his condition. We also saw some large water moccasins, we think, who slithered off some log walks as we crossed a swampy section near Rt. 7. The Corn Crib, a flower nursery off Rt. 7, caters to hikers by having ice cream, drinks, candy, fresh fruit and water available. We loaded up with goodies then snacked on them under their gazebo. Jug End Mtn. seemed to be quite a formidable climb at the end of the day. Especially since we practically ran through a 3 mile section just prior to it because that section of trail was known for "worst mosquitos ever". The climb was "Maine-like" and required a lot of lunges. We sort of enjoyed it and were able to reminise about Maine. We camped at Hemlock Lean-To and met more NOBO's. Ode to the Fearless, Dingle, Mutt and others...all very friendly. Ode tells us the story of how he got the "fearless" part of his name. He and another hiker, wanting to get a close up photo of a bear up in a tree, decide they will sneak-up on it with their hiking poles. The one hiker tells Ode that if the bear comes down, do not run under any circumstance but instead just hit the bear on the nose with his pole. Apparently this is a sensitive spot on a bear. Well, Ode said when they got near the tree the bear just dropped from it and they both turned and without thinking took off running and screaming! Nobody was hurt...not even the bear! Hemlock is a new shelter and is very nice. **** If you are happier on the trail than in the towns where you stop...You might be a thru hiker!
Date: 2004-08-10
From: Hemlocks Lean-To

To: Maria's house 
Miles today: 14.2

It will be a short day today...only 14.2 miles. Should feel like a nero (near zero day) to us with the miles we have been logging lately. A welcome relief. Unfortunately we have 3 small mountains to conquer (Everett, Race and Bear). All with georgeous views and great ledges. In the morning the patchy fog had quilted the valley floor below on one side of the mountain. Very serene. Sages Ravine was cool as we dropped down into it. The temperature dropped almost 10 degrees almost instantly. Beautiful little waterfalls, too! We cross the MA/CT state line. Whoohoo! Only 10 more to go. We hope they are all as wonderful. From up ahead we heard, "Little Bump and Flounder"! We almost died...nobody should know us coming from the south! It was a woman (Mrs. Gorp) we met while hiking near SugarLoaf in Maine. She is doing some section hiking this year and also transcribing for Rambunny '99, '00, '01, '02. We enjoyed talking with her. Unfortunately she told us that Rambunny took a fall in the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine and broke several ribs. Get well soon! After another mile of hiking we hear, "Little Bump and Flounder" again! How bizaar! A woman (Donna) who had ben reading our journal and viewing our photos. She recognized us by our clothes. OK, now we know we have to get some new threads! She and her husband are also doing some section hiking and we were able to hike a bit with them. It is so great meeting so many people! Thanks Donna for the e-mail too! The hike into town was nice and we stay with Maria (a fiesty, "young woman of 75 yrs." with a great sense of humor). She is so kind. She drove me 8 miles to get groceries and to do laundry and then took us to get dinner. We treat her to icecream when she comes back to pick us up. She is just like the grandmother that neither of us have anymore. We talk for hours with her when we get "home". She is definately a fire chick and has some great stories! A NOBO hiker (Scream'n Stephen) is also here and we eat dinner with him (Chinese). **** IF you can eat like a pig and not worry about gainning weight...you might be a thru-hiker!
Date: 2004-08-11
From: Maria's house (Salisbury)

To: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 15.6

 We got up and did our normal errands. Maria had a light breakfast for us. We checked our e-mail at the library (1st free public library in the USA) and got on the trail about 1:30 to find gloomy skies. We saw our first deer shortly after hitting the trail. It was beautiful with a large white tail. Quite different from the mule deer we saw out west last summer. We walked around the Housatonic for miles and by a hydroelectric plant and an impressive looking high school. We only had misty views today with rain off and on. We stopped at Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To. Mr. Anderson (met at Maria's) was there along with some other section hikers. Oh, almost forgot... we saw a red fox prouncing on field mice just after Great Barrington yesterday.
Date: 2004-08-12
From: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To

To: Mt. Algo Lean-To
Miles today: 17.3

Wow, today marks 50 days on the trail. We have been thinking thinking as NOBOrs pass by that they are almost done, but really they have quite a bit to go. In fact many we have seen in the last few days will probably not make it to Katahdin by October 15th (Baxter State Park closes). We woke up to rain today with it being the heaviest rain of the entire trip. We had to ford a rain swollen creek which would normally be a small rock hop. Our shoes were soaked already so we found some sticks and worked our way across. The water was very muddy so it was hard to see the obstacles under the water. We had a long walk along the Housatonic River - mostly flat for 5 miles. Then a steep, rocky climb from the river... which triggered memories of Maine. Again more misty views today from the ledges/overlooks. We caught a ride into Kent with a NOBOr (Lightweight Joe), who carries a bookbag size pack. Amazing. We decided to do some laundry in Kent and attempt to dry our shoes a bit with the dryer vents. Nice to have clean, dry clothes and dry shoes again! We decided to camp at the first lean-to out of town. We caught a hitch back to the trail in a Mercedes [good thing you just cleaned up!]. The man was amazed that we were married and have not killed each other by this point in our hike! The lean-to was just .3 miles up from the road. We saw Mr. Anderson there. He will be returning to OH tomorrow and 2 new SOBOrs (Night Rain and 4 Winds). Night Rain shared some delicious chocolate chip cookies with us. It was nice seeing some new faces. 2 more deer today.
Date: 2004-08-13
From: Mt. Algo Lean-To

To: Morgan Sewet Shelter
Miles today: 29.0
Weather: light rain

We said goodbye to Mr. Anderson and then headed out behind 4 winds. The rain is off and on today. The trail, although rougher, is not muddy at all! [I knew the mud issue was going to surface again!] We feel sorry for those in Vermont right now! Again more trail today along the H. River. Just a mile or so. We met up with 4 Winds for lunch and we saw him several times throughout the day. We ran into some NOBO's (only 6 all day) that tell us that more rain is expected for tomorrow because a hurricane is coming up from Florida. When I spoke with my sister Rosebud yesterday, she said the hurricane was to hit the Tampa area today with category II winds. She didn't have to go into work today as the storm was to track through the Orlando area as well. Be safe! We hiked into New York today! Conn. was beautiful, but unfortunately it rained through much of it. We are in our 6th state! We stopped to eat dinner at Telephone Pioneer's Lean-To. 4 Winds showed up. We decided to hike on to the next shelter. It will be our biggest day... 29 miles. New York is pretty and tough. Lots of ups and downs. We camped at Morgan Stewart Lean-To. We met more SOBOrs there! Walker and Daddy's Girl - what's left of the Myers family of 5 (father and daughter age 10). The mother and one son quit after New Hampshire with medical problems, while their 16 year old son decided to go North from the Georgia to the New Hampshire border (an independence issue). It was great meeting them, as we have read their register entries from the Lean-To's since the beginning. and try to dry out
Date: 2004-08-14
From: Maria's house 

To: Graymoor Friary (Monastery)
Miles today: 27.9

We were on the trail at 6:45 today. The trail is definitely tougher today ... more rocks and roots as well the ups and downs. It rained occasionally and it was hot and muggy. I often have to take my ball cap off and clip it to my waist belt on climbs to let what little breeze there is blow through what little hair I have. After a particularly rough climb, and being somewhat delirious, I decided to "relieve" myself before Flounder caught up. After a few moments I realized I didn't have a good stream flowing and found I had peed all over the inside bill of my hat with neon yellow (highly vitamin-fortified pee). Just great. Now Flounder wants to change my trail name to "Pisses on Hat". I think I'll stick with Little Bump. Before getting to the Friary, we passed 2 more SOBOrs (Platypus and Spice Weasel). It's great to see more SOBOrs. They started on May 28. We saw 14 deer today. WE got to the Friary before dark and took some cold but nice showers down by the ball field. We are allowed to camp up at the large pavalion because of the expected rain. It's huge! Maybe 40 tables, which in our care, are beds. Only 1 NOBOr (Rowboat) was up there when we arrived. Platypus and Spice Weasel showed up later. We all ate and went to "bed". About 1 a.m., 10 more NOBOrs showed up, who had been to a sports bar nearby. THey were loud, obnoxious, and they stunk. Obviously, they by-passed the shower for the beer. Everything has their priorities! Oh well, it will be a nero for us tomorrow into Ft. Montgomery. Don't worry family members, Flounder does not have fur, nor is she able to braid her armpits!
Date: 2004-08-15
From: Graymoor Friary (Monastery)

To: Ft. Montgomery, NY (Holiday Inn)
Miles today: 6.3

Lots of rain in the early morning, but it stopped before we got up. We left before anyone else got up, with breakfast on our minds, and a nero. We saw 2 wild turkeys and several deer. We missed a double blaze and walked a half mile out of our way. Not really our (my) fault. The trail was marked for NOBOrs and easily missed by SOBOrs. We had to clear webs nearly the entire 6.3 miles today. NOBOrs are getting rare and I believe they sleep til noon! The ones we did see this morning must have been 5 feet tall because I caught all those webs in the face or at hairline. (sadly, my hairline has been creeping up on me and is now nera the top of my head) We met 2 more SOBOrs (Lizard King and Irish) before going in for a breakfast buffet. A woman came out and saw we were hikers and said her mother works at the post office and would be happy to get our mail drop for us on Sunday. We couldn't believe our luck. We should be able to get an earlier start tomorrow. We called for hotels nearby and found it difficult to get a room. It was pleeb weekend at nearby West Point. We finally got a room at a pricey Holiday Inn Express. Oh well, a little spoiling won't hurt us. After breakfast we went to our room and called Moccasin, who informed us that Punta Gorda {our home town as well as our parents', relatives', and friends') took the direct hit of hurricane Charley and is pretty well totaled. The hurricane was a category IV with wind gusts up to 180 miles per hour. She said our family and friends are OK, but some have lost their complete homes. Our house and our parents' house faired well when compared to others, but my sister didn't have many details. My brother-in-law Doug is going down to PG with some supplies and we will try to get a message to him to have my parents drive out of the area and call us. I felt like I needed to hear from them. Meanwhile, we just waited and viewed all the destruction on TV and read about it in the newspaper. Thirteen people confirmed dead so far. It's so sad. PG was and will be again such a beautiful and safe place to live. Our prayers go out to all who suffer there. Apparently there will be no water/electric/phone there for weeks. We made some other calls, showered, and just waited for some news from home. We got a good meal next door, and then some ice cream.
Date: 2004-08-17
From: Ft. Montgomery, NY (Holiday Inn)

To: Punta Gorda, FL (Home)
Miles today: 0.0

[Little Bump and Flounder are flying home today. They decided to fly home to see family and help with hurricane recovery. Rosebud told me that they are flying out of Newark, NJ tonight and will fly into Ft. Myers. Little Bump's dad will pick them up at the airport and take them home. They have a house to go home to but do not have power or phone. I guess the trail has trained them not to depend on creature comforts so they will be just fine! Little Bump and Flounder did purchase roundtrip tickets! If all goes well they plan to return to Ft. Montgomery, NY, one week from today (Aug.24) and begin hiking once again. If you need to get in touch with Little Bump and Flounder you will need to leave a message in their guestbook. It automatically gets sent to their email account. I will forward any messages I get to them when I hear from them. Thank you to all who have called or sent messages. Little Bump and Flounder appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.]
Date: 2004-08-19
From: Punta Gorda, FL (Home)

To: Punta Gorda, FL (Home)
Miles today: 0.0

[Little Bump and Flounder have asked that I let you all know they are home and are doing well. They feel good about their decision to leave the trail for a week and help family and friends who are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. They have a cell phone while they are home and you can reach them at 941-626-2096.]
Date: 2004-08-24
From: Punta Gorda, FL (Home)

To: Ft. Montgomery, NY (via JFK)
Miles today: 0.0

[Little Bump and Flounder are in the air now on their way from Punta Gorda to New York. Tomorrow they will pick up where they left off in Ft. Montgomery, NY. They were able to do a lot this past week in Punta Gorda. Last night they even had electricity! I asked Little Bump if he was journaling on his week apart from the trail. He said, "yes". I said, "oh" and then I said, "not pages and pages, I hope"! Anyway, he promised that entries were in the mail so I should be able to update their journal soon.]
Date: 2004-08-28
From: Vernon - St. Thomas

To: Highpoint Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: clear sky

We slept in a little and then went to breakfast next door. I had 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, and hashbrowns. Finished that in no seconds flat and then ordered another. Downed it, too, then ordered another! If the pancakes were AYCE, then we would have put a hurtin' to that place! Back at the hostel, we each did a chore, then caught a ride to the trail at 10:15. Bojangles and Eco will follow after they visit the post office. We soon found ourselves on a beautiful 2-mile nature boardwalk! Then a trail around another swampy wildlife refuge area. Later again, we hiked along another mile-long boardwalk. We were beginning to wander if New Jersey was all swampland. We walked through the fields of purple wildflowers. The only bad thing was that it was extremly hot and humid. Almost like Florida! I drank 9 quarts of fluids and Flounder drank 8! After about 14 miles, we stopped at the "Secret Shelter" to get water and take a shower. What a nice place. Too bad we wanted to get a few more miles in. The shower was heavenly and we met Spock (a SOBOr who will finish his through hike this year in Duncanon). We saw 4 deer on our way up to High Point shelter. New York and New Jersey rule so far for wildlife. Not what we expected. Bojangles and Eco pulled in shortly after us and we ate and chatted before resting our weary bones.
Date: 2004-08-29
From: Highpoint Shelter

To: Camp YMCA (Ken-etiwa-pec) cabin
Miles today: 26.6

We saw 6 deer this morning just on the Blue Blaze from the shelter back to the trail. Foggy/hazy views from the top of High Point. The monument was quite visible (looks like the Washington monument). Can't quite understand why people (gov) would want to build something so worthless on the top of a mountain. Maybe it is a memorial? The trail definitely got a bit rockier today, but not bad. We had lunch in Culver's Gap at Gyp's Tavern. Nice people. Only 1 NOBOr today - Dr. John. He didn't seem anxious to get to Katahdin. Sunrise mountain gave great views, as did Rattlesnake. We decided to bypass Brink Road Shelter in order to get a little closer to DWG (Delaware Water Gap). We didn't want to hike the 1 mile back to the YMCA camp, so we were just going to camp after cleaning up at the pump. But, the camp director happened to drive by and offered us a ride. We couldn't refuse. We helped her load trash in return. We went to our cabi (free) right on the lake. Noone is here, it is so quiet. The director said there are normally 140 kids! Our cabin has 2 cots. We feel so spoiled. The full moon rises over the lake, casting a brilliant reflection with the ridge line in the background! And another black bear.
Date: 2004-08-30
From: YMCA Camp

To: Delaware Water Gap (Stroudsburg, PA)
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: light rain

Back on the trail after a mile road walk. Nice smooth trail to start out. It got rockier as we climbed back up to follow the ridge line. It was foggy in the early a.m., but beautiful of the valleys off both sides of the ridge by 10:00 a.m. At the last glacial pond on the AT (Sunfish pond) we caught Grandma Spaghetti and her dog KYA. We met them in Hanover when they brought their dog in for wounds from a porcupine. We also saw Jim "the Long Ranger", a hiker mountaineer we met at the hostel in Vernon. As we approached DWG, we encountered a number of day hikers. Our hike along and across the Delaware was nice, as is the town of DWG. Founder's achilles on her right foot has been troubling her since Ft. Montgomery. So we bought her some new shoes again in negihboring Stroudsburg.
Date: 2004-09-02
From: Palmerton (Jailhouse Hostel)

To: Palmerton
Miles today: 0.0

The waiting is the hardest part. We just couldn't leave without knowing how Flounder's family was doing. After breakfast we went to the library to track Frances. The eye passed near the Turks and Caicos (Flounder's sister Karen's home) but the word is she and her family/property are all OK. Next we waited for the Bahamian family to report. We are definitely zeroing today. Too much is happening! Flounder's mother and family should be feeling the effects by this afternoon. And so our day passes in the library. When it closed we found Big Perm, his parents (who are hiking for 2 weeks with him) and Grandma Spaghetti all staying at the hostel. It is great seeing them once again.