morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-11-25
From: Culver's Gap, NJ

To: Culver's Gap, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todayCulver's Gap, NJHAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!I was laying in bed and I heard someone coming down the stairs going ooh ah ooh. I knew that was Hippie with her stiff morning knees.I went down to see if there was anything I could do to help get ready for Thanksgiving, but their kitchen was already full, so I sat down and drank some coffee.I cleaned out my truck and got a bunch of wet, smelly hiker's clothes out of it that even a dog would turn his nose up to.Hippie stuck the clothes in the washer and we got ready and went to the store to pick up some last minute items for Thanksgiving.When we dropped that stuff off, we went and picked up her Aunt Bea from her apartment. She is 88 years old and lives in the same building with a bunch of other elderly folks. Hippie and I was going up in the elevator and an old lady that looked to be about 90 was in the elevator with us. Hippie knew her and introduced me as Stumpknocker and the old lady thought she said Dumbknocker and said; " Oh my, you weren't born with that name were you??When I said my name again, she blushed and said she was so sorry.I love old people, they can be so funny. I had a good time with Aunt Bea. She has a hard time getting around, but she's as sharp as a tack mentally and still loves life and apple pie.We got back to Hippie's house and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.I met Hippie's sister and her family. I've known Hippie so long, but it's always been on the trail. It's finally good to be able to put faces with some of the stories I hear from Hippie.We had a very good Thanksgiving dinner and I even refilled my plate for a second time.This is my favorite holiday of the year and it was great being invited to have dinner with Hippie's family.I finally got to meet Displaced Hippie when she came over to Hippie's house. I've been hearing about her for years from Hippie and I even have a picture of her and Hippie and Turf at home.Later in the day, we went over to Tripod's house for a while. I used his computer for a while, but was getting pretty tired by about 9pm, so Hippie and I went back to her house and I went to bed.This ended up being a very good Thanksgiving and a much needed zero day for Hippie. Tomorrow she starts walking again and should be caught up to where I'm at on the trail in three days.
Date: 2004-11-26
From: Culver's Gap, NJ

To: Culver's Gap, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todayCulver's Gap, NJYep, another zero day, but Hippie is getting within just a few days of catching up to me on the trail.I got up this morning when I heard noise outside of the bedroom I was staying in over at Hippie's parent's home. It was about 5:30am and Hippie and her dad were already up.I got ready and loaded up the truck with our stuff and we headed back up to the trail where Hippie left off the day before Thanksgiving.We got to NY Rt 17 and Hippie took off about 9am in 30 degree weather. The wind was calm and from the inside of my truck, it felt pretty good outside!!Before Hippie left, a couple in another vehicle were getting ready to go backpacking. The lady came up to the window of my truck and said; "Your Stumpknocker, aren't you?"I said that I was, but that I didn't recognize her.She said; "I've been reading your journal and I thought you would be in this area today. I was hoping to run into you."I am liking this online journal more all the time because I'm meeting so many more people. Their trail names are Socks and Blue Dog and they were going out on a weekend hike. They are planning a thru hike next year.I hope you two have as much fun on your thru hike as I always do...and thanks for adding all those clicks to the counter on my journal. See Liteshoe, there really are people that are reading my journal. Ha!!I drove over to the next road crossing at West Mombasha Rd and waited on Hippie to show up. I had a sandwich and drink ready for her, so I could push her back out as quickly as possible.I drove over to Lakes Rd and walked in towards Fitzgerald Falls to meet her. I walked about a mile before I ran into her and then we walked back to the truck together. I got a few pictures by the falls as we passed by.I met her at NY Rt 17A next and when she got there, we decided to skip the next section until tomorrow because the next road was so far away that she would have been walking in the dark to get to the truck.I drove her to Warwick Turnpike and she walked to NJ Rt 94.She got to the truck just before dark and the full moon was rising. It was a beautiful evening, but it was getting chilly.We went and got a couple of sandwiches and Hippie called her dad to see if they were coming out to walk a small part of the trail tomorrow. Hippie wants them to see what it's like out here, but they won't get a clear pisture because they section that they are going to walk is very flat.Hippie got off the phone quick because she was so cold. She told her dad that I would call them tomorrow morning with directions.We went and found a place to park the truck by a trailhead and we crawled into our sleepings bags for the night.
Date: 2004-11-28
From: Culver's Gap, NJ still

To: Culver's Gap, NJ STILL still
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todayCulver's Gap, NJ I woke up in Goosebump's living room this morning and was glad I was inside. It was raining very hard out and was looking pretty flooded. Goosebump made a very rare morning appearance just to go and have breakfast with Rainbow Slick, Underpants, Dolittle, Hippie and I. She's a princess and doesn't play well with others in the mornings. We ended up sitting in the City View Diner for almost two hours having breakfast and talking. We went back to Goosebump's house and talked a while longer while we waited on the rain to stop. Finally, Hippie and I left to go back to the trail in hopes that she could get in a few miles before dark. She started walking just before 3pm and I drove five miles away to meet her. She had called Tripod before she started walking and he was coming to spend the night with her and walk tomorrow. That leaves an 18 mile day for them tomorrow and then Hippie will be caught up with where I'm at on the trail. I get to start walking again on Tuesday morning!!! Yea!! It's been a long week slacking Hippie, but now her and I will be able to walk the rest of the year together. I decided that I was going to get a motel tonight and reorganize all my stuff so I'm sure I have everything I need for winter hiking. I saw Tripod when I was pulling onto the main road, so I told him where Hippie would be coming out of the trail at and I went and checked on a motel. No luck with the motel even though it is Sunday night. I guess bear hunting season opens tomorrow here in NJ and the motels were booked with hunters. When Hippie got back to the truck, Tripod remembered a motel he passed on the way up here, so I followed them. They got a room and I got my own room. One more zero day and I'll be able to start posting some miles again!!
Date: 2004-11-29
From: Culver's Gap, NJ STILL still

To: Culver's Gap, NJ, but not for long
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todayCulver's Gap, NJ My last zero day for a while!! Finally, by the end of today, Hippie will be caught up to where I'm at on the trail and we can start hiking together tomorrow morning. I had taken all my boxes of hiking gear into the motel room with me last night, but was too tired to mess with it before I fell asleep. I woke up at 3am and sorted and resorted all that stuff until 6:30 this morning. By then I was getting sleepy again, so I went back to bed until a little after 8am. I looked out the window and saw Tripod and Hippie getting ready to leave, so I went out and told them I would be waiting for them at High Point, NJ with some food and drinks at noon. I got everything loaded into the truck and headed towards High Point. I saw a diner that was calling my name, so I went in and had a late breakfast. I got to High Point, NJ right at noon and got their food ready. They showed up a little before 1pm and sat down and ate. They took off to do the last 8 or 9 miles and I went to Unionville, NY to meet them. Tripod and Hippie showed up at 4pm and we went and ate dinner back close to the trail where Hippie and I will continue our thru hike together. After dinner, Tripod left for home.I get to walk in the morning!!!
Date: 2004-11-30
From: Culver's Gap, NJ, but not for long

To: Near Millbrook, NJ
Miles today: 14.5

14.5 miles todayNear Millbrook, NJ Hippie and I got our packs ready to go, but there were so many hunters out this morning that we waited an extra hour before we were ready to start walking. While we were sitting there, Hippie talked me into the two of us walking in separate directions to keep the truck moving closer to Goosebumps house where I plan on leaving it for the rest of most of this hike. It will take three more days to get it in that area. I started walking south and Hippie drove my truck about 15 miles down the trail and she walked north. It felt great to finally start walking again. I could hear some gunshots in the distance, but I was lucky enough not to see any hunters today. I climbed up out of Carver's Gap and before long I saw a bunch of turkeys. I walked right by Brink Road Shelter without stopping. That's the area where I was tenting a couple years ago and twice during the night I had bears come up to my tent sniffing around. I came up to Hippie on the trail and we sat down on some grass and took a half an hour break. I had a hard time getting up to start moving again because the warm sun just about put me to sleep. I finally headed on down the trail and came up on a deer that wasn't too afraid of me. She watched me from about 40 yards away and only ran a short distance before she stopped to watch me again. When I passed by her, she came within about 25 yards of me and ran down the side of the mountain. I'm not sure what that was all about because usually they don't come any closer to me. I walked on down to where Hippie had parked my truck and I heard a loud gunshot pretty close, so I got out of that area. I drove back to pick Hippie up. She showed up about 40 minutes later and we went right to a diner to grab some food. I didn't walk far today, but it sure felt good!!Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-01
From: Near Millbrook, NJ

To: Dalaware Water Gap, Pa.
Miles today: 13.9

13.9 miles todayDalaware Water Gap, Pa. It's December 1st!! I've been on this thru hike for 7 months today. Hippie made a very good call yesterday when she talked me into the both of us walking different directions on the trail and passing the keys when we passed each other to move the truck closer to Goosebumps house as we walked. It rained hard last night and was still raining hard this morning when we woke up. I looked out of the truck and we were in a big mud puddle...glad my truck has four wheel drive. We just stayed in the truck and made coffee and tea and we talked mostly about how happy we both were to be high and dry in the back of the truck. We ended up at a diner about 10am and it continued to rain while we were eating. Hippie had a apple fritter with ice cream, whipped cream, baked caremel glazed apples and syrup on it. I had a more traditional breakfast of bacon and eggs. We called Goosebump while we were there and she liked what Hippie was having so much that she emailed me later to tell me that she knocked off a pumpkin pie with whipped cream for her breakfast. Hippie took me to the trailhead after breakfast and it stopped raining and the sun came out!!! Perfect timing!! With the bad weather, I didn't see any hunters out today. I did see a nice four point buck though. I started walking and it was actually a little warm...maybe 50 degrees and no wind. By the time I got up on the first ridge, it was starting to get windy and kept getting stronger. By the time I was half way through the walk today, it was gusting over 50 mph and blowing me around a little. I passed by Hippie and she said I had an hour and a half to get back to the truck. There was lots of water on the trail. It was flowing on the ups and downs and puddling on the flat parts. I got to say hello to Pamela as I crossed into Pa. I drove back and picked up Hippie, we went to McDonalds for a little to eat and then went and found a good spot to sleep at. I still can't believe how lucky we were with the rain today.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-02
From: Dalaware Water Gap, Pa.

To: Palmerton, Pa
Miles today: 20.4

20.4 miles todayPalmerton, Pa.I woke up at about 5am and put on water for coffee and tea. It took a little coaxing, but I finally woke Hippie up.We headed towards Wind Gap after our drinks were ready and ate breakfast at the Gap Diner. That was one of the better places that I've had breakfast in a while. Hippie is still eating desert for breakfast. She ordered a Belgian waffle with strawberry ice cream, whipped cream and syrup on it. I hope her mother doesn't read this.When we were done, we went up to the trailhead and I started walking south to Lehigh Gap and Hippie drove to Lehigh Gap and started walking north.We skipped the section from Delaware Water Gap to Wind Gap because it was a few miles shorter, so we plan on doing it tomorrow so we can get to Goosebumps house sooner.I climbed up to the ridge out of Wind Gap. It was a nice morning for hiking. There was some ice on the trail, but it was a fairly mild 30 degrees which is near perfect hiking weather for me.I have been welcomed back to the Pa rocks for about the last 40 or 50 miles and today was no exception. That's about all I walked on most of the day. I didn't get to enjoy too much scenery because my eyes were always looking where my next step was going.I got started a little later than I had hoped for since we were walking a longer section. I picked up my pace a little from the beginning and even with the rocks, I still got done in 6 hours and 20 minutes.I started seeing hunters on the trail before I got to Smith Gap and then when I did get to that gap, there was 14 trucks parked there. It made me feel like I was in a war zone. I saw two guys dragging out a doe they shot and I counted elevin hunters today all together and I didn't see any deer. I am always glad to have on so much blaze orange so I can be seen. I came up to Hippie and we sat down for a quick snack and then kept going so we could finish today's hike at a decent time.I saw Hippie looking at her digital camera and I asked her what she was looking at. She took a couple pictures of the trail map so she didn't have to carry it...leave it to Hippie....I hiked on to Little Gap where I had left a coke in some bushes and drank that before walking the last five miles.This is an area under repair from polution and for the most part is starting to look better.I came up to a hunter that was walking with the wind looking for deer while he was smoking a cigarette...bet he doesn't see any deer.I got to the steep down at Lehigh Gap and walked down that. I always love walking on more challenging trail and this steep down has nothing but rocks to step on. I could see my truck sitting at the trailhead parking lot when I was about half way down the mountain.When I got to the truck, I drove back to Wind Gap and waited on Hippie to show up.She showed up a while later and we went to grab some food at a steakhouse and then drove up to Fox Gap for the night.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-05
From: Blue Mountain Summit, Pa.

To: Hawk Mtn Road, Pa.
Miles today: 11.5

11.5 miles todayStaying at Goosebump'sHawk Mtn Road, Pa. Once again, we were in no hurry because we were only walking a few miles today. Rainbow Slick decided not to walk because he had his grandmother's 80th birthday party to attend this afternoon and his calves were still sore from yesterday's hike. Hippie and I decided to wait until about 11am to start walking, so we went up and got a dozen Dunkin Donut donuts and some coffee and tea which we took back to Goosebump's home. The morning went by fast and before we knew it, we were climbing up the mountain heading north from the Eckville Shelter. We went north today heading back to Rt 309 where we had dropped my truck off earlier. It was quiet in the woods today with no hunters allowed to hunt on Sunday. We stopped for a break when we got up to the overlook at Dan's Pulpit. We found an area on the edge of the cliff where there was sun shining, but we were out of the wind. It felt really good out as long as we could get away from the breeze that was blowing. The views from there were very nice too. It was rolling terrain below with scattered farms and a nice blue sky. We hiked on after a while and stopped at Allentown Shelter for another break. There was an old red external frame backpack there, but no one ever came around for the 20 minutes we were there. The trail changed from nothing but rocks in the first seven miles to an easy walk for the last four miles. When we got close to the trailhead where my truck was, we smelled some food cooking at the restaurant next to the trail and it really smelled good. We decided to go in for a couple of hamburgers there at the Blue Mountain B&B. I think that it would be great to always have someone cook me a hamburger at the end of a day's hike. I wouldn't even mind having one of my trail friends show up some day with some hot fried chicken, but I'm finding that I have to take care of myself...the trail teaches you hard lessons of life!! I'm beginning to think that if I'm ever going to get fried chicken on the trail, I'm going to have to pack it in myself. We drove back to Goosebump's and her and Rainbow Slick had just gotten back from the birthday party. Hippie was still hungry, so when Goosebump (pregnant lady with a BIG appetite) said something about ordering in pizza, she thought that was a great idea. I only had one piece and then layed down in the living room and dozed off. When I woke up, Hippie and Goosebump were painting smiley faces on my toenails with different colored toenail polish...some trail friends, painting graffitti on a senior citizen.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-06
From: Hawk Mtn Road, Pa.

To: Hawk Mountain Road, Pa.
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todaySleeping at Goosebump's homeHawk Mountain Road, Pa. I got up when Rainbow Slick started getting ready for work. I was quiet so I wouldn't wake up Goosebump or Hippie. I made coffee and caught up on some emails. Hippie and I decided that it was better to keep Goosebump company again today, espescially since it was sleeting outside. The forcast was for rain and snow today with a high temperature in the upper 30s. I needed some waterproof gloves and we weren't too far from Cabela's, so we headed there. We stopped at an Olive Garden on the way to Cabela's and had soup, salad and breadsticks. I found the gloves I was looking for and we looked around at the animal displays and the fish tanks inside. I have been wanting waterproof gloves for days like this when my other gloves get soaked, so it worked out to be a productive day. We came back to Goosebump's and finished getting our gear ready to go out into the rain tomorrow. At least it is supposed to be as high as 50 degrees tomorrow. My backpack is sitting on the floor next to the fanny pack that I've been able to carry for a while and it sure looks alot bigger!! When Rainbow Slick got home, we settled in to an eveningcard game of Hearts. Poor Goosebump was getting angry and had to keep telling herself that it was only a card game...Ha!! She can keep saying it was only a card game, but I get to say that I AM THE WINNER!!! I guess I shouldn't say to much, because they have been so good to Hippie and me by putting us up for a few days while we were still able to get in some miles on the trail. I can't thank them enough...all I can say is if they ever need anything, all they have to do is ask. I might do it and I might not. I had to be careful of what I said because you never know what Goosebump might ask for.Thanks Rainbow Slick and Goosebump The Snow Princess!!! You're the best!!Another great day near the A.T.
Date: 2004-12-07
From: Hawk Mountain Road, Pa.

To: Port Clinton, Pa.
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: moderate rain

15.2 miles todayPort Clinton, Pa.Rainbow Slick was up early because he had to leave for work early. I stayed sleeping until the phone rang about 7:30am. It was Jan Liteshoe. I didn't answer the phone because I thought that maybe Goosebump had a phone in her bedroom. She didn't and on about the seventh ring, she answered it. She was still asleep...just going through the motions of answering the phone. When Liteshoe said who it was, Goosebump dropped the phone and said it was for me. Liteshoe just wanted to talk...she wasn't mad at me!! Hey, hey!! We talked for about 40 minutes. I think she just missed hearing my voice. Ha!! Hippie got up and we finished getting our backpacks ready to carry. I made some coffee and had some cerial for breakfast. We were taking our time again because it was raining pretty hard outside. The weather forcast was for highs of about 55 degrees with the rain, but we only had a high of 40 degrees and most of the hike was in the upper 30s with rain...brrrrr!! Goosebump dropped us off at the trailhead and we started climbing the first hill. There's not much to say about the walking today because that's all we did. We never stopped, we didn't go on any side trail to look at views, we just kept our heads down and walked in the cold rain and wind. I wasn't as cold as Hippie, but it was still a raw day and when we would get into the wind, it cut right through you. Hippie kept dropping her hiking poles because her hands were so cold. She doesn't like using the straps. We walked into Port Clinton and was real happy when we found out we could get a room. I had a couple Yuenglings and ate dinner. Hippie and I both ordered their famous hamburgers and a small order of fries. The hamburgers stick over the edge of the bun about an inch all the way around and the small fries take up an entire dinner plate. After diner I went to the room and I scattered my stuff all around to dry out. Even though it was basicly the toughest condition to hike in...Mid to upper 30s and heavy rain with lots of wind, I still ended up having a good day. I'd rather walk in zero degree weather with snow, you don't get as cold. It is harder to walk on the wet rocks with my trail runners because they hold on wet rocks like I was walking on ice. My usual road running shoes that I wear hold much better, but I switched to these trail runners to get me through all these Pa rocks because the trail runners have a much stiffer sole.Another great day on the A.T.