morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-24
From: Front Royal Terrapin Station Hostel 

To: Manassas Gap Shelter 
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

After a great day with friends and a night in the hostel, we were both ready to hit the trail this morning. We headed out at 715am and by 730am we¢re back in the trail. It was weird hiking without any required goals or places we absolutely needed to be heading toward...it felt real good, with the exception of extra heavy food bag!We covered the first 9 miles by noon and stopped at Jim and Molly Denton Shelter, without question the nicest shelter on the AT to date. This place had a deck with Adirondack chairs, an outdoor shower, horse shoe pit, pavilion with picnic tables under it, flowers planted around the deck and shelter, and a privy that was nicer than virtually every hostel bathroom since we started hiking! I so wish we had hit this place at 5pm instead of noon...but we didn¢t, and so a long break was as good as it would get!And don¢t ya know, as doin as we left the skies darkened and the thunder rolled in. Even when it¢s 30 percent chance of rain might as well bank on it if you¢re hiking! Sure enough, the skies opened up and for the next hour or more we hiked in that condition we have become so accustomed to; wet. Fortunately we hit a road crossing and trail magic awaited us...and that will always make things right. ¢Summer Camp¢ thru hiked last year and was out blessing the 2018 hikers with food, fruit and cold gatorades and cokes; it was wonderful! We hung out in the pouring rain eating food and chatting up other hikers for a half hour or so then pressed on.Our original plan was to do 19 miles but when we hit Manassas Gap Shelter at 430pm, just 4.5 miles. short, we decided to just call it a day. Sun came out, we dried most of our wet gear and we are only 2 of 3 people at the shelter tonite. Papa Smurf is with us and do are good times. We decided to sleep in the shelter tonite because of the forecast...we will be dry and comfortable tonite. We will make up the miles tomorrow and still cross the thousand mile barrier. Hard to conceive that we have actually hiked this far. We are planning out our next 200 miles and looking so forward to the sites and activities in front of us.
Date: 2018-06-25
From: Manassas Gap Shelter 

To: Sam Moore Shelter 
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: moderate rain

We got a little bit of a late start as I let Curly sleep in a bit later than usual. Our feet were on the trail at 745am (I know, crazy that¢s late!) and we made some good morning miles in the beautiful, cool but sunny morning. We hiked through Sky Meadows State Park and it was stunning! I would definitely go back there to see and experience more of it. We sat down on a bench at a four trail intersection around 11am and a young man, his preteen son and elderly mother in law walked up. We got up to give them the bench as we were done with our lunch, and the lady asked us, ¢how far are you going?¢ I told her, ¢to Maine.¢ Her eyes lit up and she remarked she never met a thru hiker in her life and always wanted to hike part of the AT. She had asked her son in law to bring her here and he did. A great conversation ensued and by golly I think Curly and I got a bigger kick out that lady than she did us.Well, with our 15 minutes of fame having expired, we said goodbye and continued north...we had more miles to hike and a big milestone to crack. The afternoon rolled along as we closed in on that 1,000 mile mark and about 3pm, something happened we totally didn¢t expect...we entered the ¢Roller Coaster¢, a 13.5 mile long series of ups and downs that I had heard about, but never gave it much thought. I sure wish I had paid more attention, because I can tell you that we were not going to get to a thousand miles without a kick in the teeth from Virginia. Those hills came at the end of a long mile day and we both started dragging. Up one hill then down another, with mud and rocks to slow us down and trip us up.The day was getting much longer than I had expected, and finally at 6pm we hit the big 1,000! Took pics and kept moving. Finally reached camp at 7pm and now it¢s 9pm and I¢m just getting to journal. The good news is that no rain expected tonight so vestibule flaps are up. So yeah, it was an interesting day in a very good way. Tomorrow we shoot for 19 more miles and then 4 miles into Harpers Ferry. Stay tuned because we only hiked half the Roller Coaster today, the rest comes tomorrow!!
Date: 2018-06-26
From: Sam Moore Shelter 

To: Stealth site mm 1019.5
Miles today: 18.2

If anyone ever asks you if you would like to ride the AT Roller Coaster, just politely walk away and pretend you never heard the question! A 13.5 mile constant up and down with varying degrees of difficult grade are going to probably be some day for us ¢type 2¢ fun...but right now, at this moment as I lay in bed with sore feet, they were ¢type 3¢ fun.Thru hiker Invisible Man explains it like this: type 1 fun is fun while you are doing it, and fun when you remember it. Type 2 fun is not fun when you are doing it, but will be remembered as fun. Type 3 sucked when you did it and still sucked when you remembered it. For now, this roller coaster is type 3 fun...and I¢m glad it¢s over. As I mentioned yesterday, we split it in half, hoping that a new morning and fresh legs would speed up the completion. The legs were fresher but it still took us 5 hours today (with 2 breaks) to finish, and with 19 plus miles planned it put us at a disadvantage, but we hiked through all that and made the most of what was a glorious day, in Virginia and in West Virginia, which we crossed over today. That¢s 4 states completed!One of the best parts of the day was getting to Sweet Spring Store just off the trail at the 17 mile point. It took us literally all day to get there, but it was so worth it. Besides stocking up on all the snacks we were plumb out of, they had a deli that blew me away! I had a club sub that was 8 inches long and so full of meat I could only eat half...and this from a guy who has lost 27 pounds since this hike began. Now I also had 5 big chicken tenders, a Gatorade and a coke and one of Curly ¢s deviled eggs...and a chocolate shake, but I can¢t wait for breakfast tomorrow! One huge honking sub to start my day.So we filled up literally and high tailed it to the trail with about an hour of daylight left and two miles to our site. One mile in, I noticed an old abandoned camp site so we just pulled in there and set ourselves up. It leaves us with an easy 5 miles into Harpers Ferry in the morning. We will check in at the Conservancy, get our new numbers and hike out. The plan is to make up some miles for the ones we slowed down for this past week. By Thursday we will hitch in to Boonsboro for laundry and another resupply. Definitely a most excellent day!
Date: 2018-06-27
From: Tent Site mm 1019.5

To: Ed Garvey Shelter 
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: moderate rain

I¢ll just go ahead and say it up front: today was Curly¢s Day! It was a day of doing things just a little different than normal (re: my normal), and it turned out OK.We woke up at our stealth site looking forward to getting into Harpers Ferry. Making a quick stop at the AT Conservancy and grabbing a cup of coffee then out to the trail. Yeah, no. We hit town about 945am and dropped our packs, got our pictures taken and new numbers assigned (1135/1136), and that¢s where the plan took a turn. MY plan was to grab a coffee and sandwich at the closest coffee shop and go get some miles. No need to waste time in the city. Curly¢s plan was to walk the town, see some sites, grab lunch THEN hit the trail. Apparently we didn¢t communicate our plans to each other...so we first executed my plan, except for leaving town, then we executed her plan. Three hours later we were moving on. Everyone was happy.When we crossed the Potomac River leaving town, we also left West Virginia and entered Maryland. Five states down and nine to go. WV was good to us...short and sweet. We climbed up and out of the city and back into the woods with rain threatening. It spit on us a time or two, but we lucked out. What concerned us more was the deluge predicted for tonight, up to 3/4 inch of rain! So, another Curly win, we stopped at the first shelter out of town and was set up by 430pm! We are in the shelter tonite and it is full. Surprisingly, only one other thru hiker besides us is here, the rest are section hikers, including 7 young adults ¢supervising¢ a Mom and Dad on their annual anniversary section hike. It¢s a lot of fun getting to know an entire new group of hikers, and because section hikers haven¢t formed family type relationships, they are quick to engage in conversation.Tomorrow and Friday plans are now changed; we will hike big both days and then get to Waynesboro, PA instead of Boonsboro, MD.  We will see!!
Date: 2018-06-28
From: Ed Garvey Shelter 

To: Annapolis Rocks 
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: light rain

I think after today Maryland is now my favorite state of the AT states to date. It is state #6, and we will finish it by end of the day tomorrow, here¢s why I like it so much.We woke up this morning to a damp but not soaked trail. The rain came as predicted, so staying in the shelter was a good call, but it wasn¢t the gully washer predicted. We got hiking by 7am and what we experienced all day long was a walking American History tour along the trail. The AT follows the path of numerous civil war battles that took place. Markers and monuments and placards shared the story of America¢s civil war. We came to George A Townsend¢s (Gath as he was called) home which is now Gathland State Park. Gath was a journalist that reported on the assassination of President Lincoln, and wrote a book on his killer. He made and lost a fortune and the last sentence of the sign I took a picture of tells the whole story.We walked through Washington Monument State Park, which features the very first monument to honor our first President and father of our country. Walking up to the monument was a timeline of his life. He faced many setbacks in life but always persevered.We ate lunch in a campground just for backpackers! Tent sites and picnic tables and showers! Curly took one and came out all smiles.With 7 miles left in our day, we headed out and enjoyed the most favorable terrain of this hike. It was as flat for most of the day as anything we have walked in for 79 days. I know we shouldn¢t get used to it, but Maryland has spoiled us. So we come to the end of this day and we are sitting on the edge of Annapolis Rocks, surveying the western views of Maryland¢s farm lands...it is gorgeous and with sunset approaching, we are truly blessed to have this glorious, serene moment.Tomorrow is our final day in Maryland and at the end of the day (16.5 miles), we will be in Pennsylvania and whisked off to Burgundy Lane Bed and Breakfast to enjoy a night in a jacuzzi and resupply in town...now that¢s a great way to get the stink off!
Date: 2018-06-29
From: Annapolis Rocks 

To: Waynesboro PA
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

We awoke this morning to a gorgeous day and the excitement of getting into town. With16 miles and an early start, we made the most of the morning cool. Summer is definitely here, and afternoons are warming up. We will be facing some extra hot days going forward, so taking advantage of the early mornings will be important to our well being. By 11am, we had hiked 8 miles, so a short break and eating the remainder of our food set us up for what we hoped would be an early afternoon arrival to our destination.What we didn¢t expect was the newest obstacle - rocks! Not gravel or river rocks, but miles of large pointy rocks that cover the trail and not only do you have to hike on and around them, but following the trail becomes more difficult. This is where the white blazes painted on trees and rocks become so important. We began the day with rocks at the top of the mountains and finished the final 3 miles of descent with rocks. And thus begins what will be the norm for the next couple hundred miles.Pennsylvania is referred to as ¢Rocksylvania¢, and we have been anticipating this for a while. The terrain is mostly flat except got hiking out of gaps, but the rocks make up for that. Like I¢ve said before, there is nothing ¢easy¢ about this trail! We finally arrived at Pen-Mar Park, which is at the state line and Miss Margaret who owns the Burgundy Lane B&B picked us up and took us to her lovely home. Margaret has run this B&B since 2004 and is exceptionally busy. Averaging more than 80 hikers per year plus the regular clientele, she really knows what hikers need and is very accommodating. We arrived, showered then walked down the Main Street of town (which is where the B&B is conveniently located) to Waynesburgers, a 5 Guys type burger joint with 51 different shake flavors. Curly had raspberry and I had a strawberry along with burgers, fries and rice pudding. Margaret shuttled is to a local store for resupply and we came back to soak in a huge jacuzzi. Yeah I know, doesn¢t appear like we are suffering too much, but I suspect that will be changing soon.With all our chores done, we are enjoying a cool, comfortable room and looking forward to a full on breakfast in the morning. Then back to the woods where we will make a beeline for Pine Grove Furnace State Park and the half gallon challenge. We will go over the 1100 mile mark on Sunday as well, so the miles and states continue to rack up. It¢s hard to believe that we will be in a position where the miles we have left to hike are less than the miles we have hiked already. Even with 80 days under our belts, it¢s hard to believe that that this adventure will be over sooner rather than later.
Date: 2018-06-30
From: Pen Mar Park

To: Rocky Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke up this morning to a wonderful made from scratch breakfast compliments of our host Miss Margaret. As usual, Curly got the royal treatment and home made, gluten free pancakes. I would highly, highly recommend Burgundy Lane B&B whether you¢re hiking the trail or just visiting the historical places in the area. Margaret is exceptionally accommodating and bends over backwards for the folks staying there. Food is great, rooms are wonderful and it is right in the heart of Waynesboro. It is probably our favorite stop on the trail so far.With full belly¢s and packs, we hit the trail at 930am, with a goal of getting in 15 miles. Summer has definitely arrived here in Pennsylvania, but fortunately the rocks have not, at least not to the degree that we are expecting. Entering the Keystone State was a pleasure and outside of our last climb of the day, relatively easy. We took one long lunch break at Old Forge Park and enjoyed a picnic table under the shade of large trees. It was a quiet day insomuch as we saw only a few hikers, but the congestion of suburbia is never far away, with the sounds of lawnmowers, revving engines, and weed whackers ever present and ever running.With the heat, we slowed down a bit in the afternoon but reached Rocky Mountain Shelter at 530pm, about as good a time to stop for the day as any.  Pitched our tent under some pine trees and ate dinner with Wizard, a thru hiker from last year who is a ridge runner with the PATC and spends five days a week from April to September staying at different shelters along a 40 mile stretch of trail. Nice guy and was very knowledgeable about the trail and all that is happening behind the scenes to keep the AT as pristine as possible.Tomorrow we shoot for 18 miles which places us just outside of Pine Grove Furnace State Park on Monday. But first off, we will hike to Timbers, a hiker friendly restaurant about 3 miles from camp. Breakfast awaits!!
Date: 2018-07-01
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter 

To: Toms Run Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: scattered clouds

In case you missed it...there are a lot of ¢Half¢s ¢ on the Trail. Harpers Ferry is the symbolic Half way point. Pine Grove Furnace State Park, which we are hiking through tomorrow, used to be the mileage Half way point and still claims its prominence by offering hiker the chance to participate in the Half gallon challenge (which you will hear about tomorrow). Today however, all symbolism and ice cream aside, Curly and I literally reached the half way point to Katahdin! The total distance this year is 2,190.9 miles. I had Curly take a pic of my phone that showed our distance hiked to date at 1095.5, just a smidge over half! So what does this mean for us?Not much really. We still have 1095 more miles to go. The good news is that all miles from here on mean less miles to hike than when we started. All miles left to hike are less than those already hiked. What I suppose it really means is that we have a lot of work ahead of us, so keeping our eyes on Katahdin, but continuing to do so one leg of the journey at a time is more important than ever. To that end, we are hiking to the State Park tomorrow, then on to Boiling Springs, where we will probably take care of town chores. Tomorrow first thing on the trail we will cross the 1,100 miles hiked, that was something we were going to do today but decided against it. Saving it for the morning!
Date: 2018-07-02
From: Toms Run Shelter 

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park 
Miles today: 4.1
Weather: light rain

Oh the best laid plans of mice and men! I had this day figured out from every angle. We would begin the day by crossing the 1100 mile mark-check. Then on to the State Park for breakfast (me), and the half gallon challenge (Curly)-check. Then pick up our new shoes and back on the trail-not so fast. Turns out you can¢t get into the hostel til 5pm and nobody is even on the premises. So, even though our shoes have been here since Friday, I don¢t have access to them until the end of the day. And...to just seal the deal, Curly was magnificent in eating an ENTIRE half gallon of ice cream this morning, which is a tradition of ¢not so wise¢ thru hikers at the half way point. Naturally, it all caught up to her about 2 hours after consumption, and we could not hike if we wanted to.So we will stay the night here at the hostel with 4 miles hiked today. Ugh! This is what hiker family member Sparky calls a ¢diversionary tactic¢. Anytime something takes place which keeps you from hiking...good, bad, or otherwise. Eating that much dairy certainly qualifies as a DT...as does Hostel¢s refusing to answer phones or be available to hand over trail shoes. Upside to all this is that we swam in the lake, took a hot shower and now are under a shady tree while I journal and Curly naps fitfully. Oh yeah, we are also VERY close to a bathroom!!So today we hike short miles, then hit the trail hard and try to put some distance under our feet as we hike thru Pennsylvania.  Postscript to this day. Turns out the shoes were NOT delivered to the hostel, but to our home in SC! Something got lost in translation, but fortunately the huge corporate entity that made the mistake is making it right by delivering shoes in Duncannon which is a Thursday arrival for us. 3 more days in worn out shoes and a Trail day ¢lost¢...I mean diverted! Curly says I¢m being forced to live up to my trail name!
Date: 2018-07-03
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Tent Site at mm 1118.7
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: scattered clouds

So we got out the door and were hiking by 645am. We are going to shoot for earlier departures as long as this heat keeps up. Today we got 8 miles in by 1030am and stopped at the Green Mountain General Store for an early lunch. Curly got a chef salad and I got a club sandwich and milk shake. It ain¢t cheap eating like this but it sure is fun. Our ultimate destination was the Backpacker Campsite just outside of Boiling Springs and a 19 mile day. Problem was no water there so you have to hump it in yourself at the last water stop 4 miles away! With the heat bearing down, I decided we would stop at the water source and camp there, then skip into town early tomorrow. Great decision. We arrived at our campsite at 330pm which made Curly ecstatic. We did get 15.2 miles in which didn¢t make me ecstatic, but we can get them back tomorrow. It was nice to jump in the river and cool off. Even in the shade of this green tunnel, the heat index was over a hundred, which is pretty crazy for this neck of the woods. It¢s 7pm and just now beginning to cool down a little. I have a wet hankie from the stream on my forehead and just shorts on. Hears to hoping for a cool evening.We did get a taste for the Pennsylvania rocks today on a couple of climbs. Once we get past Duncannon on Thursday, they really come out in full force. I was waylaid this afternoon by a 4 foot rat snake...scared the living daylights out of me! I was walking the trail heading over some rocks and I nearly stepped on him. I yelled out ¢Ka Ka¢ (the English version) and jumped backwards. He coiled up and faced me like he was going to strike so I backed up further and waited on Curly to show up. This dog gone snake started slithering up the trail, with no intention of leaving it. We tried to run by but he coiled up again so even though he was not poisonous, I figured we needed to give him wide berth...we bushwhacked around him. Needless to say, it got the adrenaline going.Tomorrow morning we walk through Boiling Springs and into Cumberland Valley Farm Land. Unless the town has some type of celebration going on that¢s worth sticking around for, we will make tracks for Duncannon, where our shoes will be...and that¢s a good thing cause our dogs are barking! Either way, may you all have a spectacular Fourth of July!
Date: 2018-07-04
From: Tent Site mm 1118.7

To: Darlington Shelter 
Miles today: 18.3

Curly and I went to sleep last nite fully aware that today would be a big day. We decided to get up even earlier than normal and attempt to get on the trail before 630am. These morning miles are really important when the sun bears down in the afternoon. So that¢s what we did. Up at 530am and on trail by 625am, we tried to beat the heat into Boiling Springs, PA. We arrived in town right at 830am and the town was in full swing preparing for its Fourth of July Celebrations. Streets were being closed off and food vendors were setting up for a grand day. We headed over to Cafe 101 for breakfast and both ordered the skillet special. It was delicious, along with several cups of coffee. We debated hanging around for the festivities, but with 14 more miles to hike, much of it in open farm land, we knew we really couldn¢t linger, so off we went.  I have to say, I¢ve enjoyed Pennsylvania very much up to this point. Along with Maryland, they really do an amazing job of creating an interesting and informative trail. Plus so much of the trail has gone thru state parks that are wonderfully maintained, it¢s really a treat. This afternoon however, we hiked thru farm land. Miles and miles of homesteads growing corn and wheat and soy. It was incredible, but with no cloud cover, it was incredibly hot! Fortunately, two things made it bearable. The first was trail magic. Right about noon, we came to a road crossing with a cooler full of cokes, fresca¢s, and ice tea. Golly that was so good, and came exactly at the right time. The second thing was that we put our umbrellas to use to today, and not for the rain, but for the sun! The other hikers were jealous cause we were beating the heat, and we avoided sunburn and heat exhaustion.The day itself was essentially one road walk, except we were walking through fields rather than black top. About 3pm, with just a couple miles left in the day, the rain clouds moved in and thunder began sounding off. Curly and I sprinted to the shelter and beat the rain, which actually held off til about 7pm. We opted to stay in the shelter tonite with one other person, ¢View Finder¢. A mom and her three teenage daughters are section hiking north as well and are in their tents tonite. They are a sweet family we met at Pine Grove Furnace a couple days ago. Tomorrow we head into Duncannon to hopefully pick up shoes, eat a burger and milkshake, and resupply for the next several days. I¢m hoping we can stay out in the woods for at least 5 days before coming in for our next resupply. Right now it¢s raining, but we are comfortable and dry! Happy Independence Day, hope you all had a great one!