morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-01
From: Graymoor Monastery

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: mist

Fri 1 August 2003   Graymoor Monastery to RPH Shelter   18.9 miles Lots of big things yesterday. Hit the nice stone tower in Bear Mtn, walked though the Palisades Zoo and over the Bear Mtn Bridge on the Hudson. stayed at the Graymoor Monastery as well. At the post office in Bear Mtn a great guy, Gene, came by and offered a ride somewhere. We¢d gone to a restaurant where I got breakfast food and also got grocery stuff on the way. All of which brought my time closer to the wire as I had to get high-steppin to make it to the monastery by 4:30 so I could get in on the dinner they serve to hikers. I had to pass up Anthony¢s Nose sidetrail to do so, but I could hike that some other time if I really want. At the monastery¢s pavilion where thrus sleep a thru named Windtalker was there with some soda, beer and snacks. She had an interesting tale of how she¢s going to Fiji in the Peace Corps in lieu of finishing her hike. After dinner, Brother Leo gave us a tour of the facility which was interesting and thorough and I appreciated both the tour and dinner. Took a cold water shower and later Windtalker tried to give me a ride to get us beer, but the ways around the monastery were chained! That¢s all right, I had some Chivas and Night Owl had something and us and Widget stayed up a bit. Woke up to a misty, scattered showers, foggy day and that¢s OK, I just walked along in my thoughts or listening to my new headphones and plugged away 18.9 miles to this here RPH Shelter. I went a little far because of the damp weather, and Night Owl, Widget, and a section hiker are here. It¢s a great shelter next to a road and we called for pizza and right now Night Owl¢s gone hitched out for beer. I¢m kind of glad to have been able to listen to FM radio today; the first half I just thought about the possible ways to spend the next few years, of which I have a few different paths that I can¢t seem to choose between, so it gets a little frustrating!   -applejack-
Date: 2013-06-04
From: Spy Rock Road

To: Hanging Rock Overlook
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: few clouds

The day of rest did a world if good for my foot (and my attitude). Also a friend, "Coach," who I hiked with from before the NOC to Fontana showed up at the B&B last night and showed me some stretches that she believes will help my foot, and my shins too. Something sure has helped, thankfully. Earl, from the Dutch Haus shuttled a group of us back to the trail this morning. (By the way, you want to schedule at least one night at the Dutch Haus. Lois and Earl are just fantastic hosts and treat you like kin folks). We stayed together, loosely, until we got to Spy Rock where we climbed up to the top and took pictures then everyone took off at their own pace.I wanted to get to Maupin Field shelter but the rock climb up Three Ridges Mountain slowed my progress due to the boulder fields I had to climb. My last three miles took three hours to navigate and I simply ran out of time! I will probably go into Waynesboro on Thursday. There is an outfitter there and I need to get some things...and resupply. And, a shower would be nice.On-On
Date: 2003-08-02
From: RPH Shelter

To: ? Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Sat 2 August 2003   RPH Shelter to ? Shelter         9 miles Another overcast, scattered showers day. I heard the forecast for the next few days is the same. So for the today and tomorrow I had a 9 mile and a 16.6 mile day, which I choose to stop at 9 today, mostly because of the water source. Widget is to be spending time with people in CT, so he went more miles, but Night Owl is here at this shelter. We got here and some group (we think it¢s a gay club) was hogging the shelter and we decided to tent down at the well pump. More thrus showed up, and got on their case about it and there are 4 thrus staying in the shelter. There¢s Superfoot and Tucker, big mile days guys who¢ve caught up, and Kilroy & Chilly Willy. Night Owl and I have just thought up an impulse addition to the schedule; a possible jump out tomorrow to go see an Allman Bros. Concert, we¢ll see. I¢m going to listen to my radio and see if I can find out what the venue is called and we¢ll have to see how far away it is as it¢s somewhere in CT. We are close though, only 17 miles by trail to the border. Spoke to friends today, Adam and Gloria, and its good to hear that things are going well for them and they are in good spirits and such, as I like to hear the like when I call anyone else. Should see a good number of friends at visits before I¢m through.   ¢applejack-
Date: 2013-06-05
From: Hanging Rock Overlook

To: Paul C. Wolf Shelter
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: clear sky

I hiked extra miles yesterday and today so I could position myself to get into Waynesboro as quickly as possible in the morning to get to the outfitter and resupply. All the motels are on the far side of town from the outfitter so I'm not sure if I will be staying overnight. Depends on availability of transportation.I came upon two hiking friends this morning that were trying to contact a relative for assistance. The daughter, Squatch, had slipped yesterday while getting water. At the time she did not notice any problems but this morning her Achilles was hurting so bad she could barely walk. She is going to take a few days off and see if it gets better. That's how quickly a good hike can turn sour. Today's hike was a lot more boulder and rock hopping like yesterday. At one point I was only making one mile per hour. Thankfully this afternoon the trail improved and I was able to make it to the shelter by 6 pm, plenty of time left to get chores done then visit with other hikers at the shelter before retreating to my tent for the night. Last night I was so tired I fell asleep with my book in my hands. When I woke up my headlamp was still on! I did not look to see what time it was but it could not have been too long because my batteries were still strong.My foot is pretty much the same as yesterday. I can tell it is right on the edge, but, so far it's doing okay. I try to watch where I put it down and if I see a rough patch I will try putting it down in the smoothest part. I hate having to baby the thing but that's the best I can do right now. I am enjoying my hike and having fun so it would be a heavy blow to end on a sour note. Although...when I started this hike I told myself I would just take it one day at a time and let the trail dictate my hike and not try to get tunnel vision to put in miles because that is what ended my hike in 2010 and was such a blow to my ego that it took six months to pull myself out of the pit of depression I fell into.On-On
Date: 2003-08-04
From: ?

To: Stewart Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: light rain

Mon 4 August 2003 ? to Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter 19.7 milesWell, today I had a cheeseburger and a pint of Ben/Jerry¢s, had a nice conversation with Bob and now I¢m at Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter in good company of a thru named Charity, who¢s doing this trip and raising thousands of dollars for brain cancer research or something. That¢s the good points of today. There¢s been scattered thundershowers and I lost the trail for a half hour, so instead of my high hopes of breezing through this Connecticut section in 2 days of 27 miles each, I¢ll do it in 2 12 days, after today¢s 19.7 miles. I¢m really looking forward to Massachusetts not only because of the meetings with people I¢ve not seen in months, but I also look forward to the hike through the Berkshires with the evidence of settlement few centuries ago with buildings that date to the revolutionary war era and the stone walls and such. It¢s probably the first state that I¢m looking forward to like this. Pretty much Connecticut is the least looked forward to for me. I don¢t care for the classy, snobby people; they have rules like camping only at campsites and absolutely no fires with ridge runners to patrol this, as well as other reasons. I could just as well have yellow-blazed it but then I couldn¢t claim walking the entire AT. So I¢ll just breeze through as quickly as comfortable. It seems to me that even the CT native thrus don¢t contest my point of view, so I¢ll just write what I want, so there! Sorry, must be the crummy weather affecting me. ¢applejack-
Date: 2013-06-07
From: Waynesboro

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0

Boring day. Laying around. Watching the rain. Visiting with other hikers. Watching TV. Reading. Anything to stay off my feet as much as possible. The pads I bought, to go in my shoes, didn't work out. I wore them on a trip to lunch and wound up pulling them out before I got back to the motel. Nine bucks down the drain. Frank and Veronica (Second Place and Pacemaker), the couple I hiked with in the beginning, messaged me today that the trail through SNP is easier on the feet so maybe I can heal a little. I'm heading back out in the morning. The weather looks like it will be clearing through the weekend. On-On
Date: 2003-08-05
From: Stewart Hollow Shelter

To: Limestone Springs Shelter
Miles today: 22.3
Weather: light rain

Tues 5 August 2003   Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter to Limestone Springs Shelter   22.3 miles A pretty good day today, one good for making 22.3 miles toward putting CT behind you. It rained some during only my last hour walking to this Limestone Springs Shelter; so, I was able to dry my shoes today, which is good. It¢s raining something mean tonight and I¢m happy to be in a shelter. Sniper, Loser & Roman Around are here as well as a SOBO named Mainiac. Loser brought a guitar and they¢re singing now, it¢s pretty good. I finally had the can of chili Joli gave me back at the Water Gap. I was starting to wonder why it¢s been carried along for 11 days. I¢m quite happy about expecting to reach Mass tomorrow, though I called out that if it¢s raining like this tomorrow I¢m taking a zero. Maybe I would actually do that!   -applejack-
Date: 2013-06-08
From: Waynesboro

To: Stealth Camp, Skyline Dr MM 92.1
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: scattered clouds

The shuttle, with Trail Angel "Santa's Helper" was supposed to pull out at 9:15 this morning. I have no idea when it actually left though. As we were getting loaded for the trip it started to sprinkle and everything got pretty hectic what with everyone trying to get gear, and bodies into the van before we all got wet. It was actually pretty funny if you were not a participant...but I was. Almost as soon as we pulled out on the street the bottom dropped out and it rained hard. It stayed that way as we got out of the van at Rockfish Gap and filled out our permits the government requires us to fill out so we can hike in the Shenandoah National Park. Yep, our government at work again. The only other place you have to have a permit is...another government park...(the Smokies). Nowhere else that I know of. We filled out our permits in the pouring rain to the best of our ability. I doubt that anyone's was legible because there was no roof over the kiosk where we had to complete the paper work. After we deposited our slips in the box we were off and slip sliding up the trail. Due to the late start I was a little hesitant about choosing a destination for the day. The first shelter,,oops I meant Hut (they are called huts in the SNP) was only seven miles out of town. I would be there in only four hours but I knew I would not make the next one, it was thirteen miles further out and would make a twenty mile day. Not doable for me, not with a ten am start. When I left the first hut I decided I would hike until six pm and stop where that led me. So,, here I am at an anonymous campsite somewhere near the Wildcat Ridge on the SNP. On-On
Date: 2003-08-06
From: Limestone Springs Shelter

To: Hemlocks Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: light rain

Wed 6 August 2003   Limestone Springs Shelter to Hemlocks Shelter      17.5 miles Feeling pretty grateful today. Got in the 17 12 originally projected miles today before the thunderstorm came through at about 5. Also crossed the state line into Massachusetts to leave Connecticut in the past. Not much to say today, saw some trees, shrubs, views, ate some food, blah blah blah. Really nice shelter tonight, at the Hemlocks Shelter, a pretty young one with bunks and a loft. Plenty of company here, Chemo, Sniper, Thoreau, Wanderer, a section hiker, and soon to join us Loser and Roman Around. An even 8 miles left tomorrow to get to the highway where I¢ll go to Great Barrington to stay with friends Peter and Gussie, which will be great. Here¢s to food and the other luxuries of town!   -applejack-
Date: 2013-06-09
From: Stealth Camp, Skyline Dr MM 92.1

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: light rain

Today was great as far as mileage goes but it was a very frustrating day. Everything started fine, I started hiking at 6:30 and had covered ten miles by 11:30. I stopped off at a picnic area to get water after seeing a sign that said potable water was available and ran into a car club of vintage Austen's. I asked them about their cars and they asked me about my hike. The old cars were 1929 and 30's models and were hand cranked to start. They were little bitty things compared to modern cars. I missed two turns on the trail that caused me to hike an extra 1.3 miles...something NO thru-hiker ever wants to do. Then, I was supposed to meet someone for lunch at a wayside restaurant but missed the turn for that. Then, at the second turn I decided after starting down a steep trail that maybe I wasn't all that interested in lunch. Besides, what with the missed turns earlier, I figured I had missed my lunch partner so I turned around and hiked back to the trail, only to run into him! Turns out we were supposed to meet at the store, not the restaurant. I wound up eating a handful of jerky and some crackers. Not satisfying when I was looking forward to a Cheeseburger!I ran out of steam about mid afternoon, probably from not eating enough lunch, and finally found a campsite at 4:30 and decided to put my feet up and call it a day. The next wayside restaurant is 20 miles away, maybe I can make it there for dinner tomorrow. Now the most frustrating thing of all!! I lost my spoon!! That's the second time I've done that. That's the ONLY utensil I carry, other than a pocket knife, so I will have to make my dinner and breakfast pretty watery tomorrow so I can drink it out of the pouch! LOL!Also, I nearly stepped on a copperhead to top everything off! I only looked away from the trail for an instant and when I looked back down, there it was. I did another one of those high kick dances and it moved right off the trail. I have always heard that Copperheads are pretty aggressive but this one only wanted to get away from me...and I was glad of that!On-On
Date: 2003-08-07
From: Hemlocks Shelter

To: Great Barrington
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Thurs 7 August 2003   Hemlocks Shelter to Great Barrington      8 miles Woke up in the middle of last night- usually I can sleep through anything, but Loser had a mean cough attack going on. Then there was Wanderer puking sick last night and I was eager to take off early this morning. Anyone who knows me knows I avoid any cold like it¢s the thrax. Today¢s 8 miles had early views voided by fog, some steep descent, and a couple of miles of blitzing through swamps to outrun mosquitoes. Hit Rt. 7 and towards Great Barrington. Lunch at the Peppercorn, half gal ice cream at Big Y and take the bus to Peter & Gussie¢s place on the other side of town. Clean up, swim with Peter, hot tub, internet, chill. Phone calls, use bicycle to go to town for a great steak sub and a cheap 6 pack of millers. Riding back paper sack breaks, beer cans all over road in busy intersection. Feeling like I did something wrong, duh? Grab 2 & ditch 3 and take off. I think even half of this day beats whatever I did last year on August 7. -applejack-
Date: 2013-06-10
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Swift Run Gap
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light rain

As I lay in my tent last night I kept getting disturbed by what I thought was hikers shining their headlights on my tent as they made the turn at the intersection for the shelter...er,er, Hut. I had found a flat spot right at the intersection so I was not surprised that I was getting "flashed," but when the rain started later in the night I put it together that I had been seeing lightning and not headlamps. It's just that in my sleep induced fog I did not comprehend what was actually happening. I slept late this morning, waiting to see if the rain was going to end but, finally, Mother Nature forced me out of my cozy bed and onto the rain and that's when things went south. My tent does not have a vestibule so unzipping the rain fly let's in the elements, namely rain. So, even though I zipped everything back up, the process of getting out, and back into, my tent in a pouring rain was self defeating. Everything that was not soaked was at least damp. So, I packed up everything I could inside the tent and then rolled up my tent and ground cloth and set out on today's journey in the pouring rain. Very few hikers were on the trail today. The smart ones stayed holed up in the huts. But, I was already wet so I didn't see that I had anything to loose by hiking on. When I got to the Hightop Hut, 8 miles away I ran into "Mario and Tina" (a young German couple), "Sparky #2" and his daughter "orange Peel." Tina was telling Sparky that the Lewis Mountain Campgrounds & Cabins were closed because of water problems. This was my destination for today so, of course, a new plan began to develop. We all decided to call a motel in Elkton, VA that had rooms available and agreed to come pick us up, so, we hiked out to US33 and was only there a few minutes when the shuttle arrived to pick us up. Sparky 2 and Mario ordered Pizza and I walked down to the local Country Store and picked up some beer and we all sat in front of the Motel and shared Pizza and beer. At the top of Hightop Mountain Tina announced that we had just passed our 900 mile mark!! We all hoorayed, did high fives and generally celebrated. Actually, we all acted like kids,, rather foolishly, it was fun. On-On
Date: 2003-08-10
From: Beartown State Park

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

Sun 10 August 2003   Beartown State Park to Upper Goose Pond Cabin   17 miles Well that was an interesting good-bye this morning. Ma was looking like she was so proud and watched as I walked back off into my world. A parting to two different worlds. I walked all day, save for 15 minutes for lunch, the 17 miles to the Upper Goose Pond Cabin. It of course rained off/on all day, and I have a new discomfort. There¢s a point in my back that can get irritated and while at Peter & Gussie¢s I went in their hot tub, which has quite powerful jets. They massage one¢s back and such, but I think it also irritated that spot on my back for the first time this trip. So here and there today my back would knot up, which can detract from the natural surroundings some of my precious little attention. I¢m hoping it subsides soon. Hungry is the only thru here that I¢ve met before, there are about a half dozen thru¢s and about that many section hikers. One of the section hikers got me into a conversation where he was pushing his religion and I gave him some time to speak, but I don¢t forecast myself running for a church. Tomorrow should be great- I walked extra miles today, so tomorrow is only 11 miles. There¢s pancakes for breakfast tomorrow, the caretaker said as many as you can eat! Apparently he¢s been here before a few years- the AMC runs this cabin and volunteers get to play the caretaker role a week a year turns. Being on goose Pond, I went for a short swim. A fellow who is doing a documentary came down to the water and asked Hungry to swim for his camera. I was joking around and then I said, ¢You¢re not recording sound, are you?¢ Later he asked me if he could interview me shortly in the morning, and I told he may not get any answers any more intelligent than what I had said earlier! He didn¢t mind.   ¢applejack-
Date: 2013-06-12
From: Big Meadow Campground

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: light rain

I spent the night in a shared campsite with Wolfgang and Cookie at the Big Meadow Campground. It seems strange to pay for a campsite when camping along the trail is free. I doubt I will do it again though because car campers are not on the same schedule as hikers and have no idea what "hiker midnight" means.It takes a while for 71 year old ligaments, tendons, muscles and joints to all coordinate and get on board. Mercifully the trail started out with a slight downhill which let me warm up and get ready for the first major climb of the day at 3640 feet. It wasn't the highest climb of the day, though, as the climb to the Stony Man Summit would top out the day at 3837 and which is also the highest point on the SNP according to my guide book.I hiked to Skyland Resort to eat lunch but had to wait until noon for it to open and about the time it DID open five more hikers showed up so we had a big table filled up. As I mentioned before, food in the SNP is very expensive, lunch cost me twenty one dollars. Today was so hot and muggy I guzzled water like it was going out of style. I don't think I have caught up yet. And, the bugs have come back out with a vengeance. I have new bumps to go with the old scabs that were mostly healed. Another hiker "Headstand" passed me and after seeing the swarm of bugs hovering over his head I decided it was time to put my hat on and leave it on to protect my scalp from the bloodthirsty little savages!My feet are so sore I can't even describe how they feel, I don't think I have ever seen so many rocks. Olive, who lives in Pennsylvania told us tonight that "you ain't seen nothing yet!" "The best of PA is like the worst of Va." Oh my poor feet! ON-ON
Date: 2003-08-12
From: Cookie Guy's Garage

To: Crystal Mtn Campsite
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

That was great staying in that garage last night while the weather was storming. This morning got an earlier than usual start to deal with the trail, in some places quite flooded from the rains. I found myself leaping and climbing to avoid what I¢m sure most people did, give up and stomp through the water. Bingo & Trucker are really being tested by the rains, they are considering quitting. I could understand ¢ they¢ve had much more rain to their trip than I¢ve had. Met Doc, Llama and their dog Coy when almost to Dalton. They said they were heading to a pub so I of course said, ¢Ooh, there¢s a pub in Dalton?¢ and not so reluctantly went along for some beers and a fantastic burger with Worcestershire sauce oozing out of it at this pub called Shamrocks. While inside the rain came down heavy for a while and I heavily contemplated staying in town. Over to the store for HGIC (my new journal acronym for half gallon ice cream), which helped sober up my 3-beer, buzz and the rain stopped to let through some sun and I was ready to hike out. It¢s sort of beginning to seem like I¢m settling into the hiker community as I¢m going about the same pace as others, people I hadn¢t prior met have heard of me, and the amount of hikers in my vicinity is as large as ever. I finished the day at 14.3 miles making again my destination, Crystal Mtn Campsite, where I met 3 more thrus, Tom for Short, Alpha & Trench. Tomorrow on to the state¢s highest elevation on Mt Greylock. I¢m writing by the penlight on my radio, it¢s really bugging me how pathetic the mini-maglight is I have. Even with a new battery it isn¢t much good. It leaves me hoping I don¢t have to get out to go to the privy at night!   -applejack-