October Mountain Lean-to

[DebW]

This is a newer shelter with 4 bunks and a loft. Picnic table out front. Water is south on the AT. There is a bear hoist here - because of past bear problems, hikers should not hang food in the shelter.

[poison_ivy]

This has got to be the cleanest shelter I have ever seen -- especially since it is only a couple of miles from Pittsfield Road, so it probably gets a lot of visitors. Stream located right next to the shelter is running strong.

Register does have two reports of bears seen near the stream... however one of them isn't very believeable ... the author also reports seeing a grey wolf there as well.

-- Ivy

[Chef2000]

as of 2003 I have taken over the Maintenance off this shelter. In summer of 03 a new privy was hole was dug and the privy was moved. My goal is to have a new privy built within the next few years. The water source here is geneally pretty good. This spring I am going to upgrade it with a deep hole, with a dam so some water will be perserved, in case of drought. I am also responsible for the 4 mile section of the AT from County rd to Pittsfield road. Im scheduled to remove winter blowdowns on Easter weekend.

[cascader]

October Mtn lean-to was in great shape as of March 27-28 ('05). I backpacked in from Blotz Rd w/ my 10-yr-old daughter, thro about a foot of snow. Very few major blow downs on trail, tho' who knows what was under all the snow. No one had signed the shelter register for about a month. Stream was running well--fresh snow melt, no need to filter, and delicious. Animals have apparently stayed clear of the shelter over the winter--newspaper left by earlier hikers was untouched. A fine shelter--

[Tramper Al]

A wicked nice shelter on the MA AT. The loft is sweet. I spent a cold sleet-rainy night alone there one April honing my hypothermia-battling skills for further north. I may have seen a Yeti when I got up at 3 am, but I didn't want to write that in the register.

[wystiria]

Was there sat ngiht 4/26, shelter in great shape - and now thanks to a group of men camping there the fire pit is much improved! dug out and re-built in a stone u perfect for grilling. and they were planning on leaving at least a cord of wood at the shelter.

a day hiking couple spotted the local black bear at west branch road, however we had no problems.

many tent spots near the shelter.

[Wanderer0131]

Just a short heads up to hikers in the area. This shelter needs a new roof and will be getting one starting Sat. August 2nd. The job should be done and the shelter available for use by August 5th. So if you plan to be in the neighborhood on the 2nd or 5th of August (the actual project days), stop in and lend a hand with the work!

Wanderer (AT Volunteer)

[sofaking]

there is a very cool stump just to the left of the picnic table. it's about knee high and looks like a screaming monkey skull...i spent the night there alone (everybody else stayed at upper goose pond) and came up with a bunch of neat horror stories...and the thing seemed to stare at me while i was eating.

[HugeHill]

How is the water there this year? good?

[Cosmo]

So, this past Saturday, after a rainy morning cutting blowdowns between County Rd and October Mtn shelter, we get in for lunch to find that "somebody" has taken it upon themselves to cut down pretty much every hemlock tree under 6" in diameter throughout the campsite. Why they would do this when there is a whole damn forest of downed trees and branches (2009 ice storm) surrounding this shelter, I don't know.

True, that 99% of these little trees will probably be shaded out by the overstory of more mature trees and eventually die, but did they really need to leave 18" high hacked up stumps behind?

I just can't get my head around the idea that there are people on the AT who think like this. Why are they even out here? Ah, the "people's trail" indeed.

OK, Rant over.

Before you start thinking "boy scouts", it should be noted that the most recent visit by a scout troop, according to the register, was after the cutting had taken place.

At any rate, the privy has been moved to the other side of the bin, and we'll be in later this season to cut the stumps, install a bear box for food storage and take down the old, non-functioning bear cables. The trail is also clear of blowdowns from Rt 20 to Pittsfield Road (as of Saturday).

Cosmo

[canoehead]

Thanks Cosmo

[lemon b]

Was here and at Tom Leonard in the last couple of weeks. Both were very nice. Had to police up Leonard abit.