View Full Version : Shaker Campsite
The Shaker Campsite about 10 miles south of Upper Goose Pond now has a bear cable for hanging food. I don't believe there have been bear problems there, but bears have been sighted there. Anyway, if you camp there you can save youself the trouble of hanging your own bear bag.
cascader
10-30-2005, 19:19
Stopped by Shaker campsite last weekend on my way back from Mt Wilcox N shelter to MA 20, where I'd parked.
Campsite is in great condition--better than last yr, when there was a fair amount of trash there.
The bear cable was jammed when I got there, but it's now working again.
Nice campsite, except for the noise you get from the farms down in the valley--cars, dogs, cows!
This campsite isn't noted in the companion MA-CT maps of 8th edition of the AT Trail Guide. Can someone please supply the GPS coordinates? The various lists of Shelter way points do not include independent campsites, as far as I can tell.
Thanks,
Walt
Stopped by Shaker campsite last weekend on my way back from Mt Wilcox N shelter to MA 20, where I'd parked.
Campsite is in great condition--better than last yr, when there was a fair amount of trash there.
The bear cable was jammed when I got there, but it's now working again.
Nice campsite, except for the noise you get from the farms down in the valley--cars, dogs, cows!
Jack Tarlin
01-21-2006, 17:47
OK spot, but folks should be aware that in recent years, this has been (except for maybe Tom Leonard shelter near Great Barrington) about the most bug-ridden place on the whole Trail. If you're in mid-summer, bring MAXIMUM strength Deet or you'll be using the new bear cables to hang yourself.
Jack-- Thanks for the advice. Actually I was interested for winter use. I was unaware of the existence of this campsite when I planned an intended Great Barrington -- N Adams NoBo section hike, which aborted 16 Jan when I saw I couldn't make shelter to shelter distances on snowshoes in daylight on the stretch from Mt Wilcox to Upper Goose Pond. (Thread on Straight Forward). I wanted GPS coords because I found I had to bushwack in places.
Walt
mark schofield
09-16-2007, 18:08
I stayed there on 9/10. There is a bear box, privy, 2 tent platforms, and enough open space for ground tents also. Stream is about 1 minute north on the trail. It was running even though the dry weather. Not any mosquitoes, also probably because of the dry weather. The place was clean and maintained. My thanks to the trail crews. Mark S.
Undershaft
04-12-2008, 15:39
Nice spot. Well maintained and quite popular the nite I stayed last summer. The skeeters weren't too bad, but I retreated to the hammock early that night. Some neat old rusty farm equipment abandoned among the underbrush next to the cleared campsite. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=23813&c=570
wystiria
09-15-2008, 11:38
stayed here with 2 SOBO friday sept. 12th. nice spot! but beware of the mouse family in the register box!
all the streams were running well in this section - this late summer/fall in NE has seen a lot of rain!
Woke up here Monday Morning.
Coordinates are approximately 42.25213, -73.22431
A sign on a tree points "Shaker Campsite Privy." It should read "Shaker Campsite And Privy" because we walked right past it thinking it was only the privy and that the campsite would be denoted a little better.
Two platforms are roughly 7.5'x7.5'. Bear box is still in good condition. Looked like some genius was hanging bear-bags directly in between the two platforms.
If you're going Northbound, try not to get water from the streams just after North Mt. Wilcox shelter, the streams were loaded with nitrates. There are some small streams a couple hundred feet northbound on the trail.
http://imgur.com/z0LeO.jpg
Totem,
Thanks so much for the GPS data. It's taken more than 3 years for someone to happen by the site in a GPS sort of mood. In blizzard conditions on snowshoes the information can be pretty handy. And thanks for the image.
Happy Trails,
Walt
Woke up here Monday Morning.
Coordinates are approximately 42.25213, -73.22431
A sign on a tree points "Shaker Campsite Privy." It should read "Shaker Campsite And Privy" because we walked right past it thinking it was only the privy and that the campsite would be denoted a little better.
Two platforms are roughly 7.5'x7.5'. Bear box is still in good condition. Looked like some genius was hanging bear-bags directly in between the two platforms.
If you're going Northbound, try not to get water from the streams just after North Mt. Wilcox shelter, the streams were loaded with nitrates. There are some small streams a couple hundred feet northbound on the trail.
http://imgur.com/z0LeO.jpg
Not a problem. Also verified the location using, satellite imagry, which clearly shows the Shaker Farmhouse wall (in the background of my pic) on the satellite shots.
http://imgur.com/4j9Jy.png
http://imgur.com/xSkRp.png
http://imgur.com/OAqF1.png
The privy is the white dot touching the top of the red ring.
srestrepo
03-05-2010, 18:52
Hey how much of a hike is this from teh road?
srestrepo
03-05-2010, 18:58
it just looks like on the map that there is a road, jerusalem road which is right near this shaker campsite. just curious how much of a hike it is from the road and if there's parking there... i just need a quick night away in front of a fire...
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/8/7/5/5/img_0100_thumb.jpg (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=23028&catid=member&imageuser=8755)
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/8/7/5/5/img_0100_thumb.jpg (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=23028&catid=member&imageuser=8755)
How does this fit into the topic discussion?
Looks like a cute little white-footed-I-carry-Lyme-disease-ticks mouse (common shelter mouse).
Prettywoman0172
09-22-2010, 18:43
Stayed here Saturday Sept 17 and it was nice and quiet. Well kept.
A
rainmaker
09-22-2010, 23:39
Stayed here Saturday Sept 17 and it was nice and quiet. Well kept.
A
Glad to hear it is still there. The week before you were there my wife and I stopped for a brief lunch and were entertained by about twenty freshmen college students trying to figure out how to rig a tarp for the lot of them. They were on some sort of Ivy League freshmen orientation. While the coed tarp was being assembled, one fellow was gathering firewood and breaking the larger branches against the old wall, loosening some of the stones. As we proceeded north, we ran into two additional groups of ten also on the way to Shaker.
Yes, the "College Season" laid waste to a number of overnight sites in Mass this season. At Wilbur Clearing a group from Yale washed their dishes in the water source (which is pretty feeble since we are down about 7" in rain this year). They used diswashing liquid 'tho, so the water wasn't greasy.
Regretfully, there is little we can do to punish and/or educate these groups, short of having caretakers at every site the last week in August through Labor Day. And in truth, most of the groups are pretty well behaved (as well as a dozen over-privileged post adolescents can be on their first big hike)--and lest you think I'm overgeneralizing, I teach at one of those schools.
The Yale organizers did get a terse letter, but hey, it's not like we can guard all the trailheads and send them back to New Haven.
Cosmo
Glad to hear it is still there. The week before you were there my wife and I stopped for a brief lunch and were entertained by about twenty freshmen college students trying to figure out how to rig a tarp for the lot of them. They were on some sort of Ivy League freshmen orientation. While the coed tarp was being assembled, one fellow was gathering firewood and breaking the larger branches against the old wall, loosening some of the stones. As we proceeded north, we ran into two additional groups of ten also on the way to Shaker.
Bags4266
09-23-2010, 20:14
If you're going Northbound, try not to get water from the streams just after North Mt. Wilcox shelter, the streams were loaded with nitrates. There are some small streams a couple hundred feet northbound on the trail.
Manwich, enlighten me, I don't feel like researching nitrates, is it bad or good and how do you know?
rainmaker
09-23-2010, 23:06
Yes, the "College Season" laid waste to a number of overnight sites in Mass this season. At Wilbur Clearing a group from Yale washed their dishes in the water source (which is pretty feeble since we are down about 7" in rain this year). They used diswashing liquid 'tho, so the water wasn't greasy.
Regretfully, there is little we can do to punish and/or educate these groups, short of having caretakers at every site the last week in August through Labor Day. And in truth, most of the groups are pretty well behaved (as well as a dozen over-privileged post adolescents can be on their first big hike)--and lest you think I'm overgeneralizing, I teach at one of those schools.
The Yale organizers did get a terse letter, but hey, it's not like we can guard all the trailheads and send them back to New Haven.
Cosmo
Cosmo,
Most of the groups were pretty well behaved and more or less polite though ignorant of trail manners. The crowd from Amherst and Princeton though were definitely rude and loud. BTW, I loved your town and will be back there next year to finish my walkabout to Baxter. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Massachusetts. Great state and friendly people.
Wanderer0131
07-15-2011, 20:44
While hiking the Mass AT this week, just north of the Shaker campsite I noticed a brand new bear sign tree. It's a ~4" red pine right next to the trail. About 5' up the trunk the bark is all chewed off and teeth marks are showing as well as bits of fur. A bear is definitely telling all who will notice that he/she is in the area. So I strongly suggest you keep an eye on your pack (do not leave it unattended) and use the bear box if staying overnight at Shaker. Also, if you see a cub, check to see where mama is and don't get between the 2!12309