This shelter in the Smokys was renovated in June 2003 and is now really quite nice. The bear fence has been taken down and there is a side porch/cooking area. With the location (albeit windy) on a ridge with nice views (atleast when the leaves are not heavy), this is now my favorite shelter in the Smokys. As of October 24, the spring was flowing, but barely. Approximately 5 minutes per liter.

litre every 5 mins..not bad for mollies in late fall..when I was there oct 99..we got 6 litres all night...was barely dripping...

Great. Now we need a new pic. ;)

Coming soon. The film goes to the developer today.

We were there October 6, 2002 and the spring was flowing great. We caught enough water in a gallon zip lock bag in no time at all to bathe. It had just rained for 3 days prior though so that would make a difference.
I imagine the remodeled shelter is along the same lines as the others in the Smokies?

Yes, but the overhang is on the side,rather than in front.

The following is link to a picture of the renovated Mollies Ridge shelter----http://www.trailjournals.com/picview.cfm?sort=Title&from=trail&with=Appalachian%20Trail&id=31295

A pic of the remodelled Mollies Ridge shelter is on this site now:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1712&papass=&sort=1

Chris, (Or anyone)

Do you know how they get the material to the shelter site to do a major renovation like at Mollie's Ridge? Pack animals, helicopters or what?? It takes a lot of man hours to do shelter renovation like is going on through the Smokies.

I do not know, not having been to the park during any of the summer months. I'd be interested to know how much the park puts into the renovations. I know the design is done gratis, but who does the labor, and who provides the material?

I think the organization is The Friends of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Here's their website: Friends of the Smokies (http://www.friendsofthesmokies.org/)

Looking at their "needs" list they appear to have needed/put $14,000 towards the Mollies Ridge shelter renov. I bet if you emailed them they could tell you the rest of what you'd like to know.

Stayed there on May 18th (birthday hike). Phillip Royer designed this shelter and will be doing his magic on the Tricorner Knob shelter this June!

Could not find water source June 11, 2004. We followed the trail marked "water" about .3 mi and gave up. Everything was bone dry. Maybe we overlooked it, but I doubt it.

Could not find water source June 11, 2004. We followed the trail marked "water" about .3 mi and gave up. Everything was bone dry. Maybe we overlooked it, but I doubt it.

not very surprising..the water source at Mollies is not very reliable in summer

It is the nicest shelter in the park (but I haven't been to TriCorner Knob yet, it's getting a makeover as well). And a welcome site for those traveling south. I stayed there in May and two pair of hikers made reservations at Birch Spring Shelter except they weren't told it was now a campsite. They were forced to hold up there from Spence Field the previous night.

Stayed there on the last night of a 3-nighter going south to Fontana from Clingmans. Shelter was really nice, and holds 14 which was good since we had 6 thru-hikers with us, including 2 who had to hole up instead of pushing on to Spence due to dehydration. The site was really nice, plenty of grassy areas to hang out. No fence, two different sets of bear cables (6 cables total I think), but no privy and a bit of a hike to water. A very welcome sight coming in from Derricks Knob Shelter the night before.

Stayed there on the last night of a 3-nighter going south to Fontana from Clingmans. Shelter was really nice, and holds 14 which was good since we had 6 thru-hikers with us, including 2 who had to hole up instead of pushing on to Spence due to dehydration. The site was really nice, plenty of grassy areas to hang out. No fence, two different sets of bear cables (6 cables total I think), but no privy and a bit of a hike to water. A very welcome sight coming in from Derricks Knob Shelter the night before.

Oops. Should have noted that we stayed there last Saturday night (6-10-2006), and that at that time there were warnings of bear activity in the area of the park (but we didn't see any bears that night or really for the whole trip).