Actually there is one that sits right on the trail. Cold Spring Shelter.Originally Posted by ed bell
On the AT? I would guess Zero.
What a dump!
Well its official and Ridge called it, there are 291 shelters on the AT. Thanks Ridge. So, if one were to flip then theoretically it would be possible to thru hike and stay in every single shelter in a single season. I see an opportunity here. Who’s up for the challenge?
Not familliar with it. The trail goes though it?
That's my dog, Echo. He's a fine young dog.
Shelters "on" the trail
Big Branch is "right on" the trail. It is about 16 miles south of Clarendon Gorge in Vermont. Thee is a great view of the brook just across the trail.
Rainman
Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons,
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.
- Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass; Song of the Open Road.
Cold Spring Shelter in the Nantahalas appera to have been built in the center of the AT, so I'd say that one is "on" the AT.
One note on the above comprehensive list. Kephart Shelter is about 2.5 miles off of the trail. I wouldnt even consider listing it as an AT shelter, unless you count hotels and bridge overpasses that require short hitchhikes into towns. Kephart is a GSMNP shelter, as is Mt. LeConte shelter and Laurel Gap shelter, both about 5 miles off of the AT. Laurel Gap would actually be easier to return to the AT than Kephart, which is a good 2000 feet below the trail ridgeline.
Thus, what distance off the trail is too much before it is not considered an AT trail shelter?
Also, anyone know how many their were historically, during certain decades. I assume that the numnber has risen greatly with the erection of new structures, but many have left us. False Gap Shelter on the AT in the eastern Smokies, Birch Spring Shelter in the far western Smokies beyond Fontana Dam, and Moore Spring Shelter on the old AT section by Gregorys Bald in the western Smokies. Not to mention, Spence Field, Silers Bald, and Icewater Springs for a brief time had two shelters at the same location.
Of course, I can only speak for the territory I know well (NC/TN), so I'm sure there are many more instances of decommisioned and removed shelters. A list would interest me though.
How about long gone fire towers on the AT? Standing Indian Mountain, White Rocks Mountain, Temple Hill in NC and TN alone.
I stopped into most of the shelters along the way this past summer while conducting site inventories for the ATC. I surveyed 252 shelters and missed 9. That's 261. I believe my ATC staff contact thought there were 263. No way are there 290 (or 289).
Tipper
Oh, and as a follow-up thought with respect to distance from trail...I typically avoided any that were greater then a half-mile off-trail, not because they weren't legitimate as potential AT overnite options, but because traveling that extra distance didn't always fit into my day's travel plans (or energy levels!). That said, some were definitely on a different trail then the AT.
Tipper
Just a point of interest for anyone considering staying at all shelters. In PA there are a few twin shelters within sight (or feet!) of each other. To technically stay at each shelter would mean some days would be really short! There are a few other places that would be really short days as well.
Good point, O.F. There are other places with "twin" shelters, such as Horns Pond, in Maine.
Likewise there are places where they built a new shelter but kept the old one standing, like Carter Gap in NC or Peters Mt. north of Duncannon.
And in the Smokies, there are shelters less than two miles apart, like Silers Bald and Double Spring.
And Antietam and Tumbling Run in PA, in addition to being twinned, are only 1.2 miles apart, so overnighting at ALL of these shelters is gonna slow you down some.
Then there are places where entirely separate shelters are even closer to each other...Kid Gore Shelter and Caughnawaga Shelter in Vermont are something like a tenth of a mile apart.
Anyone planning to overnight in EVERY shelter better plan on at least a 300 day trip!
I would suggest contacting MS via PM. I'm sure he could help.
That's my dog, Echo. He's a fine young dog.
When I was on my thru in 2002, I heard of an elderly couple that had started a thru in 2001 and was staying at every shelter. While still on the trail, I remember hearing that they had finished successfully in 2002 and that it took them 10 months. I haven't heard of them since and don't know if it is true or not. Anyone out there know?
So by extension, a hammock hung in a shelter must really suckhammocks suck morewolf
There are a couple of shelters in Maine with white blazes on the side, right on the trail.. Frye Notch comes to mind..
How many shelters are there at Katahdin Stream Campground? It could take you a few days to get thru there if you spent a night at each one!
There are 12 shelter/lean-tos
Thanks for the non-legal answer (oops, wrong thread!) Lone Wolf. With the need for reservations in Baxter and the possibility of not being able to reserve specific shelters at the campground, that might just kill anyone's plan to stay at ALL the shelters.
I've stealthed in a few of them over the years.
Does the Secret Shelter in NJ count?
On the other hand, how far off the AT can a shelter be, and still be counted. For example, the Old Job shelter in Vermont was on the AT before it the trail got relocated. Now it's a couple of miles off. Does that count? And if it does, how many shelters in GSMNP off the AT count?
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