There’s more to it than just hogging the shelters. The first night was at Carter Gap Shelter, where the old shelter is still standing, so I had space in the old one and didn’t mind them taking the new shelter. I simply walked up and asked -- is there another shelter here, and they said about 20 feet down the trail by the water. That’s all. We didn’t say anything else. The next morning after sleeping in late, they left before me and I went over to the new shelter to read the register. They started their entry by saying this strange man walked up last night and went over to "that old crap hole of a shelter" built in 1959, our shelter was built in 1998.
So in addition to putting words in my mouth that I didn’t say, including a "quote" with profanity that I didn’t use, they were bragging about their shelter being newer than mine in the same breath. Also by putting this in the register which I assume the teenage and preteen scouts read, they were teaching them to use profanity and to lie. I’m certain the entry was made by one of the 2 adult leaders, since he discussed the various years of experience of the 7 teenage and preteen scouts and named them.
But again my main point is, large groups of Scouts should not be using AT shelters. They could have split their group up into two, one starting at the south end of their hike and one at the north, so there would be space for solo hikers. Or they simply could limit the size of their groups if they intend to use the shelters.