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  1. #1
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    Default Crampton Gap Shelter - MD

    Info, questions, comments, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Crampton Gap Shelter

    Past/Present hikers - what can future hikers expect here? Have any good stories or memories from here?

    Future hikers - any questions?

  2. #2
    Future AT Bag Lady Mini-Mosey's Avatar
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    02-28-2003
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    Central Maryland
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    Default

    I've seen the shelter-seems to have a nice little set-up with a wooden bridge leading to the privy. It, too, is older, like Rocky Run. There's a pretty nice tenting area above the shelter, but you can hear noise from the town on one side at night.
    mini-m.

  3. #3

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    I am the overseer of Crampton Gap Shelter. In the last two years there was a12x12 deck added to the front of the shelter with a built in table and bench and the shelter was painted inside and out. There was a cooking fire ring installed and in Dec. of last year with the help of a scouting group there was a new outhouse installed.

  4. #4
    Hammock and Bicycle camping Crash's Avatar
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    04-06-2003
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    Default Great Shelter

    I spent a long lunch there on my section hike and really appreciated the deck that was built there. the place was clean and well kept. I like that style of shelter in the cold weather when I do stay in a shelter. THANX for a great place to stop and all your hard work.
    When the Trail calls you,
    its not on your cellphone!

  5. #5

    :banana

    I stayed there in April with Blue Duck and that place is a palace compared to what it was in 2000. The overseer and the trail crew did a fantastic job there, it really is nice. Now if only they could get the cows and dogs downhill at the farm to shut up during the night and kinda of detour the smell that wafts up during the heat of the day, that place sure would be heaven.

  6. #6
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    Default Crampton Gap shelter

    A lot of the Blair Witch movie was shot just down the hill in Burkittsville, MD. Maybe those are not all "natural" sounds drifting up the mountain at night. BTW, there are walking tours of the movie's filming location. I imagine the staff at Gathland State Park (on the AT, at the War Correspondents memorial) have more information.

  7. #7
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    Thumbs up Very nice shelter

    Great little shelter ... this is one of the traditional, older log style shelters with some newer additions added to it, like a deck, updated privy, etc.

    We stopped here for an extended lunch back in October 2003 and ran into the overseer who was doing some patch work. It was obvious that he took a lot of pride in keeping the shelter in tip-top shape.

    Here is a picture of the shelter.

    Here is a picture of the nearby War Correspondent's Memorial
    Last edited by cryptobrian; 03-21-2004 at 11:19. Reason: Added picture

  8. #8
    Section Hiker, 625 miles & counting mooseboy's Avatar
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    Stayed at the tenting area (which is on the way down the hill to the shelter) in early May 2007. What hasn't gotten a lot of attention is that the Camping Area is really nice-- designated tentsites with actual plots of soft earth for easy staking.

    While the shelter looked pretty nice, it's a good thing I didn't want to stay in the shelter itself-- it had already been taken over by an overnight hiking group (it was only about 5 PM). There's a deck, the shelter is on a slope, and the spring is right next to it. Spring was flowing steadily in mid-Spring (no pun intended).
    --There is always more uphill.

  9. #9
    Registered User Undershaft's Avatar
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    Spring was only a small trickle a month ago. The privy could use a window. It was pretty dark in there. Porch was very nice. Took a long lunch break there.

  10. #10
    Registered User redtail's Avatar
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    01-01-2007
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    Middletown, MD
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    Hiked by there today. Spring was dry.

  11. #11

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    Anyone know if the spring is running a little better this fall after the rain we have had?
    Hope that I will be able to hike thru just as soon as I retire.

  12. #12
    Registered User Aesculus's Avatar
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    Default Recent Stay @ Crampton Gap

    I stayed at Crampton Gap on Groundhog Day a week back, and it is a very nice shelter. It was the first shelter that I have spent a night in, so I am not an expert on the subject. However, based on other lean-tos that I have slept in, this was very hospitable. The deck was also nice for spending the evening with some other hikers. The only mark against the shelter was the spring, which was a slow trickle, but due to some ingenuity, we were able to salvage some water from it. Most of the guides mention that the spring is "unreliable" so it was not a surprise.

    I have uploaded a few photos from the shelter in my pictures here on WhiteBlaze.

  13. #13
    As in "dessert" not "desert"
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    09-16-2007
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    The Spring was dry over Thanksgiving weekend of 2007. I really think they shouldn't say that this shelter has water at all, given its water problems.

  14. #14

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    Well, the good this about compton gap shelter, is a short walk away Gathland SP has clean water (given amenaties are open). There is a side trail going to the shelter from the parking lot so you dont have to hike back up the mtn to the AT.

  15. #15
    I hike, therefore I stink.
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    Crampton Gap is a good shelter, however, it is a popular destination since it's so close to the park. I've seen some large crowds up there in the past. Also...the Blair Witch is near there....
    If you don't have something nice to say,
    Be witty in your cruelty.

  16. #16
    GA - Central PA 1977
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ghost93 View Post
    Well, the good this about compton gap shelter, is a short walk away Gathland SP has clean water (given amenaties are open). There is a side trail going to the shelter from the parking lot so you dont have to hike back up the mtn to the AT.
    Compton Gap?..Oh man, sounds like a place you don`t want to be after dark ....That side trail is nice..Everytime I pass there going south I always just take that side trail down to the park and get back on the AT south from there..Why go all the way back up that hill just to come back down again on the other side when you can walk a level trail and end up the same place?.....I went the official route enough times that I feel fine taking the short cut from now on
    Sometimes you can't hear them talk..Other times you can.
    The same old cliches.."Is that a woman or a man?"
    You always seem out-numbered..You don't dare make a stand.

  17. #17
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    My buddy and I were doing a three day trip from PenMar to Harpers. Our second day was 20 miles from Ens. Cowall to Crampton Gap. About ten miles into that day from hell it started to rain, and the temp was dropping quickly. At about 5pm we passed Rocky Run shelter, which was under construction. Five miles to go. We passed a blue blazed trail that went WAY down hill, but the trail was UNMARKED! I ran down half way, but didnt see the shelter. We then made it to the park just as it got dark and realized that that trail was to the shelter. By that point we were so broke and at risk for hypothermia, that we decided not to go back to the shelter, but instead to hitch hike into town and stay at a motel. If it werent for some friendly people that gave us a ride, we would have been screwed. PLEASE REPLACE THAT SIGN!

  18. #18
    Virginia Tortoise
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    I did a hammock hang near this shelter this past weekend (9/13-14/2008). The spring was dry. However, you can get water from nearby Gathland State Park. It is .3 miles down a side trail to the right of the shelter. Had a great time at the Hammock Hang. No one was at the shelter that Saturday night.

  19. #19

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    Boy it was a HOT weekend for that
    Hope that I will be able to hike thru just as soon as I retire.

  20. #20
    2.17% and counting
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    Thanks for the update, mikec. I'm planning to stay there next weekend on a quick get-a-way trip.

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