View Full Version : Tumbling Run Shelters
Papa Bear
06-01-2003, 13:20
A pair of relatively new structures.
Here's (http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_2003_HF_Duncannon/aci) a picture.
And here's one (http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_2003_HF_Duncannon/acb) of the one reserved for snoring.
Pb
A very nice two shelter stay. One is marked snoring and the other is Non-Snoring. If you tent, you are in for a treat.. They have a WONDERFUL tenting area and a fantastic spring... One of my favorite places to stay. Clean and well kept!
Undershaft
06-25-2007, 16:00
I had a morning snack here at the end of may. It's one of the best maintained shelters I have seen. The caretaker does an outstanding job and its quite obvious they take a lot of pride in their work. The magazines were a nice touch.
Mishigami Manitou
07-05-2007, 15:12
Great shelter. Hung out with a trio of thru-hikers: Wolf Taffy (great banjo, dude), Lion, and Moon Goat (along with his trusty companion dog Otto). The only drawback is that the shelter is a quick jaunt up from the main road. As a result, we ended up with a group of 30 "at-risk" kids camping near the creek. Some were a little more "at-risk" than others. One in particular whacked a stick on the ground until at least 2:00 am - all while screaming the f-word at the top of his lungs. I think I slept an hour that night.
The spring is very strong here, and the water is great. I just hope that one of the delinquents didn't pee in the thing before I gathered my water.
The magazines were a nice touch
Not everybody, including me is going to think so. I have always stayed away from the "shelters suck" arguments. I have accepted the fact that they are here to stay. But to stock them with magazines, and other amenities is just plain ridiculous. This kind of crap needs to end now. There was a thread a while back about leaving religious literature in shelters. Most people were opposed to that. If any literature is allowed to stay then it all has to be allowed.
If you pack it in. then pack it out, damnit.
Lone Wolf
07-05-2007, 15:35
[FONT="]Not everybody, including me is going to think so. I have always stayed away from the "shelters suck" arguments. I have accepted the fact that they are here to stay. But to stock them with magazines, and other amenities is just plain ridiculous.
shelters are already ridiculous. a few magazines ain't gonna hurt
Undershaft
08-05-2007, 15:34
Religion is an inherently inflammatory subject, therefore I can see the objection to religious materials being left in shelters. I don't care for religious materials in shelters, however the magazines I referred to were copies of the local trail clubs newsletters and National Geographic. There were other amenities at Tumbling Run that I think every long distance hiker will appreciate like clotheslines and toilet paper in the privy.
shelterbuilder
08-05-2007, 16:07
shelters are already ridiculous. a few magazines ain't gonna hurt
At the risk of hijacking this thread, "pack it in, pack it out" is the best philosophy. "A few" of anything left behind can draw anything from critters looking for food or bedding material to homeless people who could be better served elsewhere. Magazines may seem harmless, but it sets the stage for other "stuff" that doesn't belong...turns nice shelters into dumps!:(
(Shelterbuilder climbs down from his soapbox now!)
I well understand the mess made when literature (of any kind) is left for mice in shelters. Tumbling Run is a nice exception in that a mouse could not get to this trail related reading material unless someone picked them up and put them inside the racks (or on the shelter floor for that matter). I met the caretaker (can't recall his name) and he checks on his shelter site often. I'm sure he removes any crap as he finds it (Thank You Sir) and he is probably the one who stocks the PATC and other related reading material in those neat racks in both shelters.
Toolshed
08-13-2007, 09:26
having maintained 2 lean-to's and outhouses for a few years, that were located close to a horse trail, I can attest that there is a lot of crap left behind needlessly by both backpackers and horsepackers. You may think that you are "helping" another hiker by leaving material you may find entertaining, but you are not only contributing to clutter in the outdoors, but assuming others have your same habits.
wpbucher
04-22-2008, 13:08
Passed by on April 21st. Great shelters. Awesome tents sites. Convenient spring. Sleep with the sound of water.
wystiria
05-28-2009, 11:27
Stayed 5/24 SH's in fabulous condition, floors recently polyed. lovely steam and spring!!! lots of tent sites. Spent the night in the "non snoring" SH with Left Toe.
the down side - this is CLOSE to the road!!!! and there were 3 families at this site. 2 camped in the tent sites and were great! 1 took over the "snoring" SH because their tent "wasn't oign to be ok in the rain" luckily no other NOBOers came thru that night!!
Spent a night hanging there with Wags on 5/20. Great shelter, and the spring there that came out of the rock face was good enough (and i was thirsty enough) that i didn't epipen it before drinking. Sleeping to the sound of water was good, but caused me to get out for bathroom breaks a couple times during the night. For may, i found it to be a little cooler than expected, but overall a great shelter.
I stayed there a few years ago and met the shelter manager. The privy was stocked with TP too.
yeah he came by in the morning and collected our trash. it was kinda sweet
Tumbling Run Shelters, what a nice place! The Twin Shelters have a polished look about them, they are off the ground and solid. The privy is clean and kept; great tenting area and the spring is fresh out of a metal pipe about 75 yards away. .
Tumbling Run has many trees however it is hard to find goods bear bag hangers without having your selected branch break. (LOL- go ahead LW)
We ended up being successful in getting all our bags up. All it would have taken in the night is for that wind to kick up a little and they would have all been on the ground. In here also this night of July 31 was “ELM” who we had a good discussion with. I am glad that “ELM” was a person willing to share his experiences. This AT is just as much about what makes the hiker as it is about hiking it, the newbies appreciated it.
The Hike out of Tumbling Run is a dozy. The Crew managed to get on top of ridge in timely fashion. Once we commenced from there, we ran into Kirk (or Kurt) who is Tumbling Run’s caretaker and his dog. (What a nice guy) I told him he was going to give Quarry Gap Shelter a run for the nicest shelter in this section, if not one of the nicest on the trail. As has been said before, only drawback is the distance to the road, being too close.
Enjoyed a night here on 10/06. Slept in the non-snoring shelter, though I'm pretty sure I should have been in the other. Nice setup. Shelter floors are finished better than the ones I have at home. Clotheslines were useful and happy to have the covered dining area behind the shelters. Enjoyed the whimsy of the doorbell on the privy. Water was fine there last week.
Cookerhiker
04-24-2011, 20:57
Stopped for lunch here on my recent Duncannon-to-Harpers Ferry section hike. Shelters in good shape, picturesque setting, used the closeline to dry my socks & shirt (it was a very unseasonably warm day for early April). Didn't check out the spring but filled my waterbottles from the Run.
Stayed here overnight on 6/16 with 5 thru hikers. Shelter was in excellent shape. The thru hikers said this was the best one they've seen since Georgia. Covered picnic table was nice and the thru hikers appreciated the clothes lines and pins. Spring was great. Privy provided 4 rolls of TP, hand sanitizer, and "new car scent". Firewood was provided and we had a fire going that night. A huge thunderstorn rolled in overnight and not a single leak in the non-snoring shelter. Great camp sites all around the shelter and stream area.