Punchbowl Shelter (VA)

[Kerosene]

Made famous by an old National Geographic article, this basic 6-person shelter with uncovered picnic table and fire ring sits close to a small pond.

Located about a half-mile straight uphill from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Punchbowl parking area. There is a lot of tenting space, including a mowed area on the other side of the pond to accommodate heavy summer traffic.

Privy is fairly new as of October 2003 and located up hill to left of shelter. Spring was flowing slowly and clogged 3 different filters for 8 liters of water!

Click here (http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1736&password=&sort=1&cat=566&page=1) for a picture of the shelter.

[HappyAppy]

The pond at Punchbowl is FULL of very NOISY frogs! But there is a lot of tent space. I found the spring sluggish as well. The pond is not usable for drinking.

[firecracker1]

When I was here in 2001, there was a couple hiking in every evening during peak thru-hiking season to spread some trail magic. Fruit, veggies, brownies... yum. They were super nice and very efficient.
Some hated to frogs, but I kind of liked them.

[aaronthebugbuffet]

Frog legs are good.

[hopefulhiker]

It is a beautiful spot.I tented there in 05. I walked a ways for water, I remember. I remember lots of mosquitos too coming from the still water of the pond..

[Pokey2006]

If you camp there, bring your earplugs! It gets my vote as the noisiest spot on the AT!

I will say, though, that despite the noise (of frogs, crickets, and all kinds of crazy pond creatures), I did enjoy my stay there. I was the only one camped there that night, and it is a pretty spot.

[Rick Hancock]

Myself and some hiking buddies met a werid character here a few years ago. One guy hiked in before dark, and the rest of us came up appx midnight. My buddy and the hiker were awake and talking when we arrived. The guy was introduced as a thru-hiker and my friend had told him I was a thru-hiker. We started talking and it wasn't more than 30 seconds when I began to have doubts. He was carrying about 80lbs of gear, including a giant bedroll, a king size pillow case/foodbag, he was a chef from Colorado or from Florida, he started in Maine, he was looking forward to hiking through Kentucky, and when he reached the southern end of the trail in Alabama he wasn't sure what he would do. The next day was Saturday and he had conned my buddy into taking him into Glascow, I asked why he didn't just hike the 9 miles? He could get there way before midday closing. I tried to let my buddy know he was being shamed but the guy stuck to him like glue. That morning he drove him to Glascow and the small post office/ store. The guy left his pack in the back of the truck, went in, and several minutes later came back out. Stated his food/money drop hadn't arrived, wanted to know if my buddy could lend him $50.00! No way! He kept hemmin and hawwin and refused to remove his pack from the truck my buddy lifted it out and left him on the side of the road! When he met us I told him the guy was a sham, he replied next time just smack me so you know you have my attention!Rick

[flow]

Stayed here when a Scout back in 92-93. Read some log entries about cackling during the night. Then hiked up the Mtn to see the memorial for the lost girl. Even if the shelter entries were thruhiker joke, I will bypass when I am on this section in the future. It freaked me out.

[Tinker]

Tented near the pond back in 1975 on an overnighter. Good memories.
Back then I hiked in leather running shoes because I couldn't afford heavy boots. That's all changed now.:)

[Tinker]

Tented near the pond back in 1976 on an overnighter. Good memories.
Back then I hiked in leather running shoes because I couldn't afford heavy boots. That's all changed now.:)

[doggiebag]

I overnighted there last year. I didn't know about the creek that fed the pond ... drank the pond water ... still alive. But felt completely grossed out after finding the creek the next day. Looking back on it ... you'd kinda think that you'd taste the tadpoles or the frogs in the water - you really dont. Unless my mind is suppressing the fact.

[Thoughtful Owl]

Stayed here when a Scout back in 92-93. Read some log entries about cackling during the night. Then hiked up the Mtn to see the memorial for the lost girl. Even if the shelter entries were thruhiker joke, I will bypass when I am on this section in the future. It freaked me out.

Have stayed here many a time alone and with scouts from my troop. Have never heard anything but the frogs. This was my first time hearing about the memorial for the lost girl. Can you pm me and tell me more?

[bullseye]

Have stayed here many a time alone and with scouts from my troop. Have never heard anything but the frogs. This was my first time hearing about the memorial for the lost girl. Can you pm me and tell me more?

The lost boy is Ottie Cline Powell. His memorial is on top of Bluff Mt.

Camped here Memorial Day weekend 2007, had a coyote skirt the edge of the shelter area growling and yelping!

[Bilko]

I stayed at the Punchbowl this past July '07. I stayed with a group of Sunday school guys. They were only going out for a one night stay. They parked thier cars on the BRP and hiked to the shelter. They carried enough to stay out a week. They were a wild group of guys, nice but wild.

Someone in the group thought that I was Bear Grylis and started asking me alot of questions about killing animals and eating them. I went along with them, it was late at night, total darkness. I told them the only killing they would do tonight were to catch some of those frogs. We are went out to the Punchbowl and started looking for frogs. There were hundreds of them, hard to catch, but they were out there. I went back to the shelter to go to sleep. About 30 minutes later the guys (18-28 years old) came back with a couple of giant frogs.

They woke me up and asked me what to do next. I made my best Bear Grylis and Racheal Ray impersonnation and before you knew it we were eating frog legs.

It was very noisy that night and I had to wear my ear plugs. But I felt it was a little less noisy after roasting a couple of those big fellows.

[Thoughtful Owl]

The lost boy is Ottie Cline Powell. His memorial is on top of Bluff Mt.

Camped here Memorial Day weekend 2007, had a coyote skirt the edge of the shelter area growling and yelping!

Flow mentioned a memorial to a lost girl on up the mountain. (Read post #8 I think.) Bluff Mt. is no where near the Punchbowl.

[rafe]

It's a nice spot. Stayed there for a couple of hours waiting out the rain.

[Pedaling Fool]

Flow mentioned a memorial to a lost girl on up the mountain. (Read post #8 I think.) Bluff Mt. is no where near the Punchbowl.
Bluff Mtn is only ~1.5 miles south. I also think this is the memorial FLOW was talking about, despite his mistake about Ottie being a little girl.

[Thoughtful Owl]

I try to provide trail magic here at the punchbowl shelter. Have met a lot of great thru hikers.

[doggiebag]

Flow mentioned a memorial to a lost girl on up the mountain. (Read post #8 I think.) Bluff Mt. is no where near the Punchbowl.
The only memorial in that area is on Bluff Mountain a little under 1.5 miles south of Punchbowl. It's for Ottie Powell who was recovered at the top of Bluff mountain afte not returning from a firewood gathering trip for his schoolhouse. I'm glad I didn't know about the stories of hauntings at Punchbowl until tonight. Hope this helps.

[Pedaling Fool]

Here it is: http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=15411&original=1&c=member&imageuser=6936

[Thoughtful Owl]

Bluff Mtn is only ~1.5 miles south. I also think this is the memorial FLOW was talking about, despite his mistake about Ottie being a little girl.

Oops sorry guys it's late and I am not thinking straight. I was thinking about a place down near the Grayson Highlands that also called Bluff Mountain.
Yes, here in Amherst Co. we have Tobacco Row Mtn., Rice Mtn. Bluff Mtn. Punchbowl Mtn. etc.

[Thoughtful Owl]

Oops sorry guys it's late and I am not thinking straight. I was thinking about a place down near the Grayson Highlands that also called Bluff Mountain.
Yes, here in Amherst Co. we have Tobacco Row Mtn., Rice Mtn. Bluff Mtn. Punchbowl Mtn. etc.

And I failed to mentioned I have been to the Ottie Cline Powell memorial numerous times. I thought (was maybe hoping) that Flow had a lead on another memorial. These place always make great stories to tell scouts while setting around a campfire, and then when they don't believe your story you show them the memorial.

[doggiebag]

Here it is: http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=15411&original=1&c=member&imageuser=6936

I remember that memorial quite well, some memorials just have a way of tugging at your soul. Maybe it was because of my exhausted state or knowing what it's like to be cold and alone. Lot's of emotions went through me on my trek at a visceral level.

[Dogwood]

On a 95 deg swealtering summer day on my 06 AT thru-hike I decided to stop at nearby Buena Vista to pick up a bouce box and attend the Buena Vista Fiddlers Festival. Why the fiddlers festival? I don't really know. Maybe I was a fiddler in another life??? When I got to Glen Maury Park, where the festival was being held, someone gave me a free ticket to attend. I found out that the festival is one of the largest in the U.S., with people in attendance from as far away as ME and FL. The people were really nice. And even though I'm basically a classic rock kind of guy they were patient in explaining their music and were happy to play for me. I likewise enjoyed sharing my hiking stories with them. They were enthralled with my journey. In a short time I was invited to share in multiple dinner parties and lots of libations of every concievable type. After staggering out of the festival I finally found and started wandering up the 6 mile long dirt road that ledup to Punchbowl Shelter in the dark. Just then a Buena Vista Police Officer pulled up next to me and inquired about what I was doing. I told him I had come from the fidders festival and was hiking the AT. Not knowing if he was going to arrest me for vagrancy, committing a BUI(backpacking under the influence), or just because I was a yankee, he said , "get in". Of course I began getting in the backseat. He said, "no,this time you can sit in the front seat". In what seemed like a very long time, although it was more like 5 mins, he stopped the cruiser in the middle of the woods and said "get out and start walking in that direction". I wasn't sure if it was his intention after all to shoot me in the back, but I thanked him, and as I started wandering into the dark trail-less forest, he yelled out to me, "be careful of the bears" and "oh yeah, have a good hike". In short time I came across a trail that led to the shelter. Once at Punchbowl Shelter I met Grits, who was on the Dec 06 front cover of Journeys, concocting herbal tea from leaves, twigs, roots, and berries he scavenged from along the trail. I too, remember the serenading chorus of frogs, a warm campfire, good people, and drinking that delicious herbal tea at Punchbowl Shelter. ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

[bullseye]

I remember that memorial quite well, some memorials just have a way of tugging at your soul. Maybe it was because of my exhausted state or knowing what it's like to be cold and alone. Lot's of emotions went through me on my trek at a visceral level.

Thing that sticks with me is all the toys that people left at the memorial (matchbox cars and stuff). All the way around there were trinkets.

[flow]

I was hoping some regulars to the spot could say it was a long standing thru-hiker joke.

[Kerosene]

Here is another picture (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=1735&original=1&c=member&imageuser=3) of the Ottie Cline Powell monument covered in hiker offerings.

[dmb658]

i had to skip this shelter because i wanted to catch the tail end of some trail magic!

[GoldenBear]

Whether or not to stop at a specific shelter is a decision made based on innumerable factors, not the least of which is the availability of, and the ease of getting, drinking water. Looking at a map, it would SEEM that this place has plenty of that, since there's a pond right there. The above posts that talk about water at this shelter, however, make it clear that this pond -- no matter how much H2O is in it -- is not a good choice for drinking water. Based on my visit there two weeks ago, I'll try to help future visitors get the fluid they can use.

This schematic of the water situation at the shelter area
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=60248
-- most definitely NOT to scale -- gives an idea of where you will FIND water. I'll discuss the three options.

If you stand at the front of the shelter, the pond
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=60249
is easy to spot (indeed, impossible to miss) to the left. And even if you can't see it, the constant sound of frog croaks will alert you to the pond's presence.

The sights and the sounds of this pond should answer the question of whether or not you would want to try to even filter this water -- you DON'T. The water is greenish-brown and almost opaque -- and the cacophony of frogs should give you an idea of HOW it got that way. Yes, people have drunk water like this for millennia, and most have done just fine -- but (a) others have gotten sick and (b) digestive systems of most modern people are fortunate in never having to develop a resistance to the stuff in this pond. Basically, you won't need to be told to treat the water in this pond. Problem is, it's so thick that both filters and Steri-pen{R} are going to have problems removing the pathogens.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to the pond -- even if they are only BETTER alternatives, not necessarily perfect ones.

In front of the shelter is pretty thick brush, with two narrow trails going down to the stream that flows behind the bushes.
The trail to the left goes to a pipe that SEEMS to be a spring -- and the Thru-Hikers' Companion (2013) does state, "Water source is a spring by a tree next to the pond drainage in front and to the left of the shelter." However, this water is coming out of a large hole in this pipe, as if it has corroded through the metal a long time ago. The water coming out here, while it was flowing well, did not look much more appealing than that from the pond itself. Maybe that's because it (most likely) IS the water from the pond -- while there, I just assumed it was a spring water.
The trail to the right goes to a place where the water pools a bit as goes down the stream. Since there is a few inches of depth at this pooling, the silt level at the top of the water here is a LITTLE better than that coming out of the pipe. I decided that filtering -- the only approach I presently use -- is at least feasible at this point.

The Companion does note existence of a spring where The Trail crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 0.4 mile from the trail to the shelter, meaning it would be about 0.6 mile from the shelter itself. Not knowing how silty the water at the shelter would be, I did not look for this water -- even though I should have. Considering the low quality of the water right at the Punchbowl, it may be best to check out this latter spring before heading to the shelter.