View Full Version : what to do at shelters
What do you hammock hangers do at shelters. I am not sure of all the trail but the Smokies are mandatory shelter stays????
So what are the options and how many other places are like that.
BEAS
Hang out. ;) Wait for the shelter to fill and then at dusk hang out your hammock. Pack out at first light. Plead ignorance if a ranger bothers you. At least, that is what I would do.
FanaticFringer
02-14-2008, 00:32
Hang out. ;) Wait for the shelter to fill and then at dusk hang out your hammock. Pack out at first light. Plead ignorance if a ranger bothers you. At least, that is what I would do.
What he said.
yep, just to that! it works...
thanks for the info. that is what i figured. mh hh will be ordered today. my valentine gift to me:)
Yes, Happy Valentine from me also.
Stealth hang.
:Dmy favorite way to hang:cool:neo
I met a thru hiker (her trail name had something to do with caves) who hung her hammock, not a HH, right inside the shelter. I once tied off one end of my hammock to one of the shelter posts, only to watch the post move when I put weight on the hammock, so I moved on! (I was not on the AT.
BirchBark
02-21-2008, 20:00
If there is a ridge-runner at the shelter, the choice to hang or not may not be in your hands. I came upon a shelter in the Smokies last year that had no less than eight people in it, and none of my pleas to the RR could sway his mind. I slept 45 minutes that night, for I was acclimated to my hammock and I don't carry a pad. Absolutely miserable.
I would suggest that you ask fellow hikers (especially those going the opposite way) if there are any ridgerunners around, and avoid the shelters where they are expected to be.
My plan for this year is to stealth-camp, unless I am 100% sure that the RR is not in the area.
No offense to Ridgerunners, who undoubtedly do a fine job. I respect them and I'm glad that they do what they do- it's just that I enjoy my sleep as well.
BB.
eat poop eat sleep eat pack up
eat poop eat sleep eat pack up
um, interesting parsing of words...
eat poop?
eat sleep?
eat pack?
up (up what? never mind)
:D
Sissygirl
02-21-2008, 22:58
Believing that Gaiter is taking LNT to new heights.
Hammock Hanger
02-21-2008, 23:03
eat poop eat sleep eat pack up
:p a few commas here would have worked, but would not have been as much fun....
Cheesewhiz
02-22-2008, 00:28
take ****s, cook dinner and move on
Cheesewhiz
02-22-2008, 00:30
If your in the smokeys during peak thru-hiker season do what I did, if you get to the shelter early just hang out. the shelter will probably fill up. right before dark go set up.
hammock engineer
02-22-2008, 15:12
Ridgerunners, they are on the AT? I saw one in 6 months. He was hiking north from fontana as I was hiking out of the smokies.
Hanging in the shelter is fun. The best are the old shelters with the huge tree beam running horizontal in the shelter. You can hang both of your suspension lines off it it.
saimyoji
02-22-2008, 17:01
In shelters: drink some wine, tell some story, sleep somewhere else.
Strategic
02-27-2008, 01:10
I love to stay at shelters, but not in them. I've even spent solo nights at shelters for the other conveniences (spring, privy, fire-ring, etc.) but hung nearby. Most places on the AT that's not a problem at all, as you can usually camp at a shelter site even in a tent. GSMNP is the problem, with their outmoded shelter rules. For there, I'll have to second the stealth advice, especially about waiting until dark to set up at a shelter. I understand the general "no camping" regs in many places, especially GSMNP, because the areas are sensitive and need protecting from campsites proliferating over the landscape, but shelters do the opposite by design; concentrating the camping so that it doesn't mar the land elsewhere. That's why preventing camping at a shelter simply makes no sense; that's why it's there!
johnbrainerd
02-27-2008, 23:04
Policy at the GSMNP is that thru-hikers are allowed to use tents and hammocks near shelters. They define a thru-hiker as starting and ending 50 miles on either side of the park. So just be a thru-hiker.
Policy at the GSMNP is that thru-hikers are allowed to use tents and hammocks near shelters. Only if the shelter is full. If it isn't full, you have to stay in the shelter.
Wise Old Owl
02-27-2008, 23:29
This total kills my idea of traveling with a solar powered drill and putting hooks for shelter driven Nobo's with hammocks.
applehaus
02-28-2008, 00:04
Thru-hikers are exempt from this policy. Not only does it state this on their website, but I have an email from a "Backcountry Information Specialist" at nps.gov confirming that this rule does not apply to thru-hikers.