Curley Maple Gap shelter

[cascader]

This shelter is just a few miles N of the Nolichucky River and Uncle Johnny's and other places to stay. Seemd from the register that no one stays the night there much, but I did, on March 31, alone, after stopping at Uncle J's for a shower and a few 40¢ snickers bars. Pretty spot right on the trail. You can hear the train from there, otherwise quiet and peaceful. Water source is a small pooled spring that I had to clear out, but the water was good once it settled. No privy. Picnic table in front (I moved it back under the overhang cause it looked like rain again) and firepit. I didn't see anywhere to camp near the shelter, except one spot up the hill that was surrounded by widow-makers--hiker's roulette to sleep there. But there are nice camping spots just a ways north up the Trail.

[Footslogger]

Stayed there in 2003. Got out of Irwin really late in the afternoon and as we started the uphill toward the shelter the skies opened up and it started to rain cats & dogs (pretty common occurrence in 2003). Got to the shelter and decided to hang there for the night and dry out a little before continuing on early the next morning.

'Slogger

[Jim Adams]

I stayed there in 1990 with 2 other hikers. It was a nice shelter back then, didn't stay in 2002.
In 1990, Mule, Lone Star and myself started the ATVFD (Appalachian Trail Volunteer Fire Dept.) at that shelter. We were just trying to get out of town to stop spending money and decided to just hike to that shelter and stay. We got there about 1:30 in the afternoon and suddenly the skys turned dark. We were standing in front of the shelter when lightening struck a tree about 25 yards up the hill. Parts of the tree exploded and the tree and the fallen parts were all on fire. The forest floor was ablaze from the fallen pieces. We ran up the hill with our water bottles and hiking sticks and put out the fires...it took several trips with the water but we were successful.
As we later sat in the shelter and joked and laughed about the ATVFD, a local hiker showed up with a bag of McD's burgers and 2 sixes of beer. He said that there is rarely anyone there but he just had a feeling and decided to hike up there and see if he could do some magic....he did!
It made me believe that every dark cloud has a silver lining!

geek

Thanks for the memory!!!!!!!!

[Tennessee Viking]

You where there when the tree got struck. Whenever I over there and see pictures of the shelter, I am just amazed how lucky that shelter is.

[wakapak]

I stayed there one nite in 99, after a late start out of Erwin. My memory is that once dinner time rolled around and I reached for my fuel bottle, i realized that i had left back down on the picnic table at Uncle J's! :eek:

So after debating on whether to go back down and get it or not, i decided that i would...making a short day into a longer one! Though without the pack, those few miles or so seemed even easier!!! AND, i learned from that to always, always make sure i had all my gear before leaving anywhere, especially a 'town' stop!! :rolleyes:

[tight-wad]

5-1-08: I spent the nite here with 7 youngish NOBO Thru-hiker wanna be's. I arrived late and they were already eating supper. Fortunately for me, I arrived before they finished supper.

Bad news to report: after filling my 3 liter Nalgene canteen from the pool at the spring, some of these folks carried uneaten food and dirty pots to the pool and began washing pots, with soap, IN THE POOL. Disgusting. :mad:

The scary, sad thing is, how many other folk before them did the same thing?

My advice, to those traveling South, load up on water at the piped spring ~ 1 mile before the shelter. To those traveling North, skip the pool, hike another mile, and get water from the spring a little further north.

[Pedaling Fool]

Never stayed there overnight, but I do remember, last year, cleaning out leaves from a mudhole, only to find a really nice spring buried under the debris.

[Pedaling Fool]

5-1-08: I spent the nite here with 7 youngish NOBO Thru-hiker wanna be's. I arrived late and they were already eating supper. Fortunately for me, I arrived before they finished supper.

Bad news to report: after filling my 3 liter Nalgene canteen from the pool at the spring, some of these folks carried uneaten food and dirty pots to the pool and began washing pots, with soap, IN THE POOL. Disgusting. :mad:

The scary, sad thing is, how many other folk before them did the same thing?

My advice, to those traveling South, load up on water at the piped spring ~ 1 mile before the shelter. To those traveling North, skip the pool, hike another mile, and get water from the spring a little further north.
Read this after my post - that sucks.

[Tennessee Viking]

5-1-08: I spent the nite here with 7 youngish NOBO Thru-hiker wanna be's. I arrived late and they were already eating supper. Fortunately for me, I arrived before they finished supper.

Bad news to report: after filling my 3 liter Nalgene canteen from the pool at the spring, some of these folks carried uneaten food and dirty pots to the pool and began washing pots, with soap, IN THE POOL. Disgusting. :mad:

The scary, sad thing is, how many other folk before them did the same thing?

My advice, to those traveling South, load up on water at the piped spring ~ 1 mile before the shelter. To those traveling North, skip the pool, hike another mile, and get water from the spring a little further north.
I would have dared them to drink that water right after they washed it to teach them a lesson.