View Full Version : Hanging in the Smokies?
My wife and I are both hammock hangers and are hiking the southern half of the AT (Springer-Harpers Ferry) starting this Spring. We'll probably be entering the SMNP about mid April. We don't plan on sleeping in shelters with the possible exception of some freaky weather. We are bringing UQs only...no pads other than a possible sit pad.
I'd like to know if we will have problems finding places to hang near the shelters in the park. We know that's a busy time for hikers passing through. I have considered using pads in the park and bouncing our UQs to the end of the park. This would allow us to go to ground (shudder) or sleep in a shelter if we can't find appropriate spots to hang.
Suggestions/advice?
Thanks
SmokeEater
01-12-2012, 14:16
If you plan on following park regs then tenting or hanging is not allowed outside the shelter in the park. Search this topic in WB.
If you plan on following park regs then tenting or hanging is not allowed outside the shelter in the park. Search this topic in WB.
I thought I read if the shelter is full (most likely that time of year) then tent camping/hanging is allowed in the immediate area of the shelter. No?
if you started your hike 50 mi or more from the park(or 5 days?) or say you did
if you started your hike 50 mi or more from the park(or 5 days?) or say you did
That's my understanding. We're starting at Springer and going to Harpers ferry so we will meet that criteria. My real question is...are there enough trees available to hang from near the shelters or is there a high probabability we may have to go to ground?
I hiked the park a couple of months ago and can't remember many shelters where you would have trouble finding a place to hang.
What if weather is freaky, you going to be in the shelter without a pad? What if hiker volume is freaky and the shelter isn't full?
here's what i did... i hope it is useful. i normally use an underquilt, but for my time in the smokies i bought and carried a neoair, thinking if i had to sleep on the wood platform, i could. i share your distaste for that solution. i was "only" a section hiker, so i did register for shelters. at each shelter i had no problem hanging my hammock in the covered eating area toward the front of the shelter. it does take three things: 1 some pretty crafty hanging skills -- wouldn't try it if i didn't have a clue -- there was often a hanging point elevation difference to compensate for, 2 patience -- i always waited until people were done with cooking... in a way, i think some preferred having more sleeping room on the shelter floor cause the crazy hammocker wasn't taking up important space, 3 enough politeness and wit to not piss anyone off. I did try to get an official ruling from rangers, and they tended to be somewhat negative to neutral about using a hammock in the shelters, but i think that is a better bet than hanging outside the shelter unless the shelter is absolutely full. for what its worth, if i were to return i would just bring the underquilt... i do have anarchist tendencies, however, so i don't think i'd ever go back... i prefer less regulation, but i digress!
ample trees - rangers I've met in there are cool - as long as you are trying to abide by the spirit of the rules -- other may have different experience
Hmmm...thanks for all the good advice. I'm leaning toward bringing a pad system through the park, which will work both in the hammock and on the ground or shelter. I may or may not bounce my UQ ahead...although trusting it to the USPS is a scary proposition at best. The Neo Air is also a good idea as it's light and relatively low volume. I suppose I could carry the whole kit and kaboodle but I'm not all that thrilled with that either. I guess between now and then I'll bone up on the regs.
Thanks again
chiefduffy
01-12-2012, 23:39
I went throught there a couple years ago in late April, waited until the shelter filled up each night and hung my hammock near the shelter. No problem.
I went throught there a couple years ago in late April, waited until the shelter filled up each night and hung my hammock near the shelter. No problem.
That sounds like a good strategy. After reading through a mind numbing ten page post on camping regs in the park from 2009 I not only have a serious headache but thoughts of skipping the entire section have seriously entered my head. Yellow blazing anyone?
fredmugs
01-31-2012, 08:56
The 50 mile rule only means you do not need reservations to stay in the shelters. It does not exempt you from having to stay in them. You are only allowed to sleep outside the shelters if they are "full." Getting there late would help ensure that depending on when you are travelling through.
I would recommend going to the forum on shelters on this site. For each shelter there is probably multiple pictures posted that should give you a good idea of your ability to hang.
kayak karl
01-31-2012, 09:07
the shelters in the smokies are very easy to hang in. i would suggest you use straps not whoopies as you may ge stuck in a 12' section. start here http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=260689 every shelter i hung in.
birdygal
01-31-2012, 15:27
Good to know I am taking a pad, I will make sure get to them really late as I would get no sleep on the ground
kayak karl
01-31-2012, 19:19
Good to know I am taking a pad, I will make sure get to them really late as I would get no sleep on the ground
can you read. you can hang in shelters. hang in front over hang if you must. ditch the pad, YOU are a hammocker or your NOT. i got 300 nites on trails and never to the ground. you just have to learn to hammock or KISS ann take a tent., :)
= nites on trails. nex
birdygal
02-01-2012, 13:30
I read it and if I had to do that I may as well sleep on the ground , I still won't get any sleep with a bunch of snorers, I use a pad in my hammock its not like I am taking it just for that
What if weather is freaky, you going to be in the shelter without a pad? What if hiker volume is freaky and the shelter isn't full?
Dude...if it's that freaky...I'll be the one standing up in the back corner of the shelter. :)
How committed are you to doing the AT through this section? You could do the BMT and might have better luck, less traffic less hassle, same regs as I understand them.
Rain Man
02-09-2012, 12:48
you can hang in shelters. hang in front over hang if you must.
i had no problem hanging my hammock in the covered eating area toward the front of the shelter.
I don't mean to start an argument, and I'm willing to listen to how this might be okay. But my first impression is that a hammock and a tent are comparable for many things, including putting one up in a shelter.
Putting up a tent in a shelter is considered rude and a "no-no." Seems to me putting up a hammock in a shelter is no different. Right now I've got to think it's rude and a no-no, especially in a crowded GSMNP shelter.
I've been in one so crowded that hikers had to sleep on the ground under the overhang, but one could step over them. A hammock? Can't step over. So midnight runs to the privy, or trying to use the picnic table under the overhang? Big problems with a hammocker there.
That said, maybe I'm picturing what y'all mean wrongly. So, am willing to consider why hanging a hammock anywhere in a crowded shelter isn't just as rude as a tent in the same spot. (and I am assuming neither the hammock nor the tent would have a rain fly up)
Rain Man
.
valleyfire
02-10-2012, 14:49
I agree with Rain Man, sounds like a pain in the ass having a hammock in the shelter. But none of this would even be a discussion if the park didn't have crazy regs.
valleyfire
02-10-2012, 14:50
Love the park, hate the crazy regs
titanium_hiker
02-13-2012, 17:42
make the sit pad a little longer, for emergency ground sleeping? I'm thinking torso length (ie butt to shoulders or head lying down) with your pack under your legs for ground sleeping.
How committed are you to doing the AT through this section? You could do the BMT and might have better luck, less traffic less hassle, same regs as I understand them.
Best solution...
RichardD
02-13-2012, 23:32
Regs are that you must use the shelter unless its full. On my thru there were two nights when I had to use the shelter rather than my preference of hammocking. I had anticipated this and had my NEO shipped to Fontana.
On both occasions a ridgerunner was at the shelter and he made it very clear that the shelter was MANDATORY.
Other nights the shelters were full and I hammocked quite successfully and comfortably.
lwood414
02-17-2012, 03:36
I hike in the smokies all the time. And have always used a hammock. Even when I had made plans on staying at a shleter I would never sleep in one. Just made sure I always had my permit. Since yall are long distance hikers, you guys want have any issues hanging at the shelters. Long distance hikers can tent/hammock outside them. There are plenty of trees around all of them. Just make sure you hang your food as required in the park and follow LNT and you want have a problem.