View Full Version : shelters...lots of folks
ekeverette
02-03-2012, 18:14
lets say you arrive at a shelter around 9pm,its raining and it's rather full,... the folks are sleeping, but are nice and let you squeeze in. where and how do you place your backpack so the mice will not eat it alive. and not to step all over the people? that crosses my mind alot.
Bags4266
02-03-2012, 19:09
Well this is only my opinion, but, arriving after 9 to a shelter thats full is rude. I would of set up camp somewhere earlier. I never expect anything. If its not full well then your just a bother. just my 2 cents
Hang your food bag and open up your pack so mice can easily go in and out. Should be nothing that will interest them. Lay out your mat and bag and be quiet. In the AM you can organize things and pack up. As long as your pack is out of the rain it should present no problems. Do not have a pocket zipped that formerly had food in it or you will have a hole.
brian039
02-03-2012, 20:00
I have a free-standing tent and when this has happened to me I just set it up under the shelter overhang then go move it to a flat spot near the shelter. I hate to bother people sleeping in shelters especially when I'm soaking wet.
ekeverette
02-03-2012, 20:13
i've read in these appalachian books, (read all of them) that people do open up their packs to let the mice roam. that sounds so bizarre to me, but thats what i'll do if i get into this situation, also the setting up your tent under the leantoo of the shelter, then moving it to a site sounds good. i'm just reading these books, where this happens. he comes up late in the night, cold and wet, and even though the shelter is full, they let him in..... hope i will learn all this stuff in the coming months...
Lone Wolf
02-03-2012, 21:16
Well this is only my opinion, but, arriving after 9 to a shelter thats full is rude. I would of set up camp somewhere earlier. I never expect anything. If its not full well then your just a bother. just my 2 centsi agree. no reason to be hikin' after dark and expecting space in a box. very rude
i've read in these appalachian books, (read all of them) that people do open up their packs to let the mice roam. that sounds so bizarre to me, but thats what i'll do if i get into this situation, also the setting up your tent under the leantoo of the shelter, then moving it to a site sounds good. i'm just reading these books, where this happens. he comes up late in the night, cold and wet, and even though the shelter is full, they let him in..... hope i will learn all this stuff in the coming months...
The reason why is because if you don't open them, the mice will just eat/claw through the fabric to see if there is food on the other side. If it's open, they will just go through w/o having to eat/claw their way through your $200 pack.
I awoke in the night to a mouse chewing on my scalp - must have been crumbs or something - you'll get used to it......
seasparrow
02-04-2012, 02:05
Well this is only my opinion, but, arriving after 9 to a shelter thats full is rude. I would of set up camp somewhere earlier. I never expect anything. If its not full well then your just a bother. just my 2 cents
Agree with this. 9pm really ? you hiking for the speed record? should be in camp going to bed or settling dwn atleast by then.
Land_Shark
02-04-2012, 06:33
Wake up at 3am make coffee and oatmeal (throw rocks at mice do not hit hikers) leave at 4am have 15 miles by 3pm and be first in shelter with pack hung up and prim sleeping spot picked out priceless. Last 4years has tought me this.....be first makes the whole experience better.
brian039
02-04-2012, 13:32
i've read in these appalachian books, (read all of them) that people do open up their packs to let the mice roam. that sounds so bizarre to me, but thats what i'll do if i get into this situation
I don't know what it is with the mice in Maine but they were the only ones I had problems with. I used mouse hangers in the shelters on the rare occasion that I stayed in a shelter with no problems until I got to Maine, the 100-mile wilderness specifically, and the mice would leap off the rafters onto my pack and chewed holes in it just to get to candy bar wrappers. And I've been in situations where someone has come in late at night and we've made room for them, you kind of feel obligated to. No one would ever tell the person to their face but most were pretty annoyed about it.
Tipi Walter
02-04-2012, 13:35
Dump the shelters and bring your own. If I wanted to go on a backpacking trip and use the shelters I would just stay at home and sleep in the carport.
Sierra Echo
02-04-2012, 13:39
I have a free-standing tent and when this has happened to me I just set it up under the shelter overhang then go move it to a flat spot near the shelter. I hate to bother people sleeping in shelters especially when I'm soaking wet.
That is actually probably one of the best ideas I've seen on this forum. Ever.
ekeverette
02-04-2012, 15:01
i agree sierra echo.... you put out a problem you wrestle with, and someone comes up with a great idea....my hats off to brian039!
hikerboy57
02-04-2012, 15:10
i agree sierra echo.... you put out a problem you wrestle with, and someone comes up with a great idea....my hats off to brian039!the only issue i have with this idea is that its straightforward sound dvice. Im not used to that here.where is the controversy in undisputable logic?
great idea. simple solution.
hikerboy57
02-04-2012, 15:58
on a sarcastic note, best advice is to bring your wet dog. theyll make room in the shelter, and the dog will help keep the mice away:)
Shelters are a great place to stop for lunch. That's it for me . I haven.t used a shelter for any thing other than a lunch spot since 1978
Practice setting up your tent upside down so that you can set it up in the rain without getting it wet before you put the rainfly on. Once you have the poles in your tent flip it over and put the rainfly on as fast as you can.
And having to bring a wet dog into your tent is not a fun thing to do at all, so you may want to just have your dog sleep in the shelter.
It's easy to set up a single wall tent in the rain with out getting it wet inside.
I never bothered anyone no matter what time I got into camp because I always slept in a tent.
Also never had any problems with mice because I didn't set up near shelters.
Three problems solved by tenting away from shelters.
SmokeEater
02-05-2012, 09:51
Hang your food and your pack. Just be sure to put a rain cover over your pack. If there is a spot open grab it. People should not have a problem with you coming in late. Its part of staying in a shelter.
garlic08
02-05-2012, 10:16
Shelters are a great place to stop for lunch. That's it for me . I haven.t used a shelter for any thing other than a lunch spot since 1978
And a privy. And a good place to spot copperheads.
wornoutboots
02-05-2012, 13:51
Hang your food and your pack. Just be sure to put a rain cover over your pack. If there is a spot open grab it. People should not have a problem with you coming in late. Its part of staying in a shelter.
+1 it's what happens in shelter living, shelter life is about only taking up the space that you need, if it isn't full then anyone who slips in after dark can easily throw their bag out & crash, it's the beauty of the backcountry family.
Wise Old Owl
02-05-2012, 15:12
I awoke in the night to a mouse chewing on my scalp - must have been crumbs or something - you'll get used to it......
Thanks you just reminded me of the day I got bats all down my head and back.....