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lush242000
02-21-2012, 11:19
So, being bored and all..what is the nastiest shelter / site you have seen on the trail?

For me, it was Roan Mtn last May. There was toilet paper piles everywhere, trash left in and around the fire pit. Old gear left in the shelter etc. I stayed for about 30 minutes and kept on moving.

Lone Wolf
02-21-2012, 11:23
ALL of them really but the ones in the smokys are pig stys. all georgia shelters too

ChinMusic
02-21-2012, 11:32
For me, it was Roan Mtn last May. There was toilet paper piles everywhere, trash left in and around the fire pit. Old gear left in the shelter etc. I stayed for about 30 minutes and kept on moving.

I was there a few days before Trail Days and didn't see any of that. I only went in the shelter to look around as I tented. Crazy Hair was there too. Oh yeah, that was the night of the monster storms that came thru knocking out power to a lot of local towns. It was a hell of a light show that night.....great stuff.

When did you go by?

coach lou
02-21-2012, 12:09
Wiley Shelter in NY, smells really bad, and the fireplace is full of halfburned garbage!

Rasty
02-21-2012, 12:24
Fontana Hilton. Some guy named Lone Wolf wrote his name on the wall. Kept me up all night like it was staring at me.

Lone Wolf
02-21-2012, 12:25
Fontana Hilton. Some guy named Lone Wolf wrote his name on the wall. Kept me up all night like it was staring at me.

:cool: twasn't I

Rasty
02-21-2012, 12:39
Fontana Hilton. Some guy named Lone Wolf wrote his name on the wall. Kept me up all night like it was staring at me.

:cool: twasn't I

Must be a 100 Lone Wolf possers out there. I feel better know and will sleep better.

Rasty
02-21-2012, 12:40
Now. Not know. I really need remedial spelling help!

max patch
02-21-2012, 12:45
All shelters are nasty, its just a matter of degree.

The worst of the worst are the ones in the GSMNP - *****t piles everywhere - and some of the shelters in PA that were way too close to a road. 20 years since I've been in PA, I would hope that those have been relocated by now.

Saint Alfonzo
02-21-2012, 12:45
Hello All, I remember "JOE'S HOLE" as being high on this list..

max patch
02-21-2012, 12:49
Must be a 100 Lone Wolf possers out there.

They are not poseurs, most of them have never even heard of the WB LW. Wolf, Lone Wolf, Bear, and characters from whatever movie is hot at the time (thank God Lord of Rings is gone and forgotten) are really common names.

Tennessee Viking
02-21-2012, 12:50
So, being bored and all..what is the nastiest shelter / site you have seen on the trail?

For me, it was Roan Mtn last May. There was toilet paper piles everywhere, trash left in and around the fire pit. Old gear left in the shelter etc. I stayed for about 30 minutes and kept on moving.If you ever find a shelter looking messy, you can contact the ATC, local trail club, or leave word with nearby hostels.

Around May time, a lot of Trail Day riff-raff will come and visit the Roans.

bamboo bob
02-21-2012, 14:26
They are not poseurs, most of them have never even heard of the WB LW. Wolf, Lone Wolf, Bear, and characters from whatever movie is hot at the time (thank God Lord of Rings is gone and forgotten) are really common names.

That is really my PET Peeve. Taking name from a movie or TV show is my least favorite of all. I know some people get named by their grand children, thus all the Poppa Smurfs, etc, but how many Skywalkers and Stryders do we need?

Emily Harper
02-21-2012, 14:32
You don't really think about it much if you've been hiking all day and want a place out of the weather. I'd say the one in New York was pretty bad. (I think it was already mentioned) The second one after the lemon squeeze going Nobo.

Northern Lights
02-21-2012, 14:35
ALL of them really but the ones in the smokys are pig stys. all georgia shelters too

hmm, I thought all the ones in Ga were better than NC. Cold Spring was the worst. If there had been a torrential storm that night I still would have slept in my tent.

Lyle
02-21-2012, 14:43
For me, so far, Rufus Morgan. Sits in a side gully, steeply sloping down to the water source a few yards in front of the shelter. No Privy, so most folks go a few feet behind the shelter to make their deposits. Any kind of rain will wash right down the hill, under the shelter and into the stream (water source) in front of the shelter.

Blissful
02-21-2012, 14:47
Any shelter can "look" bad with trash in it.

There are a couple in NY that leave much to be desired. Some look like caves.

GrassyNoel
02-21-2012, 14:52
You don't really think about it much if you've been hiking all day and want a place out of the weather. I'd say the one in New York was pretty bad. (I think it was already mentioned) The second one after the lemon squeeze going Nobo.

You're thinking of the Brien Memorial shelter. From what I understand, it's a hotspot for weekend partiers from the surrounding areas. They probably do more damage than AT hikers as they rarely adhere to the LNT policy.

Berserker
02-21-2012, 14:57
I’ve only done about 820 miles of the trail so far, but a few that struck me as nasty from my memory were:

Springer – primarily due to trash.
Cold Spring – old and run down.
Rufus Morgan – small, run down, and too much fecal matter/TP spread all around it.
Jerry Cabin – this is actually a kinda neat shelter, but because of the fire place in it it’s totally trashed.
Watauga – actually this shelter wasn’t that bad, but I stepped on a turd that looked like it came from something the size of an elephant (it was human) right near the shelter…so points get docked for that.
Queens Knob (emergency shelter) – old, looks like it’s about to fall over, and not much room on the miniscule platform…eek.
Wise – this is one of the few shelters I have actually slept inside of due to the weather. Although not necessarily nasty all the time, the sheer number of rodents that were running around inside of it the night I stayed there got it on this list.
William Brien – the condition when I passed through there last year was pretty bad in that most of the floor was caved in, and there was mold and fungus growing all over it.

Jack Tarlin
02-21-2012, 15:42
Governor Clement is on the list because it attracts creepy locals. Laurel Fork and William Brien are indeed dark and dumpy. And tho the design is unique, I never much cared for Dick's Dome. Oh, and Apple House is on the list because there's often someone sketchy actually living in it, but this will be corrected later in the year when it's torn down. Oh, and of course there's Manassas Gap, which if memory serves, was erected not merely nearby, but ABOVE a rather vibrant copperhead community. And before it was improved, I always disliked Mt. Collins in the Smokies......muddy, dark, depressing, as well as being 1/2 a mile off the Trail.

pepkbell
02-21-2012, 15:46
there was a nasty shelter in bear mtn

Tuckahoe
02-21-2012, 15:55
Thomas Knob shelter near Mount Rogers... Pretty damn nasty last August. Poo & Paper piles all over the place around the shelter as though people couldnt walk more than 3 feet away. Sad considering there was a privey about 50 yards away.

Feral Bill
02-21-2012, 16:14
This may be the most depressing thread yet.

jbwood5
02-21-2012, 16:23
It is one of those things that changes all the time. You get a bunch of weekenders partying and place is trashed. The next week the caretaker comes in and cleans it up, and it looks pristine. Two weekends ago I was at Muskrat Creek (1st shelter into N Carolina from S). A couple of frozen thru hikers had their tent set up inside the shelter and they had a dog who must of ran between the shelter and the outside a 100 times. The floor was muddy and wet. You couldn't find a place to park your butt without getting muddy. The place looked really bad, but it could be that they cleaned it up when they left. We didn't stick around long because it was very cold and windy.

Cosmo
02-21-2012, 17:56
So, being bored and all..what is the nastiest shelter / site you have seen on the trail?

For me, it was Roan Mtn last May. There was toilet paper piles everywhere, trash left in and around the fire pit. Old gear left in the shelter etc. I stayed for about 30 minutes and kept on moving.

Yup, Roan was pretty nasty last July. Everything, I mean everything was covered with flies. Even the dead flies on everything had dead flies on them, then live flies on those.

Other on the hit parade have been mentioned as well. Brien shelter was definitely a winner. A cool idea to build it into a rocky hillside, but cold, damp and muddy inside. Wiley, don't even get me started.

It's too bad the trail has these less than ideal places. Without opening the whole 'let's get rid of all the shelters' debate, one would think that a Trail Club with a crappy shelter would either tear it down or maintain it. Who wants something like that on their section?

Cosmo

Sierra Echo
02-21-2012, 18:04
For me, so far, Rufus Morgan. Sits in a side gully, steeply sloping down to the water source a few yards in front of the shelter. No Privy, so most folks go a few feet behind the shelter to make their deposits. Any kind of rain will wash right down the hill, under the shelter and into the stream (water source) in front of the shelter.

The Rufus Morgan shelter has a brand new privy. I even have a picture of myself sitting on the pot!

swjohnsey
02-21-2012, 18:41
That is really my PET Peeve. Taking name from a movie or TV show is my least favorite of all. I know some people get named by their grand children, thus all the Poppa Smurfs, etc, but how many Skywalkers and Stryders do we need?

How 'bout Squatting Dog?

Spools
02-21-2012, 20:49
Maupin Field shelter is pretty gross, seemed all the wood was rotten. Beer cans and tea bags all around fireplace, But it's only a half mile from the BRP.

bamboo bob
02-21-2012, 20:58
Maupin Field shelter is pretty gross, seemed all the wood was rotten. Beer cans and tea bags all around fireplace, But it's only a half mile from the BRP.

What's BRP? I don't recall Maupin being a 1/2 mile from anything.

Lone Wolf
02-21-2012, 21:28
blue ridge parkway

Derek81pci
02-21-2012, 21:52
I agree...

Derek81pci
02-21-2012, 21:54
One of the more depressing threads...

CrumbSnatcher
02-21-2012, 22:11
in 1999 the first shelter in GSMNP going north was birch spring shelter(camping spot now,shelter was tore down), not only did it have horse camping allowed, but it had no privy! i went over the hill behind the shelter, and there was at least a hundred or so piles of poop with toliet paper sticking out of the piles, i could be wrong? maybe they were some crazy type of flower:rolleyes:

LIhikers
02-21-2012, 23:17
Cooper Lodge was pretty nasty the year my wife and I hiked over Killington, in Vermont.
Not only was it in poor shape, but it had a fair share of trash in it.

coach lou
02-21-2012, 23:24
Cooper Lodge was pretty nasty the year my wife and I hiked over Killington, in Vermont.
Not only was it in poor shape, but it had a fair share of trash in it.

In 90/91ish, we took refuge in there during a thunder storm. The roof leaked so bad, we put all are tarps up.

coach lou
02-21-2012, 23:25
'O-U-R tarps'
In 90/91ish, we took refuge in there during a thunder storm. The roof leaked so bad, we put all are tarps up.

aaronthebugbuffet
02-22-2012, 00:03
Cooper Lodge was pretty nasty the year my wife and I hiked over Killington, in Vermont.
Not only was it in poor shape, but it had a fair share of trash in it.

I had no plans to stay at Cooper Lodge but a severe t-storm hit so I hunkered down.
I was glad I was the only one there. With the leaky roof there was only about a 5'x6' corner that stayed dry.

wornoutboots
02-22-2012, 00:07
Cold Spring in NC not too far out of GA, I was there in January & showed up just after dark, there were 2 thru's already there, so I got to sleep next to the huge 2' hole in the corner + it snowed inside the whole night covering everything.


Cable Gap is a crazy little shelter w/ it's own bat that flys in & out all night long

Muskrat Creek was pretty nasty as well. not dirty, but this shelter is in a very low damp area, everything was wet when I woke up.

ChinMusic
02-22-2012, 00:11
I've been at many of these shelters. None of them seemed that bad..............but I slept in my tent.

SCRUB HIKER
02-22-2012, 02:45
Davenport Gap for me. Still has the chain link fence in front, or at least it did last spring, and has a minefield about 50 yards uphill from it.

Maybe not the nastiest per se, but I think the worst time I had was at Blackrock in the Shenandoahs. Crowded, trashed when I was there, lousy tenting options, a water source that was a slow drip, and the loudest whippoorwill in the East living nearby. I got there at dark with a thunderstorm coming in; otherwise I would have said see yuh and kept going.

stranger
02-22-2012, 06:53
- Blood Mountain, was a dump in 1995, far worse in recent years
- Roan High Knob, very dark, often with rubbish around and plenty of mice
- The old style shelters in the Smokies that still have the fences
- Cold Spring isn't too flash
- Cherry Gap Shelter just north of Erwin
- Dicks Dome was awlful, not sure about the new one
- Manassas Gap, same as above, with a giant rat as well, but heard they built a new one
- William Brien in Harriman

takethisbread
02-22-2012, 07:36
Most of the shelters in the 100 mile Wilderness are horrid like Hurd Brook. Cold Spring in NC is bad. Jerry Cabin in tn Is bad. The one before it too. There were some in PA right on a road which sucked. Don't stay in them often anyway.

daddytwosticks
02-22-2012, 08:02
How about Siler's Bald shelter in NC (north of Winding Stair Gap). Nice location but the shelter is about to collapse. One good snow dump or wind storm...gone! :)

Jeff
02-22-2012, 08:11
Cooper Lodge was pretty nasty the year my wife and I hiked over Killington, in Vermont.
Not only was it in poor shape, but it had a fair share of trash in it.

Cooper Lodge is slated to be torn down in the next year or two. Most of the trash is NOT from hikers bur rather visitors from the nearby ski lift.

wornoutboots
02-22-2012, 15:10
Cold Spring in NC not too far out of GA, I was there in January & showed up just after dark, there were 2 thru's already there, so I got to sleep next to the huge 2' hole in the corner + it snowed inside the whole night covering everything.


Cable Gap is a crazy little shelter w/ it's own bat that flys in & out all night long

Muskrat Creek was pretty nasty as well. not dirty, but this shelter is in a very low damp area, everything was wet when I woke up.

Yeah none of these are nasty as in trashed, actually Cable Gap is in a really cool camping area with a stream flowing right through it.

The Nastiest, Filthiest, Dirtiest by far w/ leftover Food everywhere, clothes & everything else all over was Big Spring Shelter on Albert Mountain when I just passed throguh there in January.

mgeiger
02-22-2012, 15:13
I'd rather be in any of them versus sitting my cubicle.

DavidNH
02-22-2012, 15:24
I remember a very small shelter in TN that had something like a Dozen separate mouse hangs in it. I think it might have been the Apple House Shelter. I looked in, thought hmmmm... and then moved on. Other than that one, the Governor Clement shelter has to be the must disgusting shelter there is on the trail. Why oh why don't they tear the thing down?

louisb
02-22-2012, 15:47
So basically, every shelter on the AT right?

--louis

Carl Calson
02-22-2012, 15:48
the ones i stayed at in the smokies were pretty nice. 3 sided shelters with fireplaces and a giant tarp covering the 4th side. the only bad part was the ice on parts of the bunk areas.

bamboo bob
02-22-2012, 16:11
I remember a very small shelter in TN that had something like a Dozen separate mouse hangs in it. I think it might have been the Apple House Shelter. I looked in, thought hmmmm... and then moved on. Other than that one, the Governor Clement shelter has to be the must disgusting shelter there is on the trail. Why oh why don't they tear the thing down?

GC was rebuilt, I think in 2010. I've been there numerous times and It's a very nice spot. Never had any kind of hooya problem either despite what you hear.

Jeff
02-22-2012, 16:15
GC was rebuilt, I think in 2010. I've been there numerous times and It's a very nice spot. Never had any kind of hooya problem either despite what you hear.

Absolutely correct. Looks much nicer after recent refurb...and the "road" to the shelter has been gated for a couple of years now.

Still, if you want another shelter nearby, there is the Secrete Shelter (of Vermont) just a few miles south.

Derek81pci
02-22-2012, 18:47
I'll prolly just crash in my tent :(

Lone Wolf
02-22-2012, 20:40
yes and yes. dirty, square wooden boxes don't belong out there. tents are awesome

waasj
02-22-2012, 21:42
No Business Knob and Laurel Fork come to mind. Oh and Mt Collins in GSMNP and Tri Corner. And Apple House... and Gooch Mounain (but I think it has been re-done).

CrumbSnatcher
02-22-2012, 23:03
shelters look alot better if its raining :-)

Sarcasm the elf
02-22-2012, 23:13
shelters look alot better if its raining :-)

I'll agree with that one. I generally always tent, but I stayed at William Brien Memorial shelter this spring, first shelter I ever stayed in. After four days of rain it felt like a Hampton Inn.

I've also got a soft spot for those old stone shelters. The plywood floor and beat up bunks at William Brien were in need of replacement, but the building itself was very cool.

Derek81pci
02-22-2012, 23:17
Don't know if you saw my post in the "fears" thread... but I'm sort of anti-social, and will probably be doing a lot of stealth tenting off in the cut somewhere. I'm sure overtime I'll come out of my shell and socialize a bit more. Like I said there, being SOBO, that might never happen lol. Just can't wait til June.

Feral Bill
02-22-2012, 23:37
yes and yes. dirty, square wooden boxes don't belong out there. tents are awesome Are dirty, square stone boxes OK? There are a few of them.

Sly
02-22-2012, 23:53
GC was rebuilt, I think in 2010. I've been there numerous times and It's a very nice spot. Never had any kind of hooya problem either despite what you hear.

They've also closed the road near the Governor Clement during hiker season, which is probably the main reason locals used it as a party place.

Sierra Echo
02-23-2012, 00:28
Springer is prett grody!

Kookork
02-23-2012, 01:41
That is really my PET Peeve. Taking name from a movie or TV show is my least favorite of all. I know some people get named by their grand children, thus all the Poppa Smurfs, etc, but how many Skywalkers and Stryders do we need?

Now that you talked about trail name I must say I like your trail name( don't know about the story behind it) and it rhymes very nice also but I think your second trail name could be "LEKI Bob" or "Love the Leki Bob", or" Bob The Leki". ,,:),,

1234
02-23-2012, 20:35
What's BRP? I don't recall Maupin being a 1/2 mile from anything.

It is actually 2miles from reeds gap parking lot. It is near UVA and they party there often. Locals u know. The actual field was planted over due to over use.

hikerboy57
02-23-2012, 21:17
So basically, every shelter on the AT right?

--louis
bring a tent/tarp.
I just read an article in at journeys saying that according to the 1940 Master Plan,they anticipated building shelters,"not for overnight camping,but as refuge from rain for unprepared hikers."you can read the entire article at http://digitaleditions.sheridan.com/publication/?i=86760&pre=1. or go to www.appalachiantrail.org/paperless (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/paperless)
you have to remember,again, the AT wasnt originally designed with thruhiking in mind.