NC SilerBald and Cold Spring Shelters

[Alan]

Does anyone know if Siler Bald and Cold Spring Shelters in
NC have privies and bear cables, and how close is water?

[daddytwosticks]

Both have privies. Both had non-functioning bear cables (tangled mess...may be able to throw a bear line over the horizontal suspended cable), both have excellent spring water sources. :)

[Kerosene]

Cold Spring Shelter is a relatively old and tiny shelter.

In mid-May of last year there were a lot of annoying gnats at Siler Bald Shelter in the morning when we went down from the Bald to get water. There are a few decent tent sites, plus trees limbs adequate for bear bagging, in the gap below the Bald in the woods, to the right of the AT heading north.

[JaxHiker]

The water at Siler is about 50-75 yards I'd guess from the shelter. At Cold Spring it's about 10-15 feet in front of the shelter. In this pic I was standing by the water looking at the shelter.

http://images.idratherbehiking.com/trips/at/nc/deepgap2noc/1226_4296-640.jpg

I don't recall the gnats being bad at Siler but they were bothersome at Cold Spring. There's also a rattler that lives by the bear cables at Cold Spring so keep an eye out.

[Moose2001]

there are some really nice tent spots at Cold Spring. Go up the hill next to the shelter. Nice flat spots outside the mouse hell of the shelter!

[baxter]

I was up to Cold Springs last week and they had taken down the tangled mess of bear cables. Moose2001 is right on about nice camping spots up on the ridge just north of the shelter. They offer a great view of the Burningtown valley, I always prefer to camp there, away from the shelter.

[JaxHiker]

Nice to know about the sites. I just stopped for water and lunch.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[Hoop]

Ditto north of CS shelter on the right. Nice view.

[Buffalo Skipper]

How are trees here? I will be stopping near both shelters in 8 weeks. I will be with 4 friends, all of us hammocking. We don't want to be right on top of the shelter, further out in the mouse-free zone.

[daddytwosticks]

I don't think you will have a problem at both. Cold Springs Shelter seems to be more heavily wooded than Silers' Bald area. :)

[Papa D]

Both shelters could use replacement - it would be a nice project to take on - they are both old, full of mice, leaky, and undersized - I think it would be really great and proper to re-use some of the timbers and wood in the new shelters too - - these shelters get hopelessly crowded in the spring (thru-hiker season) when a lot of the folks that are destined to drop out are still on the trail in the early parts of NC. I think that 2 steel bear boxes per site bolted to a small platform would be superior to the bear cables (that people just mess up). 2 new composting privies would also be appropriate (they have to have handicapped access ramps and bars which is a nonsensical requirement - probably for another thread). How would we as a community go about undertaking such a project? - I would donate some construction time and a few bucks but my guess is that $10K per shelter / privy would be a realistic budget - - assuming most of the labor would be donated. I suppose you'd have to get clearance from the US Forest Service and get a nearby logging road opened up to get materials close to the sites. What are the other issues?

[The Old Chief]

Maybe this is the kind of project that should be funded by the N.C. AT License Tag Program. There are several thousand of us who have been donating $20.00 per year apiece to benefit the AT in N.C. for over 5 years now. I guess I should find out where the money has been going and what projects are in the future.

[The Old Chief]

Well, it didn't take much time at all to find out where the money has gone. For this year it looks like out of $120,000 takien in, the ATC is going to spend a total of $35,000 on trail projects, mostly studies. Here's the link: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/who-we-are/news/2012/04/03/recipients-announced-for-2012-north-carolina-appalachian-trail-license-plate-grants