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  1. #21
    Registered User shelterbuilder's Avatar
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    If you're into shelters made from "raw" logs, then you can't miss the Eagle's Nest Shelter in Pa. (between Rt. 183 and Port Clinton at Rt. 61). The logs are 12"-14" diameter hemlock and spruce, and were cut (Scandinavian-Scribe method) and assembled off-site, then FLOWN BY HELICOPTER to the site in the woods! The newly reconstructed Rausch Gap Shelter (completed in 2012), located in State Game Lands #211 on the east side of the Susquehanna River (a 2 day hike, more or less), this one was also constructed off-site, then disassembled and driven to the site, and re-assembled in a day. No view at this one, but in deep woods (the Game Lands tract is about 28,000 acres) - you WILL hear the pilots at Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation (on the other side of the mountain) making training flights, though. (In the interest of disclosure, I was in charge of both of these projects...but they are good looking shelters nonetheless!)
    Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning how to dance in the rain!

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by shelterbuilder View Post
    (In the interest of disclosure, I was in charge of both of these projects...but they are good looking shelters nonetheless!)
    Let me be the first to say "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" for being a trail volunteer!!! God bless you!

    I saw both those shelters during my two section hikes in PA in the past couple of years. Good job!

    Also, love your signature tag line! Have always appreciated that sentiment.

    RainMan

    .
    Last edited by Rain Man; 01-18-2015 at 11:13.
    [I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35

    [url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]

    .

  3. #23

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    Long Branch in NC and Partnership in Va......two of my favs.
    "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver

  4. #24
    Registered User shelterbuilder's Avatar
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    Just doin' what I can to "pay it forward". Besides, it was FUN!!!
    Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning how to dance in the rain!

  5. #25
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    Wallingford, VT
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    I can only speak for VT thus far but agree that Little Rock Pond is a nice one, ample tent spots close to the water too if the shelter isn't your thing. Yeah you have to pay in season but both caretakers I've met have been very cool people to spend time with. Spruce Peak just outside the 11/30 crossing in Manchester is another nice one. The inclusion of four walls, a door, and a wood stove make it quite an exceptional shelter in my experience.

  6. #26
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    Don't stay at Punchbowl!!! I stayed there a few years ago by myself & while tenting near the shelter in the middle of the night, I was awaken by someone/something shaking my tent violently!! I yelled, grabbed my headlamp & raced outside to watch a white silhouette walking/floating upright across the top of the lake all the way to the other side.
    Take Time to Watch the Trees Dance with The Wind........Then Join In........

  7. #27
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    Good Shelters for location/views (maybe dated as was experienced in 1993):
    - Tray Mountain Shelter (GA) - great summit views, exposed to foul weather though
    - Overmountain Shelter (TN-NC) - great view down the mountain valley
    - Smarts Mountain Shelter (actually cabin) (NH) - great views off of the summit
    - Blood Mountain Shelter (actually cabin) (GA)
    - Rufus Morgan Shelter (NC) - it's located in a cool little dell
    - Apple House ex-Shelter (TN) - it's next to a really nice creek in a little hollow
    - Rainbow Stream Lean-to (ME)
    - Plum-orchard Gap Shelter (GA) - really cool mountain hollow
    - Sages Ravine Tentsite (MA) - Nifty area with overlooks
    - Saunders Shelter (VA) - nice pine clearing and glade around shelter; it's a steep hike down from the AT on the ridgeline
    - Greenleaf Hut (NH)
    - Watuga Lake Shelter (TN)
    - Avery Memorial ex-Lean-to/Shelter, now campsite (ME) - cool high mountain col between Bigelow peaks
    - Chestnut Knob (VA)
    - Cove Mountain (PA)
    - Walnut Mtn Shelter (TN-NC)
    - Fingerboard Shelter (NY)
    - West Mountain Shelter (NY)
    - RPH Cabin (NY) - green grass lawn to enjoy, bikes to day ride around on
    - Goddard Shelter (VT)
    - Jeffer's Brook (NH)
    - Beaver Brook (NH)
    - Garfield Ridge (NH)
    - Zealand Falls Hut (NH)
    - Galehead Hut (NH)
    - Guyot Shelter (NH)
    - Speck Pond Lean To (ME)
    - Pleasant Pond Lean to (ME)
    - Moxie Bald LeanTo (ME)
    - Chairback Gap LeanTo (ME)
    - Whitecap Mtn Tentsite (ME)
    - Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to (ME) - Huge spring



    Unusual designs:
    - Little Bigelow Lean-To (ME), had a very usual cottage-in-the-woods privy
    - Hexacuba Shelter (NH)
    - Bryant Ridge (VA)

  8. #28
    Is it raining yet?
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    07-15-2004
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    I have to vote for Chestnut Knob shelter in SW VA as the best view and experience, though one must lug their water up a steep hill (SOBO) or some distance (NOBO).
    Be Prepared

  9. #29

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    Riga is the one with a great view

  10. #30

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    I haven't seen the Jim and Molly Denton shelter mentioned here yet; just north of Front Royal.

    If memory serves me, it has a beautiful front porch with Adirondack chairs, grassy area w/ horseshoe pit, and even a spring-fed shower.

  11. #31
    Registered User Grampie's Avatar
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    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by hissypurr View Post
    Hey y'all. Finally got my 2015 AWOL a couple days ago and have been obsessively marking it up like the over-eager hiker nerd that I am with suggestions from friends who have thru hiked about the best places to stop and everything. My friends were more into hammocking and stealth camping whereas I'm more of a shelter gal myself, though, so I don't have too much info on the coolest shelters to stay at. I hiked the LT this fall and was always bummed to come across a really sweet shelter at 10am when it was a nice day and I knew I still had several miles left in me, so I like to at least keep in mind the places where it might be extra fun to stop. I know most places are pretty basic and similar, but I'd love to hear about any shelters that you remember being particularly cool from your thru, section hike, or just heard about from a rambling homeless looking crazy person you met one time (hiker trash forever). Love anything with good views, swimming spots, super spacious, whatever. I already know not to miss Thomas Knob... Who doesn't love ponies?

    Places that stood out for being particularly awful might also be fun to note, too. Thanks in advance!
    One of the “not to be missed” shelters is the Cabin on Upper Goose Pond in Mass. If you are a long distance hiker you will miss so much if you don’t stop. It’s a closed in cabin on a beautiful pond with nice swimming. It has a caretaker on duty That cooks a pancake breakfast with fresh coffee.
    Grampie-N->2001

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