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  1. #1
    Former Admin
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    Default The Secret Shelter

    Does anybody know what the deal is with the "Secret Shelter" or maybe I shouldn't bring this secret up .....LOL

  2. #2
    Addicted Hiker and Donating Member Hammock Hanger's Avatar
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    The shelter is on privste property just a few hundred feet up the road at a road crossing n NJ. It is owned by Jim Murray who is a past thru-hiker. He really enjoyed the trial and wanted to give back a little. There is a privy, and outside shower and an inside shower with hot and cold water. Inside the shelter is large utiity sink, a small counter, and a dryer. Up the ladder is a small loft that can accomodate 4-5 hikers. There is a large grass lawn to accomodate tents. Jim does not really advertise. He told me that he would prefer it be by word of mouth from hiker to hiker. He will continue this coutesry as long as the hikers keep it clean and respect it as his property. He stops by almost daily to feed his Italian donkeys tht are stabled down at the end of the property. He also has a small private cabin type building that he spends time in. To spot the road and turn off look for the small sign that states "Well Water 100 yards", in small print someone wrote "You need water now!!".
    Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D

    http://www.gcast.com/u/hammockhanger/main

  3. #3
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    Absolutely beautiful place for hikers, and we should keep a low profile to where "exactly" it is...hence the name. Very buggy area in summer, great in winter since the cabins are heated, great well water...Incredible service to hikers! Thanx

  4. #4

    Default

    i have nothing to say, it's secret!

  5. #5

    Default Secret Shelter

    I stayed at the "Secret Shelter" in 2002. It was a wonderful find on what was a stinking hot day. I arrived there early afternoon, had a shower then dozed in the hammock. It is a beautiful setting in the grassy fields with lots of room to pitch a tent.

    By night fall there was about 8 of us there and we all agreed it was a real treat. The small donkeys braying in the adjacent paddock were really cute.

    Thanks again.
    Downunda

  6. #6
    Donating Member/AT Class of 2003 - The WET year
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    Default The "Not so Secret" Secret Shelter

    I stayed there this year on my thru. It's right after High Point State Park. Beautiful setting. There's a shelter with a loft, privy, hot water shower and a large open area for tenting.

    Having said the above ...I disavow any knowledge of its existence.
    The more I learn ...the more I realize I don't know.

  7. #7
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    I don't know if Jim (the owner of the Secret Shelter) ever reads these forums, but I just wanted to send a big THANK YOU for it! After a 12 mile slog in constant rain, the Secret Shelter was an oasis. We stayed with a thru-hiker ("Hydro") which was an amazing experience. We left the place clean, excpet for 2 full cans of Bud for the next lucky hiker!

    BTW- cool burrows!

  8. #8
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
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    Last July I hiked past on a short section hike to fill in my mileage gap between High Point and Warwick Turnpike. I had heard of the Secret Shelter from WhiteBlaze members and made it a point to stop in when I reached there about 10:30 in the morning. There was no one around except a loud braying donkey in the field next door. I checked out the facilities and kind of wished I could've stayed the for the night.

    The owner drove up in his pick-up truck just as I was preparing to leave. I asked him if he remembered Hammock Hanger from a few years back (he didn't), told him about WhiteBlaze, discussed the weather, and then I thanked him and headed on to Vernon.
    GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014

  9. #9
    Registered User LEGS's Avatar
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    Default Sssssssssssshhhhhhh!

    Its a secret man!!!! ssssssuuussh now!!!! But it is a damn nice place for a rest!!!!
    Quote Originally Posted by Former Admin
    Does anybody know what the deal is with the "Secret Shelter" or maybe I shouldn't bring this secret up .....LOL

  10. #10
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    As I was preparing to leave the secret shelter one summer morn, I looked at my DEET and thought, "I've carried this all the way from Springer, and I haven't used it once. What's wrong with me?" So I tossed it into the trash can our host provided.

    That day, I experienced mosquitos the likes of which I'd never faced. You know it's bad when you can see a cloud of them 30 yards ahead. I ran. I waved my arms. I yelled. I stopped neither to drink nor micturate. All to no avail. By the end of the day, my skin could be read like Braille...even the parts covered with clothes were not protected. What the mosquitos couldn't fly under, they could bite through.

    By the middle of the afternoon, I was so frazzled I wanted to cry.

    Thanks for letting me vent my random memory. And thanks to Jim for building such a lovely contribution to the trail. I was glad to spend a clean night there.

  11. #11
    Registered User Panzer1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hammock Hanger
    He will continue this coutesry as long as the hikers keep it clean and respect it as his property.
    Actually I heard that the AT was going to seize the property from him because it is on the AT corridor..
    I'm not sure that is true, but that is what I heard.

    Panzer

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Panzer1
    Actually I heard that the AT was going to seize the property from him because it is on the AT corridor..
    I'm not sure that is true, but that is what I heard. Panzer
    If true, it sounds like something a Government would do. Not too cool.

  13. #13
    tideblazer
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hammock Hanger
    He told me that he would prefer it be by word of mouth from hiker to hiker.
    ...and then you went and told everyone by word of internet.

    Come on, HH!

    There's a reason a secret is special!
    www.ridge2reef.org -Organic Tropical Farm, Farm Stays, Group Retreats.... Trail life in the Caribbean

  14. #14
    Peakbagger Extraordinaire The Solemates's Avatar
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    on our thru we experienced 70 degree days for a week and then the day we approached High Point it dropped down to 30 degrees and rain/sleet mix. the secret shelter just may have saved us from hypothermia. it was an awesome place to stay and dry out and jim was really nice the next morning.
    The only thing better than mountains, is mountains where you haven't been.

    amongnature.blogspot.com

  15. #15

    Default

    What DMA said (about the mosquito, the New Jersey state bird). Passing through there heading towards Vernon was my worst day on the trail, and in the top five worst days of my life.

    The secret shelter does not, however, exist. It is a figmentary oasis in the minds of hikers who, suffering from exsanguination, imagine a shelter nicer that High Point, where the Boy Scout Troop kept you up all night.

  16. #16
    Registered User Toolshed's Avatar
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    Sounds like the Eckville Shelter (Thanks Lazee)
    I still have to complete Ferguson Road NJ (Just N of Highpoint) to CT Line.
    Could someone please PM me and let me know which Road crossing the Secret Shelter is at?
    Thanks so much
    .....Someday, like many others who joined WB in the early years, I may dry up and dissapear....

  17. #17

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    Get real folks, stop pulling everyone's chain. Today's not April Fool's Day. Do you think that somebody actually has enough land in NJ to just let a couple of acres "sit around" for thru-hikers to use for free? It's one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. JIM, some "nice guy in NJ" (say that phrase out loud, your tongue will stumble over it), is going to let hikers take free hot showers and sleep on his property, unwatched. Does anybody know how expensive insurance is in the Garden "ha" State? Any of you ever even been to NJ? Maybe, 'cause I think some of you are smokin' crack. It's time to put this one to bed, too many people are actually buying into this freakin' nonsense story. People wandering down side streets looking for the, PSST Secret Shelter, won't endear hikers to the locals.There's only one thought they are going to have "smelly, homeless, drug addicted vagrant". Believe this hoax and you're nothing but a donkey's ass. An obvious troll post.

  18. #18
    Registered User Toolshed's Avatar
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    Since when does it take a couple of acres for a small shelter and an area to set up a few tents. I have been to NJ and I have lived and worked in NJ. (BTW, Turn left on some of those roads and you are in NY right away).

    I don't know whether the SS is true or not, but I do know there are quite a few nice folks in NJ and the NW part of NJ is a pretty friendly place. NJ is one of the more expensive, but certainly not the most expensive markets, (Think NY, Boston, San Fran). And.... And.... if this Jim fellow had purchased his land 10-15 years ago out in that area, he wouldn't have paid near as much and he'd be sitting on a great bit of price appreciation now Most of it was inexpensive farmland back then - especially before the big suburban migration and long commutes.
    As for insurance - If he has only a "toolshed" (nice name) on his property, why would his premiums increase - he is not running a business.
    Gator, You do, however, sound like that cynical, bitter type of person that I sometimes run into in the Garden State or in NYC, that I immediately think "I hope no tourists meet him (or her) and cause them to think ill of us"
    Now go get your F#$^%&% shine box!!!!!
    .....Someday, like many others who joined WB in the early years, I may dry up and dissapear....

  19. #19

    Default

    Toolshed, NJ is the sue me state. No Jersey resident in their right mind is going to let unattended hikers prowl around their property. Imagine someone getting hurt, kicked by a donkey say. The value of this imagined property would be huge, especially since the stories say there are fields there with farm animals. It's not his insurance premium that would be high, just his potential loss. It doesn't exist. You obviously are not a Jersey native, buying into a fairy tale like this one.

    Sure Secret Shelter. Yeah, me and the Jersey Devil played cards at the Wawayanda Shelter too. Did you know they named that one after Wawa. You have been to a Wawa at 2 a.m. haven't you?

    Folks, stay on the trail and save yourselves some useless blue blazin'. Move along.

    P.S. Tourists? Keep 'em the hell out, always messing up the beaches. Damn shoobies....
    Last edited by Alligator; 05-05-2005 at 14:28.

  20. #20
    Peakbagger Extraordinaire The Solemates's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alligator
    Get real folks, stop pulling everyone's chain. Today's not April Fool's Day. Do you think that somebody actually has enough land in NJ to just let a couple of acres "sit around" for thru-hikers to use for free? It's one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. JIM, some "nice guy in NJ" (say that phrase out loud, your tongue will stumble over it), is going to let hikers take free hot showers and sleep on his property, unwatched. Does anybody know how expensive insurance is in the Garden "ha" State? Any of you ever even been to NJ? Maybe, 'cause I think some of you are smokin' crack. It's time to put this one to bed, too many people are actually buying into this freakin' nonsense story. People wandering down side streets looking for the, PSST Secret Shelter, won't endear hikers to the locals.There's only one thought they are going to have "smelly, homeless, drug addicted vagrant". Believe this hoax and you're nothing but a donkey's ass. An obvious troll post.
    alligator, i cant really tell if your kidding, but youre posts prove that you are ignorant because you speak of something you obviously know nothing about. i would keep my mouth shut if I were you...lest you really make an even bigger fool of yourself. i think youre the donkey's ass.

    and yes...we've stayed, as have many others, at Jim's Secret Shelter. believe it or not.
    The only thing better than mountains, is mountains where you haven't been.

    amongnature.blogspot.com

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