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  1. #1
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    Default Blood Mountain Shelter (GA)

    Info, questions, comments, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Blood Mountain Shelter

    Past/Present hikers - what can future hikers expect here? Have any good stories or memories from here?

    Future hikers - any questions?

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  2. #2
    Addicted Hiker and Donating Member Hammock Hanger's Avatar
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    I remember this shelter back in it's better days. I spent a night in April that plummented down into the teens. Burr!! There were 21 hikers that night, mostly begining thrus. There were shutters on the windows, doors and we had a roaring fire in the fireplace. I was sectioning at the time and it was great fun trying to pick out the thurs we thought had a chance. Today it is a relic of that shelter, but I still enjoyed my night as a potential thur-hiker in 2001. HH
    Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D

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    I liked this place when I first saw it, but at night a feroious storm blew in through the open windows, making things a bit damp. There was only one other person on Blood and this was in May.

  4. #4
    Registered User Peaks's Avatar
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    I'd like to see some work done on that shelter. Otherwise, keep going down to Neels Gap. That's what I did.

  5. #5
    Addicted Hiker and Donating Member Hammock Hanger's Avatar
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    Default Neels Gap

    In 01 when I last went through the change over hadn't taken place and the hostel still wasn't opened. Stayed at Blood to get a early morning in at the store and move on. HH
    Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D

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  6. #6
    Registered User hacksaw's Avatar
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    I don't think it has become official as yet, but this shelter will soon be closed completely as it is within the Blood Mountain Wilderness area and therefor subject to the most stringent rules the USFS and GADNR can come up with regarding maintenance and improvements to the shelter. Except for its historic value (originally built by the CCC during the great depression) I think it would have been removed long ago. Essentially there can be nothing done to the shelter without the Feds and State of Georgia being dead in the middle of it, and it is a difficult site to reach for maintenance crews.

    It is a very difficult area to provide space for tents (on the summit that is) and there is a total open fire ban (even when there isn't a drought) from Slaughter Gap to Neel's Gap (possibly even further south than Slaughter now) there is a serious problem with human waste already since this is one of the most popular day hiking destinations in the state and it is not possible to get water from Neel's Gap to Slaughter Gap- ever, drought or not.

    Although this is one of the coolest spots on the entire AT in Georgia, it is not, in light of todays park rules, a suitable location for a shelter. This has been the general consensus for many years and it doesn't look too promising for this shelter's active future.

    All that said, I still love the place and try and overnight in the vicinity of the summit whenever I'm in that area. I've had some of my more memorable hiking moments on Blood Mountain over the years including sunrises and sunsets, down right scary thunderstorms and winds and the coldest I've ever been in the woods during a raging blizzard about 20 years ago. Not to mention that Blood Mountain was the first place I ever spent the night on the AT (1962, BSA Troop 39).

    This area is as fragile as the Maine tundra above tree line and in a state of tremendous over use, so if you do choose to stay here, please respect it for what it is and treat it gently.

    One last comment. Unfortunately, or maybe not, there has been a recent relocation on the north slope of Blood Mountain between the Freeman Trail junction and the summit (on the Neel's Gap side of the mountain). They put in a series of switchbacks and steps to get traffic off some of the worst abused areas. While it has helped with the destruction somewhat, it has taken one of the more difficult sections out of service thereby making the overall ascent from the north a lot easier, which in turn allows a lot more people easy access to the summit and on and on ad infinitum.........

    Hacksaw

  7. #7
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    Unhappy Blood Mtn Shelter in bad shape

    Just got a Report from Walk about Charlie who is on the trail now .Blood Mtn Shelter is in Bad shape. All the window have been broke out, and the place is trash.
    Whittler
    Sometimes I feel like a leaf in a stream...it may whirl about and turn and twist, but it is always carried forward

  8. #8

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    One of the best, if not THE best, place to see a sunrise/sunset in Georgia. You'll stay in plenty worse places if you thru-hike.

  9. #9
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    was up on blood mtna couple of weeks ago in the snow ,,,the ole rock house has seen it's better day..the shutters are all off of the windows and snow had blown onto the sleeping areas ..but it seems that the roof is sound...the place was clean ..meaning there was no trash around..summit of blood is beautiful ...lot of rock...weather permitting a great place just to sleep under the stars....Rock is a durable surface and one of the LNT 'rules" is Camp and travel on Durable surfaces.
    "I'd rather kill a man than a snake. Not because I love snakes or hate men. It is a question, rather, of proportion." Edward Abbey

  10. #10
    Registered User Waterbuffalo's Avatar
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    I'm headed up blood tomorrow hopefully the clouds will be gone
    WB
    "Sometimes you have to make a clean break from the past to make a new beginning"

  11. #11
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    Hacksaw, thanks for the info but it sure is sad to to hear the shelter may be closed. Does that mean it will be removed (in other words, "destroyed") or does it mean that the doors and windows will be shut up so that hikers can't get in? If it must be closed, it would be nice if they could somehow preserve it. This is probably completely unrealistic, but they could put wrought-iron bars across the doors and windows so you can see in without actually getting inside. Shame to destroy it. I'm sure relocation is out of the question. This was the first AT shelter I ever stayed in. Enjoyed it for the "history" but otherwise it convinced me to avoid shelters in the future!
    "In the mountains, there you feel free." T.S. Eliot

  12. #12

    Default Blood Mt. Shelter

    Cold ,Windy and full of mice

  13. #13
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    ....
    Last edited by smokymtnsteve; 08-14-2003 at 20:55.
    "I'd rather kill a man than a snake. Not because I love snakes or hate men. It is a question, rather, of proportion." Edward Abbey

  14. #14
    Registered User Ramble~On's Avatar
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    I hiked in 1996. The shelter was full and some of us tented not far from the shelter...I remember being visited by two skunks...I forget their names but they did introduce themselves......fortunately, not in the smelly way

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Former Admin
    Info, questions, comments, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Blood Mountain Shelter...................................




    Sad to hear of possible closing of Blood Mtn Shelter soon too!


    when i hiked there in April 2002...i summitted in late afternoon toward sunset...took many photos...signed the shelter register...(noted the many comments about mouse "infestation")...enjoyed seeing this Civilian Conservation Corps 1930s-built shelter. enjoyed the sunshine from this peak (the highest peak on the A.T. in Georgia @ 4,461ft elevation) & views from all sides...

    steep, painful descend down Blood Mtn (my knees were killin' me!) but, Ben & Jerry & "TeePee" was waiting on me @ Walasi-Yi Center!
    woooooo-hoooo!
    see ya'll UP the trail!

    "Jaybird"

    GA-ME...
    "on-the-20-year-plan"

    www.trailjournals.com/Jaybird2013

  16. #16
    Registered User Baldy's Avatar
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    When I was there in Summer '03 it was in an okay shape. It hadn't been trashed, but the sleeping platform seemed to be soaked with water. It was so damp we had to put down a tarp in order to keep our sleeping bags dry.

    The mouse "infestation" is quite true. I was sitting outside alone, the rest of my group having gone to scout out sunrise photo locations. I was about to get up and climp to the top of the rock when I heard what sounded like 100 mice scrambling through our packs. (I'm not kidding, it was that loud.) I ran inside and started hanging the packs. (They were still in the front room where we had dropped them.) The next morning, I found tan "fluff" on my green shirt where a mouse had crawled into my bag (while I was in it) and chewed a bit off of the inside of my fleece sleeping bag.

  17. #17
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    I stayed at Blood Mt. Shelter in April of 97 and it was, by far, one of my most memorable nights on the AT. The hike from Woody Gap was cold and rainy and I wasn't feeling any where near 100% when I got to the shelter, I had brought just enough water up with me to make it through the night and planned on a evening meal of bagels and peanut butter.
    I was surprised to find a group of day hikers sitting in the shelter when I got there with a camp stove roaring full blast and a pot of home made soup bubbling away on it. They said they were just leaving and asked if I would like any of the soup, plus some cheese, and a couple of oranges. You won't be surprised to find out that I said yes :-) I ate the soup and cheese, picked the shutters up off the floor and placed them into the windows to keep the wind down, and got ready to go to sleep, the ony person in the shelter.
    A few hours later I woke up needing to relieve myself and hearing loud blasts of tunder. I peered out through the cracks in one of the shutters and saw that it wasn't raining and decided to step outside quickly before the storm got to me. When I got outside I noticed several flashes of lightening but it seemed like the strangest lightening I had ever seen, carefully I made my way over to the edge of the summit and saw why it seemed so odd, the storm had already made it to Blood Mountain, but I wasn't getting rained on because it was all below me and I was able to watch the lightening from above! I watched this amazing light show for several minutes before getting chilled and heading back to my sleeping bag.
    The next morning I awoke to find the sun shining brilliantly outside of the shelter and when I walked outside and looked up I could see there wasn't a cloud in the sky, at least the sky above me. All around the summit clouds filled in every possible space with just a few "islands" poking above the surface of the clouds. It was nothing short of astounding.
    I returned to the shelter and grabbed one of the oranges the day hikers had given me and climbed out onto the rocks directly in front of the shelter. The orange was ice cold and sweeter than anything I had put in my mouth before, or since. I sat perched high up on this rock, looking at the clouds below me (and wishing I had sunglasses, those cloude reflected a LOT of sunlight) when I spotted a hawk out of the corner of my eye, it slowly glided towards me, getting closer and closer, seemingly curious as to who or what I was. It got so close that I thought I might have to duck to prevent being hit by it, but just a few feet away from me it suddenly flapped its wings and headed off into space, it was so close when it flapped its wings that I felt the strong, cold, breeze hit my face it generated. If I had fallen from my perch at that point and not lived to tell about it I would have died a very happy hiker.

  18. #18
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
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    Cool. I had a similar morning experience of the sun reflecting off the clouds below me at Mt. Everett in March 1975. Please post any pictures if you took any.
    GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014

  19. #19
    American Idiot
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    Nice writeup, Needles.
    How many more of our soldiers must die in Iraq?

  20. #20
    "Showme" on the trail ffstenger's Avatar
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    Stayed in the shelter on Blood late Sept '03. It is run down, but there were no mice, just a cat wondered through. I couldn't imagine not spending the night here ! There is a huge rock next to the shelter and the area around the top of
    Blood has the most awsome viewing in north Georgia. From the top of the big rock on a good clear night (that I was lucky enough to have) you can see every star in the sky. I will never forget my night on Blood! BTW, no water there, you have to bring your own up from either way..... Showme

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