No one stays in shelters any more, they’re too crowded.
I look back to the "good old days" of a 5 week southbound section hike in the spring of 2002 starting April 1st at the south end of SNP. We were definitely ahead of the "bubble". It was colder than expected up on the ridges so not a lot of hikers on the trail. During the week we had the shelters to ourselves. I would start a fire each evening for something to do as there was plenty of wood on the ground from winter storms and would burn out the fire pit of all the big chunks of charred green wood left in the fire pit. If there was a shovel, I would shovel out the fire pit in the morning and would confirm daily that aluminum will not burn in a fire pit so I would put it in ziplock and haul it out. On weekends we might have one of two weekenders. As we headed south around the 4th week we started seeing a few folks but the shelters were rarely full. Around the end of the 4th week we ran into the early stages of the NOBO bubble, mostly big groups of college age folks hiking ahead of Damascus who intended to head back to Trail Days. It started getting less fun as these large groups of usually ten plus would do long days and one or two would come cruising into the site around dusk and announce that they were part of a big group of "thru hikers" and implied that everyone at the site needed to make room for the rest of them.
My theory has always been is that shelters are first come first served and that I have the right to the space under my thermarest. Barring dangerous weather or an emergency, when the shelter floor is full, the shelter is full. It was obvious that those so called thru hikers expected special treatment. They were ignored by those in the shelter and after an hour or so of noise and grumbling that they were "real thruhikers"while they set up and cooked with headlamps, they shut up and we were up and gone long before they were even awake the next morning. That got old after a few days and then we switched to some slackpacking for the next four or five days of increasing crowds and ended the hike in Damascus. In later years from Damascus south we hiked in the fall to avoid the bubble and again had the trail and the shelters mostly to ourselves.
Last edited by peakbagger; 06-15-2023 at 11:54.
Bingo! Everyone has their own prefernces.Originally Posted by HankIV
I just spent 3 out of 5 nights in shelters, with a very nice variety of hikers and room to spare. The last night I had the place to myself - no hikers, no critters.
I really try to avoid shelters. Mostly because of the rodent problems. I'll never forget sweeping the mouse $hit off one of the bunks inside Chestnut Knob and seeing in the sunshine coming through the window just how much of it I aerosolized. I was watching for symptoms of hantavirus for several weeks after. Then there were the really big somethings inside the walls of Bryant Ridge and one of the huts in Shenadoah that kept me up all night. And my last experience just S of Duncannon, where I think a spider bit me 3x on my leg overnight. I had gigantic welts for a week. No mas.
It is what it is.
If no one stays in shelters anymore, how can they be so crowded?
Good one Yogi!
Shout out to the great Yogi Berra comment on NYC restaurants.
People still use shelters, but a tent should always be carried for when a shelter is full.
As a Yogi fan, I'm embarrassed I missed it.Good one Yogi!
For me a full shelter is mostly an etiquette problem, not wanting to disturb others when I need to make a nighttime potty break or just getting up and out early. I’m usually the first one up, a bit before first light, and if someone is getting up a little earlier it usually gets me going. But there was a couple at Sabbath Day Pond shelter right next to me that slipped out in total darkness without me noticing at all. And they were in the corner, and had to skirt right by my head. Like ghosts. And they had air mattresses.
That's another reason, I'm always trying to be hiking at the crack of dawn, usually leaving in the dark. The funny thing is, I'm so slow that everybody who was sound asleep is passing me within 4 hours.
NoDoz
nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
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I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind
It did for me. Before it, I would stay in a shelter to keep from carrying a wet tent if it was raining, or getting late and looking like it wasn't going to be crowded.
Post-COVID, I'm very unlikely to stay in one.
I'll tell you one shelter I'll never stay in. The Pass Mountain hut in SNP. This was several weeks ago. Lol, I walked into the hut spot near dusk. Wondered why no one was in the shelter and all tented out. Thought, great I can sprawl out in the shelter. About 15 minutes after seeing an average size mouse lurking and shrugging it off, I saw a rat mouse the size of a kitten who would scurry away as soon as it saw me see it. I immediately pulled all my gear off the shelter floor and set up my tent near the shelter. Heard that big rodent bouncing around the shelter floor a good bit of the night. Literally heard the thumping noise. I could deal with maybe a typical mouse maybe scouting out my gear as I tried to sleep but that rat was unnerving.
a rat mouse the size of a kitten
Sounds like a good time get that nice fire pit going and have a barbecue!
Wonder why it would scamper around the shelter with nothing in it when all those tents were nearby?
For me on my AT section hikes, I would always hike to the end of the day. Since there was never a shelter at the end of the day, I just camped. I have used them to sit out a storm or eat a meal when they were conveniently located.
Another story involving mice and the Pass Mtn Hut: I stopped in for the evening and went to use the privy. I found the wood chip bucket empty except for a mouse who was trapped inside. I finished my business, carried the bucket 100 yards in the opposite direction from the shelter, and let it out. I went to use the privy again in the morning before I left. This time, there were TWO mice in the bucket. I didn't bother rescuing them.
Lots of warnings about mice in the Chestnut Ridge Shelter, but had no problems Sept 28th ‘21. Sure was nice hearing that wind howling outside, and being in 4 walls. Was one of many I slept in alone south of Harpers Ferry, Sept and Oct. Wonder if the rodents wander off once the food supply becomes less reliable?
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