New Shelter!! - Stover Creek Shelter

[1234]

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=167462
Just randomly saw this in trailjournals, It is the new Stover Creek Shelter. Is the relocation complete? Will everyone now hike past the new shelter? How far is it off the trail?

[Lone Wolf]

a new shelter wasn't needed in that area.

[rafe]

Is it new or does it replace the old/existing Stover Creek shelter?

[Lone Wolf]

it is new constuction in a different spot

[rafe]

I suppose one could argue that there's a heavy need for shelters at that particular point in the trail.

[Lone Wolf]

I suppose one could argue that there's a heavy need for shelters at that particular point in the trail.

i thought folks were hitting the woods to get away from man-made s**t? be self sufficient and all that. too many shelters. LNT is a joke

[TJ aka Teej]

i thought folks were hitting the woods to get away from man-made s**t?

Isn't the trail itself "man-made s**t" too?

[Blue Jay]

i thought folks were hitting the woods to get away from man-made s**t? be self sufficient and all that. too many shelters. LNT is a joke

Wrong again shelter breath. If you're worried about man made S**t you get away from the United States all together. Most of the trees will soon be plastic.

[briarpatch]

Is it new or does it replace the old/existing Stover Creek shelter?

The answer is "yes", its both a new location and a replacement for the existing Stover Creek Shelter.

Its a new shelter on an unfinished trail relocation. The relo will most likely be finished in May, the new shelter will be opened for use, and the old Stover Creek Shelter will go away, either torn down or moved somewhere away fromthe AT.

[Blissful]

Looks like people are already using it? Is that okay?

[John Klein]

The answer is "yes", its both a new location and a replacement for the existing Stover Creek Shelter.

Its a new shelter on an unfinished trail relocation. The relo will most likely be finished in May, the new shelter will be opened for use, and the old Stover Creek Shelter will go away, either torn down or moved somewhere away fromthe AT.

I was on the BMT earlier this month and some other hikers told me the shelter and trail relo were done. Does anyone know how many miles the new shelter is from the Springer parking lot?

[Nightwalker]

Looks like people are already using it? Is that okay?

Here are a couple of views of it. 1 2

I was lucky enough to walk that section the first day it was open. No real change in difficulty or length. It mainly got some more trail away from the old logging roads.

The new shelter is a modified Nantahala design. There are two floors, and the bottom one is split. It'll probably hold 20 easily.

If anyone wants, an put up a map showing the difference between the old and new sections.

[John Klein]

If anyone wants, an put up a map showing the difference between the old and new sections.

Yes, please do. Thanks.

[Nightwalker]

Yes, please do. Thanks.

Let me find my handheld computer. I'll do it today or tomorrow. I have to fix the roof today, yuk. :-)

[Nightwalker]

Yes, please do. Thanks.

Here you go. The dashed yellow over red line is the new part. I prettied it up a little since last night. The background data available is ugly at that zoom, but it's all that is available. The normal zoom for that type mapping is 1":1 mile, but this is more like 1":250'.

[gold bond]

Lone Wolf wake up!!!! Trail relocation is badly needed in alot of area's on the trail. I know your "set" in your ways but without trail relocation so much ecological damage is done to a certain area that repair would eventually be unable to be done.

The shelter as alot of them need alot of work as well. As long as it is replacing a older shelter and the exsisting shelter is being disposed of properly I personally thank the ATC in that area. Bravo guys!!

[Speer Carrier]

As a matter of interest, regarding the new Stover Creek Shelter;

Frank Wright of the GATC, and who was the Trails Supervisor the for the club at the time, conceived of the need for a new shelter about 31/2 years ago. As the newly elected Trails Supervisor in October of 2003, he walked the entire Geogia portion of the AT to access its future maintenance and contstruction needs. He concluded that the trail leading south from the Stover Creek shelter was heavily eroded, and the shelter itself, originally built in 1960, and moved twice was in need of replacement. Tent camping had also heavily impacted the creek bank causing silt and pollution.

Frank got approval from the GATC board to begin the process of making the relocation. Marion McLean of the GATC was asked to lay out what was to become the new trail. The USFS did a plant inventory and an archeological survey of the proposed trail corridor. With its approval, the process began.

By this time Frank's term as Trails Supervisor was up, and the new Trails Supervisor, Gary Monk took the reins. Gary secured funding for the shelter, and designed the new shelter with the help of fellow GATC members, Lawson Herron, and Jerry Seabolt. They found a company to build the timber frame, and the Forest Service had the materials Helicoptered in.

The shelter was errected in the summer of 2006.

Many GATC member volunteers, along with students from Georgia Tech, North Georgia College, and the University of New Hampshire contributed hours of work on the shelter, privy and trail.

The Konnarock crew arrived in May of 2007 and spanned the creek in two places, with a bog bridge and rock steps.

The relocation was open to the public on Memorial Day 2007

This information was summarized from an article by Frank Wright in the July edition of The Georgia Mountaineer, the newsletter of the GATC

[jonesat11]

a new shelter wasn't needed in that area.

i forgot you know everything ha ha

[Lone Wolf]

yeah that's right ha ha

[Nightwalker]

Isn't the trail itself "man-made s**t" too?

Absolutely. The second we change it, it isn't wilderness anymore. People like to have their illusions, however...