Hawk Mountain Shelter

[Former Admin]

Info, questions, comments, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Hawk 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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[Hammock Hanger]

Good Water source. Stayed here once all alone with the hubby, nice.
Then on day one of my 01 Thru-hike I slept out in my bivy. The shelter was packed and there were 25 tents around. Way too busy for me. The shelter was in good shape. Hammock Hanger

[Squirrel]

This was the first shelter I ever stayed in. We had a young doe come to visit us near the shelter. She came within 15 feet of us and stayed around for over an hour. I watched what she did for about 20 minutes and I saw her eating greenbrier. I tried some of it, and it is delicious! Good learning experience.

-Squirrel

[Footslogger]

Great shelter and generally the first "over-night" spot if you start at Springer. One word of caution though, if you are intent on staying inside the shelter ...plan to hit it on a weekday night. This is an extremely popular camp spot for local Boy Scouts who put in at 3 Forks. In 2001 we hit it on a Saturday night and there were so many people there that some of them had actually set up tents ON THE TRAIL. A lot of thru-hikers that year over-hiked the shelter to the next open spot. We ended up sleeping down close to the water source.

[Jumpstart]

Seems like this was the place to "ditch food" this year. We got there for a snack (having stayed at Stover Creek) and couldn't beleive the amount of food people had left...had to be at least a good 5 day supply of various food items..including cans of Spaghettios! Found a few shell-cashings and some cool green army-face paint on some of the logs near the clearning up above the shelter...

[Aubrey]

Both times I've stayed at this shelter we had "Shelter-Shakers".

Still haven't slept in that shelter - must be REALLY nice in there, though...

[Moose2001]

Stayed here in 2001. Shelter was packed and I was up on the second floor. Had some loud snorers that night but the most "interesting" thing was the possum that visited in the middle of the night. The possum was sitting on a guys feet, he woke up, screamed, scared the possum, scared the ***** out of all of us, and made an interesting night. Think I'll tent this year.

[Happy]

I hiked this past weekend with the March 1st crowd and stayed at the Hawk Mountain shelter Saturday night. Nice shelter and was very clean. The shelter was full with 12 people and 2 more under the back of the shelter laying on a tarp (told me the next morning they only had 2 mice run over them). In addition there
were 21 tents, 2 tarps and 1 hammock set up. We cooked on the table in front of the shelter with five different shifts.
Great group of hikers and a lot of fun including "jan lite shoe",
"hot dog", "wench", "mickey one sock", "A-train" all with journals posted. Make sure to take a couple extra biners as the bear cables become full very fast this time of the year.

[Presto]

Military personnel often "raid" this shelter for training so don't be surprised if you see soldiers armed with heavy guns lurking in the woods around here.

Great shelter in 2002. Took a lunch here and got offered a 1-gallon bag full of powdered milk from some thru-hikers who brought WAY too much stuff with them. That would make about 4 gallons of milk. The next resupply was about 2-days away. Milk was their luxury item. But they also had the biggest can of peanut butter I had ever seen. The list goes on and on.

We stayed at Justis Creek campsite. The section between Hawk Mtn. and Justis were some of the toughest miles on me.

[Happy]

Presto, you are right, around 4pm 18-20 soldiers marched right through the camp and by the front of the shelter.

[MedicineMan]

30 folks when I was there last summer (July) 18 of them Boy Scouts, the rest folks from all over the country...busy place indeed.

[stranger]

Spent a amazing night there during a good snow in 96, pretty big shelter and good water.

[D-Con]

I stayed here May 7 of 2001 during my first leg of my thru/section hike (depending on how you view it). Anyhow, shelter is in great shape. H20 source was good and the mice were active! Bring yer traps & have some fun!
D-con
GA-ME 01-02

[Youngblood]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/sh...papass=&sort=1

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/sh...php?photo=1257

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/sh...papass=&sort=1

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/sh...papass=&sort=1

[ga>me>ak]

Stayed here a few times, last year it was redone and was really nice. FYI-there is a trail shortly before the shelter that goes to the top of the mountain to a very old church cemetary(this is a very short walk). There is a large pavilion, tables, and a bathroom-not in great shape though. The church allows anyone to stay and most of the time there is a nice stack of firewood left to use. Great place to star gaze as the there is a huge open area. You can also take side road off fs-42 up to the top, pretty rough though.
Got woke up in the middle of the night by a bear cruiising thru. Of course, the sisters that were eating on the top bunk and dropping food/crumbs all other the place had nothing to do with it.

I love camping at 3 forks, there are some beautiful trees there

[bretb]

I hammocked close to the shelter day before yesterday. The shelter was quite crowded and only one hiker had his food bag attacked by vermin while it was bearbagged. I wish I had checked this thread earlier and checked out the cemetary.

Bret

[Baldy]

I stayed in the shelter during my section hike in July. It was when that hurricane hit the gulf coast, so it was raining. We got eight guys in there, my Scout group, and two dumbasses who didn't bring a bearbag, so they lef their food in their packs on the lower bunk. We had mice all over that night...

[general]

stayed near the shelter last thursday night. military action from about 8pm on. blackhawks everywhere. kind of entertaining since i was by myself. i picked up a handful of live blanks the next day and a couple of mre chocolate bar wrappers too.

[Sly]

Both times I've stayed at this shelter we had "Shelter-Shakers".

Still haven't slept in that shelter - must be REALLY nice in there, though...

LOL... I cleared the shelter my 1st night. Well, all except for Jared ('97) who's kind of deaf.

[River Runner]

As of April 11, the shelter was in great shape. Enjoyable view from the privy, good water source (but a little bit of a walk to it). There are bear cables in place to hang food bags. No mice or other critters noted during our stay.