Mashipacong Shelter

[adagio]

Hello eveyone,

Just wanted to put up a post here to let you all know that Myself and Tribes are the shelter maintainers for the Meshipacong Shelter. We work for the NY/NJ Trail Conference. If there are any problems we should be aware of, or if anyone needs anything for or at the shelter, please let us know.
I also would like to thank Desperado for all of his help with the care of the shelter and all of the magic he provides to the thrus, always. Although we have never met we do appreciate you help and effort. If you read this and get a chance please contact myself or tribes, we would like to meet you and thank you in person.
Last but not least I would like to wish the best of luck, and health, to all the thru hikers this season. I hope to see some of you this summer in the NY NJ area. Just look for Kermit the frog, he'll be taking a free ride from me.

Yours Truly,

DirtyBird

Trail magic as defined as leaving food and goodies in bear boxes and shelters is forbidden in NJ due to to the large and active bear population. For the safety of both hikers and bears,the NYNJ Trail Conference encourages all to follow this policy. Certainly, passing out cold sodas and food to hikers is encouraged but please do not leave food anywhere on the trail.

[nails]

Does anyone know if the stream at the Iris Trail is running. It's been very dry in NJ and I'm doing a section hike in November. I was hoping to use it as a water source.

[whcobbs]

I briefly visited Mashipacong shelter the morning of Nov 5, having stayed the night at the Rutherford Shelter and hiked S along the AT. Two hikers and their spaniel had spent a comfortable night. Alas, as they pointed out, the privy was unusable. The seat was heavily smeared and the trash can was full and overflowing with garbage over most of the privy floor. I marched on toward Sunrise Mountain, where there is a well-maintained pit toilet at the parking lot.
Walt

[BigToe]

I stayed at this shelter on 6/20/06. It was really a nice experience. It has no water, but I knew that and packed more than enough in. It's on a ridge and had a gentle breeze blowing so the mosquitos were practically non-existent. Didn't find any ticks on me. There's a generous tenting area with great trees for my hammock. Bear boxes are new and in good condition. The privy is fit for a king, was clean and not smelly, and is huge! It even has a trash can and an alcohol cleanser dispenser. It was the nicest shelter I stayed in on my section hike.

According to multiple register entries, the teenager who had his leg bitten by the bear had crackers in his sleeping bag - most of the blame for the incident and destruction of the bear is put on him. I didn't get a bear visit that night but the register had lots of non-threatening bear sightings at this and other NJ shelters.

[nails]

I stayed at the Mashipacong Shelter last night (11/7/2006). The shelter was very clean and in good shape, it even had a broom. It rained all night long and I only saw one small leak. The privy was in good shape and the bear box looked new. The lack of a water source in the area is a concern, I dropped off water there before I started the hike. Overall I give the shelter high praise.

[the onondaga kid]

Stayed at shelter June 9, 2007. Got a good night's sleep, enjoyed the five star privy (lots of TP, but out of alcohol cleanser, but now I'm nitpicking). The registery was a bit messed up, and we didn't find any water around, but the grass was short (ie no tick problems), and the tenting area up the iris trail looked really nice.
-The Onondaga Kid

[sgc22]

I'm about to head up to the Meshipacong Shelter shelter the weekend of 11/3-4. Does anyone know the current water situation? Has a new well been built, or is water still dropped, or do I have to go down to the Iris trail?

Thanks.

[nails]

I was advised about a year ago that the nearest well, which was about 1/4 mile north on the trail near the parking area, was contaminated. I suppose whatever contaminated the well is still contaminating the ground water, therefore preventing a new source in that area. I think the Iris Trail is your best bet. But I haven't been there in a year, maybe things have changed?

[fish the banks]

shelter was in good shape it now has a picnic table , privy was the worst smell in the world , it has a very nice lawn that's been mowed recently, someone left a few gallon jugs of water which a sobo got sick from drinking it and he thinks that maybe the kind person didn't rinse them out .

[GalHikingTheGap]

My NY-NJ guide says that 1/10th of a mile south the A/T joins a woods road. The blue-blazed Hoeferlin Trail leads along the road east 0.3 mile to the headquarters of Wawayanda State Park (where there is apparently H2O at park headquarters.) Anyone know any different?

L

[GalHikingTheGap]

Wait, wrong shelter **dugh**

[sasquatch2014]

It is dry at the shelter. When myself and a few others rolled through there a year ago we were lucky enough to meet up with a fellow from here on WB that brought a few gallons of water in his car and we hauled them up the shelter.

[Green Lantern]

I read through this thread, but most of it is five years or more old. Is the water situation still the same, and is the nearest water here"

"There's a spring about 5/8ths of a mile north on the Iris (Red blaze) trail."

Would appreciate an update as I am starting a 50 mile section hike to DWG starting from Ferguson Rd on Monday.

[oopsdy]

Hey:
anyone have any updates to share on this shelter?
I'm doing my first 3 day hike passing through here mid-June...

[Dogwood]

A bear bit a sleeping camper and tried to drag him away from a shelter along the Appalachian Trail at High Point State Park last month, state officials said Monday.

That's what happens when you sleep with gummy bears in your pockets!

The bear was killed Friday after becoming ensnared in a trap at the same campsite, officials said.

And so the story ends in typical fashion.

There's a spring about 5/8ths of a mile north on the Iris (Red blaze) trail. Desperado, Dirty and crew leave water and often soda just off the AT near the shelter...check the log book for it's location. through. - NJhiker

YUP! Exactly as I recall last time I was there!

The partly open grassy field in front of the shelter can be tick central!

NJ=ticks! + Jerseylicious reality shows! What a way to advertise the "Garden State!"

[oopsdy]

thanks - so long as "Mob Wives" and Snookie et al steer clear...

[snorz]

water situation is the same. *Alf* drops water off ocassionally. I don`t believe that bear attack was recent! I believe that occurred a few years ago.

[oopsdy]

yes - i got a little nervous and did a google search...
ended up spending 20 minutes reading about attacks and sightings
from all over withing the past 8 years...a great lunch time activity!

thanks you guys!

[BigHodag]

Just section hiked past Mashipacong Shelter in early May.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=345667

While there is no water officially, ALF had hiked 13 gallons in to the shelter. There was a gallon jug on the shelter floor and 13 more in blue jugs in the bear box. Personally, you should plan to bring adequate water with you and consider any water you find at the shelter "trail magic".

If headed north, there is water crossing the trail about halfway to the Rutherford shelter blue blaze and also at the bottom of the Rutherford blue-blaze. Next water after Rutherford is the fountain beside the park HQ.

If passing by NOBO, note the AT takes a sharp left at the shelter, follows the south wall, and descends sharply downhill to the road and parking area.

Good hammocking area just down the fire road between the privy and bear box.

[cpzuroff]

I am not the maintainer for the shelter, but I am the maintainer (since April 2010) from there to Sunrise Mountain.
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The shelter is the same small structure it has always been. The roof is leak-free. There has been a shiny new privy near it for more than a year now. The new bear box is nice. There is no water source there.
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I've been keeping 2 blue six gallon water containers filled in the bear box for the past year (in warm weather). I try to fill them at least once a week. I work within a 20 minute drive from there (during the school year). Unfortunately, I live over 1.5 hours away from there. So I keep them filled as well as I can.
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I have put in over 150 hours working on the trail (and some help from my friends Donna & Jim). I've pushed back the growth several feet from the center of the trail. I still have 0.2 miles in the center to fully clear, but it is passable.
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Water sources in that region are no so great. There's beaver dam half-way between Sunrise Mtn and the Mashipacong Shelter, but the water is very stinky, but is there year-round. There is a lake to the west of the shelter (follow Deckertown Rd 1.0 mile).
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There is a bear that wanders near the shelter for over a year now. It runs away when it sees me, but the trail journal has entrees from others it is not afraid of.
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The people who maintain the shelter are up there very frequently. I often see their entrees in the trail journal. So it is very well maintained.
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"Alf" GA-ME '07 - '09