sleeping in shelters

[BobTheBuilder]

I completely agree with CowHead.

Sorry, I just wanted to type a sentence once in my life that no one else ever had.

[everyman]

Thank you all for the feedback - educational and entertaining!!! So for those who have slept in shelters, what (if any) strategies have you seen deployed to keep mice off of the body? Zip up sleeping bag entirely? Wear some mesh thing around the head? Do the mice crawl into the sleeping bags or just crawl over the outside? And lastly in summer time when it is warm at night and you sleep on top of bag is it worse with no protection wrapped around you?

[flemdawg1]

and just plain laziness

If I was lazy i'd just stay home or drive to an overlook or campground. But I did just walk x miles, I'm kinda tired.

you don't need to stay INSIDE the shelter to enjoy these amenities

Those are valid reasons too. But you can tent within a tenth-mile or more from the shelter and get all those things, too. Best of both worlds.

True but it's there ready to use. Just throw your pad and sleeping bag down, done.

[Tin Man]

If I was lazy i'd just stay home or drive to an overlook or campground. But I did just walk x miles, I'm kinda tired.

Takes two minutes to setup a tent. Only lazy people can't take the time.

True but it's there ready to use. Just throw your pad and sleeping bag down, done.

It ain't just the people and the mice that make me want to barf. It is knowing you are sleeping on dried barf, piss, mouse turds, rotten food and worse.

[flemdawg1]

Thank you all for the feedback - educational and entertaining!!! So for those who have slept in shelters, what (if any) strategies have you seen deployed to keep mice off of the body? Zip up sleeping bag entirely? Wear some mesh thing around the head? Do the mice crawl into the sleeping bags or just crawl over the outside? And lastly in summer time when it is warm at night and you sleep on top of bag is it worse with no protection wrapped around you?

The only time I had a mouse touch me was when my butt was against the wall. It crawled over my butt on the outside of my bag. It freaked me out and I screamed.

Mice generally stick close to the walls. They generally just want some food and don't want to bother people (like most animals). The easiest way to avoid them touching you is sleep head out, in the middle, or as others have stated, sleep somewhere else.

[Skyline]

It's good the shelters are there for those who seem to need them, or maybe just want them. Many trails don't have any shelters at all, while the AT is blessed with over 200 of them.

But as y'all can read, there are a bunch of folks here—among them a high percentage of more experienced backpackers—who will sleep in one only under drastic conditions if then. The reasons expressed are valid IMHO.

HYOH.

[flemdawg1]

Takes two minutes to setup a tent. Only lazy people can't take the time.

It ain't just the people and the mice that make me want to barf. It is knowing you are sleeping on dried barf, piss, mouse turds, rotten food and worse.

So do you completely avoid hotels, restaraunts, bars, public transportation, etc. Sanitation is imperfect pretty much everywhere.

[ChinMusic]

It ain't just the people and the mice that make me want to barf. It is knowing you are sleeping on dried barf, piss, mouse turds, rotten food and worse.

Thanks for the mental image as I head into the Smokies for a section hike next week..........

[vamelungeon]

Shelters on trails are the very opposite of Leave No Trace.
"Let's leave no trace of our being here, but first let's build these huts."
I can't understand WANTING to sleep with vermin.

[Skyline]

Thank you all for the feedback - educational and entertaining!!! So for those who have slept in shelters, what (if any) strategies have you seen deployed to keep mice off of the body? Zip up sleeping bag entirely? Wear some mesh thing around the head? Do the mice crawl into the sleeping bags or just crawl over the outside? And lastly in summer time when it is warm at night and you sleep on top of bag is it worse with no protection wrapped around you?

Mice will go where mice want to go. They live to torture hikers.

Are mice your only shelter-related concern? What about snoring, farting, barfing, human- and animal-derived disease, loud unpacking/packing/conversations/cooking/drinking/drug use late at night or early in the morning, or the often filthy conditions?

[Tin Man]

So do you completely avoid hotels, restaraunts, bars, public transportation, etc. Sanitation is imperfect pretty much everywhere.

i don't lay my head down in any of those places except a hotel pillow with fresh linens AND I always wash my hands before i eat. how about you?

[Tin Man]

Mice will go where mice want to go. They live to torture hikers.

Are mice your only shelter-related concern? What about snoring, farting, barfing, human- and animal-derived disease, loud unpacking/packing/conversations/cooking/drinking/drug use late at night or early in the morning, or the often filthy conditions?

there was another shelter thread not so long ago talking about a dude who, not very quietly, whacked his haddock with a shelter full of people

[flemdawg1]

Shelters on trails are the very opposite of Leave No Trace.
"Let's leave no trace of our being here, but first let's build these huts."
I can't understand WANTING to sleep with vermin.

Follow my logic for 1 sec. Say you were a city planner for a village of 1000, in Sim-city. If your goal was to keep as much of the area as pristine as possible, would you set all the citizens loose to make a home wherever they felt like? Or would you concentrate them in as small an area as possible, say in a high-rise?

[Tin Man]

Thanks for the mental image as I head into the Smokies for a section hike next week..........

you know how to get around the rules

[flemdawg1]

i don't lay my head down in any of those places except a hotel pillow with fresh linens AND I always wash my hands before i eat. how about you?

Well my sleeping pad is on a peice of tyvek, my pillow (pocket built into bag) is resting on the relatively clean interior of my sleeping bag. And I always wash my hands too. See, not that big a distinction, is it?

[Pootz]

Follow my logic for 1 sec. Say you were a city planner for a village of 1000, in Sim-city. If your goal was to keep as much of the area as pristine as possible, would you set all the citizens loose to make a home wherever they felt like? Or would you concentrate them in as small an area as possible, say in a high-rise?

I agree. I would rather see a shelter every 10 miles than thousands of camp sites spread all over the trail.

[Tin Man]

I agree. I would rather see a shelter every 10 miles than thousands of camp sites spread all over the trail.

there could be additional tent pads, instead of shelters, at the current locations. there are many campsites on the AT that do not have a wooden box and are quite nice.

[Tin Man]

Well my sleeping pad is on a peice of tyvek, my pillow (pocket built into bag) is resting on the relatively clean interior of my sleeping bag. And I always wash my hands too. See, not that big a distinction, is it?

where does the tyvek go when you pack up? look, you can rationalize your stay in the wooden boxes all you like. to me there is a big distinction and i simply don't for all of the reasons stated.

[Stir Fry]

I have onle section hiked so far, about 750 mi. Every shelter I come to it seems no one wants to tent until no chose becouse the shelter is full. Shelters have all the problems that have been talked about, but you can not beat the convience of, get up pack a dry bag and start hiking. the times that I had to tent I was 15 to 20 min. longer geting on the trail, and many times everything was wet. Say what you want, but by the time you reach VA. you will be in a shelter when its raining or you get in late.

[fehchet]

I've often thought the shelters should be eliminated. Then have a park bench every mile or so. The benches would be great places to sit down and rest or have a snack or take a snooze. After a few years tent sites would probably appear around some of the benches. Maybe wfi and licensed massage therapists too.