Thru & Stay at Every shelter?

[wornoutboots]

I don't know how many shelters there are but I wonder if anyone has hiked really really slow & went from one shelter to the next, to the next & so on all the way thru? How many shelters are there? that would = the # of days their hike would take.

[Slo-go'en]

On average, there is one every 10 miles or so. So, with out actually counting them all, I'd guess about 200. There are a number of shelters "clusted" together, in that thier only 3-4 miles apart, so you might want to skip a few of those.

[ekeverette]

i think there are 240 shelters, on average of 10 miles apart..... what i've read, i'm sure some experience thru's will let you know for sure.

[Blissful]

I met an older gentlemen in PA this past spring (I think he was in his 80's) who was going shelter to shelter there.
There are a couple of shelters only a mile or two apart also. (!)

[Del Q]

Makes each days plan pretty easy

[CrumbSnatcher]

Makes each days plan pretty easy

not if you eat alot :-)

[Papa D]

Lots of (especially "more experienced") section hikers hike this way - it can be nice, take a bunch of luxuries in a sort of heavy pack and just go 8 miles a day for a week - hike from 10am to 4pm or something - now, for me, this would get really old, really quick - I like to stop at most shelters to look at the registers and sniff around but I feel better about myself if I start at or near a shelter, pass at least 2 and camp at the 4th.

[Lone Wolf]

georgia has 12 shelters in 75 miles

[XCskiNYC]

MA has two in a tenth of a mile, Hemlocks and Glen Brook, and then two in 1.8, Mt Wilcox So. and Mt. Wilcox No. Short days.

[peakbagger]

There are also some areas where shelters are 18 to 20 miles apart. Therefore going from Shelter to Shelter may entail some long days.

[4eyedbuzzard]

ATC says there are 250 shelters or so. Some are only a few miles apart, some are quite a distance - I remember that in the NY/NJ there is a long stretch of over 20 miles, but the hiking there is relatively easy. There are also sections of the Whites where if you don't include the ATC huts they are pretty far apart considering the difficulty of the terrain. If I recall correctly, Ed Garvey visited (but did not camp at) every shelter on his "famous" 1970 thru-hike and made notes about shelter conditions, water sources, etc. His data and mileage regarding shelter and such (contained in his book "Appalachian Hiker") was pretty much the first compilation of such data. I seem to remeber him saying that he missed only one shelter along the trail, as he just couldn't find it.

[veteran]

I don't know how many shelters there are but I wonder if anyone has hiked really really slow & went from one shelter to the next, to the next & so on all the way thru? How many shelters are there? that would = the # of days their hike would take.

AT Shelter List:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=shelters

[Blissful]

If I recall correctly, Ed Garvey visited (but did not camp at) every shelter on his "famous" 1970 thru-hike and made notes about shelter conditions, water sources, etc. His data and mileage regarding shelter and such (contained in his book "Appalachian Hiker") was pretty much the first compilation of such data. I seem to remeber him saying that he missed only one shelter along the trail, as he just couldn't find it.

Yes, it was also the very first AT book I purchased at age 15 and read it every year up until my hike in '07. Sure wish I had gotten to meet him.

[max patch]

I met an older gentlemen in PA this past spring (I think he was in his 80's) who was going shelter to shelter there.
There are a couple of shelters only a mile or two apart also. (!)

Pennsylvania used to have some locations where 2 shelters were literally right next to each other. Maybe 10 feet apart. Since no one has mentioned it, both on this thread and the last time this topic was discussed, perhaps these shelters no longer exist. That would be one short day.

[Cookerhiker]

At least one of the examples cited by Max is still present: on my Duncannon-to-Harpers Ferry hike last Spring, I tented by the Toms Run shelter area where there are 2 small shelters less than 100 yards apart.

On the last night of that hike in Ed Garvey Shelter, I met 4 guys who were doing a leisurely shelter-to-shelter hike of the MD portion of the AT.

[veteran]

Pennsylvania used to have some locations where 2 shelters were literally right next to each other. Maybe 10 feet apart. Since no one has mentioned it, both on this thread and the last time this topic was discussed, perhaps these shelters no longer exist. That would be one short day.

That would be Tumbling Run Shelters:

or Rocky Mountain Shelters:

or Deer Lick Shelters:

or Quarry Gap Shelters:

Deer_Lick_Shelters_l.jpg

[Lyle]

Yes, it was also the very first AT book I purchased at age 15 and read it every year up until my hike in '07. Sure wish I had gotten to meet him.

I got the pleasure to meet and hike with Ed for a few days as part of a cross-country trip in 1981. He joined us and hiked for two or three days from HF to Washington, DC via the Towpath. Very interesting guy.

[wornoutboots]

when I OP'd this I just thought it would be interesting for a true hard core outdoors person to take their sweet time to hike the trail this way & get a lot of great exploring in around all the shelters or some good reading or writing, photography etc. It would be a really slow hike but I bet you could see some amazing things, clear the mind & meet a lot of interesting people. I couldn't do it, bacuase I can't stay in one place for too long, I'm the kind of person who needs to keep moving

[wornoutboots]

that would be funny to hear someone say at Quarry Gap Shelter, So how far you going today? "ummm right over there"

[Jeff]

Hey Veteran,

What is the history behind southern PA having several two shelter set-ups at the same location? That's pretty rare up and down the AT. The only other one I can think of is The Birches in Baxter.