Shelters or specific areas on the trail that give you the creeps...

[MedicineMan]

Started this poll after passing by the Wapiti Shelter and years ago when passing the Vandeventer Shelter.
Do they give you an eerie feeling?
Any other places of 'ill-repute' on the trail you can think of?

[hikerjohnd]

I can't wait to hear the responses... maybe I should read by candle light on a stormy night

[MedicineMan]

just hope L.Wolf and BJ dont get too mad at me
i thought about the poll when i read the post on the 'murders on the AT' and reflected back to when i did pass Wapiti...i remember thinking how wrong murder is on the trail, thinking it belongs in big cities and the real world, but in so many ways the trail is even more real world isnt it?

[saimyoji]

The first time I hiked over the moutains starting at Danielsville trailhead near Blue Mtn ski resort (PA). After a couple of miles it was just wasteland. It was a brisk, windy November morn., not a shred of vegetation on the mountain. It was a chilling wake-up call to the effect that we humans can and do have on the earth.

Not so spooky anymore. In fact the mountain is starting (slowly) to come back.

[cutman11]

The "blair witch house" in VA ( the place with the handprints on the walls)

[Doc]

I must be out of the loop. When I stayed at Vandeventer shelter it was super with the views out back, especially in the evening. The only problem was the three day hike for water. Does this place have a history?

Doc

[Lone Wolf]

Yeah Doc.Years ago some guy slammed a hatchet into a woman's skull killing her then threw her body over the cliff behind the shelter.

[Lone Wolf]

The so-called "Hikers Paradise" in Gorham gives me the creeps. Rude friggin people.

[The Old Fhart]

Sarver Cabin, VA, has a ghost named “George.” http://www.ratc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=shelters.display&id=9]Click here [/URL] for the "official" story.

Carter Notch Hut, NH is haunted by the ghost of "Red Mac" MacGregor, hut manager in the 1920s, who pulls pranks on the hut crew. Stories I’ve heard from the hut croos over the years say that there is one bunk in the croo quarters that belonged to Red Mac that no one can sleep in without dying. http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/huts/huts-carter-history.cfm]Here[/URL] is a reference.

Mizpah Hut, NH (built in 1964) is haunted by a little girl named Betsy who got lost and was found frozen not far away. Her body was put in a body bag in the basement that night and when they went to get it the next morning the body bag was not where they put it. When they open the bag they discovered that Betsy wasn’t dead when they found her and after warming up in the basement of the hut overnight had revived and actually died trying to claw her way out of the body bag but suffocated before she could get out. The sounds the croo heard during the night and thought were the wind was actually Betsy trying to escape.

The Tip Top house on the summit of Mount Washington, NH is now a museum but people do occasionally stay overnight. That building from the 1800s is reported to have various ghosts although I didn’t see any when I stayed there overnight. A few years ago what appeared to be old human bones were found buried near the back door of the Tip Top house and because of the ghost stories everyone knew this was the reason for the hauntings. The medical examiner was called in and after a quick examination determined the bones belonged to a moose that was part of the menu over 100 years earlier.

[The Old Fhart]

Looks like the system (or those damn poltegists) mangled the links above. try Sarver here and Carter Notch here.

[bulldog49]

Why would Wapiti be considered creepy? Is there a story attached to it? What state is it in?

[Lone Wolf]

There was a double murder at Wapiti. The bodies were in a shallow grave close to the shelter.

[The Old Fhart]

bulldog49, Check the "Murder on the Appalachian Trail" thread in Straight Forward for details.

[halibut15]

The A. Rufus Morgan Shelter scares me. Even though it's close to the road and the NOC, it's just a creepy looking place and shelter...ugh.

[BlackCloud]

just hope L.Wolf and BJ dont get too mad at me
i thought about the poll when i read the post on the 'murders on the AT' and reflected back to when i did pass Wapiti...i remember thinking how wrong murder is on the trail, thinking it belongs in big cities and the real world, but in so many ways the trail is even more real world isnt it?

I'm glad you feel comfortable w/ the idea of murders belonging anywhere in our society...

[Footslogger]

Only reason I chose Wapiti Shelter is that I almost bought the ranch there in 2003. Got in late afternoon in a wind/rain storm. Set up our tents out behind the shelter, made a quick dinner and settled in for the night. Heard trees swaying and branches breaking/falling pretty much non-stop. Woke up in the morning and found a 6 - 8 foot branch stuck in the ground like a javelin at the end of my tent ...about 12 inches or so from where my head was all night. Somebody up there must like me because another foot or so and I would have taken a hit in the noggin.

Guess that's what they mean by a "widow maker"

'Slogger
AT 2003

[Lone Wolf]

I'm sure MedicineMan doesn't think it BELONGS anywhere in society. I think what he's saying is you expect it in big cities.

[Van Lloyden]

I don't know what it is about the Crescent Rocks area north of Route 7 in Northern VA that gives me the creeps after dark. I always get an unsettled feeling there at night. I never have that feeling on any other part of the trail, nor in the city for that matter.

[halibut15]

I get that unsettled feeling in the middle of the day while hiking occasionally. It's usually my indication to turn around and leave. I got that on an overgrown, unmarked trail up the Tallulah River to Deep Gap around Standing Indian, NC this past summer. I just felt really unsettled, my hair stood up all over, and it seemed as if I need to run. Needless to say I headed back to my car (about an hour away). Right after I left the trailhead, a massive severe thunderstorm came raging over Standing Indian; I think a tornado warning was issued for it. As high up on the ridge as I was before I turned around, I'd been jacked up for sure by that storm. I guess it's good to listen to your instincts sometimes after all.....

[The Solemates]

Started this poll after passing by the Wapiti Shelter and years ago when passing the Vandeventer Shelter.
Do they give you an eerie feeling?
Any other places of 'ill-repute' on the trail you can think of?

Docs Knob, Wapiti, Sarvers, Governor Clement, and Carter Notch Hut