We always carry a tent, no matter what.
note that to be classified as a thru hiker, you have to hike 30+ miles each side of the park. Franklin to Hot Springs minimum. This time of year, the shelters will not be full, so you will be required to stay in the shelter. Park rangers are abundant in the park this summer, so there is a good chance you will run into at least one on your hike. If you stay somewhere other than a shelter location, it will definitely need to be an emergency type situation in order to prevent getting fined.
Have a great trip and stay safe. Water is abundant in the park right now.
----------------
SMHC Trail Maintainer
Volunteer in the Park (VIP) GSMNP
From what I've read about GSNMP shelters, what you really need to plan for is "What am I going to do if I get to the shelter and it is full?".Originally Posted by rodonne1
Technically, if you have a reservation for a shelter, you should have a spot in the shelter. But if unforeseen situations arise (think people who have arrived at either the wrong shelter or the wrong date, or they just don't know or ignore the GSMNP reservation system), are you really going to risk a confrontation in the back country and attempt to kick someone out of the shelter to enforce your reservation? Seems wiser to just bring along a tent (or other shelter of your choice) to simply setup near the shelter rather than bothering with a confrontation.
From there, obviously, what ever is your back-up plan at a shelter should be able to double for your backup plan should you fail to reach your designated shelter.
I'm glad you posted that. The regs state 50 miles; Hot Springs is only 36 miles. However, given "logical" places to start/end a hike I've always felt that Hot Springs met the "spirit of the law" if not the "letter of the law" and I would not have an ethical problem suggesting a Franklin-Hot Springs hike to someone who wanted to be classified as a GSMNP thru hiker. Do you know if the Park also embraces Hot Springs as an entry/exit point?
Ox97GaMe, Thanks a lot for the info! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this trip and have been planning for months, literally!! I'm hoping the water will still be plentiful in August. I do feel like it's looking good so far because here in Georgia we've had a lot of rain so far this summer where in recent past years it's been dry for weeks by July.
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish....
-Steve Jobs
When I think 'emergency shelter' I think 'day hike gone wrong'.
When I go hiking there's just 'shelter'.
I just got back from hiking Clingmans Dome to Fontana Dam. We met one of the rangers at Derricks Knob the first night and he told us NO HAMMOCKS. Not in or out of the shelters. They consider hammocks a tent for some reason. I believe they make exceptions for through hikers though.
So I was planning on hammock camping and didn't have a sleeping pad. I had to use my tadpole tarp and fill it with dead leaves, which worked out pretty good.
Same here.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.
There is a lot of emergency stuff outside ten essentials that can be left home... specifically anything labeled Coglan's
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
Fellas, I believe the Op said in 4 weeks a Park thru walk.....................so that means my Poncho I guess, 'cause the Hooch is home sweet home!
Last edited by coach lou; 07-02-2013 at 12:51. Reason: can't read
A person with a "General Back-Packing Permit" is supposed to have a reserved spot at a specific shelter, and is therefore required to sleep in that shelter. Additionally, there is a specific rule prohibiting the attachment of a hammock to any part of a shelter (it's one of those rules published in the Park Management Compendium, but not included in the rules listed on the "Trail Map and Guide" nor the Reservation web site).
Mean-while, a person with a "Thru-Hiker Permit" does not have a specific spot reserved. Instead, a few spots at each shelter are set aside for thru-hikers. IF more thru-hikers arrive at a shelter than there are spots set aside, the excess thru-hikers are permitted to tent near the shelter. If a thru-hiker is occupying a spot reserved for general back-packers, the thru-hiker is required to surrender their spot to the general back-packer.
Of course those are just the official "rules". Enforcement is another matter. (For example: since shelter spots are not marked "general" or "thru", so if you're a general hiker and arrive at a shelter with an excess of thru hikers, which thru hiker are you going to ask to leave?)
Yah, I'm confused...Are you asking for an "emergency" shelter, or just a shelter? If you're planning on sleeping in the woods, you should probably carry a shelter. I would NOT fully rely on the AT shelters no matter what. But, I think that constitutes a sleep system, NOT an emergency shelter. If it's just you, get a lightweight 1 man tent, tarp and groundcloth, or hammock. It's your home
if you're hiking overnight or longer, you carry you're own shelter.sh** happens.
When I do short summer hikes and plan to stay in shelters, I bring my MLD Pro poncho. Emergency shelter, raingear, and pack cover. A bug bivy comes along , also.
even with permits shelters in the smokies are often crowded and there is no guarantee you will have room even with a permit- I carried a tent when I did the smokies but did not need to use it and I was glad not to since we had heavy snow and some deep drifts that march
hillbilly
My emergency shelter is the mylar space blanket...keeps ya warm, keeps ya dry, as advertised!
Emergency Shelter as unplanned stop
Bump to this thread:
I have this very question, more as a dayhiker to mountains in the Smokies. Few seem to dispute that weather can change on you suddenly in these and similar mountains. I have various gear: tent, tarp, and hammock. But I've noticed that on the way up and down these mountains, there's often no clearing in which you could pitch a tent. You have the trail, usually with the mountainside rising up on one side of you and falling away on the other. No room for a tent, probably too steep/tricky for a tarp/hammock. So do you just keep moving?
I don't have a 1P tent ... mine is a small 2P, sort of 1.5P tent, but probably too wide for the trail, which is often too rocky anyway. All I can think of for a potential solution is to either try to suspend a tarp across the trail (as opposed to off the trail, where it may not be feasible), or perhaps carry a bivy sack - again, not for ordinary backpacking shelter (I totally believe the condensation issues often cited) but for an emergency weather situation where hypothermia might otherwise be in play.
The tarp idea might not work so well in high winds - makes setup difficult.
I hiked a mountain on the Cumberland Trail this past weekend, and took note of where I might set up an emergency shelter. Other than at top or at bottom of the mountain, there really was nowhere but the trail itself, and even then, it was often too rocky.
Just curious what experienced hikers in the Smokies think is the best solution for an unplanned stop when you're ascending or descending. Thanks!
You'd be surprised how fast you can find a tent spot on the side of a mountain when you hear the thunder and rain and coming through the trees!
Look at some of the bivy sacks, I like this one.
http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/...ncy-bivvy.html
"Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011
Even on a day hike I have a small tarp, a sheet of Tyvec and a mylar emergency blanket. Why wouldn't I?
"It goes to show you never can tell." - Charles Edward Anderson Berry
And why wouldn'tt you continue hiking in the storm to get back to your car if you are day hiking?
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