Hi everyone - I could really use your advice here. I'm doing a through-hike of NY state beginning Labor Day weekend. The shelters aren't at convenient locations for my timeline, and this is my first time on the A.T. All the guidebooks I have state that camping outside of designated areas (i.e. shelters) is prohibited. What I'd like to know is if this is really strictly enforced and what are the risks of camping outside these areas? I will definitely follow leave-no-trace guidelines...but if I camp off the A.T. a few hundred yards each night while in NY, am I running any risk? Any suggestions or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Also, what if you camp in the area around shelters but don't stay in the shelter themselves? I'm not a fan of rats, so even if I camped in an area around a shelter, is that a bad thing?

Thanks!!!

Brad