Shelters Only for Thru-Hikers?

[tdoczi]

"ive seen someone who was not a thru hiker ask for and receive work for stay at a hut in the white mountains. it wasnt even during a time of year when it was realy even likely he was a thru hiker (first weekend in june.)"

Thru-hikes are undertaken with different itineraries. It's not just approached in a straight unbroken linear terminus to terminus NOBO or SOBO hiking fashion. A thru hiker could have for some unlikely reason to me too been at one of the AT AMC huts in early June.

he was on a long section hike of several hundred miles.

i didnt bring it up to imply he or the hut crew did anything wrong. i brought it up to again illustrate the difference between "thru hiker" as we typically mean it around here and the more broad sense of "hiking through." ie you dont need to start in GA and walk all the way to the white mountains to qualify for work for stay, you simply need to be on long and indeterminate hike that passes through. someone can be "hiking through" the whites and thereofre be perfect entitled to work for stay at any time of year.

now on the other hand, can someone take a 3 mile hike up to lakes of the clouds and ask for work for stay and then hike back down? maybe they could get away with it, but i think thatd clearly be out of bounds.

the same concept, to my mind, does or should apply to all shelters on the AT.

this is the same everywhere on the AT there is something like this going on- backcountry permits in SNP and the smokies, BSP, etc. when they speak about "thru hikers" they are talking about anyone on a hike of a length that requires a degree of flexibility in exact dates and locations.

[egilbe]

My experience with Lakes: We were section-hiking from July 1st to July 9th. We had the section from Flagstaff lake to the Kennebec to finish, and we wanted to do from Pinkham Notch to Crawford Notch. We didnt commit to either section dependent on the weather. Looking at the forecast Friday night we saw torrential rains and flash flooding forecast for Saturday so we decided to do the Maine section first. Spent Saturday night in the shelter at West Carry pond and convinced a few sobos that they may want to stay there that night. They were happy they listened to us a couple hours later when the storm hit.

Monday we came home and Tuesday morning headed to the Highland center to catch our shuttle to Pinkham Notch. Plan was to hike to Osgood tentsite, hike over Madison and Adams, and possibly Jefferson and stay at one of the RMC cabins or lean-to and the next day, hike over to Nauman.

Since the forecast for Thursday was kinda iffy and Wednesday was so beautiful, we decided to skip Adams and Jefferson and hike over to Mt Washington and see if we could stay at Lakes. We got the last two beds available. There was a section hiker there, who was doing a several hundred mile section, who was refused the dungeon. He wasnt a through hiker. As a compromise, he was offered the storage room for something like $10 or $20 bucks. There were four through hikers who did work for stay, and a couple through hikers who stayed in the dungeon.

My gf and I hung out with the through hikers and other section hiker, away from the other paying guests. The obvious segregation was weird. We didnt eat in the main room, much too noisy and crowded. All we wanted was a bed, anyway. I would have gladly stayed in the dungeon, but its not allowed for section hikers. That was news to me. That was my first experience with the through hiker preferential treatment and section-hiker discrimination.

[Randingo]

I love my tent. I can escape the all night shelter conversations and the ever present headlamps. I am not anti shelter, just a little anti social.

[Dogwood]

Anyone can say anything. From what I've been unofficially told a few times I'm relaying that during the AT bubbles, which are different depending on itineraries, the AMC Huts prefer to give work for stays to thrus.

[tdoczi]

I love my tent. I can escape the all night shelter conversations and the ever present headlamps. I am not anti shelter, just a little anti social.

you're not antisocial enough. youd feel obligated to talk to your shelter mates.

i walk into a full shelter, say hello, then the earbuds go in and i willfully ignore everyone if i dont feel like talking. i sit in my own little bubble in the middle of 8 people as if they werent there.

THATS anti social.

[Dogwood]

Bet you were one of those F off sleep masks too tdoczi?

[tdoczi]

Bet you were one of those F off sleep masks too tdoczi?

do they make those in tyvek or cuben fiber?

naah, i just face the corner if i am lucky enough to have gotten that spot

[cneill13]

I camped with two guys this past weekend in NC who were flip-flopping the AT. They began in Damascus hiking south in early-June.

They carried no tent, did not filter their water or hang a bear bag. They hung their food on the shelter wall. And remember, this was in a bear sanctuary. There was bear scat everywhere.

If they came to a shelter which was full, they would ask someone to leave or give them their tent to sleep in.

They have had zero issues so far and said people have been very nice about it.

I do not agree with any of their methods but thought it would be of interest to pass along.

[tdoczi]

I camped with two guys this past weekend in NC who were flip-flopping the AT. They began in Damascus hiking south in early-June.

They carried no tent, did not filter their water or hang a bear bag. They hung their food on the shelter wall. And remember, this was in a bear sanctuary. There was bear scat everywhere.

If they came to a shelter which was full, they would ask someone to leave or give them their tent to sleep in.

They have had zero issues so far and said people have been very nice about it.

I do not agree with any of their methods but thought it would be of interest to pass along.

oh no, here comes the sleep with your food vs hang it tangent...

i'd never ask someone to leave and i REALLY wouldnt ask someone to give me their tent. if not carrying a tent ever bits me i'll just accept the consequences of my decision.

[Slo-go'en]

If they came to a shelter which was full, they would ask someone to leave or give them their tent to sleep in.
They have had zero issues so far and said people have been very nice about it.

Good thing they didn't encounter me. I'd say FU, you go set up your tent in the rain.

[Dogwood]

I camped with two guys this past weekend in NC who were flip-flopping the AT. They began in Damascus hiking south in early-June.

They carried no tent, did not filter their water or hang a bear bag. They hung their food on the shelter wall. And remember, this was in a bear sanctuary. There was bear scat everywhere.

If they came to a shelter which was full, they would ask someone to leave or give them their tent to sleep in.

They have had zero issues so far and said people have been very nice about it.

I do not agree with any of their methods but thought it would be of interest to pass along.

To do that an entire thru is more laziness and imposing on others than anything else. That is not UL! Not carrying some kind of shelter is being irresponsible as Gator said earlier. Even Todczi carries an emergency shelter.

Meeses can climb a vertical wall, era bag line string, sapling, tree, etc and jump and hang on a stuff sack to chew though it to get at the goodies inside. Wonder if they were using an Ursack, I'm guessing no on that because of the other things they were doing.

If I found that's how they were approaching their entire thru I'd make mention of it to others that might meet them not to promote such behavior.

[Dogwood]

bear bag line string

[Dogwood]

Reminds me of a famous FKTer attempter a few yrs ago I shared Icewater Springs Shelter who went on bragging about his SUL 5 lb kit that included consumables and 40 MPD avgs. He said he was going for an unsupported FKT. He only had 1.5 days food at 17 oz/day for all of GSMNP for a Fontana Dam to Standing Bear segment. Was almost out of food already at Icewater, was shivering uncontrollably inside his 50* UL quilt wearing all his clothes with only a WR UL shell and a MB Thermawrap vest and a pr of UL GL nylon running shorts. It got to 28* that night with rain most of the day that late in the afternoon turned to ivy rain/sleet. He came in drenched and iced up. All he had left to eat was half a energy bar and maybe 25 M&M's. He said it was enough. Finally, someone offered and he accepted, a dry shirt and jacket to stop the close to hypodermic shivering. Someone also offered some hot food to which he also accepted. The famous FKTer was going cookless. Finally, some one(um me and another person) asked "so you're going unsupported, huh?"

Wisely, he abandoned his FKT "unsupported" attempt after having been reminded of previous events. Later, when I caught up to him further into it, he said he changed it in his personal best pseudo unsupported FKT. What the f#$k? Pseudo Unsupported FKT? Let's get real.

[lonehiker]

On my attempt this year, I personally witnessed a group of ladies at Woody Gap tell section hikers their food was for Thru hikers only. Further up the trail in NC, one group hemmed and hawed when a section hiker asked if he could partake. He had been hiking with us from the start so before the group said anything we started tossing cans of coke at him to drink.

Well, if someone is giving something they own away, I would suppose that they are able, as they should be, to determine who should receive it. Don't dislocate your shoulder patting yourself on the back for "stealing" cans of coke to toss at him...

[rocketsocks]

I'd give a Pepsi (cause coke sucks) to anyone who was thirsty, any hiker be it day, section, or thru...even a passing dog walker. What ever happened to "and good will towards..." Rediculous!

[Traffic Jam]

I'd give a Pepsi (cause coke sucks) to anyone who was thirsty, any hiker be it day, section, or thru...even a passing dog walker. What ever happened to "and good will towards..." Rediculous!

I'm with you.

And, it seems people believe that those who behave badly should be treated badly. I dont understand that mentality.

[tdoczi]

I'm with you.

And, it seems people believe that those who behave badly should be treated badly. I dont understand that mentality.

i dont know if id go so far as to say they should be treated badly (though what exactly treated badly entails is a matter of opinion) but people who are, for lack of a better word, misbehaving, need to have it made clear to them that what they are doing is not acceptable or it will never change. and worse still, others will see them get away with and start doing it.

this a societal wide problem and there have been articles and studies written on it. i am too lazy to go looking for them on a sunday morning but the basic idea is that when we stop being willing/able to call out those around us when they do things we know they shouldnt be doing that behavior eventually just becomes accepted.

ive always felt it was a large and not often spoken of factor in how the housing crisis happened, for instance.

[Traffic Jam]

i dont know if id go so far as to say they should be treated badly (though what exactly treated badly entails is a matter of opinion) but people who are, for lack of a better word, misbehaving, need to have it made clear to them that what they are doing is not acceptable or it will never change. and worse still, others will see them get away with and start doing it.

this a societal wide problem and there have been articles and studies written on it. i am too lazy to go looking for them on a sunday morning but the basic idea is that when we stop being willing/able to call out those around us when they do things we know they shouldnt be doing that behavior eventually just becomes accepted.

I agree with you. I'm talking about those who justify behaving like aholes. And I'm preaching to myself.

[TTT]

All you need are United Airline staff monitoring the shelter occupancy and the problem is solved

[rocketsocks]

I'm with you.

And, it seems people believe that those who behave badly should be treated badly. I dont understand that mentality.

Yup, I wouldn't treat some badly, but I'd sure as hell say something to them in an attempt to allow them to see the error in their ways.