Shelter on the Appalachian Trail

With the incredible amount of energy expended while hiking up and down mountains for ten or twenty miles a day with thirty pounds on one’s back, a good night’s sleep is very important for a successful long-distance backpacking adventure. Hikers on the Appalachian Trail have a number of options for overnight accommodations, with varying levels of cost and comfort. The decision on where to stay is based on a number of factors, including budget, convenience, weather forecasts, resupply requirements, laundry concerns, and medical situations, just to name a few.

Most nights are spent in or near one of the free shelters built every ten to fifteen miles along the trail. These are somewhat rough, cabin-like structures built by the various volunteer groups who maintain sections of the trail. Some shelters are newer and nicer than others, but a typical shelter has three walls and a roof and can accommodate anywhere from four to twelve hikers on a “first come” basis. Savvy hikers will be prepared with a supply of ear plugs to guard against chatty shelter mates and heavy snorers. One of a hiker’s greatest adjustments is to get comfortable sleeping shoulder to shoulder alongside people who you perhaps just met and who also haven’t bathed in a number of days or even weeks.

I spent a couple very cold nights in this Maryland shelter recently during a 28-mile Superbowl weekend hike through the snow.  There are six very well maintained shelters along the 41-mile Maryland section of the trail.

Each shelter has a privy nearby, where one can take care of business without having to dig a hole in the woods.

In the Great Smokey Mountains National Park and in a few other areas, hikers are required to use the shelter houses, as opposed to pitching a tent and possibly disturbing the land, unless the shelter is full. But either by choice or necessity, hikers will spend many nights in a small and lightweight backpacking tent, usually designed to sleep just one person. Tent pads are laid out near the shelter houses, so campers can still enjoy the comradery and benefits the shelter offers, such use of the campfire, picnic table, and the “privy,” while having some of the privacy lacking in the group sleeping arrangement of the shelter house. The downside of tent camping is the time and energy required to set up camp after a long day of hiking, and the breakdown of the camp the following morning.   Gaining in popularity, hammock camping is a sleeping system strung between two trees and covered by a tarp hung over a guideline, which provides the hiker with the flexibility of camping almost anywhere even when there is no flat and smooth surface.

For my trip, I have invested in the Hubba 1, a one-man tent made by MSR. It weighs a little over three pounds, including the mesh enclosure with waterproof basin, rain fly that covers the mesh compartment, six aluminum stakes, and an aluminum pole assembly inter-connected by an elastic band. It takes less the five minutes to set up and break down. It has just enough room inside for my sleeping pad and sleeping bag, with a bit of space at the foot and head for storage, and more space outside the zipped area under the rain fly for storage of muddy shoes and the like. It’s tight, but cozy.

"Home, sweet home?"

Most thru-hikers on the A.T. find it necessary to come out of the woods once in a while to sleep in an actual bed and rediscover modern conveniences. Some residents of the trail towns have converted their homes into hostels. For a nominal fee, usually between fifteen and thirty dollars a night, hikers can get a ride into town, a shower, dinner, access to computer and internet, a bed or cot, laundry, breakfast, transportation to the store for resupply, and a ride back to the trail head. Hostel owners are said to be some of the friendliest and most helpful people hikers will meet during their adventure, and many hostel operators were also thru-hikers at one time.

The most expensive option is a motel room. To minimize costs, hikers will often share the expenses of a room between three or four people. Inn operators in the towns near the trail understand the needs of the hikers, who comprise a significant amount of their business during the hiking season. So a room full of gear strung out to dry, tents, sleeping bags, muddy shoes, etc., is to be expected. After getting situated and showered, a group of famished hikers will typically find a place where they can binge on huge amounts of food at reasonable prices, with pizza and all-you-can-eat buffets being the top choices.

Shelters and hostels are the places where friendships are forged and trail families are created. A northbound A.T. thru-hiker becomes part of what is known as a “hiker bubble,” the dozens of adventurers who depart from Springer Mountain, Georgia within a few days before or after one another. Familiar faces, most becoming scruffier and more drawn along the way, will surface from time to time as hikers “leapfrog” one another over the weeks and months onward to Maine.

After surviving a rainy night in mid-January on this ridge above the Rocky Run shelter, I decided to build a fire and stay a second night.