Appalachian Trail (AT) community. Photos by Laura Johnston accompanying her hut2hut.info post comparing the AT and PCT and the impact of shelters vs. no shelters on each trail. These are pictures from her thru-hike of the AT.
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- Members of the Georgia Adventure Group provide trail magic (food, drinks, free treats for hikers) along the Appalachian Trail (AT) during the heaviest hiking season of the year when thru-hikers walk the length of the trail.
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- A privy, or pit toilet or outhouse, is usually adjacent to an AT shelter. Some people choose to camp, break or stop at shelters simply to use the privy. Privies may not be glamorous but do help to control human waste in the ground.
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- Privies are the pit toilets at AT shelters. Each privy is uniquely designed and adjacent to a shelter. This privy, pictured, in southern Georgia at Gooch Gap Shelter includes four walls of plywood, hand rails, space at foot and head level for ventilation and a toilet that can only collect toilet paper and human waste. All other garbage and waste should always be packed out.
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- Organized tent sites along the AT often include campfire rings and logs positioned to socialize and enjoy the fire.
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- Scenes like this showcase the breadth of tenting options along the AT–some with endless space for dozens of tents. And others are smaller for even just a single tent.
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- Overmountain Shelter, the red barn pictured in the distance, is an iconic shelter in the Roan Highlands of Tennessee. Hikers can camp in a large open grassy area near the shelter or anywhere inside the 2 floors of the shelter. This is perhaps the largest shelter along the AT and could easily sleep 40+ people.
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- Hostels like Standing Bear in Tennessee are near but not on the trail. This hostel is less than a quarter mile from the trail and a place for relaxing, laundry, resupply and even the occasional potluck like this one with free food and music for thru-hikers.
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- Two section hikers set up in a shelter outside of Damascus, VA on the AT enjoy a shelter for their evening, rather than the nearby tent spots. Sleeping in the shelter means a roof and three walls; but it also might mean sharing the space with fellow hikers, and even mice that might scurry through the shelter.
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- Thru-hikers in 2016 pose at The Birches, a tent site with two shelters in Baxter State Park where Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus, is. Thru-hikers camping in Baxter are strongly requested to camp at the Birches.
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- Hikers enjoy an overhang and a patio at a local hostel, Woodchuck Hostel, in Damscus, VA. Hikers can stop by the hostel for a break, a snack, an indoor bed or space in the yard to tent for the night.
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- The AT’s famed 250+ shelters are all uniquely different in their architecture and material. Many also include generous space around the shelters for campfires, tenting and relaxing.
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- Shelters are always a place where hikers can be found socializing and breaking. They often are also close to a water source. Their infrastructure and surrounding resources often make them a place to relax, to camp or simply to take a break and meet other hikers.
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- Scenes like this are typical at an AT shelter–hikers in the shelter, at a shelter’s picnic table and either eating, resting or socializing.
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- Hikers often use shelters as a spot to repack, filter water, check the trail registers for fellow hikers or simply meet new faces.
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- Many of the AT shelters encourage hikers to store their food away from bears and wildlife either on bear cables, away from the shelter or in bear boxes, as pictured. The presence of these methods for proper food storage are often opportunities for educcating hikers about leave no trace (LNT) and for encouraging conversation at areas where there are usually handfuls of hikers breaking or camping.
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- Laura Johnston, thru-hiker and author of this article.
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- The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) is the nonprofit which coordinates management, coordination of federal and state agencies and hiker education. Its office in Harper’s Ferry, pictured here, is also an iconic stop by thru-hikers and other hikers to get their picture taken on the porch in front of its sign at what is affectionately known as the unofficial halfway point of the trail.
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- Upper Goose Pond shelter near Lee, Massachusetts is a special shelter that sleeps hikers, lies along the banks of a gorgeous pond for swimming, includes tenting and hammock spots and during the main hiking season is maintained by caretakers who prepare pancackes and coffee (for free) for hikers.
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- Camping in Vermont on the AT is often among trees (or lots of color, depending on the season). These tent sites are a quarter mile north of a shelter and considered the designated tent sites of that shelter, due to little open space next to the official shelter.
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- Thru-hikers and section hikers often stop in the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) huts–a system of lodges and shelters throughout all four seasons that are fully enclosed and with water, fire places and kitchens. People can pay to sleep in the bunks and enjoy indoor compostable toilets, hot meals and protection from the elements. Thru-hikers usually camp outdoors except in extreme weather when huts, like Lake of the Clouds hut pictured, are required to make room indoors for hikers. Thru-hikers can also offer to “work for stay” or “work for food” and contribute to the hut’s chores in exchange for space to sleep inside or earn a meal.
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- Ethan Pond shelter in the White Mountains of New Hampshire is an example of a simple shelter–wooden frame and sides, tin roof, and an elevated floor off the ground. While they can protect hikers from rain and snow, they are still exposed and therefore shouldn’t be mistaken as warm or enclosed.
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- Camping platforms like this one at Ethan Pond Shelter are often adjacent to a shelter. So hikers that want to camp or break at a shelter, but not inside the shelter itself can often find space for tenting or camping or resting in the open.
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- Shelters are often a meeting place for meal times. Even hikers that don’t sleep in or camp at the shelters often stop in for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack. It’s important to be mindful of LNT practices even if only during a mealtime so not to attract wildlife to crumbs, food scraps at the shelter.
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- The Appalachian Mountain Club AMC), a trail club in the northeast, maintains a series of fully-enclosed huts with meals, bunks, water and indoor pit toilets. Some of these huts are in the White Mountains of NH on the AT, including Zealand Falls Hut, pictures. Section or weekend hikers can pay to reserve a bunk for cost; thru-hikers often stop through for water, a meal or to offer to “work for stay,” doing chores in exchange for food. In the event of serious weather, certain AMC huts in the White Mountains must allow thru-hikers to stay inside the huts.
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- The Lookout is an iconic two story shelter where hikers can camp. It also includes a small open roof where up to 4 hikers can stand and enjoy the view or stargaze.
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- The ski hut atop Bromley Mountain in Vermont belongs to the ski resort, but is open for thru-hikers to rest at or camp inside during the summer months, when the ski resort is not operating.
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- Bromley Mountain in Vermont allows hikers to camp in this ski hut for its winter employees.
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- Thru-hikers on the AT pack up for the morning from the Cooper Brook shelter in central Maine in the famed 100 mile wilderness. This day brought rain and cold temperatures and the shelter provided relief from the precipitation
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- Mount Katahdin in central Maine is perhaps the most iconic spot of the entire AT. It is the trail’s northern terminus and a place that all hikers–thru-hikers, section hikers, day hikers–usually pose with the sign and depending on the weather enjoy incredible views of the surronding wilderness in Baxter State Park.