AT:Newfound Gap to I-40

[Sky kid]

This is my first trip report, and my first extended Hanging trip. I've done a few overnighters in the WBBB 1.1 DL, but this one was 5 days. I did as much research as I could about "hanging in shelters" and the etiquette of such or lack of, and here is my story. My group of 3, my friends being ground dwellers, started at Newfound Gap on June 1, hiking up to Icewater springs for the first night. It was a beautiful day with many trail maintenance crews out doing work. I was sure to thank each one of them. We were the first ones at the shelter, and got my pick of where to set the hammy up. I had no issues with hanging it and I found the other shelter folks very happy to see that I freed another slot open to someone else...It rained all night and all day the next day on over to Pecks Shelter. Didn't see a blasted thing in the clouds and blowing sideways rain. The shelter was 3/4 full, and once again I had my pick of where to set up the hammock. . Day 3 we moved on to Tri-Corner, when the weather broke, and we were all able to dry out, and this time I moved the hammy to the other side, as TriCorner had a different setup than the last 2. Just takes some creativity, and all were fine with it, and wasn't in the way at all. I'm not a fan of the water sources directly next to the shelter because of mosquitos, though it did make for easy water gathering. The frogs croaked all night. Both TriCorner, and Davenport both had very close water sources. We decided to hike past Cosby Shelter, on to Davenport the next day, seeing some beautiful overlooks on the way. We did have a VERY close encounter with a Rattlesnake right outside of the lookout tower on Mt. Cammerer. I was sitting 3 feet away from him when somebody finally noticed him. I guess they like to bask in the sun too.. The Davenport Gap shelter had a fence across the front with no apparent bear hangs outside, only inside. For this I hung the WBBB from the cage, and over to the rafters above the top bunk level. It wasn't ideal like the last 3 nights, but since is was only half full, it was fine. While the others complained about the mice all night, I slept great. I took 4 Hammy pics, and a few extras.. one for each shelter mentioned. About 35 miles in total.

[grannypat]

Thanks for the report. When I click on the pictures and open them they are right side up.

[dakotaross]

I think as long as you go out of your way to ensure that you're not adversely affecting any of the human mouse obstacles, you're good, but make sure its not just that they're not saying anything. Helps to have buds with you who are in on the program.

Are those double bunk platforms? Egads, I thought sleeping on a bunk waterbed in college was scary!

[Sky kid]

Yes, double bunk platforms in all the shelters I found. Makes a great runway for the mice.. I made it a point to not take up too much space until folks started going to bed. NEVER saw a ridgerunner over the 5 days, or any other hangers, or any bears...sadly. Plenty of stealth campers, though..which was my plan B if the shelters were full. Just nice to know there are a few trees around at the proper distance apart for hanging..just in case

[Flounder]

I went through The Smokies in early March this year as part of my attempted thru hike. Don't even get me started on the ice and snow, but I digress. I bought an egg crate Thermarest mat at the NOC to use specifically in The Smokies because of the shelter rule. I was resigned to the thought of sleeping in the shelters because of the rule and for the life of me I didn't ever even try to brainstorm on a way to hang in the shelters. I slept very little over those six days because of the little comfort I found in the foam pad. Seeing your photos is a big DUH! moment for me right now. I saw Carl, one of the ridgerunners a couple times and saw a ranger on 4 of the 6 days in the park. They were out in force trying to catch violators of the new permit/fee rule this year. Thanks for sharing!

[Flounder]

Looking at your photos again, I realize why I never made the connection on where you attached your suspension. There were large tarps covering the front of all the shelters when I went through. I don't think my fellow hikers would have wanted me pulling the tarps back to hang my hammock. I guess I could have hung at the very end of the shelter where the end of the tarp was though. If I scrape together enough dough to try a thru hike for the 3rd year in a row, I will definitely be hanging in the shelters.....