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.
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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| "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.
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| 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. |
