GSMNP hammock contradiction...

[dakotaross]

...Is there some other official statement from the park service regarding the use of hammocks that I've missed?

I do think the verbiage describing not attaching tents or hammocks to the shelters is confusing if the rule is that you can't use a tent or hammock there anyway. I'm sure that stems to the previously mentioned rules on thru hikers. My guess is that they didn't want to advertise the AT thru hiker rule as it might lead regular hiker/campers to get the wrong impression of what they can do, but then wanted to make sure it was clear not to attach hammocks to the shelter for structural reasons. The omission of the AT thru hiker rule causes the confusion, but I do think that's probably a better choice than trying to explain the AT thru hiker rule to all hikers.

[lilricky]

There is a bit of confusion on what a backcountry shelter is vs a backcountry campsite. Shelters are physical structures, usually a 3 sided wooden construct and are marked by pink shelter icons on the official GSMNP map. The campsites are sites that have no wooden structures and are marked as pink numbers on the map. The backcountry shelters are mainly on or near the AT, with a few backcountry sites on it as well. But a majority of the backcountry campsites, which hammocking is permitted, are located on the BMT. I always suggest hammockers take the BMT through the GSMNP to avoid any problems trying to deal with shelter rules.

[dakotaross]

...I always suggest hammockers take the BMT through the GSMNP to avoid any problems trying to deal with shelter rules.

But you need reservations for the sites along the BMT in the park, right? If you get a reservation at a shelter, you can't hammock, no question about it, no problems. Only issue is being a thru hiker without reservations and wanting to hammock, and that's where time management (and luck) comes into play.

[MississipVol]

There are shelters and then there are backcountry sites. They are two different things. There are a lot of different backcountry campsites throughout the park, only a few of them are on the BMT. Most of them have a fire ring and bear cables. They are different than a shelter site. The park refers the shelters as such but backcountry campsites are sites that don't have shelters. Some require reservations and some do not. That is distinguished by the color of the number on the map. You can find a lot of great loops involving the backcountry sites and hang as much as you want. The rules against hanging only apply to shelters because they are so crowded and they want to keep most people inside the shelter due to wildlife and not to trample down the area around the shelter.

[Gqgeek81]

GSMNP received over 10 MILLION visitors last year. That's almost as much as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone COMBINED. With pressure like that, you're going to have some interesting rules as park officials try and balance all the issues at play. I don't envy them, but I absolutely dread eventually section or thru hiking the park. Its unfortunate that the most famous park in my area is probably the one I want to visit the least because the headache it entails.

The 50 miles designating a thru hiker is a bit confusing. How on earth do they verify this? If I know that's the rule in advance, why wouldn't I just lie? "Yes sir, I came from Springer, we all did".

[Ashe]

Some require reservations and some do not. That is distinguished by the color of the number on the map.

Actually, they changed this when they implemented the new system. All sites/shelters have to be reserved now.

[Sweeper]

Well, I did completed a GSMNP end-to-end hike (Fontana to Davenport Gap) last month. Here's what happened to me. Night 1 at Mollies Ridge there was a ridgerunner there that was *extremely* zealous in checking everyone's permits. As I had mine, I was obligated to stay in the shelter since I had a space reserved. There was a party of non-thru hikers that came in late that tented out behind the shelter (only one spot left in the shelter that night) and they were fine. "Ranger Rick" as we came to call him, left them alone once the shelter had checked in pretty much full. This was the worst night I've spent in 15 years of backpacking, btw. I hate sleeping on the boards and got like 2 hours sleep all told.

The next 4 days in the park I saw NO rangers or ridgerunners, and slept in my hammock each night. No muss, no fuss. EVERY night after night one there were spaces available in the shelters, and EVERY night people tented out. Now, would they have done that if there were rangers/ridgerunners there? Probably not. I was personally prepared to do either (hammock rig + pad & UQ/TQ) so I didn't stress about it too much.

My advice is to do what I did, be prepared to roll with the punches and go either way. The idea of getting in late is also a good one, although there were times I got in late (~7pm) and there were still spots open in the shelters. At the Mt. Collins shelter there must have been at least 10-12 tenters plus an almost full shelter, but that's a trail intersection and there were lots of non-AT hikers there.

As always, YMMV and HYOH!

Sweeper

[Dead Man]

The idea of getting in late is also a good one, although there were times I got in late (~7pm) and there were still spots open in the shelters.
Sweeper

Glad your experience was a good one save the one night on the deck. I'm a little more stubborn than that I suppose. By showing up late I meant right at or as near to dark as possible or your comfort with setting up in near or actual darkness will allow. This is pretty late this time of year so as you stated, YMMV. Odds are better for a full shelter then. Your experience was a real one and good advice to follow for the OP.

[Ashe]

that's interesting. I didn't know that ridgerunners dabbled in permit checking. they can't write a ticket, right? so what's the point? just to put the fear of God into folks, so to speak? what did he say to the rogue tenters out back?

[Sweeper]

He didn't say a word to the tenters, but man did he hassle anyone that came in/near the shelter. He was so bad that several people were going to write in about his people skills. Most of the true through hikers had apparently heard about him somehow and simply skipped ahead to the next shelter regardless. And am not sure about the ticketing thing, I've heard conflicting reports about ridgerunners abilities to do that. He did carry a radio, however, so I guess he could have summoned a Ranger if need be. He wouldn't even let me get my pack off to get my permit after I told him I had one. I finally had to politely say - I have it, please just give me a second to catch my breath and get it out of the pack for you! We definitely weren't communicating very well at first....