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  1. #1
    Senior Member MedicineMan's Avatar
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    Spivey Gap to Nolichuckey River AT 09

    Two weeks ago Sho-Me and I did a paddle camping trip on the Edisto River. This time to break things up we did an overnight hike on the AT. This was Sho-Me's first overnight backpacking experience on the Appalachian Trail. I selected this section (my 10th time over it) because it's the easiest section within 70 miles of the AT this is with an hours drive of my home.
    While hiking I reflected on the first time and the first gen gear I carried then (in the early 70s)..what a difference lightweight gear can make. Sho-Me's pack weighed in at 18 pounds with food and water; I was at 24 pounds with the difference being in a few methods of protection, repair kit, first aid, and some extra layers in case either of us got cold.
    Speaking of temps our low was 54F and was deemed quite pleasant.
    Now for the hammocking angle.
    Sho-Me was in a WB BB single 1.7. Under her was an original JRB Nest. On top she had a Nunatak Arc Edge. Covering her rig was the brand new McCat Ultra in Spin UL. All of this she carried in a GG Meridian Vapor.
    I was also in a WB BB but in the double 1.1. Under was a Yeti and on top a Nunatak Arc Ghost; the whole rig covered by a McCat Delux.
    We cooked on two cannister stoves....a SnowPeak Tit. and an Optimus Crux. One thing I love about Sho-Me is that while I'm setting up the mocks she is assembling the stoves and getting the coffee on. By the time I've got both hammocks up she's got the freezer bag meal in the cozy.
    If you know this section of trail then you know No Business Knob shelter--was a piece of dark spooky block and metal. Sho-me already knows stealth camping from our Edisto experience and needed no convincing to pass the shelter experience on to the lesser informed so we hiked to Temple Hill Gap. The AT goes to the right and ascends Temple Hill. We went hard left and climbed 200 feet up to the top of a knoll recently burned over; then onto the back side and out of anybody's view except God. I slept through it but she heard a pickup truck in the wee hours of the morning close by--a convincing argument for stealth camping!
    If any are bored and want to see pic:
    http://travel.webshots.com/album/573642383bsuKWB
    If you just want to see the hammocks:
    http://travel.webshots.com/photo/270...84634827NDLwRo

    I apologize for the pic quality, my Optio is aging and I think has suffered a hit or two.
    MedicineMan

  2. #2
    Senior Member LostCause's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MedicineMan View Post
    If you know this section of trail then you know No Business Knob shelter--was a piece of dark spooky block and metal.
    Nice pictures! But what was so bad about this shelter?

  3. #3
    Senior Member MedicineMan's Avatar
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    just a dark dank stinky shelter, besides its a SHELTER with a hard flat platform and mice...just nice knowing the hammock is in the backpack

  4. #4
    Senior Member LostCause's Avatar
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    Oh I hear you. I haven't had the pleasure of being on the AT yet, but I would much rather sleep in my hammock than in a shelter. I just thought you were alluding to it being haunted or something bad had happened there.

    Thanks for sharing your hike! I'm at work, so I have to hike vicariously.

  5. #5
    Senior Member MedicineMan's Avatar
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    AT is safe compared to any city. I've been hiking on it for 36 years now averaging a section almost monthly (only because I live so close). I think in all its years there are around 7 murders associated with the trail directly....and 2 of them I know in shelters. The Vandeventer and the Wapiti Shelters if memory serves.
    Since it was Sho-Me's first AT experience I told her that shelters are for stopping by and signing the register, socializing, cooking/eating; then hiking down the trail and dissapearing that if problems occur on the AT it is usually at shelters or road crossings...and that both are to receive the dubious eye.
    This shelter, No Business is one of the worst on the trail I've seen between Springer Mtn and the Delaware Gap. Some of the shelters are quite beautiful and functional and many are being rehab'ed (GSMNP). Still I just stop by for a while and move on to a stealth site. It's amazing that you can go left or right of the trail 50 yards and completely disappear from the face of the Earth

  6. #6
    Senior Member LostCause's Avatar
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    Well, that's freaky info - but not enough to scare me away from there. There are weirdos everywhere. Can you get in trouble if you get caught stealth camping there?

  7. #7
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Whoooo Buddy .... enjoyed the pix. Sho-Me wearing pearls!!!!! .... not a gram-weenie I take it. She is the cleanest backpacker that I have ever seen.....
    I for one do not like shelters .... I always find them snakey! Though, in fairness I have not come across some of the nicer ones. I would rather stealth hang .... comfort in my hammock and no one breathing on me or serenading me with snore symphonies.
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  8. #8
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LostCause View Post
    Well, that's freaky info - but not enough to scare me away from there. There are weirdos everywhere. Can you get in trouble if you get caught stealth camping there?
    That is why one is being stealthy and covert ... to not be seen or heard. Never have I been discovered and I have crouched very still as hikers went right by me and never saw me. Like a grown-up hide and seek game.
    In answer to the ? .... I do not think trouble wouls ensue if you are operating by "Leave No Trace" ethics.
    Sneaky Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shug View Post
    I would rather stealth hang .... comfort in my hammock and no one breathing on me or serenading me with snore symphonies.
    Shug
    You were probably to close to me in the Norther Hang then....You can Mr. Green were real troopers...LOL.

    Snoring Stormcrow

  10. #10
    Senior Member MedicineMan's Avatar
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    Trouble stealthing on the AT? only in rare rare places....like in the Great Smoky Mtns NP where you are supposed to stay in shelters (makes sense to focus the environ. damage in one place); you can tent/hammock IF the shelters are full. In other places along the AT you have to stay in designated areas (the New Jersey section) but you can hang there. Most of the AT is in National Forests where you can stealth to your hearts content. In the White Mountains however many many rules to abide by. I havent done the Whites so am not so certain of the law.
    Thanks Shug---you are a movitator!

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