Group of us just got back from this little gem section of the AT. What a cool area to visit: easy parking, well-maintained trails, and some of the nicest shelters I've been to!
We started at about 8:30PM on Friday night after a quick stop at Sheetz for dinner and shuttling cars to the finish. The beginning of the trail is a nice easy walk; not overly difficult. We stopped to take some pics at the mid-way sign before continuing on to Toms Run Shelter. When we arrived the shelter was already taken so we got to picking out our areas. A friend and I were the only two hanging so we set up off to the side by the old chimney. The rest of the group set up on the tent pads around the area. We got a nice fire going and "chatted" the rest of the night.
Saturday we woke up to a balmy 55 degrees! Seriously, we were in shorts and t-shirts from Friday night through most of the day Saturday at the end of February. We had breakfast, packed up, and got underway early since we had about 14 miles to do and wanted to try and get it done before the rain hit. The trail leading up to Birch Run shelter was, again, not that difficult. Some nice forest views but no vistas in this area. Birch Run Shelter is one of the nicest shelters I've come across so far. Beautiful wood floors and double-decker bunks in the inside with a porch and picnic table in front. The stream is 50' feet away and there are plenty of tent sites around. We took a break to let the group catch-up and grab a bite to eat.
After eating we continued our trek down the AT to Quarry Gap shelter. We passed only a few hikers during the day as the weather report was not looking good. The trail was scenic but not many great vistas. At this point our group was pretty split up. There were a few guys up front, I was in the middle, and there were two guys bringing up the rear; we were all probably 5-10 minutes apart from each other. With about 1 mile left to the shelter the rain started, and it started quickly! I thought that if I picked up the pace I may make it before the heavy stuff came down... wrong! Thunder and lightning rolled in quick and it was pouring. Nothing you can do so I just put on my rain jacket and kept on moving.
Finally made it to the shelter and man was this a perfect end to some long miles. Two separate sleeping areas, community area in the middle with a picnic table to gather at and a covered porch spanning the entire shelter. This was perfect! Got to meet the caretaker of the shelter when we got there. Really great guy, you can see he takes a lot of pride in this area. We had an awesome night once the weather cleared up, actually got a nice fire going. Since there was room my friend and I hung in the porch area of the shelter in front of the sleeping areas. Worked out really well.
The hike out on Sunday was really easy. Leaving the shelter you are surrounded by rhododendrons. This would be unbelievably beautiful when in bloom. Mostly downhill trek back to the car through Caledonia State Park.
Would absolutely recommend this trip to anyone looking for an easy weekend hike with some great shelter areas.
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Originally Posted by Speedogomer
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