I was wondering what the chances are that the shelters along the MD section of the trail will be available the second week of July...during the weekdays. If I am correct, it is first come-first serve, with no reservations?
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I was wondering what the chances are that the shelters along the MD section of the trail will be available the second week of July...during the weekdays. If I am correct, it is first come-first serve, with no reservations?
Fist come, first served, no reservations, NO GURANTEE OF SHELTER SPACE. All the rest is blah blah blah.
Bringing your own tent gurantees 100% shelter.
I understand that...I was just wondering if they usually fill up during the weekdays or not...thanks!
They will probably not fill up on a weekday this time of year. But you never know when a youth group will come in and fill up a shelter.
Haven't been to Maryland in a while, but given what NY/NJ were like this spring, I'd recommend tenting for the bug screen. This has been the worst mosquito season I can remember.
You will probably be sharing shelters with the NoBo's, but that can be fun.
The Raven Ridge Shelter is nice, Ensign cowel shelter is pretty new, Pineknob shelter is one of the older ones and is small and "cozy", Crampton gap usually has no water this time of year (can't say what it looks like though) Rocky run shelters (old and new shelter) are nice, Ed Garvey shelter is nice. There are places to camp around the shelters. There are several designated camp areas: Pogo Memorial campsites and Annapolis rocks.
The water is pretty well spaced, so, if you camel up at each source, you should be good to carry 1 liter or so between sources.
The two state parks have vending machines for sodas, juice, etc (but for some reason, they have no garbage cans; they want visitors to take their trash with them, Hmm). Nice section.
By the second week in July, most NOBO's will be past Maryland. But yeah, there will still be plenty of folks around and it can get buggy. Shelter space is neither guaranteed, nor truly, will it be that desirable a commodity. Bring a tent.
What are NoBo's?
Northbound hikers .Quote:
Originally Posted by salmonella
Three years ago I section hiked MD the third week in July and was the only one at the shelter most nights. Expect some pretty warm weather and grab water whenever you can. During my hike the Deer Lick Shelter water source had dried up but there is a very good spring about a mile south of the shelter.
Hikers doing the whole trail (or NOBOS) are probably past then but there will be some still going through. To tell you whether a space will be filled or not one can't determine. There are also plenty of peolpe out also, including youth. So taking a tent or tarp is the logical thing to do in this popular section, just in case. One should never rely on the shelter system
Dogwood, little known fact:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogwood
If you read your guidebook closely you'll see most AT shelters have a concierge available to book your next shelter stay. They usually setup along the blue blaze trails. In a pinch, I use Travelocity or Orbitz to book my shelter stay so I never have a problem.
Oh, and don't forget the shelter concierges give away 50% off AYCE coupons for upcoming towns! It's better than Groupon Deal of the Day!!