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  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    09-16-2013
    Location
    warner robins ga
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    147

    Default Jim Murray (Secret) Cabin

    So what is the real gouge on whether the cabin is available or not??
    Located at MM1344.4 near Unionville NY; The 2015 AT Thru Hikers Companion listed it as available still; the 2018 AWOL doesn't mention it.
    The shelter forum talks about it (Secret Cabin") but isn't clear.

  2. #2
    Registered User ldsailor's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-25-2016
    Location
    St. Petersburg, FL
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    74
    Posts
    774

    Default

    I stayed in the Secret Shelter on May 28 of this year (2018) It was great. The shelter has electricity, heat and it was completely enclosed. Water at a pump was potable and plentiful. There is an outside shower at another building a short walk across a field. The privy wasn't too good even by AT standards, but hey, you can't have everything.

    Jim Murray stopped by to talk to me and a nicer guy you'll never meet. He told me he thru-hiked thirty years ago and bought 85 acres of land afterwards to settle on. He doesn't live there anymore, but has a cabin that he uses when he stays on the property occasionally. He likes hikers and provides everything I mentioned above for their use. This is not an ATC shelter. It's on Jim's property and he maintains it. Jim told me the ATC wants to buy the property to move the AT. That would get the trail off of some wetlands that can be problematic. However, as Jim tells the story, the ATC want to take down the shelter and replace it with a three sided shelter, and he said he won't agree to that, so he won't sell. Anyway, that's what he told me.

    I don't understand why more hikers don't use the shelter. It's a short walk down a road to reach it and for what it offers, it sure seems worth it. I spent the night alone at the shelter when I was there.
    Trail Name - Slapshot
    "One step at a time."
    Blog - www.tonysadventure.com

  3. #3
    Registered User methodman's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-23-2015
    Location
    Virginia Beach, Virginia
    Age
    75
    Posts
    141

    Default Jim Murray (Secret) Cabin

    It is mentioned in Whiteblaze Pages 2018, on page 132.

  4. #4

    Default

    Strife and I stopped by 2 weeks ago. The cabin is open and available.
    "Maybe life isn't about avoiding the bruises. Maybe it's about collecting the scars to prove we showed up for it."

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    09-16-2013
    Location
    warner robins ga
    Posts
    147

    Default

    So does the access go from Goldsmith Lane or from the trail just south of the road?
    Either wil do as long as the cabin is marked (don't want to wake up in the wrong one . . . )

  6. #6
    GA-ME 2011
    Join Date
    03-17-2007
    Location
    Baltimore, MD
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    66
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    3,069
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    I walked down the road, NOBOs will go right or trail east. There was a sign that said "Best water on the AT" nailed to a tree at the road. I didn't stay but did meet Jim who took us into town for food. Thanks Jim!
    "Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011

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