Info, questions, comments, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Helveys Mill Shelter
Past/Present hikers - what can future hikers expect here? Have any good stories or memories from here?
Future hikers - any questions?
Info, questions, comments, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Helveys Mill Shelter
Past/Present hikers - what can future hikers expect here? Have any good stories or memories from here?
Future hikers - any questions?
This shelter is 0.3 off the trail and then another 0.3 to the water source which is down hill and a real good walk from the shelter.So if you feel like walking another 0.6 just to get to a shelter and water be my guess.I really would not recommend the shelter howevere it does have a lot of good spots for tenting out.In closing this is one of those shelters you will have to think about before getting there.
EZ-DOES-IT
It's mind over matter
If you don't mind it doesn't matter
Water is a long walk, and there's also a fair bit of civilization noise from the nearby Bland/Bastian interchange and the logging operation. Not recommended.
-Mark
Despite some noise from I-77 I actually thought this was a pretty nice location. Most of the noise was drowned out by the wind, so I didn’t find it to be a big deal. The 0.25 mile blue blazed trail to the shelter has very little elevation change in it, so it is not a big deal to get to compared to other off trail shelters with more difficult access trails. The water (a small creek as opposed to a spring that might dry up easily) is a ways down from the shelter, but the trail to it is a very nicely graded switch-backed trail that made the hike down and up not seem as bad (i.e. I’ve seen much worse like the water source at Vandeventer in TN). There is also a nice large tent spot behind the shelter.
Thanks for the recent update. Were the logging operations still going in 2011?
Spent the night there last week.
Didn't get water because I don't like drudging 300 feet down and then drudging 300 feet back up.
I didn't notice any particularly bad noise level, but I can be pretty impervious to noise.
As previously noted, the 0.3 mile walk from The Trail to the shelter is fairly level.
Seveal small pools of water, down the .3 blue blaze trail. Pita.
I had a vexing visit to Helvey's Mill shelter last week. Night hiking meant I arrived by headlamp. I had no problem getting there, or getting water. I've seen worse for distance from trail and difficulty getting water. I had the shelter to myself, although two SOBO thru hikers had told me HMS was their destination for that night.
In the morning, I found several trails away from the shelter. None of them had blazes that I could find (there are a couple of double blazes which lead no-where). A. looked like an ATV track, so I turned back. B. had a hunter's blind. Since I've never seen one on the AT, I guessed that was not the way. C. contoured into a dead-end. Eventually, I followed B. through some sketchy parts until I reached what I thought was the ridge where I had left the AT the evening before. Still no blazes.
I followed the ridge trail, which became a dirt road and passed weekend cabins (and their dogs). I followed this toward the growing interstate noise, arriving at the junction of Rt 52 and I-77. A couple more miles of roadwalk brought me back to the beloved white blazes. So I missed 1-2 miles of the AT proper, but hiked a continuous path that was longer and had more elevation change than the AT. I'm counting it, if you were wondering.
I rarely have navigation problems. I've lost track of the AT in snow, but this was a new one by me. Anyone else have navigation problems at Helvey's Mill? I acknowledge that there were several contributing factors: season (November), lack of other hikers, night arrival. I would not count impatience, since I spent a good bit of time looking at the alternatives.
Comments?