Helveys Mill Shelter

[Former Admin]

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?

[ez-does-it]

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.

[Whistler]

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

[Berserker]

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.

[TexasEd]

Thanks for the recent update. Were the logging operations still going in 2011?

[Berserker]

Thanks for the recent update. Were the logging operations still going in 2011?

I can't comment on the logging operation as to whether it's still going or not. I can say that all I heard when I was there was some road noise from I-77.

[GoldenBear]

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.

[john_boy]

Seveal small pools of water, down the .3 blue blaze trail. Pita.

[One Arm]

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?