Shelter etiquette

[ted holdridge]

I was curious to find out views on shelter etiquette. I personally don't stay in them unless I have to but I try to abide by the following. When I get to the shelter I immediately get my spot ready, eat some food, then get ready to go to bed. That doesn't mean I'm going to bed, but that when it is time, bam, I'm in with the least amount of bother. I also don't try to get in a shelter once it gets dark. I keep all conversation outside the shelter and try to be completely quiet once 10 rolls around. These are just my personal guidelines and I understand that other people think differently. If you are there, you have to put up with what is coming. Just curious to other people thoughts on the matter. Oh, and if it is raining, throw all the rules out and jump in. There is always room for another. Happy Hiking!

[Hammock Hanger]

try to be completely quiet once 10 rolls around.

not sure I have ever been awake when 10 rolled in....

not much of a shelter rat myself but I was always willing to let the shelter fill up as long as the hiker could find a piece of floor to claim, spooned many a night...

it was hard to shleter in the begining because I was a light sleeper and couldn't stand all the talking and moving around, after a few hard days it no longer mattered I could zonk out whenever I needed.

My self imposed rules when in a shelter:

-all are welcome
-take up as little space as needed
-cook outside if at all possible
-keep the talk down to a minimum if a hiker is sleeping early
-wind down the conversation with the sun
-pack up OUTSIDE and AWAY from the shelter when leaving early
- eat away from the shelter if most are still asleep
-NO alarm clock/watch!!
- no pissing right behind or beside the shelter
-pack out my trash
- if it is late find a campsite

---- better yet have dinner with friends at the shelter, water up and move on up the trail a bit.

Just some of my thoughts... I'm sure I missed some. I can tell you these are NOT everyone's guidelines!! Sue/Hammock Hanger

[Mountain Dew]

People that snore obscenely loud shouldn't sleep in shelters.
Don't walk into a shelter after dark and make all kinds of noise getting into the shelter. Better yet, stay in your tent.

[ted holdridge]

Hammock Hanger, I believe you hit it right on the head. The reason I say 10 is that I understand that alot of section/weekend hikers aren't tired at 8 as we usually are. Mountain Dew, I wish I could say the same about loud snorers, but they have a right to use them also. That is the main reason I tarp out. It is funny, but it seems that everybody who snores always use the shelters. I can't ever remember being beside a tent and hearing someone snore. I've been hiking with the Texas Kid and he brings extra earplugs for people to use b/c he's so loud. Thanks for the input. Happy Hiking.

[Rain Man]

People that snore obscenely loud shouldn't sleep in shelters.

Says who??!!! LOL Actually, I agree with the "obscenely loud" ANYTHING.

However, I would reverse the perspective and say people who can't sleep through normal noise shouldn't sleep in shelters.

In some families, when there's a newborn, everybody has to walk on eggshells while the baby is snoozing. In other families, it's the baby that has to adjust to the normal sounds of an active household. That's the way we raised our kids. They "can sleep through anything" as the saying goes.

The trail is not for folks who need to be coddled, and that includes acting like they're in a 5-star hotel on a deserted island. I think snoring is a normal, common night-time noise.

Anyway, that's my vote. Will I be sorry I cast it?

I do imagine that "majority rules" is often the rule in shelters,anyway? Or, is it, "squeaky wheel" gets their way? I honestly don't have enough experience to say.

P.S. Let's talk about some UNCOMMON night-time noises. I once stayed in a shelter with a jerk who poked me if I snored, while HE tried to SMACK mice on the wood floor (LOUDLY!!!!) throughout the night with his large wooden hiking stick. Finally Lilredmg told him if he did it again, she was going to break his stick. LOL

That guy had his head and noise-o-meter screwed on backwards. He was self-absorbed in his own little world of what noises were okay. His were. Others' weren't. So, that experience has skewed my opinion about those who complain about normal snoring.

I'll give you "obscenely loud" snoring, however!

Rain Man

.

[smokymtnsteve]

I am almost deaf,,so make all the noise you like..shelters are like bus stations...people get up all the time to go pee,,people read with headlights, toss and turn,,,if you can't tolerate this maybe you need to tent,

[TankHiker]

I was always the first one in at night, and the first one out in the morning. At night I would always leave my stuff close to the open end so I could pack up outside quietly in the morning. However, being the first one in, my foodbag would always end up on bottom of the pile hanging from the mouse-proof bags. So it would always be a challenge removing everyone's foodbags in the morning to get to mine without waking anyone up.

As far as snoring goes, it is expected that everyone will need to tolerate some shelter snoring. However, there was one hiker last year who had some sort of sleeping disorder. He snored like a chainsaw. He had no problems with sleeping in a crowded shelter (in fact, I think he sent his tent home for a while). But would often find that others left the shelter in the middle of the night to tent out (even in horrible rain). Hikers went out of their way to be off-schedule from him. Sure, he has a right to the shelter like everyone else, but it's probably not that nice to put everyone else though that.

-Tank

[smokymtnsteve]

you could and should be hanging your food bag outside the shelter

[Hammock Hanger]

the baby that has to adjust to the normal sounds of an active household. That's the way we raised our kids. They "can sleep through anything" as the saying goes.

ME, too!!!

Anyway, that's my vote. Will I be sorry I cast it?

.

Of course not! We're all very friendly here... Well most times!
Sue/Hammock Hanger

[minnesotasmith]

1) Tobacco use only OUTSIDE (and at least 20' downwind of) of a shelter.

2) No wet dogs inside a shelter; really, no dogs inside a shelter, even for a moment, is preferred. If the pooch is loose, it really shouldn't come near a shelter at all IMO, especially while it is a) unmuzzled, and b) people are cooking and eating food.

3) No eating nasty-smelling food in the shelter. That means I can't chow down on my smoked oysters or sardines in there; it means you can't bring hot Mexican or Indian food in there while I'm there.

4) No claiming shelter space for anyone who hasn't made it to the shelter yet; you can only claim space for yourself.

5) Hikers have priority over nonhikers in the shelter.

6) Screaming kids probably belong out of earshot of shelters, unless someone has some duct tape for their maws.

7) Not having the foresight to lug a tent/poncho/bivy does NOT give you any enhanced right to a shelter space over someone who DID bring one, but got to the shelter before you.

[torch]

5) Hikers have priority over nonhikers in the shelter.

I may be wrong about this, but since you have to hike to a shelter, just by making it to the shelter, aren't you therefore a "hiker"?

[Lone Wolf]

What's a non-hiker? He/she had to hike to get to a shelter

[jersey joe]

3) No eating nasty-smelling food in the shelter. That means I can't chow down on my smoked oysters or sardines in there; it means you can't bring hot Mexican or Indian food in there while I'm there.

After a sweaty 25 mile day the last thing you'll be worrying about smelling is my dinner.

[pvtmorriscsa]

3) No eating nasty-smelling food in the shelter. That means I can't chow down on my smoked oysters or sardines in there; it means you can't bring hot Mexican or Indian food in there while I'm there.

Howdy all,
I thought that eating any food in the shelters was a no-no. After all does that not attract our ursoid friends?
I thought the rule was to cook/eat at least 50 feet from a tent or shelter.

Just wondering.

[minnesotasmith]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember reading that in the Central states there are places where shelters are a stone's throw from a road or houses. I figure that someone who hiked all day (regardless of whether they are a thru-, a section-, or overnight weekend hiker) has greater call to use a shelter than some 11th-graders from the neighborhood 1/2 mile away need it to smoke some weed or pack away some beer out of the rain and away from the cops and their parents.

[torch]

Well, if that is the case, I tend to agree. They can find their own place to drink their beer and smoke their weed. I thought you were trying to establish a priority of thru-hikers vs. section hikers vs. weekend campers. My apologies.

[Mountain Dew]

Loud Snoring is o.k. in shelters ? hhmmmm That's like farting on an elevator. Don't say you HAVE to use the elevator either.

[MOWGLI]

Shelters are first come, first served, period. It doesn't matter if you snore, fart, or if you are a section, thru, or weekend hiker.

In 2000, some of us saw a few young hikers intimidating a 70+ y.o. thru-hiker (Moses) because he snored and had the audacity to want to stay in the shelters. That behavior was absolutely disgraceful.

If you don't want to be subjected to odd sites, sounds and smells, I suggest you carry a tent and use it. I got in the habit of asking folks if they snored when I was at a shelter. If someone self-identified themselves as a snorer, I would setup my tent.

My pet peeve about shelters is hikers who want to spread their crap out all over the shelter floor, and then not move it when another hiker enters the shelter. That is bad form.

[Pencil Pusher]

Loud Snoring is o.k. in shelters ? hhmmmm That's like farting on an elevator. Don't say you HAVE to use the elevator either.

Bring earplugs. Supposedly I snore, though I've never heard it. Farting on elevators is okay so long as you make it 'silent but deadly' and there are more than two people.

[Hammock Hanger]

Howdy all,
I thought that eating any food in the shelters was a no-no. After all does that not attract our ursoid friends?
I thought the rule was to cook/eat at least 50 feet from a tent or shelter.

Just wondering.

Well that may be the basic rule... but it sure isn't happening on the AT. A good 30% or more hikers cook in the shelters. For the few shelters that have a picnic table to cook on I can assure you it is NOT 50 feet away, more like 3-4.

The hiker funk over rides the food smells to keep the critters at bay...

Sue/Hammock Hanger