Jerry Cabin is a nasty little shelter....

[10-K]

Hiked up to Jerry Cabin with the intention of spending the night last night and the place was so trashy I turned around and hiked back down the mountain and camped at Shelton Graves. Hated to leave it in that condition but it was raining and I just wasn't feeling janitorial.....

I don't know what it is about that particular shelter but more often than not it looks like a "crack house on the hill".

[Pedaling Fool]

It was raining also when I got their, but I opted for my tent and had a little visitor at 3am trying to keep relatively dry under my rainfly.

[max patch]

I don't know what it is about that particular shelter but more often than not it looks like a "crack house on the hill".

I guess the electricity there attracts squatters.

[Tennessee Viking]

10-K,
I bet it was local hunters and Horse Creek ATVer's. The same thing would happen with Watauga Lake Shelter, Apple House Shelter, and the Barn.

I would just contact Carolina Mtn Club, and let them know it needs a major haul out of trash.

[LDog]

That's a shame. The Companion talks about how the former caretaker, Sam Waddle, turned it from "the dirtiest shelter on the entire trail, to one of the cleanest."

[max patch]

That's a shame. The Companion talks about how the former caretaker, Sam Waddle, turned it from "the dirtiest shelter on the entire trail, to one of the cleanest."

On my thru there was a typed letter from Sam Waddle in the shelter saying that he and a friend were on the trail to scatter the ashes of Howard Bassett (one of the early thru hikers) on the trail. It was a nice shelter back then.

[LDog]

I guess the electricity there attracts squatters.

Does it still have power? The Companion suggests not.

[max patch]

Oh it never did, it was just a joke. But I bet every hiker who ever stayed there flipped the light switch just to "make sure".

[BobTheBuilder]

That shelter saved me one windy, cold, wet day. I was soaked through from the hike on the ridgeline where the wind was about 40 mph and the rain was sideways and the temperature was falling fast. That shelter was about the most beautiful sight in the woods that day. I jumped inside, put on dry clothes and dove into my bag where it took about an hour to warm up. That night the temp dropped to about 20 and all my stuff was frozen solid in the morning.

I guess its just a matter of perspective, but I loved the place.

[10-K]

That shelter saved me one windy, cold, wet day. I was soaked through from the hike on the ridgeline where the wind was about 40 mph and the rain was sideways and the temperature was falling fast. That shelter was about the most beautiful sight in the woods that day. I jumped inside, put on dry clothes and dove into my bag where it took about an hour to warm up. That night the temp dropped to about 20 and all my stuff was frozen solid in the morning.

I guess its just a matter of perspective, but I loved the place.

The fireplace does work pretty good....

[Tinker]

It was raining also when I got their, but I opted for my tent and had a little visitor at 3am trying to keep relatively dry under my rainfly.

Are those Limmer boots? I notice the lack of a heel seam.

I'll make an allowance for camp shoes if you hike in anything as heavy as custom Limmers. I hear the newer lighter models are nice, though.

[Pedaling Fool]

Are those Limmer boots? I notice the lack of a heel seam.

I'll make an allowance for camp shoes if you hike in anything as heavy as custom Limmers. I hear the newer lighter models are nice, though.

Yes thos are limmers and my camp shoes, also pictured, were walmart sandals probably nearly as heavy. I wanted to hike with a lot of weight, and I did, just for the exercise and complete body overhaul.

It was torture in the beginning, but I got use to it and I've kept it up since the trail and I feel stonger than ever, even today.

[The Cleaner]

10-K,
I bet it was local hunters and Horse Creek ATVer's. The same thing would happen with Watauga Lake Shelter, Apple House Shelter, and the Barn.

I would just contact Carolina Mtn Club, and let them know it needs a major haul out of trash.

FWIW The TN Bear hunt was 12-1 to 12-14.Last year the local hunters did about the same thing.The Cleaner will be going up this weekend to do what I can....

[Tenderheart]

and camped at Shelton Graves. .

10K, is this where the victims of the Shelton Laurel massacre are buried? Is it on the trail? It's not in my Data Book and I don't remember seeing it.

[10-K]

FWIW The TN Bear hunt was 12-1 to 12-14.Last year the local hunters did about the same thing.The Cleaner will be going up this weekend to do what I can....

I wondered if you'd see this.

10K, is this where the victims of the Shelton Laurel massacre are buried? Is it on the trail? It's not in my Data Book and I don't remember seeing it.

The graves are right on the trail. It's about a 1.5 hour hike north from Jerry Cabin Shelter. Can't miss them, the trail goes right by the headstones. Right now they're decorated like it's the 4th of July.

[Tenderheart]

Have the graves always been on the trail?

[The Cleaner]

I wondered if you'd see this.



The graves are right on the trail. It's about a 1.5 hour hike north from Jerry Cabin Shelter. Can't miss them, the trail goes right by the headstones. Right now they're decorated like it's the 4th of July.

These are Civil War graves of 2 soldiers&1 younger person.Massacre?There was a Cherokee Massacre over in the Rocky Fork area on Flint creek around 1780....

[Tenderheart]

These are Civil War graves of 2 soldiers&1 younger person.Massacre?There was a Cherokee Massacre over in the Rocky Fork area on Flint creek around 1780....

There was a massacre of members of the Shelton family in Madison County by Southern troops during the Civil War. The victims were thought to be Union sympathizers. I think some 14 people were murdered in cold blood.

[Marta]

It was raining also when I got their, but I opted for my tent and had a little visitor at 3am trying to keep relatively dry under my rainfly.

One of those babies is what came into my floorless tent and joined me in my sleeping quilt one fall. I found him the following weekend curled up and dried in the foot of the quilt. Thus ended my experimentation with floorless tents and tarps. I love salamanders and don't want to lure them to their deaths...

[Papa D]

I remember a beautiful late fall snowy night at Jerry Cabin with some southbound thru hiker friends (Stretch, Ozzie, Godzilla, and Chevy) in '08 fondly -- I hiked in from the south and waited on them - I kept warm for a couple of hours collecting a nice pile of firewood and tidying up the shelter (it wasn't too messy at all). We had a nice fire and a big meal when they arrived. Godzilla (who I met that night) was hiking with a homemade Ray-Way backpack and he was freezing -- it had worked fine for most of his summer / fall thru-hike but with temps in the 20s it was no go and his pals all had good down bags. I had a spare 20 deg. western bag in my car (I was using the zero - obviously) and lent it to him to use as a "bag liner" -- as it turns out, the smokies would have been very rough on him without it -- he sent it back to me a few weeks. later. I think that a pile of firewood and maybe a couple of old quilts were stashed in the shelter but I don't recall a big mess. I'm sorry to hear about this. If anyone wants to go there (maybe just after the holidays) - 10K? - I'll haul in some garbage bags and whatnot and help with a clean-up.