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  1. #1

    Default Vandeventer shelter is haunted by Janice Balza I promise!

    This saturday myself, two friends and a no o stayed at vandeventer shelter. I did not know about the murder of Janice Balza until I got home and googled haunted AT shelters and this is one o the only shelters that came up. At 1:00 am exactly i woke up in my tent, apx 5-10 seconds later i hear a stomping noise like a trail runner comin down the trail, it stops right at my tent and i yell and "growl" at the sound, no response for a minute of so, and i hear 3 more stomps like running.

    Next morning i tell my buddy who was tenting about my experience and he said, "same thing happened to me at 2:30.

    Anyone else have Vandeventer stories? Lol

    "April 1975—Thru-hiker Janice Balza, 22, of Madison, Wisconsin, was killed by a hatchet wielded by hiker/tree surgeon Paul Bigley, 51, after breakfast at a shelter in northeast Tennessee. He died in state prison in Nashville. He killed her for her pack, a brand he coveted, testimony revealed.


    Tennesse authorities siad that Bigley surrendered to the Carter County sheriff and allegedly confessed that he killed Miss Balza with a hatchet as she sat near his campfire at a shelter (Vandeventer) on the Appalachian Trail."
    Trail Miles: 4,927.6
    AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
    Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
    Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
    Foothills Trail: 0.0
    AT Map 2: 279.4
    BMT: 52.7
    CDT: 85.4

  2. #2
    BYGE "Biggie" TOMP's Avatar
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    Default

    The ghost dont really bother me but the fact is the shelter is super windy and 1 mile uphill from the water source just a bad idea to stay there.

  3. #3

    Default

    I was last there in 2005. No ghost that night, only a cat who for the price of a little tuna, kept the mice at bay all night. If you get water on the way up, it's not a bad shelter. Great views at night from the rocks behind the shelter.

  4. #4

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    Stayed there this summer. No ghost. But I agree that the straight down .3 miles to the water source is no fun. Also had a bad morning there, woke up planning a 20+ mile day (big for me), but it was pouring down rain, so stayed in the bag a little longer (and made it a shorter day). Then right before I got out of my bag when I did wake up, a wasp stung me.

    So no ghost, but between the water trail, rain, and wasp, still not a great memory.
    The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
    Richard Ewell, CSA General


  5. #5

    Default

    You might want to read this book by Katherine Ramsland http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Investig.../dp/0312261640

  6. #6

    Default

    your better off loading up on water from the spring right on the trail, about 1.7 miles south of the shelter than going down the hill. but it does get windy at times

  7. #7

    Default

    OHHH NOOO. I think you just gave the network producers another concept for a reality TV show - Haunted Outdoor Shelters - this episode haunted AT Shelters and privies.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sugarfoot View Post
    I was last there in 2005. No ghost that night, only a cat who for the price of a little tuna, kept the mice at bay all night. If you get water on the way up, it's not a bad shelter. Great views at night from the rocks behind the shelter.
    +1 the shape shifter cat was prolly the ghost seeking a little company anyhow.

    'I ain't afraid ah no ghost'

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by CrumbSnatcher View Post
    your better off loading up on water from the spring right on the trail, about 1.7 miles south of the shelter than going down the hill. but it does get windy at times
    I was just going to say the same thing. The spring on the trail 1.7 miles south is roughly the same elevation as the shelter, so not a lot of uphill.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    OHHH NOOO. I think you just gave the network producers another concept for a reality TV show - Haunted Outdoor Shelters - this episode haunted AT Shelters and privies.



    +1 the shape shifter cat was prolly the ghost seeking a little company anyhow.

    'I ain't afraid ah no ghost'
    Ha ha...now that's funny...haunted privy's.

    ...I'm envisioning a fella outside a privy doin' a peepee dance on his tipee toes while holdin heself sayin'
    'I ain't afraid ah no ghost' tryin to muster to where with all.

  10. #10
    Registered User DrRichardCranium's Avatar
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    I made a point of hiking up to Vandaventer shelter. rather than staying near Lake Watauga and that first shelter down there. Bears patrol that area looking for all the picnic scraps from the day tourists. I'd rather have the ghosts, please.
    "Katahdin barada nikto."

  11. #11

    Default

    Ahh, ghosts aren't the issue. It's the Zombies.

  12. #12

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DrRichardCranium View Post
    I made a point of hiking up to Vandaventer shelter. rather than staying near Lake Watauga and that first shelter down there. Bears patrol that area looking for all the picnic scraps from the day tourists. I'd rather have the ghosts, please.
    Absolutely...at least with a ghost you get full transparency.

  13. #13

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    Absolutely...at least with a ghost you get full transparency.
    Bears lurk in the shadows.

  14. #14

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    ...I'm envisioning a fella outside a privy doin' a peepee dance on his tipee toes while holdin heself sayin'
    'I ain't afraid ah no ghost' tryin to muster to where with all.
    Isn't that the connective concept behind all these shows designed to reach and fully entertain the lowest possible denominator of the viewing public?

    "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public" HL Mencken

  15. #15
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    How many years need to pass before such light-hearted and ridiculous threads can be posted about people who have perished on the Trail more recently? This one thread is dumb and in bad taste. No one would consider posting this crap in association with those who have lost heir live on the trail more recently. Some of the posts should be removed.

  16. #16
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    My last post is not so much directed at the Original Post, but rather at som of the posts that followed.

  17. #17
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    I've seen the bird with the bright red/orange eyes land in front of the shelter, just before sunrise (possibly enhanced by my headlamp). I figured it was some kind of night hawk. The other noises are not that unusual and I pretty much ignored them. I hear strange noises all the time due to animals and tree branches rubbing together in the breeze. I sleep well at that shelter. Makes for a good story though.

  18. #18

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    RickB Im not sure what disrecpectful things have been said can you please quote them?
    Trail Miles: 4,927.6
    AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
    Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
    Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
    Foothills Trail: 0.0
    AT Map 2: 279.4
    BMT: 52.7
    CDT: 85.4

  19. #19
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    Adding this shelter to the list of places to check out

  20. #20
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gambit McCrae View Post
    RickB Im not sure what disrecpectful things have been said can you please quote them?
    My reply probably came across as over the top, and self-righteous. Not my intent.

    Each of our frames of reference is different.

    I just found the tone of some replies off putting. Not sure zombies and such have a place in any conversation that also references a murdered thru hiker.

    To be direct, I did thought you post stepped a bit over the line when you added the "Lol" to your question:

    "Anyone else have Vandeventer stories? Lol"

    Just my take. In the end my opinion matters little and the most important thing is that we don't forget the thru hikers who have been victims to violent crime on the AT-- even if in this one case it's been almost 40 years.

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