Shelters: plus or minus? was Re: RE: [at-l] New GA Selter to be

> ### Oldphart Sloetoe wades in......... noticing that oldphart FallingWater
> has a season or three on 'im...
>
> --- Paul Nickodem <Dharmabum64@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> > Come on Ron a big part of the AT experience is the shelter life.  You
> > used them when you hiked the AT didn't you?
> ### For me: there was NO "shelter life." I hiked for weeks and weeks
> without seeing another throughhiker.
> But some history:
> ### When I finished the AT, there was a rather vigorous debate about
> whether to replace the numerous, aging CCC shelters up and down the length
> of the trail. The sites were black with char, the roofs worn, the
> foundations split and sagged, and the surrounding sites worn and in need
of
> recovery of some sort. The debate ranged between moving the structures
(and
> creating new areas of disaster) or rebuilding/hardening what was there.
>
> ### One camp entirely suggested the best course was to remove all
shelters.
> Period. Disperse everybody and everything, get people back in the woods,
> recapture the wilderness artiface which had begun to be eroded by
> party-animal use of AT shelters, and save everybody a boatload of time and
> hassle and money.
>
> ### The course set, obviously, was to first move/dismantle the "trouble"
> shelters, then replace the aging shelters, then fill in the shelter "gaps"
> which had not previously been filled. At the same time, it became
> increasingly popular to fund these (and other) projects with donations
made
> in memorium. Seemed like a great idea, except it was *too* great, and the
> donation "supply" outstripped the "demand." (Trying to get someone to fund
> the "Peterson Privy" or the Twelve Angry Steps is just hard.)
>
> ### Still, there *are* projects which need to go on. And the one being
> executed in memorium to WildBill's brother-in-law is one such project.
> Which brings us to Ron Moak's thoughtful post:
>
> > Ronald Moak wrote on 11/13/00 12:15:
> >
> > With all due respect for Wildbill and his family, but does the AT need
> > another shelter? When will there be enough shelters along the AT? When
> > this one is built, is another one removed?
> >
> > Just what defines the wilderness experience on the AT these days? Is it
a
> > train of people tromping between shelters scattered every couple of
miles
> > along the trail?
> >
> > I realize that shelters are here to stay, but someone has to ask when is
> > there enough? I'm sure Wildbill's families intentions are honorable and
> > sincere. I'm just wondering if there's a better way.
>
> ### Now, this post itself is both honorable and sincere, and raises quite
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