Re: [at-l] smokies question

>I'm up late with nuthin' to do, so I thought I'd jump in on this thread.
>(Just chose one at random). As far as the shelter thing in the Smokies,
this
>is how it was when I went through there this year (this is a bit redundant,
I
>know): All overnighters in the park were required to stay at shelters (or
>designated campsites, I guess...but I only know of shelters on the A.T.)
>Everyone was required to have a permit. Thru-hikers did the
self-registration
>thing. Other people made advanced reservations. Two spaces were left open
in
>each shelter each night for thru-hikers (first-come/first-served). If the
>rest of the shelter space wasn't reserved by non-thru-hikers, then other
>thru-hikers who came along could use those spots. If there was thru-hiker
>overflow, then those people could camp. Technically, if there were three
>thru-hikers in the shelter, and someone with a reservation showed up, one
of
>the three thru-hikers would have to tent if there was no other room for the
>person with the reservation. Didn't happen when I went through in April.
>
>I've heard stories about confrontations over shelter space between
>thru-hikers and non-thru-hikers, but I experienced none of that. No one
asked
>who was thru-hiking for the purpose of determining shelter space.  We
>squished everyone in that wanted in. The weather was cold and wet.  Very
cold
>and very wet.  We were sometimes packed in so tight on both the upper and
>lower "shelves" that we all pretty much had to lie on our sides.
Thru-hikers
>and non-thru-hikers got along just great.  I had anxiety (for some stupid
>reason) before the Smokies about having to make the shelters each night and
>about being able to get into them if I wanted to. Found out that was silly
to
>worry about. It all worked out just fine. It was the MUD that got to me.
Oh,
>and the food at Mountain Moma's.
>
>Ramkitten
>* From the AT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *
>

* From the AT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *

==============================================================================
To:            lehmkuhl@gte.net, at-l@backcountry.net