[at-l] 5

[Tom McGinnis]

--- On Fri, 7/10/09, Felix J <AThiker at smithville.net> wrote:

> While we're thinkin' about
> things...let's do this: Name your 5 favorite 
> AT shelters. And, if you want, tell why.

### Chase Mtn -- Connecticut -- just inside Macedonia Brook State Park -- just a dirt spot now, and no longer on the AT, but wonderfully situated in a south-facing fold just before Chase Mtn, with a small water source in front of it. Thick forest in summer; in winter, you got a wonderful display of sunshine in the morning, til the sun stepped behind the ridge/bump to your right. ... ...

Cooper Brook Leanto, Maine
With the water flowing right-to-left in front of you, and a rock to jump off (which the boys made use of in 2004, not realizing that it was 54°F at the time) into a pool directly in front of the leanto. You could almost forget that the water below was full of leaches, ready to latch on and suck the athletically thinned hiker blood.

Killington, Vermont
The little hellhole just below the summit, holes in the roof and everything, with the ten million dollar view. Man oh man.

WhateverisjustnorthoftheNC-GAborder.
It used to be a stinky-but-unique A-Frame, and although it appeared in fair condition, it was torn down and is now a pretty, if standard, arrangement....

Roaring Fork shelter -- 5 miles north of Max Patch. 
Newish. Stuck in a mountain laurel grove, deep in a hardwood forest, on an eastern slope -- it gets dark early. But WHAT a setting. It's been 11 years, and I've only been there once, but it were a nice place.

Pico Camp -- Just past Killington, on the REAL AT.....
A tiny cabin, stuck to the east side of the mountain, perfect to catch a morning ray, an oasis in the scary new (and impenetrable) evergreen thicket. (Yes, that's six.)