Tag Archives: trail shelter

Lean-to Shelter Camping – Tuscarora Trail

Posted on by

3 days of Backpacking and Hammock Camping on Virginia’s Tuscarora Trail.

For this backpacking trip, I decided to head down to the border of West Virginia and Virginia to check out a pretty cool mountaintop lean-to shelter and do a little airplane scavenger hunt in-between the occasional rain showers that always tend to follow me around.  On day one I would hike up to the ridge using the Tuscarora Trail, day two I would base camp and explore, and on day three I would hike back out via a different set of trails to complete the loop.

My options for shelter would be to either use the Gerhard Shelter lean-to if I had the place to myself, or a lightweight tarp and minimalist hammock if I decided to wander out further into the woods and camp near the search area and nearby spring.

My April temperature range for this trip was between 40° and 75°.  This allowed me to get my backpack’s base weight down to around 10 lbs, while still including my puffy jacket and ultralight rain jacket for supplemental warmth at camp if needed.

The details of the aviation accident site that I was looking for can be found here.  It was a small Cessna 150J that went down due to engine power loss and fortunately their were only minimal injuries to one of the two passengers.  I’ve never read any reports of anyone actually finding or visiting this site, so I really had no idea if there would be anything to be found. But hey, it was a good excuse to get out into the woods, so I grabbed my pack and headed out for some adventure…

Route Overview – Gerhard Shelter Tuscarora Trail Backpacking Trip 2022 – Sintax77

Continue reading →

Stone Shelter Camping in a Snow Storm

Posted on by

Backpacking & Solo Winter Camping during a Snow Storm on the Appalachian Trail and New York Long Path.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this 3 day, 2 night camping trip, I decided to do a backpacking loop in New York’s Harriman State park.  Despite being just a half hour north of New York City, Harriman SP offers hundreds of miles of trails, rugged mountain terrain, and rustic lean-to shelters built in the 1920’s.  Covering over 47,000 acres, it stands as the second largest state park in New York and feels more like a national forest shortly after hitting the trail.

Because I did this trip in mid December with a forecast of possible snow and a temp range of just above freezing down to the teens, I figured the crowds would be at a minimum.  The shelters in this area also appeared to have some great personality, so I decided to do something different – go minimal and just sleep in the shelter with a sleeping pad and a down quilt.  This is a convenient and common practice for most Appalachian Trail hikers in fairer weather, but it would be a first for me in winter.

Route Overview – Harriman State Park Winter Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

No permit is required to backcountry camp in Harriman SP, but there are rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping. Most notably, you may only setup camp within 100 yards of one of the park’s lean-to shelters.  You can find more information on the official Harriman State Park website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

Continue reading →