As I'm sure many east coast skiers know, the Appalachian Trail has tons of summer hiking cabins and a lot of them are on resorts. After watching Valhalla again I started thinking about how fun it would be to camp overnight on a mountain. So I have been planning to sleep in one of the Appalachian Trail cabins on Mansfield next year for maybe a week or something with family or friends and then waking up, hiking to the top, then skiing down and getting a pass. Has anyone on here had experience with something like this and how did it go if so?
Jan 24 2015 4:52PM
You might want to check with the trail society if its open in the winter, some of them have restrictions
at jay, I know the patrol shack at the top of the jet is left open for those looking to get dawn patrol on big jay, I've hiked it at night to get first tracks in the morning. I doubt they would let you crash there for a week.
Jan 24 2015 6:06PM
ghosthopYou might want to check with the trail society if its open in the winter, some of them have restrictionsat jay, I know the patrol shack at the top of the jet is left open for those looking to get dawn patrol on big jay, I've hiked it at night to get first tracks in the morning. I doubt they would let you crash there for a week.
Nacho_Macho_manIf there is a legal tent site on a hiking trail near your mountain... Set up a tent and supplies and go for it. If there is nothing legal though, don't do it. Just check the rules of the hiking trails in your area
Thanks guys, I'll definitely try to get in contact with whoever runs the trail society.
Jan 24 2015 7:40PM
Jan 24 2015 7:53PM
caucasian_chadsometime this spring I think Im gonna try to spend the night in a smoke shack. It'll be kind of tricky though because Big Sky patrol sweeps the shacks at the end of the day. I'm gonna have to be super sneaky.
That sounds like it's gonna be legit. Let me know how it goes if you end up doing it. I think I'm actually probably only going to stay a couple days rather than a week.
Jan 24 2015 8:51PM
Jan 24 2015 10:28PM
Jan 26 2015 12:41AM
caucasian_chadsometime this spring I think Im gonna try to spend the night in a smoke shack. It'll be kind of tricky though because Big Sky patrol sweeps the shacks at the end of the day. I'm gonna have to be super sneaky.
That seems like a pretty good idea. If there's one pretty close to the boundary they probably won't check there
Jan 26 2015 12:25PM
ghosthopYou might want to check with the trail society if its open in the winter, some of them have restrictionsat jay, I know the patrol shack at the top of the jet is left open for those looking to get dawn patrol on big jay, I've hiked it at night to get first tracks in the morning. I doubt they would let you crash there for a week.
The patrol shack is no longer open at night due to too many people taking advantage of it and not respecting it. It's also not the kind of thing that should be advertised on the internet, in my opinion.
If cabins are available, it's a pretty solid way to do things. If not, a nice spacious tent isn't a bad alternative if you are well equipped.