Amenities
Nearby streams provide water access at the Bolich run, Wild Boy, and Ford Hollow Shelters. Water can be found a bit down the trail from the Scoval shelter. Our volunteers try to supply water for the other shelters.
In addition to water, we try to supply various other amenities at our shelters. There is always a fire ring. We try to keep a pair of loppers and a bow saw at each shelter for backpackers who might want to trim back vegetation or cut dead wood for campfires -- though our sawyers frequently stock small supplies of firewood under the floors of the shelters where it can be protected from rain.
Bill Boyd has made small picnic tables for each shelter. They are small (for four people) and light so they can be kept protected inside the shelter but easily lifted out if backpackers want more floor space in the shelter. Most shelters also have some chairs and/or log benches for sitting around campfires.
Inside each shelter, a mailbox or ammo canister holds a shelter log book, a supply of maps, pens, and often other amenities such as bandaids. You might even find instances "trail magic" left by volunteers or other hikers. Most of our shelters contain cookware such as pots, pans, and grates for grilling over the fire. Although it is rare to find our shelters heavily occupied, some contain an extra tent for overflow campers.
Shelters have clothes lines and clothes pins for hanging wet clothes to dry. Sturdy wooden pegs hold backpacks. Two bench-bunks have space for sleeping bags so backpackers can be off the floor and stash their boots and other gear underneath them, which essentially doubles available floor space. There's usually a thermometer for current weather data.
A jar contains matches, a lighter, and some candles, with a note to "Use candle to sustain flame until campfire lights." (Matches don't hold a flame long enough.)
Most of the shelters have hammock hooks for hammock-hikers; we have a few still needing hook installments.
Most of the shelters have a "comfort station" somewhere out back -- just a box with a toilet seat and a lid.
We aim to have a broom in each shelter, and since the Gravel Lick fire, we have put 5-gallon buckets at the back eves of shelters to catch rain water for emergency use.
All shelters are topped-off with an American flag, and often a Native American dream-catcher.
