Morgan Stewart Memorial Shelter

Patrick Flanagan

I started off in Patterson NY took the Maybrook trail to the Appalachian Trail. Headed west to the Morgan Stewart Shelter. On the way it got too dark. Lost sight of the trail markers even with my head lamp on. So I camped out for the night on Depot Hill. It snowed 3in over night. When I woke up I was completely disoriented. How do you tell the difference between snow on a tree and a white trail marker? I used Google Maps to find my way back on the trail and headed to Morgan Stewart. I made it to Morgan Stewart by 9am. The shelter was very clean. The privy had saw dust. Which I used some of that for kindling. Tried to make a fire but the big logs were too wet from the snow. There was a coffee pot which I used to melt the snow into drinkable water. The shelter had an extra tarp which I used as a wind breaker. There was also some left over food. A couple of cans of trout. Which I took but I still haven't eaten it. There were some clothes lines and some hooks. I was able to hang my tent over the clothesline and my tarp on the hooks. But it's hard to dry stuff off in 17⁰ temp. My sleeping bag is good to 15⁰. So I snuggled inside and just left a small enough hole to breath out of. When I woke up my boots were frozen solid. My gloves were frozen solid. Took me forever to pack everything back up and head out to the RPH. See my review of RPH to hear the rest of the story.

Benjamin Taylor

One of my favorite shelters on the AT. The shelter isn't the largest but there's plenty of space around it for tents. Multiple fire pits, a latrine, and a water pump make this site a great choice to spend the night.