Shelters with Denizens

From Sarah via email (about 3 weeks ago):

Mark and Jay by tents at a campsite.
Even though Jay's tent is bigger, it
weighs about the same as ours
because it uses hiking sticks as poles.

Jay has refused to sleep in shelters so far on the trip, preferring to pitch his tent, even when he stays near shelters. Many hikers prefer the shelters, feeling better about sleeping on a wood platform off the ground, and with three solid walls around them. 

One night in Shenandoah National Park, he got into the shelter area late, and for some reason EVERYONE had pitched tents. The shelter only had two hikers in it! There was no room to pitch his tent, so he decided what-the-heck; after 900 miles maybe it was time to sleep in a shelter. As evening deepened into dusk, the ever-present rodent population began to make its appearance. One hiker teased Jay as he went to bed, saying, “Aahh, guess I’ll retire to my mouse-proof tent while you deal with the scurrying denizens!” 

Night time friend,
not one of the denizens

Jay said the night was long and filled with mice running up and down the walls, across the platform, and along the rafters. He doesn’t think any actually ran over him, but the dark was certainly full of the creatures! He doesn’t think shelters are worth the fuss. The tables and porches are nice for sitting and talking and eating, but sleeping is better in a tent.

This hiker was congenial, if a little on the slow side.

After he spent the weekend with Mark and Helen, he went through a few days where hikers were in little cliques, and no one seemed interested in talking to him. He finally passed them all up and fell in with a much friendlier crowd. He said the group he has hiked with for the last three days has been really nice and lots of fun to talk with. He even stayed near shelters through Shenandoah National Park, instead of stealth camping, thanks to the amiable hikers. Jay has spent several hours each day conversing with one hiker in particular, Peregrine, a recently retired gentleman who knows all the bird calls. Jay says it is like walking with his own personal talking bird encyclopedia, because Peregrine can identify the calls of every bird he hears. I'm envious!