“The Nantahala Hiking Club is responsible for the maintenance of 10 shelters along our 60 miles of the Appalachian Trail,” club member Victor Treutel wrote on the most recent NHC newsletter. “Some are in great shape, others are a little tired. Rock Gap shelter was the most tired. It had generations of graffiti and a large colony of mice entrenched within its weathered walls.”

NHC volunteers demolished the shelter and dug up its footers Nov. 9. The next big step was getting the concrete to the building site with a UTV from the U.S. Forest Service. This required a dry trail and coordination with the Forest Service, as well as temperatures above 30 degrees for 48 hours. Due to these constraints, concrete could not be delivered until Dec. 2 and the footers couldn’t be poured until Dec. 10 and 19. A concrete block support wall was built Dec. 21 and the remainder of the demolition debris moved. 

To complete the project, the club and USFS must get all the large timber building materials to the site.