Guyot shelter -- mice..?

[TrishandAlex]

I'm planning (far) in advance for our Bonds traverse -- we'll have a tent with us, but we'd both prefer to stay in the shelter (if it's not full by the time we get there).

For those who have stayed in the Guyot shelter, during summer --

are there usually mice, and if so, how do you deal with them? Do they run over your sleeping bag? I want to avoid a situation where Alex wakes up screaming bloody murder because a critter has run across her face.

I know we can tent it to just avoid the situation altogether, but if they usually aren't that bad, the shelter would be nice.

Thanks -- Trish

 

[RollingRock]

are there usually mice, and if so, how do you deal with them? Do they run over your sleeping bag? I want to avoid a situation where Alex wakes up screaming bloody murder because a critter has run across her face.

I haven't stayed in that shelter in a while. If there are mice, don't worry about them. They are usually after your food so make sure you have the food bag shut tight and hanging somewhere. They might scamper about the floor but you'll be sleeping and you'll never know. They won't bite I've been in plenty of lean-to's with mice and they never were a bother. As soon as you get used to the idea that they will be there, you'll be fine.

 

[Wolfgang]

A good thing to carry would be a bivy. One that has some poles to create a space around ones head. It helps to keep the bugs off your face also.

 

[peakbagger]

Unless you are staying in the shelter for the "shelter experience", a tent is a far better way to go at Guyot. The shelter is normally full to the max on weekends and it tends to be a noisy place all night (about the same as an AMC hut). Mice are a variable but expected and the do tend to run around everywhere including on top of sleeping folks. Do note that on busy weekends, the caretaker can ask you to share a tent platform and you need a tent that is freestanding or have some cup hooks to rig up the tentlines.

If you want a shelter experience to try it out, there are several lesser used shelters in the whites (Mt Langdon, for example) and see if Alex likes it.

 

[TrishandAlex]

Thanks, guys -- Wolfgang, will the caretaker frown on using a bivy within the shelter?

 

[kmac]

Thanks, guys -- Wolfgang, will the caretaker frown on using a bivy within the shelter?

Yes they do. If the caretaker does not ask you to take it down the folks staying in the shelter will.

 

[TrishandAlex]

Unless you are staying in the shelter for the "shelter experience", a tent is a far better way to go at Guyot. The shelter is normally full to the max on weekends and it tends to be a noisy place all night (about the same as an AMC hut). Mice are a variable but expected and the do tend to run around everywhere including on top of sleeping folks. Do note that on busy weekends, the caretaker can ask you to share a tent platform and you need a tent that is freestanding or have some cup hooks to rig up the tentlines.

Thanks, peakbagger (we cross-posted). I appreciate the information.

We would not be staying at Guyot on the weekend, specifically to maximize the chances for a space at the shelter and to minimize the crowd factor. We'll have a tent with us and we will be prepared to make use of a platform (and to share it). Just trying to get all information on all possibilities in my mind well before the trip itself.

 

[TrishandAlex]

Yes they do. If the caretaker does not ask you to take it down the folks staying in the shelter will.

That's what I figured. Sorry, Wolfgang, perhaps I misunderstood -- you mean a bivy instead of a tent, on the platform?

 

[dr_wu002]

If you're worried about mice running across your face, glue a mouse trap(s) onto your forehead before you go to sleep.

The biggest issue is the weirdos that stay there. One time, Giggy, me, MEB, Sleeping Bear, Little Sister and Woody48 stayed at the shelter and there were these boyscouts on the top shelf. They kept us up all night, talkin' about some really weird things.

-Dr. Wu

 

[TrishandAlex]

Wu, they're probably saying the same things about you guys -- "One time, we stayed at this shelter, and there were these really weird people on the lower level...we didn't feel safe falling asleep, we had to keep ourselves awake all night talking..."

 

[Hillwalker]

Mouse Highway

They usually run along the floor next to the wall. If you sleep with your head near the wall they will run sometimes right over your face. Sleep the other way around and your feet will never know. Of course you can bring a cat too.

 

[MichaelJ]

And ... hang your food. Use one of the hangers that are already there, which are cord coming down from the shelter roof through an upside-down, empty food can. This prevents the mice from just walking down the hanger rope onto your food bag and chewing through it.

 

[wardsgirl]

Guyot is one of the busiest sites in the Whites. By the time you get there, it will likely be full. When staying at Guyot, do yourself a favor and plan on tenting anyway. IMHO tenting is a far more pleasant experience and is way more conducive to a good night's sleep. At Guyot in particular, I would suggest that if you arrive after 2:00 pm, don't even bother carrying your pack down the 0.3 to the campsite. Leave your pack at the intersection. Bring only your waterbag down to the spring to fill up. If the shelter or tentsites have vacancies, claim a spot and go back up the hill to retrieve your gear. In the extreme likelihood that the campsite is full, simply take your water back to your pack, find a sweet spot in the overflow and call it a day with your water. I can give you more Guyot tips when it gets closer to the time. Heck, I'll even go with you! We're there a lot anyway and I even have been the caretaker there before.

Mice? If you get a spot in the shelter, just use the mouse trapeze like Michaelj said.

 

[TrishandAlex]

Wardsgirl -- thanks. I'll pm you when it gets closer to the time -- if you want to join us, please do (your son is also more than welcome!). We'll be doing a Galehead-Zealand traverse, with a stay at Galehead hut and two nights at (or near!) Guyot. We will NOT be going over a weekend.

 

[RollingRock]

Guyot is one of the busiest sites in the Whites. By the time you get there, it will likely be full. When staying at Guyot, do yourself a favor and plan on tenting anyway. IMHO tenting is a far more pleasant experience and is way more conducive to a good night's sleep. At Guyot in particular, I would suggest that if you arrive after 2:00 pm, don't even bother carrying your pack down the 0.3 to the campsite. Leave your pack at the intersection. Bring only your waterbag down to the spring to fill up. If the shelter or tentsites have vacancies, claim a spot and go back up the hill to retrieve your gear. In the extreme likelihood that the campsite is full, simply take your water back to your pack, find a sweet spot in the overflow and call it a day with your water. I can give you more Guyot tips when it gets closer to the time. Heck, I'll even go with you! We're there a lot anyway and I even have been the caretaker there before.

I hope I'm not breaking any rules with making this comment on this thread but with the WMNF fees possibly going up, I've always been amazed that expanding this area (which obviously is popular) is not even in their 5-year plan! Rules are possibly being broken by camping in the overflow area (which I've done too many times) yet the WMNF turns the other cheek.

 

[Waumbek]

Build a shelter and they will come. The mice. (Why not?) I have never had them run across my face at Guyot, although I was probably just lucky. The worst was the shelters on the Northville-Placid Trail. I have often slept in open shelters with a bug-bag on my head, which also blunts the feeling of the little feet. The best solution is a tent.

 

[sardog1]

I've been in plenty of lean-to's with mice

The highlighted portion is rhetorical redundancy and one of the reasons that I avoid the shelters. (The other is that I dislike associating in the backcountry with the Scouts AND with the rest of you. )

 

[David Metsky]

I have had a mouse run across my face at Guyot shelter, and had one nibble on my finger at another shelter (forget which). I'd choose the tent option unless it's a miserable rainy day and you need have lots of time to kill.

 

[TrishandAlex]

Thanks, everyone, for all the responses. Okay -- we'll definitely plan on tenting and NOT using the shelter.

 

[dug]

I have 100% success with finding mice at any aggregated camping area. I never stay in shelters, but I've had them at the tent sites. They do cause damage. They will eat through a pack to get at your food.