Visitors who spend the night in an Appalachian Trail shelter — or who rest and rejuvenate there for any amount of time — likely do not wonder how the shelter came to be. Most do not pause to consider how the wood and other materials got to the site, or who planned and built the shelter, or who maintains it throughout its decades of existence.  

Perhaps that is as it should be. The Appalachian Trail is meant to be a simple footpath through the woods. However, with an ever-changing environment and increased visitor use, maintaining the A.T. is far from simple.   

In fact, it takes thousands of people from dozens of organizations, agencies, and other entities to ensure the Trail remains a world-class outdoor recreational experience. I recently had the chance to see this complex cooperative management system in action while overseeing the replacement of two popular shelters in Connecticut.

After 40 years of service, the original Brassie Brook and Riga shelters had suffered from the cumulative impacts of weather, a small fire, pests, and general wear-and-tear. Volunteers with the AMC–CT Appalachian Trail Club recognized that the shelters were nearing the end of their useful life, and the ATC agreed they should be replaced.

We selected Woodlot Woodworks in New York to build two Adirondack shelter kits fitted specifically to each site. Once all the materials for the new shelters were ready, I arranged for their shipment to staging areas. Then, we closed the existing Brassie Brook and Riga shelters in September 2022 to begin demolition. Volunteers hiked almost two miles in and out to each site, carrying tools and other equipment. After breaking down the shelters, they cut and dispersed the native logs throughout the forest so they could revert back to nature.

The most dramatic part of the project came when airlifting the construction materials to the shelter sites. But first, we had to find locations for the airlifts that would minimally impact the hiker experience and the environment. This meant arranging for my ATC colleagues Marian Orlousky and Dan Hale to conduct a botanical survey to make sure we weren’t threatening any rare or endangered species. I also secured the assistance of a National Park Service archaeologist, Joel Dukes, to scout the site for tribal or cultural resources that could be vulnerable.

Finally, after 24 separate airlifts of project material loads, each weighing approximately 7,000 pounds, construction began at the two sites in April and May 2023. Volunteers once again hiked two miles in with tools to construct the new shelters. The new Brassie Brook shelter opened in June, followed by Riga the next month. In all, it took almost five years and over 1,200 hours of volunteer labor to remove and replace the shelters — which are just two out of more than 250 along the Trail.

There’s a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Clearly, it takes a grassroots effort and a host of volunteers and partners to raise an A.T. shelter. I am forever grateful for the past, current, and future generations of people who dedicate their time and energy to protecting and maintaining this one-of-a-kind public resource.

Tracy Lind is ATC Regional Manager for Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Southern Vermont