A Mouse Tried to Eat My Sleeping Bag!

I had been traveling for several days with Chovinard... a great young guy from out West.  I had commented to him that I couldn't quite figure out what to do with my cooking pot on the nights when my food bag was too full to place it in there and hang it on the bear cables.  I had just been placing it near my sleeping bag after cleaning it... but it seems that my culinary abilities left some aromas that attracted those darn shelter mice anyway.  I was waking up and finding mouse feces in my pot.... not a pleasant way to start the day.  Chovinard said, to tell you the truth, what I do is place the pot in my sleeping bag.  So, the night I stayed at Hogback Ridge shelter, I decided to try his technique.  Unfortunately, this is what transpired...

A Hole in my Down Bag

Needless to say, I was not a happy camper when I awoke and saw the damage.  My 6 degree Sierra Designs Dri-Down bag is something I was very proud of.  Thankfully, the mouse only went through the outer skin of one baffle, and not too much of the down was lost.  I have patched it with Duck Tape of course... and I trust it is still fully functional.  Chovinard's pot has a lock down lid on it, while mine does not.  I won't be putting mine in the bag again.

That brings the topic of tenting versus sheltering.  When I first started this trek I preferred to set up my tent even if I was at one of the shelters.  In fact, I tented for the first nine nights (with two hostel stays interspersed).  The last tent night before I tried sleeping in the shelter was at a shelter location that didn't have any level ground for tenting (Sassafras Gap).  I picked the most level ground I could find, but kept sliding into the bottom of the tent through the night.  As it turned out, the next day I happened to be the only person at the Cable Gap shelter, so I tried my first night in the shelter.  Sheltering does have its advantages with the key ones being not needing to take the time to set up and break down the tent, and being able to keep your gear dry if it is raining.  You get used to sleeping with strangers next to you... and no one remains a stranger long on the AT.  The biggest disadvantage is those darned mice.  I went the next eight nights (excluding any hostel or hotel stays) staying in the shelters.  Then the Hogback Ridge event happened.  That last night before descending into Erwin, I was back in my tent.