Earl Shaffer Darlington Shelter
In June, 2025, A.T. Museum volunteers built a roof for the reconstructed Earl Shaffer Darlington Shelter, culminating a 13-year project. The shelter has now found a permanent home on the grounds of the A.T. Museum in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Below is a slide show of the roof work.
This shelter was originally built by A.T. hiker Earl Shaffer around 1960 on Blue Mountain (sometimes called North Mountain), west of the Susquehanna River and a dozen miles northwest of Harrisburg. Shaffer is widely credited as the first A.T. thru-hiker. The shelter's original site was near what is presently known as the Tuscarora Trail, approximately a half mile west of that trail's junction with the A.T. and the Darlington Trail. This Darlington Shelter is not the present day Darlington Shelter, which is on the A.T. approximately three quarters of a mile east of this shelter's original location.
The previous step in the project, in July 2023, was to have a stonemason complete the stonework of the shelter in time for the 75th anniversary of Earl’s pioneering 1948 thru hike. The A.T. Museum began work on the shelter in 2010 and with great effort and some big machines brought the shelter stones to the Museum grounds in 2012. There the stones sat for a decade as inertia and changes in plans kept the pile of stones intact under a blue tarp. The remaining steps include developing interpretive materials for the exhibit.
A huge thanks to the following volunteers for their hard work and dedication on this project:
The previous step in the project, in July 2023, was to have a stonemason complete the stonework of the shelter in time for the 75th anniversary of Earl’s pioneering 1948 thru hike. The A.T. Museum began work on the shelter in 2010 and with great effort and some big machines brought the shelter stones to the Museum grounds in 2012. There the stones sat for a decade as inertia and changes in plans kept the pile of stones intact under a blue tarp. The remaining steps include developing interpretive materials for the exhibit.
A huge thanks to the following volunteers for their hard work and dedication on this project:
- Karen Balaban donated 35-40 oak trees which were harvested from her woodlands in nearby Perry County. Karen also treated the lumber and applied a water seal and transported the lumber to the Museum. Karen's neighbor, Bryan Alleman, milled 52 pieces of lumber to specifications for the roof's framing.
- The following volunteers assisted in locating the trees for harvesting: Judy Bennett, Jim Seidler, Gary LaBelle, George Garbarino, Jonathan Gere, Mark Press, and Karen Balaban.
- Will French and Tim Anderson helped to unload lumber and assisted Bruce Dunlavy in the roof's construction.
- Bruce Dunlavy and Mike Davis were the leads on the roof construction.