The down and dirty: John's Rest Cabin is a primitive (no electric or water) cabin rented by the PATC. With a very short hike in you can enjoy the best primitive cabin camping can provide. You get a cozy two story cabin for you, your dog and few friends. After a short .34 mile hike in you will find a beautiful fast running stream in the front yard with a picturesque bridge which will quickly become a playground for children and adults alike. A wood stove and propane stove make for a very comfy stay even in the dead of winter (my favorite). If you even remotely like primitive camping you will love John's Rest. For a video tour of John's Rest head over to my youtube channel:
Cabin background: John's Rest is one cabin in a series of cabins run by the PATC. The cabins are in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, with a good number of them located within the Shenandoah National Park (SNP). Some of the cabins you can drive to the front door and have all the comforts of home such as oil heat, running water, double beds, etc. but this is not one of those types of cabins. John's Rest is a member only cabin in that it can only be rented by members. I joined the PATC years ago after hearing about their trail maintenance (the PATC is one of 30 clubs that maintain the famous Appalachian Trail (The AT that runs from Maine to Georgia), cabins, maps, trail guides, etc. After the first year I immediately became a Life Member to provide more help to the PATC. This cabin, like all of the other near 40 cabins, have an overseer that is responsible for the maintenance of their assigned cabin. These folks do an impeccable job in maintaining these cabins. Down trees are removed, propane refilled at the respective cabins, basic creature supplies too. John's Rest can be had for $45/night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. $30 other nights. A while back PATC started a "premium" for reservations made greater than two months before your stay (standard is 2 months or less)which doubles the nightly rates. For more info on John's Rest and other cabins or membership info visit the PATC at www.patc.net.
Getting to John's Rest Cabin: Upon making a reservation with the PATC for any cabin they will send you a key, driving instructions, cabin opening and closing instructions, etc. about 10 days before your first night's stay. John's Rest is about 100 miles from DC but it's an easy drive. No super 4x4 is needed as I drove my regular F150 pickup but vehicle with standard ground clearance can make the trip just fine. John's Rest Cabin, as with many of the PATC cabins require a short hike in to enjoy all of what makes these cabins great. John's Rest requires a quick .34 mile hike in so bringing your gear in backpacks is the simplest thing to do. In the past when I have had more than two folks going we would bring a lawn cart that looks like a big heavy duty wagon and haul our stuff to the cabin. Sticking with the backpack idea forces you to pack well but some folks are stuck on cold drinks and air mattresses so you can only go so far. You park at the end of a road across from a locked gate. Let your pup out of the car, grab your gear and head up the road that is marked as John's Rest cabin Road on a concrete trail marker and blue blazes. There are some private homes around to respect their privacy and stay on the road to the cabin. A bit up the road and you will see a second marker noting the direction for the SNP Park boundary, Skyline Drive, the AT and Entry Run Trail. You will also pass a difficult to see sign for the spring which will be on your left as you head up the road. Getting your water from the stream is the way to go but more on that later. The road leading up to the cabin is mostly level with a slight incline that is easy to navigate. You will notice cut wood along the access road. This is what the overseers has left after working on the property and is for us folks to replenish the wood we used in the cabin. Always leave at least one nights worth of wood in the cabin. If you follow the blue blazed trail past the cabin it leads to the Rosser Lamb Cabin in 1.75 miles via the Upper Entry Run Trail.
The Cabin & property:
John's Rest is a wood cabin a good ways off the beaten path. It has two floors and two entrances. The property has the cabin, picnic table and grill area, a service building, wood cutting area, a rather nice outhouse, large covered deck with picnic table and a beautiful stream. If you have small children you are going to want to watch them around this stream as the water runs fast and is easily deep enough for a child to run into trouble. I brought my 6 year old German Shepherd and he loved playing in and around the stream. The main floor of the cabin is where you will spend most of your time. This area has one set of bunk beds (bottom bunk is wired to be mouse proof and holds the mattresses), a large study handmade picnic table with bench seating, two rockers, a small cabinet that holds board games, cabin documents and the log book, various hand tools for cutting/splitting replacement wood and cleaning, wood and paper boxes, wood stove, propane stove with a spare 20 lb tank, counter with food prep area, plenty of pots, pans, dishes, mugs, silverware, a small metal trash can for food storage (did I mention there are mice?) and a separate sink which drains below the cabin. The upper level is accessed via a steep ladder leading to the large open area. There is no furniture upstairs leaving plenty of sleeping options. The upstairs simply has a mouse proof blanket box and a skylight that uses the light from one of two windows to go downstairs to help brighten the counter top. I chose to sleep on the floor in front of the wood stove since I went to January and was right chilly. This allows me to stoke the fire without getting of my sleeping bag. I simply setup two of the cabin's mattresses on the floor and my insulated air pad and bag and I was right comfy.
A view of the upstairs as I was standing on the stairs. Blanket box to the right and a railing around the skylight that allows light to enter the lower level above the food prep area. A nice touch on cloudy days.
The necessities:
As I mentioned there is no electric or running water. The water issue is easy to solve since the stream is just a couple hundred feet in front of the cabin. All water must be treated as you would any backcountry camping. So, filter, boil, UV, chemical, etc. is up to you. A filter bag is great if you need a decent amount of water. I enjoy the convenience of pouring water in and immediately get drinking water out. My pup and I drink a lot so the filter bag was a no brainer. If you don't have a pup, drink less, you can get away with a UV pen and boiling. The propane stove is great for heating water for food, coffee, and drinking. A luxury I am not used to for sure. As usual I bring my PowerPot (a pot that has a thermoelectric generator built into the bottom of it) for heating water for cooking, coffee and washing dishes. The PowerPot is a great piece of camping gear as you always need a pot for something so you may as well charge your USB rechargeable devices at the same time. This pot puts out about 5V via a standard USB plug. So anything that can plug into it will at least run and most likely charge. I charge my iphone, Tikka headlamp, DeLorme GPS, and two 3200 mah LiON batteries I use to run Goal Zero USB lights and recharge devices when I don't have the pot cooking. I use the Goal Zero USB lights as lighting whenever I go camping. They work great for a cabin or tent alike as they sip power and provide very nice lighting plenty bright enough to read or light up a campsite. The PowerPot will work with just about any heat source so the propane stove and the wood stove worked great. As far at the privy is concerned it's very nice as privy's go. Clean and spacious and easy to use. It's a Moldering Privy in that the pit is open to the air to decompose. Per the instructions in the privy this type tends to dry out so no need to pee in the woods.
The PowerPot in operation. This type of thermoelectric generator works best when there is the largest temperature difference between the head applied at the bottom of the pot and coolest part where the heat escapes, the water. So basically the colder the water the better the performance. When the pot started to boil I added cold water. As the pot fills simply pour some off into a container for later use. You can't ever let the pot run dry or the generator will burn up. This photo shows the pot just inside the wood stove over hot coals. I have my Tikka headlamp with the Core 2 LiON battery charging on the rocker.
The bottom line:
Just do it. As with all of the other PATC cabin's I have stayed at John's Rest is exceptional. JR has quickly become one of my favorites. It's easy of access, stuff to do, cabin design and amenities make put it at the top of my list. I hope you consider joining the PATC as it not only allows you to enjoy this and many other member only cabins but also opens many other doors to the great outdoors.
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