Caution, all the new service providers that have popped up to make some money off hikers may not be what they seem. There is a real creep new hostel in PA that opened last year. Don’t want to pick on any one particular place, but be careful when getting a shuttle or staying at a hostel and make sure you know the cost up front.
WillyWalker
All of the places I stayed at in 02 were in the thru hikers companion or wingfoots book. Aren’t these still good resources.
Virginian
Not talking about the old reliable established places. Talking about places that just got started in the last year or two. One particular place in PA seems wierd. Guy living in a trailer with his Mom. Promotes his place as a hostel for work for stay, sometimes donations and if the donation or work isn’t to thier satisfaction they want cash. Also, never wanted to be around a guy telling dirty jokes about kids. Just think it is wise to use places that are esablished and have good reputations.
WillyWalker
yes there does seem to be a lot of people that have popped up offering services, most sound like they are reliable but I wonder if there is too much influence to make you want to slackpack or spend too much money in towns.
jima59
High Mountain Haven has been exposed on other sites. A little research on the owner, Keith Campagne, will probably make you want to stay away from this place.
Sarge
Seems to me that nobody has any specific complaints about the place. Just “stay away” or “guys creepy”. While I don’t think gossip nor hearsay should be carried on here I do think you should be specific. We are a community here and if there is a place to avoid for our safety or otherwise please speak up and give examples as to what your experience was. I as well as a lot of other hikers would appreciate an honest assessment of what’s going on. Last thing any of us would want, especially those hiking with women and children, would be to put them in an uncomfortable situation or a dangerous one. Plus a lot of us don’t want out cash or labor going out to someplace that shouldn’t be getting it. And, fyi, I’m no google expert Sarge so I cannot find reasons not to stay there online so I’m not sure how or where he has been “exposed”.
Do the community a service and let us know whats up, in public…no emails please.
Hiker
FYI all of you the have posted false rumors about High Mtn Haven, I wish to set the record straight. First, Keith Champagne is not the owner of the haven, second there have never been any children at the haven that were with hikers. There has only been one hiker that left the haven and that was because he was obnoxious and rude to an older woman. It appears that this falsehood is being spread by someone who has a personal vendetta against Keith and fair warning is given that if it continues there could be legal repercussions. If someone has a specific problem, with me the owner, please feel free to contact me directly and I will respond to your problems one on one. If you have stayed there, you know the phone number, call and speak with me directly. Don’t slander me on a public forum unless you are too afraid to admit the you are doing this on purpose.
Teri
So, Teri, are you the real owner? Are you this guys Mom and did you know that he has posted on a major AT Hiker site that he is the owner/operator? Did you know that he posted as recently as Feb. 2012 on a hostel management site that he was the owner/operator? Do you people even have an innkeepers license, and if so, whose name is it in?
Lawyer Dagget
Lawyer has a point, here are two links to where Keith Champagne has listed himself as the “owner/operator”:
http://www.hostelmanagement.com/forum/f2/high-mountain-haven-appalachian-trail-5421.html
-and-
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?73026-New-hostel-michaux-state-forest
hmmm…is something fishy going on here? Seems “Teri” and “Keith” have a disagreement on who owns and/or operates the place. Probably not the end of the world but it does beg the question if somebody is trying to hide something. Maybe somebody slueth enough should run a criminal background check on the two.
That being said, I don’t know that any of us have heard any warnings from their local maintainer chapter and if there was any serious issues you’d think they would be looking out for us. HYOH and do your own due diligence, so far I can’t see a real reason NOT to stay there. Legal mumbo jumbo and threats aside, Teri might be an okay person…most that set up hostels are. I’ll stay there should I be in the area again…nobody here has convinced me otherwise.
Teri/Keith…for your own good, just figure out who owns/operates the place, it will settle a lot.
Hiker
Sir, some people are able to see little red flags way off in the distance. Others will rear end into a cruiser with flashing red and blue lights while it is making a traffic stop. You don’t see the red flags, I do.
Sarge
Sounds like someone is upset with some competition. Check out the journals on trailjournals, nothing wrong at all with the place, except it’s a TRAILER. High Mountain Haven is a fine place. It’s like the old crap with Uncle Johnny’s vs Miss Janet’s where all the Miss Janet supporters were trashing Uncle Johnny’s.
C Knott
And even if you did have children there, nothing wrong with that. Miss Janet had 3 underaged daughters living with her while running a place in Erwin, TN. I have heard nothing but good things about your place and there can never be enough of them on the trail. I’ll be walking in the area in May as part of a section hike, and if it is toward the end of the day, I’ll patronize the business.
C Knott
Calling this place creepy may be to harsh. If it creeps a person out, it is creep to that person. After reading the Mom’s post and the post from C Knot, I, Ickey Expert have concluded that at the very least, it is ickey
Stupidity is bliss.
Ickey Expert
You people at High Mtn Haven could clear things up if you are legit. You have been caught lying about ownership and that adds to the creepiness factor. If your trailer has not been inspected and passed fire codes you have no right to jam people into a potential fire hazard. The fact that you would operate like this without a license adds to the creepiness and makes you dangerous to hikers. If you have a license and proof that you are legit, post it here, show us the link or give us the proof we deserve to see.
Lawyer Dagget
Seems to me the new hostel can’t be half as creepy as those of you posting here in your underpants under cover of anonymity. As long as y’all are sitting meekly at home in front of your fluid-stained computers I tend to think the AT is creep-free stem to stern. And yeah, you can shoot the messenger too for all I care. Just please wash your dirty laundry at another laundromat and stop wearing out your welcome here.
tron
Any and all hostels are a blessed welcome along the AT. Enough of the troll garbage, all coming from one person… Here is their facebook page and yes, I will stay there. https://www.facebook.com/pages/High-Mountain-Haven/185142241544405
gps
tron isn’t doing himself, or his friend or whatever a favor with his recent post. How does an adult get that kind of vision in their head? Why would a person post such of piece of perversion? Amazing that tron thinks posting something creepy to defend a place being accused of being creepy would be helpful. People are wise enough to sift through postings and determine how valid they are. We don’t need to be subjected to obscene garbage.
fran
Fran, thanks for taking the Rorschach test. A psychiatrist will be available shortly to interpret your results. In the meantime, keep in mind that one woman’s little outrage is another man’s happy afternoon, and there are 7 billion good reasons why that’s human nature and the way of the world. Not including the occasional Catholic bishop, of course. As for this thread, as you can see, it’s garbage-in, garbage-out. Has been since the very first post actually. Another Trailforums classic if you ask me.
__
Has anyone actually seen the son and the mom at the same time in the same place? Also, are there any graveyards near this place?
Ed Gein
Well, I’m not certain the local AT chapter does background checks on people running the hostels…if so they may be a lil “creeped” out by the Keith guy who calls himself the owner/operator of the hostel all over the internet (facebook/whiteblaze.net/elsewhere)…Mr. Champagne has a very checkered past, ie CRIMINAL, for things such as bad checks, assault and DUI and as recently as 2009 was one of Pennsylvania’s “Most Wanted” fugitives as profiled on
GoErie.com.
Link Here:
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090509/NEWS02/305089878/-1/NEWS
For those of you calling him a creep, you may be right. Plus, with his history it’s probably a bad idea to let this dude shuttle you anywhere…he seems to like to lead police on high speed chases…I doubt the courts would be too happy to see him shuttling people for money…if he is still on parole, it might be enough to send him back to the slammer. If you’re curious you can search the internet and find the public records etc…
USE CAUTION
Hiker