Finalizing mail stops and days I plan zero’s, after reading and reading journals, there seems to be several favorite Hostels or churches or like the Mayor in NY, places that you would say “Oh stop there, you’ll love it!”, Or , " Those poeple were so nice to stay with!"… Have my rough draft, hopeing to do a zero every 10th day average… Just looking to make a great trip, and meet those people that make it special for everyone… Thanks again for you knowledg… Crawl
Crawl
Crawl, I would hesitate before finalizing mail stops and zero days. I would keep those as rough drafts. There is no way you can determine when and how long you may need to relax, stay awhile or speed up. But as you say, a rough draft.
Hostels: 13 good ones for the first half of the trip.
Blueberry Patch,GA
NOC Wesser,NC
Sunnybank Inn,NC
Uncle Johnny’s,TN
Kincora,TN
The Place,VA
Woods Hole,VA
Holy Family,VA
Dutch Haus,VA
Waynesboro YMCA,VA
Bears Den,VA
Doyle Hotel,VA
Jailhouse,VA
Bilko
Crawl, what’s up, my man? I would agree with Bilko. The plan is to not have a plan. Start slow, increase the miles as the body and mind permit, take time off when the body and mind do not permit. Keep it simple. Plan for time off for a wedding or other such event but I would hesitate to plan your zero days. A plan like that will be stressful to maintain and remove an aspect of the freedom the trail offers. You’re on God’s time. Just walk north. You’ll get to Maine.
Moreover, I would agree with the hostels Bilko states, altho I did not stay at each one on the list (for various reasons) but that does not exclude them as “must see”. I would add: Miss Janet’s, TN (if she is open for Biz in 09) over Uncle Johnny’s. Also heard mixed reviews of White House Landing in the 100-mile in Maine.
Catch up soon, Boss.
TrailDawg
Our favorite hostel list from 2005-6:
Hiker Hostel, Dalonaga, GA: great place to start a thru hike.
Blueberry Patch, GA: Mr & Mrs Poteat are wonderful people, with a wonderful breakfast
Standing Bear, TN: great place to finish traverse of the Smokies
Elmer’s Sunnybank Inn, Hot Springs, NC: like staying in a museum.
Mrs. Janets, Erwin, TN: where ever she may be next year
Mountain Harbour, Roan Mt., TN:
Kincora, Hampton, TN: no body does it better than Bob Peoples
Dutch Haus, VA: free lunch, whether you stay or not, and its worth staying
Terrapin, near Front Royal, VA: if he is still open
Doyle Hotel, Duncannon PA: gotta stay here, its a trail institution. Great food. We stay there when we are travelling by car, N and S.
Jailhouse Hostel, Palmerton, PA: they treat you great, this is a great trail town.
Vernon, NJ: great stop before you go into NY
Birdcage, MA: Rocky’s loved it
that’s enough to get you started. You will hear of the other great hostels from the trail grapevine, once you are under way.
R;ocky & Swamp Fox
Hello everyone! Life is good in the Holler. The house is up and running,just 1 sink with a problem, other than that we have many projects still to be done but for the most part we’re repaired painted and somewhat organized. For those who don’t know, when we got here the place was condemable with only 1 toilet and 1 sink(kitchen) working. Now the big claw bathtub and toilet and 2 sinks upstairs are working and the shower and toilet down! We had to dig a ditch and reroute the overflow from the artisian well and the kitchen sink away from the house. All the walls had to be bleached down then painted. We’ve replaced all the flooring.
We’ve had 8 guests so far with 6 more before Oct. that we know of.(those crazy hikers sometimes just show up). In addition to Sobo we now have Gypsy (an eastern Austrailian shepherd) and 2 barn kitties that think they live on the porch. We’ll probably get laying hens real soon. My little garden in tires is producing squash,peppers,tomatoes; the bed in front,lettuce and chard. I’ve now spent time on all 4 porches and really like them all. The one upstairs is perfect for reading in the rocking chairs. Aqua hiked from Damascus to back home 75 miles,and is now working a union job 1 hour from here at a power plant. He works so hard around here I think he was ready for something easier-ha! Dawn and the babies are doing great. Amy’s trying to walk and Emma says the funniest things like"no way man". Dawn should be finding a job here real soon. I’m taking a Master Gardeners class and will be certified the end of Nov. My job will be the hostel and gardens and selling at the Farmers Market. We’ve canned ooddles of applesauce and butter from our trees, put up 30 jars of peach jam and more berry jam. I’ve dehydrated lots of peaches and vegetables. We still haven’t got a dryer yet as I’m having fun trying to outguess the weather with the clothesline. We have deer everywhere. Yesterday I saw what looked like tiny Wapiti Elk in the backyard by the pond. They we’re eying the big Koi goldfish. We still need to clean out the huge barn of all the crud the previous people left. We still have flights of hummingbirds. I miss everyone, and please know you’re in my thoughts and prayers. If you get this by US postal and have an E-mail address please send it to me at
< rambunnyat@yahoo.com > Could someone please copy this and post it on the bulletin board at the club?
XOXO Carol&Aqua
I know these folks and they are the real deal! If you have a chance to visit, you won’t be disappointed. Cheers
Lady Di