If i wanted to hike the approach trail, but could only get a ride there the night before, is there a place i could sleep nearby? I don’t know if there is camping at Amicalola (sp?) or if there is a hotel/motel/holiday inn nearby. Any advice here? thanks!
C-Giddy
There’s the Hotel, right next to the trail, and the Len Foote Hike Inn 4 or 5 miles up the Approach Trail. There is also a shelter (for free) near the visitors centre. The hotel also has a campground right opposite. Loads of choice. Good Motel and hostel option in Dahlonega about 16 miles from Amicalola. www.hikerhostel.com will put you up in Dahlonega then drop you at Amicalola the following day for a reasonable price. I’ll be using them. Hope this helps.
Ross
Ross
You have a journal? When are you leaving? I have a feeling I need to read yours.
Bushwhack
Your entry made me laugh. And then i realized, i really didn’t know why it made me laugh. I’m curious…why do you have a feeling you need to read my journal? (was it the hotel line?) I actually don’t have one, and i hadn’t decided whether to do one or not.
C-Giddy
Ahh, to laugh at my wit or lack there of. My wife says I’m a “mess”. True. I find your questions curiously inviting. Questions that get to the meat and taters…taters? mmmm, taters, of getting on the trail. We had those same logistical types before we thru hiked in '01. Getting the last shreds of stuff to make it all seamless and easy with out having dumb stuff happen like getting to the park five minutes after it closed, having a printed map of the approach road, having run-on sentences that’s what I get for work too much.
Anyways, I think you’d have a cool journal and many of us would like to read it. Part of the fun of this and other sites if that you have “arm chair hikers” that can’t get out to do what you’re doing so they get to hike thru your eyes. It’s not a burdon on you to have to “keep up” with a journal because the folks at home are watching. The fun part is when you get ragged on for not posting. Hello, I’m hiking here. It takes a week or so to walk a hundred miles. Not a day. Those comments in the guest book were funny. I think you should work one up and let us all have story ala Giddy time at your expense of course. What say, Gidmiester?:cheers
Bushwhack
I camped the night before in the campground run by the hotel. It was Feb 29, so There was only one other couple there. Nice place, every site has a picnic table and fire ring. I saw my first of two coyotes here. Its at the top of the falls, so make sure you check in at Ranger station below, before you hike to the top of the falls. I did not and had to go back down later and sign in, Iwas number 72 or 73 I think. That night I did eat in the Hotel restauraunt.
Chef
ck out the Len Foote Hike Inn…up the trail from the Amicolola Falls visitor center is well worth the money.
& you get about 5 miles off the approach trail hiking to the Inn…& then youre only 3 miles to the top of Springer!
if you dont choose to hike the night before…plenty of campsites abound & a motel or two.
Jaybird
Hey Giddy…I too think a journal by you would be great to read, but I digress…here’s a quote from the Len Foote Hike Inn website:
“You must check in at the Visitors Center before 2:00 PM or you will not be permitted to hike. The hike takes from 2 to 4 hours, so be sure to start early enough to arrive well before the facilities tour and dinner (5:00 PM & 6:00 PM every night).”
If you did not arrive at Amicalola in time, the Hike Inn won’t work for you. :girl
Jonna
yeh Bushwhack is a sweetheart huh…hehehe
the shelter at amicalola is free and not too bad. My wife and I may spend the night of the 28th there before i hike up to springer…in her case, it all depends on how cold it is. Just in case, I am bringing extra comfort stuff for her, so I can keep her warm and well she will wake up any ways…what am I thinking.
the other places are there too…up the approach trail maybe a good peice is several camping sites, if you feel like diving in…i encourage you to get to amicalola early and rest from your travels.
Yeh, I know the adrenaline is overwhelming, and ya gotta go…you gotta hit the road, it all starts here…that is why I say pause. rest. that plane trip and ride from HotLanta is nerve racking. Man the nerves are taut. You are gonna break if you race up that trail to nowhere. Maybe not…but I hiked like that without a pause and man, I got 3/4 of the way to Springer and was litterally telling myself I was not a backpacker, Why would I do such a thing.
I am not the typical lunitic. But think about it, you’ve just done the craziest thing in the world, and you’re still close enough to laugh it off. Enjoy the park if you’re there early. Walk to the falls, enjoy the streams… they are the last ones you will see for 12 miles. Enjoy your second to last coke. There is one at the top of the first section of the approach trail so you can have a second one.
Just think, Aswah may be there…it will be the last chance to see him without that wild hair. That is a side show all by itself. Kinda a circus with one man. The Aswah Monologue. hehehe
lol oh after all that, the ride is still out there if ya need it from the airport. and that goes to anyone else coming in on the 28/29 of february. I would love the opportunity.
Burn