Day 0: The Hiker Hostel

Short and sweet since it’s late and I have to be up at 530am!

So we were up by 8 am this morning when I found myself on a mad dash of fitting a trash bag worth of loose items into my pack! I eventually did it. After showers, coffee and hotel checkout, we were out on the road. A quick glance back at the last hotel I will see for a while.

Before driving to the hiker hostel, I drove us back along the route from Dahlonega to interstate 85. We wanted to be sure Brenda was familiar with the way out of the area. It was also nice to see the scenery we missed from last night being that it was dark.

We then drove back to Dahlonega and found a great place for lunch called The Bourbon Street Grill – a New Orleans inspired place. Brenda had a Red Beans and Rice dish, while Kelly had Jambalaya made extra spicy! The food was excellent and the atmosphere was nice. Here’s a photo of yours truly.

After lunch, we stopped by Walmart for a few items then headed to the hiker hostel. Man, what a cool place this is. It was founded in 2000 by a couple who previously thru hiked the A.T. There’s a main building with three floors. Each floor has about 4 bunks and a social gathering area. There are also 2 private rooms.

Apart from the main building, there are several “container cabins” which are storage units converted into a one room cabin.

After we arrived in our container cabin, I made the last few adjustments to my gear and packing. My final weight for starting is a whopping 33 pounds! It’s a little more than I was planning, but still manageable.

One of the guys who works there did a gear teardown on a volunteer. He analyzed each piece of gear the dude had, and made a lesson of it. He had lots of good info to share about what to bring and what not to bring.

Afterward the gear teardown, I stayed in the hostel and met some of the other hikers. It was fun to share my story and to hear theirs.

I am super excited about my journey which starts on Springer Mountain. Tomorrow.

Wandering on…

Kelly