WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 26
  1. #1

    Default Top Of Georgia Hostel definitely closed permanently! August 2019

    As requested by the Caped Hiker I guess I'll post this PSA. As confirmed by numerous independent sources and the owner Mr. Bob Packs A Lot this hostel is closed permanently. This post was initiated as it was noted that a previous now gone thread stated that the hostel was open. So to avoid any confusion for hikers here's the update. Thanks!

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-04-2017
    Location
    Central CT
    Age
    37
    Posts
    475

    Default

    Sad to hear this was a nice little spot. I'll never forget it's where I first heard the term safety meeting/safety break.
    NoDoz
    nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
    -
    I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind

  3. #3
    Registered User JPritch's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-03-2017
    Location
    Lynchburg, VA
    Age
    45
    Posts
    675

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by LazyLightning View Post
    Sad to hear this was a nice little spot. I'll never forget it's where I first heard the term safety meeting/safety break.
    So how was it?
    It is what it is.

  4. #4
    Furlough's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-17-2004
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    Age
    62
    Posts
    900
    Images
    124

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by LazyLightning View Post
    Sad to hear this was a nice little spot. I'll never forget it's where I first heard the term safety meeting/safety break.
    Maybe too many folks participating in too many safety meetings/breaks hastened the closure.
    "Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-19-2005
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    3,715
    Images
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Furlough View Post
    Maybe too many folks participating in too many safety meetings/breaks hastened the closure.


    there can never be enough safety meetings......

    safety first....

  6. #6

    Default

    12687973_904264609695056_9213625954511420291_n.jpg Just a theory, but it may also have had something to do with terrible staffing choices. Meet J.B. Gunner aka: Tear Drop champion of the Men Going There Own Way or MGTOW "Movement". A violent murdering misogynist that spews drug use and negativity in his various YT channels. One or two of which are directed at the AT though he's not really a hiker per se. If you'd like a sample of the types of folks that worked there then check this out. Viewer discretion is advised! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--HXzOY8kE0&t=1249s

  7. #7
    Registered User JPritch's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-03-2017
    Location
    Lynchburg, VA
    Age
    45
    Posts
    675

    Default

    All joking aside, you probably have to look no further than Bob himself as the reason this place closed down. He is a very polarizing guy as were some of his policies.
    It is what it is.

  8. #8

    Default

    That's not a joke my friend! That character with the prison gang murder tats on his face who claims to hate hikers, hiking, the world, all those in it, and everything else, lists himself as the "Former Bouncer at Top Of GA Hostel". If I walked in and was met by this guy I'd hike on. No way I'd lay down and sleep within a mile of guy called Tear Drop. What the hell kinda hostel has a bouncer? I don't even go to bars that have bouncers anymore!

  9. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-04-2017
    Location
    Central CT
    Age
    37
    Posts
    475

    Default

    While I was there no staff allowed and nobody was having safetly meetings in the hostel. There was a tiny trail into the woods with a picnic table that was the spot. Everybody there was cool when I stopped in and got no impression of anyone hating hikers or any hate in general. It wasn't like the staff allowed safety meeting I just happened to first hear the term there. That Tear Drop character sounds shady but I saw nothing of the sort myself.

    And I agree with whoever said you could never have enough safety breaks... You gotta stay safe with an open mind out there!
    NoDoz
    nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
    -
    I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind

  10. #10
    Registered User FatMan's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-28-2004
    Location
    Grassy Gap - AT
    Age
    66
    Posts
    1,280

    Default

    His overhead was way to high to support an AT Hostel.

  11. #11

    Default

    Let's end the safety meeting talk so I don't have to play bouncer. Thanks!
    "Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
    Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
    Call for his whisky
    He can call for his tea
    Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
    Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan

    Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.

  12. #12

    Default

    In 2016,my son and I hiked from Springer to Harper's Ferry. To escape some heavy rain,we spent one night in a hostel above a gas station(wish I could remember the name of the place)and Teardrop was there. It was plain after a few minutes that he had been there for days,and would be there for days after we left. Not ranting like the video,but clearly just hanging around the trail instead of hiking it.

  13. #13
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-23-2019
    Location
    Harpers ferry wv.
    Age
    60
    Posts
    2,087

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Alligator View Post
    Let's end the safety meeting talk so I don't have to play bouncer. Thanks!
    Party pooper.

  14. #14

    Default

    So out of further curiosity I did some simple open source Googling and found this nugget almost immediately and it appears that much like the Stacy Kozel hoax Mr. Gabrielsen was engaged in a pretty audacious bit of - I don't know what you'd call it - trail fakery. That's a weird thing like "stolen valor" I guess - when people pretend to be war heroes. There's a video too titled: "The ATC stealth edits Sir Packs Alot's Hike" but it's rated R and too edgy for here I think.

    PROOF Sir-Packs-A-Lot did not thru-hike the AT in 2003dropsmic - Imgur.jpgIMG_2478.JPG

  15. #15

  16. #16

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gpburdelljr View Post
    Is it for sale?
    Not sure what it means but there's been some talk about the structure being "unsound". I think if it were actually a "good spot" for a business it would still be one. Lots of hostels are run by weird crazy people and they thrive despite the Bozo in charge.

  17. #17
    Leonidas
    Join Date
    04-26-2016
    Location
    Birmingham, Alabama
    Posts
    1,065

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gpburdelljr View Post
    Is it for sale?
    Doesn't look like it.
    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7...32403959_zpid/
    AT: 695.7 mi
    Benton MacKaye Trail '20
    Pinhoti Trail '18-19'
    @leonidasonthetrail https://www.youtube.com/c/LeonidasontheTrail

  18. #18

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by FatMan View Post
    His overhead was way to high to support an AT Hostel.
    You'd have to make it your full time residence - and full time job during the busy season - to make it work.

    So long as the buildings don't need too much work - and you can do that work yourself - and if the price (if and when it goes on the market) isn't too high, and you can put down a sizable down payment or buy it outright. A lot of qualifiers It helps if you've had some hospitality work experience.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  19. #19

    Default

    Having never visited the place I could speculate that getting a building up to life safety code in order to have insurance is usually a killer to run a hostel as a business. Without running it as a legit business then its an expensive hobby with a lot of liability.

  20. #20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JC13 View Post
    So if I'm reading this and the existing timeline right then Bob paid SIXTY TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS over the value of the property back when hiking was hot? Someone did! Holy dumb shizzy Batman!

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •