Hostels on a thru-hike???

[Rockhound]

I'm givin' 3 to 1 odds that this kid takes a bunk at Mountain Crossings. Any takers?

[dr magooo]

If you want to live outside society the AT aint the place. The 2 years prior to me hiking in 07' I saw maybe 3 or 4 people on an average day. I saw a hell of a lot more than that on the trail. There is an other thread on here that even talks about the social aspect of the AT. Also you will want to shower and do laundry occasionally. Spending $15 or $20 every week or two to stay in a hostel that provides these services is not cheating. HYOH but I would have to say if you don't stay in a few hostels during your hike you are cheating yourself out of part of the trail experience.

didnt realy think of it that way to be honest, i guess the social experience of the trail would be good too, sharing stories with other hikers, and staying clean would also be nice.
Especially as im really planning on heading southbound, i guess most of me just wants to use this time to contemplate whether i am built for a 9 til 5 life or if hiking around the world and getting small jobs to pay my way is the best option.

I guess i wont really get my answer until i start the trail.

[Lone Wolf]

I'm givin' 3 to 1 odds that this kid takes a bunk at Mountain Crossings. Any takers?

hell no! talk about cramped and smelly

[Lone Wolf]

didnt realy think of it that way to be honest, i guess the social experience of the trail would be good too, sharing stories with other hikers, and staying clean would also be nice.
Especially as im really planning on heading southbound, i guess most of me just wants to use this time to contemplate whether i am built for a 9 til 5 life or if hiking around the world and getting small jobs to pay my way is the best option.

I guess i wont really get my answer until i start the trail.

if anything a SOBO hike teaches you toughness. there ain't a hostel and outfitter every 30-50 miles to pamper you

[garlic08]

I have met and greatly respect hikers who never sleep under a roof on a 2000+ mile hike. They spend that six hours in town getting cleaned up and supplied, then head back out on the trail. They even refuse offers of free lodging, just on principle.

I didn't meet anyone on the AT or CDT doing that, but I met two married couples on the PCT with that goal, and they were successful. I don't have the moral strength or conviction to do it. I enjoy sleeping in a clean dry room once in a while, and I budget for it.

[Blue Wolf]

I give it maybe 10 days he will be somewhere in a hostel or a motel.......

[Sly]

if anything a SOBO hike teaches you toughness. there ain't a hostel and outfitter every 30-50 miles to pamper you

You're right, the hostels are every 30-60 miles.

[Rockhound]

South bound would be less crowded and I was only kidding about placing odds about you staying in a hostel but somehow I feel you'll stay in more than one. On a tight budget there are 3 I would not miss. Back Home Again Cafe in Rutland. They welcome work for stays and I think they even prefer it over the $15 or $20 suggested donation. The Catholic Church hostel in Pearisburg VA. and Kincora at Dennis cove rd. near Hampton TN. Both are run on donations. Give em' at least $5 more if you can.

[dr magooo]

well ive started my preparations and hopefully can summon up enough cash to start a SOBO thru-hike in early july.
I really want to try and do it without the influence of society too much, as garlic said, just stopping in towns to resupply and clean.
If i can do this then i firmly believe i can do anything, and my next target would be to do the PCT, CDT, and the AT one after another.

I know i may sound like a kid with wild dreams, amongst a forum of experienced hikers. But it is people with dreams and the courage to complete them that have changed this world.

The 4 minute mile was "impossible" a while ago, then when the first person did it, a flurry of people also did it too. It shows that it is our mental attitude that holds us back, not our physical capabilitys.

I just hope and believe that i have the mental capacity to complete this hike and move on to the next adventure.

[Lone Wolf]

well ive started my preparations and hopefully can summon up enough cash to start a SOBO thru-hike in early july.
I really want to try and do it without the influence of society too much, as garlic said, just stopping in towns to resupply and clean.
If i can do this then i firmly believe i can do anything, and my next target would be to do the PCT, CDT, and the AT one after another.

I know i may sound like a kid with wild dreams, amongst a forum of experienced hikers. But it is people with dreams and the courage to complete them that have changed this world.

The 4 minute mile was "impossible" a while ago, then when the first person did it, a flurry of people also did it too. It shows that it is our mental attitude that holds us back, not our physical capabilitys.

I just hope and believe that i have the mental capacity to complete this hike and move on to the next adventure.

it's just walkin'. not gettin' tired of the same thing day in, day out is the hard part

[Ender]

I really want to try and do it without the influence of society too much, as garlic said, just stopping in towns to resupply and clean.
If i can do this then i firmly believe i can do anything, and my next target would be to do the PCT, CDT, and the AT one after another.

You know, if the solitude is that important to you, you should really consider doing the PCT first. It's really no harder to plan for, and towns/hostels are fewer and farther. There is no reason at all you have to start with the AT.

[Sly]

You know, if the solitude is that important to you, you should really consider doing the PCT first. It's really no harder to plan for, and towns/hostels are fewer and farther. There is no reason at all you have to start with the AT.

PCT southbound or CDT either way.

[dr magooo]

The thing is ive wanted to do the AT for a while now, and changing plans to do one of the other trails first is not something i want to do.
Im not against meeting people and the social aspect, just not in towns at hostels.
Im hoping that this will be the best experience of my life so far.

[Ender]

The thing is ive wanted to do the AT for a while now, and changing plans to do one of the other trails first is not something i want to do.
Im not against meeting people and the social aspect, just not in towns at hostels.
Im hoping that this will be the best experience of my life so far.

It will be one of the best experiences of your life, or at the very least one of the most memorable.

One thing about towns... you start hiking with a bunch of people you really like, they are going to want to pull into town and stop for a day, or two. And unless you don't want to end up way ahead of them, you'll have to stop as well.

Of course, if you don't mind jumping from group to group, that's not really a concern.

Either way, just enjoy the trip... it's only walking after all.

[Doxie]

I enjoyed my hike immensely...but my biggest regret is skipping some of the towns. We only stayed in about half the towns everyone else did because we were trying to get done around Labor Day to get back to our jobs. We passed up most of our friends, many of them we left in Hot Springs and never saw them again. We luckily summited with two of the best friends we had made on the trail, but there are so many people I would have loved to have gotten to share that with--some of which were only a week or so behind us. If I had it to do over I would have given myself another month to finish for that reason. We missed out on meeting some really great people altogether because we passed them up while they were in town.

For the towns we did stay in, we didn't really care about sleeping in a bed. Once you're used to your sleeping gear, a bed isn't all that great. But I agree with an earlier post, sometimes it's really hard to hike to the road, get a hitch into town, do laundry, take a shower, resupply, hitch back, and get to a camp spot in one day. And in some towns it's hard to find a shower and/or laundry without stay--or it ends up costing just as much as if you did stay. You can stay dirty to save money in that case, but when the sweat crystals start poking you in the back and your dirty socks start standing on their own and giving you blisters, that will be hard to do. If that's your goal, good luck to you, but it's going to be logistically difficult in some towns. And no one, NO ONE, would say that staying in a hostel a couple of times is cheating. Good luck

[jersey joe]

You can certainly minimize the number of nights that you spend in towns by hiking in and hiking out...I just went to trailjournals to see exactly how many nights I spent in the woods on my thru hike. I forgot that they have a stats page that summarizes the info...
Number of nights in a Shelter85Number of nights in a Tent15Number of nights in a Hammock0Number of nights Under the Stars0Number of nights in a Hotel4Number of nights in a Hostel3Number of nights in a House4

[Spirit Walker]

One thing you may not appreciate now is how HUNGRY you get when hiking long distances. After about 2 weeks, the hiker hunger kicks in and you becomes starved for food that is different from what you are carrying in your pack. You want orange juice and salad and meat and ice cream and pizza and . . .

A quick in and out of town doesn't really satisfy the starving rat within you.

As others have said, it is also really nice to take a break from hiking all day every day and do something different. A movie, a rafting trip, a visit to DC or New York, a day of doing nothing - can keep you moving up the trail. If you take your day off on the trail, you end up not feeling like it's a real break.

Plus you do get awfully stinky if you don't get clean. It's not fair to use a hostel's facilities and not pay the fee to stay there.

[Blue Jay]

especially hostels that aren't staffed with a caretaker like The Place. hikers at times live like friggin animals in that place

Yes, but it's worth putting up with 15 stinky hikers and their gear because the Caretaker is just so damn handsome at The Place.

[Nearly Normal]

Im suprised at how many responses i received in such short time. Impressive forum.
When i do my hike, i intend to stay on the trail for 99.9999% of the time and not spend any nights in hostels or motels. Two reasons for this being that im going to be doing it on a tight budget, and i want to experience what it is like to live outside of society for half a year, to see if my perspective on things change.

I would feel like i was cheating if i stayed in a motel or a hostel.

I would say you plan to hike your own hike.
You might set a trend.
Change your hike if and when it suits you.

[Dogwood]

I have been reading a few articles as im considering doing a through hike either in july southbound this year or next year northbound and most of them mention staying in hostels at some times on the trail.
I would have thought that this defeats the object of doing a thru-hike, to get away from society for a while, living in the wild.
It seems that by staying in a tent or a shelter on the trail lots of money could be saved that would be spent in towns.

Is staying in town sometimes necessary?

If you decide to stay in town fine, but is it always necessary NO. Towns tend to suck a hiker into the vortex. Depends on the situation. Also, depends on what you are willing to do to avoid staying in town. After about five(5) months on the PCT and other trails last yr. I stayed in a hotel or hostel exactly 4 times.