View Full Version : any news regarding Standing Bear Hostel outside GSM
Goldielocs
06-11-2019, 12:17
Hi There,
I am trying to reserve a bed at Standing Bear Hostel right outside the Great Smoky Mountains for July 3rd, but can't seem to get a hold of anyone. Their voice mail box is full, I have tried their facebook page and their website, and I get nothing. Does anyone have any info about them?
Thanks
Goldielocs
sounds like things there are running same as always.
fastfoxengineering
06-11-2019, 12:30
Yeah lol.. sounds like standing bear.
Have you done your research on standing bear? Are you sure its for you?
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one thing i will add... i did get someone on the phone there once. i asked if they took reservations on cabins. they said no.
when i arrived and asked for a cabin, i was told they were all reserved.
what can ya do, it's standing bear.
all that said i dont recall ever hearing anything approach a horror story like "i showed up there one night at 8pm in the pouring rain and the place was locked up and no one was around."
just kind of hold your breath and jump. and have some idea of a backup plan just in case.
Gambit McCrae
06-11-2019, 14:47
My info is not yesterday uptodate...but its "post Curtis recent". The owner works, or at least she did when I was hanging out in that neck of the woods, full time and the hostel is kinda like "overflow time" unless she has a caretaker helping. Keep trying to call maybe?
As far as I know all of the beds, and cabins are first come first serve because as I have heard her say "I will never refuse a bed that someone has reserved and not showing up for and the best way i know how to keep that from happening is to do first come first serve."
This mentality works great for the thru hiking community but for the section hiking planner, not so much.
I always tell people, when you get done with the smokies, walk right past green corner rd in the direction of Hot Springs unless you are quitting. Save the day that would be spent at Green Corner Rd for a zero in hot springs 2 days later. If you are planning a section hike, this info is of little help probably
I always tell people, when you get done with the smokies, walk right past green corner rd in the direction of Hot Springs unless you are quitting. Save the day that would be spent at Green Corner Rd for a zero in hot springs 2 days later. If you are planning a section hike, this info is of little help probably
kind of a ways until you get a good stopping lace for the night though. if youre coming from davenport gap shelter, ok. if youre coming from more in the middle of the park though.... i think tri corner knob to groundhog creek shelter is probably more than most people would want to attempt.
LittleRock
06-11-2019, 15:20
Haven't been there since Curtis passed, but in my experience Standing Bear is the kind of place where if you just show up they will find space for you somewhere. No reservation needed.
Crushed Grapes
06-11-2019, 16:13
Haven't been there since Curtis passed, but in my experience Standing Bear is the kind of place where if you just show up they will find space for you somewhere. No reservation needed.
That's what we did, and we were in a decent sized bubble. No one got turned away during our stay.
Slo-go'en
06-11-2019, 16:50
I always tell people, when you get done with the smokies, walk right past green corner rd in the direction of Hot Springs unless you are quitting. Save the day that would be spent at Green Corner Rd for a zero in hot springs 2 days later. If you are planning a section hike, this info is of little help probably
What I do is stop at the Davenport shelter for the night, then in the morning go to Standing Bear for resupply and bake a frozen pizza for lunch, then head up the trail to Groundhog creek.
To the OP, just show up. At the very least you'll be able to park. If a bunk isn't available, you can tent. Of course, the earlier in the day you show up, the better the chance of getting a bunk.
Rhino and Too Slow were the guys helping run things as of last fall...Maria was busy with shuttles. Yeah, they weren't too concerned with answering the phone while I was there lol. Nice guys though. Nice campsite at Snowbird Mtn if you're up to the 4 mile uphill after Standing Bear.
Hi There,
I am trying to reserve a bed at Standing Bear Hostel right outside the Great Smoky Mountains for July 3rd, but can't seem to get a hold of anyone. Their voice mail box is full, I have tried their facebook page and their website, and I get nothing. Does anyone have any info about them?
Thanks
Goldielocs
They are more responsive via Facebook messenger from what I remember
LazyLightning
06-11-2019, 18:33
Saw this dude 'Hawk' that was working there get busted last year, held up with a taser by undercover cops on some sort of sexual predator charges and taken away in an unmarked van.
Not that this is saying anything bad about the place, I thought it was super cool and chill there, he was just using the place to hide out.
I came out of Davenport Gap Shelter, stopped here for a resupply/frozen pizza and some other snacks/charge phone ect…. hung out for a couple hours and ended an approximate 6.5 mile day with a stealth camp shortly after I realized I over shot the Pointer Branch campsite.
Rain Man
06-11-2019, 19:02
Stayed there in May. Also they (Maria) shuttled us. About my 5th or 6th time there. No problems.
Saw this dude 'Hawk' that was working there get busted last year, held up with a taser by undercover cops on some sort of sexual predator charges and taken away in an unmarked van.
Not that this is saying anything bad about the place, I thought it was super cool and chill there, he was just using the place to hide out.
I came out of Davenport Gap Shelter, stopped here for a resupply/frozen pizza and some other snacks/charge phone ect…. hung out for a couple hours and ended an approximate 6.5 mile day with a stealth camp shortly after I realized I over shot the Pointer Branch campsite.
there were def some interesting/questionable folks who were "working" there when i stayed. Maria seemed to be trying to get rid of them but I think they were friends of her son or something like that?
fastfoxengineering
06-11-2019, 19:56
Standing Bear is well known to be a party hostel with shady characters floating around.
When I was there, there was an underage girl doing "work" for stay for like two weeks. Everything was fine but thats still frowned upon by law if im not mistaken.
In reality, she was working for free PBR. Lots of it.
Half the stuff in their store is expired.
There's usually one person running around doing all the work. Its very unorganized.
They have no clue who's on the property at any given time.
In the end, Standing Bear is still very Appalchian Trail esque.
It's not uncommon to hike up to standing bear and have a large group of intoxicated people passing around a spliff.
People staying up around the fire till 3am having a jam session with two guitars and a drum... and a dreadlocked guy with tatoos half naked who came out of left field.
If that's not your scene. Carry on. I woudlnt change a thing.
Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk
Standing Bear is well known to be a party hostel with shady characters floating around.
When I was there, there was an underage girl doing "work" for stay for like two weeks. Everything was fine but thats still frowned upon by law if im not mistaken.
In reality, she was working for free PBR. Lots of it.
Half the stuff in their store is expired.
There's usually one person running around doing all the work. Its very unorganized.
They have no clue who's on the property at any given time.
In the end, Standing Bear is still very Appalchian Trail esque.
It's not uncommon to hike up to standing bear and have a large group of intoxicated people passing around a spliff.
People staying up around the fire till 3am having a jam session with two guitars and a drum... and a dreadlocked guy with tatoos half naked who came out of left field.
If that's not your scene. Carry on. I woudlnt change a thing.
Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk
lol wasnt quite THAT bad when i was there. lots of beer drinking, much of it by the "employees." there was about 6 of said employees sitting at the table in front practically fighting over who got to sign you in. it seemed like they were all desperate to prove they were needed. i got the impression they were all "working" for stay. one of them i think was dismissed, (the bunk room was full that night) he was seen the next morning attempting to hammock camp a few hundred feet uphill from the road on the slopes of snowbird.
peakbagger
06-12-2019, 06:08
I guess Mountain Moma's is being looked back fondly?
Traveler
06-12-2019, 06:28
Some people seem jealous I can still sport the dredlocks and tattoos half naked. I have to admit though, when it gets into the high 60s I get a little chill and have to get a shirt on.
grubbster
06-12-2019, 07:28
I thought this was going to be some kind of joke. Goldilocs staying at the Bear hostel?
Captain Blue
06-12-2019, 10:49
kind of a ways until you get a good stopping lace for the night though.
Not really. No need to go all the way to Groundhog Creek shelter. There is excellent and ample camping at Painter Branch which is 2.3 miles north of Standing Bear. The campsite is not obvious from the trail but plenty of people have found it and stayed there. Stop in at Standing Bear, do your chores and move on. That's what I did last time through in 2017.
The image of SBF is one I won't ever forget, been there twice. NoBo AT hike in May 2010, stopped there for pizza and a break in mid afternoon, then hiked on to the next shelter. Curtis was running the place at the time, with the usual gang of colorful hikers and characters there that day.
But the stop I really remember fondly was a Smokies hike in Nov-2013.
I drove up from Florida, spent the night in the SBF bunkroom, by myself, and Curtis (R.I.P.) shuttled me to Fontana Dam before sunrise the next morning.... as I crashed in the bunkroom, I could hear the shouting and music from the adjoining building where the "crew" was up partying late that night. One guy there told me he was working there for the season, but more interested in hustling any young female hikers who came thru there. He seemed to fancy himself as quite the AT Casanova. Maybe he's here on White Blaze now, and his reputation has spread up and down the trail amongst the ladies.
Looking back, that shuttle ride with Curtis to Fontana Dam before sunrise... was one of the best shuttles I ever had. He shared many memories and history, he was one of a kind, and the AT misses Curtis. We told jokes and laughed our butts off on that shuttle. Got a picture of him at Fontana Dam when he dropped me off that morning, he wished me luck and said he'd see me when I got back to SBF in a few days.
Few days later when I got back to SBF to get my car, as I walked down that gravel road to SBF, here comes Curtis with a vanload of hikers on another shuttle heading out. He slowed down rolled down his window, looked at me like he didn't recognize me....and said loudly, with a wink of his eye "get that POS car of yours off my property!"
I laughed and he drove off, last time I saw him.
Goldielocs
06-12-2019, 11:34
I thought this was going to be some kind of joke. Goldilocs staying at the Bear hostel?
ok.. that was pretty funny.. I received my trail name because I do infact have light colored locs, but I am also terrified of bears and like everything just right. Backpacking has been a way for me to get over the last two parts.
Thanks all for the comments. I am not in contact with Maria and believe all will be well
'Not' in contact or 'Now' in contact?
I agree, give it a pass and spend an extra day in Hot Springs.
At SB, we checked out the little shack in which they were selling a poor selection of packaged food and candy, and noticed that they were selling off equipment mailed to them by hikers who hadn't shown up yet. I guess they never thought of returning the packages to owners! We lost all respect for the establishment at that point...
Maple_Sky
06-18-2019, 18:13
I agree, give it a pass and spend an extra day in Hot Springs.
At SB, we checked out the little shack in which they were selling a poor selection of packaged food and candy, and noticed that they were selling off equipment mailed to them by hikers who hadn't shown up yet. I guess they never thought of returning the packages to owners! We lost all respect for the establishment at that point...
Hi, Sparrows, section hiker 2007-2017 GA-NH, GA-MA 2018. I’m currently working for stay at Standing Bear. I can’t say much about the phone situation because I just do the cleaning, cooking, PR, advertising, gardening and customer relations (lol) but I just wanted to clarify that the used gear in our resupply comes from the Goodwill outlet in Asheville. Check it out if you’re ever in Asheville, it’s the mother of all thrift stores!!!
Peace, love, hiker grease!
Hi, Sparrows, section hiker 2007-2017 GA-NH, GA-MA 2018. I’m currently working for stay at Standing Bear. I can’t say much about the phone situation because I just do the cleaning, cooking, PR, advertising, gardening and customer relations (lol) but I just wanted to clarify that the used gear in our resupply comes from the Goodwill outlet in Asheville. Check it out if you’re ever in Asheville, it’s the mother of all thrift stores!!!
Peace, love, hiker grease!
Sparrows: My husband and I will be passing through your area next week! We will stop by to see you and that "mother of all thrift stores." Watch for us!
~Einstein & "CF"
Maple_Sky
06-19-2019, 16:58
Sparrows: My husband and I will be passing through your area next week! We will stop by to see you and that "mother of all thrift stores." Watch for us!
~Einstein & "CF"
Shelb, we look forward to seeing y’all!
Goldielocs
06-23-2019, 08:02
lawd..Am in contact
Goldielocs
06-23-2019, 08:03
i will be spending a week in hot springs so wont be an issue to spend a night at sbh
Goldielocs
06-23-2019, 08:07
hey Hiker Grease.. thanks for the claification on the gear being sold. I heard on a different forum something similar that drop offs werent safe, and it was causing me concern. Thanks for claification. it didnt sound like a good business plan for future business!! i will be rolling in on the 3rd of July.
Goldielocs
Hot Springs:
Get brunch at Mosaic.
Get a wood fired pizza and homemade mozzarella sticks @ Spring Creek Tavern.