View Full Version : The Cabin
I know that some of you will be hiking the trail for the first time in 2003. And I know that Andover, ME is a long ways from Springer Mtn. But I highly recommend The Cabin to anyone passing through there. I would have to say that along with The Hike Inn (Fontana Dam) and Rob's House (Dalton, MA), The Cabin is one of the best spots along the trail.
Been to The Cabin myself. These are some of the most accommodating people you will meet. They will bend over backwards to help you. I highly recommend visiting this place. You might want to call ahead during the peak season.
Jack Tarlin
11-25-2002, 16:42
Absolutely wonderful place; two of the nicest people you'll meet on your whole trip. VERY highly recommended!
By far the BEST place I stayed on my entire AT hike from GA-ME.
This place treated me like gold. We even got treated to a lobster dinner after we completed our hike! This doesn't happen every day but I will say you will NEVER leave there hungry and the slackpacking opportunities were right on time!
25 bucks a day gets you all your food, lodging, laundry, shower and slackpacking ride to & from the trail. Highly recommended!
I really liked the Cabin as well. I chose it almost at random to stop and meet up with my sister while doing the Monson - Grafton notch section and loved it. Great people, great set-up => all around fine nice place.
I did NOT stay here, but i still recommend it! Altho the Guest House was adequate, i would stay at the cabin if i went back to andover. I met Earl, the owner at East B hill Road after finishing a slackpack day. He offered to drive me to town knowing that I was NOT staying with him.
He seemed like one of the few GENUINE hostel owners i met from GA to ME. He wanted to know my honest opinion of hostels and why we all liked them and didnt. He seemed to care about what hikers want and im sure he place is awesome. people had nothing but good things to say.
A-TRAIN
Honey n Bear aka Margie and Earl are some cool folks. Then again I'm a bit biased because Yogi and I were caretakers there in spring 99 when they made their annual trek south. When Yogi and I stayed there in '98 I made supper for 25+ hikers and as ya'll know thats no small undertaking! I highly reccomed it!
Footslogger
02-23-2005, 14:02
[QUOTE=A-Train]I did NOT stay here, but i still recommend it!
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I second the motion !! I ended up at one of the hostels near the center of town in Andover but heard nothing but good things about the Cabins.
One thing for sure though ...it can be interesting getting from the Grafton Notch parking lot into Andover. Not exactly the most travelled roads in the world. Almost wonder in retrospect if it would have been easier to hike on from Grafton Notch to the AT/ E B Hill road crossing. Of course you're still a ways out of Andover at that point.
We just got lucky that day and caught a local driving by with his family in an old pick up truck. He offered us a ride to the E B Hill intersection but when we got there he apparently felt sorry for us, made the right turn and drove us all the way into Andover.
'Slogger
AT 2003
Tim Rich
02-23-2005, 14:16
We ended up at the Guest House year before last because the Cabin was full, but Earl shuttled us around and I enjoyed chatting with him during the ride and while we waited around for some other hikers. He takes a genuine interest in everyone he meets. The Guest House was fine, full of folks watching movies nonstop. Because of the weather, we ended up staying two nights in Andover, slacking the day in the rain in between. I really enjoyed the town and people - it has a quirky, Sicily, Alaska feel to it. By the time we left we knew a number of folks in town, including Otis, an older gentleman decked out in a felt hat who drove his old pickup truck down the street, straddling the middle line.
Take Care,
Tim
WalkinHome
02-23-2005, 18:55
Spent last Friday and Saturday night at the Cabin, did a 10 mile snowshoe from South Arm Rd to East B Hill Rd-12 hours. Earl helped us spot my car and of course their hospitality is unequaled. I am always looking for an excuse to stop by even if it is 1 1/2 hours away. Till the next time.
Spiritual Pillgrim
07-02-2006, 12:54
Absolutely wonderful place; two of the nicest people you'll meet on your whole trip. VERY highly recommended!
Since my planned arrival was July 1st and I didn't know if there would be space, I slacked packed to Andover (courtesy of my brother-in-law Paul who lives in South Paris) and stayed with my sister. All the trail registers thru that section had some really happy hikers who stayed with Honey and Bear. Picked up my maildrop there on the way thru town and I could tell they were great folks and had I stayed there I would have been well taken care. They even offered dinner to Paul when he stopped in to get directions to my pick up on S. Arm Rd. Bear offered to help me in any way he could while I was in the area. Honey also had some good stories to tell about the trail and Earl Shaffer. I could tell that 10-Speed and Chestnut, who were staying over, were having a good time.
Footslogger
07-04-2006, 20:05
We're at the Cabin right now after hiking in from Rangeley. Couldn't have felt more welcome when we arrived. Honey and Bear are great and Rambunny and Aqua are there as well. Hard to beat this place like this up in this neck of woods.
'Slogger
Rambunny and Aqua are still there? :p Man, they were there when I was going through in '04. Say hi to them if you get the chance.
Footslogger
07-05-2006, 17:07
Rambunny and Aqua are still there? :p Man, they were there when I was going through in '04. Say hi to them if you get the chance.
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Will do ...
Just slacked East B Hill to South Arm Rd today. Back at the Cabin now sipping on a cold one. Man, I sure forgot how steep the south side of Moody Mountain was !! Whew ...really stood me up.
All the best ...
'Slogger
Rambunny and Aqua are still there? :p Man, they were there when I was going through in '04. Say hi to them if you get the chance.
Earle (Bear) had planned on taking the summer off to visit with his other family in the west. But the lure of the AT proved too much. Marge (Honey)flew out in May to drive home to the Cabin with him. Rambuny and Aqua were to be summer replacements for Bear, I believe.
So everyone stop so they will have something useful to do this summer. If you are lucky, you may be there when I deliver a batch of lobsters -- a Cabin specialty.
Weary, who lives on the coast and knows a few lobster folks who will sell at wholesale prices -- or close to it.
Footslogger
07-06-2006, 18:47
Earle (Bear) had planned on taking the summer off to visit with his other family in the west. But the lure of the AT proved too much. Marge (Honey)flew out in May to drive home to the Cabin with him. Rambuny and Aqua were to be summer replacements for Bear, I believe.
So everyone stop so they will have something useful to do this summer. If you are lucky, you may be there when I deliver a batch of lobsters -- a Cabin specialty.
Weary, who lives on the coast and knows a few lobster folks who will sell at wholesale prices -- or close to it.
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Actually ...the whole gang is still here. Bear came back and he and Honey are running the place. Rambunny and Aqua are helping out as "caretatkers" and are running most of the shuttles. Tonight is our last night here (7/6). Tomorrow morning Rambunny is shuttling us to Grafton Notch where we'll begin our approach to Gorham.
Our stay at the Cabin has been fantastic. Can't say enough good about it. Earl and Margie are the best and Rambunny and Aqua make it all the better.
'Slogger
who is rambunny:cool: neo
who is rambunny:cool: neo
I thought everyone knew Rambunny or had heard of her. She hiked the AT three consecutive years in a row from northbound. She was on her fourth year going southbound and broke a rib and had to stop her hike. She is a very nice lady and someone you will never forget once you have met her.
I was at the cabin this weekend with all intentions of driving into Success Pond road and hiking up to the AT and trying to catch Footslogger and Bad Ass Turtle at Full Goose Shelter. But when I got the The Cabin and started talking to Bear for about one hour and then Rambunny came back from a shuttle run and we all sat around shooting the breeze and lost track of time it was to late for me to head out to catch those two. I feel bad that I missed them but I had a heck a time just chatting with Rambunny, Bear, Aqua, and other thru hikers. If you have never experienced The Cabin your missing a good time with good people.
Footslogger
07-11-2006, 12:04
[quote=attroll]I was at the cabin this weekend with all intentions of driving into Success Pond road and hiking up to the AT and trying to catch Footslogger and Bad Ass Turtle at Full Goose Shelter.
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You missed a good hike man ...and some GREAT company !!
We're in Gorham now, just checkin e-mail at the library. Staying at the Hikers Paradise. Have decided to cut our hike a tad short and just do some sightseeing and maybe some trail magic in the area before we fly back on Saturday morning.
Sorry we missed each other back in Maine. One thing I will say for certain (not that there was any doubt) is that southern main IS some of the toughest mileage on the entire AT. Add to that the humidity, the bugs and the mud and it made for some really long days between Rangeley and Gorham. Whole different story when you've been out here for 5 months and you hit southern Maine on strong legs in August/September.
Glad you got to spend some time chatting with Honey,Bear, Rambunny and Aqua. They're quite a group ...
All the best ....
'Slogger
who is rambunny:cool: neo
Hiker chick extraordinaire...... (friend and AT threepeater, 'cept i haven't heard from her in years :mad:)
You missed a good hike man ...and some GREAT company !!
We're in Gorham now, just checkin e-mail at the library. Staying at the Hikers Paradise. Have decided to cut our hike a tad short and just do some sightseeing and maybe some trail magic in the area before we fly back on Saturday morning.
Sorry we missed each other back in Maine. One thing I will say for certain (not that there was any doubt) is that southern main IS some of the toughest mileage on the entire AT. Add to that the humidity, the bugs and the mud and it made for some really long days between Rangeley and Gorham. Whole different story when you've been out here for 5 months and you hit southern Maine on strong legs in August/September.
Glad you got to spend some time chatting with Honey,Bear, Rambunny and Aqua. They're quite a group ...
All the best ....
'Slogger
I am sorry I missed you both. I probably could of still had the time to hike in to catch you both at Full Goose Shelter. But I was thinking that after going through the Notch that you would have pressed on to Carlo Col Shleter, so I was worried I would have gotten there and you would not have been there. The other reason was it would have been dark by the time I got in.
Sorry about that.
I did a small hike the next day into Surplus Pond and was able to watch a moose. That was pretty cool.
I thought everyone knew Rambunny or had heard of her. She hiked the AT three consecutive years in a row from northbound. She was on her fourth year going southbound and broke a rib and had to stop her hike. She is a very nice lady and someone you will never forget once you have met her.
.i hung out with rambunny during trail days in 2001.....cool gal....
Blissful
12-27-2007, 23:02
Passing this along. Received a holiday message in the mail from Honey and Bear - they are closing The Cabin hostel to do some traveling and maybe some hiking as well. A great hospitable couple, hope they have a fun time in their "retirement".
Jack Tarlin
12-28-2007, 17:14
The above post is true. Honey and Bear were at our post-Thanksgiving event in Glencliff a few weeks ago. The Cabin will NOT be open in 2008 and they hope to spend most of the spring and summer travelling and doing some hiking themselves.
I hope they have the time of their lives as they absolutely deserve it.
Footslogger
12-28-2007, 22:59
Glad I got a chance to stay there last year when BadAss Turtle and I hiked from Rangeley to Gorham. It was the hilight of our hike. Honey and Bear couldn't have been better hosts.
'Slogger
The above post is true. Honey and Bear were at our post-Thanksgiving event in Glencliff a few weeks ago. The Cabin will NOT be open in 2008 and they hope to spend most of the spring and summer travelling and doing some hiking themselves.
I hope they have the time of their lives as they absolutely deserve it.
It's my guess that they will welcome anyone who shows up while they are at home, but will no longer be offering meals and other hiker services, They both love the trail and the hikers that walk the trail. I can attest that Marge has hiked the trail and loved the trail since the age of 2 or thereabouts. My memory of Earle doesn't go back quite that far, but he and Margery met me at the Iron Masters hostel in 1993 and continued north with me and my Grandson Jon through Vermont.
Weary