Moutain Moma's is Closed...

[Newb]

I never got to see it.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pb...D=200770323026

[rafe]

I never got to see it.

Me neither. But at least I got to stay at Rainbow Springs once. Fortunately, not at the bunkhouse. The chili was as Bryson described it.

[orangebug]

That is going to be a loss to the lore of the AT, much like the loss of Rainbow Springs Campground.

There is another hostel in the area, tho'. I've not gotten the chance to visit it and assess the options for resupply. It does make it more likely that one should plan for 7 days of food after leaving Fontana.

[MOWGLI]

I hope the Mr. & Mrs. Thigpen are doing well. They took good care of me in 2000.

I'll always have fond memories of my stay there.

[Marta]

You can still see the junkyard out front at Mt. Moma's. Or at least it was there last weekend. It'll take a while to haul all those junk buses and trailers and stuff away, assuming the new owners have any intention of doing so.

[SouthMark]

That is going to be a loss to the lore of the AT, much like the loss of Rainbow Springs Campground.

There is another hostel in the area, tho'. I've not gotten the chance to visit it and assess the options for resupply. It does make it more likely that one should plan for 7 days of food after leaving Fontana.

Yes there is. It is Standing Bear Farm. About 200 yards off the trail about a half mile after you cross I-40. It has a bunkhouse (sleeps eight I think) and a cabin (sleeps 6), showers, a kitchen, internet service, and a resupply store. Everything is on the honor system. Curtis Owen is good people. He can shuttle you most anywhere and will go out of his way to help you. I have stayed there twice.

[Rain Man]

Yes there is. It is Standing Bear Farm. About 200 yards off the trail about a half mile after you cross I-40. It has a bunkhouse (sleeps eight I think) and a cabin (sleeps 6), showers, a kitchen, internet service, and a resupply store. Everything is on the honor system. Curtis Owen is good people. He can shuttle you most anywhere and will go out of his way to help you. I have stayed there twice.

AMEN to all that, plus SBF is right on the trail (unlike MM's) and has a goodly stock of re-supply, so no need to carry seven days of food out of Fontana at all. I've stayed there twice and highly recommend it. If I'm not mistaken, I think it has a laundry too, as I recall. You could check the web site and/or call for such details.

You could easily get to SBF by the time you hiked the road down to MM's and back.

RainMan

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[SouthMark]

AMEN to all that, plus SBF is right on the trail (unlike MM's) and has a goodly stock of re-supply, so no need to carry seven days of food out of Fontana at all. I've stayed there twice and highly recommend it. If I'm not mistaken, I think it has a laundry too, as I recall. You could check the web site and/or call for such details.

You could easily get to SBF by the time you hiked the road down to MM's and back.

RainMan

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Yes there is a laundry and his wife Maria runs a Mexican restaurant in Cosby which Curtis will gladly arrange transportation. FYI: Curtis used to work for the Forest Service in the SMNP.

[atkentucky]

Standing Bear Farm is much superior anyway Mountain Momas was a good place to get a burger but the facilities dont compare to standing bear. It has everything you need including fresh eggs daily, showers, internet, music, a full kitchen, washer and dryer. It also has a beautiful stream to dip your feet in on hot days. Plus there are special refreshments there O.O

[Blue Jay]

Standing Bear Farm is much superior anyway Mountain Momas was a good place to get a burger but the facilities dont compare to standing bear. It has everything you need including fresh eggs daily, showers, internet, music, a full kitchen, washer and dryer. It also has a beautiful stream to dip your feet in on hot days. Plus there are special refreshments there O.O

Clearly you never stayed at Mountain Momas or your list would have been much shorter. Other than the internet you could get all that at Mountain Moma's you just had to know how to ask. Yet again someone bad mouthing a service on the AT they know nothing about.

[Chaco Taco]

Yes there is. It is Standing Bear Farm. About 200 yards off the trail about a half mile after you cross I-40. It has a bunkhouse (sleeps eight I think) and a cabin (sleeps 6), showers, a kitchen, internet service, and a resupply store. Everything is on the honor system. Curtis Owen is good people. He can shuttle you most anywhere and will go out of his way to help you. I have stayed there twice.

I cant say enough about Standing Bear. Curtis is the man. Great host and really cares about "his Hikers" as he calls us. I cant wait to go back and drink some more whiskey with Curtis.

[Sleepy the Arab]

Aw man, I never took a picture of that cryptic sign. I was this close to decyphering it!

Anyone know the sign I'm talking about? Is there a shot of it on the web somewhere?

[Chaco Taco]

Me neither. But at least I got to stay at Rainbow Springs once. Fortunately, not at the bunkhouse. The chili was as Bryson described it.

Are you Bryson's PR guy? Geez

[Blue Jay]

Aw man, I never took a picture of that cryptic sign. I was this close to decyphering it!

Anyone know the sign I'm talking about? Is there a shot of it on the web somewhere?

Was it, "Me um now um what um you um want um?"

[SouthMark]

Clearly you never stayed at Mountain Momas or your list would have been much shorter. Other than the internet you could get all that at Mountain Moma's you just had to know how to ask. Yet again someone bad mouthing a service on the AT they know nothing about.

I don't believe he was bad mouthing Mountain Momas. He was merely opining that he thought Standing Bear was better. Clearly he did not say Mountain Mamas was bad and he did not indicate that he had never been to Mountain Mamas. Yet again someone jumping to conclusions.

[Rain Man]

... Yet again someone juming to conclusions.

Or, just one more thread being taken down by males more interested in spraying testosterone than anything else. Happens all too often on WhiteBlaze. Threads ruined and poisoned by unnecessary displays of male egos that mistake brawn for brain and seem itching for a fight to prove it.

Rain Man

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[MOWGLI]

Mountain Momas was an establishment that folks tended to form strong opinions about. The proprietors didn't jump to provide customer service. If Mrs. Thigpen was playing a hand of cards, she might finish the hand before she got up and helped you. If Mr. Thigpen was working on one of his trucks, you'd have to wait until he was done to get a shuttle. If you came in there with a rush rush, hurry hurry attitude, or expressed any sense of entitlement, you were almost certain to be disappointed with the response.

To this hiker, that was the appeal of the place. Some hikers didn't like the fact that they weren't waited on immediately and made to feel special. At least that's my take on it.

And SBF might be the best place in the world. But Mountain Momas never tried to be SBF, or anything other than it was. A unique Kuntry Store in rural east Tennessee.

The AT experience is poorer for having it close.

[SouthMark]

Or, just one more thread being taken down by males more interested in spraying testosterone than anything else. Happens all too often on WhiteBlaze. Threads ruined and poisoned by unnecessary displays of male egos that mistake brawn for brain and seem itching for a fight to prove it.

Rain Man

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You are absolutely right and I regret having jumped in with my 2 cents worth.

[Jester2000]

Think I'll hose the place down with testosterone, as offering an opinion is apparently a "male ego" thing. (Thank god all the women on this site are meek, eh?)

Mountain Moma's was what it was. When I went though in 2000, I didn't need a place to stay, and I didn't need any food or a shuttle. So it served me just fine as a place to get a burger and move on. The guy I was hiking with asked how much fries were. Instead of answering with a price, the person helping him pointed at the sign and said "it's on the sign." Some, I suppose, find that charming, and others not so much.

It strikes me that no one should be surprised at the closing of a a business where the proprietors, as MOWGLI says, "didn't jump to provide customer service," regardless of who the customers were. As far as being made to feel special, I think most people in this country don't feel that they are asking too much when they expect prompt and courteous service.

Frankly, I don't know why they closed (perhaps cross-state smoke sales were down) so I can't say it was due to the "atmosphere."

But on the other hand, this new place, to which I haven't been, seems to be getting rave reviews from everyone who passes through. Good luck to them. I hope the only "strong opinions" they create are positive.

[Chaco Taco]

When I was at Standing Bear a couple of weeks ago, I was talking witha thruhiker and he said it right on. His comment was that, "Hikers are looking for a service that will provide what they need without all the bulls%$#! When hikers are on the trail, they want want want and that is what the service is supposed to provide, without the hassle that I hear people got at MM." I feel really bad for those that sent their drops there only to have them locked up in the green shack. What a shame!