Captain,
Don't see anyone making money running a hostel on the AT. Wish it was otherwise.
At 5 miles from the AT I know that I won't be stopping at Bennington when I section hike there next week. I think that Kent would be a better candidate. Only .8 miles off of the trail and just 1 Inn and a B&B. I did stay at the Fife & Drum when going through there a few years back. It has nice, clean rooms, and the food in the restaurant is great. But I believe I paid $130 for a room. So I would have stayed at a hostel if there had been one there then.
MikeC,
I have always found hitching in Vermont is pretty easy. Lots of hikers go into Bennington, Manchester and Rutland....all require a 4 to 6 mile hitch.
I think a Dairy Queen every 50 or so miles would be nice. Does that count?
" YOU'RE MAD!" "... Thank goodness for that, Because if I wasn't this would probably never work." AT thru hiker advice from CAPN jack sparrow
While Bennington may not have an official hostel, there is the B-town vortex, where several hundred hikers have stayed free since 04. And there are a couple of other people who also put up hikers free--no agendas, either. Every hiker who has stayed here with me loves Bennington!
[I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35
[url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]
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Bennington has an on demand shuttle service for $2, weekdays only, 9-5. And, if anyone really wants to start an official hostel in Bennington, I'm willing to sell the vortex, which is centrally located downtown.
Is this hostel still functioning in Bennington?
http://www.hostelz.com/hostel/2415-H...d-Lodge-Hostel
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
Yes, Greenwood Lodge is still functioning, as far as I know. I actually know the owner. The problem for most hikers is that Greenwood Lodge is several miles up the mountain, going west of the trailhead, and there isn't much else up there. I think most hikers want to be in town so they can get food, mail, internet, laundromat, outfitter, pub, movies, music...
How could Kent, CT be a good hostel town in terms of profitability? Yes, it's close to the trail and yes, doesn't have any competition, but there's a reason why there isn't a hostel located in Kent. I'm certain many of you have been there, but do you have any idea what it would cost to purchase a house/land in that part of the country?
Amen to that. I found it amazing that the town where the Mid-Atlantic HQ is located has neither any kind of hostel/inexpensive lodging, nor any decent tenting sites. Camping in an overgrown field next to railroad tracks and an abandoned house was one of my least fun nights of many on the trail . . .
I'd have to vote for Boiling Springs as well. Would be a great place to be able to stop for the night.
GA - NJ 2001; GA - ME 2003; GA - ME 2005; GA - ME 2007; PCT 2006
A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.
—SPANISH PROVERB
You are correct on Boiling Springs. Also if I remember there is a long stretch between shelters. I was going to stay at that field near the tracks except they never cut the grass it was up to my knees.