Hiker Hostel

19 Feb
We left Atlanta in the morning & headed up to The Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega.  We caught the Marta train to North Springs but stopped off on the way at Sandy Springs where there was a large REI store (outdoor gear store) to pick up the few last bits we needed for the trail. A fantastic store, outdoor enthusiasts shopping heaven, so much choice & variety.
From North Springs station we were picked up by Shannon, who with her boyfriend had recently taken over managing the hostel.  We stopped off at Walmart in Dalonega for some food - we'd already bought our trail food but had nothing to eat for the rest of the day. We'd not eaten since breakfast, it was around 3pm and we were hungry =  we bought too much food just for one afternoon/evening - we must remember never to food shop on a hungry stomach!

The hostel is great and our room lovely.  We opted for a last night of comfort so chose a private room for a few extra dollars rather than bunk rooms, I think we'll have our fill of bunk rooms along the trail.
We took a short wander around the hostel grounds, we could see mountains in the distance and wondered if one was Springer Mountain where the AT starts.

We bought our 2014 AT Guide and Appalachian Trail Passport.  This year is the inaugural year for the AT passport, stamps are collected along the trail from hostels as mementos of the journey.

We met another couple of young American lads who are thru hiking whilst having dinner who started hiking Sunday, they seemed to be enjoying the trail so far.

We had a good nights sleep, probably the last one for a few days!  Breakfast was at 8am, American pancakes with maple syrup, scrambled egg, oatmeal & grits (not so keen on them!).
We backed our bags again ready for the trail and Leigh from the hostel then shuttled us to Amicalola Falls at 9.30 for the start of our hike!!!