Blueberry Patch

Saturday the 31st of March: Kelly and I caught our first ride into town. Another hiker who was from Alabama named Mac was kind enough to take us to the Blueberry Patch Hostel 3.5 miles off the trail. Many thanks to Mac.

We were the first group of the day to make it into the hostel. Gary and Lennie Poteat run a superb operation out of their beautiful home. Gary showed us the hikers' quarters which had a main room with a fridge, hotplates, and wood burning stove. The back had a table with mail drops, two triple decker bunks across from each other, and another table with hiker boxes and a medicinal cabinet. A hiker box is a huge bin where hikers can drop off gear and food they no longer need. The contents are free for the taking. The shower at the hostile is out back past his blueberry patches but before the donkeys and goats. The donkeys ate right out of our hands.

The Poteats are fantastic! Gary and his son thru-hiked in '91 so he knew the first thing we should do was freshen up in the shower. He provided clean towels and wash cloths. Then while snacking on some free snacks and chatting with the other hikers who came in Lennie did our wash, which came back to us clean and folded. Thanks!!!

After the other hikers settled in, Gary took us into town so we could get some good eats and resupply. 'Nice Enuff,' 'Torpedo,' and 'Fah Mah' and us two decided to eat at Daniel's steak house and buffet.

AYCE (all you can eat) is a great thing for hikers. Let's just say that salad, chicken, rice, beans, mashed potatoes, peach cobbler, strawberry shortcake and soft serve ice cream were some of the items that filled us up.

After dinner and the resupply at Ingles Supermarket Gary came and took us back to the hostel where we got to further talk with the other hikers. We were happy to see that 'Daywalker' had arrived.

Gary had seen him in town after dropping us off. He convinced him to spend a night at their place free of charge. (They do take donations but no longer charge the 17 dollar fee that was mentioned in Backpacker Magazine's "best of for the AT". Gary did say that BP was correct on the part about them serving the best breakfast on the trail.) Gary also hooked Daywalker up with some rain gear and an altimeter watch.

Gary rang the breakfast bell at 8:30, and we enjoyed a meal of fluffy pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup, scrambled eggs, cheese biscuits, sausage, orange juice, and coffee. DELICIOUS!

We then attended Palm Sunday service with the Poteats and received an incredibly warm welcome from the worshippers.

Gary drove Daywalker and us back to the trail, and it was like saying goodbye to an old friend. We hiked a half-day hike in the rain and arrived at a shelter where we met up with some old and new friends. After dinner and playing cards (Thank you, Mrs. Maher!) we enjoyed a campfire. Now there are twelve of us sharing the shelter with the mice pitter patting about.

Happy Trails