January 2019

There’s a back country lodge tucked away in the North Georgia mountains.

It’s a place with family-style meals, hot showers, a sunrise room with books and games, a no phone policy, views of the Appalachian foothills, and a desire to have minimal impact on the land — It’s the Len Foote Hike Inn.

My mom and dad stayed there a couple years ago and had been wanting to go back. The inn had a 1/2 price room sale for some of the winter months and so we made plans to go. After parking the car at the top of Amicalola Falls, we ate lunch and started the 5 mile hike to the inn. The inn provides bedding, dinner and breakfast, so you only have to bring clothing and personal things you’d like to have.

The hike wasn’t strenuous. It took us a little over two hours to get to the inn. We had some time before the tour and dinner so a few of us changed and showered after settling into our rooms.

There’s an optional tour before dinner where a staff member shares about the history of the inn and the ways that they work to be sustainable. They operate about 70% off solar panels and have a composting system for the toilets and food waste. They have a no food waste policy which helps everyone to be aware of how much food they put on their plate.

After the tour finished, we headed in to the dinning room to claim a spot at the table for dinner and warm up. If you have a larger group (there were 7 of us), they suggest you go a bit earlier to the meals if you want to sit together. The tables are long with bench seating. Everything is served to the table on platters and bowls to pass along. It’s a nice way to chat with some of the other hikers.

Once we had dessert (pound cake), some of us went to the sunrise room with a hot drink to play games before bed. I was tired and went back to the room to spent some time journaling before going to sleep. I wanted to take advantage of their no phone policy – not that you couldn’t if you really wanted to in your room, but it’s discouraged to give yourself time to get away and relax. It reminded me of how nice it is to be without a phone or the constant updates of social media. When I lived on the ship for two years, I didn’t have a phone because you couldn’t get service inside and smartphones were just starting to come out. I remember how much I used to journal and spend time writing. I filled up over four pages that evening, which I haven’t done in so long. I’ll often only write a page or half a page before I’m distracted or feel I need to be doing things. It was refreshing to journal and I want to get back to doing it regularly.

I woke up around 7AM to watch the sunrise. A staff member will walk around the bunk house tapping a quiet drum to let you know if it’s going to a be a sunrise worth getting up for. And it was. If you go, I hope it’s a clear morning, because they have a beautiful view of the sunrise.

It was a beautiful way to start the day — a cup of coffee, whispered words and quiet wonder before the day begins.

We went up to the dinning room for breakfast at 8AM to fill up before packing our things for the hike back.

My sisters spent some time in the sunrise room after breakfast to work on a puzzle and I finished a cup of coffee. I think it would be nice to have two nights there to be able to do a day hike to Springer Mountain or one of the other hikes from the inn.

The hike back took us about two and a half hours. The hills get smaller as you head back, but we just went slower. It was another bright sunny day.

We passed a lot of hikers heading to the inn. It was a Saturday and the weather was chilly, but great to be outdoors in. We ate lunch in the car and then went to check out Amicalola Falls (lots of stairs!) because the trail from the top of the falls starts from the same parking lot. It was pretty busy that day.

The hike inn was a great experience. It allows you to get outdoors without having to worry about the sleeping and eating part of camping. Have you been to a backcountry lodge before? Is there one you’d recommend? I think it would be fun to visit another inn in the US and would love recommendations to check out if you have any!