Day 142-Joining the “Cult”

Aug 7-2.7 miles-Minerva Hinchey Shelter to The Yellow Deli Hiker Hostel-AT mile 1686.3

I think today ranks as our lowest mile near-o at 2.7 miles. Now that’s what a near-o should be! And, we started with a climb, which is much better for me. 

There was one viewpoint called Airport Lookout. Can you see why?

That is the Clarendon or Rutland Regional Airport. 

After a much steeper downhill than I like, we got to Clarendon Gorge. 

At least the trail didn’t go straight down to that clearing. 

A nice bouncy suspension bridge over the river. 

That’s JP down by the river

Sure Foot, Mosey, and Irish waiting on the other side. 

From the gorge, it was just .1 up to VT 103, where we would go into Rutland. We’d heard that it was an easy hitch into Rutland, but it was a little tricky because VT 103 doesn’t actually go to Rutland. Although, based on the size of Rutland, I’d say more of the cars were going to Rutland, than someplace else. Anyway, we decided to call a taxi (splitting the ride four ways would be pretty cheap), but the guy didn’t answer. Then Mosey suggested calling Charlie. Amazing trail angel, Charlie, said he could come pick us up. It would take him 45 minutes. Mosey and Irish decided to keep trying to hitch, but gave up when no one was stopping. They came and waited for Charlie with us. 

Yesterday, up at the junction for White Rocks, and one of the rock gardens, I had called The Yellow Deli Hiker Hostel. According to their website, they were closed, but there was a recent comment on Guthook that said they were taking hikers on a case-by-case basis. They agreed to let us stay. I think they are only allowing a very limited number of people stay at one time. When I talked to the guy, he asked if we were sure we would be there, because if we didn’t show up, that would mean someone else might not be able to stay. Of course, I assured him we’d be there. 

When we got in the car with Charlie, he asked Sure Foot and I if we were sure we wanted to stay at The Yellow Deli, and did we know what they were about. I knew it was run by a religious/spiritual tribe community called The Twelve Tribes. I thought Native American, but it’s not. Charlie said that, basically, Twelve Tribes is a cult. He heard good things, but he’d heard enough bad things to make him wary. I told him I had a pretty good constitution, and I promised I wouldn’t drink the kool-aid. Now I was curious to see what this place was going to be like!

The Yellow Deli is also a restaurant (restaurant below, hostel up above). Mosey and Irish (who were staying at the Comfort Inn) said we had to report back tomorrow when Charlie takes us back to the trail. 

So, we walked into the restaurant. Since we were pretty early, Aleeza didn’t quite have the rooms ready. The guy told us to have a seat, and another guy brought us drinks (yep, the purple kool-aid...okay...not really...it was hibiscus, and it was good).

Nice mural of all kinds of birds. 

Pretty cool place, actually. 

Since we were going to be waiting for a bit, and they serve breakfast all day, we ordered waffles. 

It was made with spelt flour and it was delicious! They also give hikers a 15% discount. 

Aleeza showed up to take us upstairs. This is one of those hostels where the men are in one room, and the women are in another (there are some private rooms with a double bed). From what I can tell, there are many more bunks for women than men (but there could be another men’s bunk room that I didn’t see). The women’s part is upstairs from the men’s. Basically, it’s the whole floor. There are several bunk rooms (I counted 20 bunks), as well as a nice common room and kitchen (but the kitchen is not available), washer and dryer (free), restroom and showers. They even have loaner clothes for the women. I was here alone, but Reishi (a hiker we first met at Vanessa’s in Salisbury, CT) was eating downstairs, and Aleeza asked me if it was okay if Reishi stayed in the same room. I had no problem with that. 

My bunk

They even have these welcome baskets!

Common room (much nicer than the one downstairs).

I got our laundry going, and we walked over to Walmart to get our resupply for the next 2 days. This was a funny spot in Walmart. 

If you notice, it’s a dead end. You can’t go in any of the three directions. I commented on that to a woman. She was quite exasperated, but she turned around to follow the correct path. 

We went back to the restaurant for lunch. I had a very good sandwich, and Sure Foot had a salad that he said was very good too. At their little “market”, they had a few hiker supplies, including stove fuel (Sure Foot was glad to finally get some more fuel).

Without asking about The Yellow Deli, I overheard one of the guys say they live together in a community. In some of the literature I’ve looked at, it seems more like a commune than a cult. We have not been actively approached by any of the members regarding their “mission”. I have not found any one defined leader, but Aleeza and her husband seem to be in charge of the hostel. Also, the hostel is donation based. The deli is open “123 consecutive hours from Sunday 12:00 noon to Friday 3:00PM. They observe Shabbat on Saturday, and are closed. There was a trail angel in the restaurant while we were eating lunch. She asked if we’d been invited to the Tribe’s Friday night meeting/celebration. She said they often I bite hikers to come. We have not been invited (maybe we are too old for them???). There are a number of Twelve Tribes communities (even one in Raymond, WA), and there are 4 Yellow Delis (all on the East coast).

All in all, this is a wonderful place, and the people have been nothing but friendly. At least from my experience, I would recommend staying here. It is one of the nicest hostels we’ve stayed in so far!