Galentine’s Hostel Takeover

General Weekend Information

Dates: Friday February 13th - Monday February 16th, 2026

Location: Hungry Hippie Hostel, Grand Marais, MN

The Hungry Hippie Hostel is located a bit north of Grand Marais, MN. It is a quiet spot out of the city, but close enough for folks who want to take in the shops and establishments. It is also close to the Superior Hiking Trail, Judge Magney State Park, and many other fun places to adventure.

‍Lodging for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights

A range of options for sleeping include a twin in the bunk house, a queen in the bunk house, and a few private rooms. You can check out the accommodations on the Hungry Hippie Hostel website here: hungryhippie.com/the-hostel/

Please note that the bunk house is up a set of stairs - if mobility is a concern, please choose a solo room and reach out to us if cost is a barrier.

Meals and Drinks

• We provide food at the hostel as part of the overall experience - to simplify your weekend (what’s better than being able to play outside all day and have someone else figuring out what you’ll eat next), to decrease the costs of a weekend away, and to provide a space to build community. However, if you choose to eat a meal in town, that’s fine too! Just let us know so we won’t be worried if you don’t show up to mealtimes!

• Food provided: Friday evening snacks (we assume folks will arrive at different times and may eat dinner on the way); Saturday and Sunday breakfast, lunch, and dinner; Monday breakfast, bag lunch for the road. Snacks, coffee, and tea are available all weekend.

• We can accommodate various dietary needs. You can expect an assortment of healthy food as well as some treats. Food may be simple, but we’ll make sure it’s tasty and that there is plenty of it! We’ll plan to have a continental-type breakfast (with some fresh baked goods), bag lunches (options to heat up leftovers too, if desired), and hot dinners. If you have very specific needs or serious allergies that we are unable to accommodate we may ask you to bring your own food for the weekend, and your fee will be adjusted accordingly.

• You are welcome to bring your own snacks or drinks, but our fridge and freezer space is limited (although the whole world may be a freezer, so most likely frozen things could be kept in cars). Preference will be given to group food, people who need to pump and store breast milk, and those who need to bring their own food because of allergies. There is another small refrigerator in the upstairs suite.

• We will not be providing alcohol, but it is ok if you bring your own. We expect that you’ll be respectful of the shared space and drink responsibly if you choose to do so (our Community Guidelines and quiet hours apply). You can also find establishments that serve alcohol in town.

Fun and Fellowship Provided

• Cool folks to adventure with

• Recommendations and ideas of activities and adventures in the area, and help figuring out the logistics of how to make them happen

• Tips and tricks for adventuring outside in the winter - please reach out to Anna at anna@adventureecologies.com if there are specific skills you are hoping to learn or questions you have. It works best if you do this prior to the weekend so we can be prepared, but we’ll do our best to help you out if you forget.

Our group will be approximately 6-12 or so participants this year, so you can expect plenty of connections and adventure buddies but not a huge group.

• Guided adventures. While there will be a list of adventure ideas to get you started, and plenty of new friends to adventure with, AE won’t be officially leading adventures this weekend. We will offer pointers and instruction as we are able though! This weekend is meant to be free-form and tailored to what YOU need - we won’t be providing you a schedule to stick to (other than when meals are available). If you want to get out and snowshoe all day, great! If you’d prefer to cozy up with a book at a coffee shop in town, that’s fine too.

• Winter gear. If you plan to do activities that require gear such as snowshoes or skis, but don’t have your own, UMD, St. Scholastica, and other businesses have rentals available. Contact us if you have any trouble - we can help you track gear down! Duluth Gear Exchange can be a place to find gently used gear if you want to invest in your own.

• Town fun. Grand Marais has many neat shops, cafes, and other establishments to check out. Want to hit up a sauna or get a massage? Check out Sisu + Loyly in Grand Marais. There is also a YMCA for those of you who are members or who want to get a day pass.

At Adventure Ecologies, we believe that all human and nonhuman beings have value. We seek to create safe spaces for people to explore and grow, and we ask that our participants nurture these spaces by treating others how they would like to be treated. This means using folks’ correct names and pronouns, apologizing when we get things wrong (and taking actions to fix it), and respecting people’s cultures, abilities, backgrounds, personal space, and goals.

If there are accommodations that will help you to participate fully in the weekend, please reach out to us so we can have a conversation about how we can best meet your needs. We recognize that the outdoor community has not always welcomed people from all backgrounds, genders, body types, disability, age, socioeconomic status and other variables. We are working to do better and appreciate your feedback if there are things that we can improve to meet you where you are at.

If you make this weekend physically or emotionally unsafe for other participants by your actions or words and are unwilling to correct your behavior, you will be asked to leave, and your weekend fees will be forfeited.

The regular fee ranges from $425- 625 for the weekend, depending on what you choose for lodging options. This covers all the previously mentioned things – lodging, food, fun! You also have the option to contribute to the “Pay it Forward” fund, which helps provide scholarships for others, if you are comfortable financially. We appreciate it! We have options for scholarships if they are needed.

You can choose to use a credit or debit card or pay using an ACH transfer. If you’d prefer to pay in cash or using a physical check, please reach out to anna@adventureecologies.com

To secure your spot, we’ll ask for 15% of your fee choice as a non-refundable deposit. If this is beyond what you can pay for, please reach out for additional options. In the past we’ve been able to provide scholarship money to help folks attend.

Alumni will receive a small discount for the additional payment (to be collected after January 1st). There are also funds to offset some costs for BIPOC folks to attend. If this applies to you, please let us know at anna@adventureecologies.com.

A payment plan, if needed, will have a goal of being paid in full by February 7th. However, in special situations we may be able to spread it out over additional months past the end of the trip, if it will make this trip accessible for you.

Buddy Rate: If you’d like to share a solo room or the bunk house queen bed with a friend or partner (women/nonbinary, please), you’ll pay a discounted rate. Please register ONE of you for the bed option of your choice, using the discount code HHHSHARING26. We’ll follow up with you to get the details and payment from your buddy (they’ll also get the discount).

Cancellation policy

So that we can pay Hungry Hippie Hostel, plan for food, and cover pre-weekend expenses, we’ll have the following cancellation policies. If you are attending with scholarship assistance, please treat your registration as if you are paying to attend, even if the financial amounts look different or do not apply.

• Cancelled prior to January, we’ll keep your 15% non-refundable deposit, and refund the rest of anything paid

• Cancelled between January 1st - January 14th we’ll ask for 50% of the trip fee (you’ll keep 50%)  

• Cancelled between January 15th - February 6th, we’ll ask for 75% of the trip fee (you’ll keep 25%)

• Cancelled on or after February 7th , no refund unless our wait list can fill your spot.

However, if we have a wait list and can fill your spot, we’ll plan to reimburse you all but the card and bank fees. You can also choose to take a credit towards a future adventure with us instead of a refund.

Why the cancellation policy? We get it - life happens sometimes, and it is a bummer to miss out on a trip you thought you’d be able to go on. We do our best to keep our fees as low as possible, and cancellations making budgeting challenging. Without this policy we’d have to build the costs of potential cancellations into our fees, making the weekend more expensive for everyone!

In the case of low enrollment, we may need to amend our plans. In this case, we’ll reach out to those who are registered to offer solutions, which might include registering for some of the rooms in the hostel and sharing the rest of the space with other guests (not a “hostel takeover!” in this case, but we can still have fun). If this is the case, we’ll plan to offer discounts to offset the change. A decision will be made about this by January 10th, 2026.

Severe Weather

Minnesota weather can be unpredictable and everyone’s safety is our top priority. In the case of severe weather, we will make sure to maintain clear communication about the weekend plans. For example, if a snow storm hits on Friday, but clears off and travel is safe on Saturday, we will plan to continue the weekend from that point on. Since the venue is booked and most food is paid for prior to the weekend, we will not plan to cancel the weekend due to weather unless there are extreme circumstances.

In the case of a snowpocalypse where the whole state shuts down, we will work with our venue to find as fair of a solution as possible. We may end up being able to reschedule, in which case your registration would be transferred, but we might not be able to issue a full refund. We will, however, refund you what we are able.

Illness of our Staff

If the staff member running the weekend gets sick, it is important to us that we keep the rest of the community safe. We will try to find a sub to host the weekend, but the hostel will still be rented for our group, so the fun can continue without us. In the case we aren’t able to find a sub, we’ll plan to let you know what food will be provided (or not), factor in the loss of helping/instructing, and issue a refund to you accordingly. You may end up bringing your own food, but you’ll still have the fun of sharing in the experience with the others!

Covid and other illness

Unfortunately, a Covid is still a thing, as are other bugs. With changing situations, we’ll plan to follow whatever the CDC and the MDH guidance is for this weekend. Our community’s safety is our priority.

If you test positive for Covid or you aren’t feeling well, please stay home. We do still have to abide by our cancellation policy for budgeting purposes, but we will happily provide you with a discount code to apply to a future adventure with us.

Pets

Pets cannot be brought to this weekend. Certified service animals are welcome – please let us know if you’re bringing one.

Minors

In general, this is a weekend designed for adults. While we love kids, we feel that it is important for adults to just take care of themselves sometimes, to be able to fully explore what they are capable of and make connections without obligations to dependents.

However, older teenage girls or nonbinary youths who are attending with a parent or guardian may be a good fit, depending on their maturity level. If you are considering bringing a minor with you to this weekend, please reach out to anna@adventureecologies.com to discuss.