Greyhound Bus Access

[-SEEKER-]

Okay call me an addict, but I just left the trail on 6/16 after hiking from Dick's Creek Gap, GA to Daleville, VA. I need to get back on the trail! Since I've been doing sections over the past three years one option is getting back on at NY Rte 17A, Bellvale, NY. I would like to pick back up there and hike another 150 to 200 miles north. I plan on doing this sometime shortly after 7/5. I know Greyhound has a limited access station in Great Barrington, MA. Does anyone know of any towns between there and say Cheshire, MA where I can get to a Greyhound station to come back home without much hassle and without it costing me an arm and a leg?
-SEEKER-

[Snowleopard]

These buses may be helpful in Mass. (Williamstown, NAdams, Pittsfield, Gt. Barrington, etc):
http://berkshirerta.com/schedules.php
I'd call them just to check.
Also, NYC trains go to Pawling, NY.

[-SEEKER-]

Great! Thank you. That puts me about in the area I'm thinking I will end up. COOL!:banana

[lysol]

I know you'd like to pick back up at 17, but if that gets tricky and it's easier to get into NYC, it's a relatively easy train ride on the metro north to either Pawling, NY or the Harlem/Wingdale stop, both close to the trail. In the past, I have back tracked a couple of miles to the Telephone Pioneer shelter after a day of travel and started north from there the next day.

North from there you can pick up transportation from the brta (berkshire bus service referenced above) in either Great Barrington, Cheshire, or North Adams. I believe it may stop in Dalton as well.

That's usually a good distance for me to section. The BRTA can transfer you through a number of bus routes to Pittsfield with major bus service. It cost me $5 to go from North Adams down to Lee to meet a ride last week.

They're not kidding when they say you can flag them down on the side of the road and I've only run into helpful drivers who know the routes and have directed me on how to get where I need to go. Good luck!

[Strategic]

lysol's advice on the north end is pretty good, so I'll just add a couple of things to it. Check the Peter Pan Bus (http://www.peterpanbus.com/) website for transport beyond the range of the BRTA (PP also run buses straight out of Great Barrington.) From Pittsfield or Great Barrington, you can grab the PP Bus to Albany, NY and the Amtrak (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage) station there. That get's you back to NYC (on the Empire State line) and from there you can even take Amtrak all the way back to Cinncinati.

On the southern end of your section, NY17a is definitely the place to get on; it has direct bus service out of NYC on NJTransit (http://www.njtransit.com/hp/hp_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=HomePageTo). The bus you need is the 196/197 route (http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T1196.pdf) from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC to Warwick, NY. You can make a flag stop at Kain Rd., not long after the second Greenwood Lake stop. This is where the Bellvale Creamery is (well known to thur-hikers; after all, how can you avoid a 200 yard detour for soft-serve ice cream?) and is just up NY17a from the trail crossing. This puts you south of many of the best features of NY south of the Hudson (Cat Rocks, the Eastern Pinnacles, Fitzgerald Falls, the Lemon Squeezer, etc.) It's only a couple of miles in to Wildcat Shelter if you're like me and love to start a hike by getting on trail in the afternoon to a nearby camping spot, then getting a full first hiking day without the worry of transport and timing.

You're actually in a great place to do this whole section without needing a car or shuttling. Good luck, good hiking and I hope the bus info helps.

[buff_jeff]

I just took the bus out of Great Barrington in mid-May. It stops in front of the CVS on main street twice a day, I believe. It's called Peter Pan bus lines, though. They took me to NYC for 40 or so bills.

http://www.peterpanbus.com/