Article in todays Waterbury Republic American states that the general store in Cornwall Bridge sold and that the current tenants have been asked to vacate by June 15. Unsure what will happen with the business.

Hi,

Got back a few days ago from a section hike, HF, WV to Bennington, VT. Thought I'd share a few spots worth stopping.

Shelters: Quarry Gap (PA) - best maintained shelter I've been to (I've hiked from Springer to Bennington). The spring is right out front and the outhouse is in great shape.
501 Shelter (PA) - an enclosed cabin with access to water at the caretaker's house. You can call the shuttle ($15) and get a ride for groceries and fast food.
Jim Murray Property (NJ) - an enclosed cabin on Jim Murray's farm. Electrical outlets that work, an outhouse, shower and water pump. Follow the small "well water" signs.

Lodging: Tea Horse Hostel (HF, WV) and the HI hostel in MD - both these places are clean, friendly and very reasonable.
Maria McCabe's Place - (Salisbury, Conn.) - close to "downtown," Maria shuttles you to laundry, nice rooms and other nice surprises. You can get canister fuel at the little outfitter in town. At $35 a night these has to be one of the best deals on the trail.

Food: The Doyle Hotel (PA) - the lodging is a bit earthy but the food is amazing, inexpensive, very good and hiker portions.
Goodie's Cafe - also in Duncannon, excellent breakfast, some of the biggest pancakes I've ever seen and inexpensive.
Bona Venia (NY)/N.Y. 22/Appalachian Trail RR Station - this is a truck with a wood-fired pizza oven. The sauce and dough are both home-made. The slices are the largest I've seen since I lived in Brooklyn for a short time and pizza was fifteen cents a slice.

The town of Dalton (Conn.): free showers at the recreation center that includes a free towel.

My apologies to all the other wonderful places out there but these are places I'd go to again. Kudos to the trail maintainers especially in NJ and NY who put in those miles of boardwalks over some very muddy and swampy sections.

Happy trails to all,

LoneStar

Which towns along the AT are the most unfriendly to hikers? What exactly makes them unfriendly? Thanks for your response.

Just went through Pearisburg VA during a section hike. We were going to stay at one of the hotels in Pearisburg, but God was looking out for us. As we were coming off the trail we saw a sign advertising the "MacArthur Inn" in Narrows. We called the number and a gentleman named Allen picked us up. This motel was about 3 miles outside of Pearisburg. It is a old hotel that has been restored. The rooms were very clean. Not fancy but clean. The hotel serves full breakfast in the mornings. A single room was $45. There is a grocery store, restaurant with country buffet and laundry mat across the street. The restaurant is not open on Mondays. We were there on Monday, so Allen carried us back to Pearisburg and dropped us off to eat and came back for us at no charge. Allen was awesome. He was a great part of the trip. He charged $10 to pick us up and return us to the trail head. He also carried us to see his "huge" horses. We had hikers come in that paid for motel rooms in Pearisburg but then would not stay after seeing the rooms. The owners would not return their money. Other hikers staying at the motels in Pearisburg said they were nasty and bad crowds there. We consider ourselves very lucky!!


http://macarthur-inn.com/

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2013/04/...lan-denied.php

On my thru hike most of the people I met were well educated, upstanding citizens. I never felt threatened or in any kind of danger, and were overall some of the best people I have met in my life.

This women knows nothing of the community of people on the trail, and forms her opinions ( I assume ) from the way a person looks. It is obvious that she doesn't hike.

I would recommend skipping the town, and I hope that the ATC will remove them as a trail town. As it takes more than one or even a few to make a decision like that for the hostel.

Makes me happy that I didn't go there last year on my thru.

My hike is going well, but my planned shuttle at the end ran into problems.
Could someone from the area send me some phone numbers of shuttlers in the Gettysburg area?

I'm going to finish up around May 21 to May 23 depending on weather and legs.

I'm at the Bears Den Hostel now (nice place. Amy just brought me a tray of Brownies!!) I will have computer access tomorrow in Harpers Ferry, when I pick up my resupply. Then it will be Smart Phone only. I can't type more than a word or two on the little touch keyboards, but I can read phone numbers and will call to complete arrangements when I have a good signal.

Thanks in advance for the requested information.

Waynesboro PA is working on becoming a "certified AT Trail Town."

I stayed at the Burgundy Lane B&B ... Excellent since shuttles are included in the price. 17177628112

Also of note is a local, Dennis Sewell, who lives across from Pen Mar Park and will shuttle in the area. 13012413176

For those traveling alone, the best trail heads are the ones that can be easily reached by public transportation. This last week I found the village of Greenwood Lake, NY (GWL) to be one of those places.

The village apparently takes some pride in being near the A.T.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55978&c=541
and the views nearby can be quite good
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55981&c=558
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55982&c=558
Combined with the fact that it is very easy to travel between New York City and GWL by public transit, and you have a good place to start or end a section hike, do a day hike without a car, or just do some short term re-supply.

As shown on this pdf
http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T1196.pdf
one can depart on the 197 bus from the NY Port Authority Bus Terminal at 7:30a, 9:30a, 11:30a, and 1:30p; arriving at GWL in about two hours. Or one can ride the 196 Express to Warwick, departing (about) every 20 minutes starting at 3:00p, and get to GWL in less than ninety minutes. The 197 departs from Gate 233; the 196, from Gate 304. Each bus is a eleven zone ride, which (as of 2013 May) costs $12.75 . You MUST buy your ticket before you board the bus from the Terminal, but doing so is easy at the numerous NJTransit kiosks -- which accept cash or credit cards. If you accidentally request a ticket for Greenwood Lake NJ (as I think I may have), don't worry -- they are in the same zone.

Note that these are commuter buses, not inter-city ones -- so they have no restrooms and only limited baggage capacity. You may be able to place your pack below, or maybe not. I would avoid riding during rush hour, so as to ensure you can place your pack on the seat next to you.

NJTransit buses announce each stop on a lit display at the front of the bus, so just watch the scrolling sign at the front until you see "Greenwood Lake Park & Ride." When you get off, you'll be at (surprise!) a park and ride lot.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55983&c=541
The lot is on Jersey Avenue, which is also Highway 210. Note that parking here is strictly prohibited unless you are a GWL resident with a commuter pass. Walk southeast on this street and you'll get to Windemere Avenue, a street with a variety of small shops and restaurants. Walk northeast on Windemere to get to a 24 hour Cumberland Farms convenience store (with bathroom, and a sink you can use to fill a water bottle) and a CVS drugstore, or southwest to a True Value Hardware. As far as I know, there are no large chain stores in the town.
GWL does have abundant trash cans and recycle bins, which can be nice when you're trying to dump the stuff you've been packing out for a few days. The city also has a library, adjacent to the Park & Ride Lot, with wi-fi -- free but you have to talk to the librarian about logging on. The library has bathrooms, and is open at 9am on weekdays, 11 on Saturday and Sunday, and closes at 9p on Tuesday to Thursday, till about 5p other days.
http://www.gwllibrary.org/hoursdirections.html

If going into NYC, you get on the NJTransit bus at the Park & Ride Lot, where you pay with cash ONLY as you get on. The driver will make change, but will not accept any bill larger than a $20.

To get to the A.T., you'll need to go up the Village Vista Trail (VVT).
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55984&c=541
The trail head for this approach trail is located behind the Lions Fields, which are located at the northwest end of Elm Street. Just walk towards the hills and away from the lake on just about any street, and you're bound to find baseball fields.

As you walk up Elm Street, you'll come across Helen Kelly Field on your right.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55985&c=541
Continue on Elm towards the Lions Field, with a prominent "No Parking" sign and a bathroom (on your left) that may or may not be open.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55986&c=541
Veer right, following the paved road, until there are no more baseball fields on your left. Look left for a sign for the VVT trail head. Here is a photo of what you'll see, but note that I added the blue line to the trail head.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55987&c=541

The VVT is well-blazed, and is adequate for getting up to the ridge line. For those coming down this trail from the A.T., there are a couple places that COULD be tricky if the light is bad or you're just tired. Again, for each of these, I've added a blue line to show which way the trail goes.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55988&c=541
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55989&c=541
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55990&c=541

The intersection between the VVT and the A.T. is very well-designated
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=55991&c=521
but the sign has a problem with its direction. Specifically, it implies that, for those going north, the A.T. continues straight ahead and the VVT is to the right. In fact -- and as the lines I drew show -- the blue-blazed VVT is straight ahead (for those going north), the A.T. (white line) turns to the left, and the red line leads nowhere.

If walking south from the VVT, you'll come across some parts of the A.T. where the signage is a bit hard to follow. I'm pretty good at staying on a blazed trail, but even I got off a couple times. As usual, if you find that you've not seen any white blazes in a couple minutes, turn back to the last point where you know you saw a white blaze, then look carefully for the next one. If a downed tree has blocked the path, you may need to look through the tree debris to see that next blaze before going around the tree.
In addition, you might miss a blaze where the Trail goes up some granite. Or at least I did, when I missed the one on the tree
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=56006&c=521
Be honest -- would you have noticed the white blaze unless I added the red arrow to show where it is? The full white line is the real A.T., the broken white line is what I call the "People's Choice" A.T. In other words, one trail is that chosen by a group of experts, the other is the one chosen by people "voting" (literally) with their feet. This next photo shows this choice for those going north from the NJ-NY State Line.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...?i=56007&c=521

We just finished a meal here and really enjoyed it. It's a very nice spot for anyone looking for a little change from the usual hiker fare. It is located at the quality Inn on commerce. Might be my favorite meal since we left Springer. Prices are very fair too.

back to Unicoi Gap. I know there is a list of shuttle providers on the ATC website, just looking for some personal recommendations before I look there. Would like to leave vehicle around NOC and hike back to it. appreciate any advice. Thanks.

We've spent the last two years "road, trail and camp testing" our Wild Hunt Packs (game or beef jerky, dried fruit and nuts vacuum sealed and ready to eat!) and now have finally settled down in beautiful Damascus, VA!

Stop by our vendor tent and say hello while in town for Trail Days!

Also, we are building a list of mail drops so hikers can get their Packs sent ahead. We'd love your input!

We just went through Buena Vista, VA and checked out the Amish Cupboard, which is about 4 blocks further into town than the Family Dollar. It's great! I'd recommend it: lightweight bulk snacks and meal mixes, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, quality meats and cheeses, and fresh baked hard breads that pack well. They are super friendly as well.

When you get to Daleville, it's worth the extra few bucks to stay at the Super8. They are friendly and clean. Definitely avoid the Howard Johnson... dirty, badly maintained, low quality.

Hi, My son and I are planning on doing our second section hike this June. We plan to do about 50+ miles over about 4 or 5 days time. I'd like to find a section that has 2 towns for resupply so we can pack lighter and have a back out plan if things go badly (my son is 14 and I don't want to ruin hiking for him by pushing too hard).

We have been looking at Tennessee/North Carolina region (perhaps the Roan Highlands area of the trail? or the Smokies?).


Any help is greatly appreciated- I realize I could find this information somewhere on this site but I have been so terribly busy at work, I haven't had much time for research. Since the hike is just a month away, I feel like we need to pick our location to make our arrangements. (I will also need to work on a shuttle).


Thank you!
CSeib