Where will I be in 130 days along the trail??

[Fletchlives1234]

Alreeet peeps.

The window I have to do the trail is from April through to mid August. I plan to start gently maybe
covering 5-10 miles / day as recommended by the book "Appalachian Trials" by Zach Davis. Then after a few weeks once my body gets used to the pain then I'll up the mileage. I certainly understand that it's more about the smiles than the miles.

However saying this I do need to book return tickets to get home. From what I understand if this isn't done then it can be difficult get your visa ok'd when you hit customs in the US.

Where do you think I should aim to get to in the time that I have available. I understand that there
are airports at Washington, New York, Boston, Portland and even Bangor in Maine.
I suppose worse case I could always try and get a ride to make up the distance that I don't manage to
cover.

Or do you think that it is entirely possible to do the whole thru hike in approx 132 days??

I have read that the key is to make sure that you book tickets where you can change the date /
time that you wish to return on. I don't think that these golden tickets will allow me to change airport though.

Can you recommend any airlines that do this?

Any advice here would be appreciated.

Fletchlives

[Don H]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?44

This article might help you

[RED-DOG]

It's totally possible to do the whole trail in 132 days but you will have to do a lot of BIG mile days, if i was you i would shoot for either Killington VT which is 1697 miles from springer or Hanover NH and it's 1743.1, either way you will make it to the Northern parts of the trail, if i was you i would pick a town in VT,NH or maybe even ME with public trans such as a Bus line and shoot for that town, if you have a AT compannion or the Awoll guide you should be able to find all the info you need.

[Fletchlives1234]

Thanks Don,

What a great article.

Excuse my ignorance but I am assuming that DWG is Delaware Water Gap and Glencliff is in New Hampshire.
That means that Boston or New york might be the best airports to investigate. Do you know if some of the guys who provide trail runs (i.e. from the trail to the airport) would take me from Glencliff or there abouts to Boston airport? By the looks of it this is approx 138 miles / 2 hours 25 mins according to Google. Surely that will cost me a small fortune??

[evyck da fleet]

I finished in 133 days while taking 22 days off. For reference, I started out doing 12 miles a day having worked up three consecutive 10-12 mile day hikes in the weeks before I started. A 24 mile day was pretty common for me with a few 30s thrown in. I'm not sure when you have to buy your ticket but if you don't think you can finish the whole trail you might want to consider flipping at Harpers Ferry to Katahdin and booking your flight out of NYC or DC. That way you get to hike NH and ME.

[evyck da fleet]

Aaargh. That should read if you think you CAN'T finish the hike in your timeframe.

[Tuxedo]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?44

This article might help you

Nate Silver of WB!!! great article I might even get my wife interested in hiking as she has passion for data mining.

I know this complicates the planning, look at round trip to Washington DC and flip flop thru. I say this because Amtrak has alot of option not far from the trail in NC, VA-Harpers Ferry.
Option 1 Fly to round trip DC train to HF Hike NOBO to ME drive to Springer Mt. NOBO GA-Harpers Ferry
Option 2 Fly one way to DC, train, Hike NOBO to ME then you can go back to Harpers Ferry and SOBO to GA and return flight out of Atlanta
Option 3 Fly one way to Atlanta NOBO. Almost all airports in close proximity to the AT in New England will have connection flight to Boston (example)Rutland, VT> return flight Boston MA. and make the way to Boston, as New England has plenty of train, bus, rental car and flight options. Bangor, ME doesn't have direct flight to Boston but does to NY and DC.

You dont have to hike fast at first, 10mi to start does just fine and 21-40 days in you find 17-27mi days becomes normal. I hike 80mi a week to start and 250miles later im doing 125+mi a week with 1nero and 1zero. Hike your own Hike and go camp to camp and meal to meal. Town to town and before you know it your on day 100 with plenty of time to finish.

Keep your pack weight avg. to under 30-35lb and at my age 110-120days(even with zeros) is very do-able IMO with good health and weather on my side.

[BarFight]

If you end in Vermont or early in New Hampshire, you can either take Amtrak to New York City or the bus to Boston from Hanover/White River Junction, Vermont. Amtrak's "Vermonter" has a daily run from northern Vermont to Washington DC through NYC, and stops in White River Junction. Greyhound bus should also be uncomplicated, though both might take you a full day to get to the city and then to the airport, so give yourself some time. I would buy the tickets several weeks in advance online when you figure out when you'll be leaving, it will be much cheaper that way.

[map man]

Nate Silver of WB!!! great article I might even get my wife interested in hiking as she has passion for data mining.

To be compared to Nate Silver -- I am immensely flattered but definitely not worthy.

To answer the original question, if you are still on the trail in 130 days the odds are high that you will be somewhere in New England and if that is so then Boston will likely be the easiest major international airport to get to. Good luck.