Returning Home After the Hike

[Crestview_hiker]

I haven't finalized my plans to return to Northwest FL when I finish my hike in Late Sept or early October. Any suggestions ie, Plane, Train, Bus ???
and what is close to there to hook something up. I don't see much that I have found.

[kayak karl]

look at starting SOBO threads and info. just in reverse :) getting to bus to Portland would be a start.

[rafe]

Shaws still around? They run all sorts of shuttles and go out of their way to help hikers. I know it's not Mr. Shaw running it anymore, but I think it's still called Shaws and still running strong, least it was about 3 years ago. Over the years I got several long rides from them. One time Wargy picked me up at the trailhead after my hike.

[Trainguy]

From Millinocket, ME. to Bangor, Me. is about 70 miles or an hour and fifteen minutes travel time. Bangor International Airport is there just off Union Street, about a couple of miles from Interstate 95.

From Bangor, ME. to Portland, ME. is about 130 miles or about 2.5 hours travel time. In south Portland, ME. is the airport. Also in Portland, ME. is Amtrak to Boston North Station. From Boston one would have to take a cab or the subway to get to South Station to further your Amtrak trip. Amtrak now runs into Brunswick, ME., just a little bit north of Portland, but you would probably be better off getting a train out of Portland (more frequent trains).

Hope this helps.

[Slo-go'en]

The trick is getting to Portland, where you have all the different options for going the rest of the way. There are only a couple of options for getting from Baxter to Portland, which are listed in the AT guide.

The main problem is your probably not going to know extactly when you'll be finishing, so buying a ticket (plane/bus/train) well before hand to get the best price isn't going to be possible. Be ready to pay full fare at the ticket window. You could buy a ticket on line as you get close to finishing, like at Monson, but then your commited to a schedule. And the problem with that is Kathadin can be closed to climbing due to weather for days or even a week in late Sept and early Oct. In 2008 it was closed for 10 days and by the time it was opened again, something like over 50 hikers had que'd up.

[Lone Wolf]

i stood with a young man and his parents in the parking lot in Baxter park and watched him cry. rangers were not letting anyone go up cuz the mountain was a sheet of ice. he had plane reservations for the following morning. he had to leave. he missed the final 5 miles. DON"T make reservations

[steve0423]

By the time I got up North I was pretty good at predicting the time I’d need to cover a specific stretch of trail, taking into account elevation change and ruggedness. I was able to book a flight out of Portland two weeks in advance to save on air fare. It was also significantly cheaper than Bangor even with the added bus fare from Bangor to Portland. I shuttled to the “bus station” from Millinocket, took a bus from there to Bangor, transferred to the Portland bus. In Portland I pulled my Google box from my pocket and found the cheapest hotel close enough to the airport to have a free shuttle service. Taxi from the bus station to the hotel, next morning free shuttle to the airport. There are several variations. Some pay to shuttle to Bangor from Millinocket and fly out of Bangor. Some make their way by bus/train to Boston and fly.
You may find that the experience of a thru hike will make you better at this kind of travel. It won’t seem like a big deal, you’ll find it to be just another part of the adventure, and you’ll be good at “winging it”.

[steve0423]

Or budget a lot more $ for travel and don’t make reservations. Regardless you can walk all the way to ME before you need to make that decision.

[rafe]

It really ought not be a concern for you at this point. If and when you make it to Monson you'll know how to handle it. The folks at Shaws are most helpful, and nowadays there are many shuttle services in that region aside from Shaws. Again -- things may have changed, but time was when virtually nobody skipped Shaws. No reason to!

If I were a real thru-hiker, I wouldn't want to do that last stretch under pressure of a deadline I've seen them doing just that, and felt bad for them.

[WingedMonkey]

If you do take the train home to Florida, make overnight stops at Boston, New York and Washington DC.

I had a blast city backpacking with a day pack, staying at hostels, and playing tourist.

All those people running around takes on a whole different feeling after being in the woods for six months.

Trouble is the train doesn't go to Tally or P-cola any longer, you'd have to go from Jax to home somehow.

[AngelEyez]

Downeaster has to change stations in Boston if you use Amtrak you can get a bus to Boston and skip the headache of switching stations in Boston then takes you in to NY then on from there. but guess it also will depend on the station you use in Florida. i do believe the have a year to use them with Amtrak :) good luck

[rafe]

If you do take the train home to Florida, make overnight stops at Boston, New York and Washington DC.

I had a blast city backpacking with a day pack, staying at hostels, and playing tourist.

All those people running around takes on a whole different feeling after being in the woods for six months.

Trouble is the train doesn't go to Tally or P-cola any longer, you'd have to go from Jax to home somehow.

I had the coolest walk across Manhattan, from Penn Sta. to Grand Central, in full hiking regalia after my section hike in 2006. It had been a great hike and I was in wicked high spirits.