View Full Version : How do I get back to my car on the AT?
This is my first time on the AT. I plan on doing an 80 mile hike with a friend starting at Springer Mountain, but how do we get back to our car?
I've been searching for a clear cut answer for a couple days and couldn't find one.
twilight
06-19-2015, 13:59
Generally I would say section hiker hire a shuttle driver. You can find a list of shuttle providers on thE ATC website.
Twilight
Odd Man Out
06-19-2015, 14:02
Welcome to WB and the AT. I hope you have a great hike.
If you go to the AT website you will find a page listing shuttle drivers in the area you are hiking. You can arrange with one of them to give you a ride. There are not too many places on the trail with access to public transportation so unless you have a friend who can drive you or you are hiking with a buddy who also has a car then this is your best bet. It will cost you so you just have to include this as part of your hiking expense. Arranging to meet a driver can be problematic dice you can't predict with great certainty exactly where you will be at any given moment. I really like not having to hike to a fixed schedule. Thus it is a popular strategy to park your car where you plan to end your hike and have the driver shuttle you to the starting point and then hike back to your car.
gsingjane
06-19-2015, 14:06
Welcome to the wonderful world of section hiking! Transportation to, from and in between is probably the most fiendishly complicated and difficult part of any section. Many a day have I envied thru-hikers, who by and large only have to worry about getting on and getting off, once each! Lucky them!
Mostly what people do is the following, at least in my experience. 1. Have two cars and park one at each end ("car spotting"). This will necessitate a lot of monkeying around before you start off, but it's probably the cleanest and least complicated, if you are sure the cars will be safe at each end. 2. Hike "out and back." Or, find a trail (not the AT obviously) that loops around and gets you at least part of the way back to where you started. Sometimes it can be fun to see the same trail from the opposite perspective, sometimes it can feel a little "eixstential." 3. Hire someone (a shuttle or a taxi) to either drop you off at your end point, and hike back to your car, or to pick you up at the end point and take you back to your car. I somewhat have a preference for the first of these two options, just because you won't be hemmed in by timing. 4. Hitch hike back to your car. Definitely a comfort level issue. 5. Hike someplace where you can get public transportation (rail, bus) in one or even two directions. That may be more do-able in the northeast but you could always check and see what's in the vicinity. 6. Have a dependable friend or relative pick you up at the end (or do the "hike back to the car" thing again).
Some people get even more elaborate, using a bike to shuttle or doing a "key trade off" where you start at opposite ends and trade keys in the middle. Let us know what you come up with!
Jane
illabelle
06-19-2015, 14:11
Here's the link you need. Just a little ways down this page, click on the AT shuttle list.
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/find-a-hike/parking-shuttles-transportation
peakbagger
06-19-2015, 15:02
If you are just trying to get miles in, key swapping is the way to go. If you want to backpack and camp you could still do key swapping but you would only see your friend once during the entire trip. There are plenty of places to camp on forest service roads in Georgia. My friend had ankle issues at one point so we did daily key swap hikes and car camped. For a one week hike car shuttles eat up about a half day.
One option if there are two of you is to take two cars and leave one at your ending point before you begin your hike.
Odd Man Out
06-19-2015, 15:55
Not yet mentioned yet is the option of spotting a bicycle at the end of the trip and biking back to the car. Of course for an 80 mile hike that would probably mean a >80 bike ride through the mountains.
Walkintom
06-19-2015, 16:46
My one-liner for this situation is: Walk.
Seriously, consider dropping the car off at the place you're coming off the trail in a pre-arranged safe parking location that you plan and arrange and then getting shuttled to your beginning location. Then you're just walking back to your car.
You don't have to schedule a shuttle to meet you and deal with the the nebulous "When we get there" timing that comes with hiking and you also don't have to endure a shuttle ride for 80 miles at the end of your hike right before driving home. Life is better.
The Snowman
06-19-2015, 19:54
lots of people walk back to there car or arrange a shuttle.
glenlawson
06-19-2015, 20:23
I'm going to vote for walk. 80 miles from Springer takes you to about the Standing Indian campground. Arrange for a shuttle driver to take you to Springer. You've got a range of shuttle drivers from Dahlonega to Franklin, NC. Plan on the first day being for the shuttle with a goal of arriving at the FS42 (Springer) parking lot in the late afternoon for the 1 mile walk to the plaque/shelter/campsites. This way you walk to your car where you have a fresh change of clothes and you can drive out to find some cold drinks and food you didn't have to carry.
If you leave your car at the Springer parking lot, you have to arrange a shuttle to get you back after a week of hiking and it will take longer than all day. (or at least it will feel like it.)
Don't forget, you've got Mountain Crossings 30 miles in at Neel's gap for a resupply. They'll have most of your staples, plus you can get a cold drink and an ice cream bar.
turn around
Or you could just walk backwards..........
My one-liner for this situation is: Walk.
Seriously, consider dropping the car off at the place you're coming off the trail in a pre-arranged safe parking location that you plan and arrange and then getting shuttled to your beginning location. Then you're just walking back to your car.
You don't have to schedule a shuttle to meet you and deal with the the nebulous "When we get there" timing that comes with hiking and you also don't have to endure a shuttle ride for 80 miles at the end of your hike right before driving home. Life is better.This is exactly the best way to do a shuttle. I once had a conversation with the owner of a canoe rental and he said he would never "chase" canoes. He would always shuttle people upriver and they would float back to his place. He said if he allowed people to float downriver from his place and he had to go pick them up then one of two things always happened: either he got there at the appointed time and had to wait 2 hours for them to show up or they got there and were angry because they had to wait two hours for him to pick them up. Either way somebody was pissed off. But if you leave your car at the ending point and get shuttled to the starting point you are on your own schedule to get back to your car and everybody is happy.
Roll Tide
06-20-2015, 20:18
Hike 40 miles and turn around.
Thanks for all the insight! I guess I'll park my truck 50 miles up the trail and get a shuttle back to Springer Mnt.