View Full Version : Life long dream...in sections
boudreaux76
12-01-2015, 15:34
So at the ripe ol' age of 40 I have finally decided to hike the AT. I grew up in deep east Tennessee and the trail has called my name since I was little. However, being a high school football coach and a husband and a father of 3 - the 5-6 month thru hike of my dreams isn't going to happen and I'm okay with that.
I imagine I will have 2-3 weeks each summer (always mid June through mid July) to hike the whole thing, one section at a time. It's not ideal, but I'm excited and if I finish it before I die I will be a happy man.
So here is my question:
What is the best way to hike the trail a few weeks at a time as far as transportation goes? How do I go about arranging a ride back to Springer (this first year) when I am a couple of weeks down the trail? I've seen the shuttles, but I dont know about getting one to take me that far back. Any help would be greatly appreciated....
illabelle
12-01-2015, 16:31
If you're driving to a start point for each section, you'll have to hire a shuttle to take you back to that point. Costs a bit if you're going to be out for 2-3 weeks, but it's the simplest way to do it. In some areas further up the trail, you may be able to use public transit.
It's not ideal, but I'm excited and if I finish it before I die I will be a happy man.
You don't seem to be in a hurry, but don't put off the really hard areas too long. Make sure you get to them while you're still young enough.
And :welcome
4eyedbuzzard
12-01-2015, 16:45
ATC shuttle list http://www.appalachiantrail.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/at-shuttles574edd6668ce6efcb07bff000057c13a.pdf?sfvrs n=0
Planes, trains, buses, shuttles & other automobiles oh my! I'm 15 years in myself and sometimes the getting there and back is as much an adventure as the hike itself. This is a fine and very handy forum to help find and assess options.
Expect changes, year to year, on specific options such as shuttles, bus & train schedules and pickup spots though.
Whenever you can, keep some wiggle room on your end times/dates and at least ponder some Plan B's.
Living in mid Tennessee allowed me to use a car/shuttle up until Linden VA. From there on I've flown up and back and made use of just about everything except horse and bicycle, hitching a little to fill in a few gaps. Options increase once you get into PA, at least they did for me. PM me for some more specific bits.
Godspeed!
There are lots of logistical alternatives for you to consider... you can:
1. leave your car at more or less the midpoint, walk in one direction for half the time, get a shuttle back past your car to a point farther in the other direction, then walk back to your car. Advantage being that you go past your car during the shuttle ride, and can easily stop for resupply from your car half way or so through your trip -- and you only have to arrange one shuttle. That resupply is an awfully sweet alternative, which can include things like clean socks and batteries as well as food.
2. Meet your shuttler at your finishing point first thing and have him drive you to your beginning point. That way you don't have to worry about your hiking speed and coordinating the shuttler meeting...not to mention, it is always nicer waiting for a shuttle ride when you are sitting in your car, than when you are trailside in... the rain.
3. Consider hitch hiking for portions of the trail. The SNP, for example, seems made for hitch hiking.
4. Ask for ride help here. You might be able to help another section hiker going the other direction by swapping shuttle rides. Your problem isn't unique... I did much of my hiking with a buddy who went in the other direction at an entirely different pace... worked well for both of us.
5. Make your football team take turns giving you a ride.
PM me if you want to chat about this. I've done the AT in sections ranging 600, 700 miles down to a dozen at a time, with quite a few 35 and 100-mile sections as well. Trail within 300-400 miles of home I did in short sections, usually driving my own car to one of the endpoints. As the sections got farther from home they also got much longer, and I used trains or planes to get to/from the trail.
ATC publishes a nice (online) guide to shuttlers along the trail. Many of the hostels and lodgers provide shuttle services as well. Always best to call around, discuss the situation, make prior arrangements and confirm them carefully when dealing with shuttlers. Most of them are great. Be extremely explicit about where and when you want to meet, such-and-such a sign at such-and-such a parking lot. I once waited for > 1 hour waiting for a shuttler who, it turned out, was waiting for me across the lot in a place where I couldn't see him. D'oh!
If sections are short enough (like, say 35 miles or less) I sometimes shuttled myself via bicycle from end-point to start-point rather than hire a shuttler. Adds independence, saves money, but adds time and effort. An interesting way to go, two adventures in one.
DeLorme state-wide map books are a section hiker's best friend.
donthaveoneyet
12-01-2015, 20:29
..., but don't put off the really hard areas too long. Make sure you get to them while you're still young enough.
Hey, I represent that! Old people can do it, too (I hope)....
illabelle
12-01-2015, 21:29
Hey, I represent that! Old people can do it, too (I hope)....
At 56, I'm hoping so too!!! Planning to get Katahdin and the Whites done next year ... while we still can.
I've met a lot of school teachers who did what you describe, obviously with great pleasure. I think this sort of section hiking is underrated. Each time you are all charged up and enthusiastic, and that carries all the way through the section hike. Best of luck.
So at the ripe ol' age of 40 I.
I am a 50 year old school teacher from Michigan who is section hiking with the intention of completing the entire trail one day. I have currently hiked from Rockfish Gap (Waynesboro, VI - southern border of SNP) into New York (although I need to go back and do a 55 mile stretch in the middle. I have about 1600 miles to go.... Starting in 2016, I am increasing my yearly hike from 10 days to 2 1/2 weeks (110 miles to 220-250 miles per hike). While I may have plenty of time, I am worried about running out of time for the primary goal on my bucket list!
Shuttles are not difficult to find, but they do cost money. Don't forget to tip! For me, that is the major expense; gas is next as I come from West Michigan.
As others posted, figure out where you will end up. Arrange for a shuttle to pick you up there and bring you to the starting point of your hike. For you, this will take some guess work. My suggestion is to begin in Shenandoah National Park and hike north. Two weeks time would take you to Harpers Ferry - ish. Some will tell you that 20 miles a day is possible in SNP; however, I don't think that is wise on your first section hike.
If you do hike SNP, make sure to post about it asking for suggestions. There are many stops and resupplys. I know that we carried twice as much food as we needed to (read " more than 10 pounds!).
Enjoy!
LittleRock
12-02-2015, 08:46
May cost a bit, but you could fly to Atlanta and take an airport shuttle up to Amicalola Falls SP in GA, hike north to Fontana (2 weeks) or Davenport Gap (3 weeks), then take another airport shuttle back to either Knoxville or Asheville and fly home from there. Note there are some things (i.e. fuel canisters) that you can't take on a plane so you may have to stop somewhere and purchase them before getting on the trail.
I think that the trick is finding entry and exit points with cheap public transit options to avoid the expensive shuttles. I planned, but unfortunately didn't go, on a trip from Springer to Erwin. While there's no public transit to the southern terminus, there are shuttle services or even Uber that can get you there for around $75. In Erwin you can hitch to Johnson City which has a Greyhound station. Similar strategies can be used from Rockfish Gap to HF, or HF to Carslisle PA and I believe further north as well. While not free, this type of strategy has to be cheaper than a 200-300 mile shuttle back to the starting point.
Gambit McCrae
12-02-2015, 09:19
Oldest guy I saw Thru hiking this year was like 82 I think? he was all the way in Mass and knew he wasn't going to make Big K but said he would pick up where he ended this next spring and finish it out.
Met another guy in the smokies who was "an old" 72, but was slowly making his was as well. 40 is young, my buddy thru hiked the AT this year and Ide say he is between 45-55, and did it in like 100 days.
Anyways, If I were so lucky as to be able to take a consecutive 3 weeks off (I can only take my vaca's in 5 day increments), I would park my car at my start, and just walk. Have a 20 mile bubble for stopping point and have a shuttle lined up in that area. If you do 15 mile days and take a no hike day once a week your looking at putting in about 270-300 miles. That's a good first stretch and will not spoil you as Virginia has started doing to me.
peakbagger
12-02-2015, 10:08
I sectioned the AT over predominantly 10 years of twice weekly vacations with one five week section hike one spring. The long and the short of it was that I connected up with other folks who had the same goal. We tended to self shuttle using two cars or would catch a shuttle with someone we knew along the trail. Taking two cars south from New England sounds like its costly but generally the gas we used was less than what we pay for to a shuttler (we all had econoboxes). We also gained a lot of flexibility and got more hiking in each week as anytime you introduce a shuttler you have to put in buffer times that eat up hiking time.
I don't think we would have done it solo, hiking with someone else keeps the motivation up and realistically the southern AT can get fairly "boring". Adding in cars allowed us to get to know the region outside of the green tunnel that thru hikers only see. The person I finished with had an ankle issue that limited his ability to haul a pack so we ended up slackpacking some of the far southern section. This allowed us do significant daily mileage and we resupplied out of our trunk. We mostly stayed in shuttles or accessible AT shelters (rarely did we ever have to walk more than a 1/2 mile from a road to a shelter, unlike New England) so our weekly costs weren't that high.
Good luck and try to mix it up a bit, its nice to get a taste of a section farther up or down the trail rather than doing it in one continuous strip.
It sure helps to know someone who lives near the trail. Two of my longish sections began at the east end of the Bear Mtn. bridge -- so chosen because my sister-in-law lives nearby. Good breakfast and great sendoff both times. I mixed up SOBO and NOBO sections freely, and not necessarily in strict sequence. Opportunistic, you might say.
Sugarfoot
12-02-2015, 10:31
I've been sectioning the AT since 1994. In the early years, I would fly to the nearest city and either rely on friends or shuttlers to get me to the trail head, stopping at an outfitter for fuel on the way. I would fly back from the nearest city. If I had to change my return reservation, it wasn't a problem, usually just a $50 change fee. But things have changed. Unless you buy a very expensive ticket, the change fee on airlines ends of costing more than the original round trip ticket. So I've been using AmTrak the past few years. Even first class AmTrak, with a roomette and meals included, ends up costing less than flying coach if you have to change your reservation. AmTrak is also refundable. The downside is that I lose a day on either side for the increased travel time, but that really isn't a problem for me. By the way, I've never had my pack inspected on AmTrak so I bring everything.
+1 for Amtrak. Trains are fun.
Consider Southwest. No change fees, only possible change in fare.
As others posted, figure out where you will end up. Arrange for a shuttle to pick you up there and bring you to the starting point of your hike. For you, this will take some guess work.
Minor point: some of us do it the other way: leave a car at the endpoint, have shuttle deliver us to the start point, walk back to car. That way you get the shuttle-coordination uncertainties out of the way before the hike begins.
boudreaux76
12-02-2015, 14:12
After reading the Amtrak idea I am seriously considering that as an option. I'm wanting to knock GA and part of NC out this year at least. I have almost no cartilage in my left knee and a torn meniscus in my right (its been that way for 8 years - I'm used to it, but I can't fly and up and down hill takes a little extra time). I'm hoping to make it from Springer to Fontana Dam in 16 days. That's 3 days on, zero day, 4 days on, zero day, 4 days on, zero day, 2 days to finish... average 12-13 miles/ walking day.
Amtrak to Gainesville and shuttle to Springer. Shuttle from Fontana to closest city with Amtrak or catch a bus to a train station.
illabelle
12-02-2015, 14:29
After reading the Amtrak idea I am seriously considering that as an option. I'm wanting to knock GA and part of NC out this year at least. I have almost no cartilage in my left knee and a torn meniscus in my right (its been that way for 8 years - I'm used to it, but I can't fly and up and down hill takes a little extra time). I'm hoping to make it from Springer to Fontana Dam in 16 days. That's 3 days on, zero day, 4 days on, zero day, 4 days on, zero day, 2 days to finish... average 12-13 miles/ walking day.
Amtrak to Gainesville and shuttle to Springer. Shuttle from Fontana to closest city with Amtrak or catch a bus to a train station.
Just assuming your next section will be the Smokies, I thought I'd point out that according to the Park rules, you must begin and end your section at least 50 miles outside the Park in order to be considered a thru-hiker (which gives you more flexibility in which shelter you use). With your knee issues, that flexibility might be helpful. That means ending this first hike somewhere south of Fontana. Just a thought.
I have been section hiking the AT for several years. I tried using my car and shuttle / hitchhiking etc. The best and easiest way is to decide when you want to hike , drop a note in the White Blaze meet up forum and find someone to hike with. With two vehicles life is so much easier than trying to coordinate with shuttles or be places on certain dates. I have done this 4 times with no problems. As a side note some of the happiest people I have see on the trail are small groups of 3 or 4 people section hiking together....
Hey, I represent that! Old people can do it, too (I hope)....
Well I'm here to tell you (and everyone else) that I'm doing it. 2016 will be my 3rd of 4 AT sections. Harpers Ferry to Rutland VT- 770 miles.
boudreaux76
12-06-2015, 23:57
Just assuming your next section will be the Smokies, I thought I'd point out that according to the Park rules, you must begin and end your section at least 50 miles outside the Park in order to be considered a thru-hiker (which gives you more flexibility in which shelter you use). With your knee issues, that flexibility might be helpful. That means ending this first hike somewhere south of Fontana. Just a thought.
And that ladies and gentlemen is why I have come to love this site so much already... I had no idea.
Thanks for the heads up!!
I've actually cut the hike time considerably since my wife has decided to come along on the train with me, drop me off at Springer and then meet up with me the next week somewhere around the NC state line in the rental car. That way in 2017 I can make the trail from Deep Gap to at least I-40 just outside the park.
bobgessner57
12-07-2015, 19:55
If you have the time you could have your wife meet you at the USFS Standing Indian Campground which is accessible by paved road for her ( Off of old US 64 from Wallace Gap)and by any number of side trails from the AT down to the campground for you. Kimsey Creek Trail from Deep Gap down to the campground is nice. I have never driven the dirt road up to Deep Gap but you may not want to incur the wrath of rental agents fussing about any possible gravel dings.
Standing Indian also has flush toilets/showers if you want to clean up before riding to town.
donthaveoneyet
12-07-2015, 20:33
Well I'm here to tell you (and everyone else) that I'm doing it. 2016 will be my 3rd of 4 AT sections. Harpers Ferry to Rutland VT- 770 miles.
Awesome! I'm a couple of years younger than you, so maybe there's hope for me yet! Thanks for the inspiration.