Drive Time vs Walking Time - How far are you willing to drive for how few days?

[Gambit McCrae]

Title says it all. How many miles are you willing to put on the road for how few of days? Lets say you got a 4 day weekend...3 nights on available...I think the furthest I have driven for a short trip was Maryland...2 nights on the trail 2.5 days of walkin...1174 miles on the road.

Now as a disclaimer it was in the infant stages of my AT completion attempt and I wanted to say I had completed a state so what the hell lets drive thru the night and walk Maryland from Harpers Ferry to Pen Mar - Would I make that drive again now knowing what I know? Nope I would tack Maryland onto 1 of my long (1-2 week trips). Live and learn.

Now at the end of my Virginia completion.. I wanted to get it done..BAD. And so my last 3 trips were all 3-4 day trips between Bearwallow Gap and Rockfish Gap... which for me resulted in about 920 miles per trip for about 40-46 miles per trip. But I got that sucker done :) lol

Now that I am starting a second map completion of the trail - No intention of setting out to complete every mile of it a second time just Springer to somewhere up in VA I would say - I will be looking at improving my mileage efficiency from my first map. For instance leaving the car on the home side of the trip to save the driving miles that the shuttle is going to have to drive anyway.

[Malto]

Given I stopped making progress toward completing the AT in mid Vermont that would be about 350 miles each way would be my limit. But it is not the mileage but the time. I could take a week off and do the rest of Vermont and NH but there are places that I would rather spend a week such as Colorado, Wyoming or Montana. I keep go back out West rather than continue on with the AT "just to get it done"

[illabelle]

Our overall strategy:
North: Twice per year we fly north for a week or week-and-a-half section. This applies to everything north of Maryland.
South: Everything from Maryland southward is within about a half-day's drive (7 hours for Maryland, 3.5 hours for Springer). We use the South as our training ground, to get in shape for the challenges of a full week up north. Each year I plan two spring and two fall 2-3 day weekend hikes in the South. We've about run out of the trail here in the South, so I supplement by exploring new areas of the Smokies.

Due to illness, we bailed on a hike in N VA, leaving us 11.8 miles up there all by itself. Due to newby-ness, we have a 1.5 mile gap in the middle of SNP. I really don't wanna drive 6-7 long hours each way for a combined total of just over 13 hiking miles, but I can't just forget about it either. So, I don't know, maybe we'll toss in another climb of Old Rag? Or some sort of excursion in DC? Sigh. The only thing I look forward to about this 13-mile trip is checking it off the list!

[HooKooDooKu]

Drove from Alabama to the Grand Canyon for what turned into a single over-night hike.

[Leo L.]

I try hard to start most of my multiday hikes right at the front door.
Other version is, when I spent a family holiday somewhere in the Alps, on the last day I grab my pack and take on the long hike back home, while the family is driving the car back.

[nsherry61]

Wow, my answer to this is has been hugely variable.
- Living in Oregon, I would never dream of driving for more than maybe an hour for a day hike and a couple hours for a weekend hike.
- Now that I'm living in New England, I regularly drive 3 hrs each way for a day hike in the Whites.

I think it depends also on whether I'm driving to go for a hike or driving to achieve some goal. Then it depends on how important that goal is.

I'll never drive further than I have to. I'd rather just hike out my back door or drive a short as possible to achieve my goal. But, if that "have to" is one very special little bit a long ways away then . . .

If I have to drive two days to hike a one mile section of trail that completes an important section of a long hike or a final peak in some peak bagging series, I might do it. At the same time, I like to think I am above inconveniencing myself to check off some little section of unimpressive trail to achieve some silly little ego trip of being able to say I did it all.

[Coffee]

I'm not really willing to drive to trailheads since I don't own a car. It was easy to get to the AT from Washington DC - train to HF. Much harder where I am now on the gulf coast hundreds of miles from the AT. I'm planning to take Amtrak to Atlanta at some point and start getting to know the southern AT where I yet to hike but it's a long haul to get to trail now no matter how I go about it.

[GaryM]

8 hrs one way for 3 days of walking.

[Seatbelt]

7 hrs one way for 33 miles. In retrospect, kinda stupid/wasteful maybe.

[Alligator]

Six hours for a three day weekend.

[Ashepabst]

drive time's definitely my limiting reactant in trip planning. I have a 1 to 3 hour drive to get to most locales on the Cumberland Plateau --usually stick to that for one nighters. and it's anywhere between 3-6+ hours to get to spots in the Blue Ridge that i'll consider. Six is pretty much my limit, but I have a hard time convincing myself to go more than 4-5 on a solo trip.

[Feral Bill]

As a rule of thumb, hike time should exceed travel time. The more so the better.

[Berserker]

You and I have bantered back and forth in a few threads on here, so you probably already know that I've been doing the same thing as you (i.e section hiking the AT with the goal to actually complete it) for quite some time.

You're 29 per your info and are probably a little more adventurous than I am at this point (I'm 44). Back in the early years of my own section hiking adventure I'd typically drive, get immediately on the trail, and then jump right back in car after I finished hiking to head home. They were usually action packed somewhat stressful affairs, but I had fun. Fast forward to now where I've been sectioning since '07, and I value the "vacation" aspects of the AT hikes more so than just "getting 'er done". Now I typically build in a few extra days so that I can travel comfortably and take a couple zeroes during the hike if I want.

You know, I'm reminded of the time I did a road trip in my mid 20s. Myself and 2 of my buddies drove from SC to AZ/UT to see the Grand Canyon and all the national parks in Southern UT. Sounds like a wonderful trip right? Well what if I told you we drove and did the whole thing in 8 days....yeah 8 days...two of the days were travel...two full days that is...as in we drove 20 some hours straight on each end. You know what, it was kinda dumb in hindsight and I didn't really get to fully enjoy any of the parks, but I have a great story/memories from the experience...and that's all that really matters in the end right?

So to answer your question, I say HYOH...or in other words make the logistics work in such a way that makes you happy. If driving 1,000 miles, hiking 50 miles and driving a 1,000 miles back in 5 days gets you pumped up (or whatever your logistics may be), then go for it.

[TimOnWhiteBlaze]

Used to drive from UF to Sipsey (Alabama) back in the fond ol' "thebackpacker" tt days. Once a year about 9 hours ride for a 2 to 5 or 6 mile two or three day romp.

[peakbagger]

Being based in northern NH, trips down south were long ones. I did everything south of SNP in various length section hikes all car supported. The longest one was 5 weeks from SNP to Damascus. We drove two cars down and hiked roughly one week sections between the cars. By using two cars we could hike out on the last day of a section,hop in the car, resupply, get a hotel room and by the next morning be back on the trail after a car spot. We did 35 days straight with no zeros. From Damascus south it was mostly one or two week trips with two cars. We looked at local shuttles but it can eat up a lot of time and in one case wouldnt have worked due to unexpected Hurricane shutting down the trail in NC. Those were real long trips down and even longer driving home. We would leave after work on Friday evening and drive south until around 1 AM to clear the traffic in the Northeast. We would get to PA possibly VA and then grab a hotel and get 5 or 6 hours of sleep before getting up, driving for 4 or 5 hours, spotting a car and then hitting the trail. We would hike until the next Saturday and then do a long drive home on Sunday. From the Erwin south we had to switch to slackpacking as my friend had an ankle issue that limited days of backpacking, since we were slacking we could run longer days and usually would get our planned section done around Saturday noon. No matter what I was a bit of zombie Monday morning. I think I put 20 K on my Honda Civic, but would not trade places with conventional thru hikers as we got to see places down south just off the trail that thruhikers were clueless about. When slacking we would mix up sections depending on weather, if the forecast was for rain we would stick down low in the woods and save the Balds and open ridges for a nice day. We did a "victory lap the spring after we finished the south and drove down to Springer with one car to do the approach trail and then did key swap hikes to pick up sections that had been closed or rerouted during our prior hikes.

[Coffee]

I have Rockfish Gap to Boiling Springs on the AT, which I did as one continuous section hike a couple of years ago. And then I just kept repeating sections for many years within that north/south limit since it was within easy distance of Washington. One year, I did drive to South Carolina to thru hike the Foothills Trail. Now that I'm not so close to the AT and Appalachian range anymore, I really regret repeating local sections so much and not branching out further when it would have been relatively easy to do so. Instead I kept repeating sections and, for longer hikes, I would fly out west to Colorado and California.

[Berserker]

Being based in northern NH, trips down south were long ones. I did everything south of SNP in various length section hikes all car supported. The longest one was 5 weeks from SNP to Damascus. We drove two cars down and hiked roughly one week sections between the cars. By using two cars we could hike out on the last day of a section,hop in the car, resupply, get a hotel room and by the next morning be back on the trail after a car spot. We did 35 days straight with no zeros. From Damascus south it was mostly one or two week trips with two cars. We looked at local shuttles but it can eat up a lot of time and in one case wouldnt have worked due to unexpected Hurricane shutting down the trail in NC. Those were real long trips down and even longer driving home. We would leave after work on Friday evening and drive south until around 1 AM to clear the traffic in the Northeast. We would get to PA possibly VA and then grab a hotel and get 5 or 6 hours of sleep before getting up, driving for 4 or 5 hours, spotting a car and then hitting the trail. We would hike until the next Saturday and then do a long drive home on Sunday. From the Erwin south we had to switch to slackpacking as my friend had an ankle issue that limited days of backpacking, since we were slacking we could run longer days and usually would get our planned section done around Saturday noon. No matter what I was a bit of zombie Monday morning. I think I put 20 K on my Honda Civic, but would not trade places with conventional thru hikers as we got to see places down south just off the trail that thruhikers were clueless about. When slacking we would mix up sections depending on weather, if the forecast was for rain we would stick down low in the woods and save the Balds and open ridges for a nice day. We did a "victory lap the spring after we finished the south and drove down to Springer with one car to do the approach trail and then did key swap hikes to pick up sections that had been closed or rerouted during our prior hikes.
Love the detail here. We apparently have a lot in common in regards to sectioning the AT. I've basically been doing the same thing you did except I've been coming from the South. I've been doing all my sections with a good buddy, and we've been using some of our vacation time each year to go up North and bite a week or two off at a time. I also have a Honda Civic that I've been driving.

At any rate, we've settled in on the 2 car thing too. Last year was the last time we tried the shuttle thing. We attempted more than we could handle. We tried to go from NH 25 (on the North side of Moosilauke) to Grafton Notch SP and only made it to Crawford Notch before we had to totally restructure our trip. This led to multiple shuttlings and many hundreds of dollars spent...hey at least we were supporting the local economy there in Gorham :D

So this year we drove 2 vehicles and it worked out a lot better. Too bad it took us this long to figure it out as we are projecting to only have to go up there 2 more times to complete ME.

[PatmanTN]

I'm with Alligator on this one: 6 hours for a 3 day weekend

[peakbagger]

Love the detail here. We apparently have a lot in common in regards to sectioning the AT. I've basically been doing the same thing you did except I've been coming from the South. I've been doing all my sections with a good buddy, and we've been using some of our vacation time each year to go up North and bite a week or two off at a time. I also have a Honda Civic that I've been driving.

At any rate, we've settled in on the 2 car thing too. Last year was the last time we tried the shuttle thing. We attempted more than we could handle. We tried to go from NH 25 (on the North side of Moosilauke) to Grafton Notch SP and only made it to Crawford Notch before we had to totally restructure our trip. This led to multiple shuttlings and many hundreds of dollars spent...hey at least we were supporting the local economy there in Gorham :D

So this year we drove 2 vehicles and it worked out a lot better. Too bad it took us this long to figure it out as we are projecting to only have to go up there 2 more times to complete ME.

A FYI since you are going to be wandering around in my backyard, A Delorme Map Atlas is worth buying and bring a magnifying lens to recognize closed gates and bridges out. Some of the drives between gaps (AKA notches in out backyard) can exceed 100 miles. Plan on non existent cell coverage down low and dont trust electronic maps as the databases are way out of date (including google maps) Some long drives cant be avoided, some can. Some logging roads can be pretty intense for a honda civic. Definitely have a spare tire and know how to change a tire as those rocks at speed can pop a tire. A key road that folks dont realize is normally open is the Carriage road between the town of Carrabasset and Long Falls Dam Road. Its saves a couple of hours of driving to get from one side of Bigelow Mtn to the other. While in the same area I do not recommend the long logging road that runs along the top side of Flagstaff Lake from the Eustis area to Long Falls Dam road. It s long and lonely dirt logging road with few folks except loggers on it. Not a place to break down. The road that runs sort of parallel to the AT to the north from Greenville past Kokadjo to Abol Bridge gets a bit more use but is also a remote logging road in the middle of nowhere. You can easily break up the 100 Mile wilderness by heading out that road and going to the AMCs facilities in this area, There is a gated road that crosses the AT just east of the foot of Whitecap Mountain (possibly the Frenchtown Road). Its a perfect spot to split the 100MW into two pieces. The section between Monson and this road is a beast but everything east of this road is a lot easier and definitely one to take your time on. Plan your trip to stay at Antlers Campground you wont regret it. I would suggest ending the section hike at Abol Bridge. With 4 four 5 days notice you can probably reserve a spot in the park that is easy to drive to but not good for thru hikers on foot and plan on spending a few days in the park. The walk into or out of the park between Abol Bridge and Katahdin stream is short day but a long drive. Study the Day Use Parking Reservation (DUPR) and if at all possible figure out a way to hike up and over the mountain from KSC to Roaring Brook. Its a long day but is truly the only way to truly see a big chunk of Mt Katahdin, thru hikers get a taste but they miss out on the Knife Edge and the Helon Taylor trail.

[peakbagger]

Erased duplicate post

[Kaptainkriz]

I drove 6.5 hours to get to trail days (for a day) and returned the same day. That being said - right now I'm driving 3 hours to get to where my sections are on the AT. I've done 12hrs for a 3 day...I think that's my limit of drive to hike pain.

[QuietStorm]

I hike the AT every other weekend. At this point and through the winter I’ll be driving from Baltimore to south of Catawba. The goal is to finish VA by St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Will wear green for the occasion.


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[soumodeler]

I am 4-5 hours from my next section, up to Damascus. I don't see myself driving 6 hours for anything less than a multi week trip. I will probably start doing more local non-AT trails after I get to VA. 3 hours is about my limit for a weekend.

[Attila]

Two same day trip:
1. 629 miles round trip for 10 miles of trail - Blue Ridge Gap to Deep Gap (this was a long day)
2. 372 miles round trip for 8.3 miles of trail - Clingmans Dome to Newfound Gap
Overall: 31 section hikes to date to cover 623 miles of the AT from Springer to just South of Pearisburg, VA. Total miles to/from trail: 17911 miles...... going back this month for an overnight trip to finish Southwest Virginia in Pearisburg,

[Berserker]

A FYI since you are going to be wandering around in my backyard, A Delorme Map Atlas is worth buying and bring a magnifying lens to recognize closed gates and bridges out. Some of the drives between gaps (AKA notches in out backyard) can exceed 100 miles. Plan on non existent cell coverage down low and dont trust electronic maps as the databases are way out of date (including google maps) Some long drives cant be avoided, some can. Some logging roads can be pretty intense for a honda civic. Definitely have a spare tire and know how to change a tire as those rocks at speed can pop a tire. A key road that folks dont realize is normally open is the Carriage road between the town of Carrabasset and Long Falls Dam Road. Its saves a couple of hours of driving to get from one side of Bigelow Mtn to the other. While in the same area I do not recommend the long logging road that runs along the top side of Flagstaff Lake from the Eustis area to Long Falls Dam road. It s long and lonely dirt logging road with few folks except loggers on it. Not a place to break down. The road that runs sort of parallel to the AT to the north from Greenville past Kokadjo to Abol Bridge gets a bit more use but is also a remote logging road in the middle of nowhere. You can easily break up the 100 Mile wilderness by heading out that road and going to the AMCs facilities in this area, There is a gated road that crosses the AT just east of the foot of Whitecap Mountain (possibly the Frenchtown Road). Its a perfect spot to split the 100MW into two pieces. The section between Monson and this road is a beast but everything east of this road is a lot easier and definitely one to take your time on. Plan your trip to stay at Antlers Campground you wont regret it. I would suggest ending the section hike at Abol Bridge. With 4 four 5 days notice you can probably reserve a spot in the park that is easy to drive to but not good for thru hikers on foot and plan on spending a few days in the park. The walk into or out of the park between Abol Bridge and Katahdin stream is short day but a long drive. Study the Day Use Parking Reservation (DUPR) and if at all possible figure out a way to hike up and over the mountain from KSC to Roaring Brook. Its a long day but is truly the only way to truly see a big chunk of Mt Katahdin, thru hikers get a taste but they miss out on the Knife Edge and the Helon Taylor trail.
Thanks for taking the time to type up all this info...I put it in my notes for when I plan the sections up in ME in the next couple years.

[MtDoraDave]

I'm hoping to get two consecutive weeks off this June, when I'll drive about 335 miles north of Damascus, so I can shuttle back down 250 trail miles and hike back o my truck. Damascus takes 11.5 - 12 hrs from here, including stops.
.
The trip after that will likely take me close to Harper's ferry. Not sure if it's worth the time and money to drive my truck vs flying from central FL.
.
So the short answer, so far I've driven 12 hrs for a week long hike. (or 10 hours for an injury shortened week)

[Gambit McCrae]

I'm hoping to get two consecutive weeks off this June, when I'll drive about 335 miles north of Damascus, so I can shuttle back down 250 trail miles and hike back o my truck. Damascus takes 11.5 - 12 hrs from here, including stops.
.
The trip after that will likely take me close to Harper's ferry. Not sure if it's worth the time and money to drive my truck vs flying from central FL.
.
So the short answer, so far I've driven 12 hrs for a week long hike. (or 10 hours for an injury shortened week)

I find it worth my time to fly. Many dissagre with me but the money for a ticket is about twice the cost of gas, half the travel time, and eliminating 24 hours of drive time is a lot of time staying off the road so I approve of flying

[SkeeterPee]

I've driven 8 hours to run 26.2, and flew 1000 miles to run another. So I guess I look at as part of the experience, but I usually try to hike a week if I am driving more than 3-4 hours.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

My most recent insanity was to drive 8 1/2 hrs from RI to Harpers Ferry (and of course back again) to join Rain Man for his final 2/10 mi on the AT. TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!

[Bronk]

There are far too many trails within 100 miles of where I live for me to think about driving any real distance to hike. I want to be home within an hour or two of completing my hike, including stopping for dinner on the way home.

[LittleRock]

One time a friend and I left at 6:00 AM and drove to SNP to hike the Old Rag Loop, got on trail around 11:00 AM, finished around 5:00 PM, then drove straight home and got in around 10:00 PM. The hike itself was great fun but in the end we decided it was way too much driving to consider doing anything like that ever again.

I'll second what illabelle said - tons of great trails to explore here in TN and NC, no need to go any further for a weekend trip.