View Full Version : Greyhound Bus
I noticed in a few threads people mentioned taking the bus. Just curious if a lot of hikers use the bus instead of flying. I haven't looked but I am guessing it is cheaper than flying but takes longer. Is it easier to store you gear on the bus. Are there restrictions on what you can take or not take.
Stan Johnson
09-29-2006, 12:24
I rode a bus back from a couple of hikes. I hated every minute of it. I ran into things like; bus late delays, bus full delays, bus lost ( the driver actually couldn't find the terminal in ohio) delays, nasty bus stations, no leg room, lost pack, rude people, frequent stops, drunks and homeless in bus stations, panhandlers...... my own personal opinion is.... I would never ride a bus again unless it was an absolute emergency.
Touch of Grey
09-29-2006, 12:33
I for one plan on the bus route next March. From here in Michigan the last I checked it was 89 dollars from here to Atlanta and about 25 - 27 hours. So far as I know there are not many resitrictions on what you can transport via the bus in your baggage as of yet. I also checked out the train situation and while I could catch the train here locally I would end up riding the bus to save hours and the time factor was still sonewhere in the vicinity of 30 hours or better travel time.
While I could get a plane ticket via TransAir who's main hub is Atlanta and their rates are some of the best I have found, the trade-off besides only needing roughly 2 1/2 hours in the air is that the restriction on what you can pack legally in your bag is going to place some real concerns depending on the type of stove and fuel (No fuel at all can be transported by plane.)
At current gasoline prices and rental rates I could not even justify the rental of a car and the associated gasoline costs for a 1000 mile or so trip from here to there.
So from my standpoint and for me the bus works the best even though as someone noted that you would be crammed into the bus for long periods of time an body odors and such would be a concern. My main concern with any transportation at all is leg-room being 6 ft 3 in.
goatmilk
09-29-2006, 12:47
I noticed in a few threads people mentioned taking the bus. Just curious if a lot of hikers use the bus instead of flying. I haven't looked but I am guessing it is cheaper than flying but takes longer. Is it easier to store you gear on the bus. Are there restrictions on what you can take or not take.
I took a bus from Gorham, NH to Port Authority, NYC several times and it's RoUGh (9 hr. trip), especially after you're used to hiking. It was cheaper than flying and actually wasn't much longer because the nearest airport was in ME and plane wouldn't have saved me much time. It is easier to store gear because they have compartments under the bus where passengers put luggage. They didn't mention any restrictions but I'm sure there are... http://www.greyhound.com/travel_information/bus.shtml
Good Luck.
Oh yeah, get off the bus and stretch whenever the driver stops. It helps. Also bring something to do like read, listen to music (need earphones), etc.
Peace. :eek:
squivens
09-29-2006, 13:00
As for busing. You gotta watch out for the over booking of the buses. I once ended up with the option of sitting/standing in the isle or waiting for the next bus. This was at 2:30 AM in the middle of nowhere Nebraska.
If you do opt to take the bus get there early and not just to the terminal but to the front of the line at your gate. a ticket doesn't guarantee a seat.
And like Stan Johnson said, you will meet a lot of interesting people, to put it politely.
Blue Jay
09-29-2006, 18:09
Over the years I have used all means to get around the AT. All have advantages and disadvantages. I prefer rental cars but the downside is the cost. Next I like train travel, inexpensive and almost fun. Bus and airplanes are both filled with downsides, however I don't think one is worse than the other. All in all I prefer bus to airplane as I've had more interesting and humorous events occur while traveling by bus. Airplane travel is no fun at all anymore.
mweinstone
09-29-2006, 20:02
what im saying here is truth not opinion. and im allways right. listen very carfully. im going to tell you something. once i have told you, there will be no further need to speak.
trains good,planes bad, bus okay, craigs list for a ride with a real human one on one,.... priceless. do this one thing for me. make an add. wanted, ride to springer mt ga . it works and you offer gas and tolls and food, and in exchange, you get a ride that delivers you unscathed with the scathings of public travel. witch include the above menchioned and one more. guy stabbed on my bus delay.craigs list. stop at starbucks the whole way. whacked on cafe and ridin fast. craigs list i say.
mweinstone
09-29-2006, 20:05
blu jay speaks with golden tounge of wisdom. the coolest thing is a weird and great bus exspirence. but its gambleing with sanity chips to risk the opposite happening. thats,....not weird and not great,..... or in the niv translation,... horrible and life threatening.
I love the bus.
It's easier on my gear and I don't have to worry about stuff being confiscated.
I can often keep my pack with me. If I cannot, it won't get sent across the country from where I'm going and it won't get torn up in baggage.
It's an interesting cultural experience.
My legs go between the seats.
There are plenty of breaks.
The food's better.
You can take more than 3 ounces of liquid on board.
You can see stuff out the windows.
the first 700 miles of the AT i drove my car and used shuttles,as i got father north i used bus lines,i planned my hikes in between bus lines service town,buses go all the way to most of trail towns i have used,i do not like the long ride but,it is simple and cheap and it works,i have had more positive than negative experience during bus travel:cool: neo
For anyone who is thinking about flying instead of taking the bus there is a GREAT option for getting to the trail. Fly into Atlanta and take MARTA (the rapid Transit train) to the North Springs Station. (cost is $1.75) There is an REI just down the street from the station-you can buy fuel and anything else you need there. From there you have a shuttle service pick you up and take you to Amicalala Park (about an hour away) If this sounds like a good plan to you checkout out Thru Hiker Special that Hiker Hostel has.They will pick you up from the Marta station...take you to their hostel for the night..they feed you breakfast..give you 8oz of fuel-either white gas or alcohol..and then they shuttle you to either the park to hike up the approach trail or to the parking lot of Springer mtn. Last year this cost $69. Many people who post on this site have used them..the couple that run it are thru hikers..
freefall
09-30-2006, 08:51
To keep from dealing with people on the bus and at the bus stations, I just keep my headphones on. Even if I'm not listening to anything at the moment. seems to work pretty well. Other thing is on the bus, I try to sleep as much as possible. I kept my pack in the overhead so it never got lost and I was able to retrieve anything I needed.
how close are you to an Amtrak station? About the same cost and time in getting there but better to me.
have done the bus thing...nightmare! If I hadn't been standing in the loading area, my bag would not have been on the correct bus. I removed it from their trolly and put it back on the bus. went to the restroom came back out and it was off the bus again. I put it back on the bus again and then stood there and waited for the bus to load again. some scarey people on the bus. some of the bus stations you don't turn your back to anyone and you had better keep a good eye on your stuff. Just mho.
I'm going amtrak.
Mother Nature
10-01-2006, 11:09
All the above posts have adequately covered the plus' and minus' points of bus travel so I don't need to go over them again.
I have traveled by bus and had no serious problems. Snoring, sneezing and screaming children are no different on buses than flying or train travel.
The only other people that I have had contact with that traveled by bus were my son and a thruhiker and they both had nightmares. My son returning home from boot camp carefully watched his gear loaded on his bus. He arrived home to find that it had been removed at some point. Thankfully he was home for a week's leave and daily travels to the bus station ended with locating the gear. The bus station never contacted us.
The other person, our thruhiker, carefully guarded his large pack and handed it off to the bus driver as he entered the bus. From the window he observed the driver hand it off to someone else and it was loaded on another bus. He darted from the bus and complained but it was too late. He was told there would be "no problem" as both buses were headed for Atlanta and would arrive at the same time. Of course his pack did not arrive. To make a long story shorter he placed numerous calls and we made numerous visits where we scoured every corner including the restrooms... the pack stayed missing. Bus staff told us they would call if it was found. In the meantime we had picked up another hiker at the airport. Our despondant hiker decided to travel with us when we took our new shuttle rider to Springer. We dropped him off at the bus station for one more check as we were nearby on our way north. Amazingly he came out with his pack. He had found it laying against a wall in the passenger area. We never received a call from the bus line.
I am sure these nightmare happen with all forms of transportation. I suppose the potential increases because a bus makes numerous stops enroute. Being extra vigilant when the bus stops and watching what is taken off and rearranged inside the luggage bins might help .
Mother Nature
how close are you to an Amtrak station? About the same cost and time in getting there but better to me.
have done the bus thing...nightmare! If I hadn't been standing in the loading area, my bag would not have been on the correct bus. I removed it from their trolly and put it back on the bus. went to the restroom came back out and it was off the bus again. I put it back on the bus again and then stood there and waited for the bus to load again. some scarey people on the bus. some of the bus stations you don't turn your back to anyone and you had better keep a good eye on your stuff. Just mho.
I'm going amtrak.
Traveling by train is a fun experience. I enjoyed it from Austin Tx. to Springfield Mass to visit relatives in Conn. Everyone should do it once.
I think one advantage in traveling by train vs bus is that on the train your pack stays with you. You can usually place it overhead or in the sttorage area in the back of the train.
Panzer
I think one advantage in traveling by train vs bus is that on the train your pack stays with you. You can usually place it overhead or in the sttorage area in the back of the train.
Panzer
...and the lounge car, with the beer. :D
For LONG distanes the bus is actually more expensive. I flew out of chicago, and the flight was around $10 more than the bus.
...and the lounge car, with the beer. :D
Oh that's right. The Beeeeerrrrrrr....
I also guess there would be less chance of being in an accident on the train as opposed to the bus. If that counts for anything.
However, the last time I chaecked, If you take the train from Phila to Atlanta, there was a long layover in DC, but it was still a little quicker that the bus.
Panzer
I wish a train came through Nashville but it doesn't. I enjoyed riding the train when I was young
Touch of Grey
10-01-2006, 18:04
I guess it depends on your perspective and the amount of dollars and time you have at your disposal. I got online a few hours ago and the trip from Detroit (15 miles south of me) is going for 89 dollars one-way and takes just over 27 hours with one layover/bus change.
The train on the other hand runs from 132 - 146 dollars an has the following choices. Detroit by bus to Toledo 1 hour +. catch train in Toledo One Hour layover) for either DC (13 hours or so) or Pittsburgh (5 1/2 hours or so) switch to the Philadelphia Train (3 hour layover). If I go thru DC I have a nearly 10 hour layover to catch the next southbound to Atlanta. If I go thru Phillie I have a little less than an hour layover to catch the Atlanta train. So for instance I leave March 9 (Friday) from Detroit on the 9 PM bus for Toledo and finally arrive in Atlanta sometime March 11 Anywhere from 9 in the morning to 4 in the evening I think it was.
Again a plane from Metro Airport in Detroit (actually west of it) is probably 7 hours total from the time I get dropped off and collect my luggage in Atlanta then catch the MARTA all for roughly the same as the train cost.
Advanatges:
Plane quick and moderate cost in relation to the two others.
Train ability to get up periodically and stretch.
Bus is basically the same as the train but the ability to stretch is metered by the drivers need to stop and meet his logbook duties.
Disadvantages:
Plane Half a cup of some drink unless I want to spend 8 bucks for some beer/liquor and a half-dozen pretzels. Hurry up and wait for security, plane loading and unloading, and lastly for luggage. Restrictions on what can and cannot be carried in luggage.
Train High cost of the dining car menu or snack car prices. (Not as expensive as the plane but at 3 dollars for a Pepsi/Coke, well.)
Bus Micky D's and bad truck stop food that is over priced.
All three suffer from smelly less than adequately bathed in some instances people, rude behaviour on the part of attendants who would rather be doing something else and still be getting paid to do it or who want to be making more than minimum wages and so don't give a hoot about you the customer.
Gee I've just about given myself a reason to do one of two things. Either walk to Georgia or hitch a ride. Or two, stay home.
Too bad I have Springer Fever!
In the end only you can decide what mode you want to do and will have to live with your choice no matter what. As the saying goes, "Hike Your Own Hike!" Consider the initial transportation issue part of your own hiking strategy.
mweinstone
10-01-2006, 18:11
i started a thruhike a dozen years ago or so . i took amtraak from 30th street station in philadelphia. the sleeper car. i had my own room. very cool. no layovers. but snow stopped us once. and at the gainsvill station i waltzed down three steps to a pay phone and called the taxi and for 65 bucks i was in the park.however i arrive at the visitors center,... i must go direct from my house. i hate the idea of crashing out and spending an extra night traveling. i can be on trail in less than 24 hrs. with no big switches to lodge and shuttle twice or more. one cab to the train and a cab to the park. or a rideline ride straight to the park.my thing is less. less is more.
mweinstone
10-01-2006, 18:17
or you could start feb 18th and just get to philly and share my ride that i will have gotten from craigs list. then we could have hiker talk all the way. or not. i like to distract all conversation to things not hike related till past 500 mi. blabbing in the beginning is fun but tireing.
hammock engineer
10-01-2006, 20:20
Hmm all this talk of the bus has me wondering what my 22+ hour bus ride to Vermont is going to be like on Wednessday.
Whatever happens, as long as it ends in a good story and me getting there with my pack. It all somehow works out in the end.
Riding from Minneapolis to Theodore Roosevelt NP I got stuck near 2 strippers who yammered all night about how thier boyfriends, pimps and customers had done them wrong. When they were done talking with eachother they would pull out cell phones!
I rode the NJ Transit bus from Greenwood Lake, NY to the NYC Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) this year and found the ride quite nice. I plan to ride the Bonanza Bus Line from Canaan, CT to PABT next year and I am anticipating a similar experience. These “short hops” bus rides don’t seem to have the negative experiences of the longer Greyhound rides. But the PABT made me feel like I had just walked on to the set of a Terry Gilliam movie…
Gray Blazer
10-03-2006, 10:31
Grey Blazing (riding the big grey dog, not to be confused with gray blazing, riding in my gray chevy blazer) can be fun. I like the way the bus takes the roads less traveled. Small town America has the most interesting architecture as well as some of those 50's restaurants and diners. Nobody has mentioned those mobile coach restrooms yet. If you use the privy on the bus, use it early in the trip. For the guys, it's hard to aim when the bus is moving. After 20 miles or so it's good to practice constipation until the bus is in the station. It gets so bad in there even minnesota smith wouldn't want to sleep there. Whoops, wrong thread.:banana
ARambler
10-03-2006, 10:36
For anyone who is thinking about flying instead of taking the bus there is a GREAT option for getting to the trail. Fly into Atlanta and take MARTA (the rapid Transit train) to the North Springs Station. (cost is $1.75) There is an REI just down the street from the station-you can buy fuel and anything else you need there. From there you have a shuttle service pick you up and take you to Amicalala Park (about an hour away) If this sounds like a good plan to you checkout out Thru Hiker Special that Hiker Hostel has.They will pick you up from the Marta station...take you to their hostel for the night..they feed you breakfast..give you 8oz of fuel-either white gas or alcohol..and then they shuttle you to either the park to hike up the approach trail or to the parking lot of Springer mtn. ... ..
This was the best response. Low cost airlines have kept one way fares to Atlanta cheap. The Hiker Hostel of course can also be used if you take a bus or train to the Atlanta area. Make reservations ahead of time.
It is hard to get cheap one way fares out of Maine because most of us can't predict our NOBO finish date, so we would be making last minute air reservations, or building in a "zero" or two to save a few hours by bus. Last year, I flew Philadelphia to Boston, then took the bus to Millinocket, to make the trip in one day.
I did a lot of flip flopping in 2005. Avoid the bus if you can, but you probably can't.
Rambler