View Full Version : New England To Springer mt , GA
High Life
03-15-2009, 11:19
looking to get on the trail april 1 st
desperately seeking a cheap ride
hitting the trail and trying to go north with very little money
4eyedbuzzard
03-15-2009, 11:27
Not doing that $69 airfare deal?
High Life
03-15-2009, 12:14
no .. i'm trying the hard way .. btw where's the other thread
im so bad at navigating this thing :P
4eyedbuzzard
03-15-2009, 12:17
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=47451&highlight=ride
Slo-go'en
03-15-2009, 13:23
Unless you hitch hike, which could take forever, or a discount air ticket, the cheapist way is by bus, buying a ticket 2 weeks in advance on line.
This might be too obvious, but check the rideboard on craigslist. Any person who continually hikes the AT should have the nerves to chance riding with a stranger across country. I had good luck getting from Portland to Seattle with a stranger and it only cost me some gas money.
Good luck!
CrumbSnatcher
03-15-2009, 15:48
in 99' i hitch hiked back to nebraska. 2 other times after katahdin i hitched back to erwin once and asheville once.(hitching next to the A.T. was alot easier) hitching down the A.T. was not hard at all. it took only 2-3 days. staying close to the trail and if it was getting late i could always go set up my tent on/near the trail. either way good luck and have a good hike
Glebbber
03-16-2009, 17:58
I too am trying to get from the boston area to springer for an early april start date. I also dont want to go through the percieved hassle of flying.
Grey hound from south station to gainesville, GA is 60$ two weeks in advance and 65$ one week in advance. but after a somewhat unpleasant experince a few years ago I've decided on amtrak. Boston to ATL during the week is 140$ with the train. both methods take about 24 hours and require 1 transfer in NYC, but trains are so much more comfortable.
I dont think traveling by car would be cheap because of lodging and what not. Unless you camped along the way, but that could add hassle finding sites. Or you could just pull over anywhere grassy and pitch for the night. But it may be hard to find someone willing to drive you and do all that. or you could camp on the lawn at the motel(s) they stayed at. Or you could find someone willing to drive it in a straight shot and switch off driving.
I think train is the easiest, bus is the cheapest, fyling is the quickest, and driving is not really a good idea.
just to add: I plan on staying at a hostel for a night and getting picked up at a train staion. and in the morning getting a shuttle to amicalola to start fresh. This should add like 70$. so all in all I am spending about 210$ and 48hrs to get to springer, though in a liesure way.