View Full Version : Flip-Flop Help
Hi everyone! I just stumbled upon this awesome website the other day.
I'm planning a thru hike starting May 16th. My question is how should I flip flop? The complicating factor is I need to get off the trail for two weeks, the week of June 16th and July 27th. That leaves about 25 days then 5 weeks and then I can stay on the trail until I finish.
I live in PA, close to the trail, and was originally planning on starting at Delaware Water Gap and going north, then going south. Is there a better way?
Thanks!
find a pair that fit great and are lightweight and cheap, strap them to your pack and wear them when you're in town or camp
errrr start at springer, head as far north as possible, within a few days of your july off-time, hitch, train, bus and taxi home. once your done, begin where you left off.
Blissful
03-26-2009, 22:35
I might consider Damascus as your starting point after Trail Days maybe. You'd have a fair part of VA done in four weeks by break #1 and not that far from PA, all things considered (and you will be with the '09 thru hiker crowd, though they will be going quicker than you) Then when you return from break #1 you go back to VA and will likely be near NJ when you have to return for break #2. Then head north from where you get off hike and summit K, return to Damascus and finish at Springer in the late autumn with cooler weather. You also get to finish at an official terminus which is fun.
Hi everyone! I just stumbled upon this awesome website the other day.
I'm planning a thru hike starting May 16th. My question is how should I flip flop? The complicating factor is I need to get off the trail for two weeks, the week of June 16th and July 27th. That leaves about 25 days then 5 weeks and then I can stay on the trail until I finish.
I live in PA, close to the trail, and was originally planning on starting at Delaware Water Gap and going north, then going south. Is there a better way?
Thanks!
I'd start in Waynesboro VA at the start of the Shenendoahs. Easy walking to warm you up. After a month you'll be at Delware Water Gap and I-80 close to home. Get back on there and a month later you should be to around Hanover NH. Take the bus to NYC and then take a bus anywhere from there.
Repeat to get back to Hanover and finish at Katahdin mid-September and catch a ride back to Waynesboro, VA where you should be aligned with some SOBO's heading for Springer.
I'd vote for hiking in as few segments as possible. Start at Springer, hike until you have to get off for your break. Then start SOBO from Katahdin. The month you've already hiked will give you a good warm-up run, but you'll basically be a SOBO, which is a good thing.
Don't worry about the logistics of getting home at this point. As you hike, it will become clear that there are lots of options. You can find a shuttler, or hitch, from whatever town you end up in when it's time to take the break, to some place where there's a bus, train, or plane home. Or maybe a kind family member of friend will come pick you up--it would be a day's drive for them each way.
Maybe it's just one of those "hike your own hike" type things. It seems that there's no "best" way for me to do this....
Maybe it's just one of those "hike your own hike" type things. It seems that there's no "best" way for me to do this....
yup. all you're going to get is if-i-were-yous
max patch
03-27-2009, 10:13
Theres a lot to be said for starting at one terminus and hiking toward the other. However, given your parameters I think your original inclination was right on; starting close to home will make your transportation requirements easier and cheaper than starting at Springer.
Another option is to take a Greyhound Bus to Roanoke and get a 12-mile shuttle to Cloverdale and hike to Harpers Ferry for your first leg. Harpers Ferry has easy on and off (Amtrak service to Washington, DC 7 days a week where you can make connections; (and cheaper, more reliable MARC commuter train runs weekdays). That's 295 miles/11.75 miles a day, probably the upper limit of someone starting out unless you are in really good shape, experienced, or have a really light pack. You might consider another road crossing a north of Roanoke to make this first leg less demanding, but it will cost you more to get there (and to return there on the last leg). Cloverdale has the advantage of motels, an outfitter, restaurants, Kroger grocery, and other services just a few tenths from the A.T. crossing.
When you return to Harpers Ferry, hike north to the A.T. Metro North railroad stop in New York (near the Connecticut border), 424 miles north of Harpers Ferry. The Harlem line Metro North train stops here only on weekends, but Pawling, 2 miles away, has service 7 days a week. You might overshoot this—in that case, arrange a shuttle from somewhere in Connecticut/Mass.
To get the longest stretch of easiest terrain, start at the southern end of Shenandoah/Waynesboro, VA as A-Train has suggested. Don’t carry 10 days worth of food, though, or it’ll seem hard despite the relatively easy terrain. Take advantage of camp stores (not much backpacker food but you can make due if you're not choosy) and restaurants along the way, stay at Big Meadows or Skyland lodge and have a package sent there, or arrange for a local shuttler to bring you a box of resupply.
Harpers Ferry is also a good place to start.
For more info on shuttles and public transportation along the A.T., check out http://www.appalachiantrail.org/transportation. For more ideas on alternative thru-hike itineraries, check out http://www.appalachiantrail.org/thruhiking/alternatives.
Laurie P.
ATC
Here's what the Appalachian Trail Conservacy recommends for a May start:
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.mqLTIYOwGlF/b.4805565/k.67EA/Alternative_Itineraries.htm
Head-start: May
Harpers Ferry, W.Va., north to Katahdin; Harpers Ferry, W.Va., south to Springer Mountain.
Sample itinerary: Start in Harpers Ferry first half of May, reach Katahdin second half of August; return to Harpers Ferry after Labor Day; finish at Springer Mountain the second half of November.
Start in easiest part of the Trail that very gradually gets more difficult.
When you start do not expect to keep pace right away with thru-hikers who started in Georgia.
Start in mild, pleasant weather.
Start amidst spring wildflowers and walk north with spring.
Hike through the mid-Atlantic before it gets hot, humid and water sources become scarce.
If you start earlier than May, plan to reach Vermont after mud season ends (about June 1).
Reach the White Mountains in July, before the peak crowds.
Reach Maine in August, when black flies are gone (but expect crowds the last hundred miles of Maine).
Plenty of time to reach Katahdin before it closes.
Walk south with fall colors on the second half of your hike.
Companionship with early northbounders the first half, then finish the Trail with early southbounders.
Be prepared for hunting season in the South.
Be prepared for cold weather and the possibility of snow in November.
Panzer
Starting in Harper's Ferry is an interesting idea, i think it's all going to come down to where i can get a ride from a friend or family member to.