View Full Version : Share the greatest shuttle you've ever had....
MedicineMan
01-23-2010, 01:42
Day hiker, section hiker, thru-hiker; we've all had a shuttle here or there. What was the greatest, the luckiest, the scariest, the most 'angelic', the most expensive---whatever.
My most heart felt shuttle was when I met OXGAME97...I mentioned on WB that I needed a shuttle to Clingmans and he drove up from Atlanta just to help a hiker! I remember he was also working on his 900 miler award in GSMNP but he got me to the trail.
What's your greatest shuttle story?
MM
Mine is a shuttle yet to be from Pawling up into CT or further down in NY. Already hiked the short section from the RR tracks into CT and stalled out there
Outlaw
Ox97GaMe
01-23-2010, 11:56
There are 3 shuttles that fit this category for me.
a) Scariest ride I have ever taken. Gatlinburg back to Newfound Gap, Smokies. An older gentleman in an old, beat up, rusted out pickup truck drove me up the mountain. He had a set of vice grips as his floor mount gear shifter. The floorboard was so rusted out on the passenger side that you could see the undercarriage and road below your feet. He was a really great guy and told me lots of stories about his family and growing up around the Smokies.
b) Jo Mary Road, 100 mile wilderness. I had run out of snack food (ravenous hiker appitite) and was spending the night at the shelter near the road. A weekend hiker was at the shelter that night. He offered to drive me into Millinocket, then paid for my snack resupply, and drove me back out to the trail. I got my first REALLY good look of Katadin from the other end of Jo Mary Lake while driving back from town.
c) After finishing the Benton MacKaye Trail in 98 (was only GA section then), I met a deer hunter in the Cahutta wilderness. I was a bit reluctant to tell him too much at first, as one I was a bit apprehensive to tell a redneck with a shotgun too much about what i was doing or how far I was away from my vehicle. After answering a few of his questions and getting to know each other better, I let him know I was a former thru hiker. He drove me all the way back to Springer parking lot (From Hemp Top) just so he could talk about the trail. He said his friends would be so envious of the fact that he had actually met a REAL LIFE thru hiker.
Simple. The shuttle from Kincora to Elizabethton, TN.
Bob Peoples does it every day dring hiker season, but it was special to me in 1999. I had decided to push to Kincora from Apple House Shelter instead of resupplying in Roan Mountain or Elk Park. I made that walk in a VERY long rainy day. I got there with just enough time to shower before catching the evening shuttle to town.
I hadn't even heard of Kincora until I bought the 1999 Companion that year in Hot Springs and had no idea of what to expect, whether or not the shuttle run would have already happened for the day or whatnot. It was the perfect resupply at the end of a long wet, uncertain day.
Ox97GaMe
01-23-2010, 12:17
ok.. just to set the story straight.... Although it sounds pretty impressive as stated.
I was planning to be hiking in the Smokies and saw the posting. Since I was working on completing all the trails in the park, I had lots of options about where my next trip would be. MedicineMan's hiking plans (and the subsequent shuttle need) could be worked into my plans. Basically, I could kill two birds witih one stone, so-to-speak. I have met a lot of hikers in this manner.
I wish I could say that I had driven 200 miles each way just to help out a hiker, but that kind of reputation would be nearly impossible to live up to. We all do what we can. I am a firm believer that what goes around comes around. I have been fortunate to have had some wonderful folks do wonderful things for me and I hope that in some small way, I am passing that along.
Happy Hiking
Spirit Walker
01-23-2010, 12:38
When Jim and I were thruhiking the CDT in 2006, we had arranged a ride to the border with somebody we knew on cdt-l. We took off on a shakedown hike in PA and came back to town about 4 days before we were due to leave. In our email was word that our internet friend had been in a bad bike accident and was in the hospital. Yikes. I put out a request for help on two forums and within 24 hours had 3 different offers to take us to the border. Mind you, we were starting at Crazy Cook, which is about 6 hours from Albuquerque, and then 24 miles down dirt roads, kinda in the middle of nowhere. One of the offers was somebody who said, "I've never been down in the bootheel and would like to explore it a little." So I contacted Sol and plans were made. He picked us up at the airport in Albuquerque, along with our friend Mara who joined us for the first week. We all drove down to Deming and spent the night there. The next morning he drove us to Crazy Cook Monument. All in all, it took him at least two days to get us to the border and back home again. Sol was a really nice guy, native to NM, who was able to explain a lot about what we were seeing on our drive south.
sasquatch2014
01-23-2010, 14:31
MM
Mine is a shuttle yet to be from Pawling up into CT or further down in NY. Already hiked the short section from the RR tracks into CT and stalled out there
Outlaw
Well I'll tell you what you give me a shout and I'll get you to where you need to go then when we get there you can tell me if it was memorable or not.:D
No really. That is my area and I would be glad to give a hand. The way that I look at it is that I am banking up good karma for the day when I really need a ride someplace.
modiyooch
01-23-2010, 14:42
I drove 400+ miles one day to section hike with friends. I got to town around noon, and wanted to knock out 8 miles of the AT so it wasn't a wasted day. I could find one trailhead but not the other, and time was ticking. I decided to just park and walk away from my car. I had a taxi # as a backup.
At the end of my hike, the call to the taxi yielded the company out of business. I stuck out my thumb. A man travelling thru, stopped and picked me up. My car happened to be parked in the town from his childhood. He had not been there in many years. He gladly went out of his way, and would not take any gas money. He enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
white_russian
01-23-2010, 15:01
Kip Stowell giving me a ride to buy some groceries ... and a complete history of the town of Harpers Ferry and the battlefield.
Posted on Whiteblaze asking where to park in Damascus. Some weirdo named LoneWolf responded offering not only a place to park but a shuttle to start our hike. Thanks to AT&T I had no phone service in town so he came and found us at MRO. He also called our wives to let them know that we had no cell service and that we started our hike. I forget what we paid for the shuttle but I can assure you that it was well worth it for the stories if nothing else.
I appreciated each & every shuttle I ever took. I guess my most memorable one was in 98 (I think), I was "done" I still had to get to Kincora where my car was parked, & only 3 days to get there AND home. I was at Hughes gap road & figured I would ask the next car directions to the nearest town. Turned out I flagged down one of the owners of the new Greasy creek friendly. He had "errands" to run, but after them would take me to Kincora, I helped him load a friends truck top camper, & we had a nice day, I got to Kincora & had a good nights sleep, well worth it. when I finished that section in 08, it took me most of 4 days, I would never have made it.
I know this isn't the oint of this post, & I tell the following story as the perspective of one who was on the other end not to brag. I am so happy I did what I did:
I was sectioning from Newfound Gap in the Smokies to "Places north". About mid day of day 2, so about 12 miles in, I met a SOBO trio; forgot the trail names, but I later found out that the female was Dawn Averitt, a nice person "Trekking with Aids" , anyway: mid week day, Raining, they wouldn't get to Newfound gap till at least 6PM, for whatever reason, (I would like to think its cause I'm a great guy :p ) I handed them my spare truck key, gave them a description of the truck & directions to G-Burg & how to get around in town. Shook hands all around & walked on.
Back at my truck a week later (yes it was there) I got a nice card from them saying "Thanks". I still (Ok, I'm tearing up now) appreciate that card so much. In my mind, I did nothing for it, handed people in need my key.
My point is: sometimes the shuttles are as fulfilling, even important as it is to those being shuttled. Even if you paid for the shuttle, send a thank you card. Trust me, it WILL be appreciated.
Kincora is wallpapered with thank you cards, as are many other trail places.
In 1995 I got a ride with Gene Hamilton from the Blueberry Patch to Springer at FS 42. He missed his calling in Nascar. The trip aged me a couple years! Heard later he scared everyone that rode with him.
John Klein
01-23-2010, 21:27
Best shuttle was from Wes Wisson driving me back to my car at Amicalola Falls. He and his wife told me all about good restaurants they knew of in North Georgia, Atlanta, and Manhattan.
my best shuttles are every time ron sets me out in the woods somewhere. the stories you hear about great aunt lizzie the lice et up is worth more than gold.
Jim Adams
01-24-2010, 12:25
Needed a ride back to my start from the end of a river trip in Canada. Dirt road... no traffic...turning into a 70 mile long walk. First car past stopped. I noticed as I walked toward the car that the rear bumper of the LTD was only about 4"-5" off the ground. When I got to the vehicle the 60ish y/o drived smiled and said "hop in quick, I can't take a chance of getting caught with this moose I just poached." I looked and the back seat was FULL of 1/2 a moose. He looked at me and laughed as he pulled out saying " the other half is in the trunk".
It was a long, dusty, smelly 70 miles but his stories about how many times he had been in bush plane crashes were so funny that we laughed the whole way. I got his phone number and have used him for other shuttles twice since then....a true character!
geek
Harriet Quarles in Minnesota for an SHT shuttle
Mandy in Kentucky for a Land Between the Lakes shuttle (most angelic, thanks Mandy!)
Wes Wisson in Georgia kind of fell into my lap when I had no plan on how to get to Springer from Amicalola
RollingStone
01-24-2010, 17:35
Plans To Much was the best shuttle I have had so far. He is located near Rutland, VT. Him and his wife go out of their way to help hikers. Me and my daughter were very appreciative of his hospitality last summer when I got sick on the trail and needed a lift out to Killington.
Cookerhiker
01-24-2010, 18:22
....Wes Wisson in Georgia kind of fell into my lap when I had no plan on how to get to Springer from Amicalola
Don't you usually hike this part?:-?
Tough call... It'd have to be Frau in Glasgow, Lone Wolf, William in Buena Vista, Jeff and Nancy Hoch or Robert Boyle in NY - there's a few more but these are the ones that I thought were pretty good/great.
Brenda from the Rendevous Hotel in Pearisburg was very interesting too.
Jim Adams
01-24-2010, 19:06
This thread made me realize that I need to write a book about my shuttles and hitches.
2002- tried a cheap pair of light weight boots and they literally fell apart in 4 days. My feet were covered with blisters and I was trying to hitch into Pearisburg to get my new ones from home at the P.O. I was hitching / walking along the road when a gentleman stopped and picked me up. He said I was walking as if I had blisters on my feet and I explained the problem to him. He stated that when he was growing up that one of his buddies fathers named (jerry) Mann (I don't remember the real first name, just the last) walked across the United States and when he reached the Pacific Ocean, he turned around and walked back however on the return trip, he ended up with severe blisters on his feet. He gave me a ride to where he had to turn for a meeting and appologized for not being able to take me the entire distance to the P.O.
I got out, waved as he drove away and began walking again. About 50' down the road a car came up behind me and stopped. The driver had the passenger side window down and asked if I needed a ride. I jumped in while thanking him and quickly told him the story about my boots and the blisters. He put out his hand to shake mine and said " Hi, I'm (jerry) Mann. I had a blister problem one time too."
I was dumb founded! He told me the entire story of his walk and rode me to the P.O.
My life has been full of incredible karma...I have met so many wonderful people but these weird circumstances that happen to me all the time just blow me away!
geek
Up in Vermont in 2002, I got a shuttle to Brattleboro and there was booze, pot and naked girls in that van and that is all I am going to say about that......
Up in Vermont in 2002, I got a shuttle to Brattleboro and there was booze, pot and naked girls in that van and that is all I am going to say about that......
That must of been before you were pretending to be a Christian???????? :-?
papa john
01-25-2010, 08:09
The greatest shuttle I can remember is the one from Erwin to Hot Springs. The shuttler was none other than Miss Janet. She picked me up in a fancy Cadillac and we had a nice conversation on the ride down to HS.
kolokolo
01-25-2010, 22:52
My best shuttle was last Friday, as I started a two-day hike in WV/VA. Sharon picked me up at Ashby Gap and drove my up to Keys Gap. There was quite a bit of snow and ice that morning, but she came anyway. She told great stories, taught me her strategy for buying a car, and told me about the great pie store near Snickers Gap. It was a fun ride.
Slo-go'en
01-25-2010, 23:08
My best suttle? Had to hole up in Gatlinburg for a few days with the flu. It was still kinda nasty out by the time I was feeling better and decided to skip up to Davenport gap and get back on there. I asked at the desk at motel I was at if there was anyone there who could give me a ride. Sure the owner said, Grama will do it.
Turns out Grama was quite the character, full of all kinds of stories about the area as she drove me along back roads, mostly dirt at the time (this was some time ago). The best was when she said her handy man at the motel used to date Dolly Parton in high school and isn't that boy sure sorry he didn't knock her up when he had the chance!
double d
01-26-2010, 00:19
Best shuttle I've had was in Vermont and Dot picked me up at the Albany airport and drove me to past Bennington Vt to the AT trail on RT 9. Great ride, she's very outgoing and friendly, great conversation.
Johnny Thunder
01-26-2010, 01:35
Stop the thread!!!
I have the two best.
1. The double amputee in Marion who operated the brake and accelerator using a stick. He had one seat (which I gave to my then-girlfriend...her first trip out to meet me on the trail) and a pile of old rusty tractor blades. I got the tractor blades.
2. The Hearse that picked me up on the Parkway and took me to Wintethur Ski Area where they were hosting the Virginia Funeral Director's Association annual meeting and buffet.
see?
Johnny Thunder
01-26-2010, 01:42
Oh crap...how could I forget "Jack" who looked just like WB member "Just Jack"...who I met at Journey's end this year. After initially confusing him with the other hiker (they are twins...I swear) he offered me and Free Fall a ride...from Canada...to 5 miles from her parents house outside of Keane, NH...190 miles.
Jack and I talked about home brewing, past lives, and shamanism (he was a dentist). That dude was awesome!!!
That must of been before you were pretending to be a Christian???????? :-?Yes it was and it was before you were pretending to be a HYOH........
Chaco Taco
01-28-2010, 10:02
pretending to be a HYOH........
whut? Pretending to be a Hike Your own Hike. That doesnt make sense;)
whut? Pretending to be a Hike Your own Hike. That doesnt make sense;)
It is because you are below my thinking standards.......
Chaco Taco
01-28-2010, 10:08
It is because you are below my thinking standards.......
Haha good one TOW!!
Someone locked there keys and all there gear in their car one time so I got a piece of wood and made a wedge from it and got some briars and a limb and got the door open for them. About 4 days later I was trying to hitch back to my car after ditching the trail on a spur trail and what do ya know, right when I stepped onto the blacktop they were coming around the corner. Bingo.
Ham-Bone
01-28-2010, 14:16
Best shuttle was from Wes Wisson driving me back to my car at Amicalola Falls. He and his wife told me all about good restaurants they knew of in North Georgia, Atlanta, and Manhattan.
Wes and his wife are great.....he has shuttled me twice. He has some good stories about some of his shuttle adventures.
Ron Haven
01-28-2010, 14:50
my best shuttles are every time ron sets me out in the woods somewhere. the stories you hear about great aunt lizzie the lice et up is worth more than gold.Thanks,sweety.I like to prime everyones hike with a smile.My poor old aunt Lizzy broke out right now with some kinda hives that skeered tha doctor real bad.We notified medicare to see about the doctor soon as they could.I think his insurance lapped,,!!!:eek:
Chaco Taco
01-28-2010, 18:50
Thanks,sweety.I like to prime everyones hike with a smile.My poor old aunt Lizzy broke out right now with some kinda hives that skeered tha doctor real bad.We notified medicare to see about the doctor soon as they could.I think his insurance lapped,,!!!:eek:
Hey Ron, being a driver, why dont you share the story about you gettin Little Bear outta the woods a couple of years ago. He wont mind
Ron Haven
01-28-2010, 19:59
Hey Ron, being a driver, why dont you share the story about you gettin Little Bear outta the woods a couple of years ago. He wont mindLittle Bear's my buddy.He bout froze to death on me.I was going to go hike with em but something had come up.
A hiker friend who lives in NYC but doesn't own a car borrowed one from a friend so we could shuttle cars hiking through the 100 Mile Wilderness.
The car was so beat up a State Trooper pulled us over just because the old car "looked suspicious." When it got up to about 50, the whole car started shaking.
Well, we got to Baxter, the owner showed up to join our hikes around the park. We are driving along in the park when a Moose pops out of the bushes and starts running down the road in front of us. So, my friend, the owner, yells out , "Quick, grab the wheel, I got to take pictures", so we bounce and weave along the road, Moose jogging out front and my friend leaning out the window with his camera. That old moose sure was entertained that day.