Section Hiking and Car

[Root66]

Hello:

Last summer my wife and I hiked along a short distance (8 mile round trip) on the AT in Smokey Mountain National Park visiting a wonderful vista on Charlie’s Bunion. We fell in love with hiking and the AT.

So we are just getting into hiking and backpacking. We are starting to gather equipment and doing some hiking with our packs at 16 – 18 pounds We plan some day hikes later this summer on the North Country Trail (sections of The Kekeabic and Superior Hiking trails) as well as a day hike on the Ice Age Trail.
So next year we plan to start section hiking the AT starting at Springer. We can only do one or maybe two weeks a year, so starting at my age of 67 will probably never finish, but the adventure calls.
So a question for our first section, with your advice possibly useful to the entire trail - we plan to drive to Springer and hike the Georgia part of the trail. The question is what to do with our car? We understand about shuttles, but want to hike north to our car and wonder if that type of arrangement is safe for the car sitting out somewhere for that long. Do anyone have experience with section hiking and transportation?
Thanks,

Root66

[rafe]

Good question. One possibility to look into is to find a shuttler or hotel/motel/hostel that will allow you to park your car on their premises for the duration of the hike. I personally would be wary of leaving my car at a trailhead for more than a few days. (Unless it's a pretty beat up car and much less desirable than any cars next to it.)

Another possibility is to leave the car at home and use a combination of public transportation, shuttle, or cab to get to and from the trailhead.

[bigcranky]

Make a reservation at The Hiker Hostel for the night before your hike. Leave your car there at the hostel (it's safe, it's a private home.) They will drive you to Springer. When you're done, they'll come get you and bring you back to the hostel and your car.

You can also fly to Atlanta and the Hiker Hostel folks will pick you up, and reverse the process when you're done (assuming you're in thru-hiker season.)

Have fun.

[rocketsocks]

While I understand the desire to use and old beat up car to leave at a trail head....there is this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory

Vandalism seems to increase once schools let out for the summer, and it really is hit or miss as to which cars get broken into or vandalized. I've had good luck with leaving a car as long as 4 days. Certain areas it seems go through a rash of break ins, this likely is the handy works of an individual or individuals. Sad really. One trick a hiker friend uses is the "the Fish mobile" get a couple fish from your local monger, throw em in the trunk, nobody will come with in 30 feet of the car.

or take yer chances and make sure the insurance is paid up. I know that's not very helpful, but is the crux we all face. Happy hiking hope your able to make other arrangements through maybe a shuttler or other business that might let you keep it there.

[Lyle]

I generally try to find a hostel or some type of business to leave my vehicle at as opposed to leaving it on the side of the road or in a forest parking lot. So far, have always managed to find a relatively secure location.

Often times a motel will allow you to leave the vehicle if you stay a night or two either before or after your hike. Hostels often will allow you to park a vehicle if you stay with them or use their shuttle service. Some totally unrelated businesses with hiker friendly owners will allow you to park. I always ask ahead of time (get the name of the person you speak with in case any change of answer later on). Sometimes businesses have legitimate reasons for refusing (upcoming events came into play a couple of times). Some places like you to leave a key with them, others don't want that responsibility, go with their wishes.

Some government agencies allow long-term parking. Again, ask in advance. Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, Bear Mountain State Park, and Fontana Dam Visitor Center are the ones I've used thus far. While these are public lots, they are patrolled and pretty safe.

This is one of the many hassles that section hikers have to deal with that thru hikers do not.

Good luck, and have fun.

[Lyle]

Just an added thought. Make sure you ask about fees for parking your car. Some places do charge a daily fee for parking. Best to know that in advance. Most all the places I've used have not charged, or waived the fee they normally charge, but be prepared to pay if that was the agreement - that assures future hikers have the same options you found.

[fredmugs]

Most of the people on here want to hike NOBO which is why I did my sections SOBO. I completed a lot of sections by hooking up with people on WB and doing car swaps. That way each of you can hike back to your own vehicle at your own pace.

[Lyle]

Most of the people on here want to hike NOBO which is why I did my sections SOBO. I completed a lot of sections by hooking up with people on WB and doing car swaps. That way each of you can hike back to your own vehicle at your own pace.

That works too, been there, done that.

Suggest carrying an extra key in case you somehow miss each other in passing. You can just worry about mailing a key back if that's the case. Saves a lot of worrying.

[Root66]

Thanks for all the great suggestions and information. This will help us dig deeper and look at the situation for parking and shuttling during each session. We can not wait to start next year!

Root66

[jockellis]

You could take two cars and park one at the end of your section then drive the other to the starting point and leave it until you finish that section and can retrieve it with car #1. In Georgia the roads seem to be between three and six miles apart which makes day or two partial day hikes feasible. I don't know about other states.

[FlyPaper]

I've hiked up to 4 nights on many hikes. Each hike we've had at least one car on the trail. Safety varies from place to place. There are a very small number of places you need to avoid. The ATC website mentions places with break ins. Also, this site has been useful: http://appalachiantrail.rohland.org/

If you hike Georgia, you'd go from Springer to perhaps Deep Gap, NC. We've parked on both places for 4 nights, multiple cars each time. I think they're both safe.

I would think Unicoa Gap is also safe if you do a shorter hike.

You can park in town and get a shuttle at both the start and end of your hike. That can be costly. To reduce cost, you can park at the end of your hike and shuttle to the beginning. That means you only pay for one shuttle and have your car waiting at the end. Or you can bring two cars and pay for no shuttles. That takes a lot of extra time and you may not save any money after paying gas to bring two cars to the trail.