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  1. #1
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    Question Hitching from Rutland to Northern Terminus

    Howdy,

    What do you think about the route for hitching from Rutland to the Northern Terminus: Route 100 up the east side of the mountains? Or Route 7 to Burlington and then anything to Jay?

    This'll be August in late afternoon, probably a Friday or Saturday, hoping to make it to Journey's End by nightfall.

    Thanks.

  2. #2

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    You don't have to hitch the whole way. There are interconnected bus systems that get you 2/3 the way to Jay from Rutland. They are not expensive rides. I made the mistake once of hitching all the way from Rutland to Jay(Rt 4 to Rt 100) and not researching options that could have cut hitching miles from Mt Pelier to Jay. I will say hitching away from the touron areas(Burlington for example) to where actual FT Vermonters live near much of the LT has been one of the easiest places to get rides in the U.S. I went from Mt Pelier at 7.30 a.m to the actual N Terminus(not just Jay) to start a LT SOBO at 1 p.m. after having a sit down 1 hr lunch and visiting the museum in Jay(30 mins) on a friday in the early fall.

  3. #3

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    Uncle and Aunt lived off Olean St in Charlotte Co Fl in an area with all NY street names.

  4. #4

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    Not a chance. There will two kinds of traffic. Locals not going very far and tourist who won't stop.

    RT 100 is a narrow, twisty road which goes through a lot of small towns. It takes a long time to go any distance on RT100. Traffic is light to moderate.

    RT7 is the major N/S road and has a lot of traffic. There is a bus which goes from Rutland to Burlington for $12, leaves at 12:45PM and arrives at 5:21 PM. If it takes 5 hours for the bus to go from Rutland to Burlington, how long do you think hitch hiking will take? A lot longer is my guess.

    Getting from Burlington to Journeys end without a shuttle will be a real challenge. The closest you can expect to get would be the road crossing on RT105. You then would have the choice of hiking north for 3.2 miles to the Journeys end cabin or 2.5 miles south to the Shooting Star shelter. Finding someone to drive you on the dirt roads to the Journeys End cabin access trail from N. Troy could be a challenge. The last leg dead ends at the trail head. I managed to get my MINI up that road, but I came real close to loosing parts.
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  5. #5

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    As far as I can tell, there is no bus from Burlington to Jay. Once at Burlington, your still quite far from North Troy and no easy direct route to get there.
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  6. #6

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    I was just there this past weekend, The Trail head wasn't to bad to find, the road was ok but not great, passable for city cars if you pick your line through the ditches. There's NOTHING out in Jay around there. On my way out I passed 2 sobo's who by the tire tracks got a jeep ride and the trail log says they're form out of state so someone drove them. I'd try the Green Mtn club, www.greenmountainclub.org and see what they say. The locals are friendly around there I'd bet someone in Newport would run you up.

    FYI good water flowing July 17. Bugs were manageable, didn't see any ticks. Trail has long wet spots EXTRA SOCKS.
    Wow, the Internet is on the computer now !

  7. #7

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    Slo-go-en on my hitch from Burlington to Jay(I forget exactly how long it took but IT WAS MOST OF A DAY not getting to the last northern LT shelter until just before nightfall) taking Rt 100 for the large part of it even though Rt 100 is a long winding 2 way paved road I was never stressed for getting connecting rides IN THE RAIN. *** I've learned from hitching across the U.S. and on nearly every LD hike the ease of a getting a ride ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT should NOT be determined by level of motorists!!! THIS IS A big GETTING A RIDE mistake/MISCONCEPTION!!! I'm MORE CONCERENED with the local/regional hitch-hiking and offering a ride attitudes! For example, TX is not a great hitching state for the most part nor is Northern CA or OR on the Coastal Hwy(Hwy 101).

  8. #8

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    Walking the Roads End Rd to the LT Northern terminus expect a Border Patrol visual check of yourself. There are homes on this road.

  9. #9
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    thumb it. let it develop and evolve. nothing better!!

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    Slo-go-en on my hitch from Burlington to Jay(I forget exactly how long it took but IT WAS MOST OF A DAY not getting to the last northern LT shelter until just before nightfall) taking Rt 100 for the large part of it even though Rt 100 is a long winding 2 way paved road I was never stressed for getting connecting rides IN THE RAIN.
    Lots of times rain helps, people feel sorry for you. I can see how the hitch took all day. I lived in Jay for a while so I'mpretty familiar with the roads around there. It's hard to get a ride going more then one or two towns up the road. Or you get dropped off on the side of the road across from their house. But sometimes you get lucky. I've had mixed luck. You just have to have faith that eventually, somebody is going to stop.

    But the OP wanted to know if he could make Journeys End by dark hitching from Rutland, starting in the afternoon and that is highly unlikely to happen even with the best of luck. Even with the bus to Burlington it's unlikely to happen.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    But the OP wanted to know if he could make Journeys End by dark hitching from Rutland, starting in the afternoon and that is highly unlikely to happen even with the best of luck. Even with the bus to Burlington it's unlikely to happen.
    Thanks for redirecting to my particular question.

    I'll be arriving by Greyhound in Rutland at 5pm or Burlington at 7:15pm.

    I'm really hoping to get to Journey's End that same night.

    Thoughts?

    On an alternate note, what are people's thoughts about getting to Journey's End to start a SOBO vs. getting out of Journey's End to end a NOBO?

  12. #12

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    "Thanks for redirecting to my particular question.

    I'll be arriving by Greyhound in Rutland at 5pm or Burlington at 7:15pm.

    I'm really hoping to get to Journey's End that same night.

    Thoughts?"

    Got it. But let me be clearer putting in a detail I left out as I was keeping your original question in mind - I left Burlington on that fall 2007 LT hike between 11 a.m. and noon being stuck looking around town to fix a piece of gear that was damaged getting from NJ to VT. Got to Journeys end late during the same day. It took like 6-7 separate rides. This was early Oct too not during the longer daylight hrs of summer. It was also overcast pretty much the same day and still got there before darkness.

    I'd go from, Rutland rather than Burlington if I was hitching. Bus systems and Amtrak go through Rutland as well reducing the length of the hitch. GHound also goes to Mt Pelier with an early connecting GMT bus that take you to Duxbury(it's the same GMT bus RT that travels in the opposite direction between Burlington and Mt Pelier). From there you get a connecting bus all the way to Morristown vastly reducing the hitch length. This is what I later discovered and did on a totally different LT hike. Waterbury VT is also served by this Morristown Rt as well as having an Amtrak Station(nice coffee shop in the station).

    "On an alternate note, what are people's thoughts about getting to Journey's End to start a SOBO vs. getting out of Journey's End to end a NOBO?"

    Depends on which side of the LT thru you want the potentially harder out - on the front end(if just hitching with no public transportion or shuttle arrangement) or on back end. It's MUCH easier getting out at the MA VT border at the LT southern terminus. It's also closer(logistically easier?) to Olean NY if that's where you're going back to after the hike.

    It's been discussed several times on WB alone getting to the north terminus via St Albans area as well which is served by public transportation options.

    Good luck arranging for your your LT hike. I sincerely hope you understand you may not have to hitch all the way to the Can Border for a LT SOBO!

  13. #13

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    Dogwood, I think the bus service in Vermont has been drastically cut back. All I could find was the Route 7 and Route 4 corridor.

    If your arriving Burlington after 7, you only have about an hour of daylight left. Even if you got a ride right after stepping off the bus directly to the Journeys end trail head, your not going to get there until after dark and you still have almost a mile to hike in to the lodge. It's probably close to a 2 hour ride from Burlington to N. Troy.

    If it were me, I'd stay at the six tribes hostel in Rutland for the night and then bribe someone there to drive me up to the northern Terminus. $75 or $100 should do it the trick. It's a long, but scenic ride. When I was caretaking for the GMC, I used to love driving route 100.

    Alternately, you can take a bus out of Rutland for $2 over to Route 100 and hitch up to N. Troy. It will take all day, so having an early morning start is important. You only loose a day out of your schedule.
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  14. #14
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    Thanks guys for the refined input, that would have been all the info I was looking for.

    But as I was discussing this with my parents, they decided it's high time they visit their other son in Maine. So I'll be getting dropped off at Journey's End Road, while my parents stay at a BnB en route to Maine.

    Problem solved.

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by brian.spigel View Post
    Thanks guys for the refined input, that would have been all the info I was looking for.
    But as I was discussing this with my parents, they decided it's high time they visit their other son in Maine. So I'll be getting dropped off at Journey's End Road, while my parents stay at a BnB en route to Maine.
    Problem solved.
    That's the best solution. Be sure to download a good map for the area, finding the right roads to take isn't real obvious. You could always ask Boarder patrol for directions
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  16. #16

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    Thx for all the comments.

  17. #17
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    Roger that. My phone app plotted a full course, my parents have a satellite GPS in their car, and I'm adept at map reading.

    Thanks.

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