Section hike segments to maximize easy trail access/exit?

[Elkins45]

I recently retired and am (for the first time ever) giving some serious consideration to my longtime fantasy of hiking the AT. I have no illusion that I could ever do a thru hike, so I’m trying to figure out how to break it up into sections that make sense.

By “make sense” I mean that Inwould like to break it into segments that start someplace that’s easy to get to and that end somewhere it’s easy to get home from. So for example since I live in northern KY I could take the train from Cincinnati to Harper’s Ferry and start there. Easy, and I could use public transportation to get there. But once I get there I’m not certain which way to go so that I find myself at a good exit point. I’m tentatively thinking of breaking it into one month segments, then coming home for a month or so before heading back out, and either skipping the worst parts of winter or spending them on the south end.

It seems like I can’t be the first person who wanted to do the trail this way, so is there a good blog, book, guide or other resource that can help me figure out how to segment my hike to make maximum use of easily available transportation options?

All help is appreciated. TIA.

[Coffee]

My knowledge of the AT is mostly limited to central and northern Virginia, WV, Maryland, and the southern half of Pennsylvania. You've hit on the easiest access point - Harpers Ferry. North of Harper's Ferry, I found it easy to exit near Carlisle PA where the AT crosses US Route 11 a short walk from motels and restaurants. From that point, I took the CAT (Capital Area Transit) to Harrisburg and from there the greyhound back to Washington DC. Going south of Harper's Ferry, you could exit at Rockfish Gap at the southern end of Shenandoah National Park and easily hitchhike to Waynesboro from which point you can take a public bus to Staunton and catch Amtrak. Further south, the trail goes quite close to Roanoke (you could hitch there or call a taxi or shuttle). Also, from Roanoke you now take the Northeast Regional Amtrak to get to Washington DC.

Also, keep in mind that Enterprise has rental car locations in many small towns and they don't charge high one way drop fees. You can often rent an enterprise car in a small town and simply drive to a regional or larger airport.

I'm sure others while chime in on other areas.

[perrymk]

This might not be quite what you're after, but it looks like they would have easy access:


A Guide to Car-Hiking The Appalachian Trail


Exploring The Appalachian Trail By Rv, Sort Of...

[tdoczi]

I recently retired and am (for the first time ever) giving some serious consideration to my longtime fantasy of hiking the AT. I have no illusion that I could ever do a thru hike, so I’m trying to figure out how to break it up into sections that make sense.

By “make sense” I mean that Inwould like to break it into segments that start someplace that’s easy to get to and that end somewhere it’s easy to get home from. So for example since I live in northern KY I could take the train from Cincinnati to Harper’s Ferry and start there. Easy, and I could use public transportation to get there. But once I get there I’m not certain which way to go so that I find myself at a good exit point. I’m tentatively thinking of breaking it into one month segments, then coming home for a month or so before heading back out, and either skipping the worst parts of winter or spending them on the south end.

It seems like I can’t be the first person who wanted to do the trail this way, so is there a good blog, book, guide or other resource that can help me figure out how to segment my hike to make maximum use of easily available transportation options?

All help is appreciated. TIA.

going north from harper's ferry in about 270 miles you get to a place where you can bus into NYC from. in another 78 miles you come to another (passing within a few miles off trail of a couple more along the way). theres another 31 miles past that and then a train station about 43 miles later.

these are all ones only right on the trail. there are others along here that are near to, but not on, the trail.

more broadly speaking, north of there in MA there is a lot of regional bus service im sure somehow gets you to a bigger transport hub, ditto for vermont and rutland, vt and white river junction vt have transportation.

all of that said, anytime ive seriously looked into using any of these options it always ends up seeming like more trouble than its worth.

[Slo-go'en]

There are a handful of places where you can access the AT easily from Greyhound bus stops.

Marion, VA
Harpers Ferry (Amtrak)
Delaware Water Gap, PA
Williamston, MA
Gorham, NH

There are several other locations which gets you close, but you'd have to shuttle to the trail.

I tend to do the big sections between bus stops.

Springer to Marion, VA is about 500 miles and takes about 6 weeks.
Marion, VA to Harpers Ferry is also about 500 miles / 6 weeks.
Harpers Ferry to Williamstown, MA is 570 miles / 6 weeks
Williamstown. MA to Gorham, NH is 280 miles, but is much harder then the previous 1500 miles
Gorham, NH to Katahdin is 240 miles and even harder then the previous 280 miles.

[Gambit McCrae]

This all depends on how much time you want to spend on the trail on each trip.

Breaking the AT into 4 parts? 10 parts?

After reviewing a data book like the Thru Hiker Companion, Awol or even the Guthooks app. You will have to determine your trip length, and then dial it in more accurately to where you want to get off the trail at that is convenient in your opinion. This also can vary depending on if you are flying to the trail, driving your car, or for what seems like the one of the most popular methods that I can not fathom in any realm why one would want to, take a bus).

Keep in mind when planning trips, and setting up shuttles that just because a guide book says there is a road/ parking somewhere, does not mean that it is open year round, and as well, it does not mean that it is easily accessed. For instance, I chose deep gap just north of Georgia to end my last NC hike, and start the next trip heading south into Georgia. It is a long, gravel, seasonal road that ups the shuttle cost and driving time a good bit. Looking back, I could have ended my previous hike at Standing Indian and mad for less work on the ol' Ron Brown Shuttle Man, as well as myself. Live and learn.

Finding breaking points by towns that the trail go directly thru will be few and far between. Mainly what you will be wanting to look for are highways. For example Georgia passes several highways/ easily accessible roads like woody gap, Unicoi gap, dicks creek....Those all have towns at the bottom of the mountains, like Helen, GA.

Be good to your shuttle driver; Be punctual and keep them up to date when you can both before your trip as well as during.

Appalachian Trail Distance Calculator

AT Parking and Trail Pictures

PS: If completing the whole trail is a desire then I would suggest always picking up where you left off to prevent short gaps in the trail due to having to cut a trip short.
As well, the longer you are able to stay on the trail, the further from home I would travel to do so.. For example, living in KY you are figuratively pretty close to the southern AT, therefore I wouldn't spend a 2 week trip there because I can drive there when I want to, vs up north it is more difficult to get to so once Im there I wanna spend as much time as I can.

[illabelle]

Elkins,
Your age, physical condition, backpacking experience, motivation, family obligations, financial resources, etc will all factor into whatever decisions you make. What "makes sense" for me may not make sense for you. Not knowing your history, I'm replying with the assumption that you don't have much backpacking experience.

I suggest you rethink your plan of hiking for a month, then taking a month off, then hiking another month. When you first hit the trail, you'll likely be slow and weak. By the time you've been hiking for a month, you'll have developed your trail legs and be in great shape. It's a process that requires a lot of effort and endurance. You'll have hardened up and toughened up. Then you're going to go home, sit on the couch, and soften up? And start all over slow and weak? What a waste of all that effort! Of course, you can do it that way if you want to... As is often said: HYOH - hike your own hike. Besides, the nice hiking weather comes in seasons, not months. If I were in your shoes, I'd start with a weekend or week closer to home to get some experience, then aim for longer sections and shorter breaks.

As far as transportation, my husband and I make extensive use of the shuttle system, driving to parts within a half-day's journey, flying beyond. Not hard to do, easier for us than trying to fit into train/bus schedules.

Some helpful links:

www.atdist.com
www.theatguide.com
Shuttles

[Elkins45]

Thanks for all the replies so far. My experience haas been that I don't soften up very much in a month, so that's not something I think will be an issue. I don't want to be away from home form more than a few weeks at a time because there are maintenance and other issues I will need to deal with. I'm not entirely the master of my own schedule even in retirement.

I'm 54 and have been hiking and backpacking for years, but not for sustained multi-week hikes. I figure that I will plan a very realistic 10 miles/day for the first couple of segments at least, so that means I want to break the first few parts into about 300 mile chunks. As far was weather is concerned, my cold tolerance vastly exceeds my heat tolerance, so I will be perfectly happy in colder weather that other hikers might not enjoy---of course snow and ice are problems regardless. I can promise you that if I do any hiking in the summer it will only be in the highest and coolest sections of the trail.

Thanks for all the links so far.

[GoldenBear]

Like you, I intend to complete all parts of the AT in sections.
Like you, I've looked for places where The Trail can be easily accessed by mass transit.
In general, I've been able to find those places. Sometimes it means getting to a place near enough to The Trail that a shuttle ride wouldn't break the bank, and then doing so.

How many miles do you figure you could hike in a month?
Knowing that, we could estimate where you'd be north (or south) of, say, Harper's Ferry after that amount of mileage.
From there we could tell the best place for mass transit options.

Often the best plan is to arrange a shuttle a couple weeks in advance, then travel to a place CLOSE to The Trail & ride on the shuttle, and then hike towards a place where mass transit is fairly easy to get to.
I done this a couple dozen times with no trouble.

[Elkins45]

I'm figuring 10 miles/day, so 300 miles in month.

My concern about transportation isn't about money, it's about not having to hassle family members or add hundreds of extra road miles. Paying for shuttles won't be an issue.

[Gambit McCrae]

I'm figuring 10 miles/day, so 300 miles in month.

My concern about transportation isn't about money, it's about not having to hassle family members or add hundreds of extra road miles. Paying for shuttles won't be an issue.

Logistical semantics but you will want to figure in no hike break days. Even if you aren't physically needing a break you have to have time to wash clothes, take a shower, gather more food etc. These days are also called "Zeros" as in zero miles hiked. I usually take 1 zero per week. Once I get way ahead of schedule, I tend to take them a little more often lol

[Fireball76]

My wife and I are only about 60 miles into our section hiking of the AT, but we have found it easier to arrange a shuttle driver and to have them pick us up in the morning where we leave our vehicle (at the location where we plan to hike to-end of hike) and have them drive us to where we will begin.

We look up crossings with a parking lot to end our hikes and have them drop us off at the last place we stopped. We find it easier to know when we will arrive by car then to try to determine what time to have our ride pick us up when our section hike is complete. The AT maps and books identify parking lots, some sections are longer than others.

It is also a better feeling to know you do not have to make it to the end by a certain designated time.

[Slo-go'en]

The problem with saying I'll only hike 10 miles a day is there aren't convenient camping spots every 10 miles. Over the course of a month you may end up averaging 10 miles a day, but you will often be hiking either less than that or more then that depending on the spacing of shelters, tent sites and terrain.

In addition to the occasional Zero or Nero (almost a zero mile day) you will have to budget between 2 and 4 days travel time back and forth to the trail. So, your 30 day trip may end up being only 21 days of actual hiking.

[Elkins45]

The plan is to start at a spot and go to another spot with the hope it will take around a month to get there. If it takes an extra week it won’t be the end of the world. I won’t really know how many miles/day are realistic until I’m near the end of the first section. My initial plan of 10 miles/day is based on my experiences on the most rugged long hikes I’ve taken on the Smokies and on the Sheltowee Trace.

[GoldenBear]

I'm figuring 10 miles/day, so 300 miles in month

My suggestions:
1) Get to Harpers Ferry (HF). [Note that there is no ' in that city's name]
If using Amtrak to get from Cincy to Washington DC, and then MARC
https://mta.maryland.gov/sites/defau...an2015flat.pdf
to get to HF will suit your needs, then this is recommended.
Note, however, that MARC does NOT run on weekends.
HF is at Mile 1019 of the AT, if counting miles from Springer.
2) Hike the 270 miles to Delaware Water Gap (DWG).
3) Use the info I posted here
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...t=#post2177713
to get from The Trail to the Martz Station in DWG, and then to either New York City or Philadelphia.
4) Take Amtrak directly back to Cincy via the Cardinal Route.
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...ule-032918.pdf

[Elkins45]

^^^^^ Thanks for this. Any particular preference for doing it nobo vs sobo?

[Slo-go'en]

^^^^^ Thanks for this. Any particular preference for doing it nobo vs sobo?

Definitely do it NOBO. Do it in the spring, but not too early in the spring. May is a good time.

[FlyPaper]

If you are hiking in month long sections, you should have no problem accessing the trail.

Having done many section hikes myself, I will say that about the only real constraint you need to consider is accessing the trail via paved roads. If you try to use dirt roads, it sometimes takes 1+ hours for last few miles. With possibly very very few exceptions, ANY paved road is a good access point. The trick is to use the transportation options available, including private shuttle services which can be found here: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home...tation-options

Then you drive yourself to the vicinity, park in a safe place (shuttle drivers can make suggestions) and hire a shuttle to take you to your starting location. You can use the same, or different shuttle driver to pick you up at the end of your segment. Often, either your starting location or ending location is a safe place to park (e.g. Fontana Dam).

Although it would be highly convenient of the AT went through train stations and airports, it generally does not. But if you consider all the costs of hiking, transportation to the trail, etc., the cost of a shuttle is peanuts and will take you to or from the exact road crossing you need.