Starting to plan for a 2012 thru hike. We live in SC. I want to have my wife fly out 2 to 3 times to visit while I am on the trail. Looking for spots that will be convenient for her to fly into with easy access to a trail town. I am thinking South Lake Tahoe for one (she could fly into Reno.) Does anyone have any experiences/recommendations they can share?
Mike T
I will be on the trail in 2011 and plan to have my wife meet me in Sierra City. It is the coolest little town and has many other towns in the vicinity that would be great to hole up in. Also, it is close to the halfway point, timewise so if you were doing a single trip it could be ideal.
gg-man
Well, it sounds like your selection criteria might include easy air access with not too bad a drive from airport to town / meeting spot, a reasonable town situation and being spaced out such that the 2-3 visits aren’t all on top of each other. Would need to be flexible on the exact dates - might be a bit spendy buying tickets last minute. I threw in the dates I arrived (April 25th start) at some of the spots to help you gauge how far apart time wise they are.
Agua Dulce. Early in the hike, about a month in. Fly into one of the LA area airports (Burbank would be best if you can get a direct flight to it). Not too long a drive. Would probably have to stay outside of AD - perhaps up in Palmdale or down in Santa Clarita. Got here about 5/26.
Tahoe, certainly a good choice. With a late April start, you should be here late June to mid-July, depending on your speed (I got there July 9th)
Consider Castella / Dunsmuir / Mt. Shasta City in Nor Cal. Fly to San Fran or Sacramento, then puddle jumper to Redding & drive to the meet. Shasta City is a nice place - there isn’t much in Dunsmuir or Castella proper. I got here ~Aug 3rd.
Ashland, (south) Oregon. Close to Dunsmuir - would be an alternate. Again, fly to (probably) Portland, then puddle jumper the rest of the way. Nice town. Would be a great choice. You’re about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks from Cascade Locks (see below). Got here 8/14.
Bend / Sisters, (Central) Oregon. Fly to Portland, puddle jumper to Bend/Redmond airport. Very nice towns. Too close to Ashland or Cascade Locks to do this one and either of those two.
Cascade Locks (OR / WA border). Fly to Portland, drive remainder. Stay there or go back to Portland. Got here 9/1. You’re about a month or so from finishing, depending on speed.
Snoqualmie Pass (middle of Washington). Fly to Seattle, drive to meet. Get picked up and go back into town. Mid September. ~2 weeks to go at this point.
Another spot to consider - Yosemite. Not exactly easy to get to from N.C. But would be a great place to meet. Might be a huge headache, as the summer tourist season will either be in full force, or getting there quickly.
Token Civilian
…(and ooh!..i love sierra city!..romantic!..picturesque!..quaintly charming!)…i personally liked dunsmuir, too (you can catch a bus into mt. shasta)…i don’t know about making connections to get there, but the ‘drakesbad resort’( http://www.drakesbad.com/index.php ) would be an EXCELLENT little rendezvous! (don’t miss drakesbad, even if your wife isn’t able to meet you there!..plan for a future vacation! …the food is fabulous and you’ll LOVE ed!))…mt etna, too, is wonderfully charming, though, again, i have no idea about the connections…ashland, i think, would be great if you want to take in some theater…what about crater lake? (oooooh!..double oooooh!)…of course, the three sisters wilderness is breathtaking (the elk lake resort?)…big bear city is pretty good, too…(that’s all i know, as we didn’t get to hike washington)…really cool that y’all will get to ‘meet up’ several times during your hike!
maw-ee
All the above is worth considering of course, but i’d try to pick places that are not only convenient for your wife, but convenient for YOU. That is, places where resupply isn’t so easy, trail angels aren’t around as much…places where you’ll WANT to hop in a car and split for a couple of days.
Walker Pass. This is a bit further away from L.A. than Agua Dulce is, but not that much further. It’s a real problem spot for resupply though. Hitching isn’t easy, the nearest towns aren’t as good. But Ridgecrest isn’t far by car and you could easily have a nice couple days and resupply there. This is about 550 miles from the Mexico border.
Independence/Onion Valley/Red’s Meadow/Mammoth Lakes. This is a little longer of a drive, unless your wife can find a good flight into Mammoth Lakes Airport. But it’s a really beautiful area that might give her a better feel from town or what you’re out in when you’re hiking, especially if you stay in Mammoth Lakes. With some fishing around you can find very cheap nice condos in summer there, since it’s primarily a ski area. Useful area for a car, restaurants, and resupply. (My girlfriend, now wife, met me here for the first of two visits. ) This is about 800-900 miles from Mexico.
Tahoe. Already mentioned. Good for car and resupply. About 1100 miles from Mexico. Or Sonora Pass//Bridgeport a few days earlier. Or Truckee a couple days later. Really MOST of my and other people’s ideas wouldn’t be such a bad thing to make a flight reservation early. If you’re ahead or behind schedule and she’s driving from the airport, it’s usually no big difference for her to drive a few miles up to a different trailhead meeting point. Remember, for you it might be 3 days between resupply points, but for her that’s probably only an hour of extra driving to meet you at a different place!
Ashland. So much to do and see and eat around town. Good place to get a ride from the trail and to groceries and post office, etc. Pretty ideal meeting place except the hotel might not be cheap. 1700 miles from Mexico.
Cascade Locks. Maybe the most perfect meeting place of all. Easy in and out from Portland for her, but an important ride for you. Everything you could want in beautiful Portland. Resupply from Trader Joes there. Ship packages ahead to WAshington. Movies, shows, restuarants, beer, etc. 2150 miles from Mexico. (This is the 2nd place my wife met me, although i was ahead of schedule, so she drove an hour into Washington, picked me up at a road crossing, and then we went back to Portland for 2 days, and then back to WA for a night at Kelly’s B&B in Trout Lake.)
Snoqualmie Pass. Already mentioned. This might be too close to the end to be worthwhile. But Seattle is a great visit of course.
Hope this gives you a few more ideas…
:cheers
markv
Sacramento might be a good airport for your wife to fly into. She could drive from them there to meet you anywhere between Yosemite to Castle Crags (Dunsmuir).
bowlegs