My friend and I are going over the AT maps. I start on January 28, 2002 from Springer. Can anyone suggest where he can fly in w/o a hassel and joiint me for 10 or so days and at that point exit the trail where he can get a plane to return to California, again w/o too many boat, train, auto bus trips!!
John Everett
Your best bet is to target the Smokies or just a little north early in your hike when you are just finding your legs and your friend will not slow you down too much.
From Los Angeles, San Diego,Palm Springs, San Jose, Sacramento, San Francisco, or Fresno, one can go via American Airlines to DFW and thence to Knoxville which is two hours drive from most of the trail from Fontana Dam to Damascus, VA.
One can get a shuttle to get to the trail. It will open up Erwin to Damascus, using Uncle Johnnie as a shuttle, Hot Springs, NC, to Hampton, TN, using Bob Peoples as a shuttle driver, or, Fontana Dam to Davenport Gap, using the Hiker Inn as your shuttle driver. Also, many of the outfitters along the route can do shuttles too. There are ones in Hot Springs, Elizabeth Town, and Damascus.
At least, that is the way I would go. Going as early as you are, I would plan for the Smoky Mountains to be filled with snow and shoot for Hot Springs to Hampton, TN, or Erwin, TN, to Damascus, VA.
Mr. Boo
There are also a couple of easily accessible locations in the mid-Alantic area. Harpers Ferry is, perhaps, 30 miles from Dulles Airport (Wash. DC) and easily accessible from there via taxi, bus and/or commuter train. The NYC area airports are also within 50 miles or less from the trail in a number of locations in NJ and NY and several trailheads can be conveniently reached via public transportation. The mid-Atlantic may also be a good idea because the terrain is a bit less difficult than down south or up north so your friend won’t have quite so much difficulty in keeping up.
Ken G.
Several airports to also consider…
Roanoke, VA, airport’s runways can be seen from the trail after you pass through Catawba and start your descent to Campbell Shelter. Very expensive to fly to. Small airport. Cheaper to fly into Charlotte, NC, and take the bus up to Roanoke. This bus route would also send you to Lynchburg, VA, nearby the trail, so, one could hike north from Troutville to just after the Priest and then take a bus back to Charlotte. Roanoke is serviced by USAir and United Express I think.
Harrisburg, PA, which is very close to the trail.
Philadelphia, PA, not so close, but is near the Allentown, PA, section of the trail.
Albany, NY, which is near Pawling, NY, and Bennington, VT.
White Plains, NY, which is near the train line taking one to and from the trail.
Hartford, CT, which is near the trail also. It would get one to Kent, CT. There are also bus lines leaving for parts of NE that take one nearby the trail. As far as trains go, one can take the Vermonter north to sections of the trail or the train west to eastern sections of the trail in MA. The train lines east and west, north and south, change in Springfield, MA, which is minutes north of Hartford’s airport. Worcester, MA, has a flight or two and is an alternative to Hartford but is an hour further away.
Bangor, ME, which puts one close to the end of the trail and makes most of ME accessible.
Lebanon, NH, is suppossed to have flights daily with USAir, but since Sept. 11th, I am not sure. Lebanon is right next to Hannover, NH.
Manchester, NH, is a good airport to get close to the trail too if one is shooting for VT or NH.
Boston’s Logan Airport has bus service to White River Junction, VT, which is also next to Hannover, NH. It can take one to Killington, Route 4 and Route 100 where the trail passes through.
Mr. Boo
I fly to Roanoke semi-regularly. As Mr. Boo says it is darn close to the trail (with Hotels in nearby Troutdale literally on the trail). As Mr. Boo also says, it can be darn expensive. However, if you and your friend’s itinerary allow for some fairly advanced planning, Roanoke can be economical. On short notice with no Sat. night stay, I’ve paid as much as $1,000 roundtrip from Philadelphia (which actually fairly close to Roanoke)!!. With advance notice and a Sat. night stay, prices are usually under $300. I am certain you could get similar prices.
The area north of Roanoke would actually be quite nice for your friend, too. There are lots of scenic views and the terrain is not overly difficult. There are also plenty of places to get off the trail if your friend gets blisters, shin splints or otherwise decides that hiking is not quite what he or she expected.
Ken G.
Something else to keep in mind about airports.
Many airlines allow for what are called “Open Jaw” connections. Translated into English, it means flying into one airport and flying out of another so long as the return to the original destination.
There are rules governing this style of connection that vary with each airline, but, the fares can often be just as good as if you round-tripped out of the same city. So, for example, one could fly to Harrisburg (MDT) from Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW), hike to Palmerton from Harrisburg, and then fly out of Philadelphia(PHL) or Newark, NJ, for a rate that might be not much different than if round tripped from DFW to Harrisburg (MDT.
So, your friend could fly into Roanoke on United Express or USAirways Express and open jaw it back via Lynchburg, VA, on the same airline connecting at Charlotte.
BTW, a round trip from LAX to Roanoke (ROA) on US Airways is ranging from $408.00 to $431.00 on www.usairways.com if you were to choose the dates April 5th and April 15th. There is a greyhound bus from Lynchburg to Roanoke.
Mr. Boo
Hate to keep beating a dead horse, but after reading Mr. Boo’s comments, another convenient, potentially economical airport comes to mind: Allentown/Bethlehem (ABE) in PA. It is mid-size airport (a lot like Roanoke) that is within 10 or 15 miles of almost any part of the trail from Hawk Mountain to the Delaware Water Gap and, if memory serves, it can be relatively cheap. Since ABE is convenient to a fairly large section of trail, your friend can book the flight in advance based on your approximate hiking schedule, and, then, catch a short ride to whichever trailhead is closest to you when he lands. After ten days of hiking, you and your friend would likely be somewhere in NJ or NY from which your friend could then catch a train/bus/shuttle to one of the New York City airports for the flight home.
I guess the bottom line in all of this is that there are a multitude of ways to do this. Once everybody has weighed in and you’ve done considered your options, let us know what you are leaning toward and maybe somebody can let you know more in the way of particulars.
Ken G.
My wife just told me that www.aa.com will do Open Jaw bookings if you click on multi-city. I tested the above idea leaving from LAX and flying into Roanoke on the 5th of April, 2002, and flying out of Lynchburg on the 15th of April, 2002, returning to LAX and it quoted me a price of low price of $446.00.
Wow! So, one can use www.aa.com for multi-city open Jaw bookings that would allow someone to land in one city, hike the trail, and leave from a different airport.
Hope that helps!
Mr. Boo