Here’s the thing…
My family and friends go on a vacation to Maine every year. This year it looks as if they’ll be taking it the end of June. Now, my buddy and I will be in the middle of our thru-hike, but we are adamant about joining them for this vacation. What would be our best bet for meeting up with them if they are from Taunton, MA (which is between Boston and the Cape.)? And our tentative start date is March 1st, but we might start as late as April 1st. Any suggestions?
C-Giddy
If you start March 1 you should have no problem getting to Massachusetts by the end of June. The easiest pick up point is the mass Pike or I90 which the AT crosses, right near Upper goose pond cabin and Lee, Mass. Its about 2 hrs from boston to here. I started march 1 and got here on june 11th. If you start april 1, i’d say you’d be real hard pressed to get there on time, but its possible.
A-Train
Hi C-Giddey,
During my thru one of the most disliked time was when I had to maintain a schedule to meet up with someone. It realy put a crimp in my hiking plans, knowing that I had to be in a certin place at a certin time.
I would not advise that when you start in Georgia you are planning to meet someone, at a specific time, at a specific location. You will be more concerned with being on time than enjoying your hike. Reconsider your plan. Make your hike the most inportant thing in your life at that time. You will have plenty of opportunities to go on vacations in later years.
Enjoy your hike and put off the vacation for another time.
Grampie
My husband and I started our thru-hike on March 4th, and entered Mass. on July 3rd. This was right after taking a few days off to visit NYC and a relative. I would say our pace was average. As you get into your hike, you will be able to guage how far along you will be by June and start to plan accordingly. The ATC has a list of shuttlers state by state, and hostel owners often shuttle or know of shuttlers. There are so many towns and road crossings thru the mid-Atlantic states that you can probably arrange something from just about anywhere. While I wouldn’t recomend carrying a phone usually, maybe one of your family members could mail you one to carry right before the meetup to help with arrangements.
I know you aren’t asking - but I will also caution against meeting up with friends. Many people on web sites like this one warned my husband and I against it before we started our thru but we did it anyway. It was TOUGH to say the least.
The best kind of meetups I think are very short (like 1 day) where the friend/family does all the work to find you and plan. But that isn’t how it usually works, and the logistics can be a huge drag. Be flexible, try not to lock yourself into anything to soon. The best part of the trail for me was freedom from plans / deadlines / etc.
Jitterbug