How to Use Your Car 🚙 to Hike 🥾 the Appalachian Trail 

Thanks Julia for the info 😘. Hike on! 🥾

We did a lot of shuttles. Even used a bicycle a few times. We lived in Erwin so did mostly 2-4 days hikes using two cars. When we got up to Harper’s Ferry, we could no longer do our own shuttles as it was just too long a drive. So we are LASH and SASHs! Our shortest section was 3.2 miles and our longest section was 770 miles. We had a blast! Good way for you to do the Trail! Happy hiking and driving!

This may have solved my problem with doing some section hikes. Thank you so much for this video.

Thank you for this video. I think it was my question you were answering :)

That's interesting.

There was a couple within the last couple years that used two vehicles. They would drive first car to end position then drive second car north and hike southbound to first car. They then drove north past second car and next day hiked southbound again. It meant always leaving one car south of where they would hike from the next day. Driving north but hiking south by leapfrogging the parked vehicle.

Thank you so much for the ideas! Great video!

I completed the Ice Age National Scenic Trail this exact way. To save a little bit of money on lodging, we occasionally picked a campground that was centrally located and used it as a base camp. Another con, which I did, is making sure you have your car keys in hand when you set out on the trail. I accidentally had my keys in my hoodie and left the hoodie in my hiking partners car. And yes, I didn’t realize I did that until we reached the other trailhead. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Another way to slack pack which I’ve done before is to have Hiker 1 drop off Hiker 2 at the end of the section and Hiker 1 go to the start of the section. Both hike - one north and one south. When they meet, Hiker 1 gives Hiker 2 the keys. When Hiker 2 gets to the car at the start of the section, they simply drive to pick up Hiker 1 at the end of the section.

Did you mention the pro of potentially getting more miles in? A con would be it being more expensive to stay in hostels/hotels than shelters.

Great video on how to cheat on a thru hike why not just take your car.Why not just carry your gear that is why you carry a pack and they call it backpacking not day hiking.