Reaching Damascus for Trail Days

[cspruiell]

My hiking partner and I will be starting our NOBO on April 14th, which puts Trail Days almost exactly one month after we begin, assuming it's around the same weekend as this year. We would have to average 15 miles every single day to make it in time, so there's a pretty good chance we won't. Is it safe to plan on hitching to Damascus, and then back to where we were picked up? I figure with the large number of hikers headed there for TD, it's likely we could catch a ride at least one way.

[Speakeasy TN]

It's safe to say that somebody will go out of there way to get you there and back! My non-hiking wife allowed me to shuttle AdCane and RamSham from TD about 5 years ago now. We have stayed in touch since then and followed their very inspirational push to reach Katahdin. If you don't know the story......
http://atdeafblinddream.wordpress.com/

If a non-hiker will go 2 hours out of the way on a 4 hour trip I like your odds. Trail magic ain't just food......

[Slo-go'en]

It's possible you can make it in time by foot. In 2013 I arrived at Springer on the 16th to start the hike and arrived at Damascus about a week late for TD. But since I'm not a fan of Trail Days, I dragged my feet a bit to make sure I arrived a good week late. And I'm an old guy. If you don't dilly dally early on and then pick up the pace as you get close, you could make it.

At the very least, you should be able to make it to Kincora sometime during the week of Trail Days. There's a lot of traffic back and forth from Kincora to Damascus that week, so it shouldn't be hard to get a lift.

[July]

As said above, you should have no problem finding a ride to Damascus at that time. Actually a month from springer to damascus is plenty of time if you don,t stop for several zeros.

[RED-DOG]

If your plan is to hike into Damascus for Trail Days I would suggest you give your self atleast 35 days of hiking time from Springer MT.

[SteelCut]

I'm in the opposite position from the OP. I plan on leaving Springer April 17 and I was hoping to miss Trail Days. I guess I'll have to drag my feet a bit like Slo-go-en

[Gambit McCrae]

Dont dilly dally south of Davenport, after that, Davenport to Damascus is soemwhat easy peasy, and a little lemon squeezy lol. You should make it just fine and if not, hitch in. I finished my TN state section by walking into trail days on that saturday. It was a neat trip because it was my last one in TN and I walking into a party, but after people watching for an hour, i shuttle back to cross mountian and drove home lol. Just wasnt for me but I can see how it would be fun for thru hikers