Looking ahead: hiring vehicle support for 2021 thru-hike.

[Rift Zone]

Put this out on Workamper.com

RVers are always looking for opportunities like this

Thanks for the tip! -I'll keep that in mind.

Doesn’t sound like a fun camping trip to me, good luck finding someone.

I'll try to make the most of it.

[Slo-go'en]

Sounds tempting. I've got nothing better to do. I can cook, hope you like Lipton sides with tuna. If your going to be a thru hiker, you need to eat like one

[Rift Zone]

I've always wanted to do something like this for my eventual PCT thru, but with my family following me in an RV.

For real!

Sounds tempting. I've got nothing better to do. I can cook, hope you like Lipton sides with tuna. If your going to be a thru hiker, you need to eat like one

Lol. I'm gonna eat like a thru-hiker alright... one who's in town! =)
"-one large pizza, a side of lasagne, smoked salmon avocado berry brie spinach salad, a milkshake, and two beers please!"

[chknfngrs]

Sounds awesome, but not my cup of tea! Good luck!

[Rift Zone]

Sounds awesome, but not my cup of tea! Good luck!

Thanks! No question this will only be right for about one in a million... good thing there are 200+ million in this country alone. I figure with a decent head start, like I've got now, I'll find the person(s) who would be delighted to run around on a camping trip for a season on my dime, with a bit on top to deal with my crap, of course. =)

[peakbagger]

Here is an off the wall approach. Find someone who wants to hike the AT that is willing to key swap. More miles on the transportation but a lot more motivation for the driver. My experience with car supported hiking down south is we would pick a base location for a couple of days either a hostel or motel and then do key swap day hikes for a few days then jump north a stretch and do it again. One of us would drop the other at trail crossing then drive south and hike north. Meet for lunch and then the person ending up at the car would drive north and pick up the other guy. Then head to the base camp and do it again the next day. If there was nasty weather one day we may skip one area that was exposed and go to another with more shelter. We tended to be off the bubble and found out that the vast majority of shelters down south tended to be near a forest service road. With a bit of planning we would hike all day, stop in town for supper and then go park near a shelter and camp at the shelter. We rarely if ever took zeros and since we were only carrying day hiking gear we could crank out the miles every day.

[stephanD]

In my opinion, you can slack pack the entire AT until the half point in Gardners PA using the hostels system and shuttle drivers. Afterward, you may need to hire somebody.

[Gambit McCrae]

In my opinion, you can slack pack the entire AT until the half point in Gardners PA using the hostels system and shuttle drivers. Afterward, you may need to hire somebody.

Its obvious the OP knows exactly how he wants / and needs to hike his hike, he is not looking for suggestions on how to complete it. He is specifically putting feelers out there for someone interested in the job

[Rift Zone]

Here is an off the wall approach...

that is a pretty cool plan. I don't think it's what I'm trying to accomplish this time around, but I like it!

In my opinion, you can slack pack the entire AT until the half point in Gardners PA using the hostels system and shuttle drivers. Afterward, you may need to hire somebody.

Probably true. Still, I like the idea of having dedicated support throughout the journey.

Its obvious the OP knows exactly how he wants / and needs to hike his hike, he is not looking for suggestions on how to complete it. He is specifically putting feelers out there for someone interested in the job

This is so.

[John B]

Its obvious the OP knows exactly how he wants / and needs to hike his hike, he is not looking for suggestions on how to complete it. He is specifically putting feelers out there for someone interested in the job

.................................................. ..........

[map man]

In the past Warren Doyle has organized fully supported AT thru-hike expeditions for groups once every few years. These have traditionally included most of the services you are looking for but because it's a good sized group costs per person are defrayed quite a bit. I don't know if he has plans for any in the future or not. If you aren't familiar with Warren Doyle here is a link to the hiking part of his AT Institute site:

http://www.warrendoyle.com/ati

When I did a 2015 May section hike from Franklin to Allen Gap I happened to fall in for two or three days with one of his expeditions. I chatted briefly one day with the man himself and more extensively with a guy who was on his support staff and a couple people who were paying customers and thru-hiking in the expedition. All seemed pretty happy with how things were going though, granted, it was still early days (they weren't even a tenth of the way along yet).

[fiddlehead]

I'll give you some thoughts from our experience back in 2001/2002 when we attempted a triplecrown in one year hike with a van and lots of different drivers (our friends from other hikes mostly) helping us.
First of all, it is no fun for the drivers. Huge responsibilities to be where they said they would be as we were slackpacking oftentimes.
They have a long list of things to do while we are hiking: gas/food/water/map reading/ charge batteries/etc.
We did the cooking mostly.
It is a boring job and 2-3 weeks seemed like it was the longest stretch that they could do it without losing interest. (it's work)
Of course, paying someone might make them last longer.

I wouldn't let them plan your logisitics too much.
You will decide how much you can do each day. Not them.
They will get lost. But more often that not, they will be waiting for you somewhere different from where you are expecting them. (even if it's only 1/4 mile away but out of sight!)
So, what we ended up doing was having a GPS point that we all would synchronize every morning so that we knew where we would meet.
Of course, this was before cell phone service was so good, so now you would be able to call each other more often but signal might not always be available.
If I were you, I'd carry some emergency gear just in case you have to spend a night out there even though you thought you were being met.
It only happened once to us, but it was a night I'll never forget. (and we were very careful about this problem)

Of course, the right it needs to be the right person to make it work.

Good luck.

ps. we only used hotels about 5 times in 330 days. But stayed at friend's houses probably 15 times. And we ate good.
If any of our "crew" is reading this, THANKS so much for all the help and solving the problems we encountered along the way!

[MuddyWaters]

You should find a friend or partner you trust unequivocably for that sort of thing for 6 mo.

When (not if) Joe Dumbass gets sick of you and walks away, leaving your RV parked in a parking lot somewhere.....whatcha gonna do?

You gonna go home, thats what.

Reliable phone can be had via sat phone. Internet....different story.

[SkeeterPee]

Another option might be 2 vehicles and self supporting. I know one person who hike the trail this way and never spent a night on the trail. So that would give you lots of chance to work in evening etc, but you would still need to do your own chores.

The way they did it was park one car at springer, then take a second car to the spot one day hike north. They then hiked to springer. They would take that car into town. next day they drive it one day north of the second car and then hike back to second car. Each day repeated always hikeing south, but moving cars north each night.

Not sure if that is cheaper or easier, but would give lots of chance to work when not hiking.

[Rift Zone]

In the past Warren Doyle has organized fully supported AT thru-hike expeditions for groups once every few years.

interesting... thanks for that! Definitely worth looking into, though I feel like I might opt for something more taylored to my specific needs.

I'll give you some thoughts from our experience back in 2001/2002 when we attempted a triplecrown in one year hike with a van and lots of different drivers (our friends from other hikes mostly) helping us.
First of all, it is no fun for the drivers. Huge responsibilities to be where they said they would be as we were slackpacking oftentimes.
They have a long list of things to do while we are hiking: gas/food/water/map reading/ charge batteries/etc.
We did the cooking mostly.
It is a boring job and 2-3 weeks seemed like it was the longest stretch that they could do it without losing interest. (it's work)
Of course, paying someone might make them last longer.

I wouldn't let them plan your logisitics too much.
You will decide how much you can do each day. Not them.
They will get lost. But more often that not, they will be waiting for you somewhere different from where you are expecting them. (even if it's only 1/4 mile away but out of sight!)
So, what we ended up doing was having a GPS point that we all would synchronize every morning so that we knew where we would meet.
Of course, this was before cell phone service was so good, so now you would be able to call each other more often but signal might not always be available.
If I were you, I'd carry some emergency gear just in case you have to spend a night out there even though you thought you were being met.
It only happened once to us, but it was a night I'll never forget. (and we were very careful about this problem)

Of course, the right it needs to be the right person to make it work.

Good luck.

ps. we only used hotels about 5 times in 330 days. But stayed at friend's houses probably 15 times. And we ate good.
If any of our "crew" is reading this, THANKS so much for all the help and solving the problems we encountered along the way!

Ambitious of you. Nice.
Yea, it's gonna be work alright. There will certainly be tons of downtime, but handling logistics will also have em running around quite a bit too. Meh... it'll pay better than any other summer camp type of job; I'm confident I'll find someone.

I'm probably gonna carry a walkie-talkie, maybe hand-held CB radio, along with cell phone. I'll keep my iPad in the rig too, so I can "find iphone" it if I need a gps fix on them. I've been thinking of ways of zeroing in on the rig so I don't spend nights out when I thought I was slackpacking it. But yea, I'll make sure I'll carry some back up equipment to maintain a bit of comfort if I do get stuck... Snags do happen after all. I know enough to expect them.

Oh yes, I will be running that show. The good news is I'm a strong hiker and I know how fast I move... I could easily keep to any schedule I set for myself, so the only reason I should ever keep em waiting long would be if I got injured or something. In like manner, I figure they could probably beat me there seeing as how I'm on foot, so I would fully expect them to be a the designated spot at the designated time. -they are kinda there to accommodate my schedule, after all.

You should find a friend or partner you trust unequivocably for that sort of thing for 6 mo.

When (not if) Joe Dumbass gets sick of you and walks away, leaving your RV parked in a parking lot somewhere.....whatcha gonna do?

You gonna go home, thats what.

Reliable phone can be had via sat phone. Internet....different story.

that would be nice. Everyone in my world is married with children though; I can't see any of them going for it. And I'm single. So yea, I'm stuck with mr./mrs. will probably leave at any moment. I don't like it much either. Not much I can do about it. Hmm, except stipulate the salary gets paid at the end of it. Hehe. I'm thinking like a grand a month. I'm confident someone worthy will go for it.

Another option might be 2 vehicles and self supporting. I know one person who hike the trail this way and never spent a night on the trail. So that would give you lots of chance to work in evening etc, but you would still need to do your own chores.

The way they did it was park one car at springer, then take a second car to the spot one day hike north. They then hiked to springer. They would take that car into town. next day they drive it one day north of the second car and then hike back to second car. Each day repeated always hikeing south, but moving cars north each night.

Not sure if that is cheaper or easier, but would give lots of chance to work when not hiking.

Hmm.. That's interesting.

[Traffic Jam]

So...about $33 per day or $1.37 per hour and not paid until the completion of your hike? Are you paying for all expenses and food? Just curious.

[Rift Zone]

So...about $33 per day or $1.37 per hour and not paid until the completion of your hike? Are you paying for all expenses and food? Just curious.

Pfft. There will be none of that. I'm gonna charge them rent for being in my rig too!

^Just kidding. Yes, I cover all living expenses. -beer and everything... provided they like reasonable amounts of microbrew. I'm not buying no horsepiss beer.

Kidding about paying it all at the end too, though I think a variation on that theme is in order. Seems like $100 a week and the balance at the end of it would be fair terms.

[DuneElliot]

I know I mentioned workamper.com, and for what you are offering I would say it's still the best bet to find someone who would and could actually do this.

However, head on over to cheaprvliving.com as well...there are a lot of people on there who would likely jump at the chance to do this. I'm a member over there, although haven't been around for a while, but if you do offer this out there on that forum you might want to mention that you were referred by a member (doesn't sound so creepy if it's your first post).

[perrymk]

Another option might be 2 vehicles and self supporting. I know one person who hike the trail this way and never spent a night on the trail. So that would give you lots of chance to work in evening etc, but you would still need to do your own chores.

The way they did it was park one car at springer, then take a second car to the spot one day hike north. They then hiked to springer. They would take that car into town. next day they drive it one day north of the second car and then hike back to second car. Each day repeated always hikeing south, but moving cars north each night.

Not sure if that is cheaper or easier, but would give lots of chance to work when not hiking.

I read an article of a couple who hiked the Florida Trail with a minivan and motorcycle. They had a hitch rack to carry the motorcycle, otherwise it sounded similar to what you described.

I section-day-hiked the Florida Trail with my car and a folding electric bicycle. I would park my car at one trail access point (finish point for the day), bicycle along roads to another trail access point (starting point for the day, previous day's finish point), and then hike back to my car. So I was usually hiking in the same direction. I spent one night on the trail, all others either at home or in a cheap motel. Not sure if this would work along the AT but perhaps a truck/motorcycle could be made to work.

[MuddyWaters]

To paraphrase, Your looking for someone with no job, home, life, or responsibilitiesto be your friend, driver, cook, support crew . 24-7, for 6 months. For $30/day.

Heres what I see...you are assuming this will be fun for someone, so you dont need to pay them much.

Heres the reality...its not. It wont be. Its a job for them.

They will need unfetterred access to your money to pay for everything, food, gas, $$$ vehicle repairs.

Ive no doubt you can find a sketchy person to accept initially. It will be a sketchy person too, anyone responsible COULDNT do it for 10x that. You need a homeless person. Good luck with someone sticking with it.