White mountain vacation

[rockfish]

Hi, looking to take train bus combo to either Franconia or lincoln New Hampshire, does anyone know if there is a bus or shuttle service from either town to franconia notch, I stayed at chest last thru hike in 2015 but think he split to Nevada, also not sure if he would take in visitors off season. Not adverse to hitching so might launch from Franconia since it is closer (but by highway) any information would help I am leaving October 30 from Michigan. Thanks.

[rockfish]

I meant to say Chets place it chest......

[Alligator]

I was going to suggest the White Mt shuttle but the web page says it stops running 10/17/21, and that was for the weekends and holidays.

[Slo-go'en]

This gets complicated. There is no bus to Lincoln or Franconia or anywhere close. If you take the train to Boston, the earliest it arrives from Milwaukee, WI is 8 PM (there are currently seats available for $145, if you don't have one yet). If the train isn't too late, you can catch the 10 or 11 PM bus to Concord, which will arrive at 11:25 PM Sunday or 12:25 AM Monday. There's a Holiday Inn within walking distance of the Bus station, a room will run you $150. From Concord, you will have to rent a car to go farther north. Not sure it there are any car rental places in Concord, might have to go the airport, but no bus service to get there, which is crazy. Or wait for the Berlin bus, but that only goes to Pinkham Notch and Gorham, arriving around 9:30 PM (it's always an hour late). You will need to find another motel when you get to Gorham. Don't know if anyone is doing a shuttles in the area right now. Hostels are closed down for the season. It would be quicker and easier just to fly to the Manchester airport and rent the car there.

Be advised that the weather here lately basically sucks and this is a very bad time of year to try to do any hiking. The trails are very wet, very muddy, very slippery and all the fall colors are gone. All the leaves are now on the trial, making the trail hard to follow and slick. Snow and ice has been coming and going on the higher summits the last couple of weeks. Currently most of the ice is gone, but that is unlikely to last long. It's going to rain Saturday into Sunday, possibly cold enough for mixed precipitation, then get windy and cold again as the cold front pushes through. There maybe a couple of fair, but crisp, days midweek before it starts to rain again end of the week. Save your money and stay home unless your okay with treacherous trails and flirting with hypothermia. Wind chills on exposed ridges have been in the teens and single digits lately.

[Alligator]

Concord Trailways will present the option to buy a ticket onn 10/30 from Logan airport or South Station to either Franconia or Lincoln NH. Leaves around 8 am and arrives around 11:30 am. Are they actually not running that route? I haven't tried the train yet...

[Alligator]

He's by Detroit not Milwaukee but it's the same train arriving at 8 p.m. He could pick it up in Toledo. Lake Shore.

Direct flights to Boston right out of Detroit though on 10/29 and 10/20 but didn't see any making that 8:00 am bus. Could take the 10:55 pm-12:44 am Delta flight 10/29. $149. You can hang out at the airport for a while or South Station if I recall correctly did have some benches. I had a couple hour layover at the Amtrak station. Kind of a rough day though.

[Slo-go'en]

Hum, there is a bus which stops at Lincoln on it's way to Littleton. I need new glasses Unfortunately, the morning run leaves at 6:45AM from Logan, south station at 8. Evening bus leaves Logan at 5:40 PM and south station at 6:15 PM, too early for the train which means a night and day in Boston. Not a good option. Wandering around Boston for the day isn't bad, but they won't let you sleep at the train or bus station.

Hum, the Notch Hostel closes Oct 30. That was your best option for shuttles and affordable housing.

[Alligator]

Yeah Boston is a little bit tough because the long distance buses and trains are geared toward commuters and overnighting in the city is expensive.

I took an evening arriving bus into Boston one time from the White Mts and then the 2 or 3 am Amtrak southbound. I bought a sleeper berth because I would have had to get a hotel anyway. That was heading down the east coast though. There are multiple runs daily on those routes particularly between Boston and NYC. They didn't bother me dozing at the station although I happened to have had luggage that trip (it was mixed travel). I thought I could get into the Amtrak lounge but they wouldn't let me in because I didn't pick up the sleeper berth until NYC. It wasn't fully available the whole trip. Then the lounge wasn't finished yet in NYC. Something to note for people too are the Amtrak lounges. I was only in the old one at Penn but they are nice there to get off the hard seats that are in the general Amtrak waiting area. I've snoozed in the general area before. I seem to recall them doing ticket checks at times there, you show your ticket at the entrance as well. I can sleep on the train pretty good, the bus not so much. The Amtrak lounge areas aren't always open either, so a potential option but hit or miss.

[rockfish]

Thanks the plan appears to be a train to Boston hang out there in the train station overnight with nighttime tour of town on the 31 st, tips. The n to franconia and try the shuttle taxi service for six miles hope for a good price just hiking from lonesome lake to my Washington then taking lions head trail down have thru the A.T. three times this will be my ninth time in the whites expect cold but sane weather for the most part will be fully prepared. Guess I should have been a little more clear on my agenda , thanks for the input and help always willing to accept feedback.

[Alligator]

I also gave it a go for curiosity's sake in trying to route you through Canada on the train, north of the lake but it's still the same Amtrak route heading east when you recross the border. Simpler maybe to do in the past and perhaps a bit more difficult these days anyway.

Stay safe, have a good trip, and hope the times work out a little better on the way back!

[Slo-go'en]

The time I got stuck overnight in Boston I ended up sleeping under the highway off ramp near south station. After sitting for hours, I just had to lay down someplace. I've spent a lot of time searching for a good stealth campsite in Boston near south station, the offramp is the best I've come up with. But it was July in good weather. The Boston youth hostel was $80 a few years ago, used them once or twice, about a 15 minute walk from the train station.

I actually sleep better on the bus then the train. I've done a lot of bus and train trips over the years. Not sure if they will let you stay in the train station overnight without a ticket for an outgoing train in the middle of the night. Don't even try to lay down.

Why are you going to Lonesome lake if your heading for Washington? You should be climbing up to Liberty Springs. That should be fun after getting next to no sleep for 48 hours. Good luck! BTW, looks like rain on Wednesday and snow on Friday and it will be cold. Not sure if you'll need microspikes, but I'd have them just in case.

[rockfish]

Yep the,plan is day on day o e hike to liberty springs pitch then maybe hike to liberty peak then return to campground, on day two franconia ridge to Galehead or is it green leaf but pitch there day three start day with 800 foot straight up and end at the bottom of mount Garfield, day four hike to lake of the crowds (except it is closed) day five up and over my. Washington down to pinkham notch. Take the Saturday eight am to Boston then Boston to Detroit.

[Slo-go'en]

He's a thought, you might be able to get the bus driver to let you off at the Liberty Springs trail head (the Basin). If your pack is next to you, he just has to pull off the highway long enough to let you off. Ask nicely, plead if you have to Buy your ticket to Franconia.

Greenleaf is closed. You have to go to Garfield ridge tent site. You can't camp at Lakes, or anywhere else along there for that matter. Not only is it illegal, immoral and bad Karman, but not very wise to do this time of year. Don't even think about it. Period. You will have to go from the Nauman tent site over to Washington and down in one, long day. If the weather is at all iffy, turn around and go back to the Highland center in the notch. Garfield to Nauman is also a very long day, especially this time of year. Consider skipping Webster cliffs and go up another way. I think you've forgotten how tough this section of trail is. Looks like there will be significant icing Monday night, possible showers Tue/Wens, rain Friday. it will be rough.

[BillyGr]

He's by Detroit not Milwaukee but it's the same train arriving at 8 p.m. He could pick it up in Toledo. Lake Shore.

And, unless they have gotten much better in the last few years, that train always seemed to have problems running late. We had a friend that used to come back to Albany from Detroit several times a year and took the train for cost but was always trying to coordinate with the person here for pickup as it rarely (if ever) got in when it was supposed to. So 8pm arrival in Boston might very well turn into late that night or early the next morning.

Also, they did have an Amtrak bus connection from Detroit to the train, if that is an easier point to access (and if that still exists).

[Alligator]

And, unless they have gotten much better in the last few years, that train always seemed to have problems running late. We had a friend that used to come back to Albany from Detroit several times a year and took the train for cost but was always trying to coordinate with the person here for pickup as it rarely (if ever) got in when it was supposed to. So 8pm arrival in Boston might very well turn into late that night or early the next morning.

Also, they did have an Amtrak bus connection from Detroit to the train, if that is an easier point to access (and if that still exists).

Yes they did have that bus listed when I checked. That was why I mentioned Toledo, rockfish probably knew what I meant but for other interested people there was a couple hour layover with that bus in Toledo (if I checked correctly). Amtrak has different segments that are actually bus segments. Something to keep an eye on when it involves a layover, it may be easier to simply to jump to that point with alternative options where possible.

Some of their routes do have really poor on time percentages. Where I have seen it is when the route is more of a freight route and not commuter trains. Amtrak has to yield the right of way to freight in places. Amtrak can get you places though that aren't always close to airports. Plus and minuses...

I used Albany as an endpoint twice, I liked that station.

[Slo-go'en]

East coast routes are usually pretty close to on time. I've done Boston to Tampa (and then use their bus connection to get over to St. Pete) a bunch of times to visit my dad for his birthday. The only time it was delayed was when a tree fell over the tracks during a storm in central Fla.

West of Chicago is where it gets iffy. I got a free night in Chicago coming back from Glacier since they missed the connection by several hours. Nice of them to put me up in a hotel and give me $20 for meals and the taxi ride. I did okay on the way out to Glacier, but my friend who came in the next day was like 12 hours late. My trip to Denver for a hike on the CT was reasonably on time. Denver has the best waiting room by far, looks like a hotel lobby with comfy chairs and sofas.

[BillyGr]

Some of their routes do have really poor on time percentages. Where I have seen it is when the route is more of a freight route and not commuter trains. Amtrak has to yield the right of way to freight in places. Amtrak can get you places though that aren't always close to airports. Plus and minuses...

I used Albany as an endpoint twice, I liked that station.

I think that is the issue between Chicago and Albany, that more sections are freight based. Also used to be something about the section from Schenectady to Albany that often made it easier/quicker for someone to drive to Schenectady and back from Albany than to just go across the river to the Albany station (which, of course is actually in Rensselaer).

Of course, being near Albany the train from here to NYC is always a great thing - not only faster than driving (and now probably faster than flying given the extra time that takes at the airport plus getting back to the city from the airports), but the always helpful benefit of not having to deal with cars in the city itself.

[Alligator]

I think that is the issue between Chicago and Albany, that more sections are freight based. Also used to be something about the section from Schenectady to Albany that often made it easier/quicker for someone to drive to Schenectady and back from Albany than to just go across the river to the Albany station (which, of course is actually in Rensselaer).

Of course, being near Albany the train from here to NYC is always a great thing - not only faster than driving (and now probably faster than flying given the extra time that takes at the airport plus getting back to the city from the airports), but the always helpful benefit of not having to deal with cars in the city itself.

That's what I did once as far as NYC. I couldn't get a decently priced flight to Albany last minute but I was able to fly to NYC then take the train without much loss of time vs the way the trip was first planned. I was eventually going to Saratoga Springs anyway and would have taken Amtrak for that leg. That was actually the station I was thinking of above, my bad. There was another trip, same season, different year, similar itinerary, different hotel but I flew into Albany and got a rental car instead.