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Originally Posted by Camelback
4 hours was roundtrip and I was actually wrong. The ride from GC to Appalachian Trail station is not 1 hour and 52 minutes each way. Metro North is quoting 2 hours 12 minutes and it only stops at Appalachian Trail station on Saturday and Sunday, otherwise you have to get off the train in Pawling and then take a taxi(?) to get to the trail head.
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I don't know the pandemic schedules, but in any case it's normally 90 minutes, as Metro North and LIRR ran mostly weekend expresses pre-pandemic. I have no idea what you're talking about re. 4 hours. The point is that the AT rarely comes close to major metros, and this is about as close as it gets. And it's obviously a bonus that there's easy rail access.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelback
If you live in say Jamaica Queens, or Flatbush Brooklyn then you're going to have to get on the subway at 6:00am to make it to Grand Central in time to catch that 7:10.
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We're talking about Manhattan. Imagine if you live in Seattle, or Yokohama. Imagine how long the trip will be! There are weekend buses to AT from different points in the tri-state area, but it isn't generally helpful to talk about random chartered buses from Ronkonkoma or Yonkers.
If you're essentially anti-transit and trying to invent any excuse to not take a train to a hiking/camping trip, it isn't like you're barred from driving. By car, you can probably reach the Appalachian trail in about an hour from Manhattan during pandemic times (but even longer if coming from further away, imagine that!). Or you could theoretically bike/walk from Manhattan, right over the GW Bridge, and you're in the Palisades, which eventually connects to the AT (or you can just stay in the Palisades for the day and get a dose of quasi-wilderness, though within earshot/eyeshot of civilization). For those of us who are car-free, it's nice to have options.