I want to walk from NYC to Montreal and was wondering how feasible this is. I was hoping to live like a vagabond or maybe if things got really bad, getting a motel or something when I need it. How dangerous would it be realistically? Any tips? I'm not adverse to hitchhiking (never done so) but would primarily like to walk it.
Why don’t you do something normal like Appalachian trail
Not OP but all those trails are much longer than NY to Montreal. And more treacherous than Upstate NY and Vermont.
I hope a tweaked out Mexican trucker pounds your bussy.
Just do the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, or Continental Divide Trail.
Why?
it's about to get cold so dont even think about it until spring or summer.
>I want to walk from NYC to Montreal and was wondering how feasible this is.
Generally, theoretically speaking? 100% feasible, although not on/along interstate highways, which are typically closed to pedestrians, and where you’ll get picked up by highway patrol officers if you try. Not sure about the big provincial motorways up in Canada, but I assume it’s the same deal. But using secondary routes, there’s no real reason you couldn’t do it, assuming you’re in reasonably good shape and have a passport for when you arrive at the border.
>I was hoping to live like a vagabond or maybe if things got really bad, getting a motel or something when I need it. How dangerous would it be realistically?
The vagabonding part is probably more dangerous than hitchhiking, practically speaking—if you’ve never slept rough before you might suddenly find yourself at the mercy of either law enforcement looking to arrest you for vagrancy, or perhaps more experienced drifters with malicious intent who might like to rob you. I also don’t know anything about crossing the US-CAN border on foot; if you really look homeless I don’t know why they would want to let you in, but I assume there are VT-QC or NY-QC border crossings that get some foot traffic.
Oh, and some cheap motels are full of low-end prostitutes and meth addicts; varies by location.
Greatest risk when hitchhiking (assuming you’re a single male) is probably never getting picked up, and the dirtier you look and worse you smell, the worse your chances almost certainly are. But I have only done a very little local hitchhiking, never tried long-distance.
In general, the more homeless-looking and scuzzy you become, the more difficult it will be to survive without being given a hard time, whether by authorities or by shopkeepers/passers-by. So I would make sure to secure regular access to showers.
Lol Vermont has the same homeless per capita as California. They'll give OP free food and housing if he looks like scum.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation maintains an interactive tool tracking primitive campsites, campgrounds, trails, and various other data. It's not comprehensive in the sense that it doesn't cover anything that isn't DEC-related, it's best paired with other hiking resources. But it's a great way to get a large overview of public lands in NY.
https://gisservices.dec.ny.gov/gis/dil/
It's not a moron-proof UI, you have to navigate tabs and select the information layers you want to see. For example, in the "outdoor activity" tab under the "Land-related activities" section you can select campgrounds, primitive campsites and lean-tos and DEC lands to highlight them on the map. Also, with some exceptions, it is legal to camp in State Forests so long as you are more than 150 feet away from a trail or water source.
Basically the corridor you picked is fairly heavily populated (historic trade route), but a little to the west you have Catskills and Adirondacks while to the east you have The Green Mountains in Vermont. (which has a north-south traversal trail called The Long Trail: https://www.greenmountainclub.org/the-long-trail/). I don't know much about The Long Trail but the Eastern Adirondacks is wilderness and you'll be expected to use bear precautions when camping.
When I was train hopping, I knew plenty of guys who have made it in to Canada train hopping. These are guys with felonies and devoid of any passport. I’d do it by rail tbh. I never caught out up towards Canada, personally, but I know it can be done. I’d wait for the summer though.
fly to Montreal and walk south to NYC instead
winter's coming
>NYC to Montreal
>On foot
>Late October
>No winter camping experience
Sure go ahead, if you're stupid enough to do that you deserve to die.
What do you bet OP wouldn't make it past The Catskills
jfl. Based af bro, but very, very dumb. Walking from Queens to Hoboken is pretty much a death sentence in and of itself.
Pacific crest is not treacherous lmaooo
I lived in the region for 20 years I’d recommend it, just after April
Another binary-brain can't handle a relative comparison.
I'm in Southern VT.
Let me know if you get up this far. I'd be happy to put you up if you are willing to trade stories in return.
At least part of the way up to Montreal can be done on the Long Trail, which is an extension of the Appalachian. It provides lean-to cabins every 10 miles free for your use.
You can sleep rough through most of this state, but Burlington is a god damn mess. There is a large homeless population there. Not the cool hobo bohemian kind. The crust-punk IV drug using kind. Maybe avoid Burlington altogether.
If you do try to sleep rough there, you can sleep in Centennial woods. If it's too cold, you can sleep in the Howe library. At least you used to be able to. Parts of it used to be open 24/7 during the school term.
You can get a day pass to the Y and use the gym showers.
Don't underestimate the weather up here in the mountains in the Autumn. We get people who freeze to death every year up here because they underestimate the conditions.
It's not the Winter that you need to worry about. The Spring and Fall are the real killer because they fool you with a warm day and then turn against you with freezing rain or snow.
Be prepared with good woolens. Most people who hike here in the Autumn bring full winter gear just in case, and they end up using it more often than not.
Unless you have extensive experience doing winter camping I'd strongly suggest waiting until late spring and getting experience camping in the Appalachians and/or investing in equipment that can keep you warm overnight especially with how the wind can get along the St. Lawrence.
my brother hiked Albany to NYC on the "long path". However, he's an outdoorsmen who carried days of food and gear.
A lot of this area is remote, nothing to see, no one to beg from. Better would be along I-95, go up to boston or DC.
If the goal is to get to montreal cheap, busses are common, you can also take amtrak atleast to burlington.
hitchhiking culture is uncommon here