So, I'm a 39yo female who, having never backpacked before, got this idea to hike the Long Trail from end-to-end (270 miles along VT's Green Mountains) as my summer vacation. My friends and family think I'm nutty, but what do they know!? I've done day hikes and have most of the necessary backpacking equipment. I'm looking for someone to join me for all or part of this adventure, or for weekend hikes in New England to test my gear and my legs. I'd most enjoy hiking with someone with the following characteristics: flexibility, sense of humor, drug/alcohol-free, left-leaning politics, and respect for nature and other people. A good dose of nuttiness helps, too.

I am also going to do the LT, albeit later in the summer. I want to try a thru hike next year and figure it would be a good warm up. When are you planning your hike?

So, I'm a 39yo female who, having never backpacked before, got this idea to hike the Long Trail from end-to-end (270 miles along VT's Green Mountains) as my summer vacation. My friends and family think I'm nutty, but what do they know!?

Strikes me as a good idea for a summer vacation. I hope you find a suitable hiking partner and have a blast!


I expect you already know about GMC. You'll find plenty of useful information by clicking on the URLs below:

Home Page
http://www.greenmountainclub.org/ (http://www.greenmountainclub.org/)

End to End Page
http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=18 (http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=18)

WhiteBlaze.net can help you plan a great vacation. If you have any questions with which we can help, fire away!:welcome

We have end-to-enders here, gear experts, people who may be able to help arrange shuttles and provide directions to trailheads.

So, I'm a 39yo female who, having never backpacked before, got this idea to hike the Long Trail from end-to-end (270 miles along VT's Green Mountains) as my summer vacation. My friends and family think I'm nutty, but what do they know!? I've done day hikes and have most of the necessary backpacking equipment. I'm looking for someone to join me for all or part of this adventure, or for weekend hikes in New England to test my gear and my legs. I'd most enjoy hiking with someone with the following characteristics: flexibility, sense of humor, drug/alcohol-free, left-leaning politics, and respect for nature and other people. A good dose of nuttiness helps, too.


What dates. Almanac and I are going to hike end-to-end (starting at Canada) this year.

Oooh, don't make her do an LT SOBO for her first long distance backpacking trip! I did that to my 16-year old brother in 1979; he still let's me know how tough it was, even though he was in good shape and avoided blisters.

Starting at the VT/MA border is a nice way to break in for the first week or two. Of course, if you start too late it's going to be getting pretty nippy up north come Labor Day. On our hike a cold spell hit in mid-August with temps dropping into the upper 30's at night for a solid week. All I can say is that it's a good thing I found someone's old cotton sweatshirt or I would have frozen to death.

I know a couple of young men who are thruhiking the LT this summer. One I know personally, and he's probably the type you'd like to hike with (unless you'd rather hike with a female, which is understandable). I did a section hike of the AT in Vermont with him last summer. He's known as Anatole on the Backpacker Magazine forums. You might leave him a message there, or leave me a private message in my mailbox here so I can give you his Email address, if you're interested. I'll be hiking with him for a couple of days when he gets to the good swimming areas.

I'm looking for someone to join me for all or part of this adventure, or for weekend hikes in New England to test my gear and my legs. I have plans to hike the Northville Placid Trail in August, but if you want to do a day hike or two or a couple weekend trips in NH to test out your gear, shoot me a PM. Sometime in July I want to do the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway. That could be done over two weekends, and would be a great test run for your gear to see if it is what you want for the LT.

http://www.msgtc.org/

Long Trail Guide, 25th ed., 2003
Day Hiker's Guide to Vermont, 4th ed., 2002
Long Trail End-to-Ender's Guide, 15th ed., 2006

https://secure.earthlogic.com/gmc/products.php?catid=2 (https://secure.earthlogic.com/gmc/products.php?catid=2)

Trail Updates - Relocations
http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=23 (http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=23)

Consider attending a meeting of the Brattleboro Section to find people willing to assist you or find hiking partners. Their site appeared to be down when I last looked. You could get a phone number for a contact person by calling GMC in Waterbury Center.