Long Trail in October

[Bubblehead]

I/m looking to hike the LT starting 10/4 and finishing somewhere around 10/26. Is this too late in the season? What is the probability of snow north of Maine Junction in late October? Thanks....

[Miner]

In 2012, I did a section hike of the AT and was in Vermont in the 1st half of October (4th to the 15th) and had a couple inches of snow; I think 4-5" max. I did have some additional wet/damp weather in the mountains that kept stripping the leaves off the trees as they changed. I would assume you will have some cold damp weather with at least some snow along the way. If you are prepared for it, you should be fine. But I'm only basing that on a single hiking trip along with some visits to NH for business in that time of the year.

Here are some photos of that time frame of the southern half of the LT where it overlaps with the AT: Photo Link

[peakbagger]

The biggest issue is cold overnight temps combined with short days. You are going to need to bump up your gear, up high on the ridge plan for 20 F temps and day time temps in the fifties. There is also an issue that the weather normally changes that time of year and can get wet.

[Daybreak]

For reference Burlington Airport at 340 ft elevation would typically have less than .5 inch of total snowfall average in your time period.

However, Mount Mansfield averages 9" of snow in October. This is the only place I might worry about snow affecting a hike. The data appears to be from 3900 ft so expect a lot less snow lower down along with unfrozen ground implying easy hiking. There might be a lower elevation alternative with significantly lower amounts of snow but I don't know. I would I think this is only serious place on the trail with possible extended slippery rocks. It has been awhile. Jay Peak also a lot of above tree line hiking but it is not steep. Again it has been awhile. Elsewhere, it is unlikely the ground is frozen so snow or is unlikely to be deep enough to be an issue and ice very unlikely.

Source: https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/mt-mansfield

The following from 2012 talks about accumulating snow on Mount Mansfield and nearby valleys.
Source: https://jandeproductions.com/2012/08...-mt-mansfield/

"Since there was also mention of October, I took a look at those data as well. Because accumulating October snowfall is already fairly common even down here in the mountain valleys of the Northern Greens (out of the six season’s worth of snowfall data I have collected here, four Octobers have seen accumulating snowfall, and the average is right around an inch) I figured that getting October accumulation on Mt. Mansfield must be almost a lock. Indeed that’s the case; after checking the snowpack data from 1954 – 2012, there are only a handful of seasons without reported snowpack, and one of those seasons did at least show some snowfall ...

So essentially it’s ... about once a decade that there isn’t accumulating snow on Mt. Mansfield in October."

[Gambit McCrae]

In 2012, I did a section hike of the AT and was in Vermont in the 1st half of October (4th to the 15th) and had a couple inches of snow; I think 4-5" max. I did have some additional wet/damp weather in the mountains that kept stripping the leaves off the trees as they changed. I would assume you will have some cold damp weather with at least some snow along the way. If you are prepared for it, you should be fine. But I'm only basing that on a single hiking trip along with some visits to NH for business in that time of the year.

Here are some photos of that time frame of the southern half of the LT where it overlaps with the AT: Photo Link

Some really nice phots Miner

[LoneStranger]

You'll be fine unless you aren't, assuming you intend to SOBO. Most years October is ok and Winters are coming later every year generally. Of course the year I scheduled my hike for October had early snow. Laying in bed at 3am the day I was supposed to head up to Journey's End I made the hard decision to call it off. The early snows continued that year so I made the right call as I would have had to abandon the attempt.
Make your plans and hope for the best. Don't push your luck if the snow starts though. That is not a trail that needs any help getting slippery and dangerous.

[Gambit McCrae]

Thank me later
https://www.postholer.com/snow/Long-Trail/20

[Daybreak]

Please continue this thread on https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...hru-Long-Trail. For future readers the OP's original post is essentially a double post. Some comments have been duplicated others are unique to one or the other threads.

[Daybreak]

Oops can't delete this oops.

[Crossbar]

Wow, second on Miners photos. Nice.

[double d]

Question about the LT in late September-October: how many are in the towns during the fall months? is it hard to get re-supplied in town and grab a room without a reservation
during the fall foliage period? I believe there are a lot of tourist on driving tours of Vermont and rooms-re-supply problems might develop.

[chknfngrs]

Depends on the day of the week. Weekends no matter that time of year is tricky

[Miner]

Lodging will be a problem. Due to some weather (snow) forecast to come in, I tried but failed to extend my stay another night in Manchester Center, as the town was booked solid through the weekend (I failed to get a Thursday night). So either book ahead or avoid any day near a weekend. You have the option to camp near town and just go in the next morning to resupply and then leave the same day.

[double d]

Lodging will be a problem. Due to some weather (snow) forecast to come in, I tried but failed to extend my stay another night in Manchester Center, as the town was booked solid through the weekend (I failed to get a Thursday night). So either book ahead or avoid any day near a weekend. You have the option to camp near town and just go in the next morning to resupply and then leave the same day.

Thank you for your feedback-as I've hiked in Vermont before, but its been over 10 years, so this is good information to consider for my hiking plans-thanks again!

[Deadeye]

October is an awesome time to hike in Vermont. You can reduce, but not eliminate, the likelihood of running into snow by going SOBO. The days start getting pretty short, too - you lose almost 3 minutes a day from the beginning of the month to the end.