LT nobo - bring it!

[Praha4]

That time of year again, and I'm missing hiking in Vermont. Everything is set, I'm starting the LT E2E nobo from Williamstown on 8/27. And I hope to see some WB'ers on the trail. Stop by at the Inn on the Long Trail for a Guinness draft, first one's on me! Hmmm, I'm still looking for that 50" U/L satellite TV to strap to the backpack for watching the NFL games on the trail

[Just Bill]

lucky fella- I think I'd hike that trail damn near every year if I could.

Best of luck on another successful hike in dreamland.

[fastfoxengineering]

Im starting around August 13th SOBO. enjoy your hike

[Teacher & Snacktime]

JB....wouldn't this be a great place to link your story about the speed record attempt on the LT?

[Deacon]

That time of year again, and I'm missing hiking in Vermont. Everything is set, I'm starting the LT E2E nobo from Williamstown on 8/27. And I hope to see some WB'ers on the trail. Stop by at the Inn on the Long Trail for a Guinness draft, first one's on me! Hmmm, I'm still looking for that 50" U/L satellite TV to strap to the backpack for watching the NFL games on the trail

I absolutely love the Inn. Guinness is my favorite beer.

[Skinny Rooster]

Praha4,

How are you planning on getting home when you finish your hike? I plan to start a few days behind you and am weighing the various options. Steve Merrill hasn't responded to my emails. Emailed the North Troy B&B because I read online (maybe it was here on whiteblaze) that one of the owners works in Burlington and that I could perhaps get a ride. Haven't heard back from them either but that was just a couple days ago.

Will pick up the phone soon and start calling instead of emailing ... just wondering what arrangements you've made or what your plans were.

Brad

[Deacon]

Skinny Roster,
Where is home for you?

One of the cheapest ways out is to do the reverse of how I got up to North Troy for my SOBO.
1. Find or hitch a ride from the North Troy B&B 20 miles West to Richford. Sammi, the owner of the North Troy Inn can help you.
If you're able to arrange a ride with Sammi's husband however, he works in Burlington and leaves at 3:30am every morning. If that works out, great. Otherwise continue.

2. From Richford, catch the local 5:00pm bus to St. Albans. It'll cost a dollar.

3. Spend the night at the Super 8, and get on the Amtrak at 8:30 the next morning. You can take this all the way to Wash. DC.

Except for the layover in St. Albans, it's easy, economical, and of little hassle.

[Skinny Rooster]

Thanks Deacon,

I'm aware of these possibilities. I guess I need to pick up the phone to to try to get in touch with Steve Merrill and/or North Troy B&B . If there are other options that have worked for others I'd love to hear them. Otherwise will just try to nail one of these down.

Thanks.

[Deacon]

Steve shuttled me last year from St Albans to North Troy. His comment to me was he really wants to get out of the shuttling business. He asked how I got his name, and I said it is listed in the E2E guide. He was surprised because he informed the GMC to remove his name.

When I finally made initial contact with him, he said it's always best to try calling evenings.

[Praha4]

hi Rooster, I tried last year to contact Steve Merrill before my LT hike and never got a response either. So I emailed GMC before the hike last summer, and they emailed me their latest listing of LT shuttle drivers and trail angels. One of those turned out to be "Everywhere Taxi of Vermont", and he picked me and Rockfish up at Journeys End Road when we finished the hike. Mr. Louis LaRose was our driver, good guy. Their number is: 802-238-4121. I came back to Jacksonville, FL on AMTRAK.... rode the Ethan Allen Express from Rutland, VT to Penn Station, NYC; then transferred to the Silver Meteor from Penn St. to Jacksonville, FL ....and rented a car for the drive home to PC Beach. Like Deacon said, there are many other options for transportation from the LT northern terminus,,,,once you find a way get back to a hub city like St. Albans, Burlington, or Rutland. There's AMTRAK service to/from St. Albans and Rutland. There's some kind of public Green Mtn. bus service from some other places up that way too, but they only run like once or twice a day. And of course you can fly out of Burlington or Albany, NY. I highly recommend the AMTRAK Ethan Allen Express, runs along the Hudson River all the way down to NYC. And I highly recommend Louis LaRose, he gave us a ride all the way back to Rutland, where you can catch bus or train. The AMTRAK from Penn St. also stops at Union Station in D.C. Good luck! have a great hike

[Praha4]

hey Bill! thanks buddy, dang, get your gear ready and go for another LT hike! lots of hikers out there will love your campfire tall tales!

lucky fella- I think I'd hike that trail damn near every year if I could.

Best of luck on another successful hike in dreamland.

[Praha4]

fastfox: probably cross each others paths somewhere... good luck on the hike!

Im starting around August 13th SOBO. enjoy your hike

[bigcranky]

We got home from the Northern Terminus on the Amtrak train The Vermonter, from St. Albans, which is about an hour west of the trail. It was actually pretty easy - backtrack to the Vt 105 trailhead, hitch a ride to Richford, VT, and stay overnight at The Crossing tavern which has a handful of inexpensive rooms for rent (and great food.) There is a GMTA commuter bus from Richford to St Albans that leaves at 5:30am and arrives in St Albans at 6:15, plenty of time to get some breakfast before the 8:58am train departure.

The Vermonter runs once a day from Washington DC to St Albans, and from St Albans to Washington, with stops all through Vermont pretty close to the trail, then down the Northeast corridor. If you can get to DC, Philly, NYC, etc., it's an easy way to get to and from the Long Trail. Highly recommended, though the 13+ hour ride was a little long on the way home.

Edit: we got to the trail on the same train, northbound this time, getting off at Amherst, MA, and getting a shuttle to North Adams. Easy.