Starting to get excited...

[Cookerhiker]

Of all the trails I've hiked, the Long Trail is the one I like to return to again and again. First AT section hike 35 years ago was in VT. Finished section hiking the LT in '81. Hiked several more times subsequently, including a 25 year commemoration in '02 with my hiking partner from the early days. Thruhiked it in '07 and I'd like - no, expect - to thruhike it again despite all the other trails out there that beckon me.

[Nar Nar]

Hey man your 16, you have a lifetime of miles ahead of you. I hiked the LT as my first long distance hike when I was 18, I'm now 37 and doing it again. I've done a number of hikes and on some have come up short, but I keep hiking and keep experiencing the trail. Finishing a trail is not that important in my view, it's the experience that you have for life. So much of a hike is where your head is at...and sometimes it's easier than other times.

Every hike is a learning experience...but we only learn from the experiences we learn from. You will be back!

Hey man thank you, it really means a lot! I know I'm young and I gave it my best shot, and I'm glad I did because it showed me how unprepared I really was. I didn't take care of my feet and ended up bashing my toe so much I almost broke it, and I had blisters all over my feet, which left me not able to walk really. I started off way to fast (not by choice though, my partner thought it would be fine for us to pull 18 mile days right off the bat) and this lead to just a miserable time. I will without a doubt be back out, not necessarily for a thru-hike (although I want to try again in a few years, alone this time), but definitely for some weekend or week trips. In fact I've already planned a trip from Camel's Hump to Mansfield with some of my friends in August, and we are going to take it much slower Thanks for the kind words!

[jakedatc]

There ya go. I put a lot of value in shake down and conditioning hikes. You live up there so you have all the trails in the world to get out and go all over to work out your system. gear, shoes, socks, etc just consider that a practice run and adjust what didn't work.

[Nar Nar]

I definitely will be adjusting a lot haha, starting with some research on how to prevent blisters and I already have a better pair of boots.

[10-K]

Less than 48 hours till I head out to Vermont. Mailed my 2 food drops yesterday.

Got all my gear piled up, now I got to sort through it making final decisions. Hard to believe I set this exact date to start almost a year ago and nothing derailed it.

[Praha4]

10K

how ru getting up to Vermont from Erwin? planes, trains, or automobile?

I'm still trying to find 3-4 weeks in Sept-Oct timeframe to get up there to do the LT, and going back and forth between flying or driving up from FL

have a great hike!

[SamA]

Pretty excited here, too. We step off in 32 days NOBO and based on the many good posts in this forum it seems we have a good chance of running into several of you.

Son reported temp is his locale has been approaching 120 degrees and he could really use some cool New England evenings and maybe a touch of late September snow.

Good luck to all on the LT.

[Margs]

Posthardkyle, any advice for a first-timer? Next spring I'm planning to do a thru on the LT, but it's my first big overnight hike! I love hiking but know that I'll need equipment to not have a cut-short trip. Thanks!

[hikerboy57]

Less than 48 hours till I head out to Vermont. Mailed my 2 food drops yesterday.

Got all my gear piled up, now I got to sort through it making final decisions. Hard to believe I set this exact date to start almost a year ago and nothing derailed it.

have a safe , great trip. i leave wednesday for baxter. and even though i still have abed for one more night before sleeping on hard graound. its been hard to sleep the last few days.
leaving the SILWF at the cafe. hope the guys dont destroy the place while were gone.
good luck.

[10-K]

10K

how ru getting up to Vermont from Erwin? planes, trains, or automobile?

I'm still trying to find 3-4 weeks in Sept-Oct timeframe to get up there to do the LT, and going back and forth between flying or driving up from FL

have a great hike!

Thanks!

I'm driving to N. Adams, MA and parking at the Greylock Community Center and taking a shuttle to N. Troy, VT. Pricey, but easy and efficient.

[10-K]

have a safe , great trip. i leave wednesday for baxter. and even though i still have abed for one more night before sleeping on hard graound. its been hard to sleep the last few days.
leaving the SILWF at the cafe. hope the guys dont destroy the place while were gone.
good luck.

Yep, be careful out there. As long as you have your SILWF you should be safe.

Still trying to figure out if I should quit my job and leave my family behind to thru for $1000 but it'll wait until I get back..

[hikerboy57]

Yep, be careful out there. As long as you have your SILWF you should be safe.

Still trying to figure out if I should quit my job and leave my family behind to thru for $1000 but it'll wait until I get back..

im bringing 5 bullets, which is the corect number of bullets. no gun though.the last thing i need is 6 ticks. i only will have 5 bullets to throw!

[Praha4]

10K

that's good info, thanks. I've been searching for a long term safe parking option in Williamstown or N. Adams during a e2e LT hike. I think driving is about half the cost of flying from where I live.

couple more questions.

* Is it free parking at that Community Center in N. Adams?
* How much $$ is the shuttle to N. Troy? and... do u know of a good shuttle from N.Troy back to N.Adams?


QUOTE=10-K;1318586]Thanks!

I'm driving to N. Adams, MA and parking at the Greylock Community Center and taking a shuttle to N. Troy, VT. Pricey, but easy and efficient.[/QUOTE]

[Nar Nar]

Posthardkyle, any advice for a first-timer? Next spring I'm planning to do a thru on the LT, but it's my first big overnight hike! I love hiking but know that I'll need equipment to not have a cut-short trip. Thanks!

Well, first of all I would suggest asking the rest of the guys on here before me because a lot of them have completed the AT, while I couldn't even complete the LT But if you're looking for advice from a beginner who was just like you and went out and tried it, then I would be glad to help although I'm sure everyone else can as well! Are you asking me what type of equipment to get? I'm confused.. but as far as advice goes my best advice would be to go out and do some weekend hikes and 3 to 4 night hikes with all the gear you are going to use, and the same pace you are going to go. Day hikes will not cut it for this, they need to be overnight trips. This is something I never did, and as I look back on it I know I should have. If I had done this, I would have realized how bad my shoes were, and I could have switched to my other better pair of hiking boots and I would have made it further because awful blisters really slowed me down. Also, don't do it with a friend. I tried it with my friend and he wanted to go at a faster pace than me and this screwed me up as well. Hike your own hike, as they say. Lastly, if it is your first time, don't assume completing the entire trail is going to happen. Make it your goal, and work to meet your goal, but don't assume that you are going to make it. I told everyone that I was going to do the entire thing and made it sound easy, boy was I wrong! I'm sure the rest of the fine folks on here can give you more advice than I can, so be sure to talk to them as well! Private message me if you have any more questions or things you want to talk about. Good luck!

[Slo-go'en]

I talked a friend into driving me over to Journey's end, will find out tonight if we head over Thursday or Friday. (8/2 or 8/3)

I really wanted to do this NOBO, but the logistics of getting there and then back home work out better for me going SOBO. I hope my knees are still up for this! It's been a good 10 years since I last did this streach of trail. At least my pack is reasonably light this time at ~20 lb, fully loaded with 4 nights/5days of food.

[Driver8]

Less than 48 hours till I head out to Vermont. Mailed my 2 food drops yesterday.

Got all my gear piled up, now I got to sort through it making final decisions. Hard to believe I set this exact date to start almost a year ago and nothing derailed it.

Hope you have a very pleasant trek, 10-K. We'll miss you. How long do you think you'll take?

[10-K]

I talked a friend into driving me over to Journey's end, will find out tonight if we head over Thursday or Friday. (8/2 or 8/3)

I really wanted to do this NOBO, but the logistics of getting there and then back home work out better for me going SOBO. I hope my knees are still up for this! It's been a good 10 years since I last did this streach of trail. At least my pack is reasonably light this time at ~20 lb, fully loaded with 4 nights/5days of food.

Well hey - I'll be looking for you.

Driver8 - I"m figuring 15-16 days, depending.

[Deacon]

Less than 48 hours till I head out to Vermont. Mailed my 2 food drops yesterday.

Got all my gear piled up, now I got to sort through it making final decisions. Hard to believe I set this exact date to start almost a year ago and nothing derailed it.

Know the feeling. I'm doing the same. See ya on the trail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[10-K]

Idling in Bennington, VT until tomorrow morning...... then off to the border.

[Slo-go'en]

I'll be at Lura Woodward tomorrow night - gonna skip the first 2.6 miles and start at RT-105, hopefully about noon. That way I can do a decent 6 mile hike with my friend who's driving me over and who wants to do an overnight to make it worth the drive. Maybe we'll see you there 10K, or soon after as you go flying by me