SOBO LT compared to NOBO Maine AT

[T.S.Kobzol]

How would you compare doing 14 days SOBO LT to 14 days NOBO Maine AT (starting from Grafton Notch)?

We might be changing our plans for August by going SOBO Long Trail. I have ordered the guide and the maps but I am just interested in opinions from those who have done both.

P.S. I am very familiar with what majority of Maine AT is.

thanks :-)

[Monkeywrench]

Depends on which 14-day section of the LT you choose. The southern half is much easier than the northern half. I'd say the Maine section you chose falls in between the two LT sections.

[T.S.Kobzol]

Without having seen the guide, we're thinking about starting somewhere on the Canadian border and walking south.

[Yukon]

I don't have experience with the AT in Maine...YET. But many of my friends who have done both say that the northern LT is just as rugged as anywhere on the AT in Maine, and some say even more so...

[peakbagger]

Northern Long trail is very similiar to Maine. Lots of steep ups and downs every day. The trailbed is arguable muddier and rougher.

[bamboo bob]

I think the northern LT is more rugged than anything on the AT. Maybe for short stretches the AT, like Mt Success and Mahoosic Notch and mt K but day to day the LT is butt kicking. I've done the AT three times and the LT twice.

[Cookerhiker]

I've hiked both. A 14 day NOBO hike starting from Grafton Notch is markedly more difficult than any 14 mile stretch of the Long Trail.

[Yukon]

I think the northern LT is more rugged than anything on the AT. Maybe for short stretches the AT, like Mt Success and Mahoosic Notch and mt K but day to day the LT is butt kicking. I've done the AT three times and the LT twice.

Yep, this sums up what I have heard from pretty much every AT thru I have ever talked to that has also don't the LT...

[10-K]

I will say that it depends as much on the hiker as it does the terrain.

On a good day what's hard is easier and on a bad day what's easier is harder.

[Cookerhiker]

I will say that it depends as much on the hiker as it does the terrain.

On a good day what's hard is easier and on a bad day what's easier is harder.

Yes, good point. Perhaps that explains why my experience/opinion differs from the others responding.