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2009ThruHiker
12-01-2005, 13:51
Looking for two things:
1. ANy websites that are helpful for planning for / learning about the Long Trail besides the Green Mountain Club site
2. Any help from previous hikers of the Long Trail... we are going to do a week long section at the end of this August... this is a vacation... so we would like to not only see a great section of the trail but also a cool town to hit or end up in.

THANKS!

Bunnyrunner
12-01-2005, 15:33
Check over at trailjournals.com -- they have journals from hikers on many trails, including the Long Trail.

Bunnyrunner

bartender
12-01-2005, 16:02
In August the first 100 miles will be pretty crowded with AT thru hikers, this is not automaticly a bad thing, it will just mean the shelters will be more crowded. Starting at The Inn at Long Trail and heading south for your six days might be a fun option. The Inn is awesome, the trail is not too difficult in that area, there will be lots of hikers to hang out with, and you will pass Manchester Center, a pretty cool trail town. If you are looking for solitude start at the Inn and head north, the downside is the first couple of days are not the best maintained or interesting parts of the trail. I would get the GMC End to End guide. It has excellent info regarding services available in towns etc. It also gives accurate(painfully at times)estimates of hours to hike between shelters etc.

Kerosene
12-01-2005, 17:49
Trail Towns: Johnson, Stowe, Manchester Center, Bennington

Trail Inn: The Inn at Long Trail at US-4 near Killington

If you want to avoid a lot of the AT thru-hiking crowd, consider starting at US-4 and hiking north for 70-100 miles. The LT is pretty easy for the first few days. You'll hit some of the higher peaks towards the end of the week, and you might be able to make it across Mt. Mansfield and stop in Stowe at the end of a week depending on your daily mileage.

I recommend that you purchase the Long Trail Guide (https://secure.earthlogic.com/gmc/product_detail.php?sku=2200) and maps for $19.

Mags
12-01-2005, 18:36
I recommend that you purchase the Long Trail Guide (https://secure.earthlogic.com/gmc/product_detail.php?sku=2200) and maps for $19.

The end-to-ender guide is also helpful.

I also wrote a guide to hiking the LT. It was written in 2002, but the info should still be fairly useful.
http://www.magnanti.com/miscwritings/lt_ws.htm

Maybe I'll update it at some point... If anyone has info to add, feel free too.

Naturally, I'll add a link for whiteblaze.net. :)

rickb
12-01-2005, 18:53
Mags, the format of you link is FUBAR. At least when I click on it. Rick

Mags
12-01-2005, 19:06
Hmm...I just brought up the doc on these systems:

Mac with Safari
Red Hat with Firefox
Netscape 7.1 on Windows XP

It does look hosed on IE 6.0 with Windows though.

Get a real browser. ;)

Seriously, though, try my original link where I had it stored. I'll fix it for IE later:

http://friends.backcountry.net/pmags/lt_ws.htm

UPDATE: Just fixed for IE. Thanks for bringing it my attention Rick.

Rough
12-01-2005, 22:13
My wife and I hiked end-to-end on the LT in the summer of 2003. We have our daily journal posted on trailjournals and a full journal/photo album posted also at:

http://www.trailjournals.com/roughandtumble/

and

http://www.47ipsd.us/Web_LTAlbum/welcome.html

Best of luck - it's a beautiful trail.

peakbagger
12-02-2005, 13:08
I have run into several Long trail end to enders who were also AT thru hikers and they usually rate the northern section of the long trail more difficult than the AT stretch in the Mahoosucs and western maine. Lots of steep elevation changes!

Mags
12-02-2005, 13:26
No arguement there! I'd say, mile for mile, the stretch between RT4 and RT15 (Maine Junction to Johnson) was (and still is!) some of the hardest hiking I've ever done in terms of steepness of climbs over the course of a day.

More than one person has called it the "Long and Hard Trail" !!!!

All this Long Trail talk makes me want to do it again someday. Always wanted to a fall trek. Start late September at the VT/Quebec line and head south, finishing just pass the official end on Greylock. Would be gorgeous!

kyhipo
12-02-2005, 13:31
I enjoyed my Hike on the long trail wish i had completed it ,but ended up going to see a friend in portland,ME ,like to also hike it southbound ;) ky,maybe this next fall,I love hiking in the fall the most,and thought vermont was my favorite New Engand state.

Sly
12-02-2005, 13:50
No arguement there! I'd say, mile for mile, the stretch between RT4 and RT15 (Maine Junction to Johnson) was (and still is!) some of the hardest hiking I've ever done in terms of steepness of climbs over the course of a day.

Ditto...

Hey Mags, How'd you do the fix for IE?

I've been messing with the SoRuck site and it drove me crazy so the site looked right on AOL, IE and Firefox (From here it does anyway) and never did know exactly what I was doing. :rolleyes:

Mags
12-02-2005, 14:01
Ditto...

Hey Mags, How'd you do the fix for IE?

I've been messing with the SoRuck site and it drove me crazy so the site looked right on AOL, IE and Firefox (From here it does anyway) and never did know exactly what I was doing. :rolleyes:

Send me the page. I'll try take a look-see. I am only intermediate in my HTML coding, but I'll do my best. No promises though. :) pmags AT yahoo.com

Rainman
12-02-2005, 14:41
:welcome

All of the previous posts are very good advice. From your user name I take it you are an AT thru hiker in planning. In light of that, I would go NOBO from North Adams, MA with the intention of meeting and learning from as many AT thru hikers as possible. Part of my journal from last summer is online at the link below. Life off the trail has prevented me from getting my whole journal posted, but there should be some useful stuff there.

So as not to clutter this post, feel free to e-mail me or IM me with any specific questions. I'll be back up to finish the trail next July from Johnson North.

There are a bunch of other LT journals online also. After following my link, check out the journals by "Tumblina," "Fish Outta Water," "Packrat & Kopi," and "La Fourmi." All of those people were hiking at around the same time I was and we all became friends.

Manchester is a great trail town. If your mileage allows you to get as far as Route 4, the Inn At Long Trail http://www.innatlongtrail.com/ is definitely a good place to visit. I zeroed at a place called the Mendon Mountain View Lodge http://www.mendonmountainview.com/, which I thought was better, mostly for the hot tub to soak tired muscles and having a TV.

Happy planning and Happy hiking!

JoeHiker
12-02-2005, 14:45
I can echo the comments about the Northern Section. On my LT "thru" hike this fall, I started at the Canadian Border and hit all the hard parts first. I am in fantastic shape (I'd just run a marathon a few days earlier) and it still kicked my ass.

Worst part was, I only made it as far as the Inn at Long Trail before the snow came and ended the hike prematurely. So I missed all the easy parts.

My recommendation: If you are looking to challenge yourself, do some of the northern part. If you are looking for a more pleasant hike, Start at the Inn and head south (or start in the southern part and end at the Inn.

Rainman
12-02-2005, 14:48
Hey JoeHiker, did you see my entries in the registers? :banana How was your hike? Do you have an online journal?

JoeHiker
12-02-2005, 15:31
My hike was great and terrible at the same time. 8 straight days of rain, then a few nice days, then snow which ended it. On top of that I was alone, a newb, and was rushed (thanks to the airlines) when packing my gear so I forgot a few things. It was much harder than it should have been.

I might have seen your entries, I'm not sure. Some of the shelters I stayed at include:

-the top of Jay Peak (no shelter registry) on Oct 12,
-Tillotson Camp (shelter log already full weeks earlier)
-Corliss Camp (did you stay there)
-Duck Brook
-Montclair Glen
-Cooley Glen
-Sucker Brook
-Rolston Rest

I read sometimes but most of the time I was too tired and fell right asleep as soon as I set up camp.

The hike was good but scary. I was all alone almost every night at the shelters and I had a fall or two that could have been fatal if I'd been at a slightly different place or I had been a little less lucky

I never put mine journal online, maybe I should. I'll see if trailjournals will let me. If you go there and read Hardcore's journal for his LT NOBO hike, you'll see him mention me briefly at his entry for Duck Brook Shelter. We met one morning there.

I'll probably attempt the whole thing again in a couple of years. It's tough getting the vacation time.