4 day Vermont Hike

[19malc48]

I`m coming over from UK late September to hike a section of your renowned AT.
One possibility is a 4 day/40 mile hike in Vermont ( VT9 Bennington to VT11/30 ) using Shelters.

Apologies in advance for so many questions.

Is this a reasonable choice of hike.
Is this a good time of year, or is it to early to appreciate Fall in all its splendor.
I Don`t bump into many bears in UK any chance of doing so here.
What about midgies.
What is the average nighttime temperature this time of year.

and last for the moment, any suggestions how I get back from trail end on VT11/30 to Bennington or Albany

Thanks for listening Malc

[Jeff]

Late September is a great time to hike in Vermont. Trees may not be at peak color, but still beautiful.

Transportation is easy. Hitch into Manchester and then take the bus to Bennington with connections to Albany. Weekend service may be a problem. Check out their websie:

http://www.greenmtncn.org/regional.html

[guthook]

Is this a reasonable choice of hike.
Is this a good time of year, or is it to early to appreciate Fall in all its splendor.
I Don`t bump into many bears in UK any chance of doing so here.
What about midgies.
What is the average nighttime temperature this time of year.

and last for the moment, any suggestions how I get back from trail end on VT11/30 to Bennington or Albany



Hey Malc,

This is indeed a good plan for a trip! If you're in reasonably good backpacking shape, the ten miles a day should be no problem. And late September is a good time for foliage, although I think the peak colors tend to be a week or two later, depending on the season. Late September is still quite nice.

Bears aren't an issue in Vermont (there was one problem bear in 2009, but that's the only one I've heard of in Vermont), and biting bugs are usually gone by mid August.

Nighttime temps are cool in September. I don't know exact numbers off the top of my head, but I'd guess somewhere in the 40s F.

Transportation... Not sure about that one.

[moldy]

This is a excellent choice for a hike on the AT. It will be the start of the Fall color season. You will probably not see any bears. If they have their first frost of the year by then(and they should have) you will see very few midges or biting black fly's. The temperature is a matter of luck and altitude. Expect overnight lows in the 40'sF at lower altitudes and 30'sF at high altitude. You can take the Green Mountain Bus from Manchester to Bennington if you continue on the Orange Line you can go to Williamstown Mass for connections both to Albany NY and NYC on the Peter Pan Bus. You should carry some sort of tent or other shelter because you can't count on getting space in shelters.

[Slo-go'en]

That is a reasonably mellow and nice section of trail. Low 40's at night and 60's during the day is common in late Sept. It should be close to peak folage colors. It will be pretty quiet people wise if you go mid week, shelter space should not be a problem. It can get a little busy at the more popular shelters on Saturday night during the fall season. Primarly at Straton pond in that section, but that shelter can hold a lot of people and there is tenting near-by.

It would be helpful if you can be flexable as to the exact timing of the trip to accomidate weather. Having four days of nice, sunny days makes this a great hike. Having four days of cold drizzle makes for a miserable hike.

[DavidNH]

late September is an ideal time of year for hiking this section of the AT/LT. Temperatures likely to be 50's to 70's in the day and 20's to 40's at night.
Your chances of encountering bears are minimal.

[19malc48]

Thank you for all your helpful and reassuring feedback.
I`m really looking forward to the trip now that my concerns have been answered.
May have some more later on if that`s o k
Going to hit the bus time tables now.

malc