Vermont's Long Trail - summer weather clothing?

[somers515]

Ok so in July in Waterbury, Vermont the internet says average high 78 average low 56. Now obviously it will be a little colder in the mountains and these are just averages . . . so if you were taking long pants and a long sleeve shirt and rain jacket for sure . . . trying to decide between either also adding a fleece or synthetic puffy jacket or both - thoughts? Also wool hat? I'll also have a 20 degree or 30 degree sleeping bag if that factors into your answer. Basically on an end-to-end hike in July how cold would you be prepared for?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Climate Waterbury - Vermont

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Average high in °F:	26	29	39	52	66	74
Average low in °F:	7	9	20	31	42	51
Av. precipitation in inch:	3.03	2.36	3.07	3.27	3.74	4.02

	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high in °F:	78	76	67	55	42	31
Average low in °F:	56	54	46	36	27	14
Av. precipitation in inch:	4.25	4.8	4.06	3.66	3.74	3.19

[Eamonn]

You can always bring a light enough puffy or fleece on a thru hike. You always send it home!
But if you just pack your 20° bag, have some merino long underwear you will be more than fine in July. Maybe just a warm beanie and socks for good measure


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deadeye]

My standard kit for "summer" in Vermont is zip-off shorts and a t-shirt while hiking. In the pack is the legs to the shorts, a long-sleeve T, a light fleece, a down vest, and a very light fleece beanie. Rain gear is a Frogg Toggs jacket and an umbrella. Most of the time, the vest is stuffed into a small cotton sack for a pillow, and I'll wear it in the morning before I start hiking. I may even throw my rain jacket on over all that if it's a real chilly morning. It's not often that I don't use all of those items at some point during a hike, and I don't venture out with less. I find that to be sufficient well into September.

[Slo-go'en]

It can go to being in the 80-90's one day and then down into the 60's the next, with a lot of rain in between. Evenings and mornings can be chilly, have a light weight warm layer.

Long pants and long sleeve shirt go a long way to protect you from bugs, brush and mud. The northern end of the LT doesn't get a lot of maintenance, so is usually overgrown to various degrees.

[bigcranky]

I took the following for our July e2e hike. We had temps mostly in the 50s at night, and low to mid 70s during the day, but a few nights in the mid 40s and some very cold wet days later in the hike.

Hiking: nylon shorts, light merino wool t-shirt, Darn Tough light cushion socks, trail runners, nylon ball cap. I wore this every day on the trail. I also brought my rain shell (hard shell) and a rain kilt and rain mitts, and was very glad to have them.

Camp/Town: REI Sahara zip off pants. I wore the shorts every day in camp so I could hang my wet hiking shorts, and also when we were in town. I never used the "legs". Long sleeve light merino wool top, wore it in camp, sleeping, and in town. Light merino long johns, worn every night to sleep. Couple of extra pairs of the same socks, kept one for sleeping only. Long sleeved nylon "fishing shirt" -- I brought this instead of my wind shirt, and actually got a lot of use out of it, both on the train and in town, and also in camp to keep the bugs off. Finally, I brought my light weight down parka, which I wore in camp at night and in the morning, and also used inside my 45F quilt when it got chilly at night. I also had a .7 oz microfleece beanie, used mostly for sleeping.

I didn't feel at any point like I needed more clothing, and I wore every piece almost every day.

[Praha4]

Deadeye has the perfect layering system for Vermont in summer.

I use almost the same clothing, with exception I bring a Patagonia Nano-Puff vest instead of the Down vest. My rain jacket is the Montbell Torrent Flier Gore-tex jacket (very nice, has pitzips and very lightweight). I've not used an umbrella before, but may have to give one a try, can see why they would be nice for summer heavy downpours.

have a great hike

My standard kit for "summer" in Vermont is zip-off shorts and a t-shirt while hiking. In the pack is the legs to the shorts, a long-sleeve T, a light fleece, a down vest, and a very light fleece beanie. Rain gear is a Frogg Toggs jacket and an umbrella. Most of the time, the vest is stuffed into a small cotton sack for a pillow, and I'll wear it in the morning before I start hiking. I may even throw my rain jacket on over all that if it's a real chilly morning. It's not often that I don't use all of those items at some point during a hike, and I don't venture out with less. I find that to be sufficient well into September.

[dudeijuststarted]

What temp bag would be appropriate for LT in August? I have a 25, think its overkill?

[Slo-go'en]

What temp bag would be appropriate for LT in August? I have a 25, think its overkill?

Maybe a little, but not by much. I did a SOBO E2E in August a few years ago and while it was in the 80's the first few days out, it was getting damn chilly by the end of August. If your going NOBO, any early season cold fronts coming out of Canada will clip the top end of Vermont first.

[dudeijuststarted]

Maybe a little, but not by much. I did a SOBO E2E in August a few years ago and while it was in the 80's the first few days out, it was getting damn chilly by the end of August. If your going NOBO, any early season cold fronts coming out of Canada will clip the top end of Vermont first.

OK, I'll roll with the 25 and a light sheet. Thanks!