Few days on the LT for a beginner

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Hello. I was hoping to spend about 5 days on the LT in October with a friend. Any suggests for a 30-40 mile hike? I am a newbie but my partner is pretty experienced. Thanks.

[earlylight]

Rt 9 to Rt 11/30 is a nice stretch, approximately 40 miles long. It's on the AT so it will be easier than up north. You'll have to climb glastenbury and stratton mountains, which will give you great foliage views since they both have fire towers on them.

[Tinker]

Rt 9 to Rt 11/30 is a nice stretch, approximately 40 miles long. It's on the AT so it will be easier than up north. You'll have to climb glastenbury and stratton mountains, which will give you great foliage views since they both have fire towers on them.

I agree.

North of Rte. 4 the trail gets tougher. Between 11 and 4 there are a lot of road crossings and the trail seems less remote.

[Quoddy]

The Rt 9 to 11/30 is an excellent suggestion for a relatively easy hike with some good scenery. To make it even easier, do it SOBO. IMHO it's a bit too easy for a 5 day hike unless you plan to keep your mileage extremely low. I've done this section 4 times, 3 times NOBO and once SOBO.

If you wanted to do a challenging section in the heart of the LT, and you are at least in reasonable condition, you might shoot for Appalachian Gap (Rt 17) to Smuggler's Notch (Rt 108). It's 42 miles and took me almost 5 full days at a relatively easy pace. You'd see some of the more spectacular spots on the LT including Camels Hump and Mount Mansfield. This section does entail numerous climbs, decents, and some scrambling. Re-thinking this, it may be a bit too much to bite off as a beginner.

[oruoja]

Agree, the Rte 9 to Rte 11 stretch is very nice with only one road crossing (Arlington-Wardsboro, aka Kelley Stand Rd). It is also more tolerable should the weather get really nasty with several shelters spaced along the way should you need or prefer to use them. Stratton Pond and the fire towers atop Stratton and Glastenbury also highlight the trip. I was on this section two weeks ago and the trail was in great shape with ample water. An alternate route from Glastenbury to Rte 9 would be to use the West Ridge Trail and Bald Mt Trail which was easy hiking in nice woods in the addition to the Glastenbury Wilderness area. The northern from App Gap to Rte 108 is very interesting, but more strenuous and can be pretty miserable and hazardous in poor weather.

[Cookerhiker]

Wow, deja vu! My very first backpacking trip in 1977 was south from 11 & 30 to Rt. 9. It killed me, not so much because I was a newbie but was hopelessly out of shape despite being in my 20s. 30 years later, I did the same hike as part of my LT thruhike and it was a breeze.

I echo the others' recommendations. Watch for porcupines around Kid Gore Shelter, enjoy a swim in Stratton Pond, and savor the view atop the fire tower on Glastonbury.

[Slo-go'en]

I'd go with the middle of the state, say RT 4 to RT2. Mostly a ridge walk, ending with summiting Camels Hump, the best peak on the LT. (Mansfield is nice, but the road to the top and the communications towers sort of spoil it)

[Yahtzee]

Camel's Hump is a must. If you have 4 or 5 days, it would be a shame not to include this mountain.

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Thanks to all! We just got back from a very COLD 5 days between the App gap and Middlebury gap. We intended a through hike but rain, snow, sleet and hail had us resorting to day hikes. Great time though and definately can not wait to try again.