2009 Thru-Hikers

[chrishowe11]

im heading out nobo around the begining of August, figure the river will be getting low by then and i can get work off. meeting a friend where the AT jogs east. hope to see you all out there.

[warraghiyagey]

Where are you leaving from?

[Landshark]

I am thinking of doing an ALMOST end-to-end from the end of June through the first two weeks of July...I have already done the whole LT in sections but I want to do most of it again! I have a window of time between the end of the school year in June and other plans in late July. I work part time in the summer but I pick the days. The last few years I vaguely considered backpacking in August but other things came up and I never made it out for more than a few days at a time. I need to decide soon and then mark off a few weeks!

Maybe start at Kelly Stand Road and get to wherever I get to. Since I have done it already there's no rush to finish it. I live in Rutland and I have my husband as shuttle service so logistics are pretty easy.

[nevets]

I'll be E2E NOBO starting in mid June and take ~25 days, turn around SOBO and do it in ~15 (wanted to go later, but commitments in August tied me up). This will be my first E2E hike, and am still working on logistics. Any advice for a seasoned backpacker that is good to know heading out on the first thru-hike that I won't find in the books?

[vonfrick]

warrghy and me are leaving dalton, ma 3rd week in june and walking up the LT this will be my 2nd end to end, but he's only been on the southern, AT section before. hoping to do the cohos next year.

[wakapak]

warrghy and me are leaving dalton, ma 3rd week in june and walking up the LT this will be my 2nd end to end, but he's only been on the southern, AT section before. hoping to do the cohos next year.

Ooohhhhhh, the Cohos!!! You'll have to let me know how that one is if you guys do it next year!!!

[vonfrick]

hey waknoodles!

[wakapak]

hey waknoodles!

Well Hello there!!!

[stringbean]

i will be starting july 16th heading northbound. this will be my second thru of the long trail. i did it in 2007, my trail name is wandered off. the agency i work for has been very generous and granted me a second leave of absence. can any one tell me when dry season starts? in 2007 i started in early june and water was plentiful.

[down-hill]

Just keep track of the weather during the month before you leave.

It's not like there's a monsoon season in VT. When I lived up there, every summer was different. When I was heading NOBO from Bromley in late July last year, I had five days in a row of rain, and more later, but surprisingly there were very few mosquitos.

[pedxing]

Winter is dry season in Vermont. For central Vermont and the Burlington area it rains - on average - as much (or more) in July and August as it does in June. The trail gets a little drier in July and August though. I think this is because in June the snow melt hasn't entirely dried up and the longer and warmer days of July and August mean the trail dries out more quickly. Still, in my first LT thru-hike in July, there were some very wet days. One day, I kept worrying that I had lost the trail and was following a stream bed, but there would always be a white blaze up ahead. One pattern noticed was frequent thunderstormsom ;ate afternoon in July and August - I'm not sure if that holds up most years.

[Yukon]

Plans changed, in my favor! I'll be starting an End-to-End at the beginning of August

[pedxing]

Glad you are getting enough time to do the whole thing Yukon.

[Yukon]

Glad you are getting enough time to do the whole thing Yukon.

That makes two of us! I'm pretty happy that my company was cool enough to let me do it.

[RollingStone]

One pattern noticed was frequent thunderstormsom ;ate afternoon in July and August - I'm not sure if that holds up most years.

That is a fair and valid statement. The Greens have the ability to change weather pretty quickly. Similar to here where are now. Late afternoon thunderstorms, usually happen over the ridgelines of the rockies while the valley may get little to nothing.

I've been in the greens car camping in the forest near Brandon gap quite abit. I remember one time we left on Sunday morning in mid August. It was 40, raining and crappy. 45 crossing the NH border and looking back.. it was still cloudy and crappy behind yet warm and sunny on the border.

[[email protected]]

Hi all, newbie here.

I'm heading out on July 7 with a friend and my father to do a NOBO E2E hike. I just finished graduate school, my buddy is quitting his job and going back to school this fall, and my dad's retired. Seems like a perfect opportunity to do something we'll all remember! The plan is to finish up on the 30th.

I've been planning all year, mostly around my gear list. I backpacked heavily in high school, but much has changed in the last decade, particularly with lightweight equipment that I just had to have. Now we're trying to nail down a (flexible) itinerary and some meal plans so that we can get a few good home-cooked meals by postal drop.

Any tips from those in the know for a backpacker that's been out of the game for the last decade or so?

Thanks!

[Quoddy]

Any tips from those in the know for a backpacker that's been out of the game for the last decade or so?

Start off with reasonable mileages for the first few days until everyone is OK with upping the distances. Most problems will be recognized by the end of that time. Remember that you will only be able to hike as far and fast as the weakest member of the group.

[vonfrick]

anybody know if there's still a bear hanging around seth warner? he was there 2 years ago.

[Quoddy]

anybody know if there's still a bear hanging around seth warner? he was there 2 years ago.

There are numerous bears in the area. I've seen them near Seth Warner on the southern section of the LT, just west of Williamstown on Bee Hill, last week on the northern section of the Taconic Crest Trail near the Snow Hole (one ridge west of Seth Warner), not to mention the several that live in the woods behind my house and wander through regularly. I've been at Seth Warner several times in the past year and never saw one right there.

[GlobeTrotter]

I just finished up some summer hiking in the Alps on the Tour du Mont Blanc and the Alta Via 1, now next on the agenda is the Long Trail. I am currently in the planning phase at the moment and subject to changes, but I am favoring a SOBO starting mid-September and finishing mid-October. I also like cooler fall weather and am of course most intrigued by romantically hiking through the change of seasons and the fall colors.

See you all on the trail!

-GlobeTrotter