Well, I got home from Vermont yesterday about 5:30 PM, tired and spent from the hike and the long drive.
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being perfect I'd rate the hike a strong 8. The Long Trail north of Lincoln Gap is a total beast and is basically 1 obstacle after another, all day - every day. It's grueling and I quickly had to readjust my approach to hold a pace I could maintain and endure each day rather than look at the map and decide how far I was going on any particular day. The Long Trail is an endurance contest, not a race track.
I would rate the trail north of Lincoln Gap at least on par with the AT between Glencliff and Gorham any day of the week except The Long Trail is a hard hike for at least 125 solid miles. Actually, the climb out of Appalachian Gap, south of Theorn Dean shelter is where the trail makes it's last, brutal gasp. After that it gets much easier.
After The Long Trail rejoins the AT at Maine Junction it was back to the Vermont I know and love - roots and rocks, but no major obstacles.
Would I hike it again? Probably not, just because I'm really not a big fan of that kind of hiking - but I honor the beauty and ruggedness of the trail and the state. It was awesome.
Trivia:
I resupplied 3 times - Jonesville, Waitsfield, and Manchester Center. I was going to resupply in Rutland while I was at The Inn at Long Trail but didn't want to waste half a day futzing around on a bus so I made the dash for Manchester Center without resupplying. When I got to Manchester Center all I had left in my food bag was a handful of Fritos and a Ramen.
The hike took 15 days total - from the time I got out of my truck at the beginning to the time I got back in my truck at the end.
Out of 15 hiking days, 1 day was only 3 miles and another was 8 miles so I averaged over 20 mpd.
Longest day: 30 miles (also had a 27 and a 29 I believe)
Dumbest thing I did: Climb Jay Peak twice because I went north again when I should have went south.
Almost quit 1 time: About 1/3 up Mansfield I decided that I'd had enough crappy rock trail and was going to go home. I took one step downhill to hitch into Stowe, stopped and thought for a minute and decided I'd quit tomorrow if I still felt the same way. When I got to the top of Mt. Mansfield on such a beautiful, perfect day I knew I was going to finish. (I would have finished anyway....)
Best shelter: Tillotson Camp (had it to myself too)
Worst shelter: Cooley Glen. Shared it with a mouse that had ADHD and ran around ALL night.
Hardest climb: Camel's Hump.
Suckiest climb: Whiteface
Worst decent: Smuggler's Notch
Most overrated climb: Mt. Mansfield (but it was dry, and the rocks were warm making for good traction on my summit day)
Longest time to hitch a ride: 20 minutes, into Richmond
Most useful piece of needless gear: GPS - came in handy several times.
Firetowers climbed: 2 (Stratton and Glastenbury)
Friendliest person: The little old lady who turned around in Waitsfield and took me back to The Hydeaway Inn even though she was going in the opposite direction. She said, "You look tired, need a ride?"
Cool thing: Meeting so many White Blaze members