Long Trail wrapup report

[lemon b]

Thank you for the report. Sounds like you have a good time.

[Mags]

I took the SPOT at the request of my wife as well...

As an uncle of mine once told me "Buddy, if mamma bear is not happy neither is pappa bear"



I'd love to do the Long (and Hard ) Trail again in the Fall...

Hmm....

I enjoyed my stay in the ski lift hut and am glad I went the extra mile past Sterling Pond... It did have electricity as the caretaker said but it also had lights and a stereo and was bigger than she had indicated. I had all kinds of room and awesome views of Stowe.

The amenities have changed!

[RedBeerd]

Based on my recent SOBO LT hike I agree with most of your report! I really appreciated the hike after being home for a few days. It was such a great time wasnt it!

[Slo-go'en]

Hey 10K -

My new slogan for the Long Trail is "NO MERCY". I'm finally at Rutland doing resupply. Meet the woman who just ran the LT in 5 days last night at the inn at the long trail. I still can't belive she actually did it, mostly at night and during a couple of thunderstorms. How she didn't break a leg doing that is remarkable.

Looks like thier going to kick me out of here in a few -- later....

[Yukon]

Cool report, but why hike it so fast? Just being in the Green mountains is awesome and I can't imagine why anyone would want to hustle so much. Did you need to be home in a certain time?

[jakedatc]

Cool report, but why hike it so fast? Just being in the Green mountains is awesome and I can't imagine why anyone would want to hustle so much. Did you need to be home in a certain time?

What if your hustle speed is just his (and my, since i did it about the same speed) normal speed? 16-18 days is totally reasonable in my opinion. I never finished in the dark, never rushed unless it was self imposed to either get somewhere or challenge myself a bit. I made it over mansfield in a few hours and was on top with only 2 other people.. if it had taken longer the 30-40 people i passed on the way down would have been up there crowded with me. Or if i had taken even a day or 2 longer i would have had to deal with at least one or two big thunderstorms.

So back at you, I can't imagine dilly dallying around all day taking a month to do something that should take less than 3 weeks. Having to buy and carry more food and fuel. Now I am free to do other things, do more hikes, bike rides, etc

[tdoczi]

Cool report, but why hike it so fast? Just being in the Green mountains is awesome and I can't imagine why anyone would want to hustle so much. Did you need to be home in a certain time?

you know its about time someone spoke up and told someone they are going too fast. after all, everyone who goes fats is ALWAYS telling the slowpokes they should hurry up already and stop wasting so much time..... oh no, wait... nevermind.

seriously, youre all just jealous.

[jakedatc]

HYOH as long as it's how I do it

[Driver8]

There should be a corollary to HYOH: DLYHOO - Don't Lord Your Hike Over Others. 10-K is a great model to follow, if I may embarrass him by saying so - fast, smart, helpful, positive. Hikes his own hike, enjoys it, shares about it in a way favorable to all, useful even. Doesn't compare his hiking skill level or speed with others or make others feel less than.

I commend him to everyone.

[mark schofield]

sure wish I could hike too fast. sometimes I get jealous/ my gas tank seems to empty a bit faster as i get older.

[Mags]

HYOH as long as it's how I do it

HMHDI

http://www.pmags.com/hike-my-hike-damn-it-hmhdi


18 days is 15 MPD. A good, solid pace. That's less than 8 hrs of hiking per day at 2 MPH. Plenty of time to stay at lakes, overlooks or even get into camp early if so desired.

If I could do that pace with my EMS 5500, leather boots and a Whisperlite with no experience and being in worse shape than I am now, that can't exactly be a blazing pace!

If you want to hike short days...great. Nothing wrong with hiking moderately longer days, either...

[Driver8]

HMHDI

http://www.pmags.com/hike-my-hike-damn-it-hmhdi


18 days is 15 MPD. A good, solid pace. That's less than 8 hrs of hiking per day at 2 MPH. Plenty of time to stay at lakes, overlooks or even get into camp early if so desired.

If I could do that pace with my EMS 5500, leather boots and a Whisperlite with no experience and being in worse shape than I am now, that can't exactly be a blazing pace!

If you want to hike short days...great. Nothing wrong with hiking moderately longer days, either...

Not quite rolling on the floor, but laughing out loud at length. Great stuff, Mags.

[Deadeye]

Good report. You're not the first to get confused at Jay Peak - I think it's the radiation from the towers, and the aliens that jump on the tram cables.

[Papa D]

There should be a corollary to HYOH: DLYHOO - Don't Lord Your Hike Over Others. 10-K is a great model to follow, if I may embarrass him by saying so - fast, smart, helpful, positive. Hikes his own hike, enjoys it, shares about it in a way favorable to all, useful even. Doesn't compare his hiking skill level or speed with others or make others feel less than.

I commend him to everyone.

Yes - I've met 10K in person - he shuttled me last year to a section hike in TN - super good guy and strong hiker - I hope he and I will get out and hike some in the near future.

[10-K]

You guys are entirely too nice and I appreciate the kind words.

For me, making miles isn't about speed - it's about time and endurance. I'm not a particularly fast hiker. I'm on the trail early, take short breaks and usually no more than 30 minutes for lunch and other than that I'm hiking. I'm not much on camping so I tend to hike at least 12 and usually 14 hours a day when the days are long.

I also keep in hiking shape - that is, I keep trail legs by hiking somewhere pretty much all the time. So when I go on a long hike I don't have to "get my trail legs" because I already have them. And, I try to carry as light a pack as possible because it's easier on my body. I turned 51 while I was on this hike and while I can still bang out some pretty high mileage (comparatively speaking) I can tell I'm not 25 years old.

Anyway, high mileage days is the way I like to hike. I have no problem with people who hike less miles or more miles than I do..

The problem is when someone thinks someone else couldn't possibly enjoy a hike because they didn't hike it their way. That's just wrong.

[tdoczi]

There should be a corollary to HYOH: DLYHOO - Don't Lord Your Hike Over Others. 10-K is a great model to follow, if I may embarrass him by saying so - fast, smart, helpful, positive. Hikes his own hike, enjoys it, shares about it in a way favorable to all, useful even. Doesn't compare his hiking skill level or speed with others or make others feel less than.

I commend him to everyone.

i agree.

and YET someone has to jump in with the whats the rush BS

[lazy river road]

Hey 10-K Man am I sorry I missed you on the trail I was really hoping we'd pass each other or at you catch up with me which you did by the end. You started a few days after me but caught up pretty fast. We both finished on the same day but I went into town that morning for break feast and you must of passed me. Your trip report sounds awesome and man you made some good time. Sounds like you had a blast and hopefully well get to meet on the trail one day.

[10-K]

Hey 10-K Man am I sorry I missed you on the trail I was really hoping we'd pass each other or at you catch up with me which you did by the end. You started a few days after me but caught up pretty fast. We both finished on the same day but I went into town that morning for break feast and you must of passed me. Your trip report sounds awesome and man you made some good time. Sounds like you had a blast and hopefully well get to meet on the trail one day.

I knew I was getting close but didn't think I'd ever catch you. The first time I heard you were on the trail the guy I was talking to said you were 4 days ahead of me. When I got to The Inn at Long Trail the bartender told you you had taken a zero there and left that morning. I figured you finished 1 or 2 days before I did since I took a zero in Manchester Center.

Next time!

[Yukon]

Hold on now, slow your roll people. I didn't say he was hiking it the wrong way, I'm a HYOH believer through and through. I was just wondering if he was under a time crunch because his pace was faster than a large percentage of backpackers on the LT, except for the girl that just ran it in 5 days lol

[tdoczi]

Hold on now, slow your roll people. I didn't say he was hiking it the wrong way, I'm a HYOH believer through and through. I was just wondering if he was under a time crunch because his pace was faster than a large percentage of backpackers on the LT, except for the girl that just ran it in 5 days lol

i for one hike at exactly the speed i wish to and except for rare bursts here or there that were preceded but my lazily goofing off for too long, i've never "hustled" anywhere. i imagine the same is true of most of us who are supposedly hustling.