Main Junction in VT

[Jeff]

When and why did the AT get a re-route west of Sherburn Pass in VT? Sure seems silly to loop around the Long Trail Inn!!!

[Lone Wolf]

"They" say it was too dangerous for hikers to be crossing the highway at the crest of the hill. The re-route doesn't concern us free thinking blue-blazers though.

[SavageLlama]

I was told it was because of trail overuse. The official AT/LT runs about 1 mile north of the Inn at Long Trail now (on Route 4).

Sort of a shame the new AT/LT route skips Deer's Leap - but you can still take the original route, or just stroll up Rt 4 to the Inn. It's one of the best stops in VT -- you won't want to miss the Long Trail Ales and Guinness stew!

[superman]

Does the Long Trail Inn still let hikers camp across the road behind the parking lot? 2001 we had a little hiker reunion at the Long Trail Inn. We re-hiked that loop by the Inn, drank some, did some trail talking and slept in our tent across the road. Life was and is good.

[Peaks]

It's been my understanding that the AT/LT was relocated because Killington wanted to build a ski trail connecting it with Pico. So, the relocation was done to avoid crossing the ski trail.

Blue blazing via the old AT/LT sure makes good sense to me. But there is a very nice birch glade on the relo.

[Moon Monster]

Just call it retro-balzing. Retro is in.

I've also heard the re-route was to avoid the ski area plans.

[SnakebiteSurvivor]

When I hiked this section a couple years ago, I was told (by people I met at the Inn at the Long Trail, where we stayed) that the reason for the relo was private property issues: there was no way to guarantee availability of the old route in the future, so they decided to relocate it over property controlled by the ATC to avoid future problems. Presumably these issues involved the property owners setting up ski runs or the like. I like the suggestion (even though it's probably not true) that it was moved to avoid people getting run over because of poor visibility at the crossing of Route 4 at the Inn: every time we took the car out of the Inn we were taking our life in our hands at that spot. It's a miracle there aren't crashes every day there!!

[The Hog]

There are many places on the A.T. where it pays to follow the trail the way it was originally laid out. This is one of them.

The day I entered the Inn at Long Trail, there was a table and a pitcher of cold Guiness Stout. Some of my all time favorite trail buddies were getting started on the pitcher. There was an empty seat and a mug waiting - praise be, it was for me! Life is indeed very, very good.

[Peaks]

HOg,

If you have some suggestions for other places where the old AT is preferred, let's list them.

[The Hog]

I like the way Myron Avery first laid out the A.T. route. He liked summits with views, but he also seemed to appreciate hiking along streams that bypass viewless or pointless ups and and downs. At some point, the ATC got into relocating some of Avery's original trail, and some of these nice segments were lost. Relocaters painted the old white blazes over with black paint in some cases, hence the phrase 'black blazing.'

One of these segments was between Sawyer Notch and the Elephant Mtn Shelter in Maine. In 1984, my trail buddies and I followed the black blazes when we could, also bushwhacking in places, to the Clearwater Brook Trail, where we found a nice spot to skinny dip and stick our dirty heads under a waterfall. We rejoined the A.T. south of Elephant Mtn and all of us felt great to have enjoyed a nice dip and to have skipped some fairly pointless ups and downs.

Years later, I hiked those ups and downs and confirmed to myself that we had made the right choice. The black blazes would probably be tough to follow now, though.

As with the relo skipping the Inn at Long Trail, the currently official route of the A.T. is not always the best path for some of us.

[Kerosene]

I'm despodent that the AT no longer passes through Cathedral Pines in Connecticut, but I understand that a hurricane sheared off most of the trees. I loved that part of the Trail. I think that section also passed near Dean's Ravine, a pretty impressive waterfall for the tri-state area.

[Kerosene]

despodent --> despondent (why can I only edit in some threads and not others???)

[Blue Jay]

This is one of the many reasons purism is such a terrible self inflicted disease. They miss sooo much and in most cases never even know it.

[Mags]

This is one of the many reasons purism is such a terrible self inflicted disease. They miss sooo much and in most cases never even know it.

I really wish the ATC would officially adopt the corrider approach. Seems to be an Eastern mind-set that you have to follow one path. Western trail orgs tend to view the PCT, the Colorado Trail, the CDT etc. as a network of trails as opposed to one trail.

FWIW ALDHA-W does recongize the corridor approach for the AT.

Then again, a valid arguement can be made that all these awards are worth of warm pitcher of spit in the grand scheme of things.

[Footslogger]

warm pitcher of spit

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....Well, I WAS enjoying my lunch !!

'Slogger