With some time off, Shane and I decided to take a two week backpacking trip on the Long Trail in Vermont. Our plan was to hike 165 miles of it from the Canadian border to Maine Junction in 14 days. Given our normal pace this would not have been a stretch, but the Long Trail is not a normal trail.

Much of the route in the northern sections is more akin to bouldering and bushwhacking than hiking so we were often slowed to 8-10 mile days. On most trails (even at altitude) those would be pretty easy days, but on the LT they were tough.

We often heard people refer to the terrain of the Green Mountains as "rugged." The terrain of the Green Mountains is not rugged. They are gently rolling hills. What's rugged is the trail routing and tread. While the trail has been routed over the top of many worthwhile peaks, it has also been routed over the top of many more viewless and minor peaks. However, what really slowed us down was the poor tread.

In the north much of the LT is more a primitive route than a trail. The blazes take you over tall boulders that require handholds of roots or crevices to scale. You have to pick your way across large, exposed root systems. There are few water bars so while we didn't find much flowing water, we passed through plenty of deep mud bogs. Beyond these obstacles the tread simply was not very even. The Long Trail is quite a contrast with the Ozark Highlands Trail. The terrain of the Ozarks and the terrain of the Greens are quite similar. The quality and routing of the trails are very different.

Perhaps the trail is this way in order to make the mountains seem more impressive. Or maybe the Green Mountain Club just likes the trails that way. After I got used to it I kind of liked it too.

In any case we ended up covering 120 miles in 13 days. We had some injuries which necessitated a few short days and an extra day off. We had a little disagreement about how to do our new, shorter trip. I favored hiking the trail contiguously until we ran out of time. Shane favored skipping a couple of sections so that we could reach Maine Junction and the Inn at Long Trail. She won.

Despite problems and injuries we enjoyed our trip. Before we began we knew that we had a couple of new experiences ahead of us.

Shelters

Most of our nights were spent in shelters. I'd never slept in a shelter before and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about sharing space and worrying about snoring. Normally I go into the woods expecting and appreciating solitude. However, from reading trip reports of Eastern hikers I'd gathered that most enjoyed the social experience of shelters and I enjoyed it too. You get in, you meet people, you talk. You have a good time.

It makes for more of a hiker cameraderie than you find on trails without them. We found people particularly sociable while hiking too. I'm guessing that that's due to the shelters. Everyone's used to hanging out and chatting with other hikers in the shelters so they extend that custom out to the trail.

Town Stops

The Long Trail is not a very remote place. You're never more than a few straight miles from a town. I sometimes wished I could see unbroken, forested landscapes from the tops of some of the peaks, but the views of towns and farms in the New England valleys were nice. Besides, the lack of remoteness makes it easy to stop off in towns for a hot shower, a bed and all of the other niceties of civilization that you come to appreciate after time in the woods. Vermont is full of pleasant small towns. We stopped for the night in three of them and had a great experience each time.

We stayed at the Awesome View Hiker's Hostel near Johnson, Mama Bower's Bed & Breakfast in Richmond and the Millbrook Inn in Waitsfield. They all offered different experiences, but each was run by great people who were helpful and friendly. Particular thanks to Mama Bower for taking care of Shane's injured thumb.

When I think back on the Long Trail I usually find myself thinking of the town stops and shelters which underscores something important about the Long Trail. It's more a social than a backcountry experience. That's different than most of the West, but it's no less enjoyable.