From: karld@engin.umich.edu (Karl Diederich )
Subject: Long Trail Trip Report
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 92 00:03:48 EDT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

This past August I thru-hiked the Long Trail of Vermont.  I asked 
a few questions of people on the net prior to my hike and received 
some good information.  Again, my thanks to all who responded.  It 
was mostly logistical information, and I posted a summary before I 
left which I won't bore anyone by repeating.  However, I've been 
asked to post a trip report.  So...

This is the first time I've ever posted a trip report, and I haven't 
used USE.NET much, so sorry if it is a little crude.  In contrast to 
some trip reports that have crossed the net, this report is mostly 
impressions as opposed to a blow-by-blow description.

Last summer (1991), I thru-hiked the PCT.  The PCT required at 
least something of an average daily mileage requirement to complete 
it as a thru-hike.  That was part of the hike, and I enjoyed that 
part, along with all the other aspects.  (It was a fantastic hike.)

But I am not one to say or think that there is only one right way 
to hike.  This time I wanted to hike at a leisurely pace.  To take 
lots of breaks.  To bask in the sunshine and enjoy the breeze at 
rocky overlooks.  Etc.  So I did.

The hike went very well and overall, the trip was great.  The Long 
Trail (LT) is the "original" long-distance backpacking trail, being 
built back in 1923.  It served as inspiration for the Appalachian 
Trail.  It runs 270 miles along the Green Mountains of Vermont from 
Mass to Canada.  The LT is generally forested, like most of the 
Appalachia, but a few of the summits were bare.  Two were so high 
that they were vegetated with arctic tundra ecosystems.

I went even slower than I thought I would, and took close to 30 
days.  The whole month of August.  My concern that I might become 
bored with too slow a pace did not materialize, as many adjunct 
activities filled the time. 

Like many places, Vermont has been having weird weather.  The 
summer was cool, wet, and short.  I took the advice Ed Talone, a 
previous Long Trail thru-hiker, and relyed on the shelters along 
the trail, and left the tent at home.  This worked ideally.  The 
Long Trail has many shelters: every one listed in the guide book 
was there, in good repair, and only once did a shelter approach 
being full.  (Although later we heard how a large group of kids 
we passed going the other way took up an entire shelter).

It was great to stop at a shelter for the evening and be out of 
rain.  You could actually dry gear even as it rained out.  
When tenting in rain everything seems to slowly get damp.  In the 
morning, if it was raining, I just waited until it stopped (no 
hurry during this hike, remember?)  A couple of days when it was 
raining, I waited until around noon, when the rain finally let up, 
before starting to hike.  Those became short days.  I wouldn't set 
a goal for any day until noon or later.  Although I chose not to, 
hiking in the rain is not as arduous when there is a dry shelter 
at the end of the day.  

The other nice aspect of the shelters was that you got to meet and 
camp with other hikers.  Regrettably, all my prospective partners 
had to decline from the hike.  So I enjoyed the camaraderie.  And 
reading the logbooks at the shelters was always entertaining.

I met and spent a bit of time getting to know perhaps a dozen AT 
thru-hikers, and I had discussions with perhaps another dozen.  It 
was neat to meet and talk with them.  I also met a few LT thru-
hikers, like Lanny Hartman.  We first met at Cogdon Camp, the 
shelter I stayed at the first night (it was his second night out).  
Then toward the end of the hike, we met up again and wound up 
staying at the same shelters 4 of the last 6 nights, and hiked 
together some.  Also saw a bit of Kim, a Vermont resident, toward 
the end of the hike.  She was thru-hiking the trail to benefit a 
battered woman's shelter.  

In hiking along with the AT thru-hikers, and from discussions with 
them about the trail, I concluded that a solo thru-hike of the AT 
would be nicer than the PCT from the stand-point of having hiking 
companions.  If you enjoy having hiking companions.  Which I do.  

I took advantage of the greater resupply opportunities out east, 
stopping at Manchester Center and the Zion Hostel, getting a mail 
drop at Inn at the Long Trail, a small mail drop and purchasing 
supplies at Jonesville, and going two miles into Johnson to 
resupply.

So my pack was kept pretty light.  No tent, small food bag (I didn't 
need to maintain my weight (although I did) so the food bag was 
ruthlessly kept small), and a couple ideas from the _AT Thru-Hiker's 
Guide_ and Ray Jardine's _PCT Hiker's Handbook_ resulted in a fairly 
light pack.  But hiking by myself, I was carrying my own stove, cook 
kit, guide, flashlight, etc.  That kept pack weight over 20 pounds.  
I liked that small, light, alcohol-burning Trangia stove I saw, 
though.

I decided to hike from Massachusetts to Canada.  This choice was 
made to meet more of the AT thru-hikers that were going through 
the southern Green's in the beginning of August, to go the same 
way as the majority of LT thru-hikers, and since the guidebook 
was written in that direction.  This worked out well.

There were good views from Stratton Mountain and Camel's Hump, but 
Killington Peak and Mount Mansfield were completely socked in by 
fog.  It was nice to hike in the Appalachians again, and with all 
the shelter along the LT, it was even pleasant despite the rain.  

If you would like specific information regarding the hike, or have 
questions about the trail, please feel free to send them to me.  
If e-mail doesn't work, my snail mail address is:
     Karl Diederich
     1341 Geddes #4
     Ann Arbor, MI 48104
     (313) 663-6148

Happy Trails, Karl.