Training for the Long Trail

[lumberzac]

If all goes to plan, I’ll be hiking the LT from Lincoln Gap to the northern terminus at the end of June or early July. The hike will be over 9 or 10 days. I can’t wait.

I plan to do some training hikes here in NY in the spring. Right now I’m hoping to hike the Dix Range traverse, a Great Range & MacIntyer traverse, and an end-to-end hike of the Devil’s Path, to train. How are these trails in comparison to the northern section of the Long Trail?

 

[sli74]

Those hikes will work just fine as training. The northern section is harder and more rugged than the Southern but nothing worse than the rugged terrain of the ADKs or the Devil's Path.

Have fun. I just LOVED the LT . . . I am hoping I will be able to thruhike it again in a couple of years.

sli74

 

[funkyfreddy]

I would love to thruhike this trail sometime myself, think it would be far more realistic for me to thruhike this trail as opposed to the far longer AT.

 

[Lawn Sale]

The LT sounds interesting. What is the average time it takes to complete it?

I am one of those people that cannot spend the time thru-hiking the AT (I've been section hiking it), but do have 7 weeks of vacation a year I can spend hiking. The LT is also more local to where I live, making it easier to get to and from the trail.

 

[Michelle]

The LT is great! Took me 25 days from Mass to Canada.
A beautiful trail........a bit wet/muddy at times, but beautiful just the same. Far more of a wilderness experience than the AT too. If you can find the time...the LT is well worth the hike.

 

[proszach]

okay so michelle finished in 25 days, lumberzac is looking to do it in 10. so how long should i assume it would take me, cause that's quite a big difference. i would categorize myself as a medium-fast hiker. thanks.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

okay so michelle finished in 25 days, lumberzac is looking to do it in 10. so how long should i assume it would take me, cause that's quite a big difference. i would categorize myself as a medium-fast hiker. thanks.

Check lumberzac's post again - he's not doing the whole LT, just from Lincoln Gap north. It's approx half way, although it's the tougher half (and more interesting). I think the GMC gives a average time as 29 days - Michelle did it in 25 days.

 

[funkyfreddy]

How many of Vermont's NE 100 highest mountains are on the Long Trail?

 

[AntlerPeak]

An interesting thread to say the least. I was surprised by the above listed milage/ascent listings for various trails. Having done most of the LT and all of the AT in New England, the N-P, along with a good portion of the Wonderland trail I would caution anyone over use of those average miles noted in that summary. I dare say I have not encountered an average mile anywhere. The ascent number for the wonderland trail is incorrect by the way. I just double checked mapping it out.

As we all know the descent can be more difficult on the old knees than the climb and has to be factored in. I offer this as an example, on the Wonderland Trail the section from Devils Dream Camp to klapatche Park is 10.2 miles with a climb of 3786 feet. An average of appx 380 feet per mile presenting a rather pleasant picture of an idyllic stroll. Well that's not true because there is a descent in that section amounting to 3400 feet. What does that do to the average? Another way of looking at this section is to add the descent to the ascent where you now have an elevation change of 7200 feet over ten miles drawing a completely different picture of that trail section.

Just thought I'd throw that in to illustrate how misleading these averages can be. It also factors in to the ruggedness of the northern LT you can have 5000 feet of elevation change in a day and be exactly where you started in regard to elevation at the end of the day.

 

[proszach]

Check lumberzac's post again - he's not doing the whole LT, just from Lincoln Gap north. It's approx half way, although it's the tougher half (and more interesting). I think the GMC gives a average time as 29 days - Michelle did it in 25 days.

my fault. thanks for the clarification. so about a month long, that's a nice sized thru hike. if someone was to do the LT in two segments, would it be safe to say that the lower half would be boring?? or does it have its own rewards??

 

[AntlerPeak]

if you were to do it in two segments, would it be safe to say that the lower section would be a rather boring 10 days??


Not at all there are many nice sections on the lower half some highlights are Stratton Pond-----Baker Peak------Little Rock Pond---Killington-----VT's presi range, Grant,cleveland etc. Not boring at all.

 

[Rough]

LT Photo Album/Journal 2003

My wife and I thru-hiked the Long Trail in 2003. We did it over 51 days, including 38 actual hiking days. We had plenty of time, did not have to rush, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, despite a ton of rain over the first three weeks. Our photo album/journal can be browsed online at:

http://www.47ipsd.us/Web_LTAlbum/welcome.html

 

[AntlerPeak]

What I am saying is to simply look at the raw data offered above and rely on it one would be in for a rude awakening. Of course most here are aware of what goes up must come down, however, the descent cannot be ignored if you want an accurate trail profile. The illustration by Thru Hiker's Guide to America implies if there are 100 miles of trail with a total of 20000 feet in elevation gain the average is 200 feet per mile. That is mathematically true but misleading.

In the simple example I gave if you were to consider it is 10.2 miles from point A to point B with an elevatation gain of 3786 feet which factors out to roughly 376 feet per mile. Overall that is true if you ignore the descent. Because of that descent your gain is constricted to a five mile distance changing the average grade of ascent to 752 feet per mile and the grade of descent is a similar 700 feet per mile. This is radically different than what is offered by the average offered by the Thru Hiker's Guide to America.

As in their example offered of the Long Trail being an average of 248 feet of ascent per mile I defy you to find more than a couple of miles on the ground that matches the average. I agree to define this in print for multiple directions in a guide book would be difficult. But the MATC did find a way around that with an excellent job of making a trail profile on their maps.My whole point is simply to say don't be misled by these averages they have little to do with what any trail looks like.

 

[sli74]

The LT sounds interesting. What is the average time it takes to complete it?

I took 33 days (28 hiking days, 3 days off the trail to attend a wedding, and 2 other rest days) to complete the trail. I felt I had enough time and I am a slow to moderate paced hiker. Take as much time as you have and check out some of the side trails and peaks. I loved the entire thing. The Southern section is muddier but has its own charm. The trail itself, the people on the trail, the solitude it offers and the challenge all make the thru-hike of the LT the best thing I have done to date . . .

Enjoy it.

sli74

 

[king tut]

The Long trail goes thru some great country. I haven't hiked it yet, but i've hiked the main mt's that most people here have probably hiked as well. The best thing i liked about living in VT is all the little towns that are in the rte 100 corridor. Especially north of Mansfield, when you hit the northern kingdom and Johnson, and all those great granola towns. Waitsfield, Warren, and Middlebury area are real pretty too. DO the hike, visit the towns, eat some ben and jerry's, and then head over to burlington and visit the path around lake champlain, and then you can get some gravy fries at Nectar's at 2 in the morning, waiting in line w/ rastafarians and goth kids!

 

[percious]

Good luck LZ. LT in 10 days would be quite a feat. Go for it.

-percious

 

[porky]

It took Danielle and I a total of twenty-one days to do the entire trail. We went from Middlebury Gap to Canada in September 2004 and from North Adams, MA to Middlebury Gap in September 2005. The northern half of the trail is much harder than the southern. Although we stayed at Mama Bower's B&B in Richmond in 2004, we hiked every day. This in spite of the fact that Danielle injured her knee while we were trying to climb Camel's Hump in a Hurricane. Again, we hiked every day in 2005, camping most nights, but staying at the Long Trail Inn one night. We decided to do this after damaging a few million brain cells by consuming too many pints of Guinness at the bar. It was a good thing that they had special rates for Long Trail hikers. All told, we averaged around 15 miles a day throughout the two hikes.

Besides the hurricane, our biggest concern was our cars. For the 2004 hike, we arranged a shuttle to the gap and were able to leave our one car safely at a local restarant in North Troy. During the 2005 hike, Danielle had to leave her brand new Honda at the trailhead in Middlebury Gap. My car was a bit more securely positioned in North Adams. Neither vehicle was vandalized, damaged or stolen, but the anxiety about them over the course of the hikes colored our experience. Ah, for the crappy, disposable oil burning hulks I used to drive in my misspent youth!

We also found the trail a little crowded, particularly for overnight accomodations. The various lean-tos and more elaborate shelters were generally occupied by several parties on most nights, even though we were hiking well after Labor Day. Pack a tent or camping hammock if you want some privacy.

porky pine

 

[Head]

Right on LZ! Best of luck to ya! Bird and I will be headin' through that area on our way over to Maine. Let us know as the time get closer and maybe we could hook up for a couple of pops

 

[pedxing]

It took me 21 days to do the LT. If I do it again, I hope to take more time. I'm a medium slow hiker - but put in longer than average days. Most people I met seemed to be somewhere in the 20s. There were a few who were on a much faster pace and a few who were on a much more leisurely pace.

I had 23 days to work with, so that determined my space. It gave me time to swim, to spend a couple afternoons in town - but not to take any zero days to explore a great town, enjoy a truly fine spot or just veg and recooperate.

There are lots of great things in the South and also a lot more people on the trail. Southbound in August, I only met one other Southbound LT hiker (plenty of Southbound and flip-flopping AT hikers in the 100+ miles shared with the AT though).

 

[lumberzac]

I’d like to thank everyone for the input and encouragement. I’m still in the planning stage, but things are working out that this trip is going to happen. I thought I would share the intended itinerary with you.
Day 0 – Drive or get dropped off at Lincoln Gap after work. Hike in to the Battell Shelter. Distance: 1.7mi Gain: 941’ Loss 143’
Day 1 - Battell Shelter to Birch Glen Camp, Distance 14.2mi Gain: 2944’ Loss 4130’ Total
Day 2 - Birch Glen Camp to Duck Brook Shelter, Distance 21mi Gain: 5310’ Loss 6650’
Day 3 - Duck Brook Shelter to Taylor Lodge, Distance 13.2mi Gain: 4911’ Loss 3779’
Day 4 - Taylor Lodge to Sterling Pond Shelter, Distance 12.3mi Gain: 5243’ Loss 4074’
Day 5 - Sterling Pond Shelter to Round Top Shelter, Distance 14.6mi Gain: 3231’ Loss 4923’
Day 6 - Round Top Shelter to Spruce Ledge Camp, Distance 14.7mi Gain: 4548’ Loss 4747’
Day 7 - Spruce Ledge Camp to Hazens Notch Camp, Distance 14.5mi Gain: 5077’ Loss 4172’
Day 8 - Hazens Notch Camp to Journey’s End Camp, Distance 17.7mi Gain: 5648’ Loss 6153’
Day 9 - Journey’s End Camp to Parking Area, Distance 0.8mi Gain: 34’ Loss 215’

Comments are welcome.

The following are training trip I plan to do that I hope will make the LT a little easier:
Devils Path Backpack
Day 0 - Prediger Rd to Devils Kitchen lean-to, Distance 2.1mi Gain: 407’ Loss 176’
Day 1 - Kitchen lean-to to Devil's Acre lean-to, Distance 16.05mi Gain: 6525’ Loss 5176’
Day 2 - Devil's Acre lean-to to, Distance 8.95mi Gain: 2198’ Loss 3958’
Dix Range Dayhike Distance 20.2mi Gain: 5866’ Loss 5866’
Devils Path Dayhike Distance 24.2mi Gain: 8578’ Loss 8758’
Great & MacIntyre Range Backpack
Day 1 - Roostercomb Trailhead to Panther Gorge lean-to, Distance 17.3mi Gain: 9555’ Loss 7336’
Day 2 - Panther Gorge lean-to to ADK Loj, Distance 19.8mi Gain: 7372’ Loss 5451’
I hope to get some shorter dayhikes in as well.