I am currently at the beginning stages of planning a thru hike of the Long Trail and was wondering if I could get any information on how much it would cost for me to do this hike, how long it would take, and how much physical preperation is needed. I am a college student and have never done more than a two night trip. I would appreciate any information thank you.
BB
BB
As far as time goes, figure about a month. I thru-hiked this past summer with a friend in 3 weeks exactly, but we put in some long (18+) days and if i do it again (which i might soon) I will take a full month. There are tons of cool spots where I would’ve loved to hang out but had to move on to make a deadline.
The cost of a trip like this has much to do with how prepared you are. including last-minute gear buys (summer bag, bag liner, poles), food, herbal provisions, and a few in-town meals I probably spent around $600, give or take.
This summer I’ll either do the LT again or the Northern 500 miles of the AT and I plan on keeping is under $500 either way, because i don’t need any new gear. I’ll probably use the same shoes, even.
It depends on how much gear you still need and what lifestyle you’ll be living on the trail, but you can get away with less than $100 a week on trail no problem if you’re in the woods 5 or 6 days out of 7, all vices included.
physically, there’s no way to know until you’re out there, but what kind of mileage are you doing on your 2 night trips? maybe try a longer trip and see how you like being in the woods for a full week before planning your pace.
At the end of the day, though, it’s just walking.
Doyle
Plan on about a month for this trail. You may finish it faster, but planning on a month allows you to enjoy yourself. I found that people who were pushing for a set deadline were more apt to incur injuries from pushing too hard, too fast. I took about 27 days, that included some zero days to rest a knee and some low mileage days near town stops, also a 20+ day. You’ll have a mix.
As far as physical preparation goes, you’re going to get a lot of conflicting advice. Here’s mine - do whatever it is you need to do to feel confident when you step on the trail. I snowshoed during the winter and did some walks in the spring prior to my hike. Yoga throughout. I maintained an active lifestyle. I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary to ‘train’, nor did I turn into a couch potato.
Cost is going to vary widely hiker to hiker. As Doyle pointed out, the biggest cost is buying gear you don’t already own. Any town stop/stay adds to the cost - if I were to do the LT again, I’d skip the town days. I loved them, but mentally I found it very difficult to extricate myself from the luxuries of town. I could easily feed myself for under $100 dollars a week. I ate a lot of peanut m&m’s, an obnoxious amount really. M&Ms and crackers, cheese, fruit leathers, lipton sidekicks (way cheaper than the backpacker meals you find in gear stores).
Once on the trail, I found the physical factors to be minimal - just one foot in front of the other. You can do this.
Tumblina
The Long Trail Guide lists “book” hiking times between shelters (or at least the older editions did). I found this to be useful for planning.
Peaks
http://whiteblaze.net/
This is a site for mostly AT hikers. However, it has alot of forums for health, gear, food, stoves, ect. which you could find helpful. Especially if you are buying stuff for the first time. I always seem to bring too much stuff that I don"t really use = too much weight. There is one forum there which describes the trail and shelters in the lower VT. area where the LT and AT run together. Wish I was young again. Have a ball.
Mark Schofield
don’t let that southern 100 miles that follow the AT trick you, either.
Almost immediately north of Maine junction, it’s a whole new world. Nettles, overgrown unmaintained “trail,” ladders, and “what the hell?!”'s await. The northern 2/3 is some pretty rugged stuff.
that’s where the good part begins.
Doyle
Doyle is right. After Killington, the trail gets rougher. And alot less traveled. Probably in a bit better shape because of the smaller number of people hiking. But it’s really pretty, and the peaks are awsome. The shelters are all around 6 miles apart, and in fairly good shape. South to north would get you acclimated by the time you get to route 4 and then off you go.
Mark Schofield