So it seems like everyone I met who hikes the LT has skipped part or all of the 3.2 mile road walk near Jonesville. They usually have been offered rides prt of the way through and not been able to tunr them down. Does get a ride on the road nullify a completion of the trail?
Ghostrane
I guess it depends on how much of a purist you are. There is another road walk near Johnson that is almost as long. How many hitch into Johnson to resupply, then get a ride back to the trailhead at Ithiel Falls (thereby skipping the road walk on Rt. 15)? The Green Mt. Club has been planning on building bridges at both roads to eliminate the long walk and cross the river right at the trailhead. both places would be nicer with a bridge but foot bridges are not cheap. I think the foot bridge in Johnson is scheduled to be started next year, but until then, the Rt. 15 road walk is the only way to go north on the LT there. The road walk in Jonesville is a nice, semi-shaded road along the river (although narrow). It gets traffic but not too much.
NorthWoods
I’ve done the road walk on foot and in a car. the car was much better. Biggest thing about road walking is THEY SUCK! much nicer in a car. but again that all in your rule book
Goof
That’s a good question - I’m a purist and plan to walk the whole LT this July. However, to me, the Long “Trail” is a trail. So I don’t know how I feel about hitching for the road walk…I guess technically the road is the LT, but it just doesn’t seem right. I’ll probably refuse the rides, but who knows how I’ll feel on a blistering hot day with 3 miles of road ahead of me?
StarkMtn
What are you all talking about – around 6 miles tops? Pobably take 1.5 to 2 hours. Puriest, OCD, Tar alergy, whatever – walk it. Or hitch in and then hitch back to where you reached the trail head. That is the suggested “right way” of doing it.
Enjoy your hike on the LT. Vermont in the summer is nice.
fehchet
Regarding Jonesville, in 2002 the bridge was out and the GMC shuttle twice a day went from the trailhead to the store skipping the 3.2 mile roadwalk. Last year when I thru-hiked SOBO I ended up walking the whole section which took about 1.25 hours. Not pleasant on a hot day and I only had one car go by the otherway during mid-day. Fortunately the LT had minimal road sections so this section is no big deal. This section was a drawback for SOBO since I stocked up in Jonesville and after the roadwalk had to ascend the 3700 ft to Camel’s Hump. Stock up on water at Gleason Brook!! For NOBO hikers the roadwalk will fly by as you will be focused on getting to the store. Johnson on Rte 15 can be an easy hitch, but it’s an easy walk as well.
OJ
A bridge to cut off the need for a roadwalk would be a nice addition, imo. For my part, I walked the roadwalk, but there was so little traffic (I think I was passed by fewer than 5 cars during the ordeal) that I may not have been able to get a hitch even if I had wanted one. It was in the early evening, the sun was setting behind the ridges, and the wind was blowing the tall grasses on the sides of the road. It was a pleasant road walk, which is to say that any trail would have been better. I didn’t know about the store in Jonesville, so I had no desire to stop there, but if a bridge were put in eliminating the roadwalk, it would make the decision to visit it even more difficult (since it would now be a 6 mile roundtrip roadwalk instead of the current 3-mile pass-right-by-it road walk.
As to whether you should hike it or hitch it, listen to your heart. If you don’t like the idea of hiking it, hitch it and don’t listen to those purists that may try to nitpick your hike. If you don’t like the idea of hitching it, then hike the section and don’t nitpick other people who chose the opposite. You may wish to discuss this question with other hikers as you approach such a roadwalk. Don’t worry about it too much, though. Think about it, but cross that bridge when you get there.
-Howie
Hungry Howie
I recently hiked the 50 mile Monroe Skyline from Middlebury Gap to the Winooski River. I finished up with the 55 minute road walk into Jonesville. For me, there is really no question about doing a short roadwalk or two like this in order to maintain a contunous trip by foot over the 270 miles.
While a suspension footbridge over the Winooski would be great, I’m not sure how it would shorten the LT road walk as the trail stands now. Northbound, the trail goes back in the woods just opposite the road bridge over the Winooski, so a footbridge 3 miles down river would simply substitute a roadwalk on Rt. 2 (not nearly as nice a walk) for that on River/Duxbury Rd. Perhaps if there were a bridge, a relocation would follow?
However, the Catamount Trail (300 mile XC ski trail the length of VT) would hugely benefit from a pedestrian bridge in this area. The Catamount Trail head north something like 5 miles east of the Jonesville P.O. so we have a road gap in that trail of something like 7+ miles. And it’s a lot harder to safely walk a road like Rt. 2 in winter, believe me.
Anyone want to make a huge charitable donation and have a bridge named after them?
Tramper Al