Long Trail Planning 2008

“So this is the official thread for planning my trip on the Long Trail. See the trips page for info.

Any Takers?”

“I am planning on going North bound in the traditional manner starting at the VT/MA line and seeing how far I can get in 9 days. It looks like most E2Eers are averaging 10-15 miles a day which seems short. Is this because of the terrain or because of the shelter spacing?

Pedxing, I know you have done this trip several times any advice would be appreciated. Want to do it again next fall?”

“270 miles in 10 days? good luck with that”

“Ah no CB I would do half this year and half next year.”

“OIC

well, good luck with that (no sarcasm this time)

maybe we'll run into each other. i'm planning on southbounding the whole thing september of 08”

“i did the section from the mass line to the maine junction in 04, as it is concurrent with the AT for that length. it took me 7 days, going at thru-hiker speed. some of the highlights:

the views from goddard shelter, stratton mt (as well as the climb up stratton), and styles peak

being witness to and joining in an impromptu memorial service for the father and husband of a pair of women i met at big branch shelter

the .2 blue blaze trail to the summit of killington peak that felt like it went straight up

the overall beauty and peacefulness of the whole thing. vermont was one of my 2 or 3 favorite states on all of the AT. and ive heard the section of the LT north of the maine junction is even better. you picked a good hike”

“i decided to southbound my LT thru-hike, because ive already done the bottom third, so if i have to bail, i will have seen more of the trail”

“LtH - I'm sure you're faster than I am and I did the whole LT in about 19 days with 1 1/2 days off with my wife, so I think you could do it in two trips. The South is pretty easy, with lots of great places to stop and swim.

As for the average pace, I think a lot of people just want to enjoy the trail. I'd average 9 miles a day (maybe 8 in the North and 11 in the South) if I had the time. I'm talking about sectioning it (or maybe the COHO) with my wife and taking it really slow.”

“Pedxing, I know you are the resident expert on the Long Trail so any advice would be great. I would love to be able to slow down and take my time on the trail but time is hard to come by with 2 young kids.
Did you do mail drops or just shop in towns? I am thinking about trying 1 mail drop about 4-5 days in if I can find a good spot. Maybe the LT Inn but I think that might be farther north than I want. I want to try to avoid going into towns since that will take too much time and add to the expense.”

“LtH - I haven't been able to take my own advice on slowing down (its that pay check addiction thing mostly), so no criticism implied.

There are really only two easy mail drops. The LT Inn is a mile off the trail, and the Johnson Post Office up North is on the trail. Manchester is an easy hitch for resupply or a mail drop. For me, if I have to hitch into town, I might as well hit a supermarket since they have more flexible hours and I know better what you need and want when I hit town. Of course for some, the selection is better at home and the convenience of having everything already selected and packaged the way they want is more important.

There are some businesses that will hold mail for you as well. If you don't have a copy of the E2E guide, I'll mail you my copy. It would probably still be worth getting the '08 copy when it comes out - but having the '07 would help you get the lay of the land. I'll also email you my standard LT mentor letter (I'm a volunteer LT mentor for the GMC).”

“Ped, thanks for the offer of the book but I ordered it already from the GMC so it is on the way. You can e-mail the letter to my address on here. Is the guide book worth while also?
I cook on the trail, I think you do mostly cold food. I found that I could save a lot of weight and eat much better by making my own meals at home. So I think a mail drop would be the way to go, then I can pack fuel, batteries, new socks, clothes etc in the box.
I carried 9 days of food on the 100 mile, and had plenty at the end. I think on this trip I could carry less. Course I lost 10lbs on that trip but I wasn't hungry.

CrashBang, when are you gonna be starting up North? I probably won't be starting down south until late September.”

“I'm planning an E2E SB hike starting early to mid September, finishing about 4 weeks later.”

“eoghan, me too!”

“CrashBang, when are you gonna be starting up North

early september”

“LtHiker, there is a good book by Jan Litshoe who thru-hiked the LT before she did the AT. The website is http://www.funfreedom.com/”

“Hey CB and Eoghon I guess we will cross paths somewhere.”

“Some people find the guidebook really helpful - I didn't, but it was fun to look through before and after the trip. It does give you a good idea of the terrain and a more detailed account of the route. I think the E2E guide and the GMC Long Trail map are more important.”

“how helpful is the guidebook in regards to off-trail services, especially re-supply?”

“I would guess that the E2E book is the one to get for services.”

“What LtH said.

The guidebook has good info on side trails and would be great for plannning section hikes of the LT.

E2E guide is more like Wingfoot's guide for the AT, except less succinct and more repetitive. Its pleonastic with the same information presented in multiple ways. It lays out the data under multiple formats with very little added or different. There is a redundancy that makes it more like a book, but means more pages to carry without really adding much value. While Wingfoot compresses the whole AT into a little book, the E2E guide expands the LT into a little book.”

“that aint good, cuz the guy that does the longtrail e2e guide has taken over the writing for the wingfoot AT guide”

“E2E guide is more like Wingfoot's guide for the AT, except less succinct and more repetitive. Its pleonastic with the same information presented in multiple ways. It lays out the data under multiple formats with very little added or different. There is a redundancy that makes it more like a book, but means more pages to carry without really adding much value. While Wingfoot compresses the whole AT into a little book, the E2E guide expands the LT into a little book.¡±

oh, the irony in your post. you truly are a master”

“oh, and nice job with the five dollar word. i admit, i thought "pleonastic" was a made-up word. well, technically, all words are made-up words. what i mean is, i thought you made it up. i was all prepared to google it and find only your post, and so then razz you about it”

“Isn't calling it "more repetitive", "pleonastic", "redundant" and "the same information presented in multiple ways" being repetitive, pleonastic, redundant, and presenting the same information in multiple ways?
Or was it an object lesson in how the GMC writes the End to End guide? ;-)”

“Thanks Crash.

Eo: I was havin' some fun in writing that post. Actually, its not the writing that is bad - its just that there many sections which lay which lay out the trail in a slightly different way. It could be about 1/5 the size without sacrificing any info.

Hopefully, the E2E guide guy will understand that the goals are different when writing an AT guide.

I like that word, pleonasm. I started a thread on it in '02:

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/16666,-1.php
last edited: 1/03/08 11:42:03 AM”