I am back after finishing up the northern section of the Long Trail between the Canadian border and the Jonesville post office. I left on the afternoon of the 14th and finished up the morning of the 21st. A week was a good amount of time to hike this section but I could have easily trimmed 1 1/2 days off of this section. I started hiking between 6-7 am every day. On my low mileage days I was done hiking around 4 pm but on the higher mileage days I hiked till around 7 pm.
I ended up staying at the following locations on my hike:
Shooting Star Shelter
Hazen's Notch Camp
Spruce Ledge Camp
Camoille River
Sterling Pond Shelter
Twin Brook tent area
Buchanan Shelter
Here are some thoughts:
I used Carlene Squires who is in the End to Ender's guide for a shuttle up north. She was wonderful and has a very reasonable rate. I feel her rate should be more and "tipped" her to make up for the low rate.
I would definitely recommend a north to south hike. With the restrictions on where to stay in this northern section it helped build up my trail legs. If you do not feel strong at the start there are multiple opportunities to adjust your pace to the trail.
Make sure you are prepared for rain. When it does rain it makes the trail slick and slippery. I think there was only one day that my feet stayed dry. Even after the rain was over the trail stayed muddy and wet. Be prepared to fall down on the wet rocks. At times the trail resembled a stream more than a trail.
The grocery store in Johnson was well supplied and the people were very nice. The post office also has window hours as early in the morning by buzzing in at the door. I heard complaints from people who mailed packages to Jonesville post office that their hours have changed and they had to wait until they opened in the afternoon to get their packages. Hitching back and forth from Johnson was not easy. I ended up walking over half of the way both directions until I got picked up.
Hiking up to Mt. Mansfield was not as bad as I was expecting. I thought that the hike up Hazen's Notch was worse for me. That could be due to the wet day when hiking Hazen's Notch and the beautiful day up Mt. Mansfield.
Pay attention to the trail because it is not marked as well as the At especially when the trail hits the ski slope areas. This is not a complaint just an observation.
Some camps/shelters are better than others. All are unique and have their own special charm.
if you hike the trail in mid-August be prepared to run into college groups. I ran into a few and they were all nice and very respectful. I had great conversations with the groups. They gave a different perspective to the hike.
I thoroughly enjoyed this hike and cannot wait to go back and finish up the rest of the trail. I also enjoyed sampling some great Vt beer.