VT in August or September
Planning on VT either mid August or mid September. Which would you prefer?
Where are you going?
Probably from Hanover to N Adams SOBO
The southern LT is crowded all summer and thru hiker traffic is pretty much all summer, if you push out to the mid September, you have the start of the fall colors and the summer traffic is reduced. A good approach is head out the week after Labor day week.
Was sort of looking at September 10
September's better IMHO, but the best time to go hiking is whenever you can.
I agree with september. Did a hike there around sep 20 last year. You won't get much for fall colors that far south until late sept/early oct, but sep 10 is a nice time to go. Mid august can be hot and busy still.
The august advantages would be longer days and warmer nights, and more people if you like to run into a lot of hikers.
With a choice between those dates I would definitely go September. If you have the flexibility to push it to the third or fourth week of September the foliage will be better. However, peak foliage is an elusive target to hit so don't sweat trying to plan for it too much. Also by the end of September the trail will be a bit quieter as the bulk of the AT thru-hikers should be past the state, not so much the same time in August.
September will be cooler, that may be a good thing. I hiked most of the AT in Vermont in early August (2002) and it was insanely hot.
I hiked the northernmost 30 miles of the Long Trail last year in late August. Very different weather, it was cool and wet. Trail was a muddy mess. But last year was a real Vermud kind of year.
SOBO 2nd week sept would be perfect imo.
Starting at canadian border.
Volunteer trail workers in Vermont are given detailed instructions on how best to maintain top quality mud. We're proud of our work. Now we're developing rocks with a lower coefficient of friction, stay tuned.Originally Posted by rafe
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