I was thinking about doing the Long trail in the spring and was wondering where good re-supply points are ?
I was thinking about doing the Long trail in the spring and was wondering where good re-supply points are ?
"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time".
North Adams, MA (grocery less than 1/4 mile from AT/LT-Approach)
Bennington, VT (grocer about 2 miles North of town. Outfitter lent bikes)
Manchester Ctr (2 grocery stores and an outfitter)
Rutland (by way of Claredon Gorge or Rt 4)
Middlebury (long hitch but I got first car rides both ways) Alternative: Hancock has a health food store and you can hitch to a proper grocer
Warren (good restaurants, easy hitch, and a Shaws)
Waterbury (ibid) (the shelter 3 miles after the road has an awesome water source...stay there)
Stowe (easy hitch. grocery is a bit out of town but there is a health food type place right downtown)
Johnson (cool college town. Dude almost broke an axle trying to stop to pick us up. Grocery store.)
Eden (we sent a package here but it wasn't necessary. There's a country market that'll have everything you'll need to get to Canada.)
My girlfriend and I did it this past summer and we never carried 3 days food. (OK, maybe once when we left Waterbury with Thai take-out and went to the shelter mentioned but that was all). It's easy to get into town and easy to get around them once you're there (for the most part). Laundry can be a hassle and expensive at times...so can showers. Bring some bronners and bathe at the rivers/creeks before going into town.
Johnny T
In addition to what Johnny said, you can pretty much find everything you need in the Long Trail Guide. Yes, I also think it's easy to get around VT to resupply pts. by hitching and sometimes by bus. I found it totally unnessary to haul mor than 4 days of food.
Like the trailname!
thanks johnny T thats really helpful, its going to make my planning quick easy!
"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time".
keep in mind that until Mid May the trail will be impossibly muddy, that is after the snow melts, and then you will have big time bug season. You might be best putting trip off till July if you could.
As for resupply, the Inn at the Long Trail will accept mail drops. Manchester, VT is a relatively easy hitch from the trail and there is a grocery store right next to an Eastern Mountain Sports there.
DavidNH
Ditto on the previous comments - it's easy to resupply, and please wait until after Memorial Day. It's also easy to cache food along the trail if you want to cut down on side trips. I use bear canisters for that purpose.
Tripple ditto to the above. I did an E2E north to south in the month of June once. It was insane. First 2 weeks were cold, wet and muddy. Second 2 weeks the black flies drove us fully into insanity. And it was still muddy. I only hike the LT in the late summer or fall now. September is the best month to do the LT.
Follow slogoen on Instagram.
Ditto to that. I hiked the LT from mid-August to mid-September in '07 and found that was the best time - no bugs and decent weather. Only one night was it cold enough to bundle up. Some days were hot & humid but many were ideal.
My first hiking of the LT in the late 70s and early 80s was mostly in the spring. While I did have some fantastic weather, I also recall some miserable black fly days especially on the Killington massif.
very true i didn't factor in the black flies so i think i'll start in mid to late august
"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time".
I'm also concerned that if you start early you'll miss alpine slide season. No end-to-end is worth it unless you ride the alpine slides.
Here are two great websites with loads of useful information regarding the Long Trail:
http://www.longtrailhiking.info/
http://www.downthetrail.com/the-long-trail/
You know that scene at the end of Bill and Ted's where they montage through the speeches given by the various historic figures brought to San Dimas by way of a time traveling phone booth? There's that part where Napleon is describing how he'd conquer Southern California using a local map and Risk game pieces...I like to imagine him doing the same in Vermont;
"An zen we will have zee alpine slidez" - Napoleon (the short dead dude)
Hiked the Long Tr twice in the fall. Great time of the yr to be in VT and hike this trail. It's been covered, but I'll also tell you that this trail can be muddy and sloppy in places. It's largely a deep forested shady trail that dries out slowly, but it also goes over some fabulous peaks including the state high pt, Mt Mannsfield. Hiking it early-mid spring season can add to trail erosion.
I think I agree with everything that's been said. The Long Trail Inn is the perfect mail (though it has to be through a package delivery like UPS, not US Mail) - because they are open every day. The second best mail drop is Jonesville - the Post Office is right on the trail and they have had a hiker box there, presumably still do.
Also there are a couple options from Apalachian Gap - Waitsfield and Bristol. I like Bristol a lot, but Waitsfield is likely to be an easier hitch.
http://www.longtrailhiking.info/ which Jeff mentions has an on line version of the End to End guide - it lists resupply info.