Backpacking the Long Trail was way harder than I expected

I spent years reading forums and watching videos about the Long Trail in Vermont. Everyone made it sound like a nice 2 week hike through pretty green mountains. So last September I finally went for it with my old gear and a map I printed at home. By day three my knees were killing me from all the steep ups and downs through the mud. I kept slipping on wet rocks and my boots were never dry. Turns out that trail has way more elevation change than the Appalachian Trail for the same distance. I also learned the hard way that planning for 15 mile days in that terrain is just a joke. Has anyone else found a supposed easy route that completely wrecked them?

2 comments

2 Comments

rileyjones21d ago

Oh man, I gotta respectfully disagree here... I've hiked the Long Trail three times now and honestly I think a lot of people set themselves up for failure by rushing it. The mud and wet rocks are part of the experience, you just have to slow way down and accept you're not gonna crush big miles every day. If you go in expecting a chill walk in the woods with 10 mile days and zero planning it'll wreck anyone, but the trail itself is pretty fair if you respect it.

the_richard20d ago

Yikes, yeah the Long Trail humbled me too (and I'd done the PCT, so I felt pretty smug going in). Those people saying 15 mile days are doable have clearly never summitted Camel's Hump in a downpour after three days of nonstop mud. I ended up cutting my trip short by a day because my knees just gave up on the last big descent into the road crossing.