[at-l] Back from the Long Trail

[jmayer@rochester.rr.com (Jim Mayer)]

Hi, congrats on your trip.

Did you have any trouble finding alcohol in Jonesville?  Also, did you
know if the store there carries cannister fuel?  I'm hiking from Canada
down to the Inn at the Long Trail this fall, and am wondering about
resupply stops.  My current plans are to use Johnson and Waitsville (Vt
17) as resupply stops, but I admit to being concerned about the seven
mile trip into Waitsville.  A single stop in Jonesville would also be a
possibility, but I'd rather carry a few days less stuff with me!

I was thinking of buying my food in town, but carrying enough fuel
(either alcohol or cannisters) for the whole trip.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

-- Jim


On Thu, 2002-08-01 at 11:02, Kurt Bodling wrote:
> Just freshly back in the office catching up on email and such after
> completing a southbound end-to-end on the Long Trail.  No real trip
> report as such (was typing up my journal last night and I'm on page
> 9, single spaced, and only half way through the month), but here
> are some particulars:
>
> 1.  hiked southbound mainly for logistical reasons (easier to find
> someone to drop me off at the Canadian border than to find
> someone to pick me up there), and found I enjoyed meeting more
> people that way as I passed NOBO hikers rather than hiking with
> the same group day by day
>
> 2.  started on Saturday, 29 June; ended on Sunday, 28 July; no
> zero days
>
> 3.  black flies NO problem, but did get pretty bug bitten especially
> in the northern parts
>
> 4.  the northern parts of the LT really are harder than the southern
> parts; NOBO hikers kept telling me 'once you get south of
> Killington it'll get easier,' but I place the start of the easy part
> further north, at Lincoln Gap and Mount Abraham
>
> 5.  used a Hike'N'Light alcohol stove; worked very well; carried a
> plastic Tablespoon to measure the alcohol; used a gas line
> antifreeze from the auto parts store; actually mailed a couple
> bottles to myself in my resupply boxes
>
> 6.  used 2 resupply stops (Jonesville and then Clarendon), so I was
> carrying about 10 days worth of food at beginning and after each of
> those stops; YES, it was heavy, but I thought it easier than getting
> off trail to hitch into towns a couple more times ... except that
> hiking up over Camel's Hump from Jonesville with a fully stocked
> pack was the longest and hardest 13 mile day I've ever hiked
>
> 7.  warming huts at the top of ski chair lifts get my seal of approval
> as places to spend the night
>
> 8.  water sources in the GMC Guidebook and the End-to-Enders
> guide were pretty well on target except that the Boyce Shelter's
> source was a scummy little green puddle; also, there IS a working
> pump at Mad Tom Gap despite what any guidebooks might indicate
>
> 9.  I started with an Exstream bottle to filter water into a liter sized
> Nalgene, and to have as source to drink from while walking; worked
> okay for about a week until the filter started to clog; picked up
> some iodine from a couple kids going off trail that got me to my
> resupply; store in Jonesville had no iodine so I bought a small
> bottle of Clorox bleach and used 3-4 drops per quart which got me
> through to Clarendon where I could get some iodine
>
> 10.  I miss the sweet songs of the Winter Wrens and the Hermit
> Thrushes that accompanied me virtually all the way south
>
> 11.  stayed in $6 fee shelters 5 nights but only paid for first one; at
> second the story was that all the GMC caretakers were off at a
> meeting; at third the caretaker said GMC members get one free
> night per season and I had my membership card, so he gave me
> the fee back; and the other nights the caretakers never came
> around for the rent
>
> 12.  at the Inn at the Long Trail (at Sherburne Pass, just south of
> the Maine Junction) the two best things on the menu are the
> Guiness and the fresh fruit salad (I was missing fresh fruit from the
> very first night)
>
> 13.  at the Whistlestop Cafe in Clarendon, the 3 egg omelet looks
> like it was made with 6 eggs; very tasty food
>
> 14.  I found that day hikers were happy to send short email
> messages to my main contact person for me, which was
> especially nice when I was running behind schedule to get to a
> phone
>
> 15.  Guidebook descriptions of trail conditions varied; in the
> northernmost sections "steeply" means having to traverse a 10-12
> foot slab of rock at a 70 degree angle with no clearly visible hand
> holds, but in the southern sections ... well I'm still looking for the
> supposedly steep sections there
>
> 16.  there are at least 7 different kinds of mud in Vermont
>
> That's probably more than enough.  All told, it was a great hike for
> me.
>
> Any questions?
>
> Concordia, LT '02
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