Section Hiking Vermont on the Appalachian Trail

 

The return to the AT in Vermont in July netted us a state and also two weeks' worth of humid, warm temperatures, accompanied by lots of deerflies and mosquitoes. I wish I had brought more insect repellent as they were not easily deterred. In camp, my toes especially got bitten up, requiring socks. 

We did meet up with many hikers seeking to hike the whole trail in one year, called thru-hikers. And we enjoyed our stay at the Green Mountain House in Manchester Center, which I highly recommend. 

The trail did bring us to some nice pond areas where Papa Bliss took a dip, as well as scenery on top of Bromley Peak before the first and only rain of the two weeks which soaked us for about two hours. 

An interesting suspension bridge took us over the scenic Clarendon Gorge, where just a few weeks ago,  it had been unsafe to cross. Before that, a nice ice cream treat by a trail angel helped propel us up and over the steep rocks we encountered afterwards.

A long day up and over the wooded Killington Peak, crossing roots and rocks, eventually brought me to Rt 4 and Rutland for a much-needed two-day break. Especially as a few days before, I had banged my big toe quite severely on a rock while in camp and had been babying the foot. But now pain is on the rise, and icing is required.

Continuing on a fifty-plus-mile section from Rutland to New Hampshire included this quite tall ladder, which I climbed down. But the heat and humidity persisted, and the combination of this plus my hurting foot has moved the goal posts of the rugged White Mountains to a future hike in the fall. 

Limping into Hanover, I am glad to have completed Vermont, but sad that I must delay any further hiking. Upon my arrival back home, it was determined I had actually broken my big toe when it struck the rock in camp ten days previous. Eighty miles hiked on a broken big toe, yikes! Thankfully, after several examinations, the doctors feel that fracture is stable and I can return to the trail in September.

Stay tuned for Part Two with the Whites of New Hampshire, coming soon. 

Guest Blog - A First Timer Observation of an AT Section Hike

Our First Section Hike on the Appalachian Trail...what did we learn?

My husband and I just returned from our first section hike on the AT. We've hiked before but not for this amount of time. Our initial plan had us starting at the NH/VT line in Hanover and ending at the VT-103. We would hike for 5 days then take one overnight at the Inn at Long Trail then hike another 4 days. Our actual hike included a 4 day hike, 2 nights stay at the Inn at Long Trail another 2 day hike and another 2 nights stay at the Inn at Long Trail. I researched and planned (and had two back up plans) for this section hike for a year. We spent more money than I want to mention on gear,

travel, etc. I read and re-read advice on this site and others and we only followed some of that advice. So what happened? Here is what we learned...

1. We are slower than everyone else on the trail. See #2 for pack weight. But even when we lightened our packs we were a lot slower than everyone else. Once we remembered the phrase Hike your own Hike we were able to relax and enjoy. You will see everyone from runners, day hikers, thru hikers, section hikers etc. on the trail. Some will be faster than you, most will go farther per day than you but none will be slower than my husband and I !!