Long Trail: Mud and Puds

A friend of mine had some friends in town who were section hiking the Long Trail and asked me to go along with them. Named Casey and Mark, they’d section hiked the Appalachian Trail and much of the Long Trail already, so I knew we’d make a good team. I got to know them better during the hike, and it turned out we’d had similar work and life-stage experiences, which made for good conversation during our 11-mile ordeal.

Maybe “ordeal” is too strong a word, but the 11 miles from the Forest City Trail, which climbs to the Long Trail, just south of Camels Hump, to the Appalachian Gap Trailhead on Rt 17 just west of the Mad Rver Ski Area, was a very tough hike that took us 12 hours to finish. With a heat dome covering the northeast, it was a very hot day with high humidity, which required drinking a lot of water, spiked with electrolyte tablets. I drank 6 liters of water during the hike, not including a liter beforehand to prehydrate.

But while the heat and humidity were definitely a factor in this hike’s difficulty, the Long Trail, which is a notoriously challenging National Scenic Trail, made this hike strenuous. The trail is a quagmire of mud, tree roots, and running water that one needs to scramble through and over. And the trail, which runs north to south for 272 miles along a ridgeline, requires hiking up and down some steep mountains as well as PUDs – pointless ups and downs in hiking parlance. I learned a new phrase on this hike, “Mud and Puds”, that is descriptive of the trail.

We decided to get an early start to beat the heat and met at the trailhead at 6:00 am. That meant I had to wake up at 4:45 am. We shuttled to the Burrows Trailhead and began climbing the Forest City Trail up to the Long Trail. We turned onto the Long Trail and headed south, passing the new Montclair Glen Lodge. I’d stayed in the old Montclair hut when I section hiked the Long Trail in 2008.

We continued south on the LT, climbing our first big hill, Mt Ethan Allen (3688′), and then Mt Ira Allen (3506′), who was Ethan Allen’s younger brother. The trail was shrouded in a thick fog from all the humidity in the air, and our clothes were soaked from it and our perspiration. Having read the forecast, we all were hiking in shorts, something I rarely do because I’d rather cover up against mosquitoes than rely on bug dope that sweats off. But it was just too hot to wear long pants, so I lathered up with Picaridin to keep them off me.

My companions kept up a brisk pace with few breaks, which is how I usually hike, too. Vermont had a lot of rain this spring, and the trail was quite muddy. But the real hazard on this hike was the slippery surface of the rocks that we had to scramble up and over. The normal footholds you get on dry rock weren’t available, so you really had to think through your ascents and descents, which slowed us down a bit.

I slipped twice on this hike, bashing my the toenail of my left foot, which is black and probably going to fall off, and wrenching my shoulder, which hurts like the dickens when I move it a certain way. I have a funny feeling I did some real damage there. I can hike with it, but specific movements really hurt. My doctor is taking a look at it today. One of my friends noted that it’s not my fish-casting arm, so even if it’s serious, I can still play outside.

We continued south to Burnt Rock Mountain, which is a pretty but challenging hike with lots of open exposure. I climbed it last year for my Long Trail side-to-side list, coming up the Hedgehog Trail, which climbs to the Long Trail from the east. Here, the rocks were drier because they’re not under tree cover. We finally stopped for lunch after passing the peak, although all of us had been snacking on the move. We were already six hours into the hike and were only halfway through.

After filtering more water, we continued to the Cowles Cove Shelter, where we met Grace, a Green Mountain Club ridgerunner, who was packing up after her lunch. Ridgerunners are responsible for maintaining 25-35 miles of trail: clearing drainage structures, cutting blowdowns, trimming overgrowth, installing signs, and painting blazes. Each Ridgerunner range contains 4-6 overnight shelters and/or tenting areas. Ridgerunners are responsible for maintaining a clean and well-kept site, performing minor repairs as necessary, and reporting site conditions to field leadership. Their responsibilities include servicing composting toilets and providing hiker education. It’s a strenuous job.

We continued south, stopping at the Birch Glenn Shelter, to rest and eat the second half of our lunch. It’s a pretty run-down shelter with a swinging front door and a picnic bench inside. We still had to hike 2.9 miles to the Appalachian Gap, including a steep ascent to Molly Stark Mountain (2967′) and Baby Stark Mountain (2863′). This was more of the same, although somewhat gentler than the trail conditions at the beginning of our hike, with long stretches of dry and level trail through fern and hobble bush.

Once past Baby Stark, we had another steep descent down its north side to the Rt 17 trailhead. Seeing a paved road was a reassuring sight. I remember hiking this section in my Long-Trail End-to-End, but in the pouring rain. Despite the hardship of this hike, I had fun with our little group and was glad I’d taken the day off to take a long hike.

Afterward: We were all pretty exhausted the next day, which I attribute to the hot and humid conditions we hiked in, with temperatures in the mid-90s and high humidity. While one could argue that it was too hot to do this hike, it’s worth examining what we did right to make it through and finish the distance. See Hiking in Hot and Humid Weather: Tips and Tricks for a more detailed explanation. We:

• Wore lightly colored, loose-fitting clothing with hats
• Started very early in the day, at 6:35 am
• Carried a cloth buff, which we dipped in cold water and draped over our necks to cool off.
• Prehydrated, carried lots of extra water, and filtered or purified more when we ran out
• Kept track of the amount of water we consumed and brought electrolyte tablets to add to the water we obtained from other natural sources.
• We were under tree cover for most of the day.
• Started early and packed light, with just the bare necessities.
• Rubbed insect and sun protection on our skin.
• Snacked frequently, with two stops to eat sandswiches