The Long Trail (VT) — Sep-Oct 2026

THE TRIP: Planning to hike the Long Trail NOBO, starting September 10th and finishing October 6th. I will begin near the Massachusetts border and hike north to the Canadian border. Total hiking distance is approximately 277 miles (446 km), with about 66,000 feet (20,100 m) of cumulative elevation gain — 23 hiking days plus 3 rest days (one at at the Inn at Long Trail with my visiting wife & son, one in Lincoln to visit a grad-school friend, and one held flexibly at Johnson as a weather buffer before the remote northern finish).

START/END LOGISTICS: On September 10, my friend will drive me from his house in Lincoln, VT to the trailhead in Williamstown, MA to begin my hike. I will resupply in Manchester Center, Lincoln, Waterbury, Rutland and Jeffersonville. After completing the trail, I’ll set up a shuttle to pick me up near the Canadian border at Journey’s End.

EXPECTED CONDITIONS: Fall in the Green Mountains, so rapidly changing weather. My NOBO itinerary moves into higher, colder terrain as the season cools. On-trail daytime highs will run cooler than valley forecasts suggest — generally upper 50s to low 60s (14–17°C) in the first week, falling to the upper 40s to mid 50s (9–13°C) from the Breadloaf ridge north, with exposed summit days (Mansfield, Jay) feeling colder still with wind. Median overnight lows at shelters will run in the low-to-mid 40s (6–8°C) early, dropping to the mid-to-upper 30s (2–4°C) from the Breadloaf ridge north; the coldest projected nights are Taft Lodge (median 34°F/1°C) and Tillotson Camp (median 35°F/2°C). However, the temperatures don’t always fall at the median, and I’m expecting some nights as low as the teens (roughly −9 to −7°C), with frost at higher shelters becoming routine from late September onward. Cold rain may be common, making hypothermia a primary risk-management concern, and the first wet snow is possible above 3,000 feet (915 m) after October 1. The trail is notoriously rugged, steep, and occasionally muddy (“Vermud”), with slick roots and rocks potentially concealed by fallen leaves — conditions and remoteness both intensify north of the AT junction at US-4, and the final 50 miles (80 km) from Johnson to the border are the most rugged and remote of the trip. Mosquito and black fly pressure will be low to non-existent, but ticks remain a possibility. Although hike will overlap with archery season, I won’t worry as much about taking special precautions for visibility.

DAYLIGHT HOURS: At the southern terminus on September 10th, sunrise around 6:27am and sunset around 7:11pm (about 12 hours 44 minutes). At the northern terminus on October 5th, sunrise around 6:52am and sunset around 6:23pm (about 11 hours 31 minutes) — I’ll plan progressively earlier camp arrivals as daylight shrinks.

LODGING & RESUPPLY: I intend to primarily sleep in shelters/cabins at night, broken up by several town and inn stays (Manchester Center, the Inn at Long Trail, a friend’s house in Lincoln, Waterbury, and Jeffersonville). I plan to resupply often, both to lighten my pack and to experience more of small-town Vermont. My wife will be able to bring me resupply at Stratton Mountain Resort and at the Inn on the Long Trail. My Vermont-based friend will be able to hold resupply for me at Lincoln Gap. My longest food carries will be 5 days — my initial carry at Williamstown, and from Waterbury — with the final Jeffersonville-to-border carry crossing the trail’s most remote section with no services.