The Vermont Long Trail - It's Never As Bad As It Seems p2

We started our thru hike of the 272 mile Vermont Long Trail around September 15th in hopes of getting fall colors, less rain, less bugs, and more fun. We still had the fun, but quickly found out that this was going to be an extremely challenging hike. Our first day on trail it rained all day. Lotus got injured from the technical rock scrambles. We did far less miles than we planned. And overall things weren't looking good for our adventure. We more or less, got hazed into this long distance hike.

We decided to change our plans, whether we would finish the trail or not it didn't matter. We came all this way to enjoy our time out there, to spend the time together, and to have fun as a couple. We both love hiking, we love the travel, and we love seeing these new places. Vermont during the beginnings of fall certainly wasn't disappointing when it came to any of that.

With our newfound plan and the stress of finishing gone, she started to enjoy herself a lot more. I think I thrive and live off of that kind of stress, having such a strict deadline, and a challenging goal. But with a hiking injury in the picture, bad weather, and overall a very rugged trail. The right answer was clear. Slow down, and enjoy the trip.

We have both thru hiked the Appalachian Trail before, which the Long Trail shares tread with, so regardless if we can make it to where the AT and LT combine, we've seen it all. I think for both of us this was a big thing, as both of us wanted to finish this thru hike.

Our backpacks were super ultralight, and we were ready for the challenge of still trying to finish, but knowing it was ok if we didn't.

In this video we hike over the state high point of Vermont, Mt Mansfield. Personally this mountain and this hike was my favorite part of the entire trip. Following the ridgeline, hiking above treeline, with 360 degree views of all Vermont. Lake Champlain, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, The Adirondacks, looking down on the city of Burlington. The experience was awesome, and the views couldn't have been better. And for once, we had good weather to hike in.

Alternate title for this video: There's Nothing Easy About It

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