75 Year-old Ted Lennox 1st Time Hiker

Ted's unique perspective on the challenges he faced and the pleasures he experienced as a first-time hiker will delight and entertain listeners, including those, who like he, are blind. At top left, Ted is pictured with Rough reading the sign at the start of the Beane Trail. He describes his training hikes and overnight backpacking trips on the Beane Trail and Skylight Pond Trail. At right above, Tumble and Ted ford a stream on the Skylight Pond Trail. Ted also offers advice and tips for other first-time hikers. At left below, Ted celebrates his safe completion of a two-day backpacking trip. Listen to Ted on longtrailpodcast.com as he tells the world about his exciting and satisfying adventure.

Joe Figura's LongTrailHiking.info

Joe Figura, known on the trail as "Rolling Stone", sits peacefully at the MacArthur Bridge on the Long Trail near Route 9 (right). Joe is doing what he loves to do, that is, hiking on the Long Trail. In 2009 he and his daughter "Blue Tang" (pictured, below) backpacked from the Mass. border to Killington.
Joe is bringing the Long Trail community together online with his new website longtrailhiking.info, available to users now on the Internet. Listen to our podcast with Joe as he describes his concept for the site as well as its features which include hiker discussion boards, the Green Mountain Club's End-to-Enders Guide, trip reports, and much more.
Joe plans to continue to enhance the site so that LT hikers can find the information they need when planning a trip.

Day Hike the Long Trail End-to-End?

Yes, that's right. Aaron Schoenberg is coordinating and leading a series of week-long day hikes in his quest to complete the entire Long Trail. He is pictured, at left, in July 2008, on Mount Mansfield's Adam's Apple overlooking the Lake of the Clouds. For the six-year journey at one week per year, Aaron plans the daily itineraries and makes arrangements for his groups of 14-23 hikers to get to and from the trail and stay overnight in nearby housing. Through 2009 they have hiked south from the Canadian border to Middlebury Gap. Listen to Aaron describe how he does it and what he has experienced so far in our podcast at longtrailpodcast.com
2010 Update:  In August, Aaron and his group completed their 4th year (of six), day hiking from Middlebury Gap to Route 4 in Killington.  Only 2 more years of week-long outings and just over 100 miles to go!

Ho and Hum: "Geezer Hikers"

They may be self-described "Geezer Hikers" but brothers Ho and Hum showed fortitude and determination when they section hiked on the Long Trail this past August. They are pictured here at the Long Trail parking lot in Johnson all set to commence their 5-day hike southbound to Jonesville. Next they hiked northbound from App Gap to Duxbury Road, and then topped off their adventures with an 11.6 mile Lincoln Gap to App Gap day hike. You can listen to Ho and Hum describe how they decided to do these hikes, what went into their preparation, and what their hikes were like. They even throw in the lessons they learned about the Long Trail, equipment, camping, ... and each other. Thanks, guys, for sharing! Enjoy and listen at longtrailpodcast.com .

Update: Ho and Hum's trip report (with photos) is now available online at Long Trail Hiking .
Update December 2010: Ho and Hum continued their LT adventures in 2010.  Read about their brotherly hikes online, including Bennington to Mad Tom Notch and Lincoln Gap to Lincoln Peak at http://www.longtrailhiking.info/webboard/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=502 .

Gaps in Long Trail Trivia

The Long Trail passes through many "gaps", eleven in all including Lincoln Gap at the base of Mount Abraham (sign pictured). And several "passes" too. Can you name these? How about the names of the five peaks over 4000' that host the trail? The four lookout towers? Bone up on your Long Trail knowledge by learning the answers to these questions and much more by checking out our new "Long Trail Oddities and Trivia" page at http://www.longtrailpodcast.com/oddtriv.shtml . You'll even soak up some trivia that's bound to stick with you during your hikes along the 272 miles of white blazes. Enjoy your mental journey!

Planning a Summer Thru Hike (updated 2010)

Flashback: It's early on the morning of July 21, 2003, and Rough and Tumble (that's us) have hiked up the Pine Cobble and Appalachian Trails from Williamstown, Massachusetts. We're standing at the Long Trail Southern Terminus sign on the Vermont-Massachusetts border, ready to start our thru hike. All the planning is complete, drop boxes distributed, gear selected and practiced with, and conditioning hikes finished. With great anticipation and a touch of trepidation, we're about to take our first steps on the Long Trail on our way to the Canadian border.
You can take advantage of some of our experiences before starting your own end-to-end by listening to our podcast "Planning a Summer Thru Hike of the Long Trail" at longtrailpodcast.com . Don't forget your camera ... and have a great hike!

Self-prepared Trail Meals

There they are - the finished products. Tumble's prepared trail meals are stacked up and ready to go into our re-supply boxes and backpacks prior to our Long Trail end-to-end hike. She made enough meals for our planned 38 days on the trail, put them in ziplock bags, and labeled them with instructions and their individual weights.

Listen to her podcast "Preparing Your Own Trail Meals - for vegans and non-vegans" and you'll learn how she did it, including tips on your trail kitchen, what foods to carry, cooking, and determining your serving size. She made it look easy and so can you.