Monday, August 5, 2019
A friend dropped me off at the trailhead up in North Troy, VT around 11:30 a.m. The weather was picture perfect. I passed the Journey's End Shelter about a mile in and continued on to the Northern Terminus of the Long Trail at the VT/Canadian border. There’s a cool monument there. It was a good 1.4-mile hike but I had another 273+ miles to go; so, after a few pics, I got to it.
The first several miles of the trail were pretty easy but then it got hard. But before the tough stuff, I met Pug Dog and North Star, who were hiking northbound (NOBO). They were vlogging their trek and interviewed me on my first day. You'll note I was pretty impressed with the trail so far!
And then I got introduced to the climbs. Welcome to the rugged north, I muttered to myself. The climb up Doll's Peak was particularly relentless. The good news was my home for the night was on the other side.
I finally made it to the Laura Woodward Shelter around 6:00 p.m., capping off a 10.1-mile day. Two other NOBO hikers arrived soon after with their dogs. One of them hiked the AT a few years back and attempted a thru of the LT last year but she broke her ankle on Camel's Hump. She had a friend join her to complete the unfinished portion.
All in all, not a bad start to the journey.
