r/longtrail • u/Sport21996 • 17d ago
Weather window
Hi everyone,
I have some time off from Sept 26th to October 18th and the Long Trail is on my list of potential things to do. I don't think I'll have time to do the whole thing, but since I've already done the southern 1/3 (I thru hiked the AT in 2025), I figure I should be able to do the other 2/3.
I'm just curious about the weather and social aspect that time of year. One of my favorite parts of the AT was how social it was. Will I get to see lots of other people? Would the weather be comparable to the southern portion of the AT in March (I have a 20 degree quilt, would that be warm enough?)? Are there benefits in going NOBO or SOBO (was thinking the weather might be better SOBO, but the social aspect might be better NOBO?)? Anything else I should know?
Thanks!
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u/wetrocke 16d ago
Weather can be highly variable with a bias toward warmer. Twenty degrees is possible but unlikely. It might stay entirely above 40F.
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u/edthesmokebeard NOBO 2019 17d ago
I went the last 3 weeks of September. It was hotter than I anticipated, and the middle sections around Camels Hump were kind of dry IIRC. If I had to go again, I'd do exactly the time you've chosen.
I stayed in shelters, and there was another couple of people I ran into over and over, typically on either sides of a town day. There were a handful of people, NOBO and SOBO. There were 2 horrible AT hikers, but after Maine Junction the trail is yours. The 4000 footers had some people on them, but it wasn't crazy.
You'll run into more people in that middle 1/3 section because of leaf season.
I got rained on a few times, but I was never really cold. Did fine in my down jacket at night, mostly overkill, and I had an older 20F quilt that's probably realistically a 30F quilt now.
I would go NOBO, finishing up at the Slash and then hanging at Journey's End was pretty special. It took me 4 hitches and about 4 hours to get to St. Albans at the end. I got a hotel, then took the train home.
Good luck, enjoy it, it's sweet!
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u/Equivalent_Yak8711 16d ago
Did the whole trail in 16 days. You have plenty of time to do what you want.
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u/myopinionisrubbish 16d ago
Thats pretty fast, most people take at least three weeks. When I hiked the LT in late Sept/early Oct I always ran out of daylight and had to do the last mile or two by headlight.
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u/Sport21996 16d ago
If I still had my trail legs I could probably do the whole thing. Unfortunately I do not 😂
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u/WalkItOffAT 16d ago
I would be surprised if it's substantially different from Kathadin before it closes.
20F sleeping bag should be fine. However I would damn 1000% make sure it stays dry no matter what.
Also, rain pants and active insulation, like a substantial fleece. You might never need it, but could be very important mid October.
I would also bring a sat communicator just because it's very rugged and there might be ice in the morning and with maybe less people out there, better save than sorry.
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u/Sport21996 16d ago
Definitely planning on bringing my Inreach.
I summited Kathadin in mid August and the weather was beautifull! So I wont use that as my reference 😅.
I actually got super lucky weather wise, I think during the whole trip, it only got to around freezing a handfull of times.
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u/myopinionisrubbish 16d ago
The northern half is much more difficult than the southern end. Daylight hours are getting short. Camping is only allowed at designated sites so going shelter to shelter is about all you can do between the difficult trail and short hours of daylight.
Current forecasts are for a cold fall. It usually starts to rain a lot late Sept. This year it might start to snow early. I would go SOBO as the north end of Vermont is the first to see snow.
In a past life, I was the fall caretaker at Taft Lodge, by Columbus weekend, I was ready to pack up and get the heck off that mountain, but I had to stay another week.
There will probably be a few other late season hikers, but it will be pretty quiet. If you happen to hit Mansfield or Camels Hump on a Saturday, thats when you’ll see the most people.
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u/Sport21996 16d ago
Do you thing I will run into more people if I decided to go NOBO? Or there just wont be a lot of people in general that time of year?
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u/myopinionisrubbish 14d ago
You’ll see more people SOBO as you will see everyone who might be going NOBO. NOBO you’ll just see the few others hiking at the same pace you are. On the whole, there won’t be a lot of others out there, but you will likely have company every night at the shelters.
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u/kneevase 17d ago
Something to keep in mind is that you are planning to hike right through leaf-peeping season, including the Columbus Day weekend. Vermont can become an absolute zoo with leaf-peepers, and hotel rooms which are already a bit spendy can become difficult to find and outrageously priced. If you are hiking, this is not a big deal, but if you plan to take a zero or two it's something to bear in mind.
The other aspect of this is that hitching can be weird when the horde of out-of-staters are there. In Vermont, usually resupply is dead-easy because you just stick out your thumb and it usually seems that you get a hitch within the first 10 cars that have green license plates. But, when 80% of the traffic is Mass or Connecticut, it's a much longer process, but eventually you get a lift.
If you go SOBO, you follow the leaves as they change colour, if you care about that.