After Memorial Day, Dennis and I are heading up to New Hampshire to spend time with our daughter and her family. While she and hubby are on a week-long cruise, we will care for their 19-month son and their pets. Living 1400 miles away, I welcome this opportunity to spoil my only grandchild.
Walking the hills around Newton NH will be training for the mountains of Vermont. Starting in mid June, I will attempt my first long-distance wilderness hike: 270 miles on the Vermont Long Trail. Though I have walked further, my previous hikes were far from ruffing it. I’ve become spoiled with European hostels, B&Bs, hot showers, warm meals, and the conviviality of traveling from community to community.
This will be different. My accommodation will be a tent. My bed will be a sleeping bag atop an 
eggshell foam mat. We will prepare our meals from supplies we carry in. We plan to go into a town about once a week for food, shower, pampering, and groceries.
We estimate that the trip will take approximately a month. We intend to start off slowly, and then increase the distance as our bodies adjusts.
We purchased two guides to help up navigate the trail, and are using the gear from previous hikes. The only new items include new boots for Dennis (I’m still looking), hiking poles for me, and a water filter to prevent catching a water-borne disease. We will also have to treat our clothes against deer ticks, which carry Lyme Disease.
For the most part we are prepared. Today I am packing my backpack. For the next month, I will wear it on my morning walks to help my body will get use to the straps. I will also try to learn how to use the walking sticks. In the past, I found them unhelpful, but using them properly can reduce chances for knee injury or shin splints, so its to my advantage to develop a rhythmic stride with the poles.
I’m starting to get excited for our next adventure. I hope you will follow along on this blog.
Have you walked the Vermont Long Trail? If so, are there places I should make a point to visit/avoid? Any words of advice? Please Comment.
