It is that time again. Time for me to engage in my own personal form of insanity.

As many if you know, in 2014 I hiked 2184 miles on the Appalachian Trail. If you don’t know, ask me. I’ll be happy to tell you.

Since the memories of the mud, continuous uphill trail, rain, bugs, and the aroma of weeks old unwashed bodies has faded, I have replaced those with memories that I actually enjoyed it.

So, on June 21 I will head off again for a similar, albeit significantly shorter, hike on the Long Trail in Vermont.

The Long Trail, or LT, is the oldest continuous long distance hiking trail in the US. Although at 274 miles it seems to be the runt of the litter.

Nevertheless, it has its challenges. The northern section is reputed to be some of the most rugged climbing in the northeast.

I have managed to convince two friends to join in the fun, the Harrop cousins, Tom and Kent. Both are fellow classmates of mine from the stellar class of Cumberland High School 1974.

Tom is in from the beginning, hoping time permits him to make it the whole way. Kent will join us on July 4 for 5 days of fun in the rain and mud.

Tom has a great deal of experience hiking, Kent will benefit from our experience. He will learn or serve as a decoy should we encounter bears or cougars. Since Kent has chosen a life of serving his fellow man, who are we to deny him this opportunity?

As I did on our trek on the AT, I will post periodically to allow those of you unable to engage in such activity to come along the ridges and hills of the Green Mountains.

Or to post funeral arrangements.

We begin at the Massachusetts/Vermont border and end at the US/Canadian border at a place called Journey’s End.  I hope you follow along and enjoy the tale.

For those of you so inclined, I suspect Clyde Haworth will be running a pool, taking bets on our chances of survival. Odds are 50/50 at this point.

(Author’s note: Many of you followed our AT Journey on my other blog.

There and Back Again

Since there are so many of you that follow me here, I decided to post my thoughts from the Long Tail here.  Big fan of keeping it simple. Hope you enjoy.)