End of Journey: Hiking 272 miles

The best way for a university child to describe the end of a walk is that the last miles really felt like a graduation. It was the last time I would walk through the halls of this «green tunnel» before having to say goodbye to the people and places that I had come to know so well.

When I put on the long path, I was looking for stories, adventures, community and a stronger connection with nature. After walking 272 miles, I am grateful to say that I found what I was looking for, and much more.

Mountain camp

I spent my last night on the road at the top of Jay Peak with three others through the north through hikers. I saw the most incredible sunset, then the stars, then the dawn the next morning.

Jay Peak at sunset.

In the end, I felt the wear of the path on my body and my team, specifically my shoes. I have been using the same pair of trail runners of Altra Lone Peak since 2022. These shoes have survived many miles, but the long path put them in their grave. In the end, the rolling band was so worn, and there were holes inside the shoes where I put my fingers. But I could still walk on them! Often, I walked through the mud to the ankle and what could only guess was Moose Poop, which was leaked through the holes of my shoes with each step.

So, due to my shoes, I knew there were alces somewhere. I had been dying to see an alce, but I hadn’t had an sighting yet … not until the last morning.

My shoes at the end of the long path.

The final dawn

At the top of Jay Peak, I sat and saw the dawn. I made my last oatmeal breakfast of the path (I ate oats every day on the road). I was interviewing another hiker for my audio documentary project Field notes: A long path Odyssey When an alce appeared about 10-15 feet away from us. A hiker was sleeping. Another hiker began chasing Alce (Do not try this at home, children). We all got up and looked astonished while Elce ran through a ski slope. The alce descended the mountain and disappeared. Maybe he decided to walk southly along the long path to the Massachusetts border.

I took this sighting as a farewell gift of the long path. Shortly after, we packed and headed north, with the northern terminal only a few miles away.

Sunrise from Jay Peak’s top.

Heat wave

A heat wave was taking over vermont while we advanced towards the finish line. After a sandwich in the Shooting Star shelter, I slugged on a slippery and leaning rock slab and struck in one of my trekking posts, folding it forever. I thought, if I was going to break my team (or break my leg), it could be at the end of the path.

The miles to the extreme north felt tedious at the time, but they were nothing compared to the joy and hard work on the miles that had come before. We explode «American Pie» in the last tenths of a mile to the extreme north. That song is so long that we arrived in Canada before «American Pie» ended.

Wooden path marker on the long path.

Then, we finally arrive at the northern terminal of the Long Trail on the Canadian border. Our trio of sweaty hikers stopped for a celebration photo shoot in the National Border Obelisk Monument. Finally, we walk along the Journey End path to see our trip.

Happy to have reached the end, our group moved quickly along the way. I had to run to keep up at some points. We enter the final shelter, Journey’s End Camp, to sign the registration book and write our dismissal on the long path. We collected, then we collected McDonald’s and relax after a long trip.

Sign at the end of the long path.

It’s not over yet!

I couldn’t rest for a long time. The next day, I was back on the road.

Previously, around Rutland, VT, I had moved away from my knee injury. I skip a 20 -mile path section to be able to join with my tramilia (not injured) and continue walking together. Now, I returned to address miles and mountains like Killington, and part of my tramilia came to join me (bird’s eye!)

View from Killington.

We packed our backpacks with enough for the day, mainly snacks and water. After walking for weeks with a heavy package, these miles seemed nothing! We found long paths of trails that were heading north. I was excited to share that we had just arrived at the Canadian border and we encourage them for their trips.

I ate a lunch and soaked my eyes on Killington. Stone’s Throw Farmstead made a large afternoon snack.

Of the feast from the farm.

Finally, we reached a path, which marked the end of the last miles he needed to complete. He was not as epic as the Canadian border, but he was celebrating the same. A woman who said she headed to a swimming hole stopped to congratulate me, but I don’t think she was sure I was congratulating myself.

In the typical excursionist style, we obtained hamburgers to mark the end of this walk. I started the path of 272 miles on June 1, 2025, and ended in approximately 23 days.

What follows?

The next day, I took the Vermont train. I had to change trains in New York City and I made sure to leave and see the skyscrapers for a moment. I go to school in New York City, but I quickly felt overwhelmed after being on his way. I returned to the train station to catch the next train back to my family in the Washington area, DC.

This is where I will spend the rest of my summer. I will edit, produce and complete the story of this trip in field notes: a long Odyssey of trails. I will continue writing and developing my Musical of the path of the beads, static, At the contemporary American theater festival. I will work and try to spend more time outdoors and with the people who matter to me.

While I conclude this blog, I will leave you with what I wrote in my final registration book from the Journey final camp.

So much gratitude for this trip. What incredible experience in the LT this summer. Great people, great places. I can’t wait to tell these stories in the coming years.

-Storyteller, Lt Novo ’25

Sign my name in the registration book of the Final Camp of the trip.

Thank you for continuing with my trip on the long path! I am already dreaming of writing my next story and investigating other excursions, so I hope there is sooner!

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