Hike Statistics: How Hard Is the Long Walk and Is It Worth It?

tThis October I finished a hike on Vermont’s Long Trail. Those who have hiked east in the fall can imagine the general vibe of this hike: stunning fall leaves, crisp mornings, and tons of maple-flavored snacks in the cities.

But what about the details? I tracked everything from my daily mileage and total budget to my mood on the road. Let’s crunch the numbers and find out exactly what a Long Trail hike entails.

Steps, Elevation, and Miles: Why is the Long Way So Hard?

While the course is reported to be 273 miles, my Garmin watch clocked in at 280.3 miles, probably due to some fun detours and less fun moments of getting lost. During these 280.3 miles, I took 514,692 steps, which is equivalent to 1,931 steps per mile.

On non-technical trails, I tend to average around 1700 steps per mile. The jump at over 1,900 steps per mile gives you a little perspective of how rugged the terrain was. Outside of the trail’s relentless ups and downs, the ground itself was often littered with slippery roots and exposed rock slabs, causing me to take smaller, more careful steps.

The total vertical change of the Long Trail was 71,770 feet, equivalent to climbing Mount Everest from sea level 2.5 times.

To put this in perspective, I climbed 401,648 feet on the Continental Divide Trail over 2,650 miles, equivalent to an average grade gain of 152 feet per mile. By comparison, the Long Trail made 256 feet of gain per mile, about 60% steeper. Add to this the tricky terrain and hopefully you’ll understand why my steps per mile count ended up being so high.

Miles per day versus steps per day. You will notice that they are very similar, but they are not exact transpositions of each other. Your guess as to why is as good as mine. The darker colored bars are days where I spent a certain amount of time in a city instead of the entire day on the trail.

Hygiene: How often did I shower and defecate?

I showered three times during my 17-day hike, averaging one shower every six days. This, surprisingly, coincides with the three nights I spent in towns along the way: Rutland, Waitsfield and Stowe. I also stopped in Manchester and North Troy, but only for a pastry and a maple latte, so I didn’t get a chance to shower.

During this time, I also recorded 16 bowel movements, with the first day on the tour being the only bowel-free day. Of these excrements, two were in a toilet, seven in city bathrooms and seven in evacuation pits on the road. Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I find toilets disgusting and I can’t stop thinking about norovirus every time I use them. Strange as it may seem, I find it a lot more sanitary to dig a well.

I would rather dig a hole than enter the norovirus hotspots known as toilets. In the shoulder season, when I encountered less than one person per day on the trail, I didn’t need to worry as much about overusing an area as I did in the peak season.

On Trail Finance: How much does it cost to hike the long trail?

In total, I spent $499 while on the Long Trail, counting only trail expenses and not return home costs (insurance, rental, etc.). Almost half of this sum ($244.84) ​​came from the purchase of food and coffee in the cities.

My only accommodation expenses were in Waitsfield, as I stayed with a friend in Stowe and at a donation-based hostel in Rutland. In Stowe, I paid for some meals for this friend, and in Rutland, I restocked the hostel’s laundry detergent and kitchen, so one could argue that some of my meal and resupply expenses should be transferred to the accommodation.

This ended up being more than I expected, as the city’s food and equipment exceeded what I had budgeted for. Although I don’t regret anything.

My other expenses came from equipment. The first night I realized that none of my top layers had a hood, so I bought a hat in Manchester. Additionally, I shipped some equipment home from Rutland and factored shipping costs into my equipment expenses. Finally, since this trail was so short, I only spent about $100 on resupply. Each city had great, affordable restocking options, like Walmart and Shaw’s.

Camping styles: where did I sleep every night on the long road?

While I packed a tarp, my goal on this trail was not to throw it even once. Thanks to the power of perfect weather and shelters, I made it!

The Long Trail is the first trail I’ve ever hiked that had some type of shelter established along the way; They were a big change and I found myself planning my daily mileage around them.

I only spent two of my trip nights outside of a shelter, and both times I simply cowboy camped next to a shelter so I didn’t have to talk to anyone. (Most nights I loved meeting people at the shelters, but sometimes the last thing I wanted after a long day of hiking was to make small talk.)

I slept in a bed each of my three nights in the city, which seemed like the height of luxury.

The vast majority of my nights were spent in shelters and I didn’t have to lift the tarp once the entire way.

How much fun did I have?

Each day, I recorded my mood on a scale of 1 to 4, where 4 marked a great day and 1 marked a terrible day.

Fortunately, the vast majority of my days were marked with a 4, and I didn’t have a single day with a score of 1. The worst days largely happened after day 11, when I tore my quadriceps.

At first, the bad mood was due to the fear of having to leave the path and, later, the pain in the leg at the end of the day. My only bad mood day before the injury came on day 7 and correlated with me leaving the town of Rutland before I was necessarily ready to start walking again.

I have never before been on a hike where I have been in such a good mood.

For a route I didn’t expect to like very much, the mood data clearly shows that my expectations were wrong. Over half a million steps, I was able to experience a beautiful Vermont fall, incredibly friendly strangers, diverse wildlife, and a style of hiking I was previously unfamiliar with.

While I don’t know if I would do it again, I certainly think this trail is one to add to your bucket list.

Cover image: Photo via katie jackson; graphic design by Chris Helm.