The first time Daan Zwick crossed the Winooski River to get to his job as a Long Trail hut caretaker, he paid a local farmer $.25 to ferry him across in an old rowboat. He was 14 years old. Today, at 92, Zwick crossed the river again — this time on a 224-foot suspension bridge that finally connects the two halves of Vermont's Long Trail.
The completion of the steel-cable bridge has been in the works for more than 100 years. The Long Trail—a rooty, rocky long-distance trail that traverses the spine of the Green Mountains for 273 miles—is the oldest long-distance trail in the country, but at no point in its 105-year existence have trail crews been satisfied with this section of trail in the Winooski Valley.
It's one of the lowest sections on a trail that blasts up cliffs and across the rugged Green Mountains, but until today, you had only two options: trudge into town to cross the road bridge, or pay Mrs. May to ferry you across. (And in the mid-60s, the Mays docked their rowboat for good.) When I got there in 2011, my only choice was to walk 3-plus miles along a busy road that passed under two interstates. Not exactly what the trail's founding fathers had in mind.
The Winooski River wasn't the only obstacle Green Mountain Club trail builders had to overcome. The trail was rerouted in the 1980s at the request of landowners, forcing GMC leaders to rethink the "built on a handshake" trail traversing public and private lands.
It took 20 years to build the matrix of land ownership, permits, easements and conserved acres that the new trail traverses, making it "a bigger project than building the bridge," notes DeBonis. It was also expensive, sucking up the remainder of the $2.3 million project budget (the bridge itself cost $1.5 million). The Green Mountain Club received $500,000 from the state of Vermont for land acquisition, but raised the remaining funds largely with the help of 1,400 individual donors.
And the bridge's largest donor, at $250,000? Daan Zwick, who today painted the official white blaze that marks the Long Trail on the side of the bridge, then crossed it, beaming, with the help of two trekking poles.
This 21-mile homestretch of Vermont's Long Trail conquers one more mammoth Green Mountain summit (Jay Peak) before trekking north to the Canadian border and Journey's End.
Nearly 7,000-feet of climbing are spread over this 22-mile point-to-point on Vermont's Long Trail; the highlight is a 2,400-foot ascent to 360-degree views atop Killington Peak.
Even as this 19.2-mile stretch of the Vermont Long Trail loses more elevation than it gains. Plus: thru-hikers are treated to pond-side shelters, Green Mountain overlooks, and more challenging terrain.
A pair of 1,300-foot ascents bookend this 25-mile stretch of Vermont's Long Trail. In addition to Stratton and Bromley Mountains, this route also samples numerous forested brooks and Green Mountain vistas.
Heading north through the Breadloaf Wilderness, this 19-mile Long Trail section tackles rugged climbs on a route that traces ridgelines and wanders through a Vermont ski area.