Having been born and raised in Vermont, with the majority of my family still in the state and some lineage dating back 10+ generations, Vermont holds a special place in my heart as I believe it does for all of us who reside here. Erica knew this from day one. She was from the west coast, but upon meeting one another, she immediately did research online about the state, from Calvin Coolidge to Ben & Jerry’s. And she knew how proud I was of this state, making fun of me for it all the time.
Hi! I’m Megan Figura, I wanted to talk about my last two weeks on the Long Trail in 2007 before we moved to Montana, and my hope to thru-hike the Long Trail in 2009. I’m only 15, but to me the summer of 2007 was the best I’ve ever had; for many reasons, one of which was my hike in Vermont. Being a lover of the outdoors I have always jumped at the chance to go base camping or hiking. When Dad told me about his idea to thru hike the Long Trail in two sections, I got pretty excited. I thought of it as an opportunity to experience something none of my friends or many other people my age (13 at the time) had before. I loved going to Vermont and looked forward to spending a month there learning about things not really new to me; but at the same time different because this would be my longest trail trip ever. Things like basic outdoor survival, cooking on the trail, how to pitch a tent, and what the best food was for my body when I was being active. Dad said this trip would be my “rite of passage."