Bob
Northrop devoted his life to support a variety of Vermont institutions.
He was best known for his efforts to protect the Long Trail. Northrup
hiked the trail end to end many times over the years, most notably in 2001 at
the age of 80. Northrup
died this weekend at his home in Underhill.
He was 92.
Almost a year after Tropical Storm Irene, we get an update on where
disaster relief funds have gone and how much is still needed and we hear
from ultrarunner Nikki Kimball who ran the length of the Long Trail.
Hikers who head out over this long holiday
weekend to the Long Trail will find some sections rerouted around Tropical
Storm Irene damage. The storm’s floods washed out sections of the
trail and also destroyed bridges.
The U.S. Forest
Service is investigating a fire that destroyed a hiking shelter on the Long
Trail about a mile from Sherburne Pass in Rutland County. The Tucker-Johnson
Shelter is a lean-to structure near the intersection of the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail in Mendon.
Whether
it’s for a day, a week, or even a month, what draws people to the Long Trail? For Nick Rushford of Essex,
there’ve been many reasons to hike the trail from end to end.
Today,
we have one man’s story about personal challenge… and the effort to "live
strong." It begins at the top of Vermont’s highest peak, Mount Mansfield.
A reminder of some of the challenges of
being out on the Long Trail. Whether it’s for a few days, or weeks at a time,
there’s bound to be encounters with bugs, bad food, and rain, rain, rain.
Thousands of us experience the Green Mountains up close every summer with a day on the Long Trail. Many hundreds more spend even more time on the trail, taking a few days to hike and
spending the nights at a shelter along the way. Today, in our series, "The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History," we learn what it’s like to overnight on the trail.