Somewhere around mile 164 of Vermont's Long Trail, a trio of long-distance hikers hit the jackpot: a family room with a full kitchen, three nights off the trail, and hosts who treat trail-weary walkers like family. Their Day 25 diary from White Horse Lodge, just off Appalachian Gap near the Sugarbush area, is a love letter to the humble zero day — the rest day every thru-hiker lives for.
The story started with a common problem. Lodging around Sugarbush is pricey and complicated, and the hikers struggled to find anywhere affordable. Scouring an online map, they found White Horse Lodge and called on a hunch. Innkeepers Mike and Dana said yes to everything: shuttle pickup from the trail, laundry, flexible dates when plans shifted, and even a rescue run when bad weather forced an early escape from the mountain. When the group asked to extend, they got an upgraded room with its own kitchen.
What followed was a celebration of ordinary luxuries. Mike drove them to a busy grocery store for a big shop that filled the fridge — with the hikers carefully sticking to their rule of never over-buying while hungry. Dinner one night was sautéed hamburger patties with chimichurri, a salad of greens, mozzarella and tomatoes, olive bread, and a cheeky bottle of wine labelled "Do Epic S**t." The next day ran on bacon and eggs, pancake-mix biscuits improvised on an unfamiliar rental stove, then lamb chops, broccoli and new potatoes for dinner, all snapped up on sale.
Between meals came the maintenance every serious hiker needs: replacing boots chewed up by 660 Appalachian Trail miles plus 164 on Long Trail rock, swapping out trail shoes, dealing with trekking poles worn down to plastic on the right side, and a fresh replacement for a well-loved 1,000-mile-old hat. There was waxing boots, sorting resupply boxes, laundry, and a lot of napping — plus a trip to Waitsfield for stove fuel when the outfitter was closed.
Why should a regular traveller care? Because it's a reminder that the best trail-town stays are often small, family-run places found by word of mouth or a lucky map search — and that hosts like Mike and Dana are the reason hikers keep coming back to Vermont. If you're hiking the Long Trail and passing through the Appalachian Gap or Waitsfield area, it's worth asking around for exactly this kind of inn: flexible, trail-savvy, and happy to shuttle. And even if you never carry an overnight pack, the zero-day formula — good food, clean laundry, a nap, and no schedule — translates beautifully to any slow weekend in the Green Mountains.
The Tale from The Trek
