Even the Smelliest Hikers Are Welcome to Breakfast at the Inn At Long Trail
A visiting hiker waxes about a hospitable breakfast and the downtown of Rutland that "did look fun."
Excerts from a post first published in The Trek, and was written by Steve Hoekwater.
July 17, 2025 - I smell horrible. My gear smells horrible too. My rain pants smell the horrible’est. Despite my attempts to stay rinsed off via streams and lakes this past stretch, it’s just not good enough haha. The humidity has been relentless and every day I am soaked in sweat. Like fully saturated. And, soap is needed y’all. So, you’d expect I’d head into town and get myself and the clothes washed, yeah?
Well, I did plan to go into town today, but just a bop in and out sort of thing to resupply. I have a hotel booked in another few days and that’s when I’m hoping to do all the things. I promise! And, I vow to never let it get this bad again. Oof.
Could you do it? Go day after day being fully stinky? Of course, most hikers do not get nearly as gnarly in the gross-scale as I do, but still. It got me thinking; the feeling of smelling and feeling gross might be enough to keep one from backpacking. And then I wondered, what are the other things that keep folks from getting out here?
I woke up at 4:48 am, then again at 5:00 am, and then 5:06 am. I called it then and got up. For a shelter, I slept pretty good. I didn’t have any meese encounters 😉 or any other critters. My fellow hiker was fairly quiet as well.
I had 2.4 miles all downhill to get to US Route 4. The trail wasn’t super steep by AT standards, but enough where I felt it in my knees. There were plenty of roots to step over; that’s been a common trait of Vermont.
Down at the road, my scheme for the day started to take shape. Or so I hoped.
That big building is the Inn At Long Trail, which also holds McGrath’s Irish Pub. I had read via their website that breakfast started at 7:30 am. I was about 45 minutes early and did this intentionally with hopes that I might be able to plug in my power bank (I was coming in on 35% phone battery and all out of ear buds and power bank battery).
The first part of the plan worked out nicely. The building was locked, but there were hooks along the side for packs to be hung and a power outlet right there! Then, at 7:10 am, a guest of the inn came out and the front door was unlocked. I went to scope it out, now worried that the breakfast might be just for guests staying. My fears were quickly quieted when I talked to the front desk receptionist. She even invited me to grab coffee from the lobby ahead of time. I received very good vibes right away from the folks here!
After talking to some weekend hiker guests in the lobby over coffee, I was seated in the neat dining room. I got a kick out of the giant boulder that was half inside. There was a little cave with a water fountain. There’s a lot of character to this place and sounds like a lot of history too.
I loved the breakfast (a mishmash of eggs, sausage, tomatoes, and taters along with pineapple slices and a heavily buttered English muffin) and loved the experience. I was also happy to have been seated well away from others being quite aware of my stinkiness. I couldn’t help but wonder if this had been done intentionally by the hostess. If so, I would not have blamed him.
After breaky, I got myself ready to take the bus into town. A Long Trail hiker, Stick, and I hopped on the 9:21 am bus to the Rutland Transit Center. And after hitting up Walmart and the Price Chopper, we both headed right back on the 11:15 am bus towards Killington. Stick got off where the Long Trail/AT cross, but I went back to the Inn to keep my continuous path.
I didn’t get any other town photos since such a quick visit and I mainly stayed in the strip mall part. The downtown area did look fun though. I felt it had potential to be a quirky and nice town, Rutland.