Hiking (not riding) up Mt. Mansfield Vermont

The last time I went on a vacation that was longer than three days was my honeymoon in 2007. The third week of July last my wife and I took a very much long overdue vacation with college friends to Burlington Vermont. While I did manage to do some mountain biking, I also did a bit of hiking. Not exactly riding uphill on a bike, but I did do alot of walking uphill. 

When we decided on Burlington I did a bit of searching for some nice hikes on the area. As luck would have it, overlooking the city is Mount Mansfield, a peak in the Green Mountain range and the highest summit in Vermont, topping out at 4,390 feet. Some may scoff at this peak, but for someone who doesn’t hike often this seemed like a perfect challenge. Mt. Mansfield is aligned on a ridge line roughly north to south just east to Burlington and resembles a face when viewed from the west or east. As a result, various features on ridge are named after facial features with the “chin” being the summit. On both sides of the mountain several sub ridges or splines branch off of the mountain and descend towards the valleys below. Access to the mountain is primarily made from two points, Underhill State Park on the west (Burlington) side, and various trails, primarily Vermont’s Long Trail, on the east (Stowe) side. 

As we were staying on Mallet’s Bay, the best route for our attack on the summit was Underhill State Park. The park itself doesn’t have much in the way of a grand entryway. Located at the end of gravel road about 1900 feet up on the western flank of Mt. Mansfield, the only park amenities is a gravel lot, a ranger station, and several campsites located on the periphery  of the parking lot. My friend Sam and I arrived around 7:30 on July 18 to lot with roughly half a dozen cars, presumably belonging to folks using the available campsites. The night before a nasty thunderstorm had swept through Burlington and then intensified as it rolled over Mansfield and into Stowe. We avoided the storm from our lake house north of Burlington, although we did observe a very impressive lightening storm. 

The next morning everything seemed to be fine albeit a bit wet and overcast. However, the forecast called for clearing later in the morning, clearing that we hoped would coincide with our summit.   The park charges $3 dollars per person for day use. Since the office didn’t open until 8 am, we left our $6 in the provided pay box and set off. The first .9 mile of trail is relatively east and crisscrosses a gravel access road several times. At the end of this initial section we followed the gravel road for a bit before arrived at the trail head for the Sunset Ridge Trail. Based on the sign in book, we were the first ones on the mountain that morning. Sunset Ridge was root filled, rocky and very wet, exactly what I expected considering its black diamond designation. I figured some of the moisture on the trails was from the storms the night before but the huge amount of ferns and moss suggested this part of the forest was always damp. This made the rocks and trail service somewhat hazardous underfoot although neither of us took any nasty spills. Not long after starting out on Sunset Ridge, we came to the Lara Crowley Trail, another route to the summit. However, earlier research had indicated that even though this route was shorter it was much more difficult as a double black diamond. We chose to stay on Sunset Ridge.

Rocks. Lots of wet rocks. A typical section of the trial below the tree line.

 As the trail gained altitude it was obvious that the trees were beginning to get progressively smaller as we neared the tree line. The temperature was also dropping rapidly, but to more comfortable level. Unfortunately, the cloudy conditions persisted, only now that we were a few thousand feet up, the clouds turned into an encompassing mist. 

The aforementioned all encompassing mist.

Still misty, but above the treeline.

A light rain also fell for about five minutes. The trail broke out of the roots and rocks portion of the hike and we started to hike on solid granite face with rapidly shortening scrub brush to each side. At this point we had emerged onto a western ridge off that originates just near the summit. I’m assuming this ridge was called Sunset Ridge considering the trial we were hiking.  The trail basically follows the exposed granite surface of the ridge line for the remaining distance to the summit. The trial itself was marked with blue blazes painted on the stone and rock cairns spaced 50 to 100 feet part. We were still in the clouds at this point, and even though it felt like we were high and I knew just off the trail was a steep drop, the mist and the absolute silence we were experiencing made it seem we were in a enclosed space. Cue goose bump feeling. 

After awhile Sunset Ridge intersected with the Lara Crowley Trail near the top of the ridge line. From here it was a short jaunt to an intersection with the Long Trail which is just a bit south of the Chin. A short 10 minutes later and we were at the summit surrounded by dense mist and clouds which were continually rolling over us. Not much of a view, but I felt like I had accomplished something that morning. 

The summit marker for Mt. Mansfield 4,395. Kind of a bit worse for wear.

We were not alone at the summit. As we were looking around, a man popped out from behind a rock. He identified himself as Adam (I think that was his name…) and he worked for the Green Mountain Club, a group which maintains the Long Trial throughout Vermont. He explained that the summit was his shift for the day and he was there to provide information to hikers who would stop by. I also suspect he was there to police the thin thread strings that flanked both side of the trails in this area and the summit. Apparently the top of Mansfield is the largest example of alpine terrain in Vermont, and hikers are forbidden to stray outside the threads. 

We hung out at the summit for a few minutes hoping the clouds would break and give us a view of the valley. From the summit, you are supposed to be able to see all the way to Montreal and Mt. Washington on a clear day. This was not one of those days. We did get a few brief views west, but nothing of substance. To the east, we did get a few views of Stowe and the associated ski facilities. 

Quick view from the summit. Westward, I think.

With the clouds still rolling around us we decided to start our decent. This was somewhat interesting. Sam is very light on his feet and handled everything like a mountain goat, while I was a bit slower, partly due to taking photos. And I slid on my butt down a few trickier sections. As we descended on Sunset Ridge, the clouds did part and begin to clear out, providing fantastic views of the valley and the ridgeline itself. Very impressive sights. Below are a few photos from the descent.

 

We ran into several groups of people on the way down, including a family with several kids, some folks with their dogs and some trail builders working on a new stairway. We made it down safely and I informed Sam that we needed to find a McDonald's as soon as possible. Nothing better after a hike up a mountain than a Diet Coke and a cheeseburger. 

One interesting side note; on the way up the mountain just before breaking the tree line we got passed by a middle age gentleman, who  beyond his clothes and his hiking shoes, carried only an un eaten apple. Pleasentires were exchanged and he mentioned that he hikes the trail fairly often. He moved on past at a good clip although we could see him ahead of us for several minutes rapidly moving into the mist. Sometime later, just a few minutes before the summit, we ran into this guy again, this time starting his descent. This time his apple was half eaten as he continued back to the valley. When we stopped to sign out at the trail head, we saw this guy’s name just after ours. Flipping through the book, we saw that he hikes the mountain almost EVERY day. During the previous two weeks his name was recorded in the book all but two or three of times. Apparently hiking up a mountain every day passes for entertainment in Vermont. If so, then call me jealous.