MOUNT MANSFIELD - 4,393 FT.
Highest Point in Vermont
June 1, 2004 (My 25th Highpoint)
Vermont's Mount Mansfield was the final highpoint of my trip to New England (and the
toughest). I spent the night in Stowe, VT and took SR-100 to SR-108 to the point where
the Vermont Long Trail crosses SR-108.
I wanted to go fairly early in the day with a long drive back to Pennsylvania later in day,
so I decided to forego the Stowe Auto Toll Road and Gondola Skyride and take the Long Trail.
I started my hike around 9:00 AM, when the weather was 44 degrees in a rainy mist.
The hike was the steepest I had done to date, as the hike goes from 1,600 feet above sea
level to 4,393 feet above sea level in about 2.3 miles. I was thankful for waterproof
hiking boots, as a good deal of the hike is spent going up through the middle of mountain
drainage. This is a wet hike even if it is not raining. The trail to Taft Lodge is
sheltered. Once you reach Taft Lodge, the decision to be made is whether to take the
Profanity Trail (which is steeper) or stay on the Long Trail (which is more exposed). The
Profanity Trail is to be taken in "adverse conditions". I didn't think a rainy mist
qualified as "adverse conditions" so I continued along the Long Trail. But as I made it
to the summit I failed to realize that conditions above the treeline near the summit will be
much worse than at the lower, sheltered elevations. I put on the woolly hat and mittens
that I bought for Mount Washington and made it to the top and didn't stay long as the
conditions on top were not pretty - in my estimation, 40 mph winds with temperatures in the
20s (I have been looking for weather conditions on the summit, but I can only find conditions
at 3,900 ft., which, to my knowledge is below treeline).
On the hike down, I decided to go down the Profanity Trail, as it is the more sheltered
hike. Usually, the rule I associate is that hike times going up and coming down are
inversely related; that is, the more time it takes you to get up, the less to get down, and
this is probably true of most Class 1 hikes. However, taking the Profanity Trail down
made me realize that this rule is flawed. I realized the importance of hiking poles on the
way down as my knees took a beating and I took a little tumble after I slipped (where
poles would have prevented the fall). This was a good hike to do before I attempt to do the
more difficult hikes in New York and Maine and the western U.S., as I will have to be in
better shape and do more research on each hike. I finished the roundtrip at 12:20 PM, so I
was pleased with the 3:15 in roundtrip hiking time. After changing clothes, I made the
9-10 hour drive back to my family in Lititz, PA.
It was a cold and windy day atop Mount Mansfield. You can catch a glimpse
of the USGS benchmark on the lower-left.
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