Mt. Mansfield Traverse

Mount Mansfield is the highest peak in Vermont (4,393 feet I think) and right across the valley from us here in Stowe.  It has a several mile portion of the ridge-line in the arctic-alpine zone, well above treeline.  There are a couple different routes if you just want to go to the top (including by a road and the ski lifts), but I wanted to do the whole thing.  I feel like if you're going to hike a mountain, you might as well do as much of it as possible, and why not all at once?  The Long Trail goes across the whole thing, so I decided I'd hike up from the Nebraska Valley up to Taylor Lodge on the Long Trail (which I've done many times) and from there take the LT all the way over to Smuggler's Notch, covering the whole thing in one go, from south to north.  This would make a total of about 11 miles.  Not too bad, but the problem was that it's a point to point hike.  I'd either have to hitchhike back to my car on the other end, or wait for Chrissy to get off work to pick me up. So, I wound up doing the latter.  Here are some pictures from that hike (shortly after the family was in town to visit).

 Part of the climb up to Taylor Lodge.

The beaver meadow a bit below Taylor Lodge.

Taylor Lodge, named after James P. Taylor, founder of the Green Mountain Club, the maintainers of the Long Trail.

A small stream crossing on the way up from Taylor Lodge.

The climb begins to get pretty serious as you ascent the forehead.

Including some parts that require a ladder.  There were a few sketchy parts, but I didn't take pictures of them.

The Arctic-Apline Zone.  With the exception of a few New England Summits, you don't find this sort of flora until you're well into the Canadian Arctic.

A view to the south from atop the Forehead.  Camel's Hump is the pointy peak in the far distance.

Looking north towards the Nose (with the antennae) and the Chin (the highest part of the ridge).

Worn out survey marker at the summit.

From the top, looking down into Stowe.

Looking down into Smuggler's Notch.

Yours truly.  Cold and windy (a guy with an anemometer recorded 70mph gusts) on the way down into Smuggler's Notch.

Giving my sore dogs a rest as I wait for Chrissy to pick me up.

I'd have to say this was probably the best hike I've done in Vermont.  Comparable to Mt. Katahdin in Maine, but not nearly as hard, and nowhere near as remote.  I'd love to do it in the fall and winter too!  Looking forward to it.

Appalachian Trail Retrospective - Beaver Brook Shelter, NH to Bascom Lodge, MA

Day 31

Monday, 7/17/00

Beaver Brook Shelter to Rt. 25 (Glencliff, NH)

7.9 miles

Slept in a long time. Felt real good after yesterday’s long hike. Everything was still wet, especially my boots! My feet got kind of raw from being wet all day. I hope they’ll get better. My boots are trashed anyway…

Left at 10:00, my latest yet. Decent hiking. Nothing hard. It was our last above treeline hiking (Until the balds of the south). But, we walked through our first pasture!

Hung around post office until 2:00. Called home. Met a guy named “Rainbow 6” who is going to give me a small Gregory Pack (the long-since discontinued Banshee, 3300 cubic inches, and at the time an ultra-lite pack at around 3 pounds). Sweet! It’s just what I need and free too!

8 of us (all from last night) stayed at some guy’s house in Haverhill about 10 miles down the road. He and his partner are rather flamboyant homosexuals and are some of the best hosts I’ve had (to this day). It turned out his partner is a chef in NYC and they cooked us an awesome meal of salmon! It had brown sugar, cloves, maple syrup and OJ as its sauce! Excellent! Did some laundry too! They also had a pool and let us all hang out and have drinks. Hopefully my boots will be dry by tomorrow…

No more big mountains for a while. Thirty mile days are on the way!

First pasture walking in New Hampshire.  I sure do love pastures...

Day 32

Tuesday, 7/18/00

Rt. 25 (Glencliff, NH) to Hexacuba Shelter

14.7 miles

Woke up at 6:30 and packed. Roger (our host) gave us all a ride to the P.O. about 8:15. Talked to “Rainbow 6” about the pack and was gone by 8:45. He said he’d mail the pack ahead to Killington, VT.

The hiking sure is easier now! There’s still some decent hills, but they’re not as rugged or steep. Everything (the trail) was still all wet and sloppy so my feet got all wet again.

It was really humid all day! Sweated like a pig. There was a long climb up Mt. Cube. There was a thunderstorm with lots of really close lightning on the way down. Kinda scary. Made it here about 3:30. Could have gone another 5 miles but it was raining… it stopped as soon as I unpacked of course.

“Waldo” showed up. No one else so far.

I might try to go 30 miles tomorrow. We’ll see!

Day 33

Wednesday, 7/19/00

Hexacuba Shelter to Hanover, NH

28.7 miles

Last night there were 11 people at the shelter! But it was big (and hexagonal), so there was room (another unique thing about this shelter was the “penta-privy”, a pentagonal outhouse). “Nicheless” (a fellow southbounder) snored up a storm. Woke me up several times…

Woke up pretty early and was gone by 7:30. Long, but easy climb up Smarts Mountain. Really muddy too. Pretty easy going after that.

Met lots of northbounders (north bound thru-hikers) today. Steep climb up Holt’s Ledge. Pretty short though. No more big mountains for a long time. Woohoo! After climbing Moose Mountain it was downhill or flat the last 12 miles into Hanover.

Went 28.7 miles today! My longest so far! Got to Hanover about 7:00. Almost a 30-mile day. Had a Subway and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s for dinner.

Day 34

Thursday 7/20/00

Hanover, NH

0 miles

Took a zero day. Caught a ride into Lebanon where I got some new shoes (Montrail Java GTX) and gaiters at an EMS. Sent some stuff home.

While in Hanover/Dartmouth, I spent the night at one of the frat houses. They let hikers stay in their basement. I can’t remember what frat it was, but it was an interesting place.

Day 35

Friday 7/21/00

Hanover, NH to Thistle Hill Shelter

14.6 miles

Left Hanover after 9:00. Had a 4-mile road walk. Boring… (I remember crossing some river and then across an interstate highway. The interstate highway was I-89. I drive under the overpass the AT crosses just about every time I go somewhere for work.)

My new shoes kinda hurt a bit. Just need to be broken in I suppose. (As I mentioned, they were Montrail shoes. They were basically trail-running shoes, which was still a pretty new idea at the time I was doing this. Heavy boots were still the norm on the AT even as recent as this hike. Nowadays, sneakers are the norm. After the AT, I eventually went to work for Montrail in Seattle for 5 months or so.¬) Pretty boring hiking. Easy too… (I crossed into Vermont this day.)

Met “Chickadee” and some guy also going south. They left on June 12th. (I would later spend a good bit of time with “Chickadee” and “Peaches”, her husband. They were doing the AT for their honeymoon. Though I saw them on and off for a while, I eventually got far ahead of them. They were nice enough to send me a letter when they finished, so I know they made it.)

Rained in the afternoon. Got here about 3:45.

A pretty morning in Vermont.  Who knew I'd end up living here?

Day 35

Saturday, 7/22/00

Thistle Hill Shelter to Stony Brook Shelter

21.5 miles

Left this morning about 7:15. Was planning to meet Travis and the other 2 at “The Lookout”.

Pretty hiking through fields and over hills. Some places even had wild raspberries! Not many were ripe though.

Saw quite a few deer, got a picture of one.

The shoes felt better today and my shin-splints are going away, I think.

Made it to “The Lookout” at 1:30. Took a break and caught some rays for about an hour. Decided to keep going. Made it to this shelter about 5:15. Ate as much as possible. I have a mail drop in Killington. It’s 9 miles away and I have to wait till Monday. Guess I’ll sleep in tomorrow!

Stoked about my new pack that I’ll be getting soon. I’ll have to give Sofi a call and see if she’d be up for hiking sometime soon.

Day 36

Sunday, 7/23/00

Stony Brook Shelter to US-4 (Killington, VT)

9 miles

Slept in and left close to 10:00. Had some mouse interruptions during the night. They didn’t eat any holes in my pack or food so I didn’t care.

Wore only liner socks today. Worked fine. Might send home my thick wook socks. Pretty easy, fast hiking. There was a trail relocation, so I really went closer to 12 miles. Hiked 1.5 miles off trail to “The Inn at the Long Trail” a famous stop. (This is a pub at the top of the pass between Killington and Rutland. Another place I pass all the time. Near where it crosses Rt. 4, the AT joins the Long Trail and coincides with it from there south to the Mass border. So, if one has hiked the whole AT, they’ve also hiked half the Long Trail. I’ve been thinking about picking up the Long Trail in Killington, and taking it the rest of the way north to Canada. Some day.) I didn’t want to drop $46 to spend the night somewhere to wait for the P.O. to open…

Hiked another 1.5 miles to a general store. Called home, found out that Ford was at a race in Killington (at the ski resort) and hitched a ride there. Checked all the parking lots, no luck. Then went and checked the results. He’d already raced and gotten 5th. Way to go bird legs!!! Looked around some more, saw some guy in a Bath Cycle & Ski Jersey and talked to him (Bath Cycle being the closest bike shop to Boothbay, and where we knew several folks.). He said they’d been done with their race for hours. So I took a bus back to the Inn.

Took a shower, did laundry, ate dinner, etc.

Can’t wait to get to the P.O. tomorrow!

Day 37

Monday, 7/24/00

US-4 (Killington, VT) to Governor Clement Shelter

10.5 miles

Went to town early and got mail. “Rainbow 6” came through! A new pack baby! Much lighter. Woohoo! Had to get rid of the tent. I don’t have a pack cover either. Hope it doesn’t get rainy (I started off with a big pack cover that didn’t work very well. Eventually I adoped a much better and lighter method. Simply line your pack with a black trash bag and stuff your things in there. Weighs very little, practically free, and easy to replace if they wear out.) Shipped home the other pack (A Gregory Lassen which was 5500 cubic inches and weighed almost 8 pounds empty!) and some other junk. Cost me $16 to send. The jerks at the P.O. wouldn’t let me borrow their tape so I had a buy a whole roll!

Anyway, on the trail around 12:00. Easy hiking over Killington Peak (Vermont’s second highest).

Got to the shelter at 3:30. Travis was there, so I stopped to hang out. Pretty quick hiking though. I think I’ll go 23 tomorrow. It’s pretty flat.

Didn’t get hold of Sofi… oh well…

Ben & Jerry’s “Doonesberry” ice cream is really good!

Day 38

Tuesday, 7/25/00

Governor Clement Shelter to Lost Pond Shelter

24.9 miles

Nice day! On the trail by about 7:00. After 4 miles, came to a stream – filled with soda! The caretaker of that section left 20+ sodas in the stream to keep them cold. Had an ice cold coke. Moved right along, belching as I went… (This was my second dose of “trail magic”, the first being the beer and whoopie pies in Maine).

Pretty uneventful, flat (mostly) hiking. Passed a group wankers at a road crossing, eating. They gave me a coke too! (Not sure what made them wankers, but they must have been nice folks to give me a cold drink)

Not much else happened for a while. Came to some lake and some day-hikers gave me a nice juicy apple and part of a turkey sandwich! It was a good day for free food! (However, that turkey sandwich would come back to haunt me…)

I’m still about a day behind Porkchop & Jackasss. They’ll probably go to Manchester Center and I’ll pass ‘em there!

Day 39

Wednesday, 7/26/00

Lost Pond Shelther to Stratton Pond Shelter

24.9 miles

Woke up early, only ate a Kudos for breakfast and was gone by 6:15. went really hard to catch up to Peaches & Chickadee. I did after I’d gone 6 miles. Kind of rolling mountains all day, none of them very hard. There was a ski resort atop Bromley Mountain. Had trouble figuring out how to get down from there. There were lots of different trails.

Had a Powerbar for lunch. Started sprinkling, so I used my Gore-Tex jacket as a pack cover. It actually worked pretty well. By the final 5 miles or so I started feeling kind of weird. Took a side trail to a shelther that no longer exists. An extra 1.5 miles for nothing! Eventually got here close to 4:00. Cooked up some mac & cheese with tuna. I got really dizzy and eventually started throwing up. Did for a couple hours, so much for dinner! Quite a few other people here. They were all nice to me. I think I must have gotten food poisoning from that turkey sandwich…

Today I passed mile 542. That means I’m over 25% done. All right! Total miles so far: 546.3. Only 1,620.8 to go.

Hope I feel better tomorrow.

Day 40

Thursday, 7/27/00

Stratton Pond Shelther

0 miles

Got up pretty early. Walked to privy. Almost fell down. I’m still really dizzy. Not very nauseous any more though. Went back to bed, woke up around 12:30! Some north-bounders were in for lunch. Got up and cooked some ramen so I’d have something in my stomach.

It’s been raining all night and day, so I guess it’s not so bad that I’m taking a zero day. I don’t have anything to do though. I definitely can’t hike in this condition. I feel wobbly every time I stand up.

I’m 3 or 4 days from Cheshire, MA so I guess it’s all right to take a 0 or I’ll get there on Sunday.

I hope I don’t eat all my food today though… Nothing else to do…

Sat around… slept some more… planned the next few days. Made a trip for water and didn’t fall over. I guess I’m getting better. Still dizzy though.

I’ve kept my food down all day. I hope I’m outta here tomorrow!

Plan to be in Cheshire, MA on Monday. We’ll see…

Day 41

Friday, 7/28/00

Stratton Pond Shelther

0 miles

I still felt dizzy this morning. Took another zero-miler. I feel better, but not good enough to hike yet.

I tried to call home with some hiker’s cell-phone, but it wouldn’t get a signal. She also gave me some freeze-dried beef stroganoff. I ate that for brunch. It was excellent! It costs about $6 per meal though. Lots of protein and other good stuff though…

Lots of people have been passin’ through here!

I’m going to leave tomorrow no matter what. I feel really lazy sitting around here.

Oh well…

I’ll catch back up to everyone eventually.

Day 42

Saturday, 7/29/00

Statton Pond Shelter to Kid Gore Shelter

15.1 miles

Woke up early, didn’t eat breakfast. On the trail by 6:30. On top of Stratton about 8:00. Felt dizzy most of the way up, but kept moving.

Walked over to the ski patrol hut (0.8 miles), hung out with Travis again. Called home. Took the gondola down the mountain at 10:00. Screwed around at the village and went to the grocery store. At a tube of cookie dough and a quart of milk for lunch. Not too healthy but tasty!

Took the gondola back up and was hiking again by 12:00 or so. Easy, fairly boring hiking to the shelter. Had black beans & rice with lots of TVP (textured vegetable protein) I got at the ski patrol hut for dinner.

Lots of northbounders at this shelther.

Day 43

Sunday, 7/30/00

Kid Gore Shelther to Seth Warner Shelter

25.9 miles

Not a bad day! I think that shelter was called Kid Gore because Al Gore invented the AT as a young man before he invented the internet…

Slept well. Rain in the morning and throughout te day. Sometimes it was pretty hard. The trail got really sloppy. Used my rain coat as a pack cover again. Worked well enough.

Made it to Rt. 9 before noon. Met “Nat”, some guy I’d met way back in Monson (Maine), on the climb out of there. Similar to Maine: Steep. Didn’t get any views due to fog and mist and a lack of view-points. Met a cute ridge-runner named Kate. She was headed north.

Made it here about 4:15. This is my second longest day, and it was muddy the whole way…

Day 44

Monday, 7/31/00

Seth Warner Shelter to Bascom Lodge

13.3 miles

Started pretty early… in the rain again. Gotta love it! I love putting on soggy shoes in the morning…

Got to the Massachusetts border before 8:00. 3 states so far (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont). Yeehah!

Trail was extremely muddy and rainy. Feet were soaked. Goretex for sneakers is pretty worthless! My feet were soaked but my pack was pretty dry.

No more dizziness! Back to normal. Now I just need some good weather.

The climb up Mt. Greylock (highest point in Massachusetts) was reminiscent of Maine (i.e. steep and rugged).

Got to Bascom Lodge in the pouring rain so I decided to stay. Only $10. It’s only 7 miles to Cheshire, where I have a mail drop. Met “Mud-bug” who paid for my dinner. Nice guy from Louisiana. Good, filling dinner.