Highpoint - Mount Mansfield, Vermont

Location: Mount Mansfield
Elevation: 4,393 ft
Distance: 6.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,600 ft
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate

I was lucky enough to get in an unexpected hike and check another highpoint off my list!

Because this was an unexpected visit, I did not get to choose the best weather day to do this hike. But I wanted to make the most of it and didn't want to miss the opportunity to get this peak.

There are a few routes to summit this mountain. The Long Path goes through here and is a pretty popular choice. I chose to go up the Sunset ridge trail. This trail has a lot of open viewpoints and would be the best option on a nice clear day. On the day I had made the summit, it had rained the previous night, and the clouds still lingered on for quite a bit. The beginning of the hike had intermittent spurts of drizzle and as I ascended more the rain dispersed, but everything was shrouded in clouds! If you have never hiked in clouds before, it is a good experience to have. To drive on a road and see a mountaintop enveloped in clouds and then be there in that cloud a few hours later.

 One of the beauties of this visit was that it was in the beginning stages of fall foliage. There would be occasional bursts of beautiful bright reds bursting from the greens and mellow yellows of a bunch of trees.

The hike begins from the Underhill State Park parking lot. There is a $3 fee per person, as well as restrooms. Here you will connect with the Blue-marked Sunset Ridge trail via the Eagle Cut Trail. It is a moderate ascent, but not too bad. There were about 2 spots that involved a bit of a rock scramble up. Eventually the trail opens up onto open rocks, offering grand views (when there are no clouds). Once I reached the intersection of the trail with the Laura Cowles trail at the top, it became extremely windy and created quite a windchill temperature wise. A few seconds of bare skin in the wind are really not a good combo. Good thing I bought my thermals with me!

And the highpoint, the CHIN

BRRRR.....couldn't stay at the top long. I had been hoping the clouds would clear, but no luck! Alas, I descended back down the way I came up. The rains from the night before and earlier that morning had turned everything to ice on top of the mountain.

On the way down, I decided to take the side trail they have that goes out to Cantilever Rock. The clouds had cleared here to get a nice view.

After resting here for a few minutes, shortly after starting out on the trail, I heard a distinct growl come from just off the trail near some rock crevices. My heart leaped high and legs jellied and profanities rolled off the tongue to say the least lol. I glanced behind me quickly and didn't see anything in plain sight and hiked quickly away, hoping the animal that growled would not follow me. And it did not. Thankfully.

I arrived safely back at the car, glad to have finished this summit.

I wanted to include a photo from my night at the Dry River Campground the previous night. I would highly recommend this campground if you're in the area and looking for a night out. It had rained off and on and after dinner this beautiful rainbow suddenly appeared. It really brightened my night!! Nature can sometimes devastate, but it also rewards. Just like life in general.

Best view in town....who needs an expensive hotel?! :)

Links: http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/underhill.htm
http://www.summitpost.org/sunset-ridge-trail/394696

Quote for this hike:

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory." -From the Vermont local paper.