Mount Mansfield

Last saturday I hiked Mount Mansfield in Vermont. The weather forecast called for a sunny day but it did not specify what elevation the cloud cover would be at. So while it was a nice indian summer day down below, it was howling and almost winter like up on the Mount Mansfield ridge. This is a great mountain hike that has a lot of open above treeline terrain as well as some fun scrambles on the way up. Perhaps the only drawback is the crowds who drive up the toll road and then walk across the ridge to the summit. Many were unprepared for the howling wind, the cool temperatures and the mile long walk from the parking lot to the summit. I was better prepared although in retrospect it would have been great to have some gloves and also some long pants. I'm told there are some alternatives to the ridge trail that are more challenging and allow one to avoid the crowds. I really enjoyed the hike and would like to return when the weather is better to take in the views.

Camel's Hump

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I have skied in Vermont before (Smuggler's Notch, Stowe and Sugarbush), but had never hiked there. The drive across from New York, where I was staying, was clouded in a thick pea-soup fog that obsured the miles of farm land from Lake Champlain. The skies were clearing by the time I reached Camel's Hump state park.

I parked in the state lot on the west side. Is it just me or is the Subaru the state car of Vermont? Half of the cars in the lot were Subarus. I hiked up the Burroughs trail which was short at 2.5 miles and while not steep was at a constant grade that did not let up. Sadly, the view from the nice open summit were shrouded by the fog/haze. Otherwise one would be able to see the Adirondack high peaks to the west and the White mountains to the east. As it was you could hardly see Mt Mansfield. I returned via the Long trail and Forest City trail. It was lot more fun as it was steep and over open rock in places and had some fun scrambling sections. It also afforded a few views of the 'Hump' itself. The return route was listed at 3.5 miles but it seemed like it was more and it was made longer still when I got that air-headed Black Eyed Peas song in my head and couldn't get it out.

This is a nice peak to hike but I would recommend making sure the weather would make for clear views and I would take the Forest City trail in both directions for a more interesting climb.

Oh Jay!

It was Ken's idea to hike the Jay range and what a great idea it was. Jay is reputed to be a short hike that is lousy with awesome views of the 46. It certainly did not disapoint. We got a late start arriving at the trailhead at 10 via some back roads where we saw a defiant red fox. After about an hour and a half up a dry and slippery herd path we emerged onto the ridge where the clear sunny day provided us views from Rocky Peak Ridge all the way around to Whiteface. There were several bumps or ledges along the ridge between which the trail sometimes dipped into the woods for a few minutes then resurfacing with short rocky scrambles. If you looked to the east you could see Lake Champlain, Mt Mansfield and Camel's Hump in Vermont.

We were up there for about 6 hours and saw only 10 other people all day. Enough time to play with various camera features and to take a hundred or so photos. Folks this hike may be a local secret but I would put it near the top of my list of favorite Adirondack hikes.

My apologies if you read this expecting something like a review of OJ's new book "If I did it". (P.S. Yes he did)