gooly
New member
The last time i had done Mansfield, i had to bypass the Forehead because i had my dog...and there were ladders...any one remeber that?
Last weekend, up in the Whites, i was talking to some hikers about the Hell Brook trail on Mansfield and got to thinking...so i called up Mookie to see if he was interested and sure enough we had a plan...
We dropped my car at the parking lot below the gondola and proceeded up 108 to the parking area at Big Spring. The day was gloomy, overcast and damp. We quickly geared up and headed to the trail head. The trail rose steeply even from the register only a few yards away from the parking area. I kind of wished we had walked up the road from my car to get a warm up first. Hell Brook just almost goes straight up. So much fun climbing the very slick rocks and roots with both hands and feet. We didn't want it to end! After a few quick showers, the trail got slicker as we neared the top. I'm glad we were descending a different trail because mookie and i agreed descending Hell Brook, as wet as it was, would probably not be much fun at all.
We made it to the LT junction then double backed the Adams' Apple just to do it. The clouds sank and lifted throughout the early afternoon. We got a quick glimpse of the Chin as we headed up the LT south which is another very fun scramble to the peak. There were perhaps a dozen or so fellow hikers on top snacking and staring into a cloudy nothingness. We pushed on down the ridge opting not to stop where everyone else had and took a quick break at the junction of the Profanity Trail. Here, mookie was asked to take a "family photo" of some "family" and got them to do something "crazy"!
We cruised on down the LT passing people in boat shoes and smoking stogies to the Maple Ridge Trail. With the sky clearing a bit, there were decent views of Sunset Ridge and Champlain. You lose elevation quickly descending the exposed ridge to the traversing Wampahoofus Tr. There was more scrambling found here and again we thought it ended too soon. We met up with a couple drinking wine and basking in the erupting sunshine at the Butler Lodge before hitting the Wallace Cut-off back to the LT north and to the Forehead.
The climb up the Forehead was really fun. The sun was shining now and the scramble up and around the boulders and ladders was wicked awesome. I'm glad now that we opted for the bypass last time because there's no way Jackson(my dog) would have made it without some serious lifting. And at 80 plus pounds, would have been a daunting task. It was totally worth the trek around Mansfield just to climb the Forehead that i missed last time.
With legs tiring and knees starting to ache, we headed north on the Lt to the Cliff Tr. With damp and very slick and smooth slabs we skidded and flailed down the rocks trying not to take each other out. There were some really cool rock configurations to maneuver down and around until we reached the gondola. At this point, we chose to hike down the ski trails to get back to my car that looked like it was forever away. It's been a long time since i walked down a ski trail and will be a really long time before i do it again. Ski trails are meant to be shredded with a snowboard, not to be walked down, my toes, knees and heals reminded me of that an hour later when we finally reached my car.
Last weekend, up in the Whites, i was talking to some hikers about the Hell Brook trail on Mansfield and got to thinking...so i called up Mookie to see if he was interested and sure enough we had a plan...
We dropped my car at the parking lot below the gondola and proceeded up 108 to the parking area at Big Spring. The day was gloomy, overcast and damp. We quickly geared up and headed to the trail head. The trail rose steeply even from the register only a few yards away from the parking area. I kind of wished we had walked up the road from my car to get a warm up first. Hell Brook just almost goes straight up. So much fun climbing the very slick rocks and roots with both hands and feet. We didn't want it to end! After a few quick showers, the trail got slicker as we neared the top. I'm glad we were descending a different trail because mookie and i agreed descending Hell Brook, as wet as it was, would probably not be much fun at all.
We made it to the LT junction then double backed the Adams' Apple just to do it. The clouds sank and lifted throughout the early afternoon. We got a quick glimpse of the Chin as we headed up the LT south which is another very fun scramble to the peak. There were perhaps a dozen or so fellow hikers on top snacking and staring into a cloudy nothingness. We pushed on down the ridge opting not to stop where everyone else had and took a quick break at the junction of the Profanity Trail. Here, mookie was asked to take a "family photo" of some "family" and got them to do something "crazy"!
We cruised on down the LT passing people in boat shoes and smoking stogies to the Maple Ridge Trail. With the sky clearing a bit, there were decent views of Sunset Ridge and Champlain. You lose elevation quickly descending the exposed ridge to the traversing Wampahoofus Tr. There was more scrambling found here and again we thought it ended too soon. We met up with a couple drinking wine and basking in the erupting sunshine at the Butler Lodge before hitting the Wallace Cut-off back to the LT north and to the Forehead.
The climb up the Forehead was really fun. The sun was shining now and the scramble up and around the boulders and ladders was wicked awesome. I'm glad now that we opted for the bypass last time because there's no way Jackson(my dog) would have made it without some serious lifting. And at 80 plus pounds, would have been a daunting task. It was totally worth the trek around Mansfield just to climb the Forehead that i missed last time.
With legs tiring and knees starting to ache, we headed north on the Lt to the Cliff Tr. With damp and very slick and smooth slabs we skidded and flailed down the rocks trying not to take each other out. There were some really cool rock configurations to maneuver down and around until we reached the gondola. At this point, we chose to hike down the ski trails to get back to my car that looked like it was forever away. It's been a long time since i walked down a ski trail and will be a really long time before i do it again. Ski trails are meant to be shredded with a snowboard, not to be walked down, my toes, knees and heals reminded me of that an hour later when we finally reached my car.
