Herd Path Mt. Mansfield: Where does it go?
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Raymond
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Who put the kibosh on revealing more information on this? I wish I had noticed this thread before last week — I climbed Mount Mansfield via Hell Brook Trail on Friday, but I didn’t even see the lower end of the Adam’s Apple Trail (was there a sign?), let alone the old Bear Pond Trail going in the opposite direction. Now I want to go back.
After reading these posts, I searched and found a map online showing Bear Pond Trail, then remembered that I had an old Long Trail guide upstairs (which I had picked up at one of our local library’s tri-annual used book sales) and checked it out. The book is the 21st edition from 1977, and has the same map I saw online as a fold-out map in the back.
I have also picked up two old editions of ‘‘50 Hikes in Vermont,’’ from 1976 and 1990, and both have as Hike Number 50 a backpack over Mount Mansfield. And would you believe it — the older edition sends hikers up Bear Pond Trail from Smugglers Notch on the first day! It says, ‘‘the steepest half-mile in Vermont,’’ and doesn’t mince words in its description, but still — that seems crazy. There is also a photograph showing the view into Smugglers Notch. I’m just as glad I read about Bear Pond Trail here first before trying it out.
The 1990 edition of ‘‘50 Hikes in Vermont’’ has a different overnight hike for Mount Mansfield. The accompanying map shows Bear Pond Trail running from Hell Brook Trail toward Bear Pond, but ending short of the pond, so maybe it was maintained until at least then.
After reading these posts, I searched and found a map online showing Bear Pond Trail, then remembered that I had an old Long Trail guide upstairs (which I had picked up at one of our local library’s tri-annual used book sales) and checked it out. The book is the 21st edition from 1977, and has the same map I saw online as a fold-out map in the back.
I have also picked up two old editions of ‘‘50 Hikes in Vermont,’’ from 1976 and 1990, and both have as Hike Number 50 a backpack over Mount Mansfield. And would you believe it — the older edition sends hikers up Bear Pond Trail from Smugglers Notch on the first day! It says, ‘‘the steepest half-mile in Vermont,’’ and doesn’t mince words in its description, but still — that seems crazy. There is also a photograph showing the view into Smugglers Notch. I’m just as glad I read about Bear Pond Trail here first before trying it out.
The 1990 edition of ‘‘50 Hikes in Vermont’’ has a different overnight hike for Mount Mansfield. The accompanying map shows Bear Pond Trail running from Hell Brook Trail toward Bear Pond, but ending short of the pond, so maybe it was maintained until at least then.
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