Mount Mansfield to Camels Hump

[Tim Seaver]

Sunday was a great day for this trot across the LT, from Mount Mansfield to Camels Hump, with a return by bike. The running and hiking was awesome, the bike part...not so much! I started the hike at about 9 am at Smugglers Notch, summited The Hump at sunset, and finally got back to my car at 2:30 am Monday. It was about 10.5 hours summit-to-summit. For self-support, I used 4 ammo boxes as food/gear lockers - one at the Bolton Notch Road, one at the Jonesville Bridge, one at the Duxbury Road, and a final stash with the bike at the Monroe Trailhead.

The Long Trail is in great shape for this entire section, with nary a blowdown or mudhole - kudos to the GMC for doing a super job.

A few point-and-shoot pix from the day (click on the thumbnail):

 

[Artex]

Great pics. Looks like an awesome day to be outside.

 

[jrbren]

That's quite an ambitious day ! Nice job. I find Bamforth ridge alone a good days work. Are you training for anything in particular (like Jay Challenge) ?

Cheers- John

 

[Tim Seaver]

John, I do hope to take a spin on the Wonderland Trail later this summer, the 95 mile +/- trail that circumnavigates Mt. Rainier. The tentative plan is to spend about a month there photographing and scoping out the trail, and then running it sometime in early September if everything goes well.

Endurance legend John Stamstad is the current "record" holder (although I have read he did it simply for the experience), with a time right around 24 hours. I am pretty sure he did the whole thing unsupported, one day after someone with support (a former Park Ranger) did it in about 26 hours.

 

[sli74]

Endurance legend John Stamstad is the current "record" holder (although I have read he did it simply for the experience), with a time right around 24 hours. I am pretty sure he did the whole thing unsupported, one day after someone with support (a former Park Ranger) did it in about 26 hours.

You HAVE to be joking . . . the ENTIRE Wonderland Trail in 24 hours ??? WOW !!!

sli74

 

[Double Bow]

Tim, I wonder if our paths crossed! Shamie and I did Mansfield (#63) on Sunday with another couple. We went up the Hazelton Trail and came down the LT. It was a great day to be up there for sure and we weren't wanting for company! Glad to hear that your trip went well also.

I'll post pics from that beautiful day once I upload them...

 

[drewski]

runnin

That boy looks like a chip off the old block!!!

 

[Jim lombard]

Endurance legend John Stamstad is the current "record" holder (although I have read he did it simply for the experience), with a time right around 24 hours. I am pretty sure he did the whole thing unsupported, one day after someone with support (a former Park Ranger) did it in about 26 hours.

Info from an outsider.

Turns out kyle skaggs, 21, formerly of olympia, wa finished in 20:53
smashing the previous record just this past weekend.

 

[alpinista]

Nice shots, Tim. The last one is especially stunning!

 

[amstony]

Tim- Great pics and one heck of a run too!

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Info from an outsider. Turns out kyle skaggs, 21, formerly of olympia, wa finished in 20:53
smashing the previous record just this past weekend.

I forget, about how many feet of vertical gain on the Wonderland Trail? My recollection from when I backpacked it a few years ago was around 15,000 ft?

 

[Tim Seaver]

Turns out kyle skaggs, 21, formerly of olympia, wa finished in 20:53
smashing the previous record just this past weekend.

WOW.

Now THAT is fast. It's great to see such young people going after these beautiful challenges. My hat is off to Kyle - supported or not, that is an amazing time! (Jim, I would be interested if reading more about his adventure if you have any further info - in any case, thanks for posting this.)

Dr. D, I believe the elevation gain is somewhere between 19,500 and 22,000', depending on the source.

 

[Snowflea]

I'm not Jim, but here is a preliminary report of 9/24/06 by my WA friend James Varner...


******************

hello folks

i'm sitting at wapati wollies in greenwater,wa and all four starters have just finished the 93-95 mile wonderland trail. kyle skaggs, 21, formerly of olympia, wa finished in 20:53 smashing the previous record of 24:01 set by john stamstead in 2003. scott mcoubrey and brock gavery of seattle and dave terry of portland, or finished in 27:26(i think). the weather for the run was incredible and everyone including the crew and pacers john pearch, dj hansen and billy simpson(who came all the way out from memphis tennesee just for this) and myself had a ton of fun!

james varner

*******************

BTW, I had the opportunity to run a few miles with previous WT record holder John Stamstad last winter at a crazy four-day annual running event in SoCal. Nice guy--very quiet and unassuming. He did a "pretty" article--by which I mean lots of photos and not much text, as is the nature of this particular publication--for Trailrunner mag last spring about his unsuccessful attempt at the "unsupported" record for the John Muir Trail. I actually found it rather refreshing to see a story in a major running magazine about one of the hardest-core endurance animals falling short of his goal. Good stuff.

 

[Tim Seaver]

Thanks for the info, Sue!

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Dr. D, I believe the elevation gain is somewhere between 19,500 and 22,000', depending on the source.

Ahhhh, now I remember why I thought that the WT was much tougher than hiking to the summit of Rainier! Moreover, the views of Rainier that I had on my WT hike were much more impressive than from the various routes I have climbed and attempted on the mountain. A truly fine mountain loop.