Mt Mansfield 8-19

[grouseking]

The original plan was to hike on Saturday but I told my hiking buddy that the weather would prob be sour during the day, so we decided to delay it until Sunday, which ended up being a great choice. Despite the cool and occasionally windy weather, I will rank this hike much higher than I thought I was going to rank it. I'm not a big fan of hiking in places where there are huge ski areas littering the area, but this mountain challenged me a bit thanks to the scrambles near the summit, and I wasn't really paying attention to the ski lifts at first, I was looking more at the outstanding views! Then I saw the towers near the top....oh well.

The trip of the Long trail wasn't overly difficult but it never really let up in its climb to the summit. It was fairly well maintained but since it is overused, there were quite a few spots of erosion. Also, water seemed to creep down the trail many times, making things quite slick. I started out in shorts and a tshirt, but as the morning wore on into early afternoon, and we started to gain elevation, I could feel the chill setting in. So by the time we got to the Taft Lodge, I decided to throw on my fleece jacket.

Taft Lodge

View from Lodge

The forecast was for a general thinning of the clouds throughout the day, and that is exactly what happened. When we started out, there was a thick fog on the summits. But by the time we approached the top, the clouds had lifted, and the sun was trying to poke through. I was admiring the great views while climbing the final .3 to the summit, and was surprised to find some pretty decent scrambles as well. We arrived at the summit around 1:15 or so, and then sat down and ate some more food. The winds were much weaker than I thought, which was a good thing. Here are a few pics....

Vt's version of Lake of the Clouds

The trip ahead.....

After the break, we pushed on down towards the toll road, which would bring us to the Haselton trail, the trail we descended. I was having mixed emotions about the Long Trail. It was beautiful up close, but in the distance, I could always see the really ugly antennas, which I didn't really care for. I suppose thats why I generally don't like to hike up by Mount Washington. But the ridge trail was really pretty, and where it got somewhat narrow, the winds absolutely kicked up, and I got a video of it in the online photo album. Plus I also got more pics to the west, and of Lake Champlain.

A look back at Mansfield

Soon we arrived at the auto road that we could have to walk down to get to the Haselton Trail. The road was actually quite nice, and had occasional views back to Mansfield. Then we found the junction with the Haselton trail. After a few min break at the Octagon restaurant, we decided to head down. Let me tell you, this trail wasn't that much much. First off, it followed a ski trail, in the upper half, making it steep, slippery and eroded. Then when it went back in the woods, it was very wet and rocky, and every single stream that was in the area decided to follow the trail. My boots aren't good in wet conditions so I was slipping and sliding everywhere. And for the most part, the trail was mostly boring. But we made it to the bottom in pretty good time and were off by 4pm or so. I'd give the hike an 8.0 rating out of 10, because I wasn't expecting such great views. The weather could have been just a little bit better, but it sounds like it much much nicer than Saturday, so I'm glad I made the right decision to wait a day. Here are the rest of the pictures.

grouseking

 

[Kevin Rooney]

When you're ready to climb Mansfield again, do it from the other side, from Underhill State Park, via Sunset Ridge.

You can almost pretend the ski area and ugly towers aren't there from there as they're aren't particularly visible until you're nearly on the summit, and the views of the Lake and the ADK's are awesome. Due to the prevailing winds, the alpine zone is very low - maybe 3,000', so much of the hike is done in above treeline conditions. BTW - give the towers a wide berth for health reasons. From time to time there have been emission problems with them.

A factoid re: those ugly towers - several years ago an old deed was discovered which in effect gave the area occupied by the towers to the University of Vermont, but it put restrictions on the land's use. To us layman, it's clear that commercial use for TV and radio stations is not included. I don't know how/if that use conflict got resolved - does anyone have an update on this issue?

As a side note - one of the state legislators (now deceased) suggested the use was in compliance as Vermont ETV was one of the entities which has a transmitter there ...

 

[grouseking]

When you're ready to climb Mansfield again, do it from the other side, from Underhill State Park, via Sunset Ridge.

You can almost pretend the ski area and ugly towers aren't there from there as they're aren't particularly visible until you're nearly on the summit, and the views of the Lake and the ADK's are awesome. Due to the prevailing winds, the alpine zone is very low - maybe 3,000', so much of the hike is done in above treeline conditions. BTW - give the towers a wide berth for health reasons. From time to time there have been emission problems with them.

A factoid re: those ugly towers - several years ago an old deed was discovered which in effect gave the area occupied by the towers to the University of Vermont, but it put restrictions on the land's use. To us layman, it's clear that commercial use for TV and radio stations is not included. I don't know how/if that use conflict got resolved - does anyone have an update on this issue?

As a side note - one of the state legislators (now deceased) suggested the use was in compliance as Vermont ETV was one of the entities which has a transmitter there ...

Hmm, all interesting stuff. We actually decided against the Sunset Ridge trail for two reasons. One...the time it would take to arrive at the trailhead, and two...it was a chilly weekend, and we didn't want to be walking in the prevailing wind too long. But if I am to do Mansfield again, it will be from that side because in reality, thats the way I wanted to go in the first place.

Question...what did you mean about health concerns?

grouseking

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Hmm, all interesting stuff. We actually decided against the Sunset Ridge trail for two reasons. One...the time it would take to arrive at the trailhead, and two...it was a chilly weekend, and we didn't want to be walking in the prevailing wind too long. But if I am to do Mansfield again, it will be from that side because in reality, thats the way I wanted to go in the first place.

Question...what did you mean about health concerns?

grouseking

Am not an electrical engineer, but I think it's excessive levels emitted by the microwave equipment. Sort of like standing in front of the microwave with the door open, as was explained to me.

 

[DougPaul]

Question...what did you mean about health concerns?

Risks from electromagnetic radiation from communication systems are highly dependent upon the frequency, the power level that you are exposed to, and the duration of the exposure.

Possible effects:
* shock and burns (you typically have to touch or almost touch the antenna for these effects)
* cataracts and temporary male sterility caused by heating
* there have also been claims of cancer (from power lines and cellphones), but the evidence is weak at best.

I don't know the details about what is transmitted from Mansfield, but my guess is that you will most likely be ok if you simply stay on the trail and keep moving. (I know that there are some ham radio repeaters and an NOAA weather transmitter up there. I believe that there used to be a commercial TV or FM transmitter, but I don't know if it is still there.)

We are constantly bathed in weak radio waves with no ill effects and I should point out that sunlight is a form of electromagnetic radiation... (risk of burns and chemical damage to the skin resulting in pain and possible cancer)

BTW, microwave ovens are ~1KW transmitters at a frequency of ~2.4GHz in a small shielded box. The frequency was chosen because it is strongly absorbed by liquid water and objects which contain liquid water. And, of course, the absorbed energy turns to heat.

Doug

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Thanks, Doug. I know that excessive release of radiation by transmitters in need of adjustment has been a problem on and off for years up there. Sometimes they even have signs warning you of the problem. If memory serves, something to the effect of "don't come any closer, and keep moving ...".

 

[rocket21]

A factoid re: those ugly towers - several years ago an old deed was discovered which in effect gave the area occupied by the towers to the University of Vermont, but it put restrictions on the land's use. To us layman, it's clear that commercial use for TV and radio stations is not included. I don't know how/if that use conflict got resolved - does anyone have an update on this issue?

I assume it ended up being not too much of an issue, as WCAX was doing a bunch of construction up there last September.

 

[grouseking]

Hmm, interesting stuff everybody! I really didn't have any interest of hanging out by the towers anyways. They felt very much out of place....

grousking

 

[prino]

As an alternative to hiking the ridge on Mansfield, I would strongly recommend hiking either the Subway trail on the west side or the Cliff Trail on the Stowe side for a completely different experience. Those trails are very rugged but quite different. Two of the most fun trails in the northeast.