Mt. Mansfield, VT, 2/15/06

[lx93]

I made some serious mistakes on this hike, and there is a possibility that some other hikers may think less of me; however, if it helps someone else not repeat those mistakes, it'll be worth it.

Started out on LT South from VT 108 because the Green Mountain Club (GMC) had told me that the Sunset Ridge Trail from the west was 2 miles-ish longer due to winter road closure. A person at EMS off of xt. 14E in Burlington had told me that Sunset Ridge Trail would be better. They had worked at the AMC & RMC in the Whites, so I assumed they were an authoritative source. But GMC’s advice had been better than others’ on Camel’s Hump, Ellen & Abraham, so I went with their recommendation.

Noone had signed the register on the LT South since mid-January, and the lack of tracks seemed to confirm this- the only tracks left were ski trails. Too many skiers/snowboarders for comfort.

Shortly below where deciduous trees gave way to evergreens, trail developed into a confusing assortment of ski tracks. The trail had been well-blazed up to here. Eventually got back onto the LT, if I had ever left it.

Got to Taft Lodge, took Profanity Tr. to avoid steep ice on the LT north of The Chin as per GMC’s advice. Profanity Tr. had no tracks whatsoever. At a clearing, it looked like there were 2 possible trails and I took the uppermost, thinking that I could just meet up with the real trail as it gained altitude if I hadn’t taken the right trail.

There were single tracks which I followed, which eventually went away from the direction of Profanity Tr. I figured that they had to have come from somewhere, and maybe I had gotten onto the LT.

I have often wondered why people in books like Not Without Peril, etc., never bothered to turn back and/or just go below treeline. I think I now understand why- you think your intended destination is closer than it really is.

When I got to the summit cone, I saw some tracks leading up on it. I followed them, then thought, there’s snow on steep rocks, but I’ll just carefully go up them, thinking that was part of the trail. That was fine save the ice underneath that snow.

By the time I realized what a dangerous situation I had worked myself into, it looked easier to go up than down. Foolishly, I managed to get within 10, 20(?) feet of the summit before an 6” rock overhang squelched those plans. I made this guess based on the plume of snow coming off the rocks above me; I was on the side sheltered from the wind.

Taking off my pack, then switching from snowshoes to StablIcers while supported by a scraggly bush on a very steep mountainside was probably the most fearful thing I’ve ever had to do in my entire life. Notwith-standing, these couldn’t get me over, and after gingerly getting past the exposed rock parts, I glissaded down.

I then walked a little more to the left and saw a slide. Getting up about 80% of it, I lost traction, slid for a few seconds, thought “this has to stop sooner or later”, continued gaining speed and when it was over, thought that I had slid 150-200 feet. I may be wrong on that measurement, but that’s what it felt like.

I went to the left more, then found what looked like a smaller slide; it may have been the trail. Whatever it was, it got me up there, and led to the right of a “Keep off the vegetation in the Alpine Zone” sign, to which I thought, “I’ll be glad to- just show me where the trail is with some cairns!”

As I explored the summit, I did see some cairns, but not really a whole lot. There was at least 1 set of tracks on the summit, where they had come from was totally indiscernable.

Summit gusts were about 70(?)mph, but the views were incredible- seeing Lake Champlain in the distance beneath a setting sun was terrific. This was my 60th 4,000+ footer summit in the Northeast, and I cannot think of a better view.

The descent was just as confusing as the ascent. I eventually came to a tracked-out path which appeared to lead to Cliff Lodge and its nearby ski trails. Given the limited amount of daylight, even my 2 sets of headlamps & 2 sets of back-up batteries probably couldn’t have helped me to find the Lodge again.

So I took the safe route out, walked over to Cliff Lodge, then just glissaded down the ski trails as far as I could, walked when I couldn’t, and was at my car at 6:30pm.

 

[MattC]

I wouldn't worry about anyone thinking less of you. It's good of you to share the story, and you certainly seem to have learned from it as well. Glad to here that ultimately, you made the summit, and far, far more importantly, you returned safely.

I'm curious-what, if anything might you have done differently? Perhaps when you first left the Profanity Trail? Whenever I make mistakes on the trail, I try to work through the where's and when's and think about different actions I might have taken.

Matt

 

[lx93]

Things I Would Have Done Differently

1. Removed all doubts about being on the trail.

I didn't really intentionally/consciously leave the Profanity Trail. There were no tracks to follow for about 100(?) feet, so when I did come across a set of tracks which appeared to be leading to the summit, I figured, "Here's the trail again, or maybe I've strayed onto the Long Trail. The person that made the tracks apparently made it, so I probably can, too." Wrong answer....

Looking back on that part, I should have tried to relocate Profanity Trail as soon as I had doubts, or just gone on the Long Trail- an icy trail which you can follow is probably better than trying to make your own trail in snow.

2. Used an ice ax and crampons.

The ice that had been exposed to the sun was easy to chip away w/ my hiking poles, given that it was a fairly warm day for this time of the year. But the stuff underneath the snow was part of the rock itself. An ice ax would have done the job, I suppouse.

I'm waiting to buy step-in crampons after getting more beta on which plastic boot to buy- at $350-500 between the crampons & boots, I don't want to buy the wrong gear. But this is one instance I wished I had ANY crampons!

3. Made GPS waypoints at the trailhead, junction, etc. for reference, even on "easy" hikes like I thought this was going to be.

Yes, I know GPS isn't infallible, and do know how to use a map & compass; but GPS CAN do some things that they can't do. If the ski trail hadn't been available for descent, and it had gotten dark before I had made my way back to the Taft Lodge, it could've told me which bearing to take.

4. Realized that scaling the wall wasn't as close as it looked.

5. Have been more faithful in my core strength training for upper body strength.

6. Not be afraid to try for the summit another day.

 

[pks4000]

Mansfield on the 15th

Hi,
We Eagle and I summited on the 15th at about 11:30am and had a great day. We heard that the LT had so many ski tracks that it was undescernable. We went up Chin Clip see VFT trip report and then up the 700 vertical from the couloir /chute from the gondola summit house to the summit. Windy, but warm. The crampon tracks that were blown over were probably ours.
Questions: Why a late start as a solo hiker?
An unwritten mountaineering tenet is: if solo leave very early so the chance of the route being swept by other climbers is greater.
Were you carrying crampons and ice ax?
Were you aware that all the Eastern US mts. have "water ice" underneath snow?
You reference to "Not Without Peril" shows your a thinking man.
You got lucky but obviously your skill helped you thru some shaky decision making.
I can empathize with your decision making en route. We are all invinceible until we are not!!
Climb on .....albeit more safely my friend.

 

[lx93]

Thanx for the trax, and to Darryn for making it possible for us to contact each other- without this website, we would never have gotten in touch.

Questions:

1. Why a late start as a solo hiker?"

I would greatly prefer to hike w/ partners; however, my days off are during the week, when it is extremely difficult to find partners who don't "flake."

My thoughts earlier were that late starts were made safe by having 2 headlamps and back-up batteries for both. Also, sunset pix are the best. This experience, however, may cause me to start out on the trail early enough for sunRISE pix instead of sunSET pix.

That way, if something unfortunate happens, I'll give 3 short blasts on the whistle around my neck and be found in 1-5 hours as opposed to 25-29 hours.

2. Were you carrying crampons and ice ax?

I have been planning on buying both, but wanted to go on a few hikes w/ people that have them to see what products offer the best bang for the buck.

Nothing worse than spending $250-420 on plastic boots, $100 on crampons, then $70-120 on an ice ax to find out you received nothing for the extra dough or should've spent 10% more to get gear that actually works, as the case may be.

3. Were you aware that all the Eastern US mts. have "water ice" underneath snow?

I am now, and plan on being more cautious as a result.

Thanks again for your insight; I hope that I can provide the same help to other beginning winter hikers someday.

 

[chinooktrail]

Thank you for posting, I think it is important to remind all of us that we make mistakes out there, and learning from them is important.
I think that from your list; #6 should be #1.
Knowing that the summit is not going anywhere, getting there is optional, getting back is not.
Very glad to hear you made it out alright and are ready to go at it again! I believe the mountains and the seas teach us the biggest and best lessons. Take Care.