Great Pumpkin
Member
Project Vermont really came into being a month ago, when Spaderman (Steve), MadDog (Mark), the Keuka Kid (Kevin) and your humble correspondent did a traverse of Mounts Abraham and Ellen via Battell/Long and the Jerusalem Trails, crossing the Sugarbush Ski area in a semi-epic (i.e., slow) trip of about 12 miles in 10 hours. Since I had cleverly neglected to file a trip report then, I wanted to rectify that oversight and report on our most recent weekend, a double header of Camel's Hump on Saturday, and Mansfield on Sunday - the final pieces of the Vermont Winter 4K puzzle for Spaderman and moi.
The cast of characters for this trip was augmented with Creaky Knees (Fred), the Mighty Quinn (Mike), and Kevin's son Daniel, thus making Seven for the Summits. We had a lovely drive up to Stowe in lousy weather on Friday night, with fine accommodations having been arranged for by Steve at the Stowe Yacht Club ("Commodore Inn"). Cadillac "camping" for this crew.
On Saturday 2/25 it was a leisurely start time of almost 10 a.m. on the Burrows Trail up Camel's Hump. We had opted for this hike since the Hump would be sheltered for almost the entire ascent, and winds were expected to be pretty stiff. We were motoring along nicely until an inadvertent excursion to Bald Hill (named for me?), which added perhaps another mile and 600-700' of elevation gain to our otherwise "short" hike this day. A very helpful back country skier pointed out the error of our ways, and we simply chalked it up as one of our finest PUDs of all time.....
After retracing our steps, and having spent about an hour on Bald Hill, we were back on Burrows, up and up and up the Hump, with some excellent trail breaking work done mostly by my compatriots. We were all on snowshoes in compliance with the Geneva Posthole Convention.....
We reached the clearing where the old "summit" house stood many years ago, and made the final .3 mile push to the bare summit, scouted bravely by Spaderman in the Alpine zone. Put all seven on top at about 1:30 p.m., got some quick pictures and handshakes, then got out of Dodge, having been blasted by winds we figured to be 40-50 mph sustained. No views, but it was definitely going to be time for brews once we got out!
The down hike included my customary glacial pace (winter, spring, summer and "fall"), as I was last man out at about 3:30 p.m. Certainly no speed records today, but everyone was safe and sound, with a nicely pounded down snowshoe track left for all to enjoy. Saw a bit of auto "carnage" on the drive back down Camel's Hump Road (nobody hurt), and glad to get back to hot tub, hot chow (Sunset Grille), and an early turn-in time in preparation for Mansfield on Sunday.
Met for breakfast at 7 a.m., as Comrade Steve distributed driving directions, maps, etc. for our hike today. Had elected to try Mansfield from the west (Underhill State Park; Sunset Ridge Trail), to allow for a more gradual ascent than the Long Trail from Rte. 108. Kevin was called upon to perform some yeoman computer tasks, so it was decided that Steve, Mike and moi would get a "head start". I was very confident that the other four would catch us (me) in due course.
I departed first from the "parking" area (the end of the plowed portion of Mountain Road) at 9 a.m., following a Canadian family of three, who quickly left me in their tracks, up the CCC road into Underhill Park. Beautiful cerulean (blue) skies today, with diminished winds. Steve and Mike easily caught me in about half an hour, and we followed a nicely defined snowshoe track up to the actual trailhead of Sunset Ridge Trail, reaching same by about 10 a.m. Met our first backcountry skiers of the day, and exchanged greetings before starting the 2.2 miles to the "Chin" summit of Mansfield.
Progressed past Laura Cowles Trail (not broken in the a.m., but looked to have been broken when we returned) up to Cantilever Rock side trail (not broken), with increasing steepness, making televators on the MSRs a lovely thing indeed. Stopped for a quick lunch at just about the last patch of scrubeenie before breaking out onto the Mansfield summit cone proper, when our remaining Gang of Four caught us - always knew they were at least an hour faster than me. We pressed on in wind that wasn't as bad as yesterday, leapfrogging for awhile with a couple from CT. Fred, Steve and I agreed that the Mansfield open area felt and even looked a lot like Mt. Lafayette.
More and more up across mixed rock and snow, using snowshoes all the way, and getting into the lee of the wind from time to time by the false summit just below the "Chin". Put on goggles/masks before turning into the teeth of the wind (25-30?) for the final .2 mile to the top, which we hit by about 1:30 p.m. Lots of snowboarders et. al. who had come up from the Gondolier lift of Stowe Ski Area. Got some quick pics and even video (Thanks, Mad Dog Mark!), with very expansive views in all directions, and exchanged special congrats with Steve, as this represented our finishing VT 4K winter peak!
The down hike was a somewhat painful excursion for me, in my feet, quads, hips, etc. but Fred, Steve and Mike looked after me. Kevin, Dan and Mark motored ahead, since Kevin and Dan needed to meet a train to NYC. Dan is to be congratulated for his first winter summits, and his dad Kevin has been a welcome addition to our winter trips. Encountered some back country sliders (skiers and boarders) on the way out, and the road walk had widened considerably from this morning, mostly due to their efforts. An occasional "on your left" would be a good thing, however.....
Stopped for excellent pizza and beer at Three Tomatoes in Lebanon. My thanks once again to all Men of the High North who helped Project Vermont succeed! So when are we going back to Katahdin?....Heh, heh.
Hope that Spaderman et. al. can post links to many pictures, since they are far more technologically adept than I am.
The cast of characters for this trip was augmented with Creaky Knees (Fred), the Mighty Quinn (Mike), and Kevin's son Daniel, thus making Seven for the Summits. We had a lovely drive up to Stowe in lousy weather on Friday night, with fine accommodations having been arranged for by Steve at the Stowe Yacht Club ("Commodore Inn"). Cadillac "camping" for this crew.
On Saturday 2/25 it was a leisurely start time of almost 10 a.m. on the Burrows Trail up Camel's Hump. We had opted for this hike since the Hump would be sheltered for almost the entire ascent, and winds were expected to be pretty stiff. We were motoring along nicely until an inadvertent excursion to Bald Hill (named for me?), which added perhaps another mile and 600-700' of elevation gain to our otherwise "short" hike this day. A very helpful back country skier pointed out the error of our ways, and we simply chalked it up as one of our finest PUDs of all time.....
After retracing our steps, and having spent about an hour on Bald Hill, we were back on Burrows, up and up and up the Hump, with some excellent trail breaking work done mostly by my compatriots. We were all on snowshoes in compliance with the Geneva Posthole Convention.....
We reached the clearing where the old "summit" house stood many years ago, and made the final .3 mile push to the bare summit, scouted bravely by Spaderman in the Alpine zone. Put all seven on top at about 1:30 p.m., got some quick pictures and handshakes, then got out of Dodge, having been blasted by winds we figured to be 40-50 mph sustained. No views, but it was definitely going to be time for brews once we got out!
The down hike included my customary glacial pace (winter, spring, summer and "fall"), as I was last man out at about 3:30 p.m. Certainly no speed records today, but everyone was safe and sound, with a nicely pounded down snowshoe track left for all to enjoy. Saw a bit of auto "carnage" on the drive back down Camel's Hump Road (nobody hurt), and glad to get back to hot tub, hot chow (Sunset Grille), and an early turn-in time in preparation for Mansfield on Sunday.
Met for breakfast at 7 a.m., as Comrade Steve distributed driving directions, maps, etc. for our hike today. Had elected to try Mansfield from the west (Underhill State Park; Sunset Ridge Trail), to allow for a more gradual ascent than the Long Trail from Rte. 108. Kevin was called upon to perform some yeoman computer tasks, so it was decided that Steve, Mike and moi would get a "head start". I was very confident that the other four would catch us (me) in due course.
I departed first from the "parking" area (the end of the plowed portion of Mountain Road) at 9 a.m., following a Canadian family of three, who quickly left me in their tracks, up the CCC road into Underhill Park. Beautiful cerulean (blue) skies today, with diminished winds. Steve and Mike easily caught me in about half an hour, and we followed a nicely defined snowshoe track up to the actual trailhead of Sunset Ridge Trail, reaching same by about 10 a.m. Met our first backcountry skiers of the day, and exchanged greetings before starting the 2.2 miles to the "Chin" summit of Mansfield.
Progressed past Laura Cowles Trail (not broken in the a.m., but looked to have been broken when we returned) up to Cantilever Rock side trail (not broken), with increasing steepness, making televators on the MSRs a lovely thing indeed. Stopped for a quick lunch at just about the last patch of scrubeenie before breaking out onto the Mansfield summit cone proper, when our remaining Gang of Four caught us - always knew they were at least an hour faster than me. We pressed on in wind that wasn't as bad as yesterday, leapfrogging for awhile with a couple from CT. Fred, Steve and I agreed that the Mansfield open area felt and even looked a lot like Mt. Lafayette.
More and more up across mixed rock and snow, using snowshoes all the way, and getting into the lee of the wind from time to time by the false summit just below the "Chin". Put on goggles/masks before turning into the teeth of the wind (25-30?) for the final .2 mile to the top, which we hit by about 1:30 p.m. Lots of snowboarders et. al. who had come up from the Gondolier lift of Stowe Ski Area. Got some quick pics and even video (Thanks, Mad Dog Mark!), with very expansive views in all directions, and exchanged special congrats with Steve, as this represented our finishing VT 4K winter peak!
The down hike was a somewhat painful excursion for me, in my feet, quads, hips, etc. but Fred, Steve and Mike looked after me. Kevin, Dan and Mark motored ahead, since Kevin and Dan needed to meet a train to NYC. Dan is to be congratulated for his first winter summits, and his dad Kevin has been a welcome addition to our winter trips. Encountered some back country sliders (skiers and boarders) on the way out, and the road walk had widened considerably from this morning, mostly due to their efforts. An occasional "on your left" would be a good thing, however.....
Stopped for excellent pizza and beer at Three Tomatoes in Lebanon. My thanks once again to all Men of the High North who helped Project Vermont succeed! So when are we going back to Katahdin?....Heh, heh.
Hope that Spaderman et. al. can post links to many pictures, since they are far more technologically adept than I am.
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