Stowe to Smuggler's Notch

[ACNKili09]

Hi My girlfriend and I will be spending this weekend in Stowe but I'm not much of a skier. Does anyone have any insight into any good day hikes in the area? We were thinking of taking the mountain pass between Stowe and Smuggler's notch. Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

 

[jrbren]

Tons of options:
Mt Hunger
Stowe Pinnacle
Mt Mansfield via Long Trail
Mt Mansfield via Hell Brook trail
Nebraska Notch

In a normal winter the road through smugglers notch would be snowed over but well packed with many cross country skiers and ice climbers. This has been far from a normal winter, I wonder if there is even pavement in spots ? I would assume everything will be icy and have some sort of spikes on my feet. Stop by the Green Mountain Club headquarters off of route 100 in Waterbury for more info & maps.

 

[cushetunk]

Route 108 through Smuggler's Notch has plenty of snow compared to anywhere else. Of all places in VT/NH, Stowe and Smugglers Notch seem to be doing the best for snow coverage.

Long Trail to the summit of Mansfield, or Sterling Pond Trail to Sterling Pond are both excellent hikes. I would avoid the Hell Brook Trail as you are likely to get taken out by a descending skier.

 

[procook131]

Plenty of snow up in the notch for skiing, hiking, etc. On a bluebird day, Hunger would be my #1 recommendation. Elmore Mountain is a fun little hike with a firetower, views back to the Worcester Range and the Mansfield corridor of the Long Trail. I also agree about shying away from Hell Brook; not only is it steep and icy, lots of ski/snowboard traffic to contend with!

And don't forget Camel's Hump....just did it on Sunday via Monroe from Duxbury. Trails are in great shape

 

[Jay H]

if you do Mansfield from the end of the road on 108 via the long trail, bring 10pt crampons. Above the lodge is a chimney that a friend and I had to switch to crampons to climb. It's only like a 10-12ft chute but we saw no obvious way around and it is icy and not really snowy (at least in Dec'11 when we climbed it). We used crampons from basically that chute to the summit and back. (Check out the adam's apple too if you're just doing Mansfield)...

Jay

 

[ACNKili09]

Thanks everyone! I've done Elmore before during the fall and I remember the tower and glider planes that would buzz by it. I'll re-post with Trail conditions if I wind up hiking this one. Have a great weekend.