Vermont 4ks In Winter

[DayTrip]

Was thinking about doing a hike in VT either this weekend or next and was curious which of the 6 peaks on the 4k list provided the best views. I really hate artificial stuff on mountains so Vermont has been a bit of a turn off for me with the ski areas, summit buildings and antennas on many of the 4ks. (I have yet to do any hiking there in any season).

Was looking at doing Ellen/Abraham and was curious what the preferred Winter route is, what the parking situation is like (plowed parking, road condition, any outhouses or facilities at trailhead, etc). I came across some photos that make this ridge walk seem pretty nice. I haven't found much info covering the hikes in Winter and reports on NETC are sparse (I think last report for Ellen was 11/4). Fairly unlikely I would camp but if there were any year round campgrounds in the area that would be good to know as well.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Tom Rankin]

You can avoid the ski slopes on all 5 (not 6?) peaks, if you want to. You might be on them for a few minutes here and there...

You can park at either end of the Abe/Ellen traverse in Winter. A brief time at the top of the ski run.
Go from Underhill state park for Mansfield. The ski slope side approach is not popular (with hikers), and very steep at the end.
Camel's Hump - come from the West.
Killington - If you take the Bucklin trail, it avoids most of the slopes, until near the summit.

 

[peakbagger]

One correction, Lincoln Gap road is closed in winter, therefore you need to approach from the north on the Ellen side.

Getting to the trailhead is usually a big challenge in VT. 4WD, snow tires and studs are sometimes not optional. Bring a shovel and know where to tie a tow rope to both ends of your vehicle (Many newer cars are all plastic out front and in the rear and finding a place to tie onto is challenge that should be researched before you are stuck in snowbank ). The roads up to the state park at Camels Hump and Underhill State park are steep and narrow. They usually are gated and parking may require digging a spot out of the banking.

 

[SpencerVT]

I would take the Battell trail up to Mt Abraham. It avoids the ski area completely and is a nice rigorous hike up to the Long Trail on the western side and then you take the Long Trail north to Abraham. Completely avoids Sugarbush ski area.

 

[nartreb]

There are 5 peaks on the AMC's list, but they left off one by accident. Mansfield's Nose has both the height and the prominence to qualify. It also has active microwave antennas on the top, so you may not like it (and it's not a very healthy place to stay for very long), but bagging the peak is a fine excuse to travel the length of the ridge on Mansfield.

 

[SpencerVT]

Where are you getting that Mansfield’s nose has the prominence? It doesn’t even appear to have 200’??
Take care, Spence

 

[Salty]

Where are you getting that Mansfield’s nose has the prominence? It doesn’t even appear to have 200’??
Take care, Spence

Close. From the topo map I'm looking at, highest possible max. is 4039 and lowest possible min. is 3841 for an optimistic prominence of 198'. Or course, more accurate up-to-date sources may say otherwise (e.g., LIDAR).

 

[JoshandBaron]

Where are you getting that Mansfield’s nose has the prominence? It doesn’t even appear to have 200’??
Take care, Spence

It has 200' optimistic. I don't know/remember/care which the AMC uses because they are so inconsistent anyway.

 

[skiguy]

It has 200' optimistic. I don't know/remember/care which the AMC uses because they are so inconsistent anyway.

Who cares. Climb it anyhow. It's a great peak. Lincoln gap is a very viable approach to Abraham and Ellen on skis. Most of the ridge is doable on skis and is a classic traverse.

 

[weatherman]

One word of caution from a previous winter night hike up Mansfield from Underhill (don't ask, had to do with the solstice timing): Cairns above treeline are small, so don't count on their being visible in winter. Routefinding can be dicey if conditions are not optimal. Enjoy!!

 

[alexmtn]

One word of caution from a previous winter night hike up Mansfield from Underhill (don't ask, had to do with the solstice timing): Cairns above treeline are small, so don't count on their being visible in winter. Routefinding can be dicey if conditions are not optimal. Enjoy!!

Ditto on this caution. This is serious above tree line terrain, and tough to navigate in all but optimal conditions. Coming via the Chin from the northeast, I was glad to have wands to get my group back to the trail/chute we broke out from. Without them in the wind, clouds and spindrift, it would have been tough indeed to find the exit point.

Alex

 

[DayTrip]

Where are you getting that Mansfield’s nose has the prominence? It doesn’t even appear to have 200’??
Take care, Spence

I used the Peakbagger.com list for Vermont 3500 footers when I was researching and they go by 160' of prominence for their rankings, thus the 6 vs 5 discrepancy. Not climbing any of them for a "list". Just figured the taller ones would have some exposed areas for views.

 

[DayTrip]

I would take the Battell trail up to Mt Abraham. It avoids the ski area completely and is a nice rigorous hike up to the Long Trail on the western side and then you take the Long Trail north to Abraham. Completely avoids Sugarbush ski area.

That was route I actually was thinking about but I wondered about road access from that side of ridge. That isn't a problem in Winter?

 

[DayTrip]

You can avoid the ski slopes on all 5 (not 6?) peaks, if you want to. You might be on them for a few minutes here and there...
Camel's Hump - come from the West.

From the West - Burrows Trail? What is the road situation over there? Looks like a lot of side roads off highway to access. Have a Subaru CrossTrek so good ground clearance and AWD but are there gates or anything? No trip reports since back in OCT.

 

[DayTrip]

For Mansfield, some trip reports reference a Winter lot on Rte 108. Looking at the map there is a short loop road about 1/4 mile up road from trail head. Is that what they are referring to? If I had my choice I'd rather go up via Sunset Ridge Trail. There is a trail report for that side but it mentions parking at Upton State Park 1.5 miles away. Is there some sort of maintained parking area there?

 

[nartreb]

The nose is at 4062' as measured by GPS. The 4020+ number often seen (e.g, on Peakbagger.com) is from counting contour lines, which is what caused the problem with the AMC list. There was a missing contour line on the USGS map at the time (and maybe still). (I didn't make that story up, but I can't find my sources at the moment.)
I looked into this a few years ago and satisfied myself that the 4062' measurement wasn't the result of something like a change in geoid: i.e. the height of the Chin hadn't changed, and in particular the benchmark near the col was still at 3849', so the prominence of the Nose is at least 213' (the benchmark is not at the lowest point on the col, though that area is pretty flat.)

Here's GPS confirmation of the 4062' number:
https://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=PG1699

Same benchmark, data directly from the USGS:
https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=PG1699

This is the benchmark in the col, shown on USGS maps as 3849': no height listed here but it does show the same geoid as used in the measurement on the Nose:
https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=PG1701

And here's GPS measurements for the Chin, showing GPS-measured elevation of 4395' (i.e., no significant change since the AMC compiled their list).
https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=AE3691

 

[JB]

Hi DayTrip,

For Mansfield, if you change your mind about your route, for the Long Trail you can park on 108, walk past the gate (approx. .5 miles, a 5 minute walk) up to the trailhead, it will be on your left. You can hear the ski lift at times, I'm not sure if you see the ski area, it was cloudy when I did it, but it was a nice hike.

For Camel's Hump, the Burrow's Trailhead was accessible on Dec. 30 last year, no problems in my Audi sedan. Probably my favorite VT hike, but it was -14 when we started out that day, we saw maybe four others.

Edited to add - took too long to type my reply, some redundant info in mine.

 

[DayTrip]

Thanks for the info. Guess I just need to pick one and go.

 

[briarpatch]

Access to and finding parking can be an issue at our trailheads during the winter. You may find the parking area for the Bucklin trail (Killington) or that the road side parking for the Battell trail (Abraham) and the Jerusalem trail (Ellen) may not have been recently plowed. You may want to have a shovel in the car or vehicle with all-wheel drive and clearance. I have had to shovel an area to create a parking spot along the road at Jerusalem trailhead. Still after shoveling a parking spot I partially pulled the front bumper off the car when backing out after the hike. Duck taped it back on. I would recommend having a tape that closely matches the color of the car or be ready to explain what happened. I endured three months of questions until I permanently fixed it in the spring.

Killington other options – The parking areas for the Shelburne Pass trail for Killington is plowed in the winter and is located across the street from the Inn at Long Trail along Route 4. The Shelburne Pass trail will have skier activity from Pico and Killington Ski areas. The Bucklin trail will be quite until you reach the Copper Lodge on the Long Trail. From Copper Lodge to summit of Killington is around a ¼ of a mile. I have not attempted Killington in the winter from south using the Shrewsbury trail which is off the CCC road that I believe is closed or partial closed in the winter or from the Long Trail.

Abraham other options – Lincoln Gap Road is closed in the winter so anticipate a 1 to 2-mile road walk to the Long Trail for Abraham. Bring a sled for quick return on the way home. People do park along the edge of the road at the closure.

Ellen - Long Trail from Jerusalem to Ellen does travel adjacent to Sugarbush ski area. I have come out and snowshoed up/down the upper ski trails to eliminate route finding on the Long Trail.

Camel’s Hump – The Barrows trail parking is typically plowed, and the trail is well-traveled. Barrows is the shortest route and starts at the highest elevation. Parking can be tight on weekends. For the Monroe trail add another ½ mile for the road walk from winter parking area to the trail head. Summer parking is closed. Monroe is generally also well-traveled, and parking is typically more open on weekends. Long Trail access from the south (Wind Ridge) and north (Bamforth Ridge) see far less traffic. Wind Ridge has a warning sign about winter travel. Bamford Ridge should be packed until you reach the Duxbury Window but is the longest route with the most elevation climb. You can be finding and breaking trail on these ridges.

Mansfield, from Underhill State Park – Sunset Ridge and Laura Cowles are well-traveled. In the winter Sunset Ridge and Laura Cowles require a nearly 2-mile road walk from the winter parking area to their trailheads Laura Cowles is sheltered in the trees. Sunset Ridge can be hard to follow above the trees. Parking can be tight on weekends and after a new snowfall.

Mansfield, from Stevensville Parking Area – Frost Trail/Maple Ridge trail see far less traffic. You can be finding and breaking trail. Maple Ridge can be hard to follow above the trees. Butler Lodge trail will be well traveled to the Lodge but options to continue up to the Forehead using Wampahoofus or Long Trail north will not. Wampahoofus and Long Trail also have their own challenges. The CCC road between Maple Ridge and Sunset Ridge is travelled with skier traffic using the Tear Drop trail. The last 1-½ miles to the Stevensville Parking is signed as a limited maintained road. Generally, the road is plowed, but not sanded, and is narrow. If you meet oncoming traffic on the last ½ miles one of you is going to need to back up. There is a winter skier parking area for a couple of vehicles before you reach the limited maintained section of road.

Mansfield, from Stowe – Long Trail south to the summit see traffic. Long Trail south also requires a road walk (Smuggler Notch, Route 108, is closed in the winter) to the trailhead and will see skier activity from Stowe. Some will take the Profanity trail to the summit to stay sheltered from the wind and to avoid the steeper scrambles near the Chin. I have not been on the Hellbrook trail summer or winter. But I understand it is steep! Plus, it requires a 1 to 2-mile road walk to reach the trail head in the winter.

For the Mansfield area I would recommend the Mount Mansfield Region, Nordic Ski and Snowshoe map in the winter. It shows hiking trails, backcountry ski trails, and ski area trails.

 

[briarpatch]

To add controversy to the number of Vermont peaks above 4,000 feet.

Cutts Peak south of Mount Ellen is 4,022 feet. (don't think it has the prominence)

Stratton Mountain is 3,936 feet plus the 70 foot climb up the fire tower puts us above 4,000 feet.

So Vermont has 4 to 8 peaks above 4,000. If you say it 4 to 8 quickly. You get 48 Vermont peaks above 4,000 feet.