Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Laurie and I went up to Burlington this past weekend and attended/worked at the Vermont Brewer's Festival. We managed to meet up with Ten Peaks, and chatted for a while, as we ate a quick dinner during a break from a hectic festival.
The 'views' part of the weekend was 3 hikes: Lyon, Mansfield and Camel's Hump.
Lyon was the first destination, across the lake near Plattsburgh. There is a fairly steep trail (old fire road) that marches up to the summit at about 3830'. The firetower is still there and seemed fairly sturdy. The view was obscured by a good bit of haze. Neil, we looked for Montreal, but no could see!
The bugs on this hike were some of the worst I'd ever encountered, and I've
climbed over 180 mountians! Only the tower offered any relief.
The next day we set off early for Mansfield, dreading the bugs. It was amazing what a difference 60 miles and 1 day makes. There were absolutely no bugs here! The views were clearing up when we got to the summit, so we hung around for a while talking with the summit steward. He showed us one of the last 2 remaining patches of Diapensia (a very rare alpine plant), in the whole state of Vermont. We could see the Adirondacks, the Jays, Camel's Hump, the Whites; it was a quite a view! We took the Sunset trail up and the Halfway Trail back down, walking most of the ridge in between. It was a nice selection of trails. Too bad there are so many towers up there!
Saturday, we again got an early start and drove to Camel's Hump, ascending the Forest City Trail to the LT, and then over to the summit. We came back down the trail that everyone else was coming up, seemingly and endless throng! There were almost no views here, but we hung out for a while chatting with another knowledgable steward who showed us some more rare plants.
None of these hikes are particularly long (5-7 miles), but all 3 have around 2000' of climb. There are places to get water on all 3. Most of the time, there was shade, except for the summits, and the ascent of the Sunset Trail on Mansfield, which is over a rocky side of the mountain. I got a little sunburned this day, in spite of applying lotion in the morning.
Overall, a great weekend of Views and Brews!
The 'views' part of the weekend was 3 hikes: Lyon, Mansfield and Camel's Hump.
Lyon was the first destination, across the lake near Plattsburgh. There is a fairly steep trail (old fire road) that marches up to the summit at about 3830'. The firetower is still there and seemed fairly sturdy. The view was obscured by a good bit of haze. Neil, we looked for Montreal, but no could see!
The bugs on this hike were some of the worst I'd ever encountered, and I've
climbed over 180 mountians! Only the tower offered any relief.
The next day we set off early for Mansfield, dreading the bugs. It was amazing what a difference 60 miles and 1 day makes. There were absolutely no bugs here! The views were clearing up when we got to the summit, so we hung around for a while talking with the summit steward. He showed us one of the last 2 remaining patches of Diapensia (a very rare alpine plant), in the whole state of Vermont. We could see the Adirondacks, the Jays, Camel's Hump, the Whites; it was a quite a view! We took the Sunset trail up and the Halfway Trail back down, walking most of the ridge in between. It was a nice selection of trails. Too bad there are so many towers up there!
Saturday, we again got an early start and drove to Camel's Hump, ascending the Forest City Trail to the LT, and then over to the summit. We came back down the trail that everyone else was coming up, seemingly and endless throng! There were almost no views here, but we hung out for a while chatting with another knowledgable steward who showed us some more rare plants.
None of these hikes are particularly long (5-7 miles), but all 3 have around 2000' of climb. There are places to get water on all 3. Most of the time, there was shade, except for the summits, and the ascent of the Sunset Trail on Mansfield, which is over a rocky side of the mountain. I got a little sunburned this day, in spite of applying lotion in the morning.
Overall, a great weekend of Views and Brews!
