| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Mansfield (The Chin) (attempt), VT |
|
 | Trails: |
Route 108, Long Trail |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, December 27, 2017 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Easy parking at Stowe, just .3 road walk to the LT junction. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No issues. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few annoying duck-unders. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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|
 | Bugs: |
nada |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
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|
 | Comments: |
Tough day, similar to Flo+Jo looks like (they attempted from the west). Was straightforward to start, if slow due to pretty unrelenting moderate/steep climb. Quick 1/3-mile road walk led to LT that was well broken-out/packed mostly by skinners, up to the Hell Brook/Profanity trail junction area. (Be careful not to veer off the LT - easy to with all those snowboard/ski tracks mixed in.) Beyond that, faint snowshoe tracks led up to the col between Adams Apple and the Chin.
At the col, lost any sight of the snowshoe track, but made it a little farther along the LT south. Had trouble getting up that one steep point that should bring you up onto the summit cone, due to very deep drifted snow. Temp was -9F but thankfully the wind was relatively light (it appeared very strong on the other side of the mountain).
Tried a couple other ways up instead, but stepped into more than a few spruce traps. This, combined with the temps, the fact that I was solo, and the uncertain difficulty ahead, led me to decide it best to come back another day, probably with reinforcements...
Good news is, I felt accomplished in managing to stay warm in such frigid temps, with layers and gear I had on. But I've gotta find more folks to join up with for these Winter hikes... I knew it'd be an overall tough week with sub-zero temperatures and the recent double-whammy storms.
Snowshoes highly recommended to maintain the good snow pack; they're essential up high. |
|
 | Name: |
Erik Bertrand |
|
 | E-Mail: |
erik@bertpc.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2017-12-27 |
|
 | Link: |
 https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/f9ad6aa2fc458159bb0cd8a4574f46c5539a2f14 |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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