| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Mansfield (The Chin), VT |
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 | Trails: |
Long Trail, Forehead Bypass, South Link, Haselton Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, July 7, 2013 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of parking at the gondola lot where 2 of our cars stayed, less parking but still room for a dozen or more if people park nicely at the road-side lot for the Long Trail on Route 108. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All rock-hoppable with dry boots. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Long Trail was in great shape, no problems to report. The Forehead Bypass and South Link are obviously less-traveled and had lots of super-slippery wet, mossy rocks, and had less obvious footbeds, but we had no issues following the trails. Haselton was simple enough to follow as well, blowdowns were all taken care of, just an easy step-over that was limbed and left on-trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Not a ton of trailside water, and a few tricky scrambles on the upper end of the Long Trail, but otherwise a dog-friendly route. Extensive fragile alpine zone on the ridge, so please keep them on trail. Saw a couple, all behaved well and seemed to be enjoying themselves. |
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 | Bugs: |
Just a few below treeline, a steady breeze above treeline meant no problems there. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
One more Meetup for the weekend, this was a terrific hike, probably the best of them all. The original plan was to loop up the Long Trail and down the Haselton from the toll road, but we were having such a great time that we continued out all the way to the Forehead before backtracking a little on the Long Trail and descending via some lightly-trodden trails back to the Haselton Trail.
The Long Trail was steep as advertised, but once we hit the ledge scrambles above treeline, was super fun. From there it was a fairly easy ridge walk with lots and lots of views, limited as they were by the clouds. We got sprinkled on a few times along the ridge with fleeting showers, but nothing to note at all, and the low cloud deck actually led to some rather unique views from the ridge. The Nose is closed to the public due to radiation hazards, so we stayed clear, but the Forehead was a cool spot out at the end of the ridge with great views.
Returning to the Forehead/Nose col, we took the Forehead bypass down a lightly-trodden, slippery (lots of wet Vermont moss!) trail to the South Link, which we took back to the Toll Road where the Haselton Trail continues down a ski slope for a while before entering the trees. Rougher footing early on, but it gradually improved lower down the Haselton Trail, and we popped out at the cars a bit under 7 hours from our start. A terrific hike, one we all agreed we would not have changed a bit!
Thanks Theresa and Richard for making the hike even more fun! |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2013-07-08 |
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 | Link: |
 https://mattshikes.blogspot.com/ |
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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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