| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Mansfield (The Chin), VT |
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 | Trails: |
Mountain Road, CCC Road, Eagles Cut Trail, Sunset Ridge Trail, Long Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, February 20, 2012 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
parked at the winter area on mountain road about a 20 minute road walk below underhill park. the road is well maintained to this point, but beyond it is unmaintained hardpack and ice. made an attempt at going farther, but my front wheel drive car started spinning part way up the first hill beyond the parking area. some all wheel drives and trucks were driving all the way up, but it's risky as there is little to no room in spots to turn around if you get in trouble. the first few hundred yards past the parking area are the worst as far as ice goes and there is evidence of a couple cars going off the road one of which looked particularly dramatic. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Ice - Blue, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
parked at the winter area on mountain road about a 20 minute road walk below underhill park. the road is well maintained to this point, but beyond it is unmaintained hardpack and ice. made an attempt at going farther, but my front wheel drive car started spinning part way up the first hill beyond the parking area. some all wheel drives and trucks were driving all the way up, but it's risky as there is little to no room in spots to turn around if you get in trouble. the first few hundred yards past the parking area are the worst as far as ice goes and there is evidence of a couple cars going off the road one of which looked particularly dramatic.
as stated the road was hard packed which made a quick walk up. the trails were all nicely packed out to treeline on sunset ridge trail with just a couple short icy scrambles shortly before popping into the open. the open ridge was a mix of hard packed snow, ice, rock and drifts of powder. with the wind today my tracks were filling back in as quick as i made them higher up. where the trail slabs under the west bump of the summit the snow is piled in deeper as it leads up to the snow encrusted main ridge and the summit. little or no ice between the top of the sunset ridge trail and the summit. just nice windpacked snow and drifted powder.
i wore microspikes up the road and partway up the sunset ridge trail on the ascent before switching over to snowshoes which were ideal above treeline today providing just the right amount of traction (msr) while also providing flotation in all of the drifted snow. kept the shoes on back to the campground on the descent and then switched back to spikes for the road.
a gorgeous day on mansfield.
got a nice early start as i initially had other plans for the afternoon, but wasn't feeling so hot on the drive up and decided to simplify things a bit. the early start still worked out great as it got me up to the summit under blue skies with views to washington and franconia ridge one way and to whiteface, dix, giant, and the great range the other. as i descended late morning, clouds were quickly moving in over head. the upper part of sunset ridge and the summit were pretty windy, but i was still able to spend some time on the summit and surrounding areas enjoying the beautiful day. great to be out.
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 | Name: |
bryan |
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 | E-Mail: |
bryancuddihee@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2012-02-20 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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