My sister and I had been wanting to hike Mt. Mansfield ever since she started going to school in Burlington.  Last year we considered it but hiked Camel’s Hump instead.  Last winter I thought about laying down some turns off the mountain, but we never caught the snow right, or went to Mt. Washington instead.

Finally, we can mark this off the list, but the mountain wasn’t going to give in so easily.    The day started off right–calm weather near Stowe and hearty breakfast sandwiches.  However, that was the last time we were dry during the hike.  The ascent brought rain, then wind.  Above treeline the gusts must have been upwards of 50-60 mph.

However, we weren’t going to let a bit of rain keep us from having fun.  We hiking along the ridge after ascending via the Long Trail, from the Chin to the road near the Nose

Lots of fog and pelting rain were waiting for us above treeline.

Yes. Hiking the ridge was more interesting than re-routing on the bad weather routes.

We did eventually leave the ridge.

We left the ride on the Amherst trail to the toll road, and then descended on the Hazelton trail which ran through part of Stowe resort.

Looking through the fog at Stowe.

Foliage galore!

Lots of stream crossings.

No snow here...yet.

We missed the first real snow on Mansfield by two days! The photos on the FIS website show a little different look at the Stowe gondalas just a few days later.

Done! Time to walk out.

Rt. 108 showing its colors.

Back at the trail head the weather was much calmer, though still rainy.  After bad weather that greeted us on top, we appreciated the calmer rainfall at the base.

Trip data:

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