Welcome to my Blog

This is the first time I have ever blogged so mistakes will likely be the order of the day! This past winter I committed myself to hiking the Vermont Long Trail (LT) in a series of day and overnight hikes over the course of hopefully no more than two summers. I have decided to create a blog to document my adventures and to provide a chance for any photos I take to be viewed by anyone interested in hiking in general or the LT specifically. I am a novice hiker whose prior experience basically consists of earning the hiking merit badge as a 12 year old. My father and I took five 10-mile hikes and one 20-mile hike as a part of earning the badge in 1974. Since that time I have hiked occasionally but never seriously. I was a long distance runner for many years and am in better than typical shape though in recent years my focus has been on weight lifting more than on endurance activity. I expect the trek to be challenging but manageable.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Stage 12 - Nebraska Notch Trail To Mt. Mansfield Forehead to Haselton Trail




On Friday, August 14, 2009 I am able to slip away for another long day hike cover a portion of the Long Trail. Kim drives the second car and drops me of at the Nebraska Notch Trailhead (1,400 ft above sea level). This will be the third time I've traversed this pleasant 1.5 mile trail. I get started of a warm, sunny day at 10:00 am.
The hike up to the LT is just as I remember and I am able to move along at about a 2.0 mile per hour clip. At the LT Intersection I turn north and begin to cover new ground on my way up Mt.Mansfield.
The first part of the ascent is gentle and I make really good time as I cross a few small brooks and make my way 1.5 more miles to the Twin Brooks Tenting area. This area consists of multiple tent platforms and a nice central area for a fire. It is located about 50 yards down a spur of the main trail. After pausing briefly at the tent site I push on up Mt. Mansfield another 1.2 to the Wallace Cutoff Trail. This trail descends steeply one tenth of a mile to Butler Lodge - a very nice shelter.

Butler Lodge (built 1933, sleeps 14, 3,100 ft.) is located on the side of Mansfield with a pleasant westerly view shed. I stop here for 15 minutes and drink some Gatorade and eat a few crackers. I'm feeling well and decide to take the first of several optional side treks. This one is called the Rock Garden Trail and it is a short (1.4 miles out and back to the Lodge) but challenging hike. I follow the Wampahoofus Trail for one tenth of a mile to where the Rock Garden Trail begins - even this short section requires that I work myself around and over steep ledges. Once on the trail itself I find I have to descend into a steep rock gully and then crawl on all fours under a low pass that is only about two feet high. The crawl is only for six to ten feet but I wonder who will find me if the rocks shift while I am under them. Of course, I'm sure they been in this position for eons, but the thought still crosses my mind. After working my way up, down, around, under, and over five or six formations I arrive at the end of the trail where it intersects with the Maple Ridge Trail, a trail I hiked last year. I return the way I came and wind up at the Lodge after 70 minutes of hiking. thus I travelled 1.4 miles in 70 minutes, giving you some idea of how difficult this little trail was.

I spend another 15 minutes resting at the lodge and eat my lunch which consists of Nutter Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies and Gatorade. At least the word sandwich is in the title so I count this as a healthy lunch.

Now I face the challenging part of today's climb - a 1.0 mile ascent to the Forehead of Mt. Mansfield that climbs 1,000 feet along the way. I take my time, stopping frequently to drink and lower my pulse rate and, aside from taking almost an hour to complete, arrive at the forehead in good shape. The Forehead, at 3,940 ft., is the highpoint of the southern peak of Mansfield. Here the trail intersects with the Wampahoofus Trail. The furthest visible peak in the picture above is Camel's Hump, I believe.

The Wampahoofus is optional hike number two on the days list and I am feeling good enough to do it. I descend steeply along the forehead ridge line for two tenths of a mile to where the Wampahoofus intersects with the Maple Ridge Trail. I did the rest of Wampahoofus last year so I am able to turn around and ascend back to the Forehead. At the turnaround point I get a good view of the TV towers that sit upon the ridge line of Mt. Mansfield north of the forehead. The most prominent tower sits on the Nose, with the Chin, and Adam's Apple visible off in the distance.

Back at the Forehead I turn North and descend and then climb towards the Nose. I arrive at the northern terminus of the Forehead by-pass, a side trail that is recommended in bad weather to keep hikers from being exposed along the ridge line. I turn south and begin the descent down Mt. Mansfield. After 3/10ths of a mile I come to the Intersection of this trail with the South Link Trail and I have a decision to make - I can follow the by-pass for another 0.9 miles and the return for an additional 1.8 miles on this hike, or I can take the South Link and return another time to finish this side-trail?

I'm growing weary so I choose to take the South Link 0.6 miles down the mountain to where it intersects with the Toll Road. Mt. Mansfield has a Toll Road that wimpy tourists take to get to the top without getting sweaty. It's rather expensive - on the order of $25 bucks per car plus a head charge for however many people are in the car, I believe. It makes for a crowded summit and lots of "hikers" walking around on exposed rocks in flip-flops. At the Toll Road I face my first real challenge of the day. The Haselton Trail is supposed to start in the vicinity of the south Link Trail and continue down the mountain but I can't find the trail as it is unmarked. I work my way over to the Octagon, a ski lift terminal located across the Toll Road and down the mountain about 100 yards but I can't find the trail. From the Octagon I get a nice picture of the valley that I'm supposed to climb down to if I can find the trail.

I return to the Toll Road and finally find the unmarked trail about 100 feet up the Toll Road. There a ski slope heads north and the gate blocking the slope shows faint signs of hikers circumventing to go up or down the slope. After walking about 100 yards on the slope I find a blue-blaze indicating I'm on a side-trail, hopefully Haselton. After descending steeply on the ski slope for about 0.3 miles the trail turns off into the woods and is marked with a sign. I continue down fairly steeply for another 1.3 miles until I come out of the woods at the edge of the Midway Lodge - a ski lodge.

My car is parked on the far side of the building so I get to it after just a few hundred more yards of hiking. It is 5:30 pm so I have covered about 11 miles in 7 1/2 hours - a fair pace given the climbing and descending I have done. As I take my shoes off I get my first and only cramp of the hike, a real doozey in left calf muscle that has me hopping around for a full 30 seconds.
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