Hiking the Mount Mansfield Loop

[jayfurr]

We did one heck of a hike yesterday, eight and a half miles or so on the western side of Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest mountain at 4,400 feet. We took a trail to the top that's probably the toughest we've ever been on, with many scrambles right up cliff faces and at times leaping from boulder to boulder across small chasms. Once at the top, we hiked along the ridge to the true summit and then came down the less-difficult Sunset Ridge Trail.

Our round trip took about 9 hours, which makes it sound like we were really dogging it since we only went 8.5 miles, but if you saw the trail we took up, you wouldn't have to ponder why we didn't make better speed. Then too, it was a staggeringly beautiful day and at times we just stopped to drink in the scenery.

Carole, to her credit, didn't complain at all during the hike. If she's becoming more of a hiker as the years go by, I'm not gonna argue. :) I think she's a bit stiff today but I feel fine, knock on wood.

Our photos are at: http://www.furrs.org/images/mansfieldloop/default.htm