Mount Mansfield, Vermont (4,393)

6th High Point Visited
24th Highest State High Point
34th Most Difficult

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1st of three high points planned for week prior to Ironman USA in Lake Placid. Leaving the Trail's End B&B the goal was to drive to Vermont, hit the high point Mt. Mansfield (4,393) and travel on to New Hampshire.

The day was full of adventure, first highlight crossing Lake Chaplain by driving across a bridge before Middlebury, a neat little town with an old university. Had a very scenic ride to Stowe, the headquarters of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. Took a factory tour and into town for lunch on an outside patio five miles from the base of Mt. Mansfield. Mt. Mansfield is atop of Stowe ski resort.

There are many hikes up to the top, but the easiest was chosen aided by a gondola sky ride to near the summit. Looking at the mountain from afar, it was hard to see exactly if the right side or left side was the summit. I took a good panoramic shot (2 photos together) for the complete view. With only 600 more feet to climb, made way on foot to the summit.

View was incredible, could see high peaks all over the place, could see back across Lake Champlain, could see New Hampshire. There was a guide at the top answering questions. Above a certain altitude alpine vegetation exist which is very rare and protected. The climb although not taking more than an hour, seemed to be very technical. If the rocks would have been wet, there could be slippery spots. Climbed back down to the gondola and headed toward New Hampshire.

 

 

Mount Mansfield (4,393), Vermont - State Highpoint #6