Hiking Mount Mansfield

January 03, 2015

In August I had the opportunity to hike the Sunset Ridge Trail to the summit ridge of Mount Mansfield near Burlington, Vermont. This was by far one of the most beautiful, yet challenging hikes I've been on. The trail starting from Underhill State Park was only 3.3 miles one way, but the 2,600 foot elevation gain wasn't easy, especially above the tree line. There are two or three places where pulling yourself up large rocks is required. Wind was a factor during my hike. Hiking down the mountain the winds had picked up considerably, and were strong enough to push me down. Once below the tree line, all was normal.

The challenges aside, the view and the vegetation above the tree line was beautiful. All worth the time and effort.

Stowe from top of Mount MansfieldStowe ski slopes in view from the top of Mount Mansfield.

Arctic flora on Mount MansfieldMount Mansfield holds roughly 200 acres of alpine tundra dating back to the Ice Ages.

Arctic Alpine Zone signArctic Alpine Zone sign

Just below tree lineJust below the tree line. One of a few areas required to scale larger rocks.

West Chin Natural Area

Sunset Ridge Trail signSunset Ridge Trail sign.

Looking down the trailLooking down the trail. The blue stripes mark the trail.

Top of Mount MansfieldTop of Mount Mansfield.

Sunset Ridge Trail SignTrail signs.

Arctic tundraArctic tundra.

Mountain ridgesMountain ridges viewed from the top of Mount Mansfield.

USGS markerA USGS marker was placed at the top of the mountain in 1924.

Panorama view from top of Mount MansfieldPanorama view from top of Mount Mansfield

Cale at the top of Mount Mansfield.Me at the top!

Mount Mansfield APRS trailIn the portrait above you'll notice an antenna behind me. I was running an APRS beacon that transmitted my position every few minutes. The above screenshot shows the results from aprs.fi. Only positions transmitted from above the tree line reached any near-by receivers.

APRS detailDetails of my APRS position packets. A few packets managed a 112 mile trip into Canada!

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