September 9, 2007

Mount Mansfield - Highest Point in Vermont











Well, I don't remember who's crazy idea this was (although, I did mention the day before that we needed stormy weather for this adventure...) but Wow what a climb this turned out to be!





Just look at the view we had out of Bob's truck window climbing the very steep "jeep road" up to the trail's access point.


We arrived up higher to find "knife cuttable" fog with a comment from the volunteer that "no safety or rescue personnel are up there today in these conditions, but you should be ok" Oh and then she added "the temperature could be 10-20 degrees lower, and the winds are probably gusting to 40 mph".

But I wanted an "adventure we wouldn't forget" and up we went! Following the sometimes almost invisible white blazes marking the rocky up & down trail to the summit.



Bob & Joy hung in there, despite the wet conditions and gusty wind. I thought the volunteer was joking about "large cairns" so you can "see them in any conditions" but every so often there they were...













After several false "we made it" we truly did!






Just after leaving the top, the weather started breaking a bit, but the winds continued to gust higher than before.


By the time we had returned to the parking lot, Mt Mansfield was just emerging from the gray above.

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