The No Hike Hike: Mt Mansfield via the Auto Toll Road
Now I know that it has been quite a long time since I last wrote a post. So long that Google has changed how I write this post that it feels like this is the first time I have written a post. Anyway, there is good reason for not having a post, I have not been able to hike. This has several excuses, some of them revolve around me and/or my family not wanting to hike in the first place, but the major reason is that this year the ground has been too wet. And, yes, I am going to use this excuse to make up for my laziness. All of this has changed when we decided to see Vermont's highest peak, using Vermont's laziest method of reaching the summit, the car.
This is not for those of you who do not like to get your car dirty, or if your car has low ground clearance, or if your cheap (as the Toll Road currently costs $28 to go on for up to 6 adults, plus an extra $10 per adult after that), or if your car is a pile of junk with a transmission and engine that are on the verge of disintegrating into rust. The climb to the top is very short and your starting elevation is about 1,300 feet and you finish at about 3,800 feet in about 4 miles. This road is steep and has several switchbacks that you would have to navigate. Doing this is made all the more difficult since the road is barely two cars wide so you have to keep an eye for that crazy driver coming down the road.
When you do finally reach the top your car will be extremely hot and stink of burnt oil, don't worry this is just par of the course. The parking lot for the Toll Road is beneath Mt. Mansfield's Nose, and the Chin is the highest point in Vermont. The trek across the face of Mt. Mansfield is a very easy hike (someone managed to do it in flip-flops, but I do not recommend that).
This is part of the Long Trail and to begin you have to visit the Visitor's Center just above the parking lot. Around back you will see the trail. Now, even if you do not wish to hike all the way to the Chin, I strongly suggest that you at least take the trail a short ways to get a absolutely magnificent view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks (on a clear day). If you do hike to the Chin, then you will be blessed with seeing that view for most of the hike.
The hike itself is mostly flat. You do have to ascend the lips, before making your way down Mt. Mansfield's face to the Chin. The trail is clearly marked and you should make sure to keep off anything other than the rocks while up there. The vegetation is very fragile do to this being an alpine tundra zone. Most of the plants that live here are only able to deal with the wind, cold, and mostly dry ground, not your feet; please keep your feet to only those spots that are marked for this reason.
For this post I am forgoing the usual video, in favor of some really awesome (in my opinion) photographs that I took while we crossed the face of Mt. Mansfield.
To find the Toll Road, simply head north on Route 108 from Stowe, VT and look for the giant sign that says Toll Road with an arrow.
And remember,
The Mountain Grows Taller Around Every Bend In The Trail.
(even if you are driving a car.)
This is not for those of you who do not like to get your car dirty, or if your car has low ground clearance, or if your cheap (as the Toll Road currently costs $28 to go on for up to 6 adults, plus an extra $10 per adult after that), or if your car is a pile of junk with a transmission and engine that are on the verge of disintegrating into rust. The climb to the top is very short and your starting elevation is about 1,300 feet and you finish at about 3,800 feet in about 4 miles. This road is steep and has several switchbacks that you would have to navigate. Doing this is made all the more difficult since the road is barely two cars wide so you have to keep an eye for that crazy driver coming down the road.
When you do finally reach the top your car will be extremely hot and stink of burnt oil, don't worry this is just par of the course. The parking lot for the Toll Road is beneath Mt. Mansfield's Nose, and the Chin is the highest point in Vermont. The trek across the face of Mt. Mansfield is a very easy hike (someone managed to do it in flip-flops, but I do not recommend that).
This is part of the Long Trail and to begin you have to visit the Visitor's Center just above the parking lot. Around back you will see the trail. Now, even if you do not wish to hike all the way to the Chin, I strongly suggest that you at least take the trail a short ways to get a absolutely magnificent view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks (on a clear day). If you do hike to the Chin, then you will be blessed with seeing that view for most of the hike.
The hike itself is mostly flat. You do have to ascend the lips, before making your way down Mt. Mansfield's face to the Chin. The trail is clearly marked and you should make sure to keep off anything other than the rocks while up there. The vegetation is very fragile do to this being an alpine tundra zone. Most of the plants that live here are only able to deal with the wind, cold, and mostly dry ground, not your feet; please keep your feet to only those spots that are marked for this reason.
For this post I am forgoing the usual video, in favor of some really awesome (in my opinion) photographs that I took while we crossed the face of Mt. Mansfield.
To find the Toll Road, simply head north on Route 108 from Stowe, VT and look for the giant sign that says Toll Road with an arrow.
And remember,
The Mountain Grows Taller Around Every Bend In The Trail.
(even if you are driving a car.)
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