yak
New member
I decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and took the family for a couple of hikes up Mt Mansfield. Our first hike was up Sunset Ridge Trail from Underhill State Park. I wasn't as fortunate as on my Mt Washington climb, this time my daughter was complaining before we even got to the trailhead.
We ended up having lunch at Cantilever Rock, which is about halfway up the trail.
The view was nice from the rocks, with the clouds casting shadows in the valley.
Cantilever Rock is a unique formation where a long chunk of rock ripped away from a cliff and was left hanging straight out over the mountainside. It's top surface is about 10 feet wide at the base, narrowing to about 2 feet at the tip. It sticks out about 30 feet from the side of the mountain, and is suspended about 35 feet off the underlying floor.
Here's what it looks like from the side. You can see above where it used to fit into the crack going from lower left to top right.
And from below
Back in my college days, I have danced on it (just to test how strong it was, or how stupid I was). :lol:
After lunch, the family ganged up on me, we called an end to day one of Forced Family Fun, and headed back down into Underhill to visit a friend's farm.
Walking in Underhill State Park
My son on the farm:
I decided the next morning that if we had any chance of seeing the top of Mansfield, we'd have to start hiking from near the peak, so we drove up the Toll Road and starting hiking the ridge. I took them off the Long Trail for a little diversion called The Subway, which dips down into a small canyon off the West side of the Long Trail.
From the South end we decended the ladder:
Then proceeded through the narrow tunnel with its natural roof of fallen slabs:
Which spits you out here:
Then we scrambled back up through a boulder field to return to the Long Trail. I had to help my son navigate some of the larger gaps. Here's a shot coming back up with Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks in the background.
We had lunch up top, posed for a family photo
Then headed South down the ridge to the truck:
Here's a shot looking over towards Nosedive and the front four.
It didn't turn out to be the climbing experience I had intended, but we still got to the top, and the kids got a bit of experience in some of the gnarly aspects of Mansfield.
We ended up having lunch at Cantilever Rock, which is about halfway up the trail.
The view was nice from the rocks, with the clouds casting shadows in the valley.
Cantilever Rock is a unique formation where a long chunk of rock ripped away from a cliff and was left hanging straight out over the mountainside. It's top surface is about 10 feet wide at the base, narrowing to about 2 feet at the tip. It sticks out about 30 feet from the side of the mountain, and is suspended about 35 feet off the underlying floor.
Here's what it looks like from the side. You can see above where it used to fit into the crack going from lower left to top right.
And from below
Back in my college days, I have danced on it (just to test how strong it was, or how stupid I was). :lol:
After lunch, the family ganged up on me, we called an end to day one of Forced Family Fun, and headed back down into Underhill to visit a friend's farm.
Walking in Underhill State Park
My son on the farm:
I decided the next morning that if we had any chance of seeing the top of Mansfield, we'd have to start hiking from near the peak, so we drove up the Toll Road and starting hiking the ridge. I took them off the Long Trail for a little diversion called The Subway, which dips down into a small canyon off the West side of the Long Trail.
From the South end we decended the ladder:
Then proceeded through the narrow tunnel with its natural roof of fallen slabs:
Which spits you out here:
Then we scrambled back up through a boulder field to return to the Long Trail. I had to help my son navigate some of the larger gaps. Here's a shot coming back up with Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks in the background.
We had lunch up top, posed for a family photo
Then headed South down the ridge to the truck:
Here's a shot looking over towards Nosedive and the front four.
It didn't turn out to be the climbing experience I had intended, but we still got to the top, and the kids got a bit of experience in some of the gnarly aspects of Mansfield.
I had the same question for him the last time I went to Stowe in March 2005.