Our head's in the clouds on Mansfield!

On Thursday, October 2nd, Matt and I set out to climb Vermont's highest point, Mount Mansfield. 

 

A little too early for Matt to want to be photographed.

The over ambitious side of me wanted to take an all day hike to the summit(Sunset Ridge Trail), but to take it easy on Matt who isn't used to as much physical activity as I'm used to, we opted for taking the toll road up to Mt. Mansfield.  From the end of the road, there is an additional 1.5 mile hike from the parking lot to the summit.  We had some spectacular views on the way up!

A beautiful foliage covered road.  In the winter, this road is used for skiing.

A small little wedding chapel along the drive.

Clouds settling into the mountains.

Shortly into our hike, the clouds began to roll in on the trail.  Matthew is in the clouds!

Enjoying the clouds passing through.

It was hard to see our summit destination at times when a bunch of clouds rolled in.

Finally, about half way to the summit, the sky opened up just enough to see below.

Matthew enjoys the spectacular views before more clouds roll by.

Matthew, meet cloud.  Cloud, meet Matthew! Ha

 

The closer we were to the summit, the clearer it became on the one side of the mountain.

So much color below..

Taking a moment to "take it all in".  The top of Mt. Mansfield has very rare Arctic tundra vegetation.

Behind the cloud, lies the "chin" or summit of Mt. Mansfield. Mt. Mansfield got it's name because of the view of its summit ridge resembles a profile of a face.

This cloud opened up its center, just enough to see the cities below.

Miles of mountain views.

A very short distance from the summit.

West chin natural area.

Views from the summit!

The summit (4393 feet)!

 

Just that quick, more clouds roll in.

Heading back down to the trailhead, clouds had completely moved in again.

A couple of hikers heading to the top.

 

The weather changes frequently on top of Mt. Mansfield; walking back down, the clouds were clearing again.

Mountain views for miles; shortly before heading back to the trailhead.

On clear days, one can see views of the mountains around New York and Canada from here.

More spectacular views as we headed back down the toll road and back into Stowe.

The long poles in the photo above are used to make snow in the winter for skiing.