dr_wu002
Well-known member
Date of Hike: Sunday, October 26, 2008
Trail Conditions: Trails in great shape. There is a lot of water on both trails which will translate to pretty good sized ice flow in a few weeks. Maple Ridge Trail is fairly steep with a lot of ledges to negotiate as well as wet, bare rock so ice will make for a tricky descent. Sunset Ridge is not as steep but there was significant water flowing on the trail from a spring up high, I can see a few ice bulges forming here and there. Once the snow comes that will be an easy trail to go up/down.
Special Equipment Required: I rarely use poles when not carrying a heavy pack but I did yesterday coming down Maple Ridge. However, my boots -- which I hadn't wore in a long time -- turned out to have zero traction so that was a big issue. I could have negotiated the steep rock with my trail runners and no poles. Once the ice comes some sort of traction aid will be useful.
Comments: In my opinion, Mansfield is a very underrated New England peak. I had done it back in 2003 and it was cloudy that day. Yesterday was awesome -- warm w/ bluebird skies. You hit ledges/treeline at around 3000' on both Sunset Ridge and Maple Ridge so the views are amazing and somewhat endless for quite a long time on the hike. he ridgeline is also nice -- a bit of a bummer having all the ski/tv stuff on the secondary summits but not the end of the world. Views to surrounding mountains is spectacular. Very nice hike.
Your name: Doctor Wu
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
Trail Conditions: Trails in great shape. There is a lot of water on both trails which will translate to pretty good sized ice flow in a few weeks. Maple Ridge Trail is fairly steep with a lot of ledges to negotiate as well as wet, bare rock so ice will make for a tricky descent. Sunset Ridge is not as steep but there was significant water flowing on the trail from a spring up high, I can see a few ice bulges forming here and there. Once the snow comes that will be an easy trail to go up/down.
Special Equipment Required: I rarely use poles when not carrying a heavy pack but I did yesterday coming down Maple Ridge. However, my boots -- which I hadn't wore in a long time -- turned out to have zero traction so that was a big issue. I could have negotiated the steep rock with my trail runners and no poles. Once the ice comes some sort of traction aid will be useful.
Comments: In my opinion, Mansfield is a very underrated New England peak. I had done it back in 2003 and it was cloudy that day. Yesterday was awesome -- warm w/ bluebird skies. You hit ledges/treeline at around 3000' on both Sunset Ridge and Maple Ridge so the views are amazing and somewhat endless for quite a long time on the hike. he ridgeline is also nice -- a bit of a bummer having all the ski/tv stuff on the secondary summits but not the end of the world. Views to surrounding mountains is spectacular. Very nice hike.
Your name: Doctor Wu
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
