To The Forehead!

Mount Mansfield, in profile seen from the east or west, appears to have a chin, nose, and forehead, as though a giant man was lying on his back.   The actual true summit, all 4400 feet of it, is the Chin, but the Nose and the Forehead are also notable high points along the ridge.  We've often been to the Chin, hiking up from Underhill State Park, and have been to the Nose via the Stowe Toll Road a couple of times, but we'd never been to the Forehead, the southernmost high point.  We tried to get there on September 29, 2007, but the windy and wet conditions caused us to turn back short of our goal.  

So, try try again!   On October 6, 2007 we decided to cut a biiiiig corner and simply hike there from the top of the Toll Road, a much easier route.  MUCH easier.   No real exertion at all, but we hoped for excellent views of the foliage and surrounding towns.  We got both, but we also got rained on something fierce and had to beat a hasty retreat down the mountain to Waterbury, where we found everyone in New England stopping at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill for donuts and cider.   (It turns out that Parents' Weekend at the University of Vermont had come around again and guess where everyone for some reason found themselves?  Yep, either at the Cider Mill or at the Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour.  Tourists.  What're you gonna do?)

Jay poses with the official marker, maintained by the Green Mountain Club. He's holding up a picture of Flat Stanley.

Carole poses with the marker.

View from the Forehead, a bit east of south.

Jay got tired of being coached to smile and stuff by Carole, so he did a classic grimace 'n' hunker instead.

View back up toward the Forehead from the ridgeline below and to the southeast.

View back up toward the Forehead (right) and Nose (left, with all the TV transmission towers)

A cloud starts to roll over the ridge.

The cloud rolls over the ridge north of the Nose, coming from Stowe, to the east.

The cloud continues to roll down the slope, heading west (to the left)

All four cloud photos were taken within sixty seconds. That cloud was really moving, following the slope down, like fog from a dry ice fog machine.

The "sunlit" trees in the background are actually deciduous trees changing color. The "shaded" trees in the foreground are conifers.

Carole stands looking out over Underhill, to the west.

Carole pauses for reflection.

Carole, triumphant.

Panoramic photo made up of multiple stitched-together exposures of the ridgeline.

Another panoramic photo of the ridgeline. At the far right, a great view of the Alpine tundra terrain for which Mt. Mansfield is justly famous.

Stitched-together photo made up of multiple exposures. We're still learning our way around the stitch function. :)

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