Sunday September 27, 16.4mi/26.4km

Stimson Ridge (188.2/1896ft) to Taft Lodge (204.6/3609ft) (VT)

We had a leisurely morning in camp and enjoyed breakfast overlooking the valley below.

We continued hiking on the nice new trail, it was so smooth.

After an hour we hit a spot called Harrington’s View. It was actually pretty nice.

I was surprised to see a newt still wandering around on the trail, it’s getting pretty late in the season for them.

The foliage was really getting into peak condition as well.

The trail followed the ridge all morning, and there was moose poop in a few spots. Unfortunately, no moose to be seen.

The summit of Bolton Mountain prompted a few Michael Bolton jokes and Office Space quotes.

We descended the mountain and the ridge, and traversed some nice beaver pond areas.

We began the long climb up Mt Mansfield, with its many facial features.

As we got higher, the trail got very rocky.

And the views were more plentiful, too. View to the south:

View to the north, our objective:

The summit ridge was crowded, there was a parking lot nearby. We kept moving, outpacing most everyone.

Mark standing on the lips of Mt Mansfield.

The view down into Stowe valley.

The summit of Mt Mansfield was crowded too.

We took some quick summit photos, it was very windy up there.

The view looking north was intimidating, it was a steep descent.

And it was indeed steep.

Just before we arrived at the lodge, I saw this funny sign.

We got to the lodge at 5pm, and setup our stuff on a couple of the bunks. Four more people arrived in the next hour, and we had fun getting to know them. A group of four girls arrived just before dark and they squeezed onto a top loft. It was a long tiring day, so I was passed out by 9pm.