June 20, 2023
This was my second time visiting Mansfield. The first was when my daughters and I summited it for our highpointing goals. We took the gondola to Cliff Trail, hiked to the top, then climbed back down the trail (and I do mean climb…there are boulder scrambles) to return via gondola. This time around, I took the gondola up again, but after visiting the summit, I hiked along the Long Trail all the way to Mansfield’s “Forehead.” The weather was perfect and the skies clear. I could see NH’s White Mountains to my east and the ADKs over Lake Champlain to my west.
After enjoying all that lovely time above treeline, I descended by taking the Forehead By-Pass to South Link to Haselton Trail. South Link and Haselton reminded me of NH’s White Mountain trails Gnarly with constant boulders, rocks, roots, and, on Haselton, stream crossings. The upper portion of Haselton was in the open and gorgeous.
I hadn’t hiked down anything that long and steep for months, and my knees felt it! I should hike my local mountain on a weekly basis to keep my knees in steep-trails shape.
Also, on top of Mansfield, I allowed myself to revise my LifeQuest rules. My rules had been to hike every single bit of trail in some of the National Natural Landmarks, but I finally admitted to myself that I don’t really want to do that. That can feel repetitive and boring. For example, after two hikes of Camel’s Hump from different directions, I felt done with the area and have no desire to hike it again just to get trails I have not yet hiked. So instead, I think it best if I allow myself to hike enough of the trails in each NNL to give me a good sense of the place. That may be ten miles or it may be fifty, depending on the site; I’ll play that by ear. As for the National Park and National Wildlife Refuge sites, I think 50 miles of maintained hiking trails each should work (fewer in those that don’t have 50). That revision gives me enough miles to have a great experience and to really explore the site, plus it gives me more of a choice of what to hike in the larger parks. These changes feel right to me.
