Who would have known we could have a 50 degree day in the valley in early March? Well, as we know, living in Vermont, anything could happen! Nine of us plus two four-legged creatures met at the trailhead for what was developing into a clear day. The conditions were just about perfect – warm, not mushy snow, but fairly well packed, no wind. All of us had snowshoes and wore them the entire trip. Anything else would have had us postholing and that would not have been fun!

After hitting the meadow and beginning the ascent to the shelter followed by the summit, we were ready for a nice break facing Madonna Mountain. The top could not be viewed at this point due to cloud cover, but you could make out several skiers with the naked eye making their way down the slopes. A quick break for eats, then onto the top of the 3,715′ peak.

The final 4/10 of the hike is not only steep in parts, but poorly marked, so much so that when this trip leader attempted it three weeks ago, she could not find it and due to timing, needed to turn around! Frustration to the max. The same proved true with this hike, which actually turned out fine, because it became a partial bushwack! We met up with the trail and made our way. The views were now becoming clearer and with a few minutes and a few pics at the top, we made our way back to the shelter, where it had completely cleared, so much so that now you could see the top of Madonna, the towers on the Nose as well as the Chin on Mansfield.

Back at the Beaver Meadow clearing, we made our way over to the shelter, then looped back onto the main trail. A great day all in all!

Participants – Christopher Morris, Bill Moore, Miguel Bosse, Phil Hazen, Tim Welsh, Lynda Hutchins, Chuck Bond, David Hathaway, Robynn Albert.

Photo by Dave and Phil