The summit of Mount Mansfield when viewed from a distance has the resemblance of a face with an exaggerated distance between the nose and upper lips. Accordingly, these peaks are named, from south to north, the Forehead, Nose, Upper Lip, Lower Lip, Chin, and Adam’s Apple. All these points are readily accessible by the Long Trail and the area of the Nose may be reached by the Toll Road or the Ski Lift. From all the points along the crest an excellent view may be obtained. On clear days Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains in New York State may be seen to the west, and Mount Washington in New Hampshire may be seen to the east.
Of the local structures, good exposures of the mica-albite-quartz schist occur along the crest with magnetite and garnet locally abundant. The rocks on Sunset Ridge, which extends west from the Chin, can be seen clearly to be dipping at gentle angles to the west.
The Chin has an elevation of 4393 feet, which is the highest point in Vermont. Most of the schist in this area is nearly horizontal or dipping slightly to the west. However, minor folds are present everywhere and an average reading is difficult to obtain. At the summit much of the schist contains large black grains of magnetite. The summit is reached by the Long Trail along the crest of the mountain from the Toll Road, by the Long Trail from Barnes Camp via Taft Lodge, or from the west by the trail up Sunset Ridge. An excellent view of the Lake of the Clouds and the Adam’s Apple is obtained a short distance north of the summit of the Chin.
Figure 11. “Subway” formed by separation of the rocks along a joint on west slope of Mount Mansfield.
Lake of the Clouds which lies north of the Adam’s Apple and Bear Pond which lies north of Bear Head Mountain are both small shallow bodies of water. The slight depressions in which they occur were probably scooped out by the erosive action of the glacier.
Figure 12. Cave of the Winds. Mount Mansfield, as seen from the east slope of the Chin. The Mount Mansfield Hotel and the Nose are in the distance. The rocks in the foreground show the beginning stages of downhill slippage of a large mass of rock away from the joint.
Between the Chin and Mount Mansfield Hotel are a number of interesting trails. The Subway and Canyon trail on the west side of the mountain follow, for part of the way, joints in the rock which have been enlarged by the downhill slippage of the western block. [Figure 11] shows the nature of one of these passageways. On the east side of the mountain, the Cliff trail passes through a similar joint called “Wall Street.” The Cave of the Winds, reached by a trail just north of the Lower Lip, has formed along another north-south joint. The block which has moved downhill has tilted into the mountain and rubble has filled the gap at the top to form the cave. [Figure 12] shows the appearance of the cave as seen from the eastern slope of the Chin. This photograph shows smaller joints on the Chin which have just begun to be enlarged by slippage of the downhill block. It is possible that some of these open joints date back and partially owe their origin to glacial erosive action.
Drift Rock which is located along the Long Trail south of the Upper Lip has already been described as an erratic boulder moved by the glacier. The glacial striae may be seen in the bedrock northwest of the boulders. Garnet crystals are very abundant in these boulders and specimens of the small red garnets may be obtained here.