Camel's Hump (4,083 ft) 8-5-16

Distance: 6.48 mi.
Elevation: 2,242 ft (overall) 2,758 ft (total)
Time: 2:14 (Summit) 3:50 (Lodge) 4:41 (Total)
Trails: Burrows Trail, Long Trail, Alpine Trail, Long Trail, Forest City Trail, Connector Trail

I've been concentrating mostly on New England Hundred Highest (NEHH) peaks lately. Having not been on a 4000 footer for a while, I decided it was time to get back to them at least briefly. I decided to go back to Camel's Hump in Vermont. I'd been here only once before during my NE67 in one year attempt and it was a great peak. So I came back, but this time hiked from the western side instead of the eastern side. While doing the peak as a loop from the west, I decided to make a quick side trip to some of the plane wreckage on the mountain as well.

Nice gentle trail to start

I started up the Burrows Trail which eases into things smoothly, but it a bit rocky to start. Being a popular route up the mountain though, that isn't too surprising. It was predicted to be hot today, and it didn't take long before things were warming up. There wasn't much breeze in the trees either. The trail gradually works out of the hardwoods and into the softwoods. As it does this, it gets a bit steeper as well. As the trail steepens, it also becomes more rocky. It's still pretty good footing, just mostly over exposed rock.

Trail getting steeper and rockier

Just before the hut clearing, the trail levels off mostly with one quick and short descent just before the opening. The opening is a nice resting spot before the last push to the summit, and plenty of other hikers were making their way up and down through here. After a short rest and a few pictures, I headed up for the summit. The last hike to the summit starts with some steep stuff over rocky terrain. But soon it starts to come out of the trees and becomes a little less steep. Before long you are at the open summit and its 360 degrees views.

Coming out of the trees

At the summit it was a comfortable 65 degrees with a nice 10-15 mph breeze. A nice feeling after being in the trees. It was a bit hazy today, but the views were still quite nice. There was a decent crowd at the summit for a warm weekday. I talked with the head caretaker of the Vermont huts though, and he said it was about average. Significantly fewer than if it were the weekend.

View north from the summit

View east from the summit

View west from the summit

After spending nearly an hour at the summit, it was time to get moving again. I continued south on the Long Trail which loops around the summit some to avoid a steep drop off before crossing the bottom of it. After a short distance in the trees though, I headed down the Alpine Trail towards the plane wreckage. While I believe there is some wreckage right on the trail, I turned onto the first herd path that heads out to one of the wings. Most of the debris has been cleaned up or scavenged, but it's still kind of neat to see what is still there. It's sad though that the crash happened and as many people lost their lives as they did.

Large drop off on the southern side of the summit

Plane wreckage - Wing

Plane wreckage - Landing gear in the wing

Back on the Long Trail, I kept heading south. The trail descends steeply for a while before finally leveling off some. It's a bit rocky, but again footing was good. I saw more hikers through here than I expected since it was already part way into the afternoon. After the trail has leveled off for a while with a few views scattered along it, there is one last steep descent before the Forest City Trail. This descent also lead through a with very large boulders on both sides of the trail, making for a narrow passage between them.

Narrow boulder filled trail

Only about 100-200 feet past the Forest City Trail is the Montclair Glen Lodge and tent sites. A nice small hut/shelter where hikers can rest and sleep. I headed over too it took a break while checking it out. It's an interesting little shelter and about what I was expecting for something up on the mountains.

Montclair Glen Lodge

From the shelter back down to the car was an easy mostly gentle hike. It was a pretty easy grade headed down without many rocks. I was able to make good time through here and was at the junction with the Connector Trail back to the parking lot in what seemed like little time. There is an interesting bridge here over the brook, so I took some pictures. I then made my way down to the water so I could fill up the 2 now empty water bottles I had with cold water I would use back at the car to clean up my legs and dump over my head to cool down. And after a quick climb uphill to the car, I did just that.

Bridge on the Connector Trail

The hike went well today and I was glad to be back onto a 4K. I'm glad I did the hike in the direction that I did. While the other direction would have had a lot of easy or gradual inclines, it seemed like the steep parts would have been more tiring after the extra distance. All in all it was a good day even with temps back near 90 down at the car afterwards.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Google Earth representation of the hike

Camel's Hump (4,083 ft) 4-6-14

Distance: 7.23 mi.
Elevation: 2,789 ft. (overall) 2,913 ft. (total)
Time: 3:15 (Summit) 5:17 (Total)
Trails: Monroe Trail, Long Trail

The summer trail head was still deep under snow with about a 3 foot tall snowbank at the end of the road. The winter lot has room for about a half dozen or so cars (parked well) and maybe some room if you follow the upper path (didn't check it out). After reaching the summer trail head, I put on my snowshoes expecting today's sun and warm temps (near 60) to make things soft. The early going was easy and could have certainly been done with bare boots (as another hiker was doing). The trail heads through open hardwoods and was quite easy to follow. The gradual incline makes for easy going and a nice warm up to the hike.

Early portion of trail

The trail slowly turns to the right after a ways and soon comes to the Dean Trail heading left. This was potentially going to be my route down, but having never been here before, the lack of recent tracks made me possibly rethink that idea. Continuing up the Monroe Trail, the gain is still gradual but the trail occasionally goes across a bit of a side hill. This seemed to be worse due to some skiers using the trail and wiping out much of the snowshoe track. Soon the cliffs start to come into view with some impressive views of them ahead. For now, the trail heads straight to them.

Hard to get a pic of the cliffs without trees in the way

Near the base of the cliffs, the trail turns left and follows the bottom edge slowly entering into the softwoods. It's still a steady climb until you start to turn right to head back above the cliffs. It gets a little steeper in here at times, but still not too difficult. Just as I was thinking I must be getting close to the Alpine Trail (it seemed like it had been a good distance since the last intersection), the trail leveled out some and I saw the sign for it.

Above the cliffs now

From here the trail went back to the steepness it had in the beginning with a few short climbs. Some spots were even quite level. This was a nice break and an enjoyable section (even with melting snow/ice on the trees getting things a little wet). Before long you come out to the hut clearing at the Long Trail. This nice little clearing gave a good view of the northern side of the summit.

Hut clearing

With the Burrows Trail coming in from the west here as well, there are many trails junctions/openings. I'm glad someone had cleared snow from in front of the sign leading to the summit since I never did see one for the Burrows Trail and it could have been confusing. The snow here was still as deep as the trail sign is tall.

The sign dugout so you can see it

After a brief break and a snack, I talked with another hiker before heading up to the summit. The trail is probably the steepest here leaving the clearing, but it was only for a brief stretch. Soon I was coming out of the trees and I got my first glimpse of the views to the west. While I know from maps Lake Champlain is big (I've never been there), I have to admit this view gave a whole new perspective about how big it is. It takes up a lot of the view to the west. The trail continues to work along the side of the summit cone near the edge of the trees before turning left for the last push. It was a short walk to the summit and the 360 degree views.

Heading up

At the summit, the temperature was only 20 degrees. The wind was blowing an average of 16 mph with gusts at 25 mph making for wind chills near 6 degrees. I was glad I had multiple layers to wear up here (something I believe many hikers I saw later didn't have). With some extra clothing, I was ready to take in all the views and grab some photos. After spending at least 45 minutes on the summit (mostly alone since other didn't stay long), I headed back down the mountain the way I came up. Opting not to try to find the Dean Trail and the proper route leaving the summit in that direction with the minimal tracks to follow and familiarity with the area.

View north of Mansfield

The Adirondacks to the west

Miles getting a cold butt while enjoying the sun

Impressive snow everywhere near the summit today

Heading back down

The hike back down when quick and I quickly took most of my layers back off. I saw multiple small groups of other hikers now heading up. Most of which didn't have snowshoes or much for cold weather clothing (so it appeared). Luckily today, the trail was still staying hard even with the many bare booters and warm temps. I was surprised how it seemed as if there was a very solid layer just under the top surface of the snow all day.

Back down lower, the trail was staying pretty firm

All in all, this was a great hike. I admit I missed one of my niece’s first birthday party, but as I told her parents, I would have missed my own birthday for hiking conditions and views this nice.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE