Camel's Hump, Camel Mtn, Old Far Mountain & Little Far Mtn - 11/16/12

I took advantage of some seasonal nice weather and a Friday off from work to do another bushwhack hike.  This one was in the Dix Mountain Wilderness Area of the Adirondack Park.  For this hike I began at the West Mill Brook trailhead on Route 9, 5.4 miles north of the Blue Ridge Road.  I didn't have a high clearance vehicle, so I walked the mile and a quarter to the gate before following the old jeep road along the West Mill Brook.

For the first hour I followed the old jeep road three miles until it faded away.  At that point I headed SW towards Camel's Hump Mountain.  Within a hour hour I was up on the northern most open rock of the ridge and it's quite a nice spot with good views.  From there I continued SW going in and out of the thick spruce and over a false summit before reaching the true summit and hour later.

Standing On the northern most open rock and heading SW to Camel's Hump

Camel's Hump has a good view of McComb, South Dix, East Dix and Wyman mountains. There is also a great view of the wide Niagara Brook valley.

Camel's Hump

Summit of Camel's Hump - Nippletop and Niagara in the Background

I had considered continuing SW to Niagara Mountain.  It was 10:30 when I was on Camel's Hump and I still had 3 more unfamiliar mountains to traverse, so I decided to leave Niagara for another trip when I can perhaps combine it with a hike of Nippletop.

The ridge to Niagara

  

East Dix and Wyman on the left

Nippletop and Niagara from Camel's Hump

Looking SE from Camel's Hump towards Camel  

I headed SE down off of Camel's Hump towards Camel Mountain.  The spruce continued to get thicker and my progress slowed.  Even though the 2 mountains are less than a half mile apart, it took me 40 minutes to go from one to the other.  Camel has a couple open spots with views, but the trees are generally thick.  

Thick spruce on Camel Mountain

South Dix, East Dix and Wyman from Camel

I headed NE down of of Camel and it was tough going until I got out of the spruce.  I made my way up an unnamed peak to a rock ledge for views back to the west.  From
there, it was due east to Old Far.  Just as I approached the western edge of the summit, I could see something in the distance.  At first I thought it was a tent, but as I got closer, it turned out to be the wreckage of a small airplane.  I had not heard that there was a wreckage here.  Not too many parts left. 

Plane wreckage on the west face of Old Far Mountain

More plane wreckage

I liked the summit of Old Far.  It is quite open with lots of rock and some nice pines.  Great views from many points.  Lastly, I headed further east to Little Far Mountain.  It is somewhat similar to Old Far, but the views aren't quite as nice.  

Buck Mountain from Old Far

Bear Mountain  from Old Far

To complete my loop, I headed North to return to the West Mill Brook trail.  I skirted west of Jug Mountain, since it is on private land. 

A good watering hole for the summer along the West Mill Brook

Here is one of the many nice spots along the West Mill Brook.  I took the jeep road back to the car, and was out at 2:45 PM.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  9.8 miles

Hike Time: 7 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  3650'

Approximate route (Click image to enlarge)