Camel's Hump Mountain ( 4083') - Camel's Hump State Forest, VT

To mix things up a little bit on this Christmas weekend, we headed over to Vermont to climb Camel's Hump.  This was the first time for Leesa.  We arrived at 10 AM and were treated to blue skies, even though the forecast called for mostly cloudy.

I decided we would climb via the Burroughs Trail and then decide whether we would come back on the same trail or take the Long Trail to the Forest City trail.

The parking lot was about half full when we got there, and we expected more people to arrive.  I kept Rev on the leash due to the number of people on the trail.

Leaving the hardwoods and entering the softwoods

Camel's Hump is one of the most popular peaks in VT and it is visible from much of the Champlain Valley.  The trail was wet down low, but there was minimal ice and no snow.  

We saw several groups on the way and and on the way down, but we had the summit to ourselves for the first five minutes after we arrived before a group of three showed up.

Just a little rime ice. 

Mount Mansfield in the distance to the north.

Leesa on Camel's Hump.

On the summit, I asked Leesa how she wanted to proceed.  She opted to continue on the Long Trail to the Forest City Trail so that is what we did.  It turned out to be a great choice.  We got to have the warm sun in our faces as we walked south.  We got back down into the woods and I let Rev off the leash.  There were not many people on this route.  The crowds were taking the Burroughs Trail both ways.

  

Starting to head south on the Long Trail

Leesa... trying to keep up with Rev and I

A good look back at Camel's Hump.

I think I actually like the Long Trail/ Forrest City route better... at least being in the sun for part of the hike.  It's nice to do a loop hike and not an out-and-back.

We stopped in at the Montclair Glen lodge when we got to the Forrest City trail.  No one was there and we had a few snacks before heading down and out.  It's a great little lodge.

Montclair Glen lodge.

From the lodge it's an easy walk of 1.5 miles to the trailhead via the Forrest City trail and the short 0.1 mile connector trail.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  5.5 miles

Hike Time:  4 .5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2300'   

Camel's Hump - Dix Mountain Wilderness - 5/5/13

There are many fine smaller rocky summits in Dix Mountain Wilderness of the Adirondack Park.  Many of these can be accessed from Route 9, just north of North Hudson.  One of the better ones in my opinion is Camel's Hump.  These are bushwhack hikes which may appeal to some people and not to others.

 

In this case, there is a trail which follows the West Mill Creek for about 3.5 miles before petering out.  That leaves a short 1.5 mile bushwhack up the ridge to Camel's Hump.  From the summit, you get great views of Macomb, South Dix, East Dix, Wyman, Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge.  There is also a great view of Buck and Bear mountains (two of the other nice open rock summits).

 

There is a trail sign out on Route 9 marking the start of the trail.  If you have a vehicle with a high clearance, you can drive the first mile or so.  You have to cross the small creek pictured below almost immediately.  It is often just a couple inches deep.  This is the only water crossing on the route.  We wore water shoes across, then left them on the other side to pick up on the way out. 

 



An early water crossing

The old jeep road is on private property in the beginning, but the state has a trail easement to access the wilderness area.  The jeep road follows West Mill Creek on the south side.  It is a pretty walk.   There are a couple nice cascades on the creek, and some nice water pools to cool off in the summer months.

 



 

looking SW from the shoulder of Camel's Hump

 

From the West Mill Brook Trail, many nice open peaks can be reached by a bushwhack of an hour or two:  Camel's Hump, Buck, Bear, Wyman, Saunders, Old Far and Little Far Mountains.  All of them are quite nice.

 

From L to R - Macomb, South Dix (Carson), East Dix (Grace), Wyman, Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge

 

Camel's Hump is perhaps the most dramatic.  And if you don't want to bushwhack too far, the shoulder of Camel's Hump is just as nice.  In fact, that's as far as we went on the trip.  The shoulder has lots of open rock and all kinds of things to look at.

 

 



 

It was such a nice day that Leesa wanted to stay on the shoulder of Camel's Hump and just enjoy it and not go any further.  We had lunch, explored and just had a good time.

 

 

 

From Camels' Hump shoulder I surveyed the far side of the Niagara Brook Valley.  There is mostly hardwoods leading up the eastern flank of Sunrise and Macomb Mountains.  I noticed that there is a nice open rock shoulder between the two peaks.  It is just south of a marked countour elevation on the map of 1068 Meters.  It is about 1 mile northeast of Sunrise Mountain.  I've added it to my list of future bushwhacks. 

 

 It was about 1:30 by the time we decided to head back.  We took a straigher course back by bushwhacking at a compass reading of 45 degrees to get back to the West Mill Brook trail.

 

 

A zoomed in look at a waterfall across the valley

Once back to the West Mill Book, we returned on the trail the way we came.  We did stop to stick our feet into the water near a nice cascade.  It was cold, you wouldn't want to leave your feet in the water for more than about 15 seconds, but it was refreshing on the feet. 



 

The true summit of Camel's Hump as seen from the shoulder

Once we had our boots back on, it was about a 30 minute walk back to the car.  We again used our water shoes to cross the creek and then we were back.  This was a nice combinatin of a trail along a stream followed by an short bushwhack to an open ledge. 

 

 

Rev is king of the hill

 

A zoomed in look at Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge

 



Buck and Bear Mountains in the foreground

 

 



Our route for the day (click image to enlarge)

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  8.3 miles

Hike Time:  5 hours (including stops)

 





Camel's Hump - 12/3/11

One nice thing about hiking high peaks in New England is that the trails, in general, are much shorter than in the Adirondacks.  Case in point - Camel's Hump, Huntington, VT.  While laying claim to VT's 3rd highest peak, and highest undeveloped peak, the hike via the Burrows Trail from the west was only 5 miles round trip.   

I had a little bit of a late start, not arriving at the trailhead until 10:30.  The trail was in fine condition and I was on the summit by 11:45.  In doing my research for this hike, I had decided to hike a counter clockwise loop by ascending via the Forest City Trail and descending via the Burrows trail.  The only problem was that in looking ahead to the community bulletin board, I didn't notice the Forest City Trail snaking off to the right.  Oh well, I thought I'd just hike the loop clockwise instead.

When I reached the summit, I couldn't find the Long Trail's southern descent off Camel's Hump.  I saw 2 white blazes on rocks, but when the snow cover eliminated further marks.  I didn't see any rock cairns, or other footprints, so I went back down via the Burrows Trail.

The weather was perfect and there were lots of groups ahead of me, and lots behind me (almost everyone had a dog), but I had the summit to myself for 15 minutes!  The temperature was in the low 40's and visibility was excellent.  When I returned to the trailhead parking lot, there were 30 cars there.

If you're interested in some history of Camel's Hump, see this fascinating article.

Hike Stats

Hike Distance:  5.0 miles roundtrip
Hike Time:  2.5 hours
Elevation at Trailhead:  1800'
Elevation at Summit:  4083'
Total Vertical Gain:  2630'
Trail:  Burrows Trail 

Zooming in on Camel's Hump from the trailhead

Kiosk and trail register

Rime ice at treeline

Mount Mansfield to the north

Alpine Zone warning

The summit

A panorama at the summit

Looking south along the ridge to Ethan Allen and Ira Allen

I had wanted to go south to both Ethan Allen and Ira Allen and then drop down the Forest City Trail, but I couldn't find the southern leading branch of the Long Trail from the summit of Camel's Hump.

The summit geodetic marker

With my hike shortened by my inability to to find the trail, the trip down was just a one hour descent.  I was back at the car by 1:20.    I'm used to high peak hikes taking much longer, but this was fine as it gave me some time to stop at Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington and do some Xmas shopping on the way home.   Even from Burlington, you get a clear view of Camel's Hump.  It's an easily recognizable summit and quite a nice hike, at least on this day.

See more pictures on my Picasa Web Album.

My route in blue

Camel's Hump at EveryTrail

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