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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