On Sunday, Ed "OldMan" and I hooked up to hike Camel's Hump. The road to the state park was in fine shape although the first trace of snow appeared along the final stretch. Someone had put 20-30 jack-o-lanterns on the bridge over one of the bigger streams. I don't imagine many trick-or-treat-ers head up there, but it was cute anyway.
The first bit of trail, up to the Dean Trail Jct. is relatively flat, through open woods of mostly hardwoods (primarily birch) and with the leaves down, it was fairly easy to see the surrounding ridges. While there was only a trace of snow in the parking lot, the ground was covered shortly up the trail by about 2" or so. Sunny areas clearly had less, and the trail itself was mostly dry leaves with an occasional spot of mud. At 1.3 miles, the Dean Trail splits off to the left toward Wind Gap.
Just before Wind Gap, there are two ponds. The lower, or first one, was slightly bigger, and was frozen over (although I didn't test the thickness of the ice.) Above the pond, the Camel's Hump cliffs are clearly visible. To the left is a pair of cliffy bumps which form the north wall of Wind Gap. Speaking of wind, this was the only place aside from the summit that there was even a breeze, and it wasn't much of a breeze. I hiked in short sleeves most of the way up because there was no wind. Climbing over the cliffs above Wind Gap was challenging given the snow and ice, but not enough to require traction, just thoughtful placement of one's steps. In fact, we barebooted all the way up with no problems.
From the cliffs, there are excellent views to the Worcester Range, and of course to Camel's Hump. Also visible is Mount Ethan Allen, which forms the southern wall of Wind Gap. We weren't high enough to see beyond the Allen's yet.
Camel's Hump is visible for a while from route 89 while heading northwest. The steepness of the southern edge is apparent even from a distance. As you approach it it looks most foreboding, but the trail winds around to the west and takes a steep, but not impossibly steep, route to the top of the hump.
From the top you can see Mount Mansfield to the north, and Mount Ethan Allen (et. Al.) and Ellen and Abraham to the south. The Whites are clearly visible to the east (Moosilauke, Osceola, Kinsman Ridge, Franconia Ridge, The Twins, and the Presidential range) to the naked eye. The camera didn't like them, however
. To the west the ADKs stand behind Lake Champlain, including the NY highpoint, Mount Marcy. Whiteface dominates the ADK view, however, as it did from Mansfield.
At the summit we had lunch, took photos and chatted with many other hikers. We decided to head down the Monroe Trail after discussing the bomber crash site with a local who informed us there wasn't anything left to see, really. About half-way down to the jct. of the LT and Monroe, it became obvious we should put on traction, and so out came the Stabilicers (Ed) and the microspikes (me). Ahhh... much better. I hope that all the folks we saw ascending in sneakers made it down safely. It wouldn't be my choice. Clearly the Monroe trail is the popular way to go - we saw many folks here, compared to 1 on the way up Dean.
About half way between the Monroe/Alpine jct and the Monroe/Dean jct., we took off the traction, as the remainder of the way down was more wet than icy. All in all, it was 8-ish miles and 3232' (according to Ed's GPS) in 5 hours and 10 minutes or so. Nice to see an undeveloped peak in VT
All photos: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/568439560CPBOCj
Tim
The first bit of trail, up to the Dean Trail Jct. is relatively flat, through open woods of mostly hardwoods (primarily birch) and with the leaves down, it was fairly easy to see the surrounding ridges. While there was only a trace of snow in the parking lot, the ground was covered shortly up the trail by about 2" or so. Sunny areas clearly had less, and the trail itself was mostly dry leaves with an occasional spot of mud. At 1.3 miles, the Dean Trail splits off to the left toward Wind Gap.
Just before Wind Gap, there are two ponds. The lower, or first one, was slightly bigger, and was frozen over (although I didn't test the thickness of the ice.) Above the pond, the Camel's Hump cliffs are clearly visible. To the left is a pair of cliffy bumps which form the north wall of Wind Gap. Speaking of wind, this was the only place aside from the summit that there was even a breeze, and it wasn't much of a breeze. I hiked in short sleeves most of the way up because there was no wind. Climbing over the cliffs above Wind Gap was challenging given the snow and ice, but not enough to require traction, just thoughtful placement of one's steps. In fact, we barebooted all the way up with no problems.
From the cliffs, there are excellent views to the Worcester Range, and of course to Camel's Hump. Also visible is Mount Ethan Allen, which forms the southern wall of Wind Gap. We weren't high enough to see beyond the Allen's yet.
Camel's Hump is visible for a while from route 89 while heading northwest. The steepness of the southern edge is apparent even from a distance. As you approach it it looks most foreboding, but the trail winds around to the west and takes a steep, but not impossibly steep, route to the top of the hump.
From the top you can see Mount Mansfield to the north, and Mount Ethan Allen (et. Al.) and Ellen and Abraham to the south. The Whites are clearly visible to the east (Moosilauke, Osceola, Kinsman Ridge, Franconia Ridge, The Twins, and the Presidential range) to the naked eye. The camera didn't like them, however
. To the west the ADKs stand behind Lake Champlain, including the NY highpoint, Mount Marcy. Whiteface dominates the ADK view, however, as it did from Mansfield.At the summit we had lunch, took photos and chatted with many other hikers. We decided to head down the Monroe Trail after discussing the bomber crash site with a local who informed us there wasn't anything left to see, really. About half-way down to the jct. of the LT and Monroe, it became obvious we should put on traction, and so out came the Stabilicers (Ed) and the microspikes (me). Ahhh... much better. I hope that all the folks we saw ascending in sneakers made it down safely. It wouldn't be my choice. Clearly the Monroe trail is the popular way to go - we saw many folks here, compared to 1 on the way up Dean.
About half way between the Monroe/Alpine jct and the Monroe/Dean jct., we took off the traction, as the remainder of the way down was more wet than icy. All in all, it was 8-ish miles and 3232' (according to Ed's GPS) in 5 hours and 10 minutes or so. Nice to see an undeveloped peak in VT
All photos: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/568439560CPBOCj
Tim
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