The final time I hiked over Camels Hump Mountain, a 4000-footer in Vermont, was in 2008 after I hiked the Lengthy Path. Now in 2024, some 16 years later, my aim was to hike all the opposite trails that go up, down, and round Camels Hump as a result of I’m pursuing the Facet-by-Facet patch given out by the Inexperienced Mountain Membership for mountaineering all the trails that result in the Lengthy Path from the edges.
The Facet-to-Facet path checklist is fairly modest by trail-bagging requirements, with solely 88 trails totaling 166 miles. However they’re distributed alongside the 273-mile size of the Lengthy Path and might require a whole lot of driving to get to. There’s the added problem that lots of their trailheads are on seasonal forest service roads that could be inaccessible in the course of the winter, successfully limiting the portion of the yr that they are often hiked. Just a few trails additionally require mountaineering parts of the Lengthy Path, akin to shelter spurs, so I’ll should re-hike parts of the Lengthy Path once more to succeed in them, nevertheless it’s all good enjoyable.
Camels Hump is a well-liked vacation spot in Vermont, and when you can climb the height through the Lengthy Path, there are a number of different routes attainable as nicely. Some trails loop across the mountain, so you possibly can create intricate routes that comply with a number of trails. That was my plan for this journey.
Right here’s a turn-by-turn route abstract that lists the paths I adopted, the space in miles for every, and the path of journey, which I wanted to write down down so I wouldn’t head within the mistaken path at a number of the junctions. The aim of this sport was to hike as many trails of their entirety with out repeating sections. The full distance of this journey was just below 15 miles with 5200′ of elevation achieve.
- Forest Metropolis Path – 0.8 East
- Burrows Forest Metropolis Connector – 0.2 Northwest
- Burrows Path – 2.1 Northeast
- Lengthy Path – 0.8 North
- Alpine Path – 1.8 South, then West
- Lengthy Path – 0.5 North
- Monroe Path – 1.8 East
- Dean Path 0.3 South West
- Hump Brook Tenting Space Spur – 0.2 Southeast
- Campsite
- Hump Brook Tenting Space Spur – 0.2 West
- Monroe Path – 1.3 East
- Monroe Path – 1.3 West
- Dean Path – 0.8 Southwest
- Allis Path – 0.3 Southeast
- Lengthy Path – 0.2 West
- Forest Metropolis Path- 2.2 West
I needed to ford a small stream crossing close to the start of the Forest Metropolis Path: the Inexperienced Mountain Membership was constructing a brand new one after I handed. Not that it issues all that a lot as a result of many of the trails I adopted on Camels Hump had water streaming down them. That is Vermont, in any case!
I adopted that path to the Forest Metropolis – Burrows Connector after which headed up the Burrows Path, which is kind of fashionable. It begins pretty straightforward after which turns into tougher by way of rockiness as you ascend, climbing steadily till you attain a clearing on the map labeled as Hut Clearing. From there, it’s simply 0.5 miles to the summit of Camels Hump.
There, I ran right into a thru-hiker named Garmin, whom I’d met two days earlier on the Birch Glen shelter after I’d hiked up the Beane Path for my side-to-side. She was sitting on the summit for almost an hour after I arrived. We stated our hellos and chatted briefly earlier than she took off and headed north. I quickly adopted, additionally heading north and descending to the Alpine Path.
The Alpine Path loops across the east facet of Camels Hump. Though it’s not listed on my Avenza map, the path signage lists an Alpine Path North and an Alpine Path South. The Alpine Path North is kind of ledgy with intermittent views to the east. These ledges had been slippery as a result of they had been moist, so I took it straightforward, not desirous to fall. The north part ends at a junction with the Monroe Path earlier than turning into Alpine Path South, passing the wreckage of an airplane crash. You possibly can nonetheless see the place the touchdown gear was hooked up to the wing. The path climbs again as much as the Lengthy Path simply south of the summit, and I continued to summit Camels Hump for the second time that day.
I felt drained, particularly since I used to be carrying an in a single day pack to sleep on the mountain. So I descended through the Monroe Path and turned up the Dean Path to succeed in the Hump Tent web site. It is a giant tent web site with tent platforms, a bear field, and a delegated consuming space. I pitched my tent, ate a sizzling meal, after which dozed for some time earlier than falling asleep till the following morning.
I used to be up early, ate a hearty breakfast, and adopted the Monroe Path down the east facet, solely to hike again up once more. I nonetheless needed to return to the height’s west facet to succeed in my automotive. I adopted the Dean Path once more to the Allis Path, which was probably the most stunning path in Camels Hump and one which most likely doesn’t get a lot use. it’s solely 0.3 miles lengthy however passes a effective viewpoint of the summit with a bench and a plaque honoring David Morse. It reads “1914-1999. Might all who cross this fashion be impressed to like this land as he did. Sept 2000. Montpelier part. GMC.”
I continued again to the Lengthy Path and adopted it south to the Montclair Glen Lodge, the place I’d spent the night time after I hiked the Lengthy Path in 2008. Solely that previous shelter had since been torn down and changed with a brand new one in 2009 (see prime picture). From there, I hiked down the part of the Forest Metropolis Path that I hadn’t hiked beforehand again to my automotive.
What struck me on this backpacking journey, the primary I’ve performed in Vermont in almost 16 years, is how well-maintained the Inexperienced Mountain Membership trails are. Whereas the GMC’s constitution is to guard the Lengthy Path, it’s clear that additionally they put an infinite quantity of effort into retaining the facet trails in fine condition, too, significantly in a high-use space like Camels Hump. Given the small measurement of the GMC in contrast to an enormous group just like the AMC, that’s fairly spectacular. I can’t wait to discover the remainder of the side-to-side trails on future hikes.