Camels Hump is a Vermont 4000-footer situated outdoors of Huntington, Vermont. It’s a simple climb for those who hike up the Burrows Path, simply 4.4 miles with 2000 ft of elevation acquire. I climbed it at present after a six week hiatus as a consequence of a hip harm that I incurred in October, which has made life and mountain climbing a little bit of a problem. Whereas I’ve been capable of hike, I’ve been sticking to reasonable low-level forays. So it was good to get out at present and expertise my first peak-bagging hike of the season in winter circumstances.
Not being an area, it was a bit difficult to determine what to anticipate when it comes to path circumstances since Vermont has such a small mountain climbing neighborhood, in comparison with NH’s White Mountains, and one which is so dispersed. There’s no central clearing home for path circumstances or climate stories just like the New England Path Circumstances web site or the Mt Washington Climate Observatory. From what I can collect, some common hikers publish journey stories on the Fb Group “Mountain climbing in Vermont” and I plan to do the identical.
The newest journey report for Camels Hump was from two days prior and indicated that the Burrows Path was damaged out and might be hiked with simply Hillsounds. Since then a number of inches of rain fell on the area, considerably decreasing the snowpack within the decrease surrounding elevations. However not realizing the place the snowline was, I made a decision to pack snowshoes in case they had been wanted. They weren’t, however I believe I’ll find yourself carrying them way more ceaselessly this winter within the absence of plentiful path beta and if I enterprise over to the Adirondacks, the place they’re legally required.
The Burrows Path climbs up at a gradual tempo, at about 1000′ per mile, which is a wholesome fee of ascent. The temperature was brisk, about 15 levels, with a notable breeze. I used to be testing out a brand new layering system with a fleece hoody and an insulated softshell and whereas they had been too heat beneath 3000′, they labored nicely collectively after I bought larger and it bought colder.
The Burrows Path involves a clearing after 2.1 miles. From there, it’s a brief distance to the open summit. I began up and caught up with a fellow named Invoice who I’d met on the climb, simply earlier than we each popped out of the krumholz and into full publicity. We stepped out into the open collectively and hiked as much as the summit earlier than heading again down pretty shortly to get out of the wind. The views had been restricted by low-lying cloud, but it surely was good to be on an above-treeline summit once more and I relished the second.
We descended collectively and struck up an amiable dialog, sharing contact data once we arrived on the trailhead. Invoice climbs Mansfield and Camels Hump usually and I believe we’ll group up sooner or later. I’m excited about gridding the Vermont 4ks this winter (mountain climbing all of them in every month), and it’s at all times good to peakbag with a good friend.
