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 purpose was to hike all the opposite trails that go up, down, and round Camels Hump as a result of I’m pursuing the Aspect-by-Aspect patch given out by the Inexperienced Mountain Membership for climbing all the trails that result in the Lengthy Path from the perimeters.
The Aspect-to-Aspect path record 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 may 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 climbing parts of the Lengthy Path, equivalent to shelter spurs, so I’ll must re-hike parts of the Lengthy Path once more to achieve them, but it surely’s all good enjoyable.
Camels Hump is a well-liked vacation spot in Vermont, and whilst you can climb the height by way of the Lengthy Path, there are a number of various routes potential as nicely. Some trails loop across the mountain, so you may 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 course of journey, which I wanted to write down down so I wouldn’t head within the incorrect course at among the junctions. The purpose of this recreation 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 – 0.2SE
- Campsite
- Hump Brook Tenting Space Spur – 0.2W
- Monroe Path – 1.3 East
- Monroe Path – 1.3 West
- Dean Path – 0.8 Southwest
- Allis Path – 0.3 South East
- 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. Not that it issues all that a lot as a result of many of the trails I adopted on Camels Hump has water streaming down them. That is Vermont in spite of everything!
I adopted that path to the Forest Metropolis – Burrows Connector after which headed up the Burrows Path, which is sort of common. It begins pretty straightforward after which turns into harder when it comes to 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 practically an hour after I arrived. We mentioned 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 aspect 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 sort of ledgy with intermittent views to the east. These ledges have been slippery as a result of they have been moist, so I took it straightforward, not eager 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 may 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 by way of the Monroe Path and turned up the Dean Path to achieve the Hump Tent website. This can be a massive tent website with tent platforms, a bear field, and a chosen consuming space. I pitched my tent, ate a scorching 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 aspect, solely to hike again up once more. I nonetheless needed to return to the height’s west aspect to achieve my automotive. I adopted the Dean Path once more to the Allis Path, which was essentially the most lovely 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 nice viewpoint of the summit with a bench and a plaque honoring David Morse. It reads “1914-1999. Might all who move 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 outdated 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 completed in Vermont in practically 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 unlimited quantity of effort into preserving the aspect trails in good condition, too, notably in a high-use space like Camels Hump. Given the small dimension 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.
