Camels Hump VT

(4083)

Trail: Monroe Trail
Date: April 2007
Attending: Simone, & John Chicoine
Miles: 6.8 miles round trip Time: 4.5hrs
huts, / shelters / camping site:
Weather: Cool clear and pre-black fly hiking,
These are not my pictures. Camels Hump is one the most prominent mountains in the state of Vermont. Although as far as 4K’s go it just barely makes the grade by a mere 83 feet, it (Like all the 4K’s in Vermont) draw a peak pager attention. One of only 5, 4K’s in Vermont, Camels Hump offers people driving through the central section of Vermont spectacular vistas from any high spot within 50 miles of it. It’s one of those mountains that keeps you peering and pointing at it like a little child every time a clearing on the side of the roadway opens up a momentary view.

And so it was for Simone and I, for at least a full hour of driving we kept experiencing momentary views of this spectacular mountain. Pointing and waiting with excitement for the next opportunity to check it out from another vantage point. Simone and I weren’t at all familiar with the 4K’s in Vermont so we felt like we were experiencing something new. We had never really even considered the Vermont 4K’s as any kind of goal. (Did I mention there’s only 5,,,) Its not like it’s some intentional challenge like the New Hampshire 4K’s ??? Is It?

We were for the first time in our lives, “Vacationing in Vermont”. We really didn’t have any agenda for the week. For that matter, we had planned to vacation in Rhode Island, but the weather forecast predicted bad weather in southern New England and nice weather to the north,,, So! It literally was just a question of turning right out of the driveway to head south, or turning left to head north,,, I made up my mind to turn left, as I was stopped at the end of the driveway.

Anyway,,, we had spent several days in Quechee & Woodstock, and decided to drive to Burlington to try the Burlington Rail Trail. For some reason we decided to pull off the highway between the two, for a stop in Waterbury Vt. For lunch, and ended up at the Green Mountain Coffee Visitors center. On a lark, I had to ask the clerk, what the name of that mountain we kept seeing was and if she knew anything about it. Not only did she have information,,, (An index card of attractions in the area), she had climbed it herself and as she remembered it, it was less than a 5 hour round trip. Well that clinched it for us,,, A real Vermont 4K, with plenty of time, no other plans and a hand written trail guide.

The hike up Monroe trail was very typical of any New England 4K. To say that we really couldn’t come up with anything of any particular note about the trail emphasizes just how typical it was. We did experience some manageable snow on the upper sections of the trail, (Simone was in sneakers.), but other than that, we got nothing… Within 100 yards of the summit, we reached an open plateau clearing above the tree line where quite a few other hikers has gathered in kind of a Pre & Post summit stop. The summit itself is a bit of a rock scramble to a small pinnacle of a knob that really doesn’t have enough room for more than a small group of people. For this time of year and considering the base was so warm, we were surprised to see that the sumit scramble was going to be up a snow path. I was experiencing a serious buzz on the summit from the excitement of the climb, the adrenalin of the hike, and the caffeine from a large, (but tasty) Green Mountain Coffee! (I DON’T DO CAFFEINE!) I felt like I was going to have a freaken heart attack up there!

All in all we were both glad to have hiked our first Vermont 4K; from that moment on we began to consider it the first of 5. We were officially back into it. Peak-Baggers with an agenda. Slaves to the list.