Camel's Hump

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I have skied in Vermont before (Smuggler's Notch, Stowe and Sugarbush), but had never hiked there. The drive across from New York, where I was staying, was clouded in a thick pea-soup fog that obsured the miles of farm land from Lake Champlain. The skies were clearing by the time I reached Camel's Hump state park.

I parked in the state lot on the west side. Is it just me or is the Subaru the state car of Vermont? Half of the cars in the lot were Subarus. I hiked up the Burroughs trail which was short at 2.5 miles and while not steep was at a constant grade that did not let up. Sadly, the view from the nice open summit were shrouded by the fog/haze. Otherwise one would be able to see the Adirondack high peaks to the west and the White mountains to the east. As it was you could hardly see Mt Mansfield. I returned via the Long trail and Forest City trail. It was lot more fun as it was steep and over open rock in places and had some fun scrambling sections. It also afforded a few views of the 'Hump' itself. The return route was listed at 3.5 miles but it seemed like it was more and it was made longer still when I got that air-headed Black Eyed Peas song in my head and couldn't get it out.

This is a nice peak to hike but I would recommend making sure the weather would make for clear views and I would take the Forest City trail in both directions for a more interesting climb.