| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Camel's Hump, VT |
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 | Trails: |
Monroe Trail, Dean Trail, Long Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, July 5, 2013 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked in the upper lot with no problems, the lower lot had a number of cars in it too. The road is in rough shape in places however, in particular the climb up the hill to the parking lots requires a little care if you have low clearance. Manageable for sure though.
Construction equipment out on Camel's Hump Road repairing extensive damage throughout the length, I assume from Irene. Impressive erosion on the brook banks along the road is evident. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Standing/Running Water on Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Simple rock hops |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blowdowns of consequence, but holy mud pits Batman!
The Dean Trail was a stream for a couple tenths of a mile, and where it wasn't a stream, it was often a giant mud pit. Water bars definitely needed. The spur to the Hump Brook site was a stream about 6" deep at the top. The Long Trail along the ridge was major mud pits early, and wet and very slippery rocks higher up making for slow going. Between the Dean and Long Trail segments, some of the mud pits have definitely been there a while. The center of some is of unknown depth (>12") and the pits are 6+ feet wide. No rocks or anything that can be used to hop through them, some rocks or bog bridges would be a really good idea to prevent further damage.
Monroe Trail has many water bars that were all doing a good job of draining the trail (unlike the Dean Trail). A couple GMC members were out digging some new water bars on the Monroe Trail about 2 miles from the parking lot, so this trail should be in good shape to handle any water to come. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Just keep them on the trail/rocks on the summit area as there is delicate alpine vegetation around. Otherwise doable for trail dogs, only saw one though, a very wet golden retriever chilling on the summit :) |
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 | Bugs: |
Mosquitoes used my head as a race track loop during descent. Rather obnoxious, and a few are no longer living ;) Not too bad overall though. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Solo hike up to Camel's Hump today, so I ended up with a leisurely 9:30 start. Light sprinkles of rain at the start, but that ended quickly and it was merely overcast for the rest of the hike. It was a nice loop, but I did not enjoy the trail conditions on the upward portion of the loop (Dean/Long Trail). The summit caretaker did mention work was scheduled for some of the trails on the mountain, perhaps these will be among them.
Not much in the way of views from the summit unfortunately, just a few peeks between clouds here and there. Must return on a clearer day to enjoy what must be a spectacular summit! Many folks out and about on this day, the majority came up from the other side of the mountain it seemed. |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2013-07-08 |
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 | Link: |
 https://mattshikes.blogspot.com/ |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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