Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

The planned highlight for this trip was going to be an ascent up Camel's Hump (4083'), which I believe is the third highest mountain in VT. The first highest would have been great but the recent trip reports we read suggested the equipment and skill set necessary to do that safely would have been out of our wheelhouse, so we settled on Camel's Hump as it was said to be a good challenge with spectacular views.

The frigid temperatures were definitely a concern, but not enough of a deterrent to not give it a try at least. Everyone we told about our plan thought we were nuts but we read trip reports suggesting people had been up to the summit within the past couple of weeks. We donned many layers, carried a couple more, made sure to let people back home know our plan and set out hoping for the best. There are several route options to the summit but we chose the Monroe Trail as it seemed reasonably sheltered and a not entirely unsafe distance to attempt on such a cold day: http://www.vtstateparks.com/pdfs/camels_hump_trail...

The first part of the trail had been packed down earlier that morning by some ski tourers, which was reassuring as it meant we weren't the only ones crazy enough to be up there that day. We met them on the way back down and they warned us it was pretty windy up higher. Once their tracks stopped around 2000' it was pretty deep and slow going. Our gear of choice was Microspikes and poles, which worked well but snowshoes would also not have been out of the question. There was definitely a chunk of time once we were forging our own trail that I questioned if this mission was going to be successful, but I was glad that we pressed on as there were plenty of easier sections later on up. We were pretty gleeful when we reached a plateau at the intersection of a bunch of trails and saw it was only 0.3 miles to the summit as we knew we were going to make it. Until this point, we had been relatively comfortable but once we left the forest for the exposed last part, things got pretty gnarly in a hurry with some ferocious winds and what felt like an instantaneous drop of about 20 degrees. We reached the summit and took a few quick photos before we were forced to get the hell out of dodge, and it was a relief to get back down to the plateau and into the trees.

While definitely not the smartest day for this adventure, the cold temperature made for the bluest ski I have ever seen and amazing views across neighbouring mountain ranges. We descended as efficiently as possible as our water, which we'd taken great measures to keep flowing, froze within a minute of being up at the summit (fortunately I had a flask of whisky with me though, which served its purpose on the way back down). Once we were moving, the temperature was relatively comfortable again although it definitely took a few hours before I felt like I had defrosted completely.

Despite coming away with a bit of frostbite on three fingers, this was a great adventure, and while it would have been great if it had been warm enough to spend a bit more time on the summit, it couldn't have been a more pristine winter day for some trail time!

C • Impressive! 9

Made another trip this weekend down to MA and VT in search of amazing trails and beers. Drove from Kitchener to West Stockbridge, MA on Thursday evening in order to spend some time on the Appalachian Trail Friday morning in Beartown State Forest: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/reg...

Did a super fun loop on the Mt. Wilcox trail then cut over to the AT to loop back to the car. Explored some AT shelters and enjoyed reading through the log books. Weather was perfect and we had the trails to ourselves. Tons of snow in the area and microspikes were perfect. A great way to earn the many, many beers that would be consumed that evening!

CrossFit