Sunday, June 8, 2025
Waterbury, VT (USA)
After several weekends filled with rain, today's forecast of overcast and cooler was a welcome change for my fellow residents of the Upper Valley. For my part, I'd eyed some kind of hike/paddle combo but I hadn't settled on a destination until I checked the weather on the Long Trail. Things looked good on the central ridge in Vermont so I decided to head west and try to hike a section on the north side of the Camel's Hump. Departing my condo at about 0800, I made good time (via I-89) to the Waterbury area. I did encounter fog on the way but, by the time I exited to Interstate, I could see blue sky above. Using a different route than I've followed towards the Camel's Hump, I found myself driving through downtown Waterbury and, after turning onto Winooski Road, started seeing signs for the Cross Vermont Adventure Trail. This was the first time I'd seen the route in the area and it was nice to add some more context for yet another Rail Trail I've been working on since I moved back to the Northeast. Following River Road (mostly dirt/gravel), I made my way to the access road for the Camel's Hump and headed up the side of the mountain. The last time I tried this road (NOV 2021), I was unable to find parking at the little dirt pull-offs that lined the side of the road near the trailhead. This visit, fortunately, occurred after the (recent?) construction of a large gravel parking lot - even better, there were spots left when I arrived (0930). I got ready for my first real climb of the season (Camel's Hump is greater than 4K feet) but then got sidetracked by an older couple who had parked their BMW Sprint Van nearby - before I knew it, I'd used up an extra 30 minutes picking their brain about Van Life. This was OK, though, because I really needed to wait an additional 60 minutes to follow NAUI guidelines about elevation within 24 hours of a Scuba Dive... Still, I decided I'd be alright and headed towards the gravel path (Monroe Trail), located beyond a metal gate, that would take me to the summit (1000). The signage didn't begin until about half a mile later but it soon became clear that I'd have a roughly four mile outbound leg. Temps were pleasant (60s F) and there was a light breeze. As I passed the information kiosk, I checked my "FarOut" app and learned that I'd be climbing about 2.5K by the end of the ascent. At that moment, I had some delusions of big trail miles, including maybe trying to hike some additional miles to connect to an earlier Long Trail hike that stopped at the Bamforth Ridge Shelter. These ideas soon vanished, though, as memories of the old AT slog came back into my mind. Before long, I was just thinking about putting one foot in front of the other on the partly muddy path. I had to navigate around some fallen trees and larger boulders and it seemed like a million years ago since I used to do those things every weekend... Within the first mile, I passed a large group of youngsters - they were having trouble with gear - but then the older couple from the Sprint Van blew by me. At that point, I learned they'd first met while hiking the Long Trail. Continuing uphill, I kept dithering about my desire to log more LT miles or to just reach the top of Camel's Hump. Things came into focus when I fell in with a young man named Rob who was on a pace I could follow. It turned out that he was also a Veteran (Blackhawk pilot) and we spent the next hour talking about flying and hiking and travel. Before long, we'd passed even more folks (who may have underestimated the difficulty of the trail) and I'd forgotten any plans I had to deviate from the main trail. This turned out to be the best decision, really, since my recovery from heel bursitis has remained in the back of my mind - why tempt fate with something too hard? One funny thing that happened along the way was that a group of youngsters got behind us - we tried to allow them to pass but they said they were happy with the pace I was setting at that point. I tried not to be too slow after that... As we reached the alpine zone, it became clear that the Canadian wildfire smoke was going to prevent any kind of long vistas. Still, there were plenty of shadowy peaks to see and the Winooski Valley was very pretty below us. After reaching the Long Trail, we walked south (less than half a mile) to the summit. There were plenty of people waiting for us! It was possible, though difficult, to trace out the ridge to where I believe Mount Abraham and Mount Lincoln were (to the south) and Mount Mansfield was (to the north). Very pretty - I'm sure it's even better without all the smoke... Departing from the top after about 20 minutes, Rob and I made our way back town the mountain. We had to be quite careful because of the wet conditions but we made good time to the parking lot (arrived just after 1400). In the end, I'd walked over eight miles, including a healthy climb and descent, in just over four hours. Not too bad - I was still wondering if my foot would feel good later in the day (good news: it did!). Saying goodbye to Rob (and wishing him well with several life and career milestones he's about to achieve), I headed back to Waterbury and stopped for lunch at Prohibition Pig. Between 1455 and 1530, I enjoyed a delicious meal and tried two (half pours) of their new beers. There still seemed to be time (and the weather was still good) so I looked for a large body of water nearby. I found one, Berlin Pond, that was on the way home and, after getting gas (and free items) at Cumbies in Montpelier (1545), I parked in the rooftop boat launch area at the north end of the pond. Between 1610 and 1810, I paddled the full circumference of the lake (counterclockwise). Even though I was only a few hundred yards from I-89, the lack of visual evidence of humans (coupled with the many birds, dragonflies, butterflies and other wildlife) was striking. Along with the solitude, I enjoyed the flurry of dandelion "fluff" that fell around me like snow throughout the paddle. The conditions were perfect for me and Tequila Sunrise and, even though I was tired from my earlier hike, I pushed myself to log about five miles on the water. One funny part of this adventure on the water was that I had to solve a puzzle (outbound and inbound); there was some kind of floating island, with large bushes growing on it, that had very narrow - and practically invisible - channels between the launch area end of the pond and the larger lake. This made things interesting but I did enjoy the closeness to nature - one loon was unfazed by my closeness and a red-winged blackbird nearly hit me as he made a beeline towards his mate. Overall, a nice paddle! After getting my kayak stowed on top of Nessie again, I headed towards home - via I-89, I was back at my condo by 1915. This was a great day in the Green Mountain State - I hope to have a few more like it before I move! Long Trail Today = 0.2 miles / Grand Total LT = 134.6 miles