It was our first planned hike into “the north country” as a married couple! It was also the beginning of our “New England 67” list. Sure, we hiked while on our honeymoon (are you detecting a pattern here?), but this was our first “drive north for a few hours and add to our list of 4000 footers” kind of trip since our wedding.

As always, there was a bunch of planning ahead of time, studying the routes, locating trailheads, and the perennial weather-watch/countdown about 10 days prior to the trip. We planned a quick hike of Camel’s hump on our way north and a traverse Mts Ellen and Abraham on a section of Vermont’s Long Trail for our second day in VT.

For Camel’s Hump, we had a choice of routes to the summit – both were out-and-back options, one coming from the north, the other from the south-west; both relatively short. We’d decided on the southwest approach, following Burrow’s trail to intersect with the Long Trail, just north of Camel’s Hump Summit.

After a 3+hr drive, we arrived at the trailhead and were on the trail by 9:30am.  Following Burrows trail, it was just over 2.1 miles and 2500 ft elevation gain to its intersection with the Long Trail – a fairly short, but slightly steep and steady grade upward.

It was well worth the work!   On the summit, with the beautiful weather, we were rewarded with 360 degree views, the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain to the west, the White Mountains in the distant, and our planned Mts Ellen, Abraham and the Long Trail headed off southward.     For us, a few bites of cheese, and other lunchtime goodies, and we were off again, headed back to the car and off to the Mountain View Inn in Waitsfield.

Mts Ellen and Abraham

For the Mts Ellen and Abraham traverse, our plan was to park at Lincoln gap, about 10 miles from the Inn, and head northward on the Long Trail, summiting Mt. Abraham, follow the ridge to Mt. Ellen and return by the same route, back to the car. In all, about a 12+ mile hike.

The Waitsfield/Warren Department of Public Works changed our plans. Signs on the Lincoln Gap road in Warren said the road ahead was closed, though it didn’t say there was no access to the Lincoln Gap and the Long Trail. We were disappointed to find a big hole in the ground where the road was supposed to be. So after a quick consultation of the map, we headed back north retracing our route to the Inn, and continuing up and around the ridge to the Jerusalem Trail on the western side of the ridge.

This little detour got us to the Jerusalem Trail trailhead and on the trail by about 10am – late to be starting a long hike.   Heading east on the trail, the gradual grade enabled us to make some good headway – at least initially.   As we approached the Long Trail, the grade increased and our pace slowed as the weather also began to deteriorate. Turns out the cloud ceiling was only about 3500ft, so for the last ½ mile on the Jerusalem trail and the 1.8 mile section of the Long Trail north of Mt. Ellen, we were in the clouds – making for a wet (though not rainy) walk.  No pictures other than from the trailhead.

Arriving at the Mt. Ellen summit, visibility was about 50 ft, enough to see the Sugarbush chairlift, and share a few stories with a trio of women who had been traveling northward on the Long trail from the Battell shelter the night before (remember the overnight rain?)

Our plan had been to continue south on Long trail to Mt. Abraham, then turn around and retrace our steps, though with our late start and the poor visibility and conditions, we just decided to turnaround, leaving Mt. Abraham for another day.