On Saturday Poison Ivy and I climbed Camel's Hump in Northern Vermont via Burrow's Trail. It was the third time on Camel's Hump for each of us, although neither of us had been there in the winter before and neither of us had been on Burrow's Trail.
There were a lot of people with the same idea. Not only was the parking lot at the trailhead crowded when we arrived, but while we were gearing up a bus full of hikers from Quebec showed up. We would be passing hikers and dogs up and down the trail all day long. The reason for the hike's popularity wasn't hard to figure out; it was excellent hiking weather. Not only was it warm for early March, but we started without a cloud in the sky, and only had a few cirrus clouds develop during the day. With all the traffic, the trail was well packed down. I wore microspikes, switching to crampons partway up, which I wore the rest of the hike. PI went from barebooting to snowshoes, going back to bare boots during the descent.
It was a winter wonderland there. Once we got to the paper birch and fir forest all of the fir trees were covered in snow. The bright sunlight on the snow seen against the deep blue sky made for some vivid sights. Burrow's Trail gets steep in sections, but nothing extreme. There were some sections where the taller member of our party had trouble fitting under overhanging branches and one large fir blowdown.
After we attained the Long Trail it was a fairly steep but short hike up to the summit. There was a stiff wind in the more exposed areas, dropping the effective temperature, but we put on all of the winter clothing we'd been lugging up the mountain and were fine. The shortened trees there were covered in a thick crust of snow and rime, making them look like abstract sculptures. The views started earlier than when I was there last fall because of the elevated trail surface. And what great views they were. My first time on Camel's Hump there were very limited views. My second time there was an undercast, magnificent in its own right. This time there was not only no clouds to obscure anything, but a very clear atmosphere, giving sharp views from the Whites to the Dacks, and up and down the Green Mountains from Killington to Whiteface.
After spending time at the summit gawking, taking pictures, and eating lunch in the lee of the summit, we headed back down the way we came. Poison Ivy said that she was experiencing some snow balling on her snowshoes during the descent, but neither of us had problems in our boots.
Thanks again to Poison Ivy for having me along for another great winter day in Vermont.
My pictures are online.--
Cumulus
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get
somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
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I need to get back there some day and see the views I should have gotten for myself. 
