NEWS

Quarterly of the SUMMER 2019 The mission of the Green Mountain Club is to make the mountains play a larger­ part in the life of the people­ by ­protecting and maintaining the Long System and fostering, through education,­ the stewardship of Vermont’s hiking and mountains.

Quarterly of the PHOTO BY JOCELYN HEBERT PHOTO BY JOCELYN Green Mountain Club Sleeping in the trees near Goddard Shelter Michael DeBonis, Executive Director Jocelyn Hebert, News Editor Richard Andrews, Volunteer Copy Editor CONTENTS Green Mountain Club Summer 2019, Volume 79, No. 2 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road Waterbury Center, Vermont 05677 FEATURES Phone: (802) 244-7037 Fax: (802) 244-5867 E-mail: [email protected] 7 / Privy Portrait: William B. Douglas Privy Website: greenmountainclub.org by Jocelyn Hebert TheLong Trail News is published by The Green Mountain Club, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded 8 / Hiking the Monroe Skyline with GMC Volunteer in 1910. In a 1971 Joint Resolution, the Vermont Legislature designated the Green Mountain Club the Pete Saile “founder, sponsor, defender and protector of the Long Trail System...” by Jocelyn Hebert Contributions of manuscripts, photos, illustrations, and news are welcome from members and nonmembers. 10 / Sun or Shadow: Mental Health and the Outdoors

The opinions expressed byLTN contributors and by Rob Rives advertisers are not necessarily those of GMC. GMC reserves the right to refuse advertising that is not in 12 / Share Your Story keeping with the goals of the organization. by Scott Finn, Sandi Pierson, and Ann Fisher TheLong Trail News (USPS 318-840) is published quarterly by The Green Mountain Club, Inc., 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. 16 / Celebrating Staff Hiking Milestones Periodicals postage paid at Waterbury Center, VT, and by Mike DeBonis additional offices. Subscription is a benefit for GMC members. Approximately $5 of each member’s dues is 20 / 2018 End-to-Enders and Side-to-Siders used to publish the Long Trail News. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Long 24 / Kurt Melin Leaves GMC After 10 Years Trail News, 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. by Ilana Copel Copyright©2019 The Green Mountain Club, Inc., 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. Permission to reproduce in any form any of the material in this publication without prior written DEPARTMENTS approval of The Green Mountain Club, Inc. is granted only to individuals for their own personal hiking 3 / From the President 28/ Trail Mix 34 / Sections ­convenience. 4 / Mountain Views 30 / Inn Profile 36/ Board Report 6 / Blue Blazes 32 / Land Stewardship 38 / Journey’s End Cover: 2018 end-to-ender and side-to-sider 26 / Field Notes 33 / Volunteers Doug Lloyd (“Trundler”) looking out over Little Rock Pond. Photo by Jocelyn Hebert. From the President

e all set goals and then work Woods, a comical tale of two guys hiking the hard to attain them. Although , had just been published, Wsome are easier to achieve than and it piqued our interest in getting outdoors others, meeting even our smallest aspirations to enjoy the beautiful right brings satisfaction. The day I completed here. my Long Trail end-to-end hike—a goal I The adventure took some planning! Some worked toward for many years—brought me hikers just pick up a backpack and head out extraordinary satisfaction, a sense of pride, and the door. Not us. I cannot tell you how many reason to celebrate. times we went back and forth to our local gear Since the 1940s, GMC has recognized store. Backpacks, sleeping bags, hiking boots, hikers who completed the Long Trail in the rain gear, cooking equipment—you name Long Trail News. Most of these hikers, known it, we researched and bought it. Then came as end-to-enders, hiked from the southern decisions about food, our itinerary, and car terminus at the -Vermont spotting. This was not a one-summer effort; in border to the northern terminus at the fact, it unfolded over nine summers. Tom Candon Vermont-Canada border. Some completed My hiking partner was unable to complete their end-to-end hike in a few weeks, while the trail, so I continued walking sections GMC’s Director of Field Programs, the late others, like me, hiked the trail in sections over solo, with my son, or—fortunately for me— Dave Hardy. Meeting Dave was a memorable many years. with the Green Mountain Club, which was experience, and on the same hike I met—and My Long Trail adventure started when celebrating its 100th anniversary by doing an our group lost—Prickles the Porcupine, a friend suggested that he and I try to hike extended section-to-section Long Trail relay. the famous stuffed GMC mascot for the the entire trail. Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the My first GMC relay hike was led by end-to-end adventure. Happily, Prickles was found, and we all finished the GMC’s celebratory end-to-end relay at Journey’s End, simultaneously completing my own end-to- end hike. Looking back at my photos and re-reading my trail journal certainly has refreshed my memories of that great experience. I’d like to congratulate last season’s end-to-enders, and wish those of you undertaking the effort this year an experience as enjoyable and memorable as my own. —Tom Candon, President

Excerpt from Tom’s Long Trail Journal PHOTO BY KRISTIN MCLANE

• LONG TRAIL NEWS SUMMERHiker ascending 2019 | Jay 3 Peak Mountain Views

Bourn Pond trail it was. And I don’t recall seeing any blazes As 40-plus-year hikers on the southern Long as I followed as close as I could to the two GMC Officers Trail who are very fond of Bourn Pond and the of them almost running through the woods, Tom Candon, President , we were fascinated to leaping from small ledges into the snow. We Sheri Larsen, Vice President read Preston Bristow’s excellent commentary Stephen Klein, Treasurer made it to the bottom as light was fading, and Ed O’Leary, Secretary in the winter 2018 magazine. We have long headed to the parking lot. It was empty. We GMC Directors wondered why Bourn [Pond] and the Branch were left behind! (Later, the drivers said each Robynn Albert, General Lars Botzojorns, General Pond Trail area in general seemed forgotten had thought the other had us). Michelle Connor, Burlington stepchildren to the Stratton Pond-Stratton We were not about to walk to Richmond Hope Crifo, General Elisabeth Fenn, Sterling Mountain area with the LT/AT in terms of or Waterbury, so we crossed the Winooski on Bob Fish, Manchester upkeep. Now we are looking forward to finding the railroad trestle, ran across both lanes of the Russ Ford, Northern Frontier James Fritz, Connecticut the old route of the Long Trail prior to 1978! Interstate to Route 2, and hitchhiked back to Jean Haigh, Northeast Kingdom Tom Kahl, Upper Valley-Ottauquechee —Craig and Amy Barry Burlington, arriving about 8 p.m. And we all Anne Janeway, General thought it was a most enjoyable day. Amy Kelsey, General Wayne Krevetski, General Adventures with Don and George Even though I never saw them after George Longenecker, Montpelier I lost track of both George Pearlstein and Don graduation, I am really happy to know they Nancy McClellan, General Rich Minogue, Bennington Wallace until reading their obituaries, several contributed so much to the GMC and were John Page, Immediate Past President Mike Peckar, Worcester years apart, in the Long Trail News. In both still hiking. Kenna Rewcastle, UVM Board Fellow cases, I was sad I hadn’t caught up with them —Karin Gottlieb Ira Sollace, General Larry Walter, Killington after I returned to Vermont to live in Dann Van Der Vliet, General Howard VanBenthuysen, General 2001. Matt Wels, Brattleboro Don and George were stalwart Bruce Yelton, Bread Loaf John Zaber, General members of the UVM Outing Club, Vacant, Laraway which was very active when I was GMC Staff Directory at UVM in the early 1960s. They Main Telephone: (802) 244-7037 were both older than the average Jason Buss, Director of Finance E-mail: [email protected] undergraduate, and maybe it was in Phone: (802) 241-8214 deference to their advanced age that Ilana Copel, Field Supervisor Email: [email protected] we elected them President (Wallace) Phone: (802) 241-8218 and Vice President (Pearlstein). Lenny Crisostomo, Database Manager E-mail: [email protected] I may have written about this Phone: (802) 241-8325 memorable occasion when I saw Michael DeBonis, Executive Director George’s obit, but it’s one that will be E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (802) 241-8212 forever etched on my mind. The outing club Water color by end-to-ender Kati Christoffel Alicia DiCocco, Director of Development made a trek to Camel’s Hump in late October, E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (802) 241-8322 when the was still in fall, An Appreciative End-to-Ender Mollie Flanigan, Conservation Manager but the Hump had picked up significant snow. I finished my northbound end-to-end hike E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (802) 241-8217 We drove to the parking lot, and 10 or 12 of on Sunday, Sept. 23 [2018], and I wanted to T Hanson, Development Assistant us headed up to the top. We all summited, thank you for maintaining such a special trail E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (802) 882-8107 and then Don and George invited me to join for anyone to hike. I had a fantastic experience, Jocelyn Hebert, Long Trail News Editor them descending a different trail from the and was consistently impressed with the E-mail: [email protected] group, which was going back the same way they trailwork, shelters, and lovely privies you all Phone: (802) 241-8215 Matt Krebs, Operations/Publications Coordinator ascended. do so much work on. All of the caretakers I E-mail: [email protected] I was enormously flattered, and didn’t really met were so kind and interesting. Vermont will Phone: (802) 241-8321 consider the ramifications of keeping up with forever hold a special place in my heart! Kristin McLane, Membership and Communications Coordinator them, but off we went. I don’t remember which —Kati Christoffel Email: [email protected] Phone: (802) 241-8324 Amy Potter, Visitor Center Manager E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (802) 241-8210 Long Trail News Welcomes Your Comments. Robert Rives, Education and Volunteer Coordinator ­Letters received may be edited for length and clarity. GMC reserves the right to decline to Email: [email protected] Phone: (802) 241-8329 publish those considered ­inappropriate. Letters may not be published. Keegan Tierney, Director of Field Programs Email: [email protected] SEND TO: Jocelyn Hebert, [email protected] or Phone: (802) 241-8320 Letters to the Editor, GMC, 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 05677

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Hikers on south side of Camel’s Hump summit LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 5 Blue Blazes Green Mountain Trail

s a newer Vermonter, it seems to me directly below, to the Coolidge Range, Connector Trail and is another .6 mile to the all one hears about in the summer is with the Valley, the city of parking lot at U.S. Forest Service Road 10 in Athe abundance of swimming holes, Rutland and its environments, and the Mount Tabor. and everyone knows the best one. I decided distant Adirondacks. A short distance My hike started at the road, just across to try them all and pick my personal favorite. beyond the spur trail, the Green from the Big Branch Picnic Area. The trail That led me to a hike to Little Rock Pond. Mountain Trail terminates at an open immediately struck me as just lovely—well It’s a great perk of working at the Green rock, giving excellent views to the east graded and soft as it slowly climbed up to the Mountain Club that I can ask around the and south. The route which the Long ridge of Green Mountain on an old woods office for recommendations, which is how I Trail follows to the south can be seen road. learned that the Green Mountain Trail is an for many miles, and the view extends Amid the forest of mature hemlock untraveled gem. Combined with the Long toward Manchester and the Taconics. and white pine, there are occasional views Trail/Appalachian Trail, it makes an easy The actual summit of Green Mountain through the trees to both the west and the loop day hike. is not attained as it is heavily wooded. east. Although more grown in than when TheLong Trail News of August, 1958, The length of this new trail is .7 mile.” the trail was built, the views are nonetheless recorded the creation of this trail: a pleasant surprise on such a wooded trail, and Little Rock Pond can be The area around Little Rock glimpsed below from one ledge. Pond is, we think, one of the most North of the summit the trail beautiful spots on the Long Trail. descends more steeply, passing many So it is a pleasure to report that patches of lichens and lush mosses. As Green Mountain, the mountain much as I love lichens and mosses, my that slopes down to the Pond’s favorite feature of the trail was a length edge, now has a trail made to its of exposed rock that appears to be the summit. Over a weekend in June, spine of the mountain itself. Perhaps Ben Ralston, with the Scoutmaster this is the “interesting humpback rock” of Troop 48 of Schenectady, [New mentioned 60 years ago. York,] and six of the patrol leaders The northern end of Little Rock of his troop camped at Little Pond, where the Green Mountain Trail Rock Pond, and completed the terminates, is a wonderful swimming construction of this new trail. The spot with calm waters and a distinct following is Ben’s report: absence of other visitors. While we “Beginning at the leanto hadn’t seen a single other hiker so far, bridge, the trail makes a gradual the southern end of the pond had many ascent to the low part of the hikers and swimmers hanging out. ridge, then continues along The hike up and over Green this ridge to an interesting Mountain provides enough exertion humpback rock, which it to warm up so swimming is a welcome traverses. Just above this rock relief. The 2.5 miles on the Long Trail an open viewpoint is reached, out afterward are an easy walk back to giving the hiker an excellent view the road to end an enjoyable day trip. of Rutland and the Coolidge —Kristin McLane, Membership and Range. Continuing its ascent, Communications Coordinator PHOTO BY KRISTIN MCLANE the trail alternates between Exposed rock on Green Mountain spruce woods and open rocks, with several views of Little Rock Pond The Green Mountain Trail has since below. Soon a spur trail is reached, been extended so that it now runs from the GMC Resources to Get You There: which leads a short distance west to pond 4.1 miles over the summit of Green Manchester Area Hiking Map an open rock. From this point, the Mountain at 2,509 feet to a picnic area. Long Trail Map view extends from South Wallingford From there it becomes the Green Mountain Long Trail Guide

6 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB PRIVY PORTRAIT William B. Douglas Privy

a privacy screen. As one field staff mem- Mountain Club’s backcountry waste ber said, “It’s very chic!” management program or to support our effort to eliminate pit privies Location: As they say in the real estate from the backcountry, please visit business, it’s all about location, location, greenmountainclub.org/privyproject. location. A high water table and flat land —Jocelyn Hebert cause very poor drainage near the privy Long Trail News Editor site. The pit floods, compromising both the structure and the environment.

Future: The Long Trail Patrol, our southern field assistant, and Brattleboro Sec- tion members will disassemble the remaining pieces of the pit privy and replace it with a moldering privy on higher ground so it will be less prone to flooding. Most moldering privies on the Long Brattleboro Section member Geo Roy at Trail use a double crib. Waste mixed William B. Douglas privy with wood shavings is held in one crib until it is full, and then the privy seat is moved to the second Name: Privies on the Long Trail System crib. While the second crib fills, don’t have their own names—unless the the waste in the first crib slowly members of sections or the field staff dub composts. Nobody needs to dig new them: The Cooper Pooper, and Privy holes. Moldering privies function well with a View, come to mind. Instead, they with little maintenance, and reduce share the names of the shelters they serve. the risk of watershed and wildlife Perhaps this is best—it keeps things contamination. simple. And can you imagine the colorful Made Possible By: The replace- names that might otherwise arise? ment of the William B. Douglas privy was made possible by the generosity of Year Built: 1979. The William B. Doug- Martha Stitelman and Hubey Folsom, las Shelter privy is 40! But its functional who are members of the Brattleboro life has come to an end, and the privy will and Bennington sections, along with be replaced this season. The $140 donat- a grant from the Appalachian Trail ed by Aldie Gannett in 1979 to build the Conservancy for materials. privy was money well spent. Pit Privies Remaining: Last Description: The existing privy is a year 17 pit privies on the simple pit design. That’s a four-foot-deep Long Trail System needed hand-dug hole with an enclosed wooden funding for replacement. structure above. Most of the William B. We’ve made significant Douglas privy, however, has rotted and progress, but we still been dismantled, leaving just the toilet have ten left. To learn with two partial walls leaning against it as more about the Green

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 7 Hiking the Monroe Skyline with GMC Volunteer Pete Saile A 23-Year Tradition on a Century-Old Trail By Jocelyn Hebert PHOTO BY JOCELYN HEBERT PHOTO BY JOCELYN

ow old were you when you member and an experienced outdoorsman, stove—out the front door of the camp!” became a Green Mountain Club with very young children at the time. One Pete says that as a young adult he didn’t Hmember? Pete Saile was just 16. year John invited 15-year-old Pete to join know many people who understood or shared Now in his early 60s, Pete’s more than 40- him and some friends on a wilderness trip to his passion for backpacking and the outdoors. year connection with the club has brought the Adirondacks to paddle a historic canoe He recalls conversations with co-workers over him, and many other hikers, a lot of new route. “I asked Mom and Dad, and they said, the years that went something like this: discoveries and much joy. ‘Sure.’ We did the Route of the Seven Carries, “So, what did you do this weekend?” Last July I joined Pete on a 12-mile group and I had a blast,” remembered Pete. “Well, some friends and I camped out in hike on the Monroe Skyline. This annual Pete’s world changed after that. His the White Mountains.” More often than not GMC Burlington Section outing, led by exposure to the outdoors expanded through his response was met with blank stares. Pete, starts at and traverses the his association with John, as they explored He started volunteering for GMC in high ridgeline to Appalachian Gap. Joining other areas in the of the 1984 when he became the French Camp Pete on this hike has been on my to-do list Adirondacks and on the Long Trail in the shelter adopter. After it was dismantled and for a long time—not only because I consider Green Mountains. “We even managed to do replaced by Bear Hollow Shelter in 1992, he it one of the most beautiful stretches of the some winter camping in the Whites—Great continued as the adopter there. “I was getting Long Trail, but because of Pete’s enthusiasm Gulf Wilderness, around Tuckerman. So, a great deal of satisfaction by giving back and energy, and my desire to learn more these experiences got me firmly oriented to an organization which, in turn, gave and about this charismatic and longtime GMCer. to the vast joys of being outdoors in all continues to give me so much,” said Pete. Pete is a native of Buskirk, New York, seasons, especially in winter for skiing As we hiked the Long Trail to Mount a tiny hamlet about 15 miles west of and snowshoeing,” Pete said. Abe, Pete checked in periodically to see how Bennington. His family connected with One of Pete’s more vivid memories was of everyone was faring. After a break admiring nature when he was a child by visiting state a cold night at Congdon Shelter on the Long alpine plants and views from the summit, campgrounds in the Northeast, sleeping Trail: “John poured a bit too much white gas we continued north, entered the woods, in lean-tos and tents. They weren’t a on his Svea stove, which we had placed on and soon veered off the trail to examine the backpacking family, but their neighbor, John top of the woodstove, and all of a sudden its remnants of a plane crash. From there we Underwood, was a Green Mountain Club safety valve blew—right along with the Svea hiked to the observation deck tucked just off

8 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB trail on . found in GMC’s archives, The Monroe John Underwood taking Pete under his wing Leaving the woods again we stepped Skyline: New Jersey Man Writes of His when he was a boy and Pete’s genuine interest into a colorful array of wildflowers Summer’s Work. Monroe wrote that in in introducing the outdoors to new hikers. brightening the open ski area on Mount the summer of 1916 he offered to pay for He takes leading seriously, and assesses Ellen. As a glider soared above, several avid and build the stretch of trail. Club leaders hikers’ abilities in advance. While he was able Glen skiers—including Pete— encouraged him to elevate the existing trail, to turn back with the young hiker on the applied their wintertime memories to the which was without scenic interest, explaining Burnt Rock outing, the Monroe Skyline is snowless mountain, and began to identify that “the obvious path would be the ridge of a point to point hike, with few exit options ski runs. Others noticed spent flower the mountains,” and “The higher the trail was without disrupting the whole group. He bouquets tied to makeshift wooden stands, put, the more permanent it would be, since needs to be assured participants can make the and surmised that a mountain top wedding undergrowth disappears at higher levels.” I miles and the elevation gains. had recently taken place. offered to share a copy of the booklet with Pete’s hikes end with refreshments in the Pete’s passion for alpine skiing at Mad Pete so he could teach more of the trail’s parking lot. “I always have a tailgate gathering River Glen shifted his volunteer efforts to history on future hikes. after. It’s a great opportunity to talk about the Glen Ellen Lodge, located a couple of miles When I asked Pete why people said day and hiking instead of rushing off.” After north of where we were standing. He became they joined his hike, he answered: “For adding other reasons to socialize, he paused the adopter in 2005. “It’s a place I find so the challenge, the option of doing a long and smiled: “I just like it, and I’m the leader, peaceful,” he said. “The opening in the treeline stretch with other hikers in one day, and the dammit!” from the rocks in front of the lodge affords a camaraderie.” He added that he always has a He is the leader indeed, having led the spectacular view of , just fun and diverse group. Monroe Skyline hike every summer for about as it did in 1933, when the original lodge was 23 years. “I suspect I’ll be leading this hike for built by the Long Trail Patrol.” as many years as I’m able,” said Pete. “I’ll also I asked Pete why he had chosen the “It’s a place I find be a GMCer for as many years.” Monroe Skyline for his annual outing, “I would be missing something big if I and his answer affirmed his love of and so peaceful.” didn’t mention all the extremely meaningful connection to Mad River Glen. “I used to relationships I’ve had with the many staff lead a lot of hikes for the Burlington Section, Pete said a young girl, 12 or 13, called and volunteers I’ve met through the GMC,” but I got busy in my life and had to make him years ago and asked if she could join a Pete concluded. “Year after year I find I some choices. I decided if I had to do just hike he was leading up Burnt Rock. “She really am sustained by this relationship—it’s one hike it would be the Monroe Skyline. I told me her parents smoked and didn’t do probably similar to experiences the founders remembered just how perfect that section this kind of thing,” said Pete. “Well, she came and builders of the Long Trail had.” of trail is—in every way—from my 1982 with us, and she tried, but couldn’t make the southbound Long Trail thru-hike.” summit. We turned around, and I walked I too am fascinated with the Monroe back to the parking lot with her. She was so Check GMC’s events calendar for Pete’s Skyline and its lead trail builder, Professor grateful. I could tell she was touched that next hike and other summer outings. Will S. Monroe. I told Pete about a small someone would do that for her.” greenmountainclub.org/calendar 1917 booklet written by Monroe that I It’s easy to make the connection between PHOTO BY KENNETH ALLEN

Pete Saile

• 9 LONG TRAILApproach NEWS to MountSUMMER Abraham 2019 summit | SUN OR SHADOW Mental Health and the Outdoors By Rob Rives

arly this year a popular hiking and So, let’s talk about it: our collective who sought or received care, people of running footwear manufacturer mental health is getting worse but color received it at one-third to one-half Eproduced a short video describing simply getting out the door and going the rate of their white counterparts. the struggles that three of their for a walk can be a critical tool in A study published in early 2019 in sponsored athletes have with mental reversing this trend, and you may be the Journal of Abnormal Psychology illnesses, including depression, anxiety, able to help someone by encouraging showed a disturbing trend: between eating disorders, and post-traumatic them to do so. 2005 and 2017, rates of major stress from childhood trauma. Between depression symptoms rose by 63 percent scenes of running on picturesque in young adults (18 to 25 years old), mountain trails, the viewer hears their “As society is coming and deaths from suicide increased by stories of recognizing, treating, and 56 percent during the same time period coping with mental illness. At the end of to realize, internalizing among 18- to 19-year olds. Rates of the video the screen fades to black and a suicide among military veterans, both single sentence appears in white letters: and ignoring mental young and old, are also on the rise. “Talk about it.” Given these data, it is fortunate that the I felt called to battle. In this video, health problems only social stigma of mental illness is gradually I saw reflections of myself: a person receding. Research on the personal and plagued by inner turmoil, looking makes them worse.” societal effects of mental illness has never for a way through daily walls of dark been more prolific, workplaces more thoughts, and inextricably tied to a need According to statistics compiled by frequently provide access to care and for outdoor experiences as a coping the National Alliance on Mental Illness, services, and the U.S. has designated May mechanism and source of meaning. approximately one in five adults in the as Mental Health Awareness Month. As society is coming to realize, U.S. experiences a mental illness in any Mental illnesses can’t be cured in internalizing and ignoring mental given year, and one in five young people the traditional sense. So we must arm health problems only makes them worse. aged 13 to 18 will experience a severe ourselves with tools to treat, manage, Overcoming discomfort and discussing mental disorder at some point during cope, recover, and find ways forward to them, and facing facts, are the first steps their lives. In 2015, only about half of fulfilling lives. The toolbox can include in tackling a health crisis that costs the sufferers received mental health billions of dollars and thousands of lives services in the preceding year. Of those annually in the alone. PHOTO BY ROB RIVES

10 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB individualized therapy, medication, a healthy diet, supportive networks, and my favorite: physical exercise, particularly among the trees, rocks, water, and sunshine of Vermont’s mountains. Time in the sun may be more protective against mental (and other) illnesses than has been thought. According to a 2008 article from the National Institutes of Health journal Environmental Health Perspective, sufficient sun exposure has the following beneficial effects: increased vitamin D production (which is needed by more than

1,000 genes in regulation of nearly every kind PHOTO BY ROB RIVES of tissue); reduced risks of certain cancers To illustrate this, let’s do a quick and continue each morning. As you step over that are more common in northern regions; thought experiment. What are your goals or a hollow fallen tree, you imagine lying down reduced inflammatory and autoimmune aspirations? Short-term, long-term, it doesn’t inside it and remaining there. responses; reduced risk of high blood matter—take a second and list them in your What I call “wilderness of the mind” pressure; improved sleep cycles due to natural head. How about your overall purpose in life? is an interpretation of the world I inhabit serotonin and melatonin production; and What do you feel called to do? some days. It is a hostile wilderness, increased levels of endorphins in the blood. Construct a metaphorical path in your very different from the exterior one that Getting enough sun while avoiding mind: the trail beneath your feet is your brings joy. It is only one of many possible sunburn can be difficult for folks with aspiration, the surrounding wilderness is metaphors for a single mental illness. fair skin, but the dappled sunlight under the confusion and distraction of the world Yet it illustrates a characteristic central Vermont hardwoods offers a nice balance. at large, each step along the trail is a goal to mental health ailments: a sense of Sunlight may be one reason we feel met, and the mountain summit ahead isolation and helplessness, despite the better after time outside, but what exactly represents the fulfillment and realization knowledge of available self-help tools. is changing in the brain when we go for of your life’s purpose. For example, I am keenly aware of a long hike in the woods? Researchers at how running and hiking in the mountains Stanford University recently studied the improves my mood and outlook on life, effects of walking in natural areas on a “So, let’s talk yet the effort required to simply open common indicator of depressive episodes: the door and step out is sometimes “rumination,” a thought pattern that focuses about it.” inexplicably unbearable, my will drained on negative aspects of the self. by numbness and perceived pointlessness. Study participants who had no history Every day you wake, break camp, and At these times I need external force: a of mental illness were assigned 90-minute continue your hike. But the trail is gradually kind face in the wilderness who opens my walks in either an urban area with lots of narrowing. Brush is growing in, impeding pack, withdraws the map and compass, traffic or a natural area away from roads. passage. The firm tread gives way to grass, and shows me that the mountain is still Those who engaged in the hike in the natural then to rock and dead leaves. Disorientation out there. area reported fewer ruminative thoughts sets in; the summit is no longer visible. In fact, Given the frequency of mental illness, and, in brain scans before and after the walk, nothing in the forest is distinguishable. There it is quite likely a friend or family member showed reduced blood flow to the subgenual are no landmarks. It happened so gradually you of yours suffers, feels alone, and could prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain where didn’t think to consult a map or consider other benefit from your companionship and a rumination takes place. In such scans, blood routes. Maybe there weren’t any. dose of time outdoors. Avoiding the topic flow reflects the intensity of mental activity. On this trail, you can’t turn around. won’t make it go away. So don’t be afraid. This result supports a truth many The trailhead and the firm path behind you Talk about it. of us know intuitively: when outdoors disappeared a long time ago. Fear, frustration, we feel more happy, calm, and healthy. and eventually numb dissociation guide your Unfortunately, as society encourages longer movements. Sure, you can keep walking, but To learn more about how to hours at work and more time indoors are you going anywhere? You feel hopelessly talk about mental illness, attending to electronic vices, we need to lost and very much alone. please visit the National Alliance remind each other to prioritize outings. You know how to use the map and For folks living with mental illness, friends compass in your pack, but you’ve been adrift on Mental Illness website at who encourage time outside are even more so long it feels pointless to try. It takes longer www.nami.org. important. and longer to raise yourself from the ground

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 11 SHARE YOUR STORY

Hiking with Autism ONE PARENT’S JOURNEY

By Scott Finn

We moved to Vermont a year ago from An hour later, as the last rays of the West Virginia, where our favorite hiking sun sunk below the horizon, Max and I area was New River Gorge National Park. finally reached the top. The jogger was The river has carved a steep canyon 1,000 there, waiting. I thanked her through my feet deep with world-class whitewater, rock panting, and thanked God we didn’t have climbing, and hiking. One New Year’s Day, to activate the rescue squad. Max and I got a late start and arrived at the (A side note: if you ever come across a parking area on top of the Gorge a couple hiker acting like Max, do exactly what this Max Finn PHOTO BY SCOTT FINN of hours before sunset. woman did for me. Ask what you can do to We planned to do the Kaymoor Trail, a help, and then be quiet and listen.) ne of the best parts of being series of switchbacks leading to 821 wooden The “Kaymoor Incident” taught me a parent is sharing interests steps to the bottom, where we would turn vital lessons about hiking with Max. Don’t Owith your kid. For example, around and backtrack to the top. push too hard. Always have an exit strategy. my “typical” 16-year-old daughter has I did some mental math, and figured Make sure to end the hike with pizza and introduced me to some gripping fiction we had plenty of time. We bounced creemees. podcasts, and I’ve shown her how to edit down the steps, and spent a few minutes Most importantly, I try to think and mix audio files. roaming around the abandoned coal of what motivates Max, not me. I like But it’s a lot harder to find common mines and coke ovens at the base. covering distance and bagging peaks; my ground with my 13-year-old son, Max, who favorite local hike is the Laura Cowles- has autism and is non-verbal. His passions Sunset Ridge loop up . include watching the same scene from “Don’t push too hard. Max likes shorter, technically challenging Frozen over and over again, and literally trails, like the Clara Bow Trail in bouncing off the walls of our home. Always have an exit Nebraska Notch, with creeks and ponds Thank God for hiking. For me, Max to explore. is the perfect hiking companion. After strategy. Make sure to This winter, Max and I went sledding a long week of dealing with people, it is on Casey’s Hill in Underhill. We were the so pleasant to walk with someone who end the hike with pizza first ones on the hill after a foot of fresh doesn’t expect me to say a word. powder fell. Max sat down on his sled and Like me, Max loves the sense of and creemees.” didn’t go anywhere. He just stared down accomplishment of reaching a summit the Browns River Valley. and seeing the view. But unlike me, he “C’mon Max, let’s go!” I told him. is content to sit still, feet dangling in “OK, time to go back up,” I told Max. “Let’s get sledding! Why did we come in a stream, and listen to the wind and He sat down on the steps. He wouldn’t the first place?” wildlife. move. No matter how much I explained Then I realized what I was saying, That doesn’t mean hiking with Max the need to get to the top, the increasing sat down next to him, and took in the is easy, or that he’s always enthusiastic. cold, the impending sunset — he refused view. Halfway through a mountain climb, he to move. Thus began a truly epic battle, may decide he’s had enough, and sit down with me pulling him up those steps, and Scott Finn is the on the trail. Worse yet, he might try to him doing everything he could to avoid it. new president of make a break for it, and scramble down Our grunts echoed across the empty Vermont Public the mountain. canyon. A young woman, a jogger, Radio. He lives with Over time, I’ve learned how to stopped as she passed us on the steps. She his wife and two compromise and make hikes enjoyable for asked how she could help. I asked her to kids in Jericho. both of us. But it took a scary incident wait for us at the top. If we weren’t out by for me to learn. sundown, call 911. She agreed. PHOTO BY SCOTT FINN

12 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB Five Sisters and One Long Trail By Sandi Pierson

wenty-five years ago I had an idea: would all of my sisters like to take a Tweekend backpacking trip? I am the oldest of five sisters and was then the only ardent backpacker. I was working on the Long Trail in section hikes with my eight- Front to back: Debbie, Brenda, Wanda, Sandi, and Linda at Butler Lodge year-old son, and I thought perhaps my sisters would enjoy an overnight backpack. Much to dished out everything it had—shaping, spring at a shelter. And there were unexpected my delight, they bought into the idea without twisting, and at times even waging war with annoyances, like reaching one shelter dog tired hesitation. We packed up and spent three days our emotions and bodies. The Chittenden only to find it was gone and only partially hiking trails around Mount Cardigan near my Reservoir section brought hostility among us, rebuilt, or walking the entire Lincoln ridge home in . It was wonderful. and the trail gave us no choice but to work it socked in with fog. Because we had such a great time on that out. The Vermont Presidentials consoled us On the Long Trail we felt, saw, and hike, I came up with another idea: let’s hike after having just lost our dad, the first death in experienced it all. The grand views. The all-day the Long Trail! And so we did. Every fall we our family of nine. rains. Snow. Intense heat. Trails that afforded stuffed our packs, spotted cars, and took to the relaxing chatter, and trails that battered us trail. Via the Pine Cobble Trail we reached the “The trail dished out without mercy. In the end, the Long Trail made Massachusetts state line, and walked north. us stronger and more resilient, and forged Three of my sisters had never been to a shelter, everything it had— bonds among us five sisters that are as strong so the first night at Seth Warner was both today as when we ran carefree in the woods as novel and exhilarating for them. shaping, twisting, and children. It was good that we started from the After finishing the Long Trail, four of us southern terminus. Had a couple of the sisters at times even waging continued annual hikes. (We expect the stray known what terrain was coming down the pike lamb will rejoin us upon her retirement.) We when we passed the halfway point, they might war with our emotions returned to Pine Cobble, and started south have taken flight. Ending our first hike by on the Appalachian Trail; we are just south of plummeting down the “ten thousand steps” of and bodies.” New York. We have taken breaks from the AT stone to Route 9 did suggest that the entirety and hiked the in Massachusetts, the of the trail wasn’t exactly a “footpath” in the A sister who always kept her emotions in Wapack Trail and the Monadnock-Sunapee wilderness. check totally lost it after being overwhelmed Greenway in New Hampshire, and a second But we were hooked. Perhaps being by the difficulty of Camel’s Hump. (She Cardigan circuit trail trek. Thanks to the together on the trail brought back the would later say it was the best thing that had foundation laid by our Long Trail experiences, childhood intimacy we had lost as our varied happened to her on the trail.) After falling at I expect our annual hikes will continue, even if adult lives became more complex and separate. Emily Proctor Shelter I hiked seven miles to it’s circling the nursing home’s flower garden as Growing up in a large rural family, we took to Lincoln Gap with a hairline fracture of my centenarians. the forest daily. There were few neighbors, so sacrum bone. Devil’s Gulch came as we lost for the most part we were simply a bunch of our dear brother Mark. A sister was rushed to Sandi Pierson has completed the Long Trail five siblings in the woods. We did what most other the hospital in an ambulance after a serious fall times: once with her sisters, twice with her son, kids did 50 or 60 years ago: built forts of fallen coming down Haystack Mountain. and twice alone. She is the author of Scraped pine limbs, caught pollywogs, and gorged on There were many unexpected delights Knees and Mac ‘N Cheese: One Woman’s wild berries. as well, some as grand as the side trip into Journey of a Thousand Miles on the Vermont Our journey from Massachusetts to the cavernous Clara Bow Trail, and some Long Trail. Canada took 13 consecutive years. The trail as simple as finding a good-flowing, piped

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 13 SHARE YOUR STORY

Walking the Long Trail Home By Ann Fisher

’m tucked in for the night on a top Morning birds chirp noisy alarms, bunk in Montclair Glen Lodge, a drowning out other wildlife under the Icabin nestled in a forested glen along enormous green umbrella. In the heat the trail. Inches from my wooden perch of midday, they become quiet, leaving is a window, latched with a small hook only the warnings of squirrels, invisible that doesn’t quite close the gap between overhead. Heat bakes the forest floor window and wall. I can see rock, woods, into an aromatic loamy sea of last and the corner of a bear box fading into season’s leaves. deepening dusk. By the end of 11 days my pack I planned to walk from Canada to and I are one, light and lithe and my home in Lincoln. In preparation, Montclair Glen Lodge streamlined, moving as if no seams or I organized the gear, estimated daily straps separate us. My body feels strong, mileage, and assembled meals. But I didn’t spring, tense with thoughts of daily living— like the trail below my boots, carved plan for the subtle shift that would occur work, house repairs, errands, family, driving with new muscles. It’s not that I don’t get step by step as I moved along the spine of the here and there, picking up this and dropping tired anymore, or sore after so many miles Green Mountains. Somewhere between the off that, thinking about the next thing and of hiking; it’s that now my body holds the long, cleared swath of the Canadian border the last thing, and going over and over how weariness like the forest holds the green to make it all work. But with each step over leaves of the hobble bush. root and rock my brain begins to uncurl like a One shirt, two pairs of socks, one pair “But with each step over slowly sprung spring, and tension releases. By of shorts—I am downsized, minimized; the fifth day I sleep the sleep of a hiker who has a portion of my former self, yet this root and rock my brain covered many miles with a heavy pack over a simplification of my days has somehow never-ending ribbon of trail. doubled me. Brought me strength—not begins to uncurl like a The first several days my pack weights my unlike the thrush song overhead, strong and back with 34 pounds of tent, clothing, food, sure, emanating from a small, hollow-boned slowly sprung spring, and water. I am carrying an entire house— bird claiming its right to be in this forest. closet, mudroom, coat rack, and chest of Tonight, sweet sleep steals over my tired and tension releases.” drawers. My body is slow to adjust. It is more body. Through gaps in the cabin walls I than I need, so after six days I leave the extra inhale the scent of the woods, the cool air of and this cabin I noticed I was shedding my food at my next resupply stop. My pack nightfall, the musky dark figure of a would- hard exterior. Fissures were forming in an compresses and compacts. So do I. be bear. I close my eyes, already home. exoskeleton I hadn’t known I was wearing. After eight days I begin to appreciate the On the trail it takes three days before I am steady green tunnel holding me as I walk. An extended version of “Walking the Long rewarded with restful sleep, four before nights Leaves unfurling in the June heat canopy the Tail Home” was published by Zig Zag Lit pass quicker. At first my mind is like a coiled trail with fluorescent hues of early summer. Mag in 2016.

14 Long Trail | southTHE onGREEN Camel’s MOUNTAIN Hump CLUB PHOTO BY TOM ANDERSON Long Trail over Mount Mansfield LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 15 PHOTO BY KRISTIN MCLANE PHOTO BY KRISTIN MCLANE Celebrating Staff Hiking Milestones By Mike DeBonis

ach year nearly three hundred hikers submit Long Trail end- As an employee of GMC, how did hiking on to-end applications to the Green Mountain Club to certify the Long Trail System affect your work? that they have hiked all 272 miles. A handful submit side-to- E Jocelyn has thru-hiked the Long Trail and has hiked every side side applications, having hiked all 166 miles of the Long Trail’s 88 trail on it, so she now has a better sense of the “big picture,” and side trails. I am proud that GMC encourages employees to get out and enjoy the trails. And I am especially proud that in 2018 four staff members hit major Long Trail hiking milestones. Three completed end-to-end hikes: Kristin McLane, membership and communications coordinator; Rob Rives, education and volunteer coordinator; and Lorne Currier, group outreach specialist. Long Trail News Editor Jocelyn Hebert finished her side-to-side hikes. Lorne hiked southbound in the fall of 2018, just after completing his AmeriCorps term at the club. Kristin and Rob did their hikes in sections. Kristin hiked the southern half as part of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2013, and started hiking the remaining Long Trail sections in 2016. Rob started hiking in 2017 when he moved to Vermont, and finished the trail a year and a half later. Jocelyn did her first side trail in 1974, climbing Camel’s Hump with her family as a six-year-old. She finished, fittingly, on Camel’s Hump on August 27, 2018, after hiking the majority of the southern trails that summer. All four are experienced hikers, and have hiked other trails around the country. I was curious—with all of this trail knowledge: How did your experience on the Long Trail System stack up? Did anything about your hikes surprise you? Jocelyn Hebert Kristin and Rob recalled the difficulty of the trail, especially in the north. Hardest, wettest, steepest. Rob’s hike helped him become acquainted with the land, people, and trail he was to serve. He said he found most of what he had heard from other employees and end-to-enders to be fairly accurate. Lorne was surprised by how quickly he began to feel like a thru- hiker rather than a staff member. He cut blowdowns and recorded trail conditions in his journal for the first few days. But that didn’t last long, as his tired brain focused on more immediate concerns like food and weather. Kristin and Jocelyn were struck by the difference between long distance thru-hikes, and section or day hikes. Both said that when thru-hiking one’s mind and body develop a totally different rhythm. Jocelyn said that hiking side trails was more hectic, especially trying to complete most of them in one season. Kristin thinks people underestimate the difficulty of the Long Trail because it is short compared to trails like the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. Thinking of tackling the side-to-side challenge? Jocelyn pointed out that while there are only 166 miles of side trails, you’ll hike many Rob Rives of them out and back, adding considerably to your total distance.

16 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB feels she is a more knowledgeable and confident ambassador for normal for him.) Kristin cites finishing the northern half of the the trail and the club. And all of those trail miles have given her trail with no broken bones. On her AT thru-hike in 2013 she ample opportunity to take photographs and think about potential broke a bone in her foot, and hiked through Vermont in one stories and topics for the Long Trail News. hospital shoe and one hiking boot—not awesome. Kristin and Lorne found it difficult to communicate about Lorne enjoyed seeing caretakers and office staff on the trail, and certain sections of trail they had not seen, but now have geographic was happy to share his trail experience with this community. Jocelyn points of reference when talking with club members. Rob recalls sitting at the edge of Bourn Pond watching and listening memorized each trail adopter’s name when he came across adopted to loons after a long day of hiking—with a tired but wonderful shelters or lengths of trail. Now he better understands both the feeling of contentment. Another highlight for her was exploring context and the problems of each adopter’s trail or shelter. and scrambling through all the rocky trails and caves on Mount Mansfield. What highlight from your hike stands out? Rob recalls an eight-hour, 40-minute run from the summit of If you had a magic wand and could fix or change Mount Mansfield to the summit of Camel’s Hump on July 4, anything about the trails, what would it be? 2017. (Rob is an ultra-runner, so this sort of thing is entirely Kristin would wave her wand to help people become more aware of Leave No Trace© principles and what trail clubs do for trails. Lorne would transform each piece of trash left on the trail into a $100 bill and invest it solely in trail maintenance. Rob would relocate every wet piece of trail to higher terrain, contoured around hills with just the right outslope to shed water. Jocelyn wouldn’t change anything—the Long Trail System is perfect because it has it all: “There are trails to saunter and trails that kick your butt.” She said if she were a trail maintainer she might have a different answer… For hikers planning to hit the trail in 2019, what advice would you share? Kristin: “Start in the south and carry a tent. Take your time and Lorne Currier enjoy it.” Lorne: “Wear soaking wet shoes for at least a week before the hike. It’s going to happen, so you may as well get comfortable with it.” Rob: “Don’t get bogged down in the details; it’s just walking.” Jocelyn: “Do those little short trails whenever you are in the area. It is difficult to find motivation to drive three hours to do a one- mile trail, although the promise of a creemee at the end helps.” Would you do it again? Without exception or hesitation: Yes.

Rob: “But next time I would thru-hike it.” Kristin: “But I want to complete some of the other trails on my list first.” Lorne: “It’s the perfect distance, and lets the hiker experience some of the most beautiful natural areas in Vermont. Life on the trail is a great way to be.” Jocelyn: “Okay, there might be a couple of the 88 trails that I am not super interested in hiking again. But, yes, I can’t think of a better way to explore Vermont.”

Congratulations to Rob, Kristin, Lorne, and Jocelyn. The Green Mountain Club works hard every day to make the Long Trail System free and open to all. I hope this inspires you to get out there Kristin McLane and go hiking!

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 17 SIDESCAPES Exploring the Shoulders of the Green Mountains Photography by 2018 side-to-sider Jocelyn Hebert

Bourn Pond, Lye Brook Wilderness

Lye Brook Trail, Lye Brook Wilderness

Canyon Trail, 18 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB Mount Mansfield Clark Brook Trail, Lake Trail to Baker Peak,

Subway Trail, Mount Mansfield

Wanderer Trail, Stratton Mountain Canyon Trail, Mount Mansfield

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 19 Little Pond, XXXXXX 264 Hikers Complete Long Trail in 2018! Congratulations to the following hikers who walked the 272-mile rugged footpath over the Green Mountain Range from the Massachusetts border to the Canadian border, submitted their trail journals, and became GMC certified Long Trail end-to-enders:

Johanna Abram, Cambridge, MA Ciaran “Zapper” Brennan, Essex Junction, VT Ryan “Falling Rock” Edmundson, Millerton, NY Harrison “Curly” Ackerman, Northport, NY Daniel Bruneault, North Attleboro, MA Angus “Mumbles” Edmundson, Millerton, NY Samuel Adams, Plymouth, NH Devon “Peapod” Burger, Middlebury, VT Van “Running Water” Edmundson, Millerton, NY Ava “Wild Flower” Adler, Oberlin, OH Stephen “Still Steve” Bushman, Benson, VT Aaron “Grizzly” Emmons, Randolph Center, VT Oakley “Velveeta” Aguiar, Lancaster, PA Pavel Cenkl, Craftsbury Common, VT Sarah “Flower Power” Emmons, Randolph Center, VT Kelly Ames, Watertown, MA Glen “Quahog” Clark, East Sandwich, MA Meghan “Freebie” Ewart, Canal Winchester, OH C. Martin “Papa Bear” Armitage, Vestal, NY Kyle Clark, Yardley, PA Elaine “Rockhopper” Ezerins, Richmond, VT Charlie “TNC” Arsenault, Westborough, MA Michael “Red” Costello, Rumford, RI Dario “Guardian of the Trees” Fabazi, New York, NY Jill “Journey” Aspinall, Montpelier, VT Missy “Garlic” Cottone, Setauket, NY Mike “Holden” Fagerstrom, Salt Lake City, UT Tessa “Big Money” Babcock, Towson, MD David “Cowan” Cowan, Cumberland, ME Chelsea “PCP” Fisher, Ashville, NY Abigail “Gwan” Baker, Ferrisburgh, VT Alex “McGuyver” Cox, Portland, ME Alec “Hemlock” Fleischer, Middlebury, VT Bryan “Wolverine” Banning, Newport News, VA Phil “JP (Just Phil)” Coyne, Portland, ME Daniel Flynn, North Attleboro, MA Matt “Bear Trap” Baris, Burlington, VT Elizabeth “Squidward” Cultrara, Middlebury, VT Laura “Thrush” Frangipane, Burlington, VT Alyssa “Aquafresh” Barrett, Montpelier, VT Lexie “Chippy” Cuppett, Highland, IL David “DAVE!!” Fredriksson, Millersville, MD Susannah “Poppins” Baumer, Rutland, VT Christopher “2Crocs” Damiani, Montpelier, VT Del “Steady” Friedman, Acton, MA Matt “Fly Fisherman” Benham, East Quogue, NY James D’Amico, Floral Park, NY Joseph “Joe Man” Frigo, Bellows Falls, VT Anthony “Chaga” Bennett, Triangle, VA Gary “Fire Feet” Davis, Des Moines, IA Randy Gates, North Ferrisburgh, VT Sarah Berkeley, Lincoln, NE Rodney “Rocket Sprocket” Deaton, Spanaway, WA Casey Gerety, Floral Park, NY Xenia “The Witch” Berkowitz, Brooklyn, NY Elliott Diamond, Latrobe, PA Anna Gerretson, Williston, VT Bailey “R2” Bingham, Port Elgin, ON Jennifer “Scout” Dickson, Fort Mill, SC Julian “Chili” Gerson, New York City, NY Liz “Solar Powered” Bolton, Danbury, NH Elmore Dickstein, Saint Johnsbury, VT Peter Gill, Watertown, MA Gabby “KG” Bonfigli, Essex, VT Jaclyn “Hot Mess” Dixon, Colchester, VT William “Keyhole” Gillett, Fort Worth, TX Ben “Ghost” Botting, Grand Rapids, MI Aubri “Timex” Drake, Easthampton, MA Kat “Muse” Given, Rochester, NY Theodore “Waldo” Boyer, Ashfield, MA Patrick Drumm, Glen Gardner, NJ Ari Gluckman, State College, PA Madeline “Peanut Butter” Brandt, Berkeley, CA Douglas “Gray Jay” Eaton, Sunderland, MA Alyssa “Wandeln” Godesky, Charlottesville, VA Daniel “Country Time” Braun, Morristown, VT Bruce “Silver” Eckler, Morrisville, NY Michelle “Jukebox” Goldsmith, Montpelier, VT Alan “The Kid” Goodwin, Nashua, NH Varun “Roots” Gopinath, Cleveland, OH Vlad “Ender” Grass, Shelburne, VT David “T-Rex” Grass, Shelburne, VT Kimber “Bug” Green, Arlington, MA Reese “Squint” Green, Arlington, MA Laura “Waffle” Greenwood, Lunenburg, MA Beck “NotYet” Greg, Dorval, QC Caroline “Powerdaisy” Gutberlet, Freeland, MD Andrew “Burnt” Hall, Pownal, VT Kenny “Neo” Hancock, Asheville, NC Dana “Cheddar” Harvey, Orleans, VT Brent “Ruck” Heidenis, Wallingford, CT David “Goliath” Heile, McLean, VA Emily Himberg, Williston, VT David Hiscoe, Chapel Hill, NC Ellie “Fennel” Holmgren, Meadville, PA Fritz “Fritz” Howard, Leadville, CO Nora Hubbard, Vergennes, VT John “Old Hoppy Goat” Hudachek, Chesterfield, NH Jacqueline “Bright Side” Huettenmoser, Martinsville, NJ Huy “Click” Huynh, Urbandale, IA Tess “Wawa” Jacobson, Princeton, NJ Kenny “Neo” Hancock hiked the LT to raise awareness and funds in support of Mission 22, J. “Skipper” Johnston, Farmington, CT a nonprofit committed to combating the rising veteran suicide rate. Banner reads: United in Molly Jones, Pilot, VA the war against veteran suicide. Fred “Slumgum” Jones, Pilot, VA

20 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB Sunset after summer solstice on Mount Mansfield. Photo by Laura “Waffle” Greenwood.

Hendrik “Scattered” Jonker, Salisbury, CT “Earlier I asked a woman with a young daughter to take my photo, Jeffrey “Scribe” Joslin, Abingdon, VA Kevin “Salad Toes” Keene, Barre, VT and we were talking about my hike, and she said to her kid, ‘Did Ryan Kennedy , Pittsfield, ME Rachel Kessler, Burlington, VT you hear that? She’s been hiking for three weeks with that big Sarah “Dapple Dancer” King, Jericho, VT backpack on, and she started in Massachusetts and she’s walking all Emily Kish, Newton, MA Plum “Chill Pickle” Klein, Jamaica Plain, NY the way to Canada!’ and the little girl looked at me and looked at Kirk Knutson, Arlington, VT her mom and said, ‘WHAT?! Why?!’” Larry Koons, Clanton, AL Jon “Southboundjon” Koresko, Lancaster, PA —Katie “Radagast” Kull, Ashville, NC Katie “Radagast” Kull, Asheville, NC Ruby “Honey” LaBrusciano-Carris, Marshfield, VT Nathan “Utah” Lumsden, Highgate Center, VT Alex “Ginkgo” Montelione, Manchester Center, VT Elizabeth “Stay” Lach, Richmond, VT Clarrisa “Pea Soup” Lyons, Florence, MA Ferrell “Daddy Long Legs” Moultrie, Roswell, GA Stephanie “Pancakes” Langner, Highland Lakes, NJ Samuel “Cobwebs” MacKenzie, Biddeford, ME Matthew “Iguana” Mueller, Chestnut Hill, MA Donna “Tortoise” Lauzon, Morrisville, NY Regina Mahony, Burlington, VT Sandy Murphy, Underhill, VT Betsy “Frodette” LeBlanc, St. Albans, VT Edward “Papa Bear” Malina, Essex Junction, VT Joshua “Snailor” Naylor, Vestal, NY Brandon “Nature Boy” Lenenski, Forney, TX Jeremy “Qball” Marble, Portland, OR Sarah “Dirty Dan” Nedwick, Ellington, CT David “Mr. Peanutbutter” Lerman, Hopatcong, NJ Dustin “Pukey Rash McShittyfeet” Marshall, Canaan, NH Ashley “Mishap” Nelson, Glenview, IL Etienne “Birch” Levert, Sherbrooke, QC Chris “Supper” McCaffrey, Atlanta, GA Jim “One Bounce” Nielsen, Claremont, NH Heidi “Sunshine” Levins, Killington, VT Martha “Birdbook” McClintock, Westford, VT Chris “Leapfrog” Nolan, Manchester, VT Tazca “Ironwoman” Levitt, New York, NY Bill “Coach Mac” McClintock, Westford, VT Taylor “Diddy” Norton, Fairfield, CT Brenna “Bumblebee” Lewis-Slammon, Keene, NH Charlotte “String Cheese” Mcconaghy, Center Conway, NH Robertc“Pup” O’Connor, Sheldon, VT Lisa “Greentrousers” Lilly, Shermans Dale, PA Peter McConville, Burlington, VT Anna O’Malley, Essex Junction, VT Jeff “Treebeard” List, Anacortes, WA Kristin “Siren” McLane, Waterbury, VT Sadie Otley, Charlotte, VT Douglas “Trundler” Lloyd, Burlington, VT Maria Mercurio, Burlington, VT Evalin Pachman, Starksboro, VT Alex “HighPedal” Lombard, Queensbury, NY Ellen “Mom” Metzger, Newton, MA Molly “Ursa” Parent, Danby, VT Kate “Pace” Longfield, Burlington, VT Emily “Trail Spice” Middleton, South Burlington, VT Brooks “Brooks” Park, Carlsbad, CA Mark “Tang” Loomis, Middletown, CT Ben “Taz” Middleton, Essex, VT Tim “X-Ray” Parritt, Boston, MA Erin Lucey, Chelmsford, MA Christopher “CarJack” Monahan, Portland, ME Michael Pearl, Hanover, NH

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 21 End-to-Enders (continued) Richard “Highrider” Roland, Matthews, NC Daniel “Spa Day” Szigeti, Sinking Spring, PA David “Dave R” Rosato, Florence, VT Johanna “Esme” Taylor, Jericho, VT Ben “Apricot” Rosen-Filardo, Brooklyn, NY Anthony Taylor, North East, MD Zachary “The Hare” Rothammer, Wolcott, VT Pannill “Three Musketeers” Taylor, Kennett Square, PA Andrea “Mrs. Frizzle” Roylston, Lookout Mountain, GA Leah “El Tee” Thomas, Wilder, VT Jack Roylston, Lookout Mountain, GA Ken Thompson, North Smithfield, RI James Russell, Union Springs, NY Brenda “Hanger” Trapani, Wrentham, MA Jeffrey “Tinman” Sargent, Lafayette, NY Rebecca Trayner, Newton, MA Eric Schank, Oberlin, OH Justin “Glutton” Tremont, Jamaica Plain, MA Georgia “KA-GG” Schiff, Montpelier, VT Jeremy “Ramen/Xtra Hot” Tretiak, Waitsfield, VT Roy “Kinglet” Schiff, Montpelier, VT Hilary “Gazelle 0.2” Twaddel, Gorham, ME Caleb “Borscht” Schmidt, Coldspring, NY Glenn “Zeus” Twilley, Fairfield, VT Gabriel “Vampire” Schock, Queens, NY Jacqueline “City Girl” Ulanoff, Northport, NY Mallory “Prism” Scmackpfeffer, Lake Placid, NY Cecilia “Arctic Tern” Van Hollen, Washington DC Gail Seitz, New Castle, DE Laura “Twinkle Toes” Veino, Naches, WA Henry “Strider” Sengle, Hinesburg, VT Jasly “Heart Eyes” Velasquez, Bayshore, NY David “T-Rex” and Vlad “Ender” Grass Steve “Not Worthy” Sharpe, Ellicott City, MD Stephen “Reboot” Veliz, Tallahassee, FL Richard “Pieface” Pelkey, Farmington, NH Devon “Rubber Ankles” Shuman, Newburyport, MA Taryn “Snooze” Waite, Lexington, MA David “Daydreamer” Pomerantz, Williamstown, MA Amandio “North Star” Silveira, Westport, MA Nathan Wallace, Petah Tikva, Israel Joshua “Feel the Cheese” Popkin, Ridgewood, NJ Alyson “Pugdog” Silveira, Westport, MA Bruno “Bruno” Walmsley, Pelham, NY Susan “Flush” Prasch, Springfield, VT Elizabeth “Junco” Simpson, Logan, UT Derick “Dirty Jesus” Walsh, Fishers, IN Zack “Mixtape” Preuss, Queensbury, NY David “Long I” Smith, Amherst, NY Su “Clover” Wasseluk, Centerville, MA Christian Prosper, Wingdale, NY John Sollinger, Columbus, OH Asa “Oui Oui”, Waterworth, Rutland, VT David “Woodchuck” Quesnel, Manchester Center, VT Samantha “Owl” Sommer, Raleigh, NC Karen “Wa Wa” Waterworth, Rutland, VT Monika “Nama (Ste)” Quinn, Waterbury Center, VT Kate “WeeBee” Songer, Shelburne, VT Brent Watts, Lancaster, PA Lucas “Trubador” Quintana, Almond, NY Owen “King Arthur” Spann, Woodstock, VT Tessa “Big Daddy” Webb, Ellington, CT Owen “Sir Owen VanGrizzle” Rachampbell, Huntington, VT John “Cakes” Speer, Newark, DE Thaddaeus “Krispy” Welch, Conshohocken, PA Kimberly “K-2” Reed, Melvin , NH Marilyn “Pinky” Speranza, Plainville, CT Anja “Winter Wren” Whittington, Radford, VA Tracy “Polar Bear” Reed, Cortlandt Manor, NY Alexander “Garbahnzo” St. Angelo, Austin, TX Christina “Wild” Wild, Norwich, VT Bob Reepmeyer, Saratoga Springs, NY Anna “Forager” Stern, Huntington, VT Edward “Panther” Wilkins, Springfield, VT Iris “Tadpole” Renteria, Austin, TX Joellen Stivala, Bethlehem, PA Noah Wintman, Chicago, IL Jeremiah “Dirigo” Richardson, Rumford, ME Michael “Mapquest” Storace, Nashua, NH Nate Wooding, Goffstown, NH Mike “M&M” Risano, Centerville, MA Jeremy “Trader” Stuart, Calgary, AB Maeve “Spots” Woollen, Brooklyn, NY Camden “Spitfire” Risinger, Sherborn, MA Lindsey “Sprout” Sullivan, Cleveland, OH Michael “Bug Bait” Zambarano, Acton, MA Taylor “Blueberry” Ritz, Brunswick, GA Kathleen “Braids” Sulva, Jericho, VT Beverly “Early Bird” Zambarano, Acton, MA Matthew “Turtle” Rogers, South Berwick, ME Adrian “Manatee” Suskauer, Black Mountain, NC Dagmar “Mirabel” Zentrichova, Burlington, VT Joseph Rogers, Lyndeborough, NH Robert “Stone” Sweeny, Henderson, NV John “Hawk” Ziegler, Westbrook, ME

2018 LONG TRAIL SIDE-TO-SIDERS Congratulations to the latest side-to-siders who finished hiking the 88 side trails on the Long Trail System, totaling 166 miles!

Jocelyn “Zuni Bear” Hebert, East Calais, VT Nancy “Ms Chipper” Hutchinson, Randolph Center, VT Douglas “Trundler” Lloyd, Douglas Lloyd, Journey’s End Trail Burlington, VT

22 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB Entry in Journey’s End Shelter Log Book

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 23 Bridge Crew L-R: Kurt Melin, Matt Wels, Sam Parisi, and Pat O’Brien HEBERT PHOTO BY JOCELYN

FROM INTERN TO FOREMAN Kurt Melin Leaves GMC After 10 Years By Ilana Copel

urt Melin started work at the Green installed gates, replaced tent platforms, and in the aluminum cage we had built as a work Mountain Club in 2008 as a fresh moved a lot of rocks. Last but not least, at platform!” Kfaced intern from Indiana. “I had club headquarters in Waterbury Center he What project is Kurt most proud hiked a small part of the AT, and the whole rebuilt the Back Forty field staff housing of? “The Thundering Falls Boardwalk in Long Trail twice,” he recalls. “I was in college basketball hoop, which could probably now Killington,” answered Kurt. “It’s a beautiful but struggling, and didn’t know what to do, weather a tornado. location with a waterfall and mountain so I figured I’d try to work at the GMC since Those projects provided many memories. views over a wide-open floodplain, and I I knew I liked hiking and I liked Vermont.” Replacing steel framing and wooden steps on love that it’s ADA-compliant. The first day Little did he know he’d still be working the iconic Stratton Fire Tower with former it opened there were families with people in here ten years later as foreman of the Construction Crew Foreman Matt Wels and wheelchairs out able to enjoy nature, and that construction crew. Or that he’d meet his Mike McDermott required late nights in makes it more meaningful to me...” future wife Mari at the GMC, and marry cold winds. “Hugh [Joudry, one of the site Kurt’s crews usually worked at sites miles her in 2016 surrounded by crewmates who’d caretakers] has fond memories of our angle into the woods, sometimes racing snowfall. grown as close as family. grinders shooting sparks into the night sky While restoring Boyce Shelter, they hiked Kurt worked on major projects in those as we tried to finish,” said Kurt. A few years well over a hundred rugged miles, half the years (see inset). He also taught tool use to later, Kurt, Pat O’Brien, and Sam Parisi, led time carrying heavy loads like 80-pound volunteers and other staff members, replaced by Matt Wels, worked in sun and snow to bundles of asphalt shingles. While restoring or repaired countless privies, constructed build the Winooski River Footbridge. “I Bryant Camp they skied to and from the informational kiosks, built picnic tables, definitely won’t forget hanging over the river work site, pulling supplies uphill on sleds.

24 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB If these conditions sound hard—you’re right, they are. But as crewmate Pat says, “On a rainy, cold, bleak work day there’s no one else you want on a crew with you more than Kurt. Not only does he hustle and work as hard as three people, but he makes it his job to crack jokes, sing along to the radio with his own original lyrics mixed in, and make sure that everyone else stays laughing until it’s time to go home.” Anyone who’s spent a few days with Kurt in the field has learned a thing or two about tools. Whether it was running Griphoist training sessions during crew Bolton Lodge orientation or explaining different saws to a new construction crew member, he showed near bottomless patience. And anyone who’s sat an hour with him on a porch has laughed while he narrated an episode of “TV’s Fishing with the Kurtman,” his imaginary television show. Kurt’s wisdom for the next generation of field staff: “The real key to success on a trail crew and in life is to take care of yourself and take care of others. You have to be responsible enough to keep yourself mentally and physically fit to do this kind of work… so you can care for the work you do and the people you do it with. There will be frustrations as you’re doing hard work in sometimes harsh conditions, and frequently something goes wrong. You have to care about yourself and your fellow human beings. Remember the old golden rule, it still sums it up best.” Crewmate James “Turtle” Robertson speaks for many of us on field staff: “Kurt’s one of the hardest working and most dedicated individuals I know. Shoot, he might Bryant Camp be the funniest person I know too. At the end of the day, I’m proud to know him, to have worked for him, and to get to call him my friend.” We’ll miss Kurt at the GMC, but wish him all the best as he enters the next phase of his life: fatherhood!

Kurt’s Contributions 2008: Thundering Falls Boardwalk, on crew as intern when it was first built 2011: Stratton Fire Tower, on crew restoring tower 2012: Thundering Falls Boardwalk, on crew after damage from Tropical Storm Irene 2013-2015: Winooski River Footbridge, on crew 2015-2016: Boyce Shelter, led major repairs Butler Lodge 2016-2017: Bryant Camp, led restoration 2016: Taft Lodge, led renovation 2017: Butler Lodge, led renovation 2017-2018: Bolton Lodge, led restoration 2018: Cowles Cove Shelter, led major repairs

Taft Lodge

Kurt at Winooski Bridge site, taking it all in Thundering Falls Boardwalk

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 25 Field Notes

remember hearing about the Champion International Paper Diana Frederick recently retired as Stewardship Forester for the Company selling its land in the Northeast Kingdom when I was Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Diana worked Ia freshman at the University of Vermont. I was dealing with new with GMC to manage the Long Trail between Vermont Route 108 in freedoms, rigorous academics, and homesickness, though only 25 miles Stowe and in Johnson. She also served as the state’s from home. The Northeast Kingdom seemed very far away. representative on the GMC Trail Management Committee, providing Twenty-one years later I find myself at the Green Mountain Club, important perspectives and information as the committee developed working with its Northeast Kingdom Section, the club’s partnering trail management recommendations. organizations, and government Melissa Reichert also agencies to open the long recently retired. Melissa worked awaited Bluff Mountain as Recreation Manager for the Ridge Trail, which has been United States Forest Service for built on some of the land that the Green Mountain and Finger Champion International sold Lakes National Forest. She was when I was a student. central in ensuring the care and The new trail passes through maintenance of the Long Trail the townships of Brighton, System on national forest lands, Warren’s Gore, Avery’s Gore and and worked closely with GMC Lewis, and connects the village to secure funding for caretakers, of Island Pond in Brighton with shelter maintenance, and recreational opportunities in essential trail work in southern the Nulhegan River Basin of the Vermont. Silvio O. Conte National Fish Hawk Metheny has been a and Wildlife Refuge. longtime partner and supporter Planning and building of the Green Mountain Club the trail required a major in his role as the Northeast collaborative effort. The project regional director for the had many champions, but the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. GMC presented President’s He has served on the GMC Awards to two of the most Trail Management Committee, notable for their tireless efforts: and has worked closely with Northeast Kingdom Section the club in its management President Jean Haigh and of the combined Long Trail/ former GMC Board member Appalachian Trail from the Luke O’Brien. Massachusetts border to While helping to plan the Junction, and the Appalachian opening celebration for the Trail northbound to New Bluff Mountain Ridge Trail (see Hampshire. Hawk was recently NEK Section update, page 35) promoted to senior regional I pondered how much work it director for the Appalachian takes to build a trail from start Trail Conservancy. He will to finish, and how endless the oversee the AT from Katahdin, maintenance is that follows. Maine to Harpers Ferry, West Many Green Mountain Virginia. Club shelters and side trails are When I pass a shelter or named in honor of early club a trail sign with the name of a pioneers: Monroe, Buchannan, historical GMC figure attached Puffer, Taylor, and Cowles, to to it, I like to pause and think name a few. And passing hikers today stop to thank the GMC’s Long of the folks whose names I will probably never see in the woods—like Trail Patrol crews, trail and shelter adopters, and section volunteers for Diana, Melissa, and Hawk—but who play crucial roles in the creation, their hard work when they meet them. maintenance, and preservation of our footpaths. I know that I couldn’t But many other people essential to trails contribute without do my job without them recognition, as administrators behind the scenes. They receive no We wish these valuable partners well in the next phases of their accolades from passing hikers, and at times, take heat from the public lives. when controversy arises. This spring brought three major transitions —Keegan Tierney among our trail community of GMC administrative friends. Director of Field Programs

26 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB Vermont Appalachian Trail. Photo by Kristin McLane. LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 27 Trail Mix

North Country Scenic Trail Extension decision approving a proposal by Vermont associated facilities by Act 250, Vermont’s into Vermont Approved Transco LLC (VELCO) to upgrade its radio primary land use law. The law was enacted communications tower on Lincoln Peak. 50 years ago, and the Vermont Legislature Congress recently authorized extension of the VELCO, which operates Vermont’s system of established the Commission on Act 250 to North Country National Scenic Trail into high-voltage electrical transmission lines, will examine and report on a broad range of issues Vermont to connect to the Appalachian Trail. use the new tower to improve communication to bring the law up to date. The club is forming With about 3,100 miles in place, the North for better control of the state’s electrical grid. its recommendations in cooperation with the Country Trail accommodates multiple uses The project will replace an existing 10-foot Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and in many places. Starting in North Dakota, it pole tower with a 30-foot lattice tower on a Recreation, and other conservation partners. now ends at Crown Point, New York, and is concrete pad next to the Long Trail. projected to cover about 4,600 miles when Construction is expected to begin in VOREC Awards Community complete. The current plan is to connect it to mid-August, and will require a temporary Grants for Trails the Long Trail near Wilderness, access road from an adjacent ski trail. where it would follow the Long Trail south to Two municipalities will receive grants for GMC will conduct site visits and develop the Appalachian Trail at Maine Junction. development of recreational trails through a plan to address safety. The project is not The Green Mountain Club supports a pilot program designed to help towns get expected to impact Long Trail users and the extension of the trail into Vermont, and greater value from outdoor assets. The city the club will provide progress updates on is working with local and federal partners of Newport will receive $35,000 for a critical our website and at the Visitor Center. including the U.S. Forest Service, the trail connection between Prouty Beach and Bluffside Farm as part of the city’s Waterfront , the North Country Bromley Tower Trail Association, the Appalachian Trail Recreation Trail and Lake Access project. Congratulations to the Manchester Section Conservancy, and the Middlebury Area Land Randolph will receive $65,000 for marketing and its friends! The Bromley Tower Trust to identify a corridor for the trail from and events, and trail design and trailhead Fundraising Committee, led by section to the Long Trail. amenities. President Marge Fish, has reached their goal The extension was authorized by the John As part of the Vermont Outdoor of raising $262,000 to replace a demolished D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management Recreation Economic Collaborative, the wooden observation tower. The original and Recreation Act, signed into law March Recreation Communities pilot grant program tower was built in 1959, and served visitors 12, 2019. The sweeping lands bill included a offers grants from $10,000 to $100,000. to Bromley’s summit until 2012 when the variety of conservation, recreation, and historic Gov. Phil Scott announced the grants to decayed tower was removed for safety. GMC and cultural preservation items including Newport and Randolph on March 16. The staff will begin applying for permits and permanent reauthorization of the Land and two communities will serve as prototypes planning the project this summer. Water Conservation Fund. for other recreation oriented communities Act 250 at 50 that would like to attract more outdoor Lincoln Mountain Tower Upgrade recreationists. Approved by the USFS The Green Mountain Club and its partners are —Mike DeBonis, Executive Director developing recommendations for improving The U.S. Forest Service has issued its final the regulation and management of trails and

New Membership Benefits To thank GMC members for their support we are providing these new benefits:

• A GMC branded hook-and-loop gear strap – a new color every year!* • A 24-hour early reservation period for Bolton Valley camps (Bolton Lodge and Bryant Camp). • Free overnights at caretaker sites on the Long Trail. • Free admission annually to one Taylor Series program.* • Merchandise available to members only, including T-shirts, hats, stickers, and rocker patches. • More discounts than ever at retailers, inns, and other businesses. Check greenmountainclub.org/discounts for the list.

*New and renewing member packets will include a GMC gear strap and Taylor Series voucher. If you have already renewed this year, you can pick them up at the GMC visitor center. To stay free at caretaker sites, show your membership card or its photo on your phone.

28 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB HIKE THE LONG TRAIL IN A DAY! Long Trail Day: Saturday, August 3

Individuals and groups will hike segments of the Long Trail to cover the entire 272-mile trail, in one day, all while raising money for the Green Mountain Club to continue caring for Vermont’s mountains and trails.

The adventure will finish at watering holes across the state to celebrate the completion of the hike. greenmountainclub.org/longtrailday

Long Trail Day 2018 on LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 29 PHOTO BY KRISTIN MCLANE Trail Mix

T Hanson Joins GMC Staff under four years old, she found inspiration (and sanity!) exploring nearby trails and parks where From Big Blue to the Green Mountains, T the kids could dig dirt and turn over streambed returned to her Northeastern roots when she rocks. She became a Master Naturalist, and joined the Green Mountain Club in 2018 as started leading hikes and plant talks. In 2008, development assistant. with the children in school, T joined the After graduating from Boston University, T National Audubon Society and helped to started her career working for IBM as a systems open their flagship nature education center, engineer in Phoenix, where she hiked in the the Trinity River Audubon Center, where she Grand Canyon and many Southwestern desert became director of operations. In keeping with ecosystems. Her information technology path her environmental passion, she most recently took her to Dallas for technology planning and served as director of development for the Texas architecture at American Airlines/SABRE, Trees Foundation. developing strategy for distribution channels for A self-professed tree hugger and locavore, T the flight reservation system. can often be found experimenting with native T Hanson Later as a mother at home with four children plants, biking, or at a local farmers market. Walk the Long Trail at Berlin Mall 259 9,582.5 29 $10,000 WALKERS MILES FINISHERS DONATED TO GMC BY MALL OWNER HEIDENBERG PROPERTIES GROUP

alkers enjoyed a third hiked the actual trail in 1982?” she asked. huge topographical maps depicting its 12 winter of an indoor “Thirty-five plus years later, walking remains sections to prompt memories of my 1982 Wsimulation of the Long an important part of my life, whether end-to-end hike. Trail in the Walk the Long Trail at Berlin following white blazes on the LT, walking “Of course, weather is a primary concern Mall challenge, where 544 laps of the back roads in my community, or clocking when hiking, but at the mall there was no common area equaled the trail’s 272 laps at the mall. worry about mud, ice, slush, or snow. Nor miles. Trail photos and maps provided “So I decided to walk sixty laps weekly did I contend with mosquitoes, worrisome a sense of immersion in the trail and its in order to reach the 544 lap total, while ticks or pesky raccoons. As on the trail, it surroundings, as participants helped helping raise funds for the GMC. was tedious at times. Yet it was satisfying to raise funds for the Green Mountain “Sometimes I planned to walk with a complete both versions of the Long Trail. Club from January 19 to April 24. friend. Other times, when my pace matched Thank you to the GMC, the Berlin Mall, GMC member Cynthia Martin that of another walker, we struck up a and the many other sponsors for promoting participated, and reflected on her conversation, as I had on the LT. When the Walk the Long Trail at Berlin Mall experience. “Why would I walk an indoor I walked solo I used the large photos challenge.” version of the LT, when a friend and I had highlighting the beauty of the trail and the

2019 Berlin Mall Walkers

30 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB A Fork in the Road Led to Many Forks… in the Chocolate Chiffon Pie!

unday Pie at The Swanson Inn in Waitsfield is rapidly becoming a community tradition. Hikers congregate by the fireplace Swhile other visitors, new and old, converse from welcoming rocking chairs and the long dining room table in the common room. Mingling with guests, proprietors Rick and Tim serve tea, wine, and coffee. Most Sundays they must remove the “Pies Today” sign from the front post early because the pies sold out. This year, the Green Mountain Club welcomed The Swanson Inn as our newest corporate sponsor. In 2016 Rick Swanson and Tim Heath-Swanson, then living in Stowe, celebrated Tim’s 50th birthday with a Long Trail thru-hike; they each lost more than 20 pounds (including some tears), but prevailed. After a nearly a month of hiking, Tim returned to his desk job in Hanover, New Hampshire, but realized he needed a life change. Inspired by his dream of opening a bed and breakfast, the couple moved 25 miles south to buy and operate the inn. “I like offering friendly hospitality to our guests, and I enjoy the many conversations that take place because of the historic nature of the inn,” Tim said. Tim is the head chef and baker of the fabulous Sunday pies. Tim and Rick cater to hikers and outdoor enthusiasts in all seasons. To Long Trail section hikers they offer a special two-non- Rick and Tim consecutive-night stay that includes breakfast, shuttle service to and from trailheads, equipment storage, and (if available) a special room named Journey’s End decked out in Long Trail maps and lore. Thru-hikers can get a good night’s sleep off the trail with a one- night stay when they reach Appalachian Gap, with shuttle service from and to the trailhead on Route 17, dinner, breakfast, laundry service, and a resupply run to town. The innkeepers want to encourage people to enjoy the beauty of the Green Mountains, hike the Long Trail, and perhaps have transformational experiences like they had, including an enlivened appreciation of occasional indoor comfort. “We spent three nights off the trail in our 24 days of walking. Those nights were pure luxury,” said Rick. “We hope our comfortable accommodations will offer hikers a needed respite.” Next time you’re in the Mad River Valley, be sure to visit Tim and Rick, Gracie, their Bernese Mountain Dog, and Kirby the Corgi. And, of course, indulge in a slice of hiker heaven pie. GMC thanks The Swanson Inn for its sponsorship, which is the best way for a business to help fund the protection of Vermont’s premium trails, and to reach the large and growing hiker community. —T Hanson, Development Assistant

To become a corporate sponsor, or to learn more, visit greenmountainclub.org/about/corporate-sponsorship/

The Swanson Inn, 533 Millbrook Rd. (Vt. Rt. 17), Waitsfield, VT 05672, www.swansoninn.com | [email protected] Journey’s End Room

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 31 Land Stewardship

Investments in Old and New Setback Connecting AT to and suppress the growth of invasive plant In the last two years GMC has made Historical Park species. important investments in the Wheeler The Long Trail Patrol has worked each The plan to secure a protected trail fall since then to reclaim the most valuable Pond camps in the Northeast Kingdom. corridor to connect the Appalachian Plans are being made to rebuild Beaver open areas from saplings and invasive National Scenic Trail with Marsh- shrubs vigorously encroaching from the Dam Camp as a universally accessible Billings-Rockefeller National Historic backcountry camp after it was closed in edges of historic agricultural fields. They Park has been set back. An easement on cleared the last field on the list in 2017, 2016 due to structural weakness. Hadsel- a property between Route 12 and Gilbert Mares Camp is open, and in 2018 completed the first year of hosting renters year-round, routine maintenance—a and the club will be doing significant accomplishment badly needed maintenance after years of playing catch on its porch, foundation, up! and outbuildings in the next Banner Year few field seasons. Finally, GMC has bought GMC’s Corridor a 16.75-acre neighboring Monitoring Program has property to protect the 65 intrepid volunteers remoteness of the setting who bushwhack through, that makes the Wheeler up, and over some of the Pond camps a beloved steepest, roughest, wettest, destination. The club will and most remote parts of use part of the land for an Vermont’s landscape to expanded parking area and a maintain boundaries and trailhead to serve day hikers warn of encroachments. and users of the camps. Twenty-eighteen was a banner year for the program. Volunteers Management Research Stephaine LaBarron, Corridor Monitor of Atlas tract in Jay Continuing HEBERT PHOTO BY JOCELYN monitored and maintained about a third of the Long We continue to examine Trail corridor boundaries (56 of 178 possibilities for managing Headwaters Hill was secured in 2016, but the next miles) on GMC’s conserved lands. On Camp on the shore of Unknown Pond in adjoining landowner has not agreed to an the Appalachian Trail volunteers also Avery’s Gore. Our planning has focused on easement. With no willing landowner, the monitored and maintained almost a third what type of privy could serve the camp GMC, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, of the boundaries from Maine Junction to while meeting restrictions held by the U.S. National Park Service, and U.S. Forest New Hampshire (41 of 128 miles). conservation easement, landowner, and Service will continue working together to applicable government agencies. The club explore an alternative route to connect the Slow and Steady Planning Continues owns the cabin, but the site is held via an two national parks. Planning for the Dry Ridge Long Trail annual long-term lease on timber company Open Areas Initiative Reaches Relocation, between Bear Hollow Shelter land. The GMC Camps Committee and Route 15 in Johnson, continues. approved an interim management plan Significant Landmark The project is the final stage of the for the structure that will guide us while In 2013, shortly after GMC took over Lamoille River Valley Relocation. research proceeds. management responsibility for the entire The club is working to secure legal Rentals Off to an Enthusiastic Start length of the AT in Vermont, the club, protection for the trail relocation route, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and and is communicating with a national Last year was the first full year of rentals of Green Mountain National Forest launched corporation that owns hundreds of acres Bolton Lodge and Bryant Camp after the the Upper Valley Appalachian Trail of forest land in Johnson along the Long club restored both cabins. Bryant Camp Open Area Initiative. The goal was to Trail and planned relocation. We will has exceeded all expectations, and had 100 reclaim and maintain the most significant continue to report our progress as we go. percent occupancy in the winter of 2018! open areas along the trail in Vermont’s —Mollie Flanigan Bolton Lodge had a quieter winter, with 56 Upper Valley of the Conservation Manager percent occupancy, but its renters were no to enhance the trail experience, maintain less enthusiastic. early successional habitat for wildlife,

32 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB BARNES CAMP THE NEW SMUGGLERS' NOTCH DESTINATION PHOTO BY KRISTIN MCLANE

here’s only one place where you can climb Vermont’s popular approach to Mount Mansfield from the east, a larger highest peak, take your children over a wetland on a parking area was needed. Stowe Mountain Resort now generously Tboardwalk, go for a short hike, and start walking to lets hundreds of hikers and Notch visitors park in an overflow lot Canada or Massachusetts on the Long Trail. The Barnes Camp just inside their main entrance. Visitor Center at Smugglers’ Notch has all of this and more. Barnes Camp is also next to a new 600-foot universally accessible In addition, from Memorial Day Weekend through Indigenous boardwalk across a wetland with some of the most majestic views of Peoples Day you can get valuable information from GMC Smugglers’ Notch anywhere. The boardwalk and the new 1.5-mile volunteers about the local area and hiking trails, every week from Barnes Camp Loop Trail are welcome alternatives to the many more Friday through Sunday, 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. challenging trails in the area. Barnes Camp is a historically significant two-story building A dramatic increase in visitation has followed these changes. at the southern gateway to Smugglers’ Notch on Vermont Route There were more interactions between GMC volunteers and 108. It has been a hub for logging operations, lodging for skiers visitors in 2018 than in the previous two years combined and hikers, and housing for hiking trail maintenance crews for GMC Barnes Camp volunteers meet and greet visitors with tips more than 100 years. and recommendations for hikes of all lengths and abilities. They also In 2014, after falling out of use and into disrepair around the assist and talk with Long Trail hikers who pass right by the door, turn of the 20th century, the Smugglers’ Notch Partners renovated including many thru-hikers. For example, Nancy McClellen, one of the building and reopened it as the Barnes Camp Visitor Center. the volunteers, writes: The partnership includes Stowe Mountain Resort; the Lamoille “A camera was found at the top of Mount Mansfield and brought County Planning Commission; the Vermont Department of to Barnes Camp. It eventually was reclaimed by a hiker, who wrote, Forests, Parks and Recreation; and the Green Mountain Club. ‘I want to sincerely thank you for helping me get my camera back, The Long Trail was relocated in 2018 to pass by Barnes Camp, it really means so much to me to have gotten those precious photos as it did in the early 1900s. Because the Long Trail is the most continued on page 36 PHOTO BY CINDY GRIFFITH PHOTO BY CINDY GRIFFITH Cousins gathered in Vermont from all over the country to hike Energetic Middlebury College group at Barnes Camp getting ready to Mount Mansfield. climb Vermont’s highest peak. Section Directory Sections Bennington Maintenance: Harmon Hill to President: Lorna Cheriton, (802) 447-1383 E-mail: [email protected] Bennington program, Taylor Series presentation, and Website: meetup.com/gmcbennington table display at Middlebury’s spring Green Last November we held a dedication Brattleboro Up Day festival were geared toward all Maintenance: Winhall River to Vt. 11 and 30 ceremony for the Bald Mountain Trail President: Bonnie Haug-Cramp, (802) 380-5165 generations. E-mail: [email protected] Kiosk honoring the late David Hardy, Website: brattleborogmc.com GMC Director of Trail Programs, who Burlington Bread Loaf worked with our section, the town of Location: Middlebury area Maintenance: Sucker Brook Shelter to Emily Proctor Bennington, and the Green Mountain Every Saturday in May the Burlington Shelter Section hosts its spring trail work outings. President: Ruth Penfield, (802) 388-5407 National Forest to negotiate access to and E-mail: [email protected] parking for the trail, and to reroute both Some of these outings can be epic. Last Website: gmcbreadloaf.org its beginning and a notoriously wet area. year when a powerful microburst hit Burlington Chittenden County, Scott Albertson, Phil Maintenance: Winooski River Footbridge to Smugglers’ Notch Brattleboro Hazen, and our section’s Trails Chair John President: Ted Albers, (802) 557-7009 Sharp set a section record. John reported E-mail: [email protected] Late last season we did some necessary Website: gmcburlington.org that the 40 downed trees were the “most work at Spruce Peak Shelter, and this Connecticut blow downs I have encountered in a single season we will focus on refreshing white Location: Hartford, Connecticut outing in my 46 years of doing trail work.” Maintenance: Glastenbury Mountain to Stratton- and blue blazes for the five miles of trail Arlington Road After an 11-hour day, they finally ran out President: Jim Robertson, (860) 633-7279 south of Routes 11/30. We thank our E-mail: [email protected] of gas on the south side of Bolton. Website: conngmc.com section’s longtime president, George Roy, Killington who stepped down after 18 years of service. Connecticut Location: Rutland area Bonnie Haug-Cramp will be the section’s Maintenance: Vt. 140 to Maine Junction The Connecticut Section is celebrating its President: Herb Ogden, (802) 293-2510 new president. She has been active with E-mail: [email protected] the section and is well positioned to lead it 50th anniversary this year! Our section was Website: gmckillington.org with fresh and fun-filled activities. organized and chartered in 1969 by GMC Laraway members living in Connecticut who had Location: St. Albans area Maintenance: Lamoille River to Vt. 118 Bread Loaf an interest in the Long Trail. Membership President: Bruce Bushey, (802) 893-2146 has increased from 27 in 1969 to more E-mail: [email protected] With the goal of increasing interest and Website: gmclaraway.org than 200 today. The Connecticut Section eventual membership in GMC, the Bread Manchester built Kid Gore Shelter in 1971, and still Loaf Section has focused on attracting Maintenance: Vt. 11 and 30 to Mad Tom Notch maintains it. Members also maintain Story President: Marge Fish, (802) 824-3662 students and families to participate in our E-mail: [email protected] Spring Shelter and the 12 miles of trail Website: gmc-manchester.org outings and on Long Trail work crews. Our from Glastenbury Mountain to Stratton- Montpelier Young Adventurers Club recently learned Maintenance: Camel’s Hump to Winooski River Arlington Road. Footbridge and Smugglers’ Notch to Chilcoot Pass about trail work with the Middlebury President: Andrew Nuquist, (802) 223-3550 Area Land Trust, and our annual meeting E-mail: [email protected] Website: gmcmontpelier.org Northeast Kingdom Maintenance: Willoughby and Darling State Forests and the Kingdom Heritage Lands President: Cathi Brooks, (802) 626-8742 E-mail: [email protected] Website: nekgmc.org Northern Frontier Location: Montgomery Maintenance: Hazen’s Notch to Canada President: Ken Whitehead, (802) 933-5352 E-mail: [email protected] Website: gmcnorthernfrontier.org Upper Valley-Ottauquechee Location: Upper Connecticut River Valley, and New Hampshire Maintenance: Appalachian Trail: Maine Jct. to NH border President: Dick Andrews, (802) 885-3201 E-mail: [email protected] Website: gmc-o-section.org Sterling Location: Morrisville/Stowe/Johnson Maintenance: Chilcoot Pass to Lamoille River President: Kevin Hudnell: (802) 851-7019 E-mail: [email protected] Website: gmcsterling.org Worcester Location: Worcester, Massachusetts Maintenance: Stratton-Arlington Road to Winhall River Bald Mountain Trail Kiosk President: Ram Moennsad, (603) 767-2962 E-mail: [email protected] HEBERT PHOTO BY JOCELYN Website: www.gmcwoo.org Northeast Kingdom We’ll be tackling a Japanese knotweed infestation, turnpiking mud holes on the The Northeast Kingdom Section will trail, and lots more. If you live in the area, host a grand opening celebration for the come join us for a day in the woods. We newly completed Kingdom Heritage Trail started an e-newsletter, so if you want System (the Bluff Ridge Trail, Unknown to stay up to date with our section’s trail Pond Trail, Middle Mountain Trail, and projects and outings—sign up! Email Trail) on June 22 in Caitlin Miller, [email protected]. Island Pond. The event will be held in conjunction with Island Pond’s annual Upper Valley Ottauquechee “Welcome to Summer” festival. This will be followed by hikes led by NEK Section The Ottauquechee Section was founded members and GMC staff on sections of in 1979 in Woodstock and named after the nearby river. The first section hike Bob Perkins at Pico Camp the trail. Everyone is invited to join us! drew about twenty members to walk the Northern Frontier 18 miles of AT they were assigned. Forty Killington years later, with almost 300 members, This winter the Northern Frontier Section the O-Section hosts about 175 outings Bob Perkins has been a member of the co-hosted an interesting Taylor Series and other events a year, and maintains 46 Killington Section for so long that no one lecture with the Enosburg Conservation miles of the Appalachian Trail in Vermont. is sure when he joined. We think it was Commission. And Tom Rogers of the The section added “Upper Valley” to its the 1940s. Bob “the perpetual hiker” is Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department name to help connect with and reach still hiking, though he said he might not spoke about the effects of climate change more, and younger, trip participants in repeat a recent climb of Blue Ridge. Here on the wildlife and ecosystems of Vermont. the upper Connecticut River Valley. Our he is at Pico Camp (above) around 2000 His presentation was very informative and older members still call the section the when he chaired the section’s Trails & well done, and we highly recommend it to “O-Section.” Shelters Committee. other sections. Our section is not a large group, but we schedule outings throughout Worcester Laraway the year and work days during the hiking Volunteers from the Rainforest Alliance season. After clearing blowdowns on David Miller, a longtime member, donated Group helped carry lumber to Corliss the trail this spring, we plan to re-blaze a crosscut saw to our section, which we Camp so Bruce Bushey could build a sections of trail we did not reach last year. look forward to using on our maintenance new moldering privy. Pat Audet, the trips. We are also very pleased about the Corliss Camp shelter adopter, helped Sterling planned Stratton Pond and Lye Brook trail re-routes this summer, and about future Bruce assemble the crib and privy. And Now in its 106th year (you’ll get there plans to build new tent sites, privies, and a Corliss Camp also received a fresh coat someday, Connecticut Section), the new shelter. of stain with the help of Sterling College Sterling Section has an exciting slate of students. work trips and outings planned for 2019! Manchester The Manchester Section has reached their fundraising goal of $262,000 to rebuild the Bromley summit observation tower! We had a great winter with a lot of well attended snowshoe hikes, and we are looking forward to an equally good summer hiking season. Montpelier November 26, 2018, marked the passing of Reidun D. Nuquist, a 48-year member of the Montpelier Section. A celebration of her life was held at the GMC headquarters in December. Her energy and spirit will be greatly missed. Bluff Mountain Lookout PHOTO BY JOHN PREDOM

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 35 Board Report

he Board of the Green Mountain Club met April 6 at working with the Trust for Public Land to acquire the property, the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forest and hopes to receive financial assistance from the Vermont T Supervisor’s office in Rutland. General Assembly. President Tom Candon said he was impressed with the The board approved new policies governing acceptance club’s progress toward the goals of the strategic plan, and he of gifts and recommended limits on operation of drones near specifically recognized the important role of the club’s sections. trails and campsites. The board also approved an amended Executive Director Mike DeBonis reported on his contacts in endowment policy. the Legislature regarding proposed legislation to revise Act 250, Staff members reported on the status of the revision of particularly its jurisdiction over recreation trails. the Long Trail System Management Plan, which is nearing Treasurer Stephen Klein reported that GMC’s finances completion. The board also discussed recent approval by are in good order, and the endowment’s balance has risen to Congress of a plan to connect the North Country National $4.58 million due to the recent strength of financial markets. Scenic Trail to the Appalachian Trail via a short section of the The board unanimously approved the fiscal year 2020 budget Long Trail north of Maine Junction (see Trail Mix, p. 28). prepared and presented by the club staff and the budget and The meeting ended with the adoption of a resolution finance committee. acknowledging the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Staff reported on recent activity, focusing on a parcel of land Connecticut Section. in Johnson and Waterville upon which one-third of a mile of the —Ed O’Leary, Secretary Long Trail is located with no easement protection. The club is

Barnes Camp (continued from page 33) back, I cannot thank you enough. The camera really did seem to have an adventure! Whoever picked it up took some great photos on it and I got to see the journey after getting the camera back.” We are always looking for more volunteers to help staff four- hour shifts, though you can work as little or as much as you’d like. New volunteers are teamed with seasoned ones, and often busy shifts are covered in pairs. If you love Vermont and our trails (you don’t have to be an expert), and like talking with people about the outdoors, please consider joining our fantastic team at Barnes Camp. Visit greenmountainclub.org/volunteer to apply. —Cindy Griffith, Barnes Camp Volunteer

Advertise in the LongTrailNews Volunteer Cindy Griffith with visitors Call Jocelyn at 802-241-8215 PHOTO BY IRA SOLLACE

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LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 37 Hurry Up and Slow Down THE JOURNEY TO JOURNEY’S END By Douglas Lloyd

Douglas Lloyd on Mount Mansfield

hen I was 15, a high school hiking several miles before you even reach 600 miles (more than 300 were side trail friend and I took our first the trailhead, I figured I could save the out-and-backs, loops, and repeated trips Wbackpacking trip on the Journey’s End Trail for last, and think of up Mansfield to its 27 trails), plus the Long Trail, a four-day hike from Camel’s my thru-hike as a 272-mile hike in to my logistics of doing the side trails, were Hump to Smugglers’ Notch. I wore work last side trail. apparently the motivators I needed. That, boots with cotton tube socks, and carried and the fact that my 51-year-old knees a 40-pound external frame pack holding weren’t growing any new cartilage. three pairs of blue jeans. “Thirty-six years, 272 Previous challenges, like cycling Despite my inexperience and self- across the country and bagging Colorado imposed suffering, that hike remains one Long Trail miles, and fourteeners, have shown me how difficult of the most formative experiences of my I find establishing a balance between life, and I never look up at that ridgeline 88 side trails later, I achieving ambitious pursuits and being without marveling that one can hike that present and mindful. At times, my expanse, let alone the length of Vermont. became an end-to-ender tendency to be single minded and driven Thirty-six years, 272 Long Trail miles, and is helpful, but it can make it difficult to 88 side trails later, I became an end-to- and side-to-sider—on the slow down and expand my focus beyond ender and side-to-sider—on the same day. the goal. A few months earlier I noticed that I same day.” My single-mindedness settled in while had highlighted most of the northern side hiking the side trails, and the nature of trails on my map with an orange Sharpie, my experience began to change. I found marking their completion. It struck me: The noncommittal “Someday I’ll myself studying the map to find the most if I devoted every weekend of my summer hike the Long Trail” thought that had efficient routes and avoid miles that didn’t to it, maybe I could finish the rest of the persisted for years was giving way to “I’m count. The joy I got from hiking was being side trails before fall, just in time for a doing this.” As a goal-oriented person, overshadowed by my mission. thru-hike. Since some side trails require the physical challenge of hiking nearly Despite a tight schedule, I wanted to

38 | THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB experience each trail as deeply as possible. Stratton Pond. When I caught myself thinking more When my trail angel arrived about the next trail than the one I was at Kelly Stand Road the next on, I tried to observe my surroundings day, I announced that I and ask: “What makes this trail unique?” wanted to pack an extra Sometimes it was very apparent, like rocky two days of food, delay crevices, caves, ladders, moss blanketing the next resupply, and the forest floor, or a backcountry pond push on. After stuffing inhabited by calling loons. Other times the additional supplies the unique trail features were more subtle into my pack, I hoisted and required more deliberate attention it with a grunt and to notice them. I discovered new favorite immediately questioned trails and will surely revisit them when I my decision. A three- have more time. time end-to-ender and Two weeks after completing all but the recent side-to-sider herself, Journey’s End Trail, I started my thru-hike. my trail angel gave me some When I stepped onto the Long Trail at the sage advice: “There’s no need to southern terminus and began hiking north, rush. You have plenty of time—and I felt comforted by the realization that I the whole point of being out here is to

would be following a single path and living slow down and just be.” Her words sank SYLVESTER GRAPHIC BY MATTHEW in the woods for three straight weeks. in. I dropped my heavy pack. But while the blazes had changed from The next time I felt the urgency to blue to white, what didn’t change was my make extra miles was when I considered sun on a rock at the water’s edge. It was the compulsion to make miles. hiking past Griffith Lake, one of the most most peaceful and contemplative day I’ve I arrived at Seth Warner Shelter at beautiful spots on the trail. Instead, I ever had hiking. 2:00 p.m. Instead of enjoying an afternoon slowed my pace and quieted my mind, As I moved north, conversations with at camp, I kept hiking, stopping just stopping often to listen to the sound of hikers often included the question: “How before dark to pitch my tent. The next nothing but the breeze. As I shuffled many miles did you do today?” I recall an day I pressed on beyond my intended through bright red leaves scattered along afternoon in the warming hut on Spruce destination and hiked 16 miles to Goddard lengths of puncheon approaching the lake, Peak with a couple of other thru-hikers Shelter. Early in the afternoon of day I inhaled the autumn air. I saw a low cloud who, like me, had cut their day short to three I was stuck at Story Spring Shelter, of fog drifting almost imperceptibly across find refuge from hypothermic conditions. unable to continue because a resupply the water, giving way to a bluebird sky, and As we discussed the merits of slowing was scheduled the next morning. I felt I felt gratitude for where I was. down and that ubiquitous question, one of anxious sitting around camp, checking Rather than moving quickly, mindlessly, them offered the perfect response: “Don’t the time, looking for cell service, wanting and relentlessly all day, I allowed myself ask how many miles I did today. Ask me desperately to hike the ten miles to the luxury of a long afternoon sitting in the what I saw today.”

Douglas Lloyd, Taylor Lodge, 1982 Douglas Lloyd, Taylor Lodge, 2018 PHOTO BY JOCEYLN HEBERT PHOTO BY RIVER STRONG

LONG TRAIL NEWS • SUMMER 2019 | 39 Periodicals Postage Green Mountain Club PAID 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road Waterbury Center Waterbury Center, VT 05677 and Additional Offices

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