March09 Ridge Lines
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
RIDGE LINES GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB BURLINGTON SECTION www.gmcburlington.org Spring 2009 THERE’S SO MUCH GOING ON FOR GMC MEMBERS THIS SPRING! » Don’t forget the Taylor Series event: Climbing Uganda's Mountains of the Moon. It’s at 7PM, Friday, March 20 in the McCarthy Arts Center Recital Hall at St. Michael's College in Colchester. » Join the crowd at GMC’s Annual Meeting on May 30, 2009. This will be the debut of the brand new Visitor Center in Waterbury. Come and celebrate our spacious, beautiful building and learn about its many “green” features. There will be hikes on Saturday afternoon followed by a special dinner catered by the New England Culinary Institute. After dinner, listen to Dot Helling talk about her Blue Planet 2007 around-the-world run. » Think ahead to July – and plan to party with hikers from all over the country! The Appalachian Trail Conference is having a week-long party to celebrate the Trail’s birthday – and the party is taking place here in Vermont! Many volunteers are needed to make the party a success. See details on page 4 of this newsletter. » Visit the Burlington Section website at www.gmcburlington.org. See page 2 for information about improvements and additions. » Check out new features such as the on-line bulletin e-Blaze on the GMC website www.greenmountainclub.org. This issue of Ridge Lines is extra long. We needed the extra space for reports about all the exciting things that went on in 2008 and previews of an unusually rich schedule of upcoming activities. Look inside for: Reports from Burlington Section committees about our trails, shelters, activities and membership (pages 2 - 4) … More stories about winter hiking adventures (pages 5 - 7), including a frightening overnight on Bolton Mountain (starting on page 6) … Interview with a Trip Leader (pages 7 and 8) … Guidelines for hiking during Mud Season (page 11) … Outings for March through June (pages 9 - 11) President’s Report – submitted by Phil Hazen The Green Mountain Club’s Second Century Capital Campaign was successfully completed, raising $5.3 million dollars. The Burlington Section can be especially proud for their part in this first-ever capital campaign by endowing Butler Lodge future maintenance with a contribution of $25,000 and also endowing a mile of the Long Trail with a $10,000 contribution. In addition, our Burlington Section Campaign Committee volunteers raised over $300,000, making for a grand total of over $670,000 contributed by participating Burlington Section members. John Connell served as chairman of the committee. The other volunteers were Kathy Adams, Ed Amidon, Elizabeth Bassett, Linda Evans, Sue Girouard, Peter Hawks, Phil Hazen, Sheri Larsen and Amy Otten. Looking forward – We’re initiating plans to improve our website and send Ridge Lines electronically to members who would prefer this choice instead of receiving a paper copy in the mail. We will also be reinstituting what we use to call membership meetings. The current thinking is to have these meetings twice a year. Robynn Albert has volunteered to head a new committee with the charge of increasing member participation in meetings and social gatherings. Robynn is also a very active trip leader, as many of you may know. You can read more about upcoming plans in the other committee reports. Web Report – submitted by Ted Albers The Burlington Section website (www.gmcburlington.org) is constantly being updated and upgraded. You can read about upcoming trips and enjoy tales about trips that have already taken place. There are links to the GMC main club website and several other sections’ sites. About 300 people a week visit the site, with the Before You Go page generating the most interest. This section has articles about hiking with dogs, children and small babies, as well as safety tips and information about joining a work hike. The following slate of officers was approved at the January 31 meeting of the Burlington Section. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Phil Hazen 355-7181 [email protected] Secretary Linda Evans 899-3006 [email protected] Treasurer Joel Tilley 865-9220 [email protected] Membership Dot Myer 863-2433 [email protected] Annual Meeting/Taylor Series Anneliese Koenig 862-4629 [email protected] Wendy Savoie 434-4499 [email protected] Outings Paul Houchens 658-1321 [email protected] Rich Larsen 878-6828 [email protected] Trails Pam Gillis 879-1457 [email protected] John Sharp 862-3941 [email protected] Shelters Linda Evans 899-3006 [email protected] Director Sue Girouard 644-5941 [email protected] Alternate Dana Baron 878-6773 [email protected] Ridge Lines Maeve Kim 899-4327 [email protected] Valerie Wilkins 899-5127 [email protected] Laura Philipps 498-3283 [email protected] Web Site Ted Albers 985-9064 [email protected] Special Programs Robynn Albert 878-4036 [email protected] OUTINGS REPORT - submitted by Rich Larsen and Paul Houchens We want to start our report with a THANK YOU to the leaders who made the outings possible, and to the members who participated. The success of our outings requires a robust schedule of diverse events, an enthusiastic group of leaders, and a membership that participates in and enjoys the outings. The Outings Committee hosted a training hike for trip leaders in March 2008, which was well attended and helped increase the number of people involved in trip leadership. We continue to encourage more people to volunteer as trip leaders – whether or not they have lead outings in the past. Trip leaders who signed up to lead four or more Outings were recognized at the Annual Meeting. These were Dot Myer, Linda Evans, Rich Larsen, Russ Kinaman, David Hathaway, Robynn Albert, Kelley Mackison, Pam Gillis, John Sharp, Sheri Larsen, Phil Hazen, Rachel Rose and Suzanne Daningburg. Dot Myer was recognized for signing up to lead the most outings. We also recognized and thanked the following new trip leaders: Russ Kinaman, Robynn Albert, Kelley Mackison, Rachel Rose, Megan Daly, Ted Albers and Kathy Williams. Trip reports can now be viewed online at www.gmcburlington.org/category/trip-reports/. We have two full years of outings reports – 2007 and 2008. Some older reports from our old website have been added as well. We want to thank everyone who filled out our survey about GMC outings. All the results were tabulated, some actions have already been taken, and more are planned. There seems to be a desire for more easy or easy-to-moderate outings, so we need leaders for that kind of activity. Statistics for 2008 Burlington Section GMC outings Outings Scheduled 104 Outings known to have occurred 75 Outings known to have been canceled 19 Outings with no report 10 Typical Participation 6.7 people, counting leader In 2008, we had a slightly larger number of leaders than in the past and a slightly higher level of member participation on each hike. As always, we encourage members to contact either Rich or Paul with ideas about how the Outings Committee can provide an even stronger schedule, with more leaders and more participants. Paul Houchens – 658-1321 – [email protected] Rich Larsen – 878-6828 – [email protected] MEMBERSHIP REPORT – submitted by Dot Myer Total memberships 721 There are more total members than memberships because Total members 988 family memberships include several people. The following people have joined since the December issue of Ridge Lines: Alfred Andrea, Jeffery Downs, Brian Esser, Laurie Forsman, Alex Graham, Thomas Jenks, Jim and Charlotte Kenney, Maggie MacKillop, Christopher Morrissey, Lucas Reusser, Chris Rivard, Jason Thime, Carolyn Silama and Chris Trapeni, Jeffrey Trubisz, John and Ann Tuck, and Scott Wagner. Welcome! Trails Report – submitted by Pam Gillis In 2008, we had four co-ed trail work days and one day for women only, adding up to 36 person-days of work. We had a really big turnout for the first work day, so we split up into three groups and were able to clear more of the Long Trail than we’d planned. Aside from running into four feet of snow on the south side of Bolton Mountain (in May!), the work went well and the trails were in good shape. As always, there were trees that had fallen across the trail, but there weren’t too many this year. For 2009, we’re scheduling a woman’s trail workshop and six other outings. Having this many work days on the schedule gives us some flexibility. We can shorten some days, cancel in the event of heavy rain, or clear a side trail that we don’t usually get to. Trail work is always more fun if there are lots of volunteers. We do a better job and get home earlier with a big group. So please come out and help! You don’t need any experience or unusual skills. We’ll teach you all you need to know, and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re giving back to the mountains and trails in Vermont. Contact Pam Gillis at 879-1457 or [email protected], or John Sharp at 862-3941. You don’t have to register for any of the trail work outings except the Women’s Trail Workshop. Shelters Report – submitted by Linda Evans The Burlington Section manages these seven sites for overnight camping: Duck Brook Shelter, Butler Lodge, Buchanan Lodge, Puffer Shelter, Taylor Lodge, Twin Brooks Tent Site and Taft Lodge. All the shelters are in good shape, thanks to our loyal shelter adopters and their friends who put in a total of 86 hours of volunteer work during 2008.