NEWS Quarterly of the Green Mountain Club SPRING 2018 REMEMBERING Dave Hardy Champion of the Woods LONG TRAIL NEWS • SPRING 2018 | 1 The mission of the Green Mountain Club is to make the Vermont mountains play a larger part in the life of the people by protecting and maintaining the Long Trail System and fostering, through education, the stewardship of Vermont’s hiking trails and mountains. Quarterly of the Green Mountain Club Michael DeBonis, Executive Director Jocelyn Hebert, Long Trail News Editor Richard Andrews, Volunteer Copy Editor Green Mountain Club 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY BENNING Waterbury Center, Vermont 05677 Phone: (802) 244-7037 Fax: (802) 244-5867 Dave Hardy wearing E-mail: [email protected] his orange Crocs Website: www.greenmountainclub.org TheLong Trail News is published by The Green Mountain Club, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1910. In a 1971 Joint Resolution, the Vermont Legislature designated the Green Mountain Club the “founder, sponsor, defender and protector of the Long Trail System...” Contributions of manuscripts, photos, illustrations, and news are welcome from members and nonmembers. CONTENTS The opinions expressed byLTN contributors and Spring 2018, Volume 78, No. 1 advertisers are not necessarily those of GMC. GMC reserves the right to refuse advertising that is not in keeping with the goals of the organization. FEATURES TheLong Trail News (USPS 318-840) is published quarterly by The Green Mountain Club, Inc., 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. 6 / Remembering Dave Hardy: Champion of the Woods Periodicals postage paid at Waterbury Center, VT and additional offices. Subscription is a benefit for GMC 12 / Dave Hardy: Guardian of the Trail – A photo essay members. Approximately $5 of each member’s dues is used to publish the Long Trail News. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Long DEPARTMENTS Trail News, 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 05677. 3 / From the President 22 / Annual Meeting Copyright©2018 The Green Mountain Club, Inc., 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury Center, VT 4 / Mountain Views 24 / Board Report 05677. Permission to reproduce in any form any of the material in this publication without prior written 5 / Celebration of Life 25 / General Election approval of The Green Mountain Club, Inc. is granted only to individuals for their own personal hiking Held for Dave Hardy 26 / Sections convenience. 14 / Trail Mix 28 / GMC Outdoor Programs 18 / Groups 29 / Annual Meeting Registration 21 / James P. Taylor Outdoor Series 31 / Journey’s End Cover: Dave Hardy at Stratton Pond. Photo by Rich Windish. From the President he Green Mountain Club mourns the loss of Director of Trail Programs, Dave Hardy, who passed away last TNovember following an illness with cancer. Since his death I’ve heard expressions of grief from every corner of our community. As hundreds of GMC volunteers and staff know, Dave was the heart and soul of the complex organization that maintains the Long Trail System, the Vermont Appalachian Trail, and our Northeast Kingdom Trails; every decision it takes to maintain 500 miles of hiking trails and 66 overnight facilities went through Dave at some point. His vision and mastery of the system was prodigious. Dave had personal relationships with hundreds of volunteer trail maintainers, section leaders, and shelter adopters and every spring and summer for two decades he recruited, trained, and John Page on the Smugglers’ Notch Boardwalk led our field staff. Perhaps most importantly, he was GMC’s liaison with our public partners. To all of this he brought a keen intelligence, a dry wit, and his unique “thought bubbles.” My best memories of Dave, though, are of the times I spent This issue of theLong Trail News is a tribute to Dave and the with him in the woods. Often this was on official visits to sites profound influence he had on the club and its trails. Certainly on the trail where problems needed addressing, but I was also no other “Trails and Shelters” leader at GMC has had as much fortunate enough to do a lot of pleasure hiking with him. I recall impact on the Long Trail since Roy Buchanan relinquished the one particularly epic winter traverse of the Willoughby State reins of the Long Trail Patrol in the 1960s. But Dave’s place at Forest where we broke trail in waist-deep snow. He was a great GMC went beyond his stellar work as director of trail programs. hiking companion with a penchant for leaving the trail to take Our most lasting memories of him will be as a friend, mentor, “shortcuts” that sometimes got us (semi) lost. leader, role model, and congenial colleague. Organizationally we may feel semi lost, like we’re bushwhacking I spent many hours with Dave in meetings and work sessions in the woods for a while, but we will find our way and the mission at GMC headquarters. He was always a professional who could of the club will continue to be served. Each of us who knew Dave lead from behind by steering the discussion towards the best will keep his memory alive in our own way, and we’re all richer and outcome without people realizing they had been steered. Many better for having his many years among us. times, I made a suggestion to Dave, but quickly realized that he Eventually we will find an appropriate and permanent way to had already considered the idea and either rejected it for good formally recognize Dave’s contributions to the Long Trail and the reason or was three steps ahead. He was very intelligent and Green Mountain Club. Dave will be remembered, and his passion generally knew more about the Long Trail than anyone else in the and vision for the Long Trail will continue. room but didn’t let it show. —John Page, President Dave Hardy on Mount Mansfield LONG TRAIL NEWS • SPRING 2018 | 3 Mountain Views The Green Mountain Club received It is difficult to imagine the Green Mountain an outpouring of heartfelt messages Club without Dave. In addition to his remarkable tenure as director of the club’s after hearing about the passing trail programs, he was a superb defender GMC Officers of our longtime Director of Trail of and advocate for the Long Trail: always John Page, President Tom Candon, Vice President Programs Dave Hardy. We wanted calm, always patient, always diplomatic, Stephen Klein, Treasurer always supportive of his field staff and trail Lee Allen, Secretary to share excerpts, some edited for volunteers. GMC Directors length, from a few of them in this Robynn Albert, General Dave hardly ever missed an annual Lars Botzojorns, General special edition, dedicated to Dave’s meeting of the Montpelier Section. There he Michelle Connor, Burlington Hope Crifo, General life work on the Long Trail. would masterfully and clearly explain to us Marge Fish, Manchester the intricacies of modern trail management Russ Ford, Northern Frontier and the fine points of the club’s working James Fritz, Connecticut The full impact of Dave’s death hit me as I was Jean Haigh, Northeast Kingdom relationship with state and local agencies, Peter Hope, out doing trail work. There was sadness, but Ottauquechee which he clearly navigated with great skill. Paul Houchens, General as I worked along, I thought about Dave’s easy Anne Janeway, General At GMC annual meetings and board of Wayne Krevetski, shuffle as he hiked, his calm way of imparting General directors meetings, Dave was an articulate Sheri Larsen, General humor and wisdom, and expressions that I will Ron Lucier, Sterling staff representative. His strong voice and Doug McKain, carry always: about hung-up limbs: “I’d leave it. Bread Loaf sense of humor could easily calm any Ed O’Leary, General Just don’t have lunch under it.” About clearing Mike Peckar, Worcester heated discussion of trail issues. He was Ira Sollace, tread with a “flick stick”: “You don’t have General a unique person. We are glad the GMC Martha Stitelman, Bennington to bend down, and it’s mildly entertaining.” Cynthia Taylor-Miller, Killington dedicated the new centennial Long Trail Dann Van Der Vliet, About dealing with difficult problems with General to Dave. Howard VanBenthuysen, General partners: “I’ll just have a quiet conversation Guide Matt Wels, Brattleboro —Reidun and Andrew Nuquist Mike Wetherell, with them.” Such people are gifts. Montpelier Montpelier Section John Zaber, General —Bob Hagen Vacant, Laraway Upper Valley–Ottauquechee Section GMC Staff Directory The Friends of Bolton Valley Nordic and Main Telephone: (802) 244-7037 Backcountry, and future users of Bolton Thanks for letting us at the Waterman Fund Jason Buss, Director of Finance Lodge and Bryant Camp, will be forever know this very sad news about Dave Hardy. E-mail: [email protected] indebted to Dave Hardy. When Dave and Phone: (802) 241-8214 Guy and I met him years ago. It must have Ilana Copel, Field Supervisor Jean Haigh suggested working with GMC to been in the 1970s. We always had the feeling Email: [email protected] restore those camps, the Friends of Bolton Phone: (802) 241-8218 about Dave that if you were talking about had recently formed, and we had no idea what Lenny Crisostomo, Database Manager trails (the Long Trail!) what he was telling you E-mail: [email protected] to do with them. It felt like we had just been Phone: (802) 241-8325 was The Answer. He knew, from a boots-on- handed a gift from on high. Lorne Currier, Group Outreach and Field Coordinator the-ground perspective. And that is the best Email: [email protected] GMC spearheaded nearly two years kind of knowledge. In fact, for a trail worker, Phone: (802) 241-8327 of grant writing, negotiating regulations Michael DeBonis, Executive Director there is no other kind.