Keegan Tierney
The 2023 field season is behind us, and whew, it was a doozy. Through it all, a group of rugged, committed staff members persevered to complete a huge amount of work, keeping Green Mountain Club projects on track.
The list of challenges overcome is impressive, and underscores the talent, skill and determination of this year’s team. One-hundred-year flood response? Check. Interrupted projects? Check. Rainiest summer ever? Check. Search and rescue assistance? Check.
The work completed is equally impressive: Year two of the Burrows Trail Restoration project remained on schedule, and we built upon a successful partnership with the National Civilian Conservation Corps. We installed 65 sets of wooden puncheon over notoriously muddy Laraway summit, a major step in our five-year commitment to revitalizing the northern Long Trail. Down south we began the first of three years of investment from Harmon Hill to Hell Hollow Brook. Construction continued to roll, with five major structures completed this year (more on page 6).
With staff Kate Songer and Lorne Currier’s expert organization and training, volunteers contributed significant time and effort to all the above projects. Special shoutouts go to the Laraway and Burlington Sections for installing all of the new puncheon; to other volunteers for painting the restored Stratton Mountain Caretaker Cabin; and to Bennington Section volunteers for reconstructing the Melville Nauheim Shelter picnic table, to name just a few. All this in addition to performing their normal annual duties, plus helping with assessing damage after the July flood.
The hiking season started early, with beautiful dry weather in May. Caretakers sprang into action, greeting and informing hikers while getting overnight sites up and running. We reassigned ranges of trail and responsibilities in the south to balance workloads, and the redistribution worked well.
That nice weather morphed into endless rain. We pulled staff members out of the field in anticipation of severe flooding, then sent them back for a rapid assessment of damage.
Wet weather slowed the composting process at our privies, adding time and often increasing the need for bark mulch. I thank the many volunteers who helped pack in more mulch to shelters around the state, and caretakers were able to complete nearly all composting batches before the season ended.
The exception? A bear, probably attracted by food waste left in the bins, damaged the Taft Lodge and Sterling Pond privies late in October. Staff replaced the damaged bins and secured them with wooden bracing under a light snowfall in early November.
The Special Projects Crew started their season three weeks early to capitalize on the opportunity to work with Chip Swanson, a recently retired timber framer, on the new Sunrise Shelter construction. Chip volunteered to help frame the shelter (1.1 miles south of the old site), and was a patient teacher and invaluable resource. Together he and the crew finished the shelter in five weeks. Sadly, Chip passed away in August. Our deepest thanks go to him and our condolences to his wife and family.
The crew went on to complete the roof and siding at Stratton View Shelter restore the Stratton Mountain Caretaker Cabin and field-mill puncheon on Laraway Mountain. The crew felled native trees and de-barked, split, and shaped enough timber for 65 sets of puncheon, then installed by volunteers.
Two Long Trail Patrol crews and eight weekly rotations of the Volunteer Long Trail Patrol worked on four significant trail improvement projects: the Burrows Trail Restoration project, and tread work on the LT/AT south of Route 9, between Cooper Lodge and Jungle Junction, and from Kelley Stand Road to Forest Road 71.
We can expect to see challenges and disruptions like we saw this summer in future seasons as well. We must continue major investments like the Burrows Trail Reconstruction so trails can endure future storms. We will also need to raise and invest more money to mitigate the impacts of these large-scale storm events. Although this season’s flooding generally caused only moderate damage to our trails, the damage was widespread, and it will cost an estimated $250,000 to address in coming years. We also lost about $50,000 in a combination of direct expenses and revenue losses from project funders because of the interruption in work.
Some flood-damaged structures, like the Forest City trailhead bridge and the bridge between Peru Peak Shelter and Griffith Lake, were already planned for replacement, since we knew they could not adequately meet the needs of the trail into the future. If we had not already lined up funding for them, those two bridges alone would have cost us an additional $250,000 in storm-related totals.
Fortunately, it is the continued support from you, our valued members, donors, and volunteers, that will allow us to create a sustainable trail system and staffing model ready for rapid response to conditions on the ground.