Green Mountain Club

Maintaining & Protecting Vermont's Long Trail Since 1910

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2022 Field Season by the Numbers

November 24, 2022 by Chloe Miller Leave a Comment

Look at all of this work you made possible! We are overwhelmed with gratitude for all of the support we received during the 2022 field season from hikers, members, donors, and volunteers. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 2022 field season by the numbers.

map of 2022 field projects in reviewThe map (click to enlarge) shows sites our field staff and volunteers worked on this year. We ran three professional Long Trail Patrol crews, restarted our Volunteer Long Trail Patrol after pausing it during the pandemic, and had a full slate of Backcountry Caretakers at 15 sites on the Long Trail. Projects in the field included shelter repairs and rebuilds, trail improvements, and privy management and upgrades.

Three professional crews included a Long Trail Patrol crew stationed on Burrows Trail; a roving patrol crew that worked at Stratton Pond, the LT north of Tillotson Camp, and in between; and a BackCountry Construction crew working on shelters and privies.

The Volunteer Long Trail Patrol returned after two years, and spent six weeks relocating a muddy section of trail near Dunville Hollow. Their work amounted to 760 hours of volunteer labor.

construction crew members work on a privyWe worked on five privies including:

  • Construction crew built a new privy at the new Sunrise Shelter overnight site location (to be completed in 2023)
  • Construction crew built a new ADA-accessibly moldering privies and capped the old pit privies at Old Job Shelter and Stony Brook Shelter.
  • Field programs staff replaced rotted lumber and stabilized the composting privy at Taft Lodge
  • UVO section volunteers moved the moldering privy at Thistle Hill shelter to a new catcher to increase capacity.
  • Caretakers also performed frequent regular maintenance on privies in their ranges

We repaired or rebuilt six shelters, including:

  • Volunteers led by Jonathan Bigelow built the new Seth Warner Shelter.
  • Construction crew reset the foundational piers and installed a new cedar roof at Kid Gore Shelter.
  • Poured piers to prepare for Sunrise Shelter build in 2023.
  • Made progress on Stratton View shelter.
  • Addressed powder post beetle infestation at Spruce Peak Lodge.
  • Jacked, plumbed, and reset piers at a leaning Puffer Shelter. The Burlington Section volunteers installed a new roof.

Trail crews worked on nine major sections of trail including:

  • Installed 60 feet of turnpike near Dunville Hollow (volunteer crew)
  • Completed reroutes around Stratton Pond and spur to Willis Ross clearing on Pond’s shore
  • Replace puncheon and complete stonework on the Griffith Lake – Old Job Trail
  • Improved drainage on the LT/AT north of Governor Clement Shelter (with VYCC crews)
  • Completed a short relocation on the Bucklin Trail to address severe erosion
  • Hardened LT treadway near Cooley Glen shelter
  • Restored short severely eroded section of the Sterling Pond Trail with new armored stone staircase
  • Continued upgrades, funded by Long Trail Legacy Campaign, on northern LT from Tillotson Camp to Haystack Mountain
  • Embarked on year one of the Burrows Trail Project

Speaking of the Burrows Trail Project, here are a few highlights of that crew, led by Sam Kenney:

  • Crews from five partner organizations tackled 128 of 300 sites
  • This includes 55 non-technical maintenance sites (brush-ins, etc.)
  • Installed 215 stone steps
  • Repaired and built 30 rock waterbars
side by side of an eroded worksite on Burrows Trail, right side shows a compelted stone staircase
The first site the Burrows trail crew worked on, building a stone staircase to address the steeply gullied section and brushing in the widened social trails.

Phew! As we wrap up this field season, planning for next year is underway, with hiring about to begin in January. In 2023, we will start year two of the Burrows rebuild, work on Sunrise and Lost Pond Shelters, and replace the privies at Lost Pond and Winturri Shelter. We plan to have another full season of the Volunteer Long Trail Patrol working in Southern Vermont.

Thank you again to all of you for supporting the 2022 field season! We’re grateful for you.

 

Filed Under: From the Field, News, Trail

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Leave No Trace, Then and Now: a Timeline of Trail Etiquette Language

March 1, 2023

This article previously appeared in the Winter 2022 Long Trail News, under the headline “Leave No Trace: Then and Now.” It was written by Sasha Weilbaker. To celebrate 100 years of the Long Trail News, we read back issues to learn what they said about trail stewardship and etiquette. The seven … Read more

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Mission

The Green Mountain Club is the founder and maintainer of the Long Trail - the oldest long distance hiking trail in America. Established in 1910 to build this trail stretching the length of Vermont, the club now also maintains the Appalachian Trail in Vermont and trails in the Northeast Kingdom in its mission to "make the Vermont mountains play a larger part in the life of the people." Read more...

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