Baker Peak Hike

The hike up to Baker Peak on sunday 9/29 was a great success with 13 hikers. We climbed up through beautiful woods, with the autumn colors surrounding us, reaching the summit of Baker Peak in time for lunch. Chris Burk, geologist and member of the Manchester Section, provided us with much fascinating information about the geology of the area. The group then split up with some returning the same way we had climbed up (Baker Peak Trail to Lake Trail) to return to their cars and others continuing on south on the Long Trail to Griffith Lake before returning via Lake Trail to thier cars.

Winooski Bridge news

Long Trail Bridge Over the Winooski Breaks Ground BOLTON, Vt., September 16 – The Green Mountain Club today broke ground on a suspension footbridge for the Long Trail over the Winooski River, an effort 101 years in the making.  With permits and designs in hand, the 10,000 club which built and maintains the Long Trail celebrated this historic milestone while continuing to ask Long Trail enthusiasts to support the project. “It is with great pride that I join in kicking off this historic project for Vermont’s Long Trail,” said Gov. Peter Shumlin who joined the celebration.  “The state has long enjoyed a strong partnership with the Green Mountain Club in conserving and maintaining America’s oldest long distance hiking trail. This footbridge continues this partnership by linking, through the Long Trail, two of our state’s most iconic mountains: Camels Hump and Mt. Mansfield.” In 1912, legislation was introduced to build a bridge for the Long Trail over the Winooski River in Bolton. In 1913, $500 was appropriated to the project.  At the time, the club had just completed the first stretch of trail from Smugglers Notch to the river.  Since then, 25 cent ferry rides from a local farmer and long road walks have been the hallmarks of crossing the Winooski River on the Long Trail. “I am profoundly thankful to all of our Green Mountain Club members who have volunteered their time, their ideas and their boots on the ground, and, of course, their financial support to this important project,” said Green Mountain Club President Jean Haigh.  “I’ve seen an enormous amount work accomplished over the past years to reach this point and it could not have happened without the encouragement and support of our members and our staff. This is a major milestone in the history of the Green Mountain Club and it is my hope that folks will continue to provide for the project as we move forward. There is a lot more work to be done.” The club has raised more than $1 million for this project and will utilize more than $500,000 in state funding for land conservation and trail work.  For the last three decades, the club and the state have worked together to conserve more than 25,000 acres of high elevation forestland for the Long Trail thanks to the leadership of former Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Dick Mazza, both of whom attended today’s event, and the late Sen. Bob Gannett. “This is a remarkably complex project and it’s frankly amazing it only took 101 years to see shovels in the ground,” said Will Wiquist, GMC executive director.  “With a major river, an interstate, an active railroad, a state highway and a town road all within a few hundred yards, I am inspired by the work of our staff and volunteers to pull this together and find a permanent corridor for the Long Trail to a spot where we can build a footbridge. Soon we’ll be rid of three and a half miles of road walking on the Long Trail.” The 224’ suspension footbridge will be built by the Green Mountain Club using designs produced by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. of Ferrisburgh.  The club is seeking bids for major concrete and excavation aspects of the project and has hired a firm to produce the steel towers. The club expects to make major progress on the project this fall.  After a winter hiatus, the club expects to complete the project in 2014, opening the bridge as part of the Long Trail next year. The club’s Long Trail Patrol has already begun work on relocation of the Long Trail on GMC-conserved land north of the river.  The trail crew is working to connect the bridge to Mt. Mansfield State Forest above Bolton Valley, much of which was conserved by the club in partnership with the state. The Green Mountain Club thanked Gov. Shumlin and the state of Vermont for their support.  They also thanked Gov. Dean, Sen. Mazza, Sen. Gannett and others in Montpelier who have supported and continue to support Long Trail Protection efforts; the town of Bolton; each and every one of the club’s 10,000 members with special thanks to the Burlington and Montpelier Sections of the Green Mountain Club who maintain the Long Trail in the Winooski River Valley. The club also thanked Daan Zwick and all the generous supporters; Vanasse Hangen Brustlin; New England Central Railroad; Sen. Patrick Leahy; the Norwich University Civil Engineering Department; the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board; Button Surveyors; Engineers Construction; TD Bank; Kleinhans Construction and Welding; and current and past staff of the GMC including Dave Hardy, Maisie Howard, Pete Antos-Ketcham, Susan Shea, Ben Rose and Matt Wels, the bridge project manager and foreman, and his crew, who will build this bridge. Event photos available upon request. Contact: Will Wiquist at (802) 241-8212

Hike in Aiken Wilderness Report

Five adventurers had an excellent hike in the Aiken Wilderness on Sunday August 25. As we trekked through this trail-less area we saw bear sign including scratching on beech trees and much scat, lots of moose scat, many game trails, and some beautiful beaver meadows.

Next Young Adventurer's Hike

November 8, 2013. Equinox Preserve Family Night Hike.     

Over 70% of the animals living on the Equinox Preserve are nocturnal, hunting for food and shelter after the sun has gone down.  How are these animals able to survive?  What special adaptations allow them to hunt, travel and survive at night?

Leave your flashlights behind and join Equinox Preserve Steward Rick LaDue and the Green Mountain Club’s Young Adventurers Club for this family-friendly foray into the nocturnal world of Mt Equinox.  Learn about special adaptations of deer, owls, shrews, flying squirrels and a number of other creatures.  Most importantly, experience all the ways humans are also adapted to survive at night.  All activities are kid-friendly and appropriate for ages 3-9.

We will meet at 7 pm at the Red Gate parking lot on West Union St in Manchester for this exciting, non-scary adventure.  Participants must preregister with either Rick at 366-1400 (rick@equinoxpreservationtrust.org) or Jason of GMC’s Young Adventurers Club at 681-6342 (jpergament@burrburton.org).

Fall activities on calendar

Nine of us met on Wednesday 8/21 at Bob Whitney's for a pot luck picnic/campfire and fall planning meeting.
Three hikes and a work hike are now on the activities calendar, as well as the date for the next pot luck and winter planning meeting.
We have also set the dates for our three day trip to the Wheeler Pond Camps in the northeast kingdom for a great snowshoe and camping trip - save the dates of March 4-5-6 (right after Town Meeting Day).

July Ascutney Mountain Hike

A group of seven of us headed up the Brownsville Trail on one of the many very hot days this month. We had a great view at the old quarry site and then again from the top of the quarry. Continuing up it began to rain when we were about 2/3 of the way up. The majority of the group decided that we should turn around as the rocks were quite slippery, so we retreated back to the cars. The rain having stopped and the heat returning we ended our hike with a stop for soft serve ice cream, which we needed to eat quickly before it melted.
We have scheduled a repeat hike on Ascutney Mtn for September 22, going up the Windsor Trail and down the Brownsville Trail.
Details to follow in our calendar.

Photo from the Father's Day Young Adventurer's Club Hike

This was taken at the Father's Day Yung Adventurer's Club hike in Equinox Preservation Trust.