History of the Shelters North of Camels Hump

The Long Trail from Camels Hump to the Winooski River has been in continuous use since 1911. Over the years, five shelters have stood along the trail.

This history is abridged from "Long Trail System Shelter History," written by Paul Woodward and published by the Green Mountain Club in 1999. This report relied on Long Trail guides and GMC archives. Parenthetical dates refer to the date of publication of the paragraph. The author's comments are indented.

Shelters: Lodges and Tenting Sites

Gorham Lodge 3400 feet 1950-2001 0.7 miles north of Camels Hump
In honor of H. W. Gorham, a member of the New York Section from 1923 until his death in August 1949, his friends are making contributions toward a new cabin or shelter on Camels Hump, farther down the north slope than the present dilapidated structures. (1949)

The Lodge is about 1/2 mile north of the old "Tin Huts," one of which was dismantled to provide roofing material. The lodge is only 500 feet west of the old LT and close to excellent water. The structure is built of logs, probably the largest ones that have been used in any camp to date, laid horizontally up to the bottoms of the windows and vertically above. The lodge is about 15 by 20 feet. (1950)

A log cabin with bunks for 12 was built in 1950 by the LT Patrol in memory of H. W. Gorham with funding from the New York Section. The lodge was extensively rebuilt in 1981 by the patrol and GMC volunteers. (1996)

The winter of 2000-2001 was unusually snowy. In May, 2001, Gorham Lodge was discovered to be listing (about 8 inches over 7 feet), judged in peril of collapse, and closed. The lodge was reduced to ashes by the Green Mountain Club on 7 December 2001.
Wiley Lodge #1 (Bamforth Ridge Trail), later Buchanan Lodge #1 800 feet 1949-1983? 0.8 miles south of River Road
A closed log siding cabin with shingle roof,stove, and bunks for 12. (1951)

Visitors report that this 12'x18' structure is in a beauty spot (1949)

This frame cabin, with bunks for 12, was built by the LT Patrol in 1949. Adjacent Gleason Brook furnishes water. Formerly Wiley Lodge, the cabin was renamed Buchanan Lodge in 1964 upon the completion of the new Wiley Lodge on the LT relocation between Gorham Lodge and Jonesville. Buchanan Lodge was so named in honor of Roy Buchanan, founder of the LT Patrol in 1931 and for 36 years its active leader. (1971)

Southbound LT hikers pass this location when leaving Gleason Brook to begin the ascent of Bamforth Ridge.

The Buchanan name was recycled in 1984 and applied to Buchanan Shelter #2 in Bolton.
Wiley Lodge #2 (Honey Hollow) 2630 feet 1964-198? 2 miles south of River Road
Originally constructed as a GMC exhibit at the Button Bay Girl Scout Roundup in 1962, it was reassembled at its present site by the LT Patrol in 1964. Named for William O. Wiley of the NY Section, who furnished funds for the original Wiley Lodge (once Buchanan Lodge), this frame cabin has bunks for 10 to 12. An adjacent small brook furnished water. (1985)

The history does not identify the exact location of Wiley Lodge and misidentifies it as in Section 8. The 1988 End-to-End map locates Wiley Lodge on the west side of Honey Hollow north of the Robbins Mountain ridge, at the western edge of Camels Hump State Park. The Long Trail southbound followed a brook west to Wiley Lodge; later the LT omitted this detour and followed Preston Brook before ascending the ridge to Honey Hollow tenting area.
Camels Hump Clearing Huts 3800 feet 1912-195? 0.3 miles north of Camels Hump
This was the site, over a century ago, of a rustic frame hotel (summit house), built about 1860 which failed financially and finally burned down in 1875. In 1908 the Camels Hump Club was organized. The old path was opened and improved, tents for lodging were provided. The clearing was later adopted for three tin huts that provided shelter from 1912 to the early 1950s. There are three metal buildings, one to the left occupied by the caretaker, one straight ahead which serves as quarters for women trampers, and the one to the right which contains the bunks for men. (1926)

The structure was 14 by 20 feet. See Waterman, Guy and Laura, Forest and Crag, Appalachian Mountain Club, 1989, page 352.
Randall Lumber Camp 1800-2500 feet 1912?-1926 3.7 miles south of Bolton railroad station
Buildings in poor condition. Stove in ox stable which affords fair protection from rain and cold. (1917)

Randall Camp is located on a hand-drawn map in the 1917 guidebook (reproduced by Jane Curtis, Will Curtis, and Frank Lieberman, Green Mountain Adventure, Vermont's Long Trail. Green Mountain Club, 1985). Two locations are possible:
  1. At 1800 feet, about one-half mile west of Hill 2468 on Bamforth Ridge. This is the apparent location when comparing the 1917 map with USGS quadrangles of 1921 and later.
  2. At 2500 feet, about one-half mile west of Hill 2768 on Bamforth Ridge. This location is about the proper distance from Bolton and features a relatively flat spot which could be suitable for a lumber camp.
The actual site could be anywhere between these two points.

Comments

The first section of the Long Trail, between the Chin of Mount Mansfield and Nebraska Notch, was opened in 1911. The Long Trail between Camels Hump and the Winooski River was opened in July 1912 (Forest and Crag, pages 358-359). Over the years, the Long Trail has followed several routes: All of these routes passed the location where Gorham Lodge stood for a half century.

Since 1918, when Montclair Glen Lodge was built, the distance on the Long Trail between Montclair and the first shelter north of the Winooski River has been about 12 miles. Until 1950 the intermediate stop, Wiley Lodge #1, divided this distance into legs of 5 and 7 miles. Honey Hollow tenting site and the Wiley Lodge II made the legs 4 and 8 miles. For the past decade the legs have been about 2.5 and 10 miles. In 2001 there is one leg of 12 miles.

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