Gorham Lodge Relocation Questions
This page answers questions of general interest. I have provided answers which I think are accurate. Let me know about any corrections.
1. Is GMC is going to maintain some form of the Old Gorham Lodge location for caretakers.... like a tent platform or something like that?
A tent platform for the summit caretaker will be built at the current Gorham location. Hump Brook is close to the parking area and remote from the LT and draws heavier and more casual use than GMC shelter policy recommends. Dave Hardy assumes that Hump Brook will be removed.
2. Are we going to burn down the Old Lodge this winter?
Gorham Lodge was reduced to ashes in a planned burn on 12 December 2001. [Added 17-Jan-02]
3. Is there any consideration for a shelter on the Alpine Trail, instead of LT? There is a number of good streams but hard to find level land. But plenty of rocks and nice views. Location of a shelter here would work nicely for weekend hikers on the Camels Hump area.
Find a site! We can compare its virtues to the other candidates.
4. Can we relocate the LT a little bit to accommodate a new lodge location? I noticed some discussion on that in you two reports.
Yes.
5. In the future, will the Duck Brook Shelter be eliminated with the new crossing of the Winooski? Then a shelter lower on Camels Hump would be better for thru-hikers. Duck Brook and Old Gorham, I don't think were used much by thru-hikes, because many going into Richmond for a day off at the B & B. Leaving Richmond, north-bounders would go to at least Buchannan Shelter and south-bounders would go to at least Montclair Glenn. A new location for Gorham, would give south-bounders an option of not going over the top of Camel's Hump. You realize the elevation from the River Road to the summit is the greatest elevation gain on the entire LT!
Duck Brook will go. The LT will cross the Winooski on a footbridge about 2.5 miles east of the current trailhead. Another shelter will be built between the Winooski and Puffer. The LT doesn't have to be officially relocated to the Bamforth-Puffer route until all the work is done.
Under GMC policy, shelters should be removed from the road. I used 2 miles as an approxmation. A new shelter would be somewhere on the slopes of Woodward Mountain at an elevation of around 3000 feet. A hike between that shelter and a shelter on Route G requires a descent of about 1500 feet to the river (elevation 400 feet) then a climb of 1500 feet.
6. Why did we not consider rebuilding Gorham Lodge at the same site? [Added 17-Jan-02]
Gorham Lodge was built in 1950 to replace the "tin huts" in the Camels Hump clearing The metal roofing of the tin huts was removed, hauled 0.4 miles north, and used for Gorham Lodge. I can only guess, but I imagine that Gorham's site was determined by the desire to replicate the tin huts.
The requirements for a site have changed since 1950. Now we want to build tent platforms to handle overflow. The Gorham site has but one possible tent location and it is on a steep hillside. Also, we need soils to build mouldering privies. Gorham is almost entirely on ledge. The area is now in the Camels Hump Natural Area and additional restrictions apply.
1. If there is a new shelter on the LT between the Alpine Trail and the River Road, it needs to be relatively close to the LT (.2 to .3 m), or most Thru hikers will not use it. (The distance between Old Gorham and Montclair Glenn is to short for thru-hikers.) Over the years I have noticed many Thru-hikers go into Richmond to a B & B. I have also noticed over the years most people using Gorham for overnight, are weekend hikers doing Camel Hump and associate trails. If you are considering Thru-hikers, a lower elevation site (towards the River Road) would be better in my opinion. I don't think a particular shelter location will satisfy both thru-hikers and weekend warriors, we need to pick one or the other and be clear about our intensions. [D.W.]