Listen to over 100 Years of History
Podcasts from the Past
A selection of podcasts, stories and features from Vermont Public Radio and the Vermont History Museum
Trail Markers
Created in 2010, this Vermont Public Radio series chronicles the Green Mountain Club’s 100 years of history.
By VPR | July 19, 2010
One-hundred years ago, the Green Mountain Club was founded and construction of the Long Trail began.
VPR is looking back this month at how the hiking trail has influenced the history and culture of the state.
Now, we continue our series: “The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History.”
By VPR | July 20, 2010
We return now to our series, “The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History.”
The trail snakes through forests and marshes and crosses countless mountaintops and lookouts on its 270-mile route across the Green Mountains.
Two of the state’s most famous summits are connected by the Long Trail. But as VPR Commentator Tom Slayton explains, the mountains couldn’t be more different.
By VPR | July 21, 2010
“The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History.”
VPR is looking back at the century since the Green Mountain Club was founded and the trail was built.
Today, we go back to the 1920s, when early hiking enthusiasts wanted to get attention for their creation.
By VPR | July 22, 2010
One of the legends in the Long Trail’s 100 year history is Roy Buchanan, who led the Long Trail Patrol from 1931 until 1967. He was in charge of building 37 shelters and laid out the trail in the area north of Jay Peak. One of those shelters, and a mountain, were named for him. Buchanan often took his sons, Chet and Andy, along. They shared their memories with the Green Mountain Club.
Andy Buchanan, who is 12 years younger than his brother, talked about how he got started on the Long Trail.
By VPR | July 23, 2010
All this week we’ve been looking at the history of the Long Trail as it reaches its 100th anniversary.
Today, we turn to the Green Mountain Club itself as we conclude this portion of our series.
Volunteer members of the club built the trail and they maintain it to this day.
Green Mountain Chronicles
The Green Mountain Chronicles is a series of 52 five-minute radio programs created by the Vermont Historical Society between 1987 and 1988. The following episodes relate stories about the Green Mountain Club and the Long Trail.
In 1933, the midst of the Great Depression, Col William J. Wilgus, former chief engineer of the New York Central Railroad, propose the construction of a scenic highway with a 1,000-foot right of way through the Green Mountains. Modeled after Virginia’s Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the road was viewed, in historian Richard Judd’s words, “as an imaginative solution to the state’s apparent need for a big project which would employ many people, stimulate the Vermont economy, and confer lasting benefits on everyone concerned.”
Preparations for hiking Vermont’s 270-mile Long Trail, the first long-distance wilderness hiking trail in America, have changed considerably since the first Long Trail Guide was published in 1917. Men were advised to wear “ordinary
height shoes with hobnails, felt hat, ‘generous sized’ silk bandana, inch-wide leather belt with cup attached, wool underwear, wool shirt and stout wool trousers,” while female hikers should have high-laced boots with “Hungarian
nails,” and wear bloomers.
Voices From the Trail
This series of interviews with folks who use, build, protect, and love the Long Trail was created in 2010 by Vermont Public Radio as part of the Green Mountain Club’s 100th anniversary celebration.
By Lynne McCrea | July 26, 2010
This is the 100 th anniversary of the founding of the Green Mountain Club. And all this month, VPR is looking back at that century through our series, “The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History.”
Now we’re going to hear from some of the people who spend time on the trail, to hike, camp or care for the historic footpath.
By Lynne McCrea | July 26, 2010
They’re known, on the trail, as Rough and Tumble: two retirees who spend winters in Florida and summers in Vermont – where they can often be found on the trail. Jonathan Wahl and Leigh Hunt of Waitsfield also have a website featuring an impressive list of podcasts and other resources designed to offer advice and encouragement to Long Trail hikers.
By Nina Keck | July 26, 2010
This week, as part of our series The Long Trail, Vermont’s Footpath Through History, we’re hearing the voices of people who use the trail.
Today we’ll hear about the pleasures of day hiking. We caught up with Katie Block just as she began her hike at the trailhead on Route 4 in Killington.
By VPR | July 27, 2010
Thousands of us experience the Green Mountains up close every summer with a day on the Long Trail.
Many hundreds more spend even more time on the trail, taking a few days to hike and spending the nights at a shelter along the way.
Today, in our series, “The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History,” we learn what it’s like to overnight on the trail.
By Ross Sneyd | July 27, 2010
One of the legends in the Long Trail’s 100 year history is Roy Buchanan, who led the Long Trail Patrol from 1931 until 1967. He was in charge of building 37 shelters and laid out the trail in the area north of Jay Peak. One of those shelters, and a mountain, were named for him. Buchanan often took his sons, Chet and Andy, along. They shared their memories with the Green Mountain Club.
Andy Buchanan, who is 12 years younger than his brother, talked about how he got started on the Long Trail.
By VPR | July 28, 2010
All this week, we’re hearing from people who are hiking through the Green Mountains. It’s part of our series “The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History”, exploring the 100th anniversary of the Green Mountain Club.
Today: a reminder of some of the challenges of being out on the trail. Whether it’s for a few days, or weeks at a time, there’s bound to be encounters with bugs, bad food, and rain, rain, rain.
By VPR | July 29, 2010
We continue our series now on Vermont’s Long Trail and the 100th anniversary of the Green Mountain Club.
We’ve been hearing from hikers themselves this week out on the trail.
Today, we have one man’s story about personal challenge, and the effort to “live strong.”
It begins at the top of Vermont’s highest peak, Mount Mansfield.
By VPR | July 29, 2010
We’ve been listening to some of the voices of hikers this week as part of VPR’s series, “The Long Trail: Vermont’s Footpath Through History.”
Commentator Kerstin Lange tells the story of how hiking the Long Trail forged a connection with Vermont that prompted her to move to the Green Mountain State.
By VPR | July 30, 2010
All this week, we’ve been hearing from people out on the Long Trail, as part of our series on the 100th anniversary of the Green Mountain Club.
Whether it’s for a day, a week, or even a month, what draws people to the trail?
For Nick Rushford of Essex, there’ve been many reasons to hike the trail from end to end.
By VPR | July 30, 2010
This week, as part of our series The Long Trail, Vermont’s Footpath Through History, we’re hearing the voices of people who use the trail.
Today we hear a story from the trail in winter. Two years ago, Joplin James decided he’d like to explore the trail in winter. Snow and ice make following the exact trail difficult. Hiking the trail in day sections means he’s also added many miles to the trek. But he’s made it to Brandon Gap and he’s determined to finish.
