Skyline Lodge 1st

The first Skyline Lodge was a log constructed camp completed in 1954, situated on a bluff overlooking Skylight Pond, a small lake only slightly lower than the adjacent summits.

The Middlebury Mountain Club built the lodge, beginning construction in the fall of 1952, and the structure featured spruce logs, oakum caulked, with inner dimensions 14′ x 16′, creosoted rough lumber flooring, four windows, a Dutch door, asphalt shingled roof, two double bunks, a loft, and a cast iron stove. The lodge offered lofted bunk space for about ten persons, with water available at a nearby spring.

A caretaker was in residence during the hiking season, and a small fee was charged for overnight use. The location made it a notable landmark on the Long Trail between Boyce Shelter and Emily Proctor Shelter. In 1970, a historic birth occurred at the lodge when Fletcher Freeman Sewall was born to Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Sewall on Labor Day Weekend, becoming the first known person born on the Long Trail.

By 1980, the U.S. Forest Service and Green Mountain Club conducted a joint Long Trail Shelter Survey, finding the building in extremely poor condition with respect to public safety and structural stability.

An inspection by a Forest Service engineer in June 1986 revealed the structure had deteriorated to a hazardous condition in which public safety was in doubt, and the lodge was removed on December 12 by members of the U.S. Forest Service Middlebury District.

A replacement lodge similar to Spruce Peak Shelter was constructed during the 1987 field season, with funding support from GMC members and Skyline adopter Mike Bromberg.

Sources

  • Long Trail News 1954 (1954). Green Mountain Club. 5.
  • Long Trail News 1956 (1956). Green Mountain Club. 6.
  • Long Trail Guide Book. Green Mountain Club, 1956. Pp. 31.
  • Long Trail Guide Book. Green Mountain Club, 1956. Pp. 33.
  • Long Trail News 1958 (1958). Green Mountain Club. 3.
  • Long Trail Guide Book. Green Mountain Club, 1960. Pp. 39.
  • Long Trail Guide Book. Green Mountain Club, 1960. Pp. 41.
  • Long Trail News 1961 (1961). Green Mountain Club. 4.
  • Trail Talk (Montpelier) 1966 (1966). Montpelier Section, Green Mountain Club. 2.
  • Trail Talk (Montpelier) 1967 (1967). Montpelier Section, Green Mountain Club. 2.
  • Long Trail News 1970 (1970). Green Mountain Club. 2.
  • Long Trail News 1984 (1984). Green Mountain Club. 4.
  • Long Trail Guide Book. 23rd Edition ed. Green Mountain Club, 1985.
  • Long Trail News 1987 (1987). Green Mountain Club. 13.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 17 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1963. Pp. 39.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 17 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1963. Pp. 41.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 18 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1966. Pp. 41.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 19 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1968. Pp. 41.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 20 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1971. Pp. 45.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 21 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1977. Pp. 52.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 22 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1983. Pp. 51.
  • Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 23 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1985. Pp. 56.