Spruce Ledge Camp

Spruce Ledge Camp was officially opened to the public by the Laraway and Burlington Sections at a ceremony on May 1, 1999.

Located on a previously undiscovered ridge that overlooks Ritterbush Pond, the camp is a simple, well-crafted, beautifully designed shelter with skylights and bunk space for eight campers.

It was dedicated to Don Hill, an extraordinary GMC volunteer who had devoted decades to trail maintenance and shelter construction in northern Vermont.

The location was discovered in 1997 by Laraway Section Vice President Scott Christiansen, along with Randy Meade, Tim Tierney, and Tom Neu, who were searching for a site south of Devil’s Gulch and at a suitable distance from the neighboring Corliss Camp.

The site offered the only significant view between Laraway and Belvidere Mountains, yet most hikers had walked past the location unknowingly before its rediscovery.

Construction began in 1998; to avoid carrying extra lumber into the backcountry, volunteers assembled the shelter off-site at the home of Cheryl and Gilbert in Fletcher, then disassembled and transported the materials to the final location.

The project required 1,512 volunteer hours and more than a year of work, completed by the Laraway Section with only eighty-two members at the time.

Key leaders included Laraway Section President Cheryl Vreeland, Vice President Scott Christiansen, and carpenter Gilbert Patnoe.

The shelter replaced the deteriorated Ritterbush Camp, located 0.7 miles to the north.

The section considered several alternative names—Devil’s Perch, Devil’s Window, Dawn Hill, Thrush Hill, and Barred Owl Camp—before settling on Spruce Ledge because of the spruce trees at the site, which held special significance for Scott Christiansen in his discovery of the location.

The dedication ceremony attracted more than sixty people who hiked various routes through Devil’s Gulch to reach the new camp for the ribbon-cutting and celebration.

As Scott Christiansen reflected after the project’s completion, "The best part of the project was meeting new people and making new friends."

Sources

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