Sterling Pond Shelter 1st

The first Sterling Pond Shelter was a framed eight-person shelter built in 1972 on the old lodge site by the Montpelier Section, replacing a structure that had been destroyed by fire decades earlier. The original Sterling Pond Lodge, a log structure built in 1926, burned to the ground in July 1950, and the Long Trail Patrol rebuilt it that same year for the Sterling Section. This rebuilt lodge stood until April 1972, when a fire destroyed it.

Work on the replacement framed shelter began on Friday, September 1, 1972, when the Madonna Mountain Corporation transported lumber and building materials by bombardier to the top of Spruce Peak ski lift. Six volunteers carried the materials down to the construction site on the same spot where the old Lodge had sat. Over subsequent weekends, volunteers installed stone piles, a floor, uprights, a back wall, bunks, roof, and table. On September 23 and 24, finishing touches were completed, including a two-foot wrap-around on each side of the open front for weather protection, after which the group enjoyed a hot dog roast and celebrated under a beautiful full moon.

The shelter had space for 8 and featured a small unreliable spring 300 feet east on the Elephant’s Head Trail. A GMC caretaker was on duty during the summer to assist and educate hikers. The shelter remained in continuous use for more than three decades, hosting caretakers listed in GMC records including Grant Taylor in 1977, Janet Loflin in 1978, and many others through the early 2000s.

However, the Montpelier Section reconstructed a new Sterling Pond Shelter in 2005, with over fifty volunteers working to build a shelter on the bluff overlooking Sterling Pond. The new shelter was completed September 24, 2005, replacing the one built in 1972. This marked the end of the 1972 structure’s use on the Long Trail.

Sources

  • Trail Talk (Montpelier) 1959 (1959). Montpelier Section, Green Mountain Club. 1.
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