On the weekend of July 26-27, 1997, Erik and Laurel Tobiason and crew completed the new Stony Brook Shelter, which replaced an earlier shelter built by the Norwich University Outing Club in 1958. Located in a picturesque setting in a stand of old trees, the shelter sits near a good water supply and is situated about 0.8 miles south on the Appalachian Trail from the old shelter.
For the Tobiasons, building Stony Brook was more complicated than the construction of Winturri Shelter, which they completed in 1994. Environmental, historical, and geological studies had to be completed before the location could be determined.
Materials were donated by Bethel Mills and purchased with a donation from L.L. Bean, stored at the Tobiason’s home where the main components were cut to size, then trucked by Bethel Mills to a logging road near the new site. From the log landing, supplies were hauled up a rough, hilly skid road to the shelter site by the Tobiason’s four-wheel-drive tractor and trailer.
Transporting materials proved challenging, as the crew tore first one and then another tire completely from the rim on the trailer, but no loads were lost.
The shelter’s privy, only two years old at the original site, was moved by pickup truck and tractor to the new location by Ottauquechee Section members Harry Temple, Glenn Wheelock, Paul Magoon, and Don Whitney, who placed it on a new pit and foundation.
The old shelter, no longer suitable due to its proximity to a road passable by vehicles, was removed later that year. The new shelter was rebuilt in 1997 by Erik and Laurel Tobiason and friends, moved approximately half a mile west, uphill from the old shelter near Notown Cleating. The new shelter was dedicated on Sunday, June 11, 2000, to volunteers past, present, and future of the Ottauquechee Section.
The shelter has remained in active use since its construction. In 2022, the Burlington Section completed privy work at Stony Brook Shelter, continuing the tradition of volunteer maintenance that keeps this backcountry facility functioning for Long Trail users.
Sources
- Long Trail News 1997 (1997). Green Mountain Club. 9.
- Long Trail News 1998 (1998). Green Mountain Club. 15.
- Long Trail News 1998 (1998). Green Mountain Club. 5.
- Long Trail News 1999 (1999). Green Mountain Club. 13.
- Long Trail News 2000 (2000). Green Mountain Club. 16.
- Long Trail News 2000 (2000). Green Mountain Club. 27.
- Long Trail News 2000 (2000). Green Mountain Club. 12.
- Long Trail News 2002 (2002). Green Mountain Club. 17.
- Footnotes (Upper Valley Ottauquechee) 2013 (2013). Upper Valley/Ottauquechee Section, Green Mountain Club. 5.
- Long Trail News 2019 (2019). Green Mountain Club. 19.
- Long Trail News 2019 (2019). Green Mountain Club. 18.
- Footnotes (Upper Valley Ottauquechee) 2019 (2019). Upper Valley/Ottauquechee Section, Green Mountain Club. 2.
- Footnotes (Upper Valley Ottauquechee) 2020 (2020). Upper Valley/Ottauquechee Section, Green Mountain Club. 2.
- Long Trail News 2020 (2020). Green Mountain Club. 23.
- Footnotes (Upper Valley Ottauquechee) 2021 (2021). Upper Valley/Ottauquechee Section, Green Mountain Club. 1.
- Ridgelines (Burlington) 2023 (2023). Burlington Section, Green Mountain Club. 3.
- Don Whitney. Long Trail News. 1997.
- Woodward, Paul & Joanne. Long Trail System Shelter History. 2nd ed. Green Mountain Club, 1999. Pp. 98.
- Woodward, Paul & Joanne. Long Trail System Shelter History. 2nd ed. Green Mountain Club, 1999. Pp. 101.
