History

David Morse et al (Photo by Nuquist)

Before there was a Montpelier Section, there was a Mount Hunger Section in the 1920s and a Barre Section in the 1950s. Today our section alone covers Central Vermont; it is the second largest chapter of the Green Mountain Club and may be the largest section per capita in the state. The Montpelier chapter was organized in 1955 with these officers: President Harlan Farnsworth, Secretary Phyllis Murphy, and Treasurer Frances Holmes. Harlan later served on the GMC board and as section treasurer. The Bamforth Ridge Shelter (2002) is dedicated to him and to another prominent member, David Morse.

Montpelier has, since its founding, been responsible for the section of the Long Trail (LT) between Smuggler’s Notch and Chilcoot Pass. In later years it has also maintained the LT on Bamforth Ridge, from the Winooski River to the Gorham Lodge site. Our shelters on the LT are: 
  • Sterling Pond Shelter, built by the section in 2005. It is the fourth structure at this location, the first was built by Fred Mould of Morrisville in 1926.
  • Watson Camp, just south of Sterling Pond Shelter, originally a fishing camp, donated to the GMC by Thomas Watson of IBM in 1980. (Watson Camp was removed in 2011.)
  • Bamforth Ridge Shelter, constructed by the section in 2002, to replace Gorham Lodge, erected by the Long Trail Patrol in 1950, and irreparably damaged by the snow of 2000-01.

The Montpelier Section has always had a full year-round outing schedule. In the early days it joined the Burlington Section for an annual oyster stew at Taylor Lodge, while Burlingtonians were invited in return to Wiley Lodge, now gone. Another lost tradition is trailhead breakfast for trail workers before they began spring maintenance of the Long Trail.In addition to doing trail work, Montpelier Section volunteers assist the GMC in numerous ways. With the club’s headquarters first located in Montpelier and since 1992 in nearby Waterbury Center, many members have developed close ties to the club.