May 19, 1962 Sterling Pond: An orientation trip for all Section members and others to investigate the portion of the Long Trail that we are responsible for from Smugglers’ Notch to Chilcoot Pass. by Leader: William Doyle

Trip Reports

May 19, 1962 Sterling Pond: An orientation trip for all Section members and others to investigate the portion of the Long Trail that we are responsible for from Smugglers’ Notch to Chilcoot Pass. by Leader: William Doyle

Six members and one guest turned out for the Sterling Pond hike:

Bill Doyle, Leader

Wayne Cliff, President

Put Clayton

Harlan Farnsworth

Marion Gorham

Virginia Wilson

Arlene Prost (guest)

The group left the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in two cars at 9:00 A.M. and :shortly thereafter” arrived at the Smugglers’ Cave parking area, from whence they hiked up to Sterling Lodge. The going was moist and some snow was encountered.

The cabin was found to be in bad shape. The upper bunks and the table had been torn down and evidently burned. The stove had been smashed and the stove pipes torn out, and the place was a shambles. The door was also broken.

We cleaned up the place as best we could, removed the stove which appeared beyond repair, and repaired the door which may need to be replaced. Then we discussed future plans for the cabin.

The group felt that if the main club agreed, it might be wise to leave the stove out since the cabin is not intended for winter use anyhow — and is very small. Any spring, summer and fall cooking could be done in the outdoor fireplace. If the stove must be replaced it probably should be removed in the winter time. The cain is in a very vulnerable spot between two ski areas and was probably used by skiers who decided to spend the night there. Why they smashed the stove we don’t know. We assume they burned the upper bunks and table for firewood.

We also feel that it might be just as well not to replace the upper bunks. The cabin seems much roomier and more livable without them. Utilizing the floor provides total sleeping space for 9 to 11. We think the table should be replaced by either a combination bunk-table or a collapsible wall table and plan to do something about that.

In addition we need to reputty the windows, ? replace a pane, and rechink the cabin. We also need a broom so that we can give it a thorough sweeping; we were forced to resort to pine boughs.

After lunch we explored the trail from the cabin to Chilcoot Pass, removing windfalls and clearing the trail, which is now passable. Trail markings at both ends and on top of Madonna need to be redone. Probably the whole section of the trail can stand repainting but the signs especially need to be repainted.

On our next trip up among other things we need to bring blazing compound.

When we returned to the cabin we were glad that we had arrived first to clean it up since we found a party of overnight hikers there. They had just taken a swim. Some of us had waded and found the water tolerable although cold.

In the upper part of the trail there were quite a few snow patches and several times we sunk knee deep and hip deep in the snow. The sun was out the entire trip and the weather was warm. We quenched our thirst frequently with running water and occasionally with snow. The trip was very enjoyable except for the cabin episode. The company was congenial and the trip on the whole was successful.

Marion Gorham

Secretary-Treasurer

[A summary report was published in the Times-Argus]