Division III

Division I II

ARLINGTON-WARDSBORO ROAD TO

NOTCH (MAD TOM) SHELTER

The Trail follows the highway eastward about 1.1 miles to the Grout Job, a small lumber village. From this point an approach trail to the left takes one directly to Stratton Pond and Willis Ross Camp, a distance of 3 1/2 miles through beautiful hardwood forest, and, for nearly half the distance, beside a rushing mountain stream, the headwaters of the Deerfield River. Very easy grade; blue painted blazes.

The Long Trail continues along the highway for about 1 3/4 miles east of the Grout Job, and then turns north to Webster Shelter, which is visible from the highway. About 1/2 mile from the Grout Job is a bronze tablet on a granite marker, about 200 feet north of the road, marking the spot where Daniel Webster addressed an audience said to have numbered 15,000 people, at a Whig convention during the log cabin and hard cider campaign of 1840. Webster Shelter, open front, bunks for 8; outside fireplace.

Caughnawaga Shelter to Webster Shelter, 8.2 miles, 4 1/2 hours (southbound, 5 hours).

Leaving Webster Shelter the summit of Stratton Mountain, 2 3/4 miles north, is reached by steady climbing, nowhere very steep. There is a fine spring near the summit. At the top are the Fire Warden's cabin and a new steel tower, erected and maintained by the State Forestry Department. It provides the finest view from the southern part of the Trail, including parts of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York, as well as most of southern Vermont. To the south, Grout Pond and Somerset Reservoir, and to the west, Stratton Pond,

Division III 29

are near at hand, while Mount Greylock in Massachusetts, Monadnock in New Hampshire, and Killington Peak in the Green Mountains are easily visible in clear weather.

The Trail now drops westward to Stratton Pond and Willis Ross Camp, 3 miles away, passing through the DuFresne Job, another abandoned lumber camp. The descent of Stratton Mountain, though nowhere difficult, is much steeper than the ascent from the south. Willis Ross Camp was erected by the Worcester, Mass., Section in 1929, and has a good stove, cooking utensils and bunks for 12; caretaker during July and August. It is located at the east end of Stratton Pond, the largest and most beautiful body of water on The Long Trail. This is one of the most attractive camp sites on the whole Trail. Webster Camp to Willis Ross Camp, 5.9 miles, 4 hours (southbound, 3 3/4 hours).

Just across the little bay and on a point of land facing Willis Ross Camp, is an open front log shelter, erected by the Worcester Section in 1934. It has a good fireplace and bunks for 8 or 10. The approach to this shelter is by way of the north shore side trail indicated on the map. Drinking water is obtained from the spring at the camp.

The Long Trail follows the south shore of the pond on its way north, but an optional route follows the north shore line, meeting The Long Trail at the west end of the pond. The blazes on this north shore trail are painted blue. From the west end of Stratton Pond the Trail continues on to Bourn Pond through beautiful forests of hardwood, much of it first growth timber, a distance of 2.6 miles from Willis Ross Camp, with an easy grade all the way.

Bourn Pond, though much smaller than Stratton, is a beautiful sheet of water, with several small