Copy/Repost Hike

Seven GO members’ cleaned 73 waterbars, remove 5 blowdowns, and cut back encroaching vegetation on our adopted trail! Thank you all so much!!!

It’s an overcast spring morning on National Trails Day, and seven GayOutdoors.org members are performing trail maintenance on its’ adopted trail, the Mt. Osceola Trail in Waterville Valley, NH. We are preparing the trail for the summer season!

It’s the perfect wooded scene with a canopy of towering trees, white trillium, hobblebush, and a choir of birds.

Mike Boisvert and Jon Normand were the crew leaders. We had assistance from Rick, Brian, Steve, Rob and Dave.

We cleaned 73 waterbars on this day, making sure hikers have clear, dry paths to hike through.

Many were hidden because they filled up with dirt since the last time we did trail maintenance.

“This is the most important job of a spring patrol,” Mike says. “We rake the drains and re-dig the drains to carry away the water.”

It’s hard, physical work – raking, clipping, sawing the trunks of fallen trees, and then lifting those trunks to clear the paths. And then there are other challenges to deal with.

“The black fly regards you as their personal smorgasbord,” Mike says. “And here we are looking rather tasty to them.”

These annoying, small flies swarm all around.

But we were prepared, as all of us applied insect repellent.

Everyone who joined us, plans on returning next year.

It gives us an opportunity to be out in the beautiful New Hampshire forest, which is always a great excuse.

Many of our volunteers are not necessarily avid hikers who spend countless days on trails throughout the state. Our volunteers do this because it's an opportunity to keep them well maintained.

We credit the trails for maintaining our physical and mental health. So being able to give back is just part of it, because it is fun. It’s getting to work out here with people who have similar values around the trails and how important it is.

There are some paid trail crews, but there are very, very few.

It’s difficult to find people who are willing to help out. For the amount of people using the trails, not enough of them are pitching in.

If everyone that hikes would put in one day of trail work a year, the trails would be beautiful. But that’s not happening. We at GayOutdoors are finding fewer members helping out each year.

It’s really rewarding to be able to look back and see the work we do together. And throughout the day, we received a multitude of thanks.  It’s a great feeling of accomplishment.

Really lovely hike. All of us reached the summit. Fantastic views from the top of Osceola!

Afterwards, we all gathered back at Mike and Jon’s house [Mad River Lodge] for some appetizers/beverages on the deck and a hiker BBQ feast prepared by Jon:

• Grilled Lime Chicken Wings, Pork Tenderloin, Seasoned Shrimp Kabobs
• Roasted Vegetables, Tossed Salad, Pesto Ravioli
• Key Lime Pie

This is a free meal paid for by GO for our volunteers. Additionally, we provide lodging for the weekend! 

 We finished the evening with a massive bonfire followed by fireworks.

Jon and I want to thank everyone who helped out. We cannot even begin to say how much fun we had working with you all. Thank you all so much, for everything.

We will be returning in a couple weeks to continue Trail Maintenance on the East Peak side. We have four signed up and we could use more help. Join Us!

Mike and Jon

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