Mike Salo of Springfield, NH was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout this past May after completing trail revitalization on the SRKG Trail #5. A member of Troop #71, Mike organized and recruited other Kearsarge students to help out on his goal of rehabilitating an overgrown 2-mile section of trail deep within Gile State Forest.The project started with clearing a number of large trees that had blown down and were blocking the trail. Mike was also able to open up the trail to reclaim two major overlooks. Mike also added SRK Greenway blazes and other trail markers and in general improved the quality of the trail. But, the majority of his time was spent on the construction of seventeen — 4’x 8’ bog bridges each weighing approximately 100 pounds. The seventeen bridges were hiked in and placed over wet areas to prevent further erosion.

As we stated earlier, Mike recruited a number of unsuspecting friends to help carry the bridges into the Gile Forest. An awesome total of over 580 hours was put into this extraordinary volunteer project.This section in the Gile State Forest had been on the SRK Trail Crew’s “To Do” list for some time. Everyone is very grateful for Mike’s commitment and dedication to maintaining local trails.  To fully appreciate Mike’s effort, take a hike on the Springfield to Pleasant Lake section of the SRK Greenway. Let us know if you are inspired to become a trail adopter and you can improve your own section of the necklace we call the SRK Greenway. Whatever your motivation, comments and reports on trail conditions are always welcome.