Hitch #8: 9/6 - 9/14

1. Santanoni Historic Site
Storm damage cleanup continued this week at Santanoni. Two major bridges were washed out by the storm, and the crew acted quickly to establish a new one mile reroute, including the construction of two 10-foot bridges, so the trail could be opened up again. The crew continued work on other trails, in total constructing an additional two bog bridges and clearing over 12 miles of trail and removing over 120 blowdowns!

2. Wilmington Wild Forest
The uber-buff 41-foot bridge was finally completed this week! The crew also added railing to five previously completed bridges, built a water bar, did a bit of rock work, and did a whole lot of revegetation (cleaning up their mess and making it look like they were neeeverrr even therrre).

3. Mt. Wakley
One crew this week had the fairly unique experience of restoring an old fire tower. The was excited for the opportunity, and were made even more so when offered the chance to stay in the observer's cabin instead of making the short but treacherous climb up the mountain for work every day. The crew replaced all of the landings and steps on the fire tower, 77 steps in total, using mainly hand tools. They also stained the outside of the observers cabin and disassembled an illegal fire ring on the summit.

4. Lake George Wild Forest
The crew down yonder way on Lake George really gave it their all this week. The Lake George area was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Irene. The crew worked fast and managed to clear 22 miles of trail and remove 180 blowdowns.