July 11-July 21: 10 Day Field Crew; the first long one.

1. Valcore Island, Primitive Area, Boardwalk Rehabilitation
This project was located on Valcour Island, which is in Lake Champlain near Plattsburgh. The island is a popular destination for camping, hiking, and beachgoers. It has important historical significance from the Revolutionary War. The main focus of the project at Valcour was tearing up and re-building the supports of two rotten boardwalks. This involved processing felled timbers to use for construction of foundation cribbing. Once in place, the crew nailed the salvaged decking to the cribbing creating a comfortable sturdy walking surface. In addition, the crew built a new section of a 3rd boardwalk and did some trail brushing.

2. Mitchell Pond UA Trail, Moose River Plains Wild Forest
The SCA crew teamed up with the DEC Operations staff from the Northville area and worked a long hard stretch at constructing a universally accessible campsite and water access to Mitchell Ponds. (See photo)

3. St. Regis Canoe Area, Various Projects
Work continued in constructing new campsites, rehabbing heavily impacted ones, moving sites away from being too close to the water.

4. Santanoni Historic Area, Various Projects
For this hitch at the Santanoni preserve, there were a few jobs done.
The first was a 50ft. bog bridge with rotten or missing stringers, sills that had drifted or needed repair, and some sections that needed to be re-nailed. The crew felled 8 trees, processed them, and carried them by hand to the site. They split up into teams accompanied by Santanoni staff members, and gave the bridge enough TLC to be a safe passage for the next 10 years.
The crew also did extensive brushing on Mt. Adams over the weekend without assistance of agency staff. The second day needed a big push, and with a more stream-lined approach, they were able to finish the trail. A steel bridge was also given some attention by the crew and the DEC Ranger. Safety was a concern for everyone as a loose floor walkway was reinforced by new pieces bolted from below, and a steel support cable was replaced. More brushing was accomplished by the crew along the East River Trail. The crew then finished up the hitch with some basic maintenance around the parking lots.