Scouts and leaders from Boy Scout troops 624 of Essex and 627 of Jericho and Underhill met with David Hathaway of the Burlington section at 2 PM to help carry up size 2″ x 10″ x 5′ rough cut green hemlock planks from the state park parking area to repair a bridge on Sunset Ridge Trail.

We started with some planks carried on shoulders, and others between two people. But the planks were quite heavy, probably 35 pounds plus, and we ended up dropping some by the side of the trail and carrying most up in pairs,then going back for a second trip to get the dropped ones. Three planks in the bridge had holes or gaps in them, and three others were quite soft and rotted in places. Others are in adequate condition for now, but will probably need replacing in future years.

The scouts also helped remove the old planks and nails. We had planned to carry down the old planks, but they pretty much disintegrated as they were removed, so we carried the pieces back into the woods to let them finish rotting away. The new planks were anchored with 6″ timberlock screws. The whole operation took about 2.5 hours.

Participants: Ben Edwards, Brian Edwards, Ian Ritter, Jason Ritter, Calan Abair, Mike Abair, David Hathaway.