Mt. Osceola Trail Work - Lodging, BBQ, Bonfire, Fireworks

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

Come join us for our fun 20th Anniversary Trail Maintenance on our adopted trail...twenty years of stewardship and giving back to the mountains! It’s the all-boys sleep-away weekend you wished your parents had sent you to! Free lodging for the weekend, BBQ, bonfire and fireworks at Mad River Lodge on National Trails Day! GayOutdoors Trail Maintenance Weekend is a weekend of camaraderie and fun mixed in with outdoor work as we get the Mt. Osceola Trail ready for the Summer Season!

Everyone is invited to spend a FREE weekend at Mad River Lodge Friday and/or Saturday night with breakfast each morning. We only have 8 bunks so the first 8 guys that contact us to reserve will get one. Let us know if it’s the entire weekend or just Saturday night. If we run out of room, you can tent outside; please also let us know if you'll be tenting. [Note that we cannot let you into the house until 7PM on Friday.]

Stay for the weekend, for one night or just help us for the day! The Mt. Osceola Trail climbs over two 4,000 footers and is one of the most popular trails in the White Mountains! It’s an experience we promise you’ll never forget. We are fortunate to be part of a club of gay men that has the opportunity to go hiking regularly to take in the beauty of the White Mountains. Now we have the opportunity to be a part of doing something to give back to the hiking community, while working on something we love...hiking trails...and helping make them a place where both ourselves and others can enjoy. We are looking forward to fun, hard work, comraderie, new skills and friendships! 

At the end of the day we will return back to the Mad River Lodge to enjoy the comraderie, chatter and gossip! Showers our available with towels so everyone can clean up. Bring a change of clean clothing. We first start off on our outdoor deck with appetizers and cold drinks. Please bring your own beer/wine…we do not provide beverages. We’ll then cook up Trail Crew BBQ feast worth working for! After the BBQ we’ll light up a bonfire and shoot off some fireworks!

You don't have to be an expert to help and we can easily train you. All tools are provided. The work itself, clipping brush, cleaning out waterbars, and clearing small to medium blowdowns, is fairly easy. But keep mind you will be hiking up a mountain and working at the same time. It involves hiking 7 miles, climbing 2,025 feet and lots of bending up/down to clip brush. If it becomes too much for you, you can turn around on your own and perform a 'second trail maintenance sweep' on the way down. That's OK. You can wait for us back at the cars. 

We meet at the Mad River Lodge at 8AM with a brief welcoming and orientation to tools & safety. You will need to be prepared for the day and have sturdy hiking boots, work gloves, plenty of water, lunch, snacks, bug spray and other clothing appropriate for the weather. We’ll provide the fire rakes, saws and loppers. We will be working on the trail rain or shine. After orientation, we will carpool to the trailhead of the Mt. Osceola Trail off Tripoli Road and hike up to the summit of Mt. Osceola.

We hope you can join us to help celebrate National Trails Day and our 20th Anniversary on Mt. Osceola!

Yours on trails,

Jon and Mike

Read last year’s trip report for more photos.