The Corps Experience – A series of tales from corps life.
Here’s the tale of a particularly rewarding project I led during my tenure with SCA NH Corps. I was leading a crew of high schoolers with the SCA Manchester program.
Hitch season presented a unique set of challenges for the SCA Manchester program, but perhaps no experience was as unique nor rewarding as the backcountry hitch at Valley Way Tent Site in the White Mountain National Forest. The project was to build three oversized rock tent pads at this backcountry site located about one mile from the Madison Hut on the Appalachian Trail. Nestled just below tree line on Mt. Madison, even accessing the work site became a logistical quandary. Two fearless high school program leaders (Emily Lord who gets all photo credits & Sean Ogle) and six rock-star crew members set out on an epic quest to build tent pads.
The first and most difficult hurdle in completing our project was the ~4 mile hike over steep grade and 
protruding rocks to reach the backcountry site. Trip one up the mountain involved hiking our personal gear, food, and camping supplies to our campsite, which was located a short distance away from our work site. The hike was brutal, but extremely beautiful with scenic vistas of Mt. Madison and Mt. Adams showing the way. After a single night at the top, we hiked back down for the 100th anniversary Weeks Act Celebration at the base of the Mt. Washington Auto road. The day was spent mingling with fellow crews and learning about the conservation-oriented activities around the WMNF. Then it was time to make our second voyage to Valley Way- this time with tools (rock bars and McLeods are not fun to hike 4 miles uphill). Finally, with the arrival of Nate Peters on the morning of the third day, it was time to begin our project.
Backcountry Ra
nger Nate Peters showed us how to build the tend pads by lending his efforts for the first day before setting us loose on the mountainside for the rest of the two weeks. The tent pads were constructed by; first quarrying nearby stone and creating a rock retaining wall, then mining out the uphill side of the slope and leveling it against the retaining wall to create a flat surface, and finally lining the mined out hillside with large perimeter rocks. We used this method to create three exquisite tent pads. These additions expanded the tent site substantially. The ground in the “overflow camping” section of the tent site had been heavily impacted from years of excessive hiker traffic. By building large tent pads to accommodate additional campers, their impact will be concentrated for years to come.
The work was hard, but we still had time to have fun. One morning the members awoke at 4:00AM to see the sunrise from the alpine zone atop Mt. Madison. On
our third and final trek up the mountain we decided to take an alternative route aptly named: Chemin des d’Ames (The Way of the Ladies), which can only be described as epic. We were granted a short reprieve in the midst of our project by venturing down the mountain for two recreation days. During this time we; had pizza, played mini golf, went to the arcade, perused the shops around North Conway, and went swimming.
As a final cap to our project in the White Mountain National Forest, our conservation crew, SCA Manchester showed their commitment to the city by traveling south to participate in the Southwest Airlines Bus Tour event. Team Manchester played the part of conservation and community leaders admirably- working so efficiently at times, the coordinators of the event often exclaimed “Please work slower,” and “Take a mandatory break, we can’t finish before 11am!”
Backcountry hitches have a way of bringing out fortitude and mental toughness in everyone. By the end of the hitch, high school students who hadn’t so much as camped overnight before were full-fledged outdoorsmen. But it is to be expected, for conservation crews builds tent pads and conservation leaders alike.
-Sean
