When I heard about my brother’s Eagle Scout Project to build a ¼ mile trail along the Dan River in Eden, my first response was not: “let’s do this.” I wanted to be doing other things. But (for the most part), once I got on the trail and into the work, I actually enjoyed it. I got lost in the work and loved being next to the river and plants. My favorite thing about the workdays was always walking the trail at the end and getting to see all that was accomplished and how good it looked.
My brother led the trail-building group of students, and I racked up at least 40 hours working on the trail in Clearwater Park. Most of this work was done on planned workdays, but I also did some of it in my free time with just my family.
I think it was worth all of the work to see the finished trail. In the beginning, when we were just learning how to use the tools, I thought it would be really hard to make the trail. As we worked, we usually just chose one segment to focus on each time, and it seemed so much easier because at the end of the day, we would have one complete section of the trail and it just made building the rest so much easier.
Sometimes working on the trail was challenging. Once, we had to move everything we had done further up on a hill because we were afraid the rain would wash it away. Working with other people made it more fun and it seemed easier. Overall, this was a great experience, and it was definitely worth making the trail. I’m glad to know that families will get to come and enjoy it. I'm glad to have been part of creating something good that will be around for a long time.
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