Have you been reading these stories about Saxon and the new Summit Loop and wondering, who is even building this? Eric is gone and Adam is just punching the keyboard each week, filling up my inbox…(DELETE).
Well, for those of you who have stayed, thank you and it’s a pleasure to share stories and trail happenings each week. This week, we have a unique story to tell about our 25 year history and our future. There are so many stories to tell, but in light of ground breaking this coming week at Saxon, we want to introduce you to Sinuosity, the build team behind the Saxon Summit Loop.
Brooke Scatchard and Mariah Keagy are a highly skilled duo that bring a lot to the table. They are pushing the standard for high level trail building not only in the state of Vermont, but nationally (and internationally with some time in Mexico over the winters!). The intersection with FOTW actually precedes the official non-profit title from 2001.
When Brooke was in high school around 1998, he worked with an advisor and some local folks to build a trail in the Hinesburg Town Forest. The goal was to create a loop with some logging roads to practice for races. At the time, the trail didn’t have a name, but 28 years later, we know and love that trail as Sheep Thrills! We believe this was the first trail in HTF. Back Door trail was built in the mid 90’s, but that’s a whole other story.
Brooke was an integral part of the trail development boom in 2001-2006. He regularly attended volunteer days. In 2007 he racked up over 250 hours as a volunteer and in 2008 he became the first paid employee of FOTW. He was the Director of…everything. He was creating maps, developing maintenance plans, establishing more formalized connections with towns and hired/led additional trail crew staff. Brooke did this from 2008-2010 before starting Sinuosity.
I will not go down the list of projects Brooke and Mariah have been a part of since then, but chances are you have experienced their work from all around the state and beyond. The connection and love for FOTW trails was ultimately the deciding factor for choosing a contractor for this project. It means a lot to Brooke to welcome Sinuosity back to the FOTW trails and we could not be more excited. It’s a full circle moment worth celebrating after 25 years of FOTW!