The Eagle Project is the culmination of all the skills a Scout acquires throughout their journey. It's a creation of our own—crafted with our hands and the hands of the friends, mentors, and fellow Scouts who have supported us. This project isn't just about what we build; it’s about the impact we leave behind for our community to enjoy.
The heart of my community is the Vasona Lake County Park. 150 acres of unmatched scenery and 14 miles of trails make up a treasured nature reserve in Los Gatos. Within it is a small trail known to few locals and even less visitors but it carries a unique variety of plant and animal species, an experience in itself. This is the Viola Anderson Native Plant Trail, hidden in the depths of the park.
My Eagle Project aimed to bring visibility to this niche trail so more visitors can enjoy its hidden charm as well as the lake & bird-watching telescopes that lie adjacent to it. Such a task required 2 parts…
Trail Sign: We constructed a 6-foot trail sign, ensuring that visitors could easily find this hidden path.
Trail Access: We built a 30-foot path leading from the main trail to the entrance of the Viola Anderson Native Plant Trail, making it more accessible for everyone.
Creating the trail sign was tedious, each letter had to be scaled, traced, carved out, and finally painted. The next task was using a tractor to dig a 6-inch-deep, 3-by-30-foot trail. But nothing could have prepared us for the monumental task of filling that trail with nearly 5,000 pounds of gravel and decomposed granite. It took hours of strenuous work, plenty of determination, and a dozen bottles of Gatorade to see the project through to completion.
Now, every weekend when I bike by the beautiful lake, I can glance at the narrow path. But it’s more than that to me. It’s a reminder of everything I can achieve through the values Scouting has instilled in me.
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