When it came time for Storm Sivak to work on his Eagle Scout Project, he had a starting point.

“I wanted to do something related to nature and the outdoors,” the Scout from Troop 8 in Warren said.

He had some connections with the North Country Trail

The North Country National Scenic Trails spans 4,600 miles through eight states — North Dakota to Vermont. It is the longest in the National Trails System.

Photo submitted to Times Observer Storm Sivak of Troop 8 of Warren works on the walls of a North Country Scenic Trail shelter as part of his Eagle Project.

Sivak decided to do his part to help those who pass through the Allegheny National Forest on the NCT.

“I outreached to the North Country Trail to see if they had an project ideas,” he said.

Working with NCT Association Member Jeff Manelick, “we decided to construct a shelter on the North Country Trail off of Cherry Run Road.”

“The Eagle Scout Project is intended to plan, lead, and execute a project,” Sivak said. “I worked on the planning phase — organized all the volunteers and equipment and materials and supplies — and I led them to complete the project and we executed it in two days.”

The physical labor wasn’t the hard part.

Photos submitted to TImes Observer Storm Sivak of Troop 8 of Warren works on the floor of a North Country Scenic Trail shelter as part of his Eagle Project.

“The planning and organizing phase was much more complicated than the construction phase,” he said.

The weather tried to interfere — “changing logistics due to rain on the second day,” he said. “We got out of there just before the rain hit. I’m glad we decided to bump up the time that we started.”

The shelter is intended to provide a break for hikers spending the night who would otherwise have to set up tents.

The three-sided structure measures 8-feet by 12-feet and is made of treated lumber.

Sivak didn’t have to go it alone.

This finished shelter will welcome hikers on the North Country Trail thanks to an Eagle Project by Storm Sivak.

A crew including North Country Trail volunteers and 21 youth and adults from Troop 8, prepared the site, put up the shelter, and improved access to water on July 31 and Aug. 1.

From the beginning of the day, the volunteers were put to work. The lumber had to be carried about 250 yards from a parking area to the shelter site.

“We leveled the ground, placed concrete blocks, and put the flooring on those,” Sivak said. “I led the adults to construct most of the shelter.”

While the adults were doing the fine work, Scouts did the heavy lifting — carrying materials as needed.

The final step of the project added even more convenience to hikers who will use the shelter.

“I led the scouts and adults on refurbishing a trail to a nearby stream so the people staying at the shelter could access the stream for drinking water,” Sivak said.

The project came together quickly and without time extensions.

“The speed and the execution exceeded my expectations,” he said. “The number of people that I had help me was phenomenal.”