Project Airlift. Five tons moved. A new shelter delivered. A mountain restored.

The helicopter has landed. Erving's Hideaway is standing in the woods. Baldhead Mountain has been cleared of the old shelter and latrine. Now the Cohos Trail Association needs one final lift from the trail community: help us recoup the remaining $10,441.77 (+ transaction fees) in Project Airlift costs.

For more than two years, The Cohos Trail Association worked quietly on an unusual and urgent problem. New Hampshire Fish and Game asked us to remove the former Baldhead Shelter and its latrine from sensitive high-elevation wildlife habitat. At the same time, we needed to create a new legal shelter site for hikers along the Cohos Trail.

The answer was Project Airlift - a complicated mission to carry thousands of pounds of new shelter and privy materials into the backcountry near Kelsey Notch, while bringing the dismantled remains of Baldhead Shelter down from the mountain.

We kept the project quiet until the helicopter operation was safely complete. Now we can finally share the result.

A remarkable four days

From September 3rd through September 6th, 24 volunteers worked at three locations across several miles of trail. The Balsams Wilderness Ski Area became the base for Tuckamore Aviation. One crew prepared helicopter loads there; another secured the old shelter and latrine debris on Baldhead Mountain; and a third waited at the new site in Erving's Location to receive the materials.

As the helicopter carried the components of a new timber-frame shelter and privy into the woods, it carried the old structures out. The crews then began erecting the new shelter. Those four days alone accounted for 542 volunteer hours. Combined with the 64 hours spent dismantling Baldhead Shelter in 2025, the project represents at least 606 documented volunteer hours, not including planning, preparation, and coordination.

What your donation will do

Project Airlift is valued at approximately $99,700, made possible by grant support, donated and discounted materials and services, volunteer labor, private landowners, state agencies, businesses, and community partners. Support from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund helped make the project possible, but it covered only part of the direct cost.

After applying the grant, $10,441.77 (+ transaction fees) remains unreimbursed. As an all-volunteer organization with limited operating funds, TCTA needs to recoup this cost to protect resources for trail maintenance, blazing, signage, bridge work, shelter repairs, and other essential work.

Why it matters

Erving's Hideaway now stands 1.25 miles north of the former Baldhead site, helping close a 22.5-mile gap between Old Hermit Shelter and Panorama Shelter. Please help us carry this project across its final finish line.

Prefer another way to give? Donate at Cohos Trail , or mail a check payable to The Cohos Trail Association, P.O. Box 82, Lancaster, NH 03584.