Andrew Powell earns his badge with trail work in the Grand Forest.

Andrew Powell may one day bridge Puget Sound or dam a wild river.

Before that, he must begin anew next year at the University of Washington as an engineering student.

For now, he’s content lugging boulders and moving dirt under a canopy of trees, where he feels most at home.

“I just love hiking and being outdoors,” Powell said. “It’s fun to be out in nature with everything you need on your back.”

Powell, an 18-year-old senior at Bainbridge High School, moved rocks, chipped away a hillside and built a culvert as part of a trail improvement project in the Grand Forest.

As a result of his efforts, he was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest possible rank for members of the Boy Scouts of America, on May 21.

Only 4 percent of the country’s nearly 1 million Boy Scouts can claim such distinction.

Scouts must navigate their way through several ranks in order to reach their organization’s highest honor, doing so by completing a series of Scout-designed challenges and community service projects along the way.

Powell received 41 merit badges during his scouting career. Each Eagle Scout finishes a final project before receiving his badge.

Powell was born in Utah. He joined Cub Scouts, a program that prepares future Boy Scouts, when he was 8. His family moved to Mesa, Ariz., before coming to Bainbridge Island five years ago.

“I love it here,” he said. “There are a lot of hiking opportunities because of the mountains.”

He hiked frequently as a Boy Scout, including trips to the Olympic Mountains and Lake Ozette, in the extreme northwest part of the Olympic Peninsula.

Scoutmaster Tom Swolgaard said Powell is a natural leader.

“He has a mannerism about him,” Swolgaard said. “He knows how to get people to follow him. Andrew will go a long way in life.”

Trailblazer

The Bainbridge Island Park and Recreation District provided the materials for the trail project, but Powell planned, orchestrated and executed the labor along with help from parents, neighbors and fellow Scouts.

Swolgaard, who is also on the park district board, said Powell contacted the park district on his own about the project.

Prior to Powell’s work, the trail was uneven. He changed its course, elevated a portion in the middle and built a culvert beneath for drainage.

Large rocks now line the outside of the new path.

Not including planning, the project took about 120 hours to complete. Powell alone labored 30 hours.

The quarter-mile-long trail begins at the end of Mandus Olson Road and connects to a series of trails that wind through the Grand Forest. Powell’s section is located several hundred feet in, just past two other former Eagle Scout projects.

“The hardest part was getting everyone there at the same time,” Powell said. “And taking out part of the hillside.”

He smiled before adding: “And carrying the boulders.”

As an outdoor enthusiast, Powell said improving a trail was a fitting culmination to his scouting career and a way to give back to the organization that has given him the tools to forge his own future trails.

“I’d like to stay involved,” he said. “Scouting has helped me a lot and I’d like to use that to help other people.”