Spooky Lakes for Nepal: Help us build a Spooky Lakes bridge from scratch!

In August 2026, a catastrophic glacier and rock collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border sent a massive flood of water, ice, rock, and debris rushing through communities along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems. The devastation has been enormous. Among the infrastructure lost were pedestrian suspension bridges that connect rural communities across Nepal’s steep and mountainous terrain. Current assessments have identified 68 trail bridges affected across five districts:

—20 bridges were completely swept away

—28 bridges were damaged but can potentially be rehabilitated

—20 bridges still require further investigation

Together, these bridges provided vital connections for approximately 20,000 households. For many of these communities, a trail bridge isn't simply a convenient way across a river. It can be the only connection to school, medical care, farmland, markets, government services, neighboring communities, and humanitarian aid.

Why bridges?

Nepal has been part of my family's story for my entire life. In the 1970s, my dad, Tom Rutherford, and his brother, Jim, joined the Peace Corps together to work with the rural suspension bridge program in Nepal. Their assignment took them into remote areas of Nepal's middle hills, sometimes requiring days of walking just to reach a bridge site. There, they worked alongside local communities to survey, design, and oversee the construction of pedestrian and mule trail suspension bridges.

Years after completing his Peace Corps service, my uncle Jim returned to Nepal, where he founded and directed the Bridge Building at the Local Level program at Helvetas, continuing his work to expand access to trail bridges throughout the country.

I grew up hearing their stories and looking through their photographs of Nepal. Their experience has stayed with me throughout my own career studying, making art, and teaching people about water.  In fact, open my book Spooky Rivers and one of the very first things you'll see is a painting of the Syange suspension bridge stretching across the Marsyangdi River in Nepal. I included it on the dedication page as a small tribute to my dad and uncle and the work they did there.

I never imagined that as the book was being released, Nepal would experience a disaster that would damage or destroy so many bridges like it.

We reached $50,000 in just four days!

If you don't know me, I'm Geo Rutherford, the artist, author, and content creator behind Spooky Lake Month. Every October, I spend 31 days telling stories about the strange science, history, and mysteries hidden in the world's waters. What started as a weird little series has grown into an enormous community of people who look forward to Spooky Lake Month every year.

This year, I wanted to see what that community could do together.

Our original goal was to raise $50,000 to help restore a trail bridge in Nepal.

You reached that goal in just FOUR DAYS.

I genuinely cannot believe it. Thank you to everyone who donated, bought a sticker or print, shared the fundraiser, or simply helped spread the word.

And since we still have the entire month of October ahead of us, we decided to dream a little bigger.

Our new goal: $100,000

In a full-circle connection to my family's history there, Helvetas is once again part of the story. Today, Helvetas is working with the Government of Nepal to identify damaged bridges serving remote and geographically isolated communities, particularly remote locations that may not be prioritized during the first phase of government reconstruction.

The current estimated cost to rehabilitate one damaged trail bridge is approximately $32,000. But a bridge that has been completely swept away can cost approximately $98,000 to reconstruct.

So instead of stopping at $50,000, we're extending our goal to $100,000 through the end of Spooky Lake Month.

If we can get there, we could potentially fund the reconstruction of an entire trail bridge from the ground up.

Funds raised through this campaign will support the rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-damaged trail bridges, helping reconnect communities that have lost these critical links.

There are a lot of things that need to be rebuilt after a disaster of this scale. We can't rebuild all of them. When this campaign began, I hoped that maybe we could help restore one bridge.

Now, maybe we can build one.

And for the people who depend on it every day, that one bridge can mean everything.

More ways to help

I'll also be raising money throughout Spooky Lake Month. I'm donating all of my TikTok Creator Rewards and Facebook earnings from Spooky Lake Month to the campaign, and I have a special Nepal × Spooky Lakes sticker available in my shop, with 100% of contributions from those sales going toward the fundraiser.

So whether you donate directly, pick up a sticker, watch the videos, or share the fundraiser, you're helping us get closer to our new $100,000 goal.

To everyone who got us to $50,000 in three days: thank you. I am completely blown away by what this community has already accomplished.

We have the rest of October. Let's see if we can do it again.

Let's build a bridge.