2014-Continental Divide Trail Reconstruction at Tunnel Gulch

Start Date-End Date: 08/02/2014-08/03/2014 Land Manager Office: USFS - Salida Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Ben Lara Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Help restore a section of the Continental Divide Trail near the historic ghost town of St. Elmo. Description: STEWARDSHIP SITE The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, or the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) for short, runs 3,100 miles between Canada and Mexico. It follows the Continental Divide along the Rocky Mountains and crosses five states in the U.S.: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. This project is located just a few miles west of the historic town of St. Elmo (one of Colorado's most well preserved ghost towns), below the rough and rugged Tincup Pass. VOLUNTEER PROJECT - WHAT & WHY The Continental Divide Trail between Tunnel Gulch and Woodchopper Gulch in Colorado was constructed approximately 5 years ago, and vegetation along the trail is now overgrown. Volunteers will remove new vegetation from the trail corridor, improve trail tread, and improve structures on existing switchbacks to restore the scenic trail. Improvements to the trail will ensure long term sustainability and increased accessibility to this section of the CDT in Colorado. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION A four-wheel drive vehicle is required to reach the trailhead. A shuttle will be organized for volunteers that do not have acess to a four-wheel drive vehicle. PARTNERS & SPONSORS USFS- Salida Ranger District Xcel Energy REI ?Lockheed Martin The Boeing Company Oracle National Forest Foundation Clif Bar & Company Freeport-McMoRan Foundation and Climax Molybdenum Company Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation OTHER FUN STUFF Camping: Free camping will be provided Friday and Saturday. Meals: Meals will be provided Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch. Latitude/Longitude: 38.704722, -106.345 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 33 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 34 Total Unique Volunteers: 17 Total Volunteer Hours: 312 Staff Hours: 78 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Successes and Challenges: Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: VOC and USFS talked about the history of the trail in this area, the importance of its connection along the Continental Divide Trail, the official Adopters of the trail were volunteering as well and they spoke about the nearby gulches/mountains, animal habitat, etc. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Logistically, it was a bit challenging to set up a shuttle from St Elmo to the campsite since there is no cell service/reception, and thus no guarantee that we would ensure no volunteers were left without a ride up to the campsite. Saturday morning, we didn't rendevous with 2 volunteers who were up early waiting for the shuttle, so had to make a second trip down the pass to pick them up. Instead of getting them up to the project at 7:30, they started at 8:30 after we made the second shuttle down to pick them up. I think they initially were bothered about missing the project introduction, but made no remark/negative comments. I could have organized this better if I gave our USFS staff a copy of the roster to know who to potentially expect that morning at the shuttle - if they saw the Idaho license plate, for example. I received an email and voicemail at my office Saturday night from a volunteer planning to come up Sunday morning, but he didn't have any of the project information and I had no way to communicate with him since everyone was already at the project site/out of the office. Perhaps we can include a sentence to that affect in the email that goes to late registrants. USFS Staff and myself could have communicated better at the end of the project in terms of final goals, end time, and camp sweep/shuttling volunteers at the end of the project. Volunteers were done working at slightly different times, so I found it a challenge to work with everyone's needs and expectations for a final wrap up. I think it went well - we took a final picture and said thank you to everyone, but it did feel a little chaotic with coordinating leave times and shuttling back to cars with everyone. We (VOC and USFS) should have stayed and done a final tool count and camp sweep at the very end, instead of shuttling volunteers down as the priority. I received many thank yous, appreciation for good pre-project communication, and a generous donation to VOC at the end of the project. Description of Accidents/Incidents: There were no accidents/incidents on trail. There was a report from the store owner in St Elmo that a USFS vehicle was going too fast through the town of St Elmo on Saturday evening - something the USFS has talked about internally since then. Description of Work Completed: About 20 volunteers finished some crucial work at the Tunnel Gulch north trailhead on the Continental Divide Trail.The boardwalk was completed with curbs along the sides, the mudpit was transformed into a supported turnpike as a result of truckloads of harvested rock, a new access trail was made to connect to the trailhead,signs and kiosks were put in, and additional trail maintenance continued.