2015-Continental Divide Trail Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake Trail Reroute - 8/29/2015

Start Date-End Date: 08/29/2015-08/30/2015 Land Manager Office: USFS - Salida Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Brett Beasley Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Take on a challenging and rewarding trail construction project on the iconic Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. Description: ABOUT THE STEWARDSHIP SITE This project site is located approximately five miles South of St. Elmo in Chaffee County. The Continental Divide National Scenic (CDNST) Hancock Townsite trail provides advanced trailuse opportunitiesfor hikers, bikers, horseback riders and backpackers in a scenic setting. ABOUT THE VOLUNTEER WORK The primary reason for the Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake Trail is to get users off the road that's currently being used as the CDNST trail. The CDNST is intended by legislation to be a continuous single track trail, remote and as "wild" and scenic as possible, extending 3,100 miles from the Rocky Mountains on the Canadian border to the north and the country of Mexico to the south. Volunteers will help transform the current user experience on the road and bring it onto a scenic, non-marshy, sustainable trail. The reroute will be at higher elevation than the road takes currently, and volunteers will help build switchbacks and difficult trail structures, remove duff, and pull stumps to construct this trail. The full trail length from Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake is 4.8 miles, and volunteers will play a crucial role in this difficult construction. In addition, this project will protect vegetation and soil through proper trail location, design and construction; and help prevent excessive erosion and sedimentation to the hydrological system above Chalk Creek. Free meals and camping will be provided. PARTNERS U.S. Forest Service - Salida Ranger District Latitude/Longitude: 38.640621, -106.36977 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 35 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 43 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 41 Total Unique Volunteers: 23 Total Volunteer Hours: 451 Staff Hours: 89.5 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Good weather, good work accomplished, nice full moon, and good spirits. Good crew leaders, organization, and size of volunteer group. Successes and Challenges: Great work accomplished. One Brick Denver was a really fun crew to work with! Our crew leader manager (Terry Gimbel) didn't feel well Sunday morning so left early unfortunately, but I think she still had a good time. It was challenging to overlap with the Colorado Trail Foundation (CTF) crew who was still camping in the area when we arrived, and they were quite hostile and rude and wouldn't share space - making VOC volunteers feel ostracized and not welcome. Irony, that they have a welcome mat at their white camp tent. I was un-impressed with their unprofessionalism and rudeness, and will make sure a project campsite location doesn't overlap with them again without pre-project strategic planning. Lessons Learned: See lesson above about working/overlapping with CTF. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Historic St. Elmo Society presented about the history of the area. It was great - and well received by volunteers. Suzy Kelly does a great job. Rosemay Schiano, USFS Salida Ranger District Wildlife Field Biologist, gave a presentation about bears, leave no trace, and wildlife. People loved her, and she'll be back again! Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: See note about CTF above. Description of Accidents/Incidents: n/a Description of Work Completed: