2016-Continental Divide Trail Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake Trail Reroute - 7/30/2016

Start Date-End Date: 07/30/2016-07/31/2016 Land Manager Office: USFS - Salida Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Brett Beasley Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Enjoy second-to-none scenery as you restore a section of the legendary Continental Divide Trail. Description: About the Stewardship Site This project site is located approximately five miles south of the historic townsite of St. Elmo, near Salida. The Continental Divide National Scenic (CDNST) Hancock Lake Trail provides advanced trail use opportunities for hikers, bikers, horseback riders, and backpackers in an iconic and pristine setting. About the Volunteer Experience The main purpose of the Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake Trail Reroute project is to take the trail off the road and bring it onto a scenic, non-marshy, sustainable trail that preserves the rugged and intimate CDNST experience. The CDNST is intended by legislation to be a continuous single-track trail that is remote and scenic, extending 3,100 miles between Mexico and Canada. On this second of three Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake Trail Reroute projects in 2016, volunteers will build switchbacks and difficult trail structures, remove duff, and pull stumps for construction of new trail. Note: This highly technical project is not for the faint of heart and volunteers must be comfortable working, hiking, and camping at high altitude. Those up for the challenge will be rewarded with hot and hearty meals prepared by our volunteer chefs. Of course, every good adventure deserves an incredible campsite...and VOC has definitely got that covered. Be sure to bring a camera! About the Overall Impact Volunteers will work to reroute 4.8 miles of the current Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake Trail away from the road, to a more scenic and remote route that will improve the user experience. Further, the reroute will ultimately protect vegetation and soil through proper trail location, design and construction; as well as prevent excessive erosion and sedimentation to the hydrological system above Chalk Creek. Latitude/Longitude: 38.640621, -106.36977 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 30 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 54 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 54 Total Unique Volunteers: 28 Total Volunteer Hours: 620 Staff Hours: 35 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: As you pass the precariously leaning structure known to locals as "Pacman" you begin to see the view that will encompass your weekend. The CDT Alpine Tunnel to Hancock Lake Trail Reroute is situated in a beautiful valley with stunning views of the surrounding mountains, ripe with wildflowers and the soothing sound of flowing water. The campground offers plenty of space for everyone to choose a perfect spot and socialize with your neighbor, yet still feel like you are camping in a quintessential Colorado campground. We were fortunate enough to collaborate with the Colorado Trail Foundation and share the use of their stately walled tent. We set up the mess hall and established the campground then relaxed and greeted anyone that came in on Friday night. The cold air suprised everyone early Saturday morning amid many comments of difficulty sleeping, and the hope that the sun would soon crest the peaks to the east. Hot coffee and a warm breakfast enhanced the mood of the roughly 30 volunteers who began to mingle and talk amongst each other. As the morning talk began the sun crested the peaks and we broke out into 5 crews of 5 & 6 people to beign our 20 minute hike to the project site. The construction of trail on this section of the Continental Divide Trail is a tedious affair. The deep layer of organic material that is deposited on forest floor from the Blue Spruce trees has to be removed and replaced by mineral soil that works much better to create a sustainable trail tread. In order to accomplish this, it was necessary that the material removed be carried and dispersed in a way that it could not be seen from the newe trail, and that it would do little damage to the existing habitat. Volunteers worked diligently removing material, then carrying buckets and pulling brewery blankets of material far into the forest to be broadcasted thoroughly. At over 10,000 feet of elevation, everybody quickly felt the fatigue of working at high altitude.Crew Leaders did a great job of reminding volunteers to stop and take breaks and stay hydrated. After lunch we did not see a loss in productivity as I anticipated. Volunteers stayed strong and managed to complete almost 600' of new trail by the time the rains started around 3:30PM. We hiked down in a light alpine rain which felt refreshing after the hard days work. To everyones excitement watermelon gazpacho, snacks, and cold beers awaited everyone as they arrived at camp. A very enthusiastic group enjoyed cold beverages, great conversation, and stunning views as we anticipated the dinner bell. Nothing creates comradery like hard work, incredible environments, and great food. Rest assured everyone went to bed satisfied and tired. Sunday morning arrived in much the same fashion as the previous day. We hiked into the project site with the goal of turning over a quality finished prouduct at the end of the day. Most groups worked on adding the finishing touches to the sections that they had been working on, and a couple of groups were ready to move on to a new section. Two groups were given a couple of rock projects to work on, and they were really excited for a change in pace from the never ending movement of material. Around 1:45 we started to clean up and hike out. One group was very excited about their project and had to coax them into leaving as the they wanted to stay and keep working, that is nice to see. We hiked out as dark grey clouds began to build over our heads and the weather cooled to a refreshing point. We were able to make the acquaintance of several people from the Colorado Trail Foundation as they were setting up camp to begin a 7 day trail working hitch. A few final glances around the valley and we were on our way. On the drive home I could feel the immense size of Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert being soaked in an afternoon alpine storm and I felt a sense of untiy with the high altitudes and the mountain environment. After spending the weekend with great people in such a special place your understanding of how significant those large piles of rock and dirt actually are becomes apparent. I did not feel like someone driving a car down Hwy 24 headed for humanity, I was still high in the alpine, breathing the air, feeling the cool rain, and happily hiking along. Successes and Challenges: The greatest success of the weekend was the community that was established among the entire group. There were people who had never camped or worked outdoors before swinging tools alongside seasoned veterans. Everyone sat around in the evening talking about life, sharing stories of the forest and contemplating the day and the day to come. We were able to build some great trail in difficult conditions and forge a strong working relationship with the Forest Service representatives that were working with us on the project. The most sgnificant challenge that we encountered was the lack of water available to us. Since we were only travelling in the VOC van our ability to pack extra water was hindered. We managed to work with the Forest Service in Salida and they were able to refill empty jugs of water and return them to us on Sunday morning. The other challenge was the difficult nature of the trail work itself. Volunteers were a bit weary from hauling and depositing materials far away from the new trail being built. Lessons Learned: In the future, bringing a rental truck with the equipment instead of the 1 VOC vehicle would be the way to go. It added too many restrictions trying to fit everything into the van. Special Notes: Lots of great wildflowers and snowshoe hares in the area. Stewardship Education: Rosemary Asciato, a Wildlife Biologist from the U.S. Forest Service came out and gave an fascinating talk about Leave No Trace Ethics and how we are interacting with Black Bears in our campgrounds. The volunteers really enjoyed this and Rosemary actually stayed with us for a bit to talk with interested people afterwards. We were also able to talk in smaller groups about the changing landscape due to the decimated Blue Spruce that dot the hillside. We talked about how historical fire mitigation has led to an increase in density of the Spruce stands therefore reducing the health of the trees which in turn, led to the proliferation of the spruce beetle. Forest succession is directly relevant to what we are trying to accomplish. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Comments were positive, lots of happy people. Water was the only real issue, but we never ran out or rationed the amount of water for people. Description of Accidents/Incidents: There were no accidents or incidents to report Description of Work Completed: The new trail construction was not difficult from a technical standpoint, but the method for which we built the trail was physically draining. Soil composition on the existing hillside consisted of a deep layer of organic duff that is characteristic of what you would find on the ground cover beneath a coniferous forest. In order to establish a sustainable tread it was necessary to remove this layer and disperse the unwanted material in a fashion that would not be visible from the new trail and not create a nigative impact on the surrounding vegetation. A large part of the work involved filling buckets with material and carrying down or up hill then dispersing in a wide broadcast of the area. The material removed from the new trail was then replaced by mineral soil that was collected from a borrow pit. This pit had to be far enough from the trail as to not be seen, so this also required that volunteers carry buckets of material back to the trail from the borrow pit. With that being said, 750' feet of trail was established by roughly 30 volunteers over the two days. A tread of 24" and an outlsope of 5% was the specifications required from the U.S. Forest Service. We worked along a steep grade of about 30% so some of the backslope was pretty tall. The majority of the trail built was along a straight line with slight contour variations to create natural water runoff. The new tread also contained a strong rhysomatic root system that proved difficult for creating a nice finished tread. One section required that a 7 foot monowall be constructed. We harvested one large boulder to act as a keystone then we set 2 smaller stones adjacent to that one to finish off the small structure. There was a need for an armored crossing with a french drain design that would cross an area that had an ephemeral stream. This crossing was 16 feet in length and 4 feet wide. This structure consisted of two large keystones set in at either end of the crossing and the actual crossing was then armored with smaller stones throughout the middle. We were not able to build the drain up to tread height with the time allotted for the day.