2016-Continental Divide Trail Restoration at Marshall Pass

Start Date-End Date: 08/27/2016-08/28/2016 Land Manager Office: USFS - Salida Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Ben Lara Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Take in superb scenery as you restore a notorious mountain biking and hiking trail. Description: About the Stewardship Site Sitting on the iconic Continental Divide at the intersection of the Sawatch Range and the Cochetopa Hills, the portion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDNST) that crosses Marshall Pass is popular with both local and out-of-town hikers and bikers. It is especially well-known among the Colorado mountain biking community, as the "standard" ride of the famed Monarch Crest Trail includes dropping down to Marshall Pass. About the Volunteer Experience Due to its high use, the trail in this area is in need of serious maintenance. Volunteers will work to improve tread and corridor along Marshall Pass, as well as install drainage structures and check steps to reduce overall erosion. Camping and meals will be provided throughout the weekend. Both the project location and campsite offer an opportunity to soak up the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains in all directions. If you're looking for a 'tent with a view,' this is surely the spot! About the Overall Impact Thousands of recreationalists ride and hike the Monarch Crest Trail every year, which accelerates erosion and other forms of trail degradation. Restoring sections of this beloved trail back to safe and sustainable conditions will ensure that it can continue to be enjoyed by recreationalists for decades to come. Latitude/Longitude: 38.926053, -106.094100 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 30 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 60 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 1 Total Volunteer Days: 61 Total Unique Volunteers: 32 Total Volunteer Hours: 647 Staff Hours: 36 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: The forecast for the weekend of the Marshall Pass Project called for rain and thunderstorms and much cooler weather than everyone was accustomed to. As we arrived Friday afternoon the sun was shining and the weather seemed mild...fortunately, this weather pattern remained so for much of the weekend. Around 30 people rallied around the morning campfire trying to stay warm, drinking coffee, and eating breakfast. The day began with a morning talk and a brief safety overview of the project site. There was a mountain bike race that was scheduled to pass right through our work area on Saturday so everyone was advised to be on the lookout. All of the tools were shuttled up to the project site so volunteers were able to hike up the 1.5 mile trail without the burden of tools weighing them down. Upon arrival to the worksite all of the Crews broke out into 6 sections and did safety talks, tool talks, and discussed project work. The trail was situated on a gorgeous hillside with tall spruce trees and thick understory of Kinnikinnick that proved as a great sun dappled backdrop to the work day. Crews were spaced out along a 1000' section of trail where the work contained a great variety of different skill sets and technical work that had volunteers busy throughout the entire morning. The weather remained consistent until the end of the day where a great wall of water seemed to be approaching us from the west as we were hiking back to camp. The wind picked up and the air temperature dropped considerably, but the rain never came. After a happy raffle, a nice dinner, and an inspiring talk from the USFS Wildlife Biologist regarding bears, the majority of volunteers settled in around the fire to try and stay warm. Aroudn 10PM the campsite was mostly quiet, aside from the rustling of an animal reported by a few volunteers on Sunday morning. Sunday started off very similar to Saturday with cloudy skies and cooler temps but quickly warmed up and became the typical Colorado late summer day. We lost 6 volunteers from the previous day so we had to combine a couple of Crews along the trail. We stretched all the way until the last section flagged and most of the volunteers remained energetic and inspired to continue the work and try and finish the work expected. At the end of the day we needed to hike all of tools out and pack them into the Forest Service Truck to be shuttled back down to the camping area and brought home. Volunteers plodded down the mountain, assisted with the tool load, and went to pack up camp gear. I went around and personally thanked all of the volunteers for their hard work and dedication and requested that they return soon to another volunteer workday with us. Successes and Challenges: Successes: Lots of laughter, a nice warm fire, great conversation, working on the iconic Colorado/Continental Divide Trail, Inviting a through hiker to camp and have dinner with us, everyone returning safely to their homes. Challenges: Cold nights, steep hike to the project site, technical work was overwhelming for some, Communication from TA and Land Manager was confusing for some. Bringing enough water is always a challenge for these projects. I only had three directional signs so I could not put one at the campground entrance. 500 moutnain bikes passed through the work day during the weekend which made it challenging to complete work. Every time a rock structure was started work would be halted to let a few bikers pass. A very popular trail among the MTB crowd. Lessons Learned: Make sure that TA speaks directly with the Crew Leaders and not the volunteer crew. It seemed that some of the volunteers felt that there was a bit to much criticism from different people. Always pack extra toilet paper for the bathrooms that always seem to run out of it. More signs. Special Notes: Great working partner with the Salida District Forest Service contact Brett Beasley. Works well with Crew Leaders and gives them the ability to lead and learn. Stewardship Education: Rosemary Schiano the Wildlife Biologist from the USFS in Salida gave an educational talk about bears to the entire group after dinner. She talked about Leave No Trace principles and how to strategically set up camp to avoid confrontations with Bears. She displayed bear safe cans, and showed us punctured water bottles and told tales about scary bear encounters. After that everyone was a bit leary to fall asleep inside their tents with anything inside. Brett Beasley talked about trail etiquette and the significance of the CO Trail and the CDT. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: One more sign was needed to direct volunteers into the campground. There were many turns along the 13 mile forest service road so I did not have any left over for camp. Too many chiefs. A bit of overlap among TA, Land Manager, and Crew Leaders when telling some groups how to proceed with the work. A few volunteers expressed frustration at being told how to do, or not so something. Description of Accidents/Incidents: The Tool Manager had a small run in with a wall at the VOC office and the Enterprise Rental Truck. The driver managed to drive the truck up on to the parking wall and in an attempt to extract the vehicle a section of stairs were torn down and the truck was damaged. Robert Rosenzweig was the driver and he was able to continue to the project site. Unfortunately he left the scene with out telling anyone at the office, so a report was filed and Denver Parks and the Police were involved. At this time the investigation is pending. Description of Work Completed: 1000' of Trail was maintained. This section of the CDT/CO Trail is a heavily used favorite by Mountain Bikers in Colorado. Alot of the work involved small finish work along the 1000' of trail that was flagged. Over 25 check steps were installed to reduce erosion and to act as a guide to keep users within the trail corridor. Most of these structures consisted of one rock in the trail and two rocks at the side to keep users from going around the structure. There were 7 rock steps that were built into the trail. Each one was constructed with bikers and motor cycle riders in mind. Approximately 135' of cut slope work was completed in areas where water was undercutting and eroding away the soil. There wer several sections of the trail that were low spots that collected water, these areas were filled and drainage structures were created to allow water to drain from the trail. Roughly 150' of braided trail was closed, a wide range of trail narrowing rocks were placed, and the entire 1000' was cleared of any low hanging branches. Finally a really nice in sloped turn was completed that will quickly become one of the favorite sections of the myriad of mountain bikers that use this trail every day.