Description
Start Date-End Date: 07/23/2016-07/24/2016
Land Manager Office: Town of Breckenridge
Land Manager Contact: Scott Reid
Funding Partner:
Programmatic Partner: Keystone Science School
Summary: Help construct a Breckenridge trail in the historic Galena Ditch, while kids partake in fun environmental activities!
Description: About the Stewardship Site
Originally constructed about 100 years ago to convey water to mines in Summit County, the Galena Ditch Trail now serves hikers and bikers as part of an extensive alpine trail network in and around Breckenridge. The area provides scenic views as well as an up-close look at long-abandoned ruins and other mining remnants. VOC teamed with the Town of Breckenridge to begin this trail segment in 2012, and we are excited to return in 2016 to complete our work!
About the Volunteer Experience
FOR VOLUNTEERS AGES 14+: Volunteers will construct a new single-track trail to connect the Galena Ditch Trail with the South Fork of the Swan Road. The project will involve approximately 4,500 feet of new trail construction on public open space, National Forest lands, and private property. This exciting project is annually one of VOC's largest and most anticipated, drawing more than 100 volunteers.
FOR YOUTH AGES 6-13: While adults and older youth are building the trail, kids ages 6 through 11 will participate in fun, supervised environmental activities hosted by the Keystone Science School. A friendly, professional staff will guide children on nature hikes, teach them about local ecosystems and wildlife, lead outdoor-oriented games, and more.
Come dinnertime, adults and kids will come back together around the campfire (near the trailhead) to share stories and eat s'mores - followed by the thrill of sleeping under the stars in a relaxing and safe environment. And, rest assured, everyone will sleep well after such a great day in the outdoors!Please note that breakfast and lunch will be provided throughout the weekend as well. Be sure to download VOC's YourCO mobile app prior to the project and take the pledge to care for Colorado! By doing so, kids will be awarded a cool VOC OUTDOOR VOLUNTEER patch that they can proudly affix to their backpack, jacket, or other outdoor gear.
About the Overall Impact
This project will complete a long-term vision to connect the Town of Breckenridge and other developed areas with the Colorado Trail access points. It will allow non-motorized users to avoid busy Tiger Road as they access the many local trail amenities. Further, the Breckenridge economy survives on trail-based recreation in both summer and winter. This project will enhance previous projects and existing trails in the area, and it is expected that the completion of this trail will result in a significant increase of annual visitors.
Latitude/Longitude: 39.521605, -105.979947
Additional Information:
Camping Available: Yes
Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult
High Altitude Project: Yes
Desired Number of Volunteers: 100
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 201
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 62
Total Volunteer Days: 257
Total Unique Volunteers: 153
Total Volunteer Hours: 2426
Staff Hours: 88.25
Stipend Hours: 0
Project Summary: Weather forecasts threatened to sidline the project throughout the weekend, however on both Saturday and Sunday volunteers avoided any major disruption due to weather and were able to complete a large section of new trail. Both Saturday and Sunday were well attended, with nearly 130 volunteers and 10 Breckenridge staff on site on Saturday, and around 80 volunteers present on Sunday with simlar staff numbers. A signficant number of youth walk-ons arrived on Saturday from a nearby camp, but the project team was able to accomodat their needs and put them to work on the trail.
The happy hour on Friday was well attended and recieved by everyone, and proved to be a good opportunity for new volunteers and some veterans to mingle and meet before the actual work started on Saturday. Noticeably absent however was nearly the entire project team, besides some of the younger AmeriCorps Crew Leaders, who likely dined together somewhere in Breckenridge.
Saturday produced a greater-than-expected numbers of volunteers, with nearly no attrition from the registered list. Due to strong leadership efforts, the morning was able to progress at a fairly quick pace from orientation to safety talks to trail work. All crews were on the trail and working by 9:30-10:00am, which is commendable considering the size of the group and the logistical needs of a few groups. After work volunteers were treated to appetizers and a tour of the nearby dog sled kennel which the town orchestrated. The tour was well recieved and largely attended by the youth and families on the project. In addition, at dinner time volunteers were treated to music from a local guitarist who sang and told stories about the origins of various songs and artists.
Sunday numbers experienced attrition from some of Saturday, and only a small handful of new volunteers arrived. Despite these lower numbers, volunteers were still able to complete a large amount of work and over the weekend nearly completed the full 3,000 feet of trail outlined in the notes, a significant accomplishment. Overnight a storm dumped a large amount of rain, but the day dried out and work proceeded unabated.
All in all, scheduling and logistics went as planned from the project side of things and the weekend was a success.
YOUTH PROGRAMMING:
The family friendly project yieldedan awesome group of kids who were eager to explore the surrounding area. On Saturday VOC partnered with Keystone Science School to go out on an awesome hike in the Horseshoe Gulch Open Space. The group of 17 kids hiked for the whole day till 3ish. We had lunch at mid-point then got to try tree coring after learning about the pine beetle and its role in the forest. The kids took turns reading a story about the pine beetle then go to try it on their own. We then headed back to the base. After loading up in the vans with twigs and rocks in our pockets we returned to camp. At camp we refilled water bottles and did our best to take as many WAMs as possible. We then finished the day with a game of food web learning. On Sunday we went down to Breckenridge with 12ish kids to learn about the river life and practice catching bugs and testing water samples. We hung about by the blue river and then finalized our half day with a nature boat race. When we got back to camp we had lunch then went out to see what all the parents had accomplished on the trail.
Successes and Challenges: Successes - Scheduling was precise. Start times were adhered to, and time for orientation and travel to the work site was well thought out, creating a good balance of expectation and exectution among volunteers.
The Town of Breckenridge was great about getting "extracurriculars" together, including the dog kennel tour, musician, and keg on Saturday night. All in all the staff were very helpful and present throughout the project. Great partner.
Great turnout!
Challenges - Scheduling regarding the film crew, VIPs, and reporter, required a large amount of the Project Manager's time to manage and support. This reduced the amount of time on the trail supporting volunteers. In the future, these logistics should probably be better communicated and coordinated to allow the Project Manager the ability to stay on the trail with crews and have a visible presence in supporting the work volunteers come out to do. The PM was unable to get to the actual work site until around 2:00pm on Saturday despite best efforts, which is not ideal.
The lack of cell coverage and radio contact with the youth learning part of the project proved to be a challenge. Future projects with this kind of arrangement should be better coordinated between the PM and the Youth Coordinator so that in the event of an emergency or other issue, contact is more straightforward. If there are a lack of communication options, schedules and locations should be strictly adhered to in order to better locate parties when needed.
The campsite for this project was not ideal. While the property owner was very gracious in letting us stay there and use the electricity and water from the building, the area for camping had a slight grade and there was a lot of garbage scattered around the camp area (styrofoam cups, wrappers, etc.). One volunteer on the survey mentioned their disatisfaction with the campground.
Lessons Learned: Attention to detail on a large project like this is key. Schedules, notes, and communication with both the leadership team and other volunteers requires a great amount of forethought to avoid any miscommunication and create an efficient and straightforward process on the day of the project. WIth a project of this size, there is little time to correct any errors or convey information to individuals without losing precious productive time of the group as a whole.
Additional needs, such as filming, interviews, outreach, VIPs, etc. without the same kind of attention to detail can create logistical snags that take up the energy and resources of the project team. Communication beween staff regarding these details needs to be very well thought out in advance of the project. Needs must be communicated clearly beforehand to all parties in order to work seamlessly as a team.
Radios are key to communication on projects without cell coverage. If possible, bring both charging stations to charge overnight. Tom and Claudia Wiley were concerned that the number of radios was too few for the project.
Special Notes:
Stewardship Education:
Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers:
Description of Accidents/Incidents: None.
Description of Work Completed: 2,800 feet of new trail was constructed, in addition 200 feet were roughed in for completion at a later date along the approved alignment. 2 rock bridges (5-7 feet each) over stream crossings, and 1 wooden bridge (10 feet long) was completed.
Details
| 6 and older |
