Description
Start Date-End Date: 10/01/2016-10/02/2016
Land Manager Office: USFS - Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District
Land Manager Contact: Sam Massman
Funding Partner: Mike O'Brien Memorial Trail Fund
Programmatic Partner: Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance
Summary: Restore a part of the infamous Minturn Mile backcountry trail, near Vail.
Description: About the Stewardship Site
Cougar Ridge is part of the legendary Minturn Mile, a popular backcountry trail that leads from Vail to the historic town of Minturn. The Minturn "Mile", which isn't so much one mile as it is several miles, boasts some of the most glorious landscapes in Colorado. During the winter months, advanced skiers and snowboarders enjoy the trail's powdery descent and backcountry peacefulness. In the summertime, the Minturn Mile is a premier mountain biking route for locals and tourists alike.
About the Volunteer Experience
Due to the trail's popularity and natural wear and tear, portions of the Minturn Mile have suffered from erosion and other maintenance issues - namely, the Cougar Ridge section. Due to the deteriorating conditions, trail use has dropped steadily in recent years. Volunteers ages 14 and up will realign and construct the trail to safe and sustainable conditions by installing erosion-control and water diversion structures, as well as building new climbing turns and switchbacks to meander through aspen groves. Free meals and camping will be provided for all registered volunteers.
About the Overall Impact
Improvements made by volunteers along the Courage Ridge section will ultimately bring more users to Minturn, providing a tremendous amenity for local residents and economic benefits through the increase in recreational visitors.
Latitude/Longitude: 39.596263, -106.429061
Additional Information:
Camping Available: Yes
Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult
High Altitude Project: Yes
Desired Number of Volunteers: 50
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 79
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0
Total Volunteer Days: 79
Total Unique Volunteers: 50
Total Volunteer Hours: 691
Staff Hours: 52
Stipend Hours: 0
Project Summary: 50 volunteers worked and camped in Minturn, Colorado to open a reroute on the Cougar Ridge Trail. Part of the famous Minturn Mile, Cougar Ridge is popular with hikers, bikers, equestrian riders, and skiers. However, the old route of the trail followed a steep roadbed that was prone to lots of moisture and erosion, and made for an unpleasant "brake-burning" downhill ride for mountain bikers. To remedy this, VOC, along with the Vail Valley Mountain Bike Association (VVMBA) and the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District began construction of a reroute in 2015 - which was completed this past weekend! To get the trail ready, volunteers constructed approximately 650 feet of new trail to connect the 1,500' reroute from end to end, and maintained and improved over 700 feet of the trail built last year that needed finishing. This included the completion of two rock walls to carry bike friendly turns down the hill, and the removal of a giant boulder that was in the way! Volunteers also closed the 1,700' section of old trail by scarifying to loosen the compacted soil, installing check dams and drainage structures to limit continued erosion, and blocking access to the old trial with downed timber and brush. Finally, additional needed maintenance tasks were performed on the existing route. Volunteers installed 13 drainage structures and 12 rock steps. A big thanks to our volunteer #TrailWizards who came out on this project! Part of the funding for this project also came from a trust set up by former VOC volunteer Mike O'Brien, a mountain biker and proponent of recreational access to trails. We'd also like to thank our partners at Eagle-Holy Cross and VVMBA for helping to coordinate a great weekend as well as for providing additional volunteers and crew leaders for the effort! Check out this article in the Vail Daily about the project! http://www.vaildaily.com/news/new-minturn-mile-trail-opens/
Successes and Challenges: Overall very succesful. Tied off the Cougar Ridge Trail Construction project started last year. Great to have VVMBA provide Crew Leaders, as they were quality and helped alleviate the need on our end.
Registration was a little clunky as we were unprepared for the local volunteers who chose to arrive at the trailhead, rather than the campsite. It didn't pose a serious issue though.
Lessons Learned: Should've done more on the site visit end, and not relied on the repeat nature of the project so much. An additional phone call to discuss registration would've had us more prepared to sign people in at the trail head. Still, this only amounted to 5 volunteers, so not a big problem.
Special Notes:
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Details
| 14 and older |
