2016-Solar City SWAT @ Mt. Bierstadt

Start Date-End Date: 07/15/2016-07/15/2016 Land Manager Office: USFS - South Platte Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Ben Hanus Funding Partner: Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, SolarCity Programmatic Partner: Summary: Employees from Solar City will spend the day performing high Alpine Trail Restoration on Mt. Bierstadt. Description: Employees from Solar City will spend the day performing high Alpine Trail Restoration on Mt. Bierstadt. Latitude/Longitude: 39.596187, -105.710251 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 30 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 17 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 1 Total Volunteer Days: 18 Total Unique Volunteers: 18 Total Volunteer Hours: 181.25 Staff Hours: 31.75 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: As the crow flies, Mt. Bierstadt is only 43 miles from the Denver Metro area. Due to this close proximity, it sees an extremely high rate of use throughout the 14er climbing season. This use has serious consequences for the Alpine Tundra environment, where soil eroded away by hikers takes thousands of years to redevelop. 17 volunteers from Solar city came out on July 15th to take a bite out of this problem. To control erosion and keep hikers on the trail, volunteers constructed 16 timber steps and three rock steps, installed a 3'x10' timber retaining wall and a 17' rock rubble wall, closed apprximatley 60 feet of undesignated and braided trail, and transplanted 38 alpine "plugs" to help encourage regrowth in these areas. A big shout out to our partner, the Colorado 14ers Inititive for helping make this project happen! Successes and Challenges: Over all a very successful project. More staff time involved than a typical SWAT. Lessons Learned: Lead PM on a project like this can plan to put in about as much time as they would on a typical public project. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Volunteers get a firsthand look at Alpine conservation and the issues occuring in such a heavily used mountain. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: One volunteer suffered dehydration/altitude sickness on the hike out. Staff provided him with extra water and parsed out his tool load to others. Upon arrival at the trail head, volunteer rested in A/C of truck and drove home under his own power. Description of Work Completed: