2017-Dedisse Park Trail Construction

Start Date-End Date: 06/03/2017-06/03/2017 Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation Land Manager Contact: Bob Finch Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Celebrate National Trails Day! Reroute a trail in Evergreen's signature mountain park! This project is perfect for first-time volunteers. Description: About the Stewardship Site: Acquired by the City of Denver in 1919, Dedisse Park sits in the heart of Evergreen and includes the Evergreen Lake House and nearby golf course. The north part of the park is home to forested foothills, picnic areas and trails connecting to Jefferson County's Alderfer-Three Sisters Park. The work site itself is above Evergreen Lake, and can be accessed via an easy, scenic walk. About the Volunteer Experience: Volunteers will reroute the existing Dedisse Trail, creating a sustainable route that will provide a more enjoyable and safer connection to Alderfer-Three Sisters. Work will involve basic new trail construction, along with some restoration and possible closure work. This project is perfect for volunteers of all shapes, sizes and skill levels! About the Overall Impact: The project will realign an existing unsustainable route and replace it with a sustainable, fun single-track trail for non-motorized users, all while reducing erosion and its negative effects on the surrounding habitat. This is part of a series of trail realignment projects that have greatly improved the trail network adjacent to Evergreen Lake. Rescheduled from 5/20/2017 Latitude/Longitude: 39.634942, -105.340261 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 75 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 62 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 6 Total Volunteer Days: 68 Total Unique Volunteers: 68 Total Volunteer Hours: 619 Staff Hours: 20 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: After cancelling the initial project on May 20th due to a late spring snow storm, volunteers rallied on June 3rd to Dedisse Park to construct new trail. The turnout was expected as the reschedule did not allow ample time for people to clear their schedules, but still provided enough volunteers to complete the 1600' of proposed trail construction. Registration and breakfast went off without any issues, and mobilizing crews to pick up tools in a separate location, to then hike up to the project site, went smoothly, albeit time consuming. Volunteers worked hard as they quickly completed trail construction in the beginning of the day, and were happy to break for a donated lunch by Which Wich. Everyone walked 500' down the hill to the lunch spot that was at the border of the park and the golf course. Unfortunately, due to bad planning of the lunch spot, people were right next to a tee box, and in the line of fire for golf balls gone astray. Once we realized this, volunteers moved further up the hill and out of harm's way. After lunch, everyone got back to work and worked hard to complete the 1600' of trail construction. Some folks stayed 20 minutes longer to ensure everything was complete, and in the end all were satisfied of a job well done. Successes and Challenges: Successes: The challenge of having separate locations of breakfast/registration, tools, project, and lunchturned outto be a success as everything went as planned and volunteers were well oriented throughout the project. In addition, completing 1600' of trail was a huge success! Challenges: Due to the reschedule, Wilderness Restoration Volunteers was onsite the same day performing the closure of the old trail. VOC was unaware of this until a week before the project, and we were put in a bit of a frenzy making sure both groups would be able to complete their work safely and feasibly. WRV was very helpful in planning the logistics with VOC, and with staggered start and end times, there were no issues between the two groups on project day. The lunch spot was near a golf course, and it was an unidentified hazard that stray golfballs could land near volunteers. As we identified this hazard after folks sat down for lunch, we had them move further up the hill, and out of the way of golfers teeing off. Lessons Learned: It is important to identify hazards not only in the work area but in registration and lunch areas. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: