2017-Red Rocks Trail Reroute

Start Date-End Date: 05/06/2017-05/06/2017 Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation Land Manager Contact: Bob Finch Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Take in stunning views of Red Rocks while addressing erosion issues on a popular trail. Description: About the Stewardship Site: Having gone by such names as Garden of the Angels and Garden of the Titans in its past, Red Rocks Park is one of Colorado's most impressive and iconic natural monuments. The park is aptly named for the 300-million-year-old red sandstone formations that make a spectacular backdrop for an array of activities. About the Volunteer Experience: The Red Rocks Trail meanders through the park's signature rock formations, eventually connecting with bordering Matthews/Winters Park to create a popular hike and bike loop. Volunteers will reroute and realign a portion of the existing Red Rocks Trail by constructing approximately 2,000 feet of new trail. Tasks will be moderately difficult. About the Overall Impact: The current Red Rocks Trail is eroding badly due to design flaws and poor drainage. This project will help to reduce erosion and soil loss, ultimately helping to improve visitor safety, enhance the overall user experience and protect park resources. NOTE: MINORS ON VOC PROJECTS Youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day projects. Latitude/Longitude: 39.662867, -105.205883 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 100 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 87 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 15 Total Volunteer Days: 102 Total Unique Volunteers: 102 Total Volunteer Hours: 747 Staff Hours: 14 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: The morning of the project went relatively smooth. Tool managers and Project Manager were at the project site an hour before registration began to stage the area. The Crew Chef ran into some issues at Starbucks with the coffee donation, as the barista had 2 travelers ready instead of cambros. Crew Chef therefore did not make it to registration until registration was ending, and some of the extra food she brought did not get eaten. After registration, people were divided into crews of ~8, with one CL without a crew to lead. The construction portion of the project went much faster than the Land Manager anticipated and had the PM and land managers scrambling to find extra work for volunteers for the second part of the day. Crews pushed much farther than anticipated and were far down the trail from the staging/lunch location by lunch time. Lunch was moved to be closer to the location of the bulk of volunteers, causing Tool Managers, Crew Chef, Crew Chef Helper, Project Manager, and Lunch Donor to pack up and quickly move the operation. After lunch, volunteers worked ~1 more hour before heading back to the staging area to pack tools away. Project ended an hour earlier than anticipated due tolarge amount of work accomplished, and high volume of cars in the park preparing for the concert that evening. All in all, it was a successful day filled with hard work, fun, and stewardship. Successes and Challenges: Successes: Completed more than Land Manager asked, volunteers had fun, wrap up at the end of the day was smooth, 2 volunteers interested in leadership roles Challenges: Moving lunch, Land Manager not anticipating amount of work that would be completed by 100 volunteers thus ending earlier than anticipated, the spring sun that some volunteers were not used to Lessons Learned: It is good to have a backup plan if volunteers accomplish work much faster than expected. Luckily we had the right tools to complete maintenance for the second part of the day. It would have been better for the PM to make the call to move lunch an hour earlier than when the call was made. This would have made the switch more smooth and lunch would have been prepared better. Having gatorade on hand was really useful when a volunteer felt ill from heat exhaustion. I will pack gatorade powder in my first aid kit from now on to combat this. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: One volunteer suffered from heat exhaustion. She sat in the shade with an ice pack on her neck and sipped gatorade until she felt better. Otherwise the usual bumps and scrapes. Description of Work Completed: