2018-Breckenridge Family Camping & Trail Construction

Start Date-End Date: 07/28/2018-07/29/2018 Land Manager Office: Town of Breckenridge Land Manager Contact: Tony Overlock Funding Partner: The Summit Foundation Programmatic Partner: Keystone Science School Summary: Brave the Nightmare on Baldy Trail on this popular Family Camping project! Description: About the Stewardship Site: Volunteers will spend the weekend within walking distance from the popular ski town Breckenridge at the Golden Horseshoe, home to over 2,000 acres of open space and extensive trail network that winds through the White River National Forest. The area sees significant use from hikers and mountain bikers as well as backcountry skiers. About the Volunteer Experience: We've partnered with the Town of Breckenridge once again for one of our most popular volunteer projects! This large Family Camping project offers something for everyone, including individuals and volunteers of all abilities. While children ages 6-11 enjoy fun, educational activities led by VOC's Programs Manager and a local partner organization, children ages 12+ will work alongside parents and family members break ground on a new loop trail that will connect the Nightmare on Baldy Trail to the Weber Gulch Hut, a destination for backcountry skiers. All volunteers will be treated to an amazing campsite within walking distance from Breckenridge and meals from our volunteer Crew Chefs on Saturday and Sunday. Check out our Family Camping projects in Crestone (May 19-20) and Steamboat Springs (Sept. 8-9), too! About the Overall Impact: The Golden Horseshoe area near Breckenridge experiences significant wintertime use from backcountry skiers and snowshoers. By working to construct the loop that connects the Nightmare on Baldy Trail to the Weber Gulch Hut, volunteers will help expand year-round recreational access to this beautiful natural area. Need-to-Know Details: Minors:All youth under 18mustbe accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on overnight projects. Camping, Parking, Food & Facilities:VOC will provide all tools and equipment, including work gloves and hard hats when needed.Campsites are provided on this project; you must bring your own tent, sleeping bag, camp chair, and other supplies. Our volunteer Crew Chefs will provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, as well as breakfast and lunch on Sunday. Cancellation:Our land manager partners rely on VOC volunteers to accomplish critical stewardship needs, and our projects often have wait lists. If you need to cancel, pleasecontact Jamie Burkeat 303-715-1010 ext. 116 as soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce. Latitude/Longitude: 39.492916, -106.049857 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 145 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 186 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 95 Total Volunteer Days: 272 Total Unique Volunteers: 159 Total Volunteer Hours: 2908 Staff Hours: 132 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Project: The Breckenridge Family Camping project has been a long standing project within the VOC community. Many volunteers arrived Friday night and enjoyed the nearby city and main street of Breckenridge. There were looming clouds at the campsite, but a positive energy of excitement could be felt. Saturday morning, unsurprisingly, was an organized chaos. While registrations went smoothly, having the Keystone Science School added an extra element. Volunteers were generally patient and enjoyed the free swag (stickers, coupons) set on the table. Before we knew it, registration was transitioning into starting the project. Having a lower number of volunteers than expected and large group sizes led to some last minute Crew Assignment decisions. While not ideal, these problems were solved quickly and effectively by Crew Leader Manager, Stuart Miner and TAs the Wileys. The Town of Breckenridge had set up shuttles for volunteers from camp to the work site, this included 15 passenger vans and city buses. The process worked well; however, some Crews had to wait nearly 20 minutes for the shuttles to return. This tends to tamp down some of the early Saturday energy and excitement. The shuttles did keep volunteers from a mile hike, which many were happy about. The work days went smoothly, as there was a lot of support and oversight from the VOC Leadership team and the Town of Breckenridge. On Saturday, volunteers briefly had to leave the work site due to lightning nearby. Volunteers were able to continue, and ultimately this only took around 40 minutes from the work day. The remaining leadership team was hard at work at camp. Rose was able to readjust her remaining meals for the actual amount of volunteers, leaving items to be used in future projects. The tool managers helped refill the water buffalo and collected the keg donations. Due to these hardworking team members, volunteers were treated to treats and a carefree environment upon returning to camp. Many complimented the food, much beer was drank, and music was listened to- as the Town of Breckenridge provided a folk, acoustic act. It rained off and on during the evening, moving many to their tents of nearby indoor activities in town. Remaining volunteers were able to join in an exciting raffle, with many awesome products provided. As the evening wore on, the weather wore off, breaking way for a beautiful sunset and later full moon. Sunday morning resembled herding cats, as many volunteers tried to pack up their campsites before 8:00 am. Forgoing the typical morning set up, crews were directly divided and shuttled to the work site. At this point, the focus had shifted from perfectly finished trail to as much rough cut as possible. This quick pace and changing scenery seemed to give a boost of energy to the typical Sunday slump. Many volunteers worked shortly passed the end time, determined to finish their work. Varied shuttle arrivals and a hail storm made it impossible to gather volunteers at the end of the project, but informal thank you's were shouted all around! Youth Programming: Overall, the kids had a great time and generally seemed to enjoy the activities Keystone Science Schools planned. We split into 2 groups, about 10 each, of younger kids (6-8) and older kids (7-9), which was super beneficial to both groups, given the 2 different skill sets. On day 1, the younger kids walked a bit through town and hung out at Cramer Park for a bit, where we then proceeded to hike up the hill and head back to the playground/camp for the afternoon. The older kids hiked directly up the hill from the campsite, about 6 miles in total. Both groups had some components along the way of outdoor education fun facts, but overall the activities were mostly just to entertain, rather than educate. On day 2, we swapped locations and the younger group hiked from the campsite, while the older group went towards town on a different hike. We concluded the day together back at camp, where we played in the creek, sang camp songs, and played some games while we waited for the parents. Successes and Challenges: Project: Successes- The project team for this project was extremely solid. Starting with the site visit, Technical Advisers (The Wileys) and the Town of Breckenridge had planned many of the project logistics. There was a lot of institutional knowledge within these volunteers and that made for a well executed project. I cannot give enough praise to every single volunteer leader on this project. Despite number challenges and attrition, volunteers were able to punch in all the laid out trail- totaling 4,200 ft! The team had adjusted their expectations after seeing the volunteer turnout, but I think everyone left feeling accomplished. This project provided a fun atmosphere, mixing long-standing and new volunteers in an effortless fashion. Some volunteers have been with VOC upwards of 20 years and for others, it was their first project. Stories were shared from the "good old days" and new energy was felt by all. With live music, free kegs, and awesome raffle prizes- the camp atmosphere managed to stay positive despite the weather. Volunteers were able to enjoy many luxuries that normal overnight projects do not provide. With showers, room for trailers, and being withing walking distance of main street this project attracts a more diverse mix of volunteers. Challenges- Throughout the entire process, volunteer numbers was a struggle. From the site visit on, the Town of Breckenridge (Tony) pushed for more and more volunteers. (See Lessons Learned for more information pre-project impact on this topic.) On project day, numbers continued to be a struggle as there seemed to be a fairly high rate of attrition. It's unsure what caused this, but last minute additions and bad weather are sure to have had an impact. This project attracted large Group Registration numbers. Per the Crew Leader Manager's request, the PM had asked the group leaders if their groups could be split into different crews for efficiency and proper Crew Leader to Volunteer ratios. The Church group requested to stay together, and with this advanced notice, we were able to easily comply. Two other groups agreed to be split up in email communications days before the project. On project morning however, these groups decided that they must stay together. Due to this last minute switch, it created some confusion and disorganization on Saturday morning. One group size was over 20 individuals and demanded to work with Breck Crew Leaders. This led to changing Crew Leader assignments. The weather was a challenge for a few reasons. One, we believe that is led to lower volunteer turnout than wanted. Two, it led to a small disturbance in the work day. Due to looming skies and two visible lightning strikes, volunteers were escorted off the work site. After waiting for 15-20 minutes, volunteers were able to return. Three, it rained almost the entire time during the Saturday night social time. This made it hard to corral volunteers. While a membership pitch and raffle was conducted, there was not full participation. Youth Programming: The splitting of the 2 age groups was super successful! While some of the older kids weren't even breaking a sweat after their 6 mile hike (although some were feeling quite sore the next day) and the younger kids almost could not get to Cramer Park without dying from starvation, everyone benefited from splitting into two groups. I think it made controlling and entertaining both groups for a long period of time more doable and enjoyable. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with Keystone Science Schools. Our leaders were Oliver (25) and Cate (20). While both seemed generally unprepared to teach the kids about outdoor stewardship/nature, Oliver was especially unprofessional. Cate was able to share some fun facts along our hike, but Oliver was on his phone for a large chunk of the time, playing music and not really focusing on the outdoor education piece. They both were able to engage the youth in their own ways through games and music, but I felt a lot more preparation could have gone into planning more cohesive lesson plans and activities for the kids. Cate did mention that she usually only handles groups for 3 hours a day, rather than 7 hours, which definitely would make a difference. She had super positive energy and was able to connect with the kids, but the planning/education piece was clearly not there. Lessons Learned: Project: A solid understanding of the number of volunteers Breckenridge wants to recruit for this project in the future. This number needs to be agreed upon well in advance. I would suggest putting it in the Scope of Service, which needs to be signed before project season begins. This ended up being a point of contention and created disorganization. In my opinion, 200 volunteers on the project is extremely doable due to the solid project team this project attracts- but two weeks before the project is not the appropriate time. A full time, permanent staff should lead this project. While the logistics themselves were easy due to such a solid project team, this is our biggest yearly project. I think having a stable contact for this project would be an "even better if" scenario. This project attracts many long term volunteers who carry a lot of institutional knowledge, and I believe it would be nice to have a staff member who can work on their level (answering historical questions, long term plans, etc). Youth Programming: I would reconsider hiring Keystone Science Schools again and would try to put the City of Breckenridge in touch with another organization that is able to include an outdoor education piece in the programming. I would even consider having Taylor and another chaperones lead the youth programming for one group and have a partner organization lead the other group, and then have the groups swap for the following day. It did not seem worth it to be paying Keystone Science Schools to take kids on a hike and facilitate games and songs, both things that Taylor and myself are capable of. Special Notes: It would be nice for office staff to visit this project, with many long-term volunteers present, I feel that it would be appreciated. Stewardship Education: Youth Programming: I wish there was more! I think it may be a good idea to rethink the goals for youth programming on Family Camping Trips. Do we want to make sure certain messages are getting across to the kids? If so, I think it would be beneficial to outline specifically what we want to teach or how we want to engage youth on these projects. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Volunteers escorted off mountain/work site while a storm passed. No incidents occurred and volunteers were able to return. Description of Work Completed: