Description
Start Date-End Date: 08/04/2018-08/04/2018
Land Manager Office: USFS - Clear Creek Ranger District
Land Manager Contact: Ralph Bradt
Funding Partner:
Programmatic Partner: Continental Divide Trail Coalition
Summary: Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Continental Divide Trail at this popular Front Range destination.
Description: About the Stewardship Site:
The Herman Gulch Trail, situated in the high country of the Arapaho National Forest and part of the iconic Continental Divide Trail, starts at 10,332 feet and climbs nearly 1,700 feet to the stunning Herman Lake. The gulch area has it all: mountain and valley views, beautiful streams, cascades, lush meadows filled with wildflowers, and it's even close to Denver. This special area has long been a Colorado favorite, but a sharp increase in usage of the trail in recent years is causing damage to the fragile ecosystem and wildlife habitat in the area.
About the Volunteer Experience:
Volunteers will do an important service for a very popular trail. Over-loved trails often have significant maintenance needs, and the Herman Gulch is no exception. After enjoying coffee and breakfast, volunteers will be broken up into groups of between 8 and 10 for most of the project. On this project volunteers will work along the three miles of trail leading up to Herman Lake, constructing drainage features, building rock steps, and closing and restoring trail, among other tasks. The tasks will be difficult and/or technical in nature, and may require hiking long distances at high altitude, and as such this project is best suited for outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy a challenge.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, we will be partnering with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition to host a post-project happy hour, sponsored by Colorado Native and offering free beer for volunteers ages 21+!
About the Overall Impact:
High-use coupled with limited resources for regular trail maintenance has led to significant damage on this beloved trail. This project will allow volunteers to address many of the needs along the trail, creating a more sustainable experience for hikers and bikers for years to come.
Need-to-Know Details:
Minors:All youth under 16mustbe accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day projects.
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: 39.702510, -105.854277
Additional Information:
Camping Available: No
Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult
High Altitude Project: Yes
Desired Number of Volunteers: 70
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 79
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 2
Total Volunteer Days: 81
Total Unique Volunteers: 81
Total Volunteer Hours: 828.5
Staff Hours: 22.5
Stipend Hours: 0
Project Summary: 88 volunteers contributed 818.5 hours of service on the Herman Gulch trail.Volunteers maintained 1600 feet of high use trail, constructed 22 rock water bars, closed 150 feet of social trail using slash and transplants, dug 4 knicks, 60 feet of monowall, 3 rock steps, 1 check dam, and 355 feet of drainage ditches cleaned and widened. Steve had lined out 1500 feet of trail with notes. He did not think that we would get that finished but we did plus some. He was very excited as was Ralph Bradt with the Forest Service.
Successes and Challenges: Successes--all the volunteer leadership was fantastic and made for a very successful day
Challenges--the porta potty that the Forest Service ordered to be delivered to the Loveland lot never arrived so everyone went at the trailhead which slowed things down a bit. Also the radios were not working so well. I may have taken them off the chargers too soon.
Lessons Learned: I think having Steve around really made for a successful day. He was able to get crew leaders lined out well, he was around when anyone had questions. I was able to bump around converse with volunteers and work along side them.
Special Notes: CDTC had their 40th anniversary party after the work day. They had brats, sides, drinks and cake for volunteers. They had items that they gave out to all volunteers and big items that they had a raffle for. They had the beer truck from Colorado Native come out but it was about an hour late so a lot of people were gone by the time that it arrived.
Stewardship Education: Steve talked about the trail and how the maintenance needs to keep up with the amount of traffic that this trail gets. He really hit on how important the work the volunteers were doing is and how awesome they were doing.
Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers:
Description of Accidents/Incidents:
Description of Work Completed:
Details
| 14 and older |
