2018-Newmont SWAT @ Mt. Evans Outdoor Lab

Start Date-End Date: 07/27/2018-07/27/2018 Land Manager Office: Mt. Evans Outdoor Lab School Land Manager Contact: David Epp Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Registration is now open. Description: About the Stewardship Site: The Mt. Evans Outdoor Education Laboratory School near Evergreen is situated on a historic property originally known as Dodge Ranch. It serves as one of two locations for Jefferson County's hands-on Outdoor Lab Schools, wheresixth-gradestudents live at the ranch for a week and study the area's history, ecology, wildlife, geology, and astronomy. The site boasts a main lodge and outbuildings, hiking trails, and spectacular views in the shadow of Mt. Evans. About the Volunteer Experience: This is the second oftwo weekdayprojects at the Mt. Evans Outdoor Lab this year. Volunteers ages 16+ will be led by one of our most experienced volunteers, Terry Gimbel, as they work to reroute a trail section that is in desperate need of a new, sustainable design. This is a great opportunity for first-time trail builders as you'll have the chance to createnewtrail, close old ones, and install rock steps and rock walls as needed. About the Overall Impact: By rerouting the existing trail, volunteers will create a sustainable route for thousands of Outdoor Lab students to safely hike around the school's gorgeous grounds and enjoy various educational attractions along the way. 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: 39.641593, -105.460340 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 30 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 25 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 1 Total Volunteer Days: 26 Total Unique Volunteers: 26 Total Volunteer Hours: 224 Staff Hours: 18 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: The work completed for this project was plenty for the group that we hosted. We worked on the Biosphere trail at the Mt. Evans Outdoor Lab. David Epp the Principal of the school, and Todd, one of the maintanence staff were extremely helpful the day of the project. Todd was driving the Bobcat to shuttle volunteers to and from the restrooms and bring items to the trail head. David provided a very heartfelt and thankful speech to the volunteers before heading out on the trail. Volunteers were served a donated breakfast from Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels. VOC purchased lunches for the volunteers from Jason's Deli. It took a little while to get up to the area that we were actually completing work in. Our crew leaders made stops along the trail to provide examples of what the trail should look like once it's completed, and provided tangible examples of the terms the trail terms they were using. There was plenty of work to go around for each volunteer and they were moving along quickly with the work. By the time we had taken lunch, the group was pretty tired and had completed a large chunk of the expected work. One volunteer showed up at noon due to being a car accident that morning while heading to the site. After returning from lunch, volunteers were wrapping the sections of work we had only anticipated them to complete for the entire day, and they began to make there way further up the trail in a more challenging section. A group of men that we dubbed as the 'bulldozers' cleared a lot of boulders and helped prepare for another group to come out to the trail and pick up right where we left off to create new tread. Terry our TA decide to make the call to wrap up the project at 2PM. Many of volunteers were losing steam pretty quickly after lunch, and many found spots on the trail to sit down and chat. The project accomplishments include: Successes and Challenges: Successes: completed all work that Terry had laid out for us moved further up the trail into a harder section Challenges: Our group of 'bulldozers' were moving so quickly and were sliding boulders off the trail, constantly creating false critical edges. This proposed issues for the other volunteers behind them attempting to create 24" inch tread. Lessons Learned: Be clear with volunteers of how to move boulders off the trail, that way it won't impede on the work of the people behind them trying to create the tread. Because so much dirt was dragged, it created a much larger width than what were were looking for, and many volunteers had to go back and broadcast piles of dirt and try to build up a critical edge again. Special Notes: working on this trail is going to make the hike easier for students at the school to hike up and down. The previous trail was a straight shot up a drainage and did not make for easy hiking. The trail will lead them to education spots where teachers will lead their lessons. Stewardship Education: n/a Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: no accidents or incidents Description of Work Completed: