2018-Voluntourism @ Picket Wire Canyon

Start Date-End Date: 10/13/2018-10/14/2018 Land Manager Office: USFS - Comanche National Grassland Land Manager Contact: Michelle Stevens Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Explore the Comanche National Grasslands and the largest set of dinosaur tracks in North America. Description: About the Stewardship Site: Join us for a unique volunteer experience at a gem of Colorado natural and cultural history. Located south of La Junta, Picket Wire Canyon is managed by the USFS Comanche National Grassland and features remnants of early Colorado explorers and settlers, as well aspre-historicNative American rock art and the largest dinosaur track site in North America. About the Volunteer Experience: The Picket Wire Trail provides the main point of non-motorized access to the canyon and the various sites beyond. Volunteers will maintain a .4 mile section near thetrail headthat is in bad need of repair. Tasks will be moderate to difficult and will include construction of various erosion control and drainage features, among other tasks. VOC will be camped out on the top of the Canyon from Friday to Sunday. Volunteers who join us on Friday will take part in an auto tour* of the canyon, including a guided tour of the dinosaur track site. (Space is limited for the tour. Volunteers joining the tour must also sign up for at least one of the following two workdays.) The USFS will also provide interpretative programming in camp for all volunteers on Saturday night. *NOTE:THE FRIDAY TOUR IS FULL. Please email jamie@voc.org to be added to the waitlist for the tour. There is still space on the workdays. About the Overall Impact: The Picket Wire Canyon is a unique and important piece of Colorado natural and social history. Volunteers efforts on this project will ensure that the trail accessing the canyon remains sustainable for visitors to the site 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.Youth under 18mustbe accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on overnight 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: 37.659746, -103.570988 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 49 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 6 Total Volunteer Days: 53 Total Unique Volunteers: 53 Total Volunteer Hours: 940.5 Staff Hours: 55 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: This project had taken a lot of preparation on the forefront, but it went of without a hitch (excluding the weather).The project team started to pack things on Wednesday afternoon. I helped Miller pack food and crew chef items the day before. We packed everything into the truck on Thursday morning and then headed straight to the site. It should be noted that we did take a 26' box truck for this project. Though we did have extra space, it was sensible to take the larger truck because we did have a lot of crew chef items that took up a lot of the truck space. On Friday, we had a great turn out for the tour, just about everyone on the roster showed up. Our tour guide Lynn was fantastic! He led our 12 car caravan though Picket Wire Canyon with ease. He was extremely knowledgeable about the area and it's history and was so patient with everyone's questions. With Lynn we were able to view dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs, an early homestead of the 19th century, and plenty of tarantulas! I would highly recommend doing this tour again if VOC decides to work at Picket Wire Canyon again.I think the tour got people really excited about the rest of the weekend, and overall it added a unique and educational element to the project that volunteers would not have experienced on another project. Project day went very well. We had some great crew leaders and they led their volunteers through some very intimidating rocky sections of the trail. Earlier in the morning I had let crews know that that we had decided to cancel Sunday due to the weather that was rolling in. Terry had let our crew leaders know that whatever they start, they must finish before the end of the day. Most crews finished their sections and moved onto news ones before the end of the day. Michelle and Terry were very happy with the work that was completed. Walking the trail near the end of the day, it was A LOT easier to navigate the trail and was more enjoyable to walk up. On this trip we used the fire bowl and it was a huge hit. They were great to start in the morning for people to stand around while they ate breakfast, and were great in the evening to socialize after dinner. If VOC is able to obtain more of these for the upcoming project season, they will definitely be used! Overall, all volunteers had a fun time and were able to experience a unique part of the state while being an outdoor steward. Successes and Challenges: Successes Tour was awesome! This helped in recruiting volunteers, and helped them stay there for the project Completed quite a bit of work for only working one day I think communicating with volunteers early in the day on Saturday that we would be cancelling Sunday, motivated people to get more done on Saturday Great group of volunteers Challenges Weather Friday and Saturday were perfect, but it quickly went down hill going into Sunday morning Sunny and warm on Saturday, then it turned to snow, rain, and high winds very early on Sunday morning Lessons Learned: Communicating clearly about the expectations of the scope of work I think greatly attributed to our success. At the site visit Terry was upfront with Michelle about the fact the work that VOC would be completing is simply a band-aid for the trail issues at hand. Michelle was very receptive to that information and understands that this section of trail is so rough and will eventually need a reroute in the future. Miller and Rose do not enjoy working together as co-crew chefs. Miller thought and much preferred to be in charge of the kitchen for this project. However, anyone who knows Rose knows that she is the one take initiative in the kitchen and is very hands on. Because he did not feel that he was in charge of the kitchen, he was very hands off the whole weekend. Rose prepared just about all the food, and cleaned all the dishes while he sat around the fire and talked. Miller said, "A project is like a ship, there can only be one captain. And if I have to be a co-captain for another project, I do not want to be a crew chef for that project." A few days before heading down to the project site Miller came into the office to talk with me about the spreadsheet that Rose had given us. She had made recipes based on what we had a t the ops center to use up the leftovers, Miller called her recipes stupid and questioned everything on her list. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: The tour on Friday was fantastic! I think this is something that should definitely happen again if VOC decides to work at Picket Wire Canyon again. Lynn our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the area and it's history. A local rancher in the area, Steve Wooten stopped by camp on Saturday to talk to us about cattle ranching in SE Colorado, and what it takes to operate a business based on cattle. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Friday and Saturday held up with great weather. But, Sunday's forecast called for high winds and snow. Myself, Terry, and Michelle had made the decision to cancel Sunday in order for people to make it home safely. The temperatures dropped early in the morning on Sunday (roughly 1AM). Winds picked up around midnight, and by 6AM it started to rain and snow. If VOc is there again in the future, please make sure to keep an eye out on precipitation in the area. If the dirt roads become too saturated, the roads can become very slick and sticky and could possibly make the roads impassable. Description of Accidents/Incidents: No Accidents/Incidents Description of Work Completed: