Description
Start Date-End Date: 08/10/2019-08/11/2019
Land Manager Office: USFS - Dillon Ranger District
Land Manager Contact: Cindy Ebbert
Funding Partner:
Programmatic Partner: Friends of the Dillon Ranger District, Keystone Science School
Summary: Join us for our second year on the Salt Lick Trail!
Description: Project photo by Linda Engelbrecht.
Where You'll Be:
The Salt Lick Trail system is a front-country trail with easy access from the popular Summit County town of Silverthorne, and is used by up to 20,000 hikers, bikers and winter recreationists each year! The trail also provides access to the nearby Eagles Nest Wilderness, home to more than 133,000 acres of alpine lakes, deep valleys, and dense forests.
What You'll Do:
This is our second year working on the Salt Lick Trail system. On this Family Camping project, individuals and families can enjoy the scenic views of Silverthorne from the camp and work sites.While children ages 6-11 enjoy fun, educational activities led by VOC's Programs Manager and Keystone Science School, children ages 12+ will work alongside parents, family members, and volunteers from VOC and the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (FDRD) to help establish a new connection between two existing trails in the Salt Lick Trail system, creating a new loop option for mountain bikers and other recreationists.
All volunteerswill enjoy campsites near town and meals from our volunteer Crew Chefs on Saturday and Sunday. With up to 80 volunteers, this is a great opportunity to meet likeminded people from across the state and play a critical role in expanding recreation opportunities for visitors and residents alike.
Why It Matters:
Bikes are not permitted in Wilderness areas, yet the only loop option currently enters and exits the Wilderness area, preventing cyclists from enjoying the full route. By helping to build the Salt Lick Trail, you will help create a new option for mountain bikers to complete a loop without entering the Wilderness. Furthermore, Silverthorne's economy heavily relies on trails and as such, your efforts will help support the local community while ensuringthat the Salt Lick Trail system can remain sustainable and enjoyable for years to come.
Need-to-Know Details:
Minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or olderon single-day projects. Minors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on overnight projects.
Volunteers are responsible for providing their own camping equipment.VOC will provide meals, tools, and work gloves.
Cancellation:Our partners rely on VOC volunteers to accomplish critical stewardship needs, and our projects often have wait lists. If you need to cancel, pleasecontact Emily Schaeferat 303-715-1010 ext. 116 as soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce.
About Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC)
Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is the state's oldest, largest, and leading outdoor stewardship nonprofit organization. Founded in 1984 to motivate and enable people to become active stewards of Colorado's natural resources, VOC has engaged nearly 120,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $24 million. Through award-winning youth and volunteer programs, leadership training, capacity-building programs, and collaborative efforts with nonprofits and land management agencies, VOC is an invaluable resource in Colorado, especially as our outdoor stewardship needs are approaching near-crisis levels. For more information, visitwww.voc.orgor call 303-715-1010.
Latitude/Longitude: 39.620357, -106.109851
Additional Information:
Camping Available: Yes
Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult
High Altitude Project: Yes
Desired Number of Volunteers: 60
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 81
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 47
Total Volunteer Days: 126
Total Unique Volunteers: 76
Total Volunteer Hours: 862
Staff Hours: 56
Stipend Hours: 0
Project Summary: Just under 50 volunteers arrived in Silverthorne to build a new section of trail as part of the Salt Lick trail system. This is the second year VOC has worked on this trail system in partnership with the Dillon Ranger District and the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District. Volunteers camped in Trent Park on the north side of town and carpooled to the trailhead both mornings. Saturday morning started off gray and a little drizzly, but volunteers were still eager to get to work. Although it was a little damp, the cooler temperature ended up being a great boon. Crews were able to cut a good amount of new trail, even though many expressed concern that they weren't able to get very much done very quickly. However, Doozie (FDRD) and Cindy (USFS) were supportive and let everyone know they didn't expect them to move fast--the heavy vegetation and thick layer of top soil made cutting new trail very difficult. Some crews had to dig down almost 8 inches to hit mineral soil, which meant digging borrow pits in order to back fill with enough material to make the trail anything other than a trench.
While volunteers worked, the kids enjoyed a day of programming with the Keystone Science School.
The sun came out for a couple hours at the end of the work day, and people were able to dry out before heading back for a happy hour at camp. Volunteer Maya Stuart recruited her friend Randall McKinnon to come play guitar, and he was a big hit with the kids! More weather started to roll in starting about 5:00 and most of the evening saw heavy rain and lightning.
Volunteers headed out again Sunday morning, but we ended up calling the day early (around 11) due to rain. The trail was simply too muddy to continue effective work, and everyone was very cold and wet.
Successes and Challenges: Successes
-cut 700 feet of trail in what ended up being basically just one day
-great food! Lisa made a summer salad buffet with grilled avocadoes among other goodies
Challenges
- the weather
- super high rate of attrition--more than 80 people were registered (over the max) and I turned down a number of people asking if they could come off the waitlist, which was a big loss because only 45 people showed up on Saturday (9 of whom were the crew leaders I worked hard to recruit) and many of volunteers decided to leave that night when they saw Sunday's forecast. Hard to say exactly why the numbers were so low, but we think it was a combo of school starting for many people on Monday (so a lot of families were no shows) and the weather forecast.
Lessons Learned:
Special Notes:
Stewardship Education:
Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers:
Description of Accidents/Incidents:
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Details
| 6 and older |
