2019-Idlewild Gateway Trail Construction @ Winter Park: Mike O'Brien Memorial Project

Start Date-End Date: 07/13/2019-07/14/2019 Land Manager Office: Headwaters Trails Alliance Land Manager Contact: Laurie Chahbandour Funding Partner: Headwaters Trails Alliance Programmatic Partner: USFS - Sulphur Ranger District, Headwaters Trails Alliance Summary: Camp in Winter Park on this large weekend project. **Still looking for Sunday Volunteers!** Description: Project photo from VisitGrandCounty.com **This project has limited availability for Saturday volunteers, but we still have lots of space for Sunday! During registration, please consider only signing up for Sunday 7/14. Those signing up for both days may be put on the waitlist once Saturday is full. Volunteers coming out on Sunday only are still welcome to camp with the crew on Saturday Night!** Where You'll Be: The mountain town of Winter Park is a year-round destination for all types of outdoor recreationists and you'll have the unique opportunity to camp and work right in town. We'll be working on the trail that connects the Winter Park valley floor to the popular Idlewild Trail System, a vast network of trails located in the James Peak Protection Area of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest. What You'll Do: Spend the weekend in the heart of Winter Park for the first project of a multi-year partnership with the Headwaters Trail Alliance, aimed at significantly improving access to the historic Idlewild Trail System. You'll camp right in town with up to 100+ volunteers and spend the days building approximately 2,000 ft. of new trail, including a 300-ft. turnpike. Meals will be provided by our volunteer Crew Chefs and all will be rewarded with magnificent views. Why It Matters: Currently, the Idlewild Trails can only be accessed via a three-spot parking area in a neighborhood or by the Meadow Trail, a steep, challenging, and at times impassable route. The Gateway Project brings together the town of Winter Park, the town of Fraser, the privately-owned Weathertop Wildlife Preserve, and the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest to improve access to the popular trails and your efforts will play a key part in ensuring a sustainable, accessible trail system for years to come. Need-to-Know Details: Minors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on overnight projects. Minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day 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, visit www.voc.org or call 303-715-1010. Latitude/Longitude: 39.924336, -105.781332 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 100 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 182 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 10 Total Volunteer Days: 190 Total Unique Volunteers: 123 Total Volunteer Hours: 1529 Staff Hours: 34 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: VOC's largest project of the 2019 season took place in mid-July in the Idlewild Trail System of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest East of Fraser and Winter Park. More than 100 volunteers from all over the state arrived to the camping area just off Hwy 40, in a parking lot adjacent to the Cozens Ranch Museum and a small pond. Volunteers camped along the pond and in an undeveloped open area to the East of the pond. The Rendezvous development HOA owns the property, and were excellent hosts, providing a large sturdy tent for cooking and shelter from the elements. On Saturday morning, volunteers registered and prepared lunches for the day. Registration was hectic with so many volunteers, and it was made more so by the requirement of the USFS that volunteers fill out an additional waiver. Further, a large youth group arrived all at once (close to 8am) and none of them had yet signed a waiver. Groups were assigned crew leaders and at 8am, 3 small shuttles began transporting volunteers to the project staging site 5 minutes away. By 830am, all volunteers were at the tool staging site - project partner and technical advisor Laurie Chahbandour's garage and driveway - getting their safety and tool talks, and by 9 they were walking towards their sections. Several volunteers had shorts, which was against (this district's) USFS policy. The volunteers who didn't have long pants at camp shuttled into Winter Park and got some at a thrift store. In the first half of the day, 7 crews worked to reroute an old, overly steep trail by adding several wide climbing turns. Two groups worked at the very first section of trail where a small reroute was needed for the trail to remain on the USFS easement. Some of this group also peeled several logs which would later be used on a long section of turnpike through a wetland. The work day went without incident. Saturday evening volunteers enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by 4 all-star chefs and then participated in a raffle and heard an educational presentation. A sudden rain storm made us grateful for the large tent and kept everyone close, creating some new friendships. The evening ended around a large bonfire by the lake with musical accompaniment by VOC's own Dan Williams. Sunday morning went much smoother. Volunteers went back to their Saturday sections and finished closing the former trail by noon - loosening the soil, dispersing a native seed mix provided by USFS, and covering the trail with slash. By the end, the old trail was nearly impossible to distinguish from the surrounding brush. As groups finished, they joined the turnpike crew at the trail head, where there were several tons of rock to be moved into place along 380 ft. of turnpike. Volunteers used 10 VOC wheelbarrows and 2 powered USFS wheelbarrows to haul 2 different types of rock to their home on the turnpike (the rock had been delivered along with some treated timbers several days before the project). Progress was rapid and it was remarkable to see 80+ volunteers with a single-minded goal of getting to the end. Volunteers completed the turnpike by 3pm to the shock and joy of USFS and HTA counterparts. Successes and Challenges: For such a large project, it went without incident. No accidents, no upset land managers, no irate volunteers. This is likely do to thorough planning by the USFS, Laurie, the Headwaters Trails Alliance, and VOC. It was especially important to have a technical advisor and local resident like Laurie who knew the local conditions, history, and important players in the community. She was instrumental in coordinating the camping area, shuttle transports, several raffle items, and working with VOC technical advisor Robin Donner and USFS trails supervisor Miles Miller to prep the project site for 100+ volunteers. One challenge arose from the number of "bosses" on site. There were some strong personalities among crew leaders, technical advisors, and partners, and some volunteers complained that they were given conflicting instructions about what to do or the quality of their work. It should be made clear who has the final say on objectives and methods (in this case it should have been Miles, who was the land manager and had the most experience). Lessons Learned: There should be 2 project staff present on a project of this magnitude, or project manager should recruit someone to assist in a variety of tasks over the course of the event. This is especially important during registration in the mornings and around dinner. If groups join large projects, and only the group leader is receiving information emails, they should be held accountable for passing the information on to their participants. The youth group from Tulsa was unprepared for the work, unequipped with the right clothing, and a small disaster on the morning of their arrival. It is possible that a group like this could be an asset to a challenging trail building project, but this project manager doubts it. Having a microphone/amplifier was key for this size group. When the rain started it would have been impossible to be heard over the din. Future large overnight projects should ensure they have electricity or at least a generator to use the mic. If this same camping area is used in the future, bring a very long hose. The connection point is at least 100 yards away behind the Rendezvous office. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: On Saturday evening a curator from the Cozens museum talked about the Grand County Historical Societies. She then discussed some interesting historical facts about the area. Project partner and former VOC board member Laurie Chahbandour discussed the history of the Idlewild Trail System and the purpose of the current project, which was to create a new access point to a highly used trail system. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: