2019-Ramsour South Trail Construction @ Midland Hill: Mike O'Brien Memorial Project (Camp Elevation Trail)

Start Date-End Date: 06/08/2019-06/09/2019 Land Manager Office: BLM - Royal Gorge Field Office Land Manager Contact: Nancy Anderson Funding Partner: Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition Programmatic Partner: Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition Summary: Enjoy magnificent views as you build a new multi-use trail near Buena Vista. Description: Where You'll Be: Midland Hill refers to a two-mile ridgeline that overlooks the rural town of Buena Vista, a roughly two-hour drive from Denver or Colorado Springs. The area's trail system offers magnificent views of the Arkansas River Valley and the Sawatch Mountain Range for hikers, bikers, and equestrians alike. What You'll Do: Volunteers ages 14+ are invited to spend the weekend building a new 2.4-mile segment of the Ramsour South Trail. With a quarter-mile hike to the start of the work site, this project accommodates a variety of work levels and interests with tasks ranging from straightforward trail construction, perfect for beginners, to technical rock work for volunteers interested in a challenge. All volunteers will enjoy spectacular views and meals from our volunteer Crew Chefs. Why It Matters: Your efforts will go a long way in improving recreational opportunities for a variety of users. Not only will you help reroute the existing trail away from the road to provide a safer and more enjoyable experience, but you'll also help replace unsustainable, user-created "social trails" that damage the surrounding environment. In addition, the trail you build will connect an existing network to create exciting loop opportunities for hikers, bikers, and equestrians. Need-to-Know Details: Minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on 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. This project takes place at high-altitude. 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: 38.912124, -106.164714 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate, Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 128 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 5 Total Volunteer Days: 133 Total Unique Volunteers: 72 Total Volunteer Hours: 1220.5 Staff Hours: 42 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: What a wonderful weekend! We essentially had no attrition. the 72 volunteers contributed 1220 hours and completed more work than we set out to do. in total we constucted 4594 feet of new trail, closed 2800 feet of social trail, constructed 447 of monowall, constructed 6 climbing turns and 3 banked turns, and 18 dry wash crossings. This group really knocked it out of the park. We had some wonderful partners on this project in CMC and BVSC. Brink with CMC served as the TA and did and outstanding job. he had wonderfully detailed notes and worked with all the crew leaders very well to ensure quality. BVSC was very involved in the project as a funding and programmatic partner. They secured tons of giveaways for our raffle, served as our volunteer photographer, and had folks out digging trail. Successes and Challenges: successes: BV has a public water filling station at their public works department building. it is $2 for 267 gallons of water. Eddyline donated beer! they said pretty much if we have anything in that area they are down to donate. Esp if it is an mountain biking trail. challenges: it would have been inefficient to hike into the project site so we had to carpool. There was limited parking where we needed to carpool to but Brink did a good job marking where we could and needed to pull off and it all worked out just fine. camping was a little tight. there isnt a ton of flat ground out there. I dont think we should have projects any bigger out there than what we had this weekend. people made it work but it was tight. Lessons Learned: we had some great pre project planning and site visits with CMC and BVSC. they were so involved and commited to the project that it went super smoothly on the project weekend. Special Notes: We should go back here whenever we can! no attrition, volunteers loved the project and the area! this project ties in with a much bigger trail system and will provide connectivity that locals and tourist alike are really excited for. In recent years, there has been a demand for more outdoor recreation opportunities in the Midland Hill area specifically. From the application: "The proposed project strikes a balance between creating new opportunities for non-motorized trail users while addressing critical resource damage to create a well-designed, sustainable local trails network. Cyclists (45%), hikers (30%), trail runners (15%) and equestrians (10%) will benefit from expanded opportunities and reduced conflict and safety concerns on motorized roads." Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: