2021-5-Day Backcountry: Trail Restoration @ Flat Tops Wilderness

Start Date-End Date: 07/26/2021-07/30/2021 Land Manager Office: USFS - Blanco Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Aaron Grimes Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: *DEPOSIT REQUIRED* Registration opens May 1. Explore and restore one of Colorado's largest wilderness areas on this weeklong project. Description: Project photo courtesy of Susan Jarvis This project is currently full. To be added to the waitlist without paying the deposit, please contact Kelly Clouse atkclouse@voc.org. Read Before You Register! Need-to-Know Details: We greatly appreciate you volunteering your time and energy to care for Colorado's outdoor places during COVID-19. To help provide a fun and safe experience for all, there are a few temporary changes to be prepared for: You must attend all days to participate in this project. You may only register yourself. Every volunteer must sign our digital COVID-specific forms ahead of time to be able to attend. You must bring work gloves. Please click here for our full packing list of required and recommended items. If you are fully vaccinated,you may work without a mask. If you are not yet fully vaccinated or if you prefer to wear a mask for any reason, please continue to wear a mask on VOC projects. We will have spare masks available if needed. Cancellation & Waitlists: Due to this year's limited number of projects and volunteer spots, we expect projects to fill quickly with waitlists. If you need to cancel, please email outreach@voc.org as soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce. If you are waitlisted for multiple projects, please call us at 303-715-1010 ext. 116 and we can help you find an open project, if available. Where You'll Be: Located in Northwest Colorado and home to approximately 110 lakes and ponds, the Flat Tops Wilderness is known as the "Cradle of Wilderness" for its seminal role in the passage of the Wilderness Act. Over 100 years ago, U.S. Forest Service employee Arthur Carhart was sent to survey plans for summer cabins at Trappers Lake. Instead, he became convinced that the area should be preserved, becoming one of the first USFS officials to advocate for the type of preservation that would later become known as Wilderness Areas. The Flat Tops was designated as a "Primitive Area" in 1932, pre-dating the official passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964 by 32 years. The Flat Tops now spans more than 235,000 acres and two National Forests and features 160 miles of trails. What You'll Do: You're invited to spend five days enjoying - and restoring - one of Colorado's most unique and iconic landscapes. With a small group of volunteers, you'll hike approximately 8 miles with 2,000 ft. elevation gain to the Island Lakes Basin, where you'll set up your backcountry basecamp at 11,000 ft. elevation. From there, you'll spend the days completing a variety of restoration work on three trails: Island Lakes Trail #1824, Deer Lake Trail #1802, and South Derby Trail #1857. Meals will be provided by a talented backcountry Crew Chef, Monday through Friday! Unless coming from the immediate area, volunteers should be prepared to arrive by 8:00 PM on Sunday, July 25th to be ready to hike in to basecamp on Monday morning. Camping will be available Sunday night, but no meals. Local outfitters will transport volunteers' overnight gear, supplies, tools, and food to and from basecamp. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the 15-person limit in Wilderness areas and the duration of this project, even one late cancellation can be detrimental to our volunteer recruitment and outdoor stewardship efforts. As such, a deposit of $80 is required to register. This deposit will be refunded in full upon completion of the project, or upon cancellation more than two weeks prior to the project. Deposits will not be refunded if you cancel less than two weeks before the project. If the deposit causes an undue financial hardship, please contact Kendall Cox at outreach@voc.org or at 303-715-1010 ext. 116. Why It Matters: The remote vastness of the Flat Tops Wilderness and limited staffing of the Blanco Ranger District create significant challenges in keeping up with maintenance needs. Your participation will be a tremendous help to the Forest Service in keeping the trail in working order and protecting the surrounding Wilderness. 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 126,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $25 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: 39.99375, -107.24213 Additional Information: We greatly appreciate you volunteering your time and energy to care for Colorado's outdoor places during COVID-19. To help provide a fun and safe experience for all, there are a few temporary changes to be prepared for: You must bring work gloves.Pleaseclick herefor our full packing list of required and recommended items. If you are fully vaccinated,you may work without a mask. If you are not yet fully vaccinated or if you prefer to wear a mask for any reason, please continue to wear a mask on VOC projects. We will have spare masks available if needed. We will hike out of the Outlet Trailhead on the Carhart Trail (#1815), an approximately 5 - 5 1/2 hour drive from Denver. Unless coming from the immediate area (Meeker or other nearby town), participants should be prepared to arrive by by 8:00 PM on Sunday, July 25th to be ready to hike in to basecamp on Monday morning. Camping will be available Sunday night, but no meals that night. Your deposit will be refunded in full upon completion of the project, or upon cancellation more than two weeks prior to the project.Deposits will not be refunded if you cancel less than two weeks before the project. Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 12 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 50 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 10 Total Volunteer Days: 60 Total Unique Volunteers: 12 Total Volunteer Hours: 583 Staff Hours: 54 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Volunteers all arrived Sunday night at Trapline campground to stay overnight, everyone arrived before 8PM which made for a nice amount of time to say hello before heading to bed. On Monday all volunteers arrived at the Outlet Trailhead at 6AM to eat breakfast and finish any last minute packing. The Outfitter, Ripple Creek, arrived at 6:30 with a packer from Ute as well as a friend who would be packing us in since the regular wrangler at Ripple was out sick. Land Manager, Aaron Grimes, arrived around 7AM and met with me and the outfitter. Aaron talked to Ripple and realized the folks packing us in didn't know the site we were camping at so he gave them a map with coordinates. Packers moved out shortly after 7:30 while Aaron and I did an intro talk with the volunteers, passing around a map which had all the trails we would be hiking as well as the approximate camp location with coordinates. We were also all given the Wilderness Act as a form of education. We hiked in the first couple miles fairly close together. Aaron led while a volunteer and his son maintained the back. We stopped at the first major trail intersection to regroup and it was here Aaron informed us the next trail section wasn't for a few miles and we would stop as a group once we got there, but for everyone to take breaks as they needed until then. While leading the front, a couple volunteers asked Aaron if they could pass because they wanted to hike faster. He let them, both of us assumed they would have a map and stop at the next trail junction as discussed. At the next trail junction it was clear the outfitter had gone the wrong way but there was no way to contact them. We knew they had a map and felt fairly confident they would figure it out eventually. The more stressful aspect was it appeared the two volunteers who passed Aaron had followed the packers instead of waiting at the trail junction as discussed. We decided to continue on the correct route with the rest of the volunteers as there wasn't much else we could do at this point except hope the volunteers realized their mistakes and looked at their map. I was particularly nervous because one of the volunteers was a youth whose father had remained in the back of the pack to make sure everyone made it. We waited at the junction for a while, but the back of the line was extremely far behind and folks were itching to move on so we did. The majority of the group made it to our designated camp location (on the map) by 3. At this point the back of the group was finally catching us which is when I decided to message Kelly to see if she could find any way to get into contact with the packers who had still not arrived. My hope was that the packers had found the two volunteers so we could know they were safe. My biggest concern was, again, that one of the volunteers lost was a youth. His father wasn't mean or blameful, but just seemed exhausted and worried. I wanted him to know we were doing what we could with what we had. I sent everyone on to make camp just after 3:30 and within about 10 minutes or so I could see the packers on the ridge with two figures walking behind them. Soon enough, the packers arrived and set off towards our camp to unload. Minutes passed, I still did not see the volunteers. One of the packers returned to see why they hadn't shown up yet and I told him I had seen them, but they had disappeared behind a bunch of trees and never reappeared. The packer started whistling to hopefully get the volunteers' attention. After about five minutes we saw them off to our left walking on no trail. In the span of maybe 50 feet they had lost sight of the packers and the trail and were simply wandering around. It was later revealed that both volunteers failed to take a map and so had no real clue where they needed to be once they were lost. They did realize they had gone the wrong way after they reached about 8 miles in, but they didn't know how to correct their mistake from there. The outfitter took longer to realize his mistake, but once he did he was able to figure out how to fix it. Along their way coming back, the packers found the volunteers and led them from there. All in all, they ended up hiking an extra 10 miles but had good spirits and didn't seem too perturbed by the experience like I was. The father was extremely grateful to the packers for finding his son and bringing him to the correct location. The rest of the night passed much as any VOC night would. The rest of the trip: Volunteers worked hard to cut back the brush and clean up the Island Lake and Deer Lake Trails, cutting back willows, moving large rocks, digging new drains, clearing/rebuilding old drains, and fixing braided trails. Most volunteers found they were too tired after about 2PM to continue (especially if they had a bit of hiking to do) and so we were done by 3 each day. We had split into three groups one led by me, one by Aaron, and one had Bill as well as Phil who were both fairly versed in VOC standards (Bill is also certified as a leader as well as a TA). Each day we remained in the same groups and switched up who was clearing the Deer Lake Trail which was just a whole lot of lopping/hand sawing. On Thursday my group was so tired they needed to end early (even after generous breaks throughout the day) so I let them finish up around 2 and went to join the other two groups who had joined forces on the Deer Lake Trail. At this point Aaron had switched out with her trail lead, Jerry, and he was up there with folks also cutting back. Jerry believed we had gotten through the extreme thick of it, but I could see there was still a lot to do. The willows are taking over. The last day: I had hoped to send the slower hikers out earlier in order to get them to the trailhead around the same time as the faster hikers. However, slow to hike are generally slow to pack and all the faster hikers were done packing (including all the group gear) long before the slower hikers were and getting antsy. So, I sent them on ahead with the augmentation that they needed to stay together to the point of having at least one hiking buddy who had a map. They slower hikers made it out about a half hour later at just after 8:30. I waited behind for the outfitter who would be arriving between 10 and 11. The same outfitter from Ute came again with a different helper this time, but he knew where to go. I helped them load the horses and then set out while they had a quick lunch at 11. Storm clouds were moving in at this point and I didn't want to end up a cautionary tale. I had downloaded the map on CoTrex (highly recommend for any backcountry/out of service project) and had the InReach so I felt fairly confident. I didn't end up needing either. At just after one I overtook the slowest hiker and his partner but continued moving, we were close to the end and there were no more junctions at this point. The storms had all miraculously split around us while hike, so, while we saw and heard lightning, we were never close to danger. I arrived at the parking lot just before two, the two behind me arrived just before two thirty, and the outfitter arrived just under an hour later. I helped them unload the horses while Bill and Joni (the only remaining two) helped split the gear and load it up into the truck. While everyone made it to the trailhead just fine, every hiker took the wrong path once again due to missing a trail junction and I am at a loss on how to prevent this as I don't understand how they continued to miss them. Each junction is fairly obvious with giant cairns holding long posts holding clear signage. I was hiking alone and never once had to look at my GPS. Perhaps it's the group mentality. Either way, everyone made it out to find a decent amount of hail damage on their cars. Cooper (F150) has a dented hood but otherwise seems no worse for wear. The drive home: Everyone knew to skip Glenwood Canyon and were able to make it out just fine. I ended up getting stuck in Silverton around 6PM due to another section of I70 being shut down that I wasn't aware of. I'm not sure if I could have skipped it, but I was not able to get home until 10PM (I did take an hour break due to being extremely hungry and getting increasingly aggravated by the barely moving traffic). I know Kate had a similar issue on her trip to Flattops and I wonder if it might be a good idea to add in an extra travel day for Project Managers so they aren't hiking out and driving home on the same day. Notes from the Chef: -- Tim's water filtration system works great because you can do so much at one time. However, we had problems with the water filters, I think because they were not new and because our water source while it looked clean had a lot of silt. This was obvious on backwashing the filters which I had to do to both several times a day, and we were still getting only a slow trickle toward the end no matter what. Anyway, Liza said she thought she could buy 2 new Sawyer Squeeze filters so that Susan, Steve and all will have a good working system when they go out next week. Liza, please verify that you can do this or how we need to make this purchase -- thank you! -- I have the kitchen equipment we took plus food at my house, wanted to do a better cleanup on the equipment and inventory the food to pass on to Susan for the next adventure. I am planning a trip to the Ops Center to drop everything off on Tuesday Aug 3rd unless another date would be better. I plan to put a "date opened" sticker on any open packages so the chef needing it will know that it's not old food, sitting in the Ops Center for a long time. Susan, I can send you a list of what I have so you won't need to buy it, will do that tomorrow (Monday). -- the water filtering system -- includes two 5-gallon buckets and a lid. Set it up on top of a folding table -- one bucket upside down is just so you can put the dirty water bucket higher, to aid the gravity filtering system. The dirty water bucket has a hole near the bottom where the water runs through -- there's a two part washered thing (spigot? not exactly) that fits through there. Then dirty water hose attaches from there to screw in top on filter ("flow" faces downward), another screw-in bottom part then clean water hose. I run the clean water hose directly into one of the 5 gallon clean water collapsible bags, and I stick a paper towel in the top rim to keep bugs and dirt out. Make sure the filter isn't leaking dirty water down into the clean water receptacle. -- the kitchen waste liquid pit -- near dishwashing area but not where someone will step in accidentally -- about 18 inches diameter and 18 inches deep. Find a good stick or old tool handle to hold the strainer over the top of the pit, throw food waste from strainer into the trash -- the latrine trench -- 18 or more inches wide, 5 feet long, 18 or more inches deep -- make it wide enough so people can straddle it to use with one foot on each side. Leave a shovel with the dirt that has been removed, so everyone can cover up their waste as it is used. Pick a kind of hidden spot away from the kitchen and tents, and hang a tarp in front of it for a privacy shield. On the other side of the tarp at least 10 feet away, have a spot designated for a gallon Ziploc bag containing toilet paper and hand sanitizer. When the bag is missing, the trench is in use (kind of like a doorbell). Explain this to all group members so no embarrassing moments. At the end of the week, waste trench and kitchen waste pit obviously must be refilled. -- coordinate with your trail team leader on time for breakfast and dinner. Set up coffee the night before also a big pan of water covered to make it easier in the morning. I found it took 20 minutes for a full pot of coffee to boil then 20 more minutes to percolate. Successes and Challenges: Successes: Everyone made it to the project and (eventually) in as well as out of the backcountry without injury We were able to build as well as maintain a huge number of stone water bars considering most folks on the trip had basically no experience in this area No injuries, everyone was well fed and able to remain hydrated Folks were able to work hard while also having time to relax and have fun; we managed a decent balance of work and play The Outfitter noted how much better a difficult section of trail was upon returning to pack us out (credit goes solely to theBrouillette Boys and Aaron) Everyone felt comfortable with each other and thought it was a great group to work with Challenges: Volunteers not being fully aware of where they were while hiking and either not taking a map or not taking the time to look at it Volunteers were tired quickly, probably due to the altitude Outfitter who packed us in was asked super late to take on the project (due to the sickness of Ripple Creek's wrangler) and didn't really know where he was going in the beginning Water Filters are not up to snuff and were extremely slow despite Joni flushing them with clean water frequently Storms at night during the last couple days made it hard for some folks to sleep Lessons Learned: Make absolutely sure everyone takes a map. Don't expect volunteers to be extra safe, expect them to make poor decisions, not because they always will (most of them have been backpacking for years), but because then you will make sure they are as safe as possible because you are preparing for the worst. In some cases, it may be best to reign in volunteers who are eager to prove themselves as superior hikers/back countrymen/women. Prepare volunteers for the possibility that the packers may be late. I tried to make sure everyone had a way to filter water and took plenty of food, but folks ate everything quicker than they expected and had to filter water (luckily most folks had a way to do so or were willing to share). In the backcountry, be prepared for volunteers to work slightly less hours than normal. While I felt I could go for a few more hours, most folks were tapped out an hour or so after lunch. Many were unable to bring enough snacks out on the trail to feel satisfied enough to work 8 hours as well. I saw a lot of exhaustion setting in after lunch which I personally was unprepared for because I have had many backcountry experiences working 10 hour days where folks with less backpacking experience (and basically no altitude experience) did just fine. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Aaron Grimes passed out a copy of the Wilderness Act to everyone and read a few passages to us before he left on Wednesday. He was also very insightful on the area knowing various flora and fauna as well as geography. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: I think it might be a good idea to add an extra day at the end for Coordinators to travel home. Perhaps the outfitter used would provide discounted lodging or the land manager could secure just one campsite for the hike out night. Hiking out and needing to wait for the packers meant I didn't get on the road until after 4 and with Monsoon Season happening at this time of year it's not unusual for folks to get stuck trying to get around I70. While I know VOC is willing to work with me after the fact, if we could circumvent this before hand it would take away a lot of stress. Description of Accidents/Incidents: Volunteers got lost due to not taking a map, making the decision to split from the main group, and not waiting for the main group to catch up at any point once it was clear we were far behind. Description of Work Completed: