2021-Legacy Trail Construction @ Gateway Mesa Open Space

Start Date-End Date: 06/05/2021-06/05/2021 Land Manager Office: Town of Castle Rock Parks & Recreation Department Land Manager Contact: Barbara Spagnuolo Funding Partner: Town of Castle Rock Parks & Recreation Department Programmatic Partner: Summary: Celebrate National Trails Day by breaking ground on the final section of the Legacy Trail at Gateway Mesa Open Space. Description: Project photo by Julie Majors 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 may only register yourself. Every volunteer must sign our digital COVID-specific forms ahead of time to be able to attend. You must provide your own food. VOC will not be providing meals at this time. 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: Nestled between the towns of Castle Rock and Franktown, the Gateway Mesa Open Space is an easily accessible gem on the Front Range offering scenic overlooks, stunning views of the Rocky Mountains, and 275 acres of diverse terrain ranging from open scrub brush to dense mixed pine and steep cliffs. What You'll Do: Join VOC for our third year building the Legacy Trail and spend the day among conifer forest, ferns, mosses, and interesting rock formations! On this National Trails Day project, you'll break ground on the remaining section of this new hiking trail, connecting VOC's work from 2019 and 2020 to the existing Chuck's Loop Trail on the eastern edge of the property. Work will be moderate to difficult in nature and likely include bench cuts, timber or stone steps, and several small crossings of narrow drainages. Why It Matters: The current loop system in Gateway Mesa Open Space is 1.6 miles and travels around the flat, exposed mesa through open grassland. The trail you help build will create a secondary, hikers-only loop extension that will provide access to a forested environment completely different from the rest of the park. 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 125,000 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: 39.388419, -104.801991 Additional Information: To help provide a fun and safe experience for all, there are a few temporary changes to be prepared for: You must provide your own food and, if desired, overnight accommodations.VOC will not be providing meals or campsites at this time. 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. Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 40 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 31 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 3 Total Volunteer Days: 34 Total Unique Volunteers: 34 Total Volunteer Hours: 364 Staff Hours: 22 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On National Trail's Day 2021, VOC partnered with the Town of Castle Rock to construct the next segment of the Legacy Trail in Gateway Mesa Open Space. This project focused on sections 18-27, and began where the 2020 projects left off. On Saturday, volunteer leaders arrived at the GM Trailhead early to begin shuffling tools to the bridge access point that connects Chuck's Loop to Legacy Trail. Volunteers parked at the Rock Ridge Elementary School, and took the town of Castle Rock Trolley to the GMTH. After our welcome and safety talk, volunteers helped shuffle tools down the bridge and through the slot canyon by forming a conga line. From there, Crews hiked their tools to the work site, approximately 3/4 of a mile from the bridge access. Trail work began around 9:30 am. Crews constructed a 24 inch wide, pedestrian only trail, and placed rock steps in various steep and complicated areas. Technical Advisors, Donna Driscoll and Rich (TOC Trails Planner) assisted crews on more difficult sections. Town of Castel Rock provided 2 floating staff members, =Barbara and Marcy, to help with site logistics. Much of the trail was covered in deep pine needle duff, and crews worked hard to reach mineral soil a good 10 inches below. Some sections presented hazards as there was steep cross-slope and dense scrub oak to move through. By the end of the day, near 500 ft of trail was constructed, including 7 rock steps. The sky's were clear of clouds, and the heat was intense. Crews worked slowly, took cover in limited shaded sections, and took break often to combat the heat. With the weather, Town of Castle Rock staff were pleased with the work that was completed, and are eager for the Woman's Only Project scheduled out there this fall. Successes and Challenges: Success: This project was logistically complicated, and took much coordination to move tools through the slot canyon. Volunteers were able to accomplish this in under 30 minutes, and head to the work site efficiently. Town of Castel Rock staff were vital to the movement of volunteers on the Trolley. Crew Leaders were much needed in helping shuffle tools early before volunteer arrivals, many of them had great suggestions that helped the efficiency of the project. Challenges: The heat was our largest challenge. Volunteers were slow moving, especially in the afternoon. The heat wiped the energy out of most volunteers, and because of that, not all the work we aimed to completed was finished. Getting to the location was also difficult. The hike out was long, and much of it was through steep cross-slope and slippery duff. Scrub oak presented challenge in certain areas. Volunteers burned a lot of energy just getting to the work site. The trial itself was intricate, and required lots of technical work. Many sections of trail that needed rock work did not have rocks readily available. Lessons Learned: One volunteer had a fear of heights, which presented a challenge as that volunteer had to walk the long way around the bridge access. It would be good to add in the emails that some sections of this trail require moving vertically through the slot canyon. Moving tools to the bridge access was most easily done with wheelbarrows, and not the shelf packs. Wire cutters would have been a nice addition for stubborn roots. Special Notes: None Stewardship Education: None Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: None Description of Accidents/Incidents: None Description of Work Completed: