2021-Midland Trail Construction @ Buena Vista: Mike O'Brien Memorial Project

Start Date-End Date: 06/11/2021-06/13/2021 Land Manager Office: USFS - Salida Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Ben Lara Funding Partner: Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition Programmatic Partner: Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition, Colorado Mountain Club Summary: Enjoy magnificent views as you build a new multi-use trail near Buena Vista! Description: Project photo by Scott Anderson 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 sign up for one or all days of this project, though we encourage multi-day registration to limit the number of interactions and potential exposure. You may only register yourself. Every volunteer must sign our digital COVID-specific forms ahead of time to be able to attend. You must pack your own lunches. See project description for more information on meals. 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 limited spots on this year's projects, 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: A roughly two-hour drive from Denver or Colorado Springs, the rural town of Buena Vista lives up to its name. Translated to "good view" in Spanish, Buena Vista is known for its sweeping mountain views and growing outdoor recreation opportunities. The out-and-back Midland Trail, often used by mountain bikers, follows an old railroad grade and ends at Shields Gulch in the Bureau of Land Management's Fourmile Travel Management Area. What You'll Do: With the ability to sign up for one or multiple days, this project offers a variety of tasks for all skill levels and interests! Join us Friday through Sunday as we work to extend the Midland Trail from Shields Gulch to McGee Gulch. Open to volunteers ages 14+, this project will have something for everyone with both basic trail construction tasks for beginners as well as more technical work for those who enjoy a challenge. Camping is available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night; VOC's volunteer Crew Chefs will provide breakfast Friday through Sunday as well as dinner on Friday and Saturday night. Why It Matters: The local trail system is an integral part of Buena Vista's economy, and has made the town a destination for mountain bikers, hikers, and trail runners from all over the state. The trails are also home to numerous mountain bike races and trail runs. By extending the Midland Trail, volunteers will help disperse users throughout the trail system, which will in turn lessen user conflict, reduce environmental damage, and provide a better experience for visitors. 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: 38.837558, -106.027622 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 pack your own lunches.Please see below for more information on meals. 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 is available on both Friday and Saturday night. Please note that VOC doesnotprovide any camping equipment (tents, sleeping bags, etc.) but will providebreakfast Friday through Sunday as well as dinner on Friday and Saturday night. More information about camping will be sent via email approximately two weeks before the project. Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 40 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 124 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 2 Total Volunteer Days: 125 Total Unique Volunteers: 65 Total Volunteer Hours: 1012 Staff Hours: 0 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: An eventful project with as many successes as it had challenges, volunteers were able to successfully startandcompleteconstruction on a new 1.5-mile extension of the existing Midland Trail, a multi-use mountain biking, hiking, and equestrian trail just east of Buena Vista. A good portion of the planned trail followed an old raised railroad bed, so some of the new trail cut only needed a rough scrape for the trail to be apparent, but there were a number of sections with steep grades and weathered rock material to be removed that took much longer. In all, volunteers finished 7022 feet of trail, installed 10 rock armored drainage structures, and installed approximately 400 linear feet of rock monowall. On day 1 and 2, volunteers hiked about 1.5 miles down CR 315 from the campsite to the tool staging area at the Midland Trailhead and worked from there. By day 3, crews had cut new trail far enough that we carpooled everyone over to the CR 305 side and finished from there. Tool managers Joe and Nancy brought the tool truck and tool boxes over to the 305 side so that all tools could be returned there. Successes and Challenges: SUCCESSES: -the amount of trail completed! It was really great and satisfying to be able to announce the opening of a brand new trail by the end of the weekend. There was a sense of accomplishment and cameraderie among all attendees, especially those who were able to stay for all 3 of the days -the nightly raffles at dinner were a lot of fun; good entertainment and $140 in membership donations were made -Saturday excursion into town so people could swim in the river between the end of the workday and dinner -great view of the collegiates from camp CHALLENGES - the tool truck got a flat tire on the dirt road leading up to the campsite on Thursday afternoon. Joe and Nancy managed to get the truck to the campsite where it was safe and we could still unload/set up, but Enterprise could not or would not send anyone to fix the tire until over 24 hours later. Even when the service provider arrived, he couldn't change the tire with the tools he had on hand and had to take the tire back to Silverthorne and return the next day. In all, it took almost 3 full days just to get a flat fixed. Enterprise service was abysmal, rife with miscommunication, and extremely bureaucratic. Nancy spent most of Thursday afternoon and evening, and all of Friday and Saturday, on the phone just to get us out of there. - Greg Lobser, the volunteer photographer, had an incident on Friday evening. See below in "Description of Accidents/Incidents" Lessons Learned: The 3-day format worked well for this project, although Saturday filled up much faster than Friday (second most popular) or Sunday (least popular). Would recommend doing again, as people really appreciated the Friday weekday option. Most people wanted to stay for Friday/Saturday and leave Sunday. May be worth considering some Friday/Saturday projects for 2022, or setting the numbers and recruiting crew leaders such that Friday and Saturday can be bigger days, and day 3 Sunday is more limited. It's worth noting that our photographers don't have the same oversight from crew leaders like regular volunteers do. Initial assessment revealed Greg had not eaten lunch or drank any water while on the trail Friday, then had 4 beers with dinner before the incident. May be worth PMs making a point to check-in throughout the day if/when photographers or other support volunteers are on the trail to ensure they are taking water breaks, eating enough, and have proper layers. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Greg Lobser stayed up with some volunteers on Friday night at the fire. It's unclear exactly what happened, but Greg left the fire and then returned about an hour later very disoriented and agitated. The remaining volunteers at the fire helped him to bed, but Greg seems to have gotten up after they left, perhaps sleepwalking, and left the camp. He can't remember where he was and he came to when it was very dark. At some point, trying to find his way back, he fell and hit his shoulder. He found his way back to the tool cache by morning, where he got a ride with a Forest Service ranger back to camp. After a head to toe assessment and monitoring Greg's condition, VOC staff determined he needed to be taken to the medical clinic in BV before he could go home. Clinic was unable to rule out a potential head injury and so transferred Greg by ambulance from the BV clinic to the ER in Salida. Doctors at the hospital in Salida determined he had dislocated his shoulder and fractured his collar bone. Shoulder was reset and Greg was released Sunday 6/13. Incident report and witness statements were submitted 6/14. See report for further details. Description of Work Completed: