2021-Notch Trail Restoration @ La Jara

Start Date-End Date: 09/25/2021-09/26/2021 Land Manager Office: USFS - Conejos Peak Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Gerard Sandoval Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Celebrate National Public Lands Day by heading to the backcountry to re-establish the original route of this trail. Description: Project photo by David J. Kennedy 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. Please see below for more information on meals. You must bring a face mask and work gloves. Please click here for our full packing list of required and recommended items. All volunteers must keep a mask within reach at all times.We will ask you to wear a mask when working closely together (within arm's reach) on a task, such as moving a large rock. If you are not vaccinated,we encourage you to reconsider your participation at this time due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. People who are unvaccinated are more at risk of serious illness, hospitalization, and death. If you choose to volunteer while unvaccinated, you must wear a mask for the duration of the project. 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: Hidden away in the southern corner of Colorado, the Conejos River is a 92-mile-long tributary of the Rio Grande River. Starting outside of Antonito, the Notch Trail climbs up from a section of the Conejos River. This trail, open to hikers and equestrians, is steep but the views are worth it: the area is characterized by alpine lakes, meadows, and forests of aspen and cottonwood. What You'll Do: Spend National Public Lands Day in the peace and quiet of the San Luis Valley. On this project for volunteers ages 18+, you'll spend the weekend repairing the eroded Notch Trail. The bulk of the work will involve re-establishing the backslope, knocking off berms, removing rock, closing social trails where trees have fallen, and clearing downed trees where possible. Please note volunteers will need to ford a small river in order to get to the worksite. Camping is available Friday and Saturday night; VOC's volunteer Crew Chefs will provide breakfast on Saturday and Sunday as well as dinner on Saturday night. Why It Matters: This remote trail is in serious need of repairs, and your efforts will go a long way to making this trail safe and sustainable for years to come! 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: 37.16184, -106.43004 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 on Saturday and Sunday as well as dinner on Saturday night. More information about camping will be sent via email approximately two weeks before the project. Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 25 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 50 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 50 Total Unique Volunteers: 26 Total Volunteer Hours: 668 Staff Hours: 56 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Work Site: Notch Trail # 729Latitude:37.16045Longitude:-106.43301 Camp Site:Spectacle Lake Campground (RGNF)Latitude:37.168362Longitude:-106.439179Elevation:8700 # Volunteers: 26 ?Accomplishments: 107 trees cleared from the trail, installed 10 signs and removed 3 old signs, 11880 ft of trail maintainedto USFSpackand and saddle standard, 1267 ft of new trailconstructed. Other Accomplishments: Carson Coates CL Certified, 1 A crosscut sawyer recerted to a B, 5 new crosscut A certs Hidden away in the southern corner of Colorado, the Conejos River is a 92-mile-long tributary of the Rio Grande River. Starting outside of Antonito, the Notch Trail climbs up from a section of the Conejos River. This trail, open to hikers and equestrians, is steep but the views are worth it: the area is characterized by alpine lakes, meadows, and forests of aspen and cottonwood. Spend National Public Lands Day in the peace and quiet of the San Luis Valley. On this project for volunteers ages 18+, you'll spend the weekend repairing the eroded Notch Trail. The bulk of the work will involve re-establishing the backslope, knocking off berms, removing rock, closing social trails where trees have fallen, and clearing downed trees where possible. Successes and Challenges: Successes: We accomplished all the priority work tasks we set out to complete! The project site was beautiful and almost at the peak of fall colors for the area. We had the entire RGNF campground to ourselves which provided amenities and ample room for all volunteers. This was particularly helpful given the cold temperatures over the weekend. We received a lot of positive feedback from members of the public while working on the trail that weekend. There hasn't been an established trailhead for the Notch trail for some years and recreators were excited to see that it will be easier to locate now. Providing a cert opportunity during a project required some extra work but it was great to get some of our regular volunteers certified in crosscut and also provide others interested in certing next year with a more in-depth understanding of the skill that they would not have been able to get during a regular crosscut project. Challenges: The recreation folks from the CP District threw some last minute curves balls in regards to planning out the project work, which left me scrambling a bit on Friday. Incorrectly signed trails and a ton of social trails made locating the original Notch trail difficult. In the future I will be more proactive about providing a very detailed work plan to the rec folks and a window for feedback to allow myself plenty of time to incorporate any last minute changes from the District. The overnight temperatures this time of year are pretty chilly, which made it hard to get the mornings started on time. The eggs and other frozen food items never defrosted, water takes longer to boil, volunteers are a bit slower getting out of their tents and geared up for the day. The CP District is a really popular hunting destination on the RGNF. Notice of the project was posted in advance, we wore bight colors and safety vests and had no issues. However, this is definitely a safety concern to be aware of when planning projects after Sept 2nd. Lessons Learned: Managing a certification opportunity during a project decreases productivity and is hard to manage while also coordinating the project work groups. I would avoid it in the future if possible and offer them separately. Working with each RGNF District is a unique experience. I will take more time to plan and coordinate with the CP district on future trail projects. They tend to not want to be involved in the planning process at all but then have a lot of feedback after the project that would have been more helpful during the planning process. Crosscut projects scheduled late in the season (especially during hunting season) end up getting cut out by users before the project takes places. This was the case for 3 of the SLV projects this season and requires the scope of work to be changed last minute. I would try and schedule them no later than July in the future and plan to scout twice, with one visit being the week before to confirm the work plan. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Crosscut certification course Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: The Crew Chef's vehicle broke down in Walsenburg, the Tool Managers were able to pick her up but it made Friday a little hectic. Description of Work Completed: