2021-Weekend Crosscut @ Cotton Creek

Start Date-End Date: 07/31/2021-08/01/2021 Land Manager Office: USFS - Divide Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Bryce Hoffman Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Clear fallen trees from trails using crosscut saws. Description: 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 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: Spanning nearly 500,000 acres in southwest Colorado, the Weminuche Wilderness is three-quarters the size of Rhode Island and the state's largest Wilderness area. On this project, you'll be camped out in the front country of the Rio Grande National Forest near the Rio Grande Reservoir, and hike into the neighboring Wilderness each day to complete project work. What You'll Do: This project for volunteers ages 18+ is a great way to learn new skills and escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Each day will begin with a 2-4 hour hike up trails in the Weminuche Wilderness; you'll then clear the trail and saw out logs on your way back to basecamp. If all log clearing is completed, you'll have the chance to do some basic trail surface and drainage maintenance. No experience is necessary to attend this project as a volunteer, but certified sawyers are required to lead sawing operations. 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 crosscut saws? These are a traditional tool that carry a long history of work on the land in our country, and have made a modern resurgence as the tool of choice for clearing fallen trees on trails in federally designated Wilderness areas, where workers are required to use the minimum possible tool. But it's not just about policy: using traditional tools allows us the opportunity to experience the quiet, solitude and characteristics of more remote areas, as well as become attuned to the characteristics of trees themselves. Crosscut sawyers often talk about how they enjoy the experience of hearing the fibers of trees pop and crack as cuts are made. We welcome you to give crosscut sawing a try, not only to experience for yourself the use of a fun and powerful traditional tool, but to also allow yourself to spend time in nature in a way that perhaps you have not before. No experience is necessary to attend this project as a volunteer, but certified sawyers are required to lead sawing operations. If you would like to learn more about becoming certified as a Crosscut Sawyer, visit voc.org/training or contact Dan Williams by email or at 303-715-1010 ext. 117. Learn more about crosscut sawing at go.nps.gov/lavocast. Why It Matters: Wilderness trails on the Rio Grande National Forest are becoming increasingly inaccessible (and dangerous) to hikers and equestrians due to the falling dead Engelmann spruce trees in the area. The U.S. Forest Service cannot keep up with the demand for keeping the trails clear, making volunteers an increasingly critical asset to assist the Forest Service in keeping these Wilderness trails open and accessible to the public. 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: 37.721417, -107.26052 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: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 36 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 35 Total Unique Volunteers: 18 Total Volunteer Hours: 396 Staff Hours: 48 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: The trail- The hike to Cotton Lake tracked at 8.5 miles each way with a total elevation gain of around 3000ft. It is a BEAUTIFUL trail and I didn't run into one person on the entire hike, so we shouldn't have much inference during our work days. The first 2 miles of the trail stays pretty wet from the morning dew and is really overgrown. My pants got so soaked that it saturated my socks and I ended up hiking 15 miles with totally wet, soggy boots and socks. I would recommend wearing waterproof hiking pants (or rain pants over) and packing an extra pair or two of socks in your day pack. We will do some corridor clearing but you'll likely have to hike through it at least the first day. The project work- There are a ton of downed trees to clear out of the trail but the bulk of the work is between miles 4-8, so that means we will be doing quite a bit of hiking each day. We will have groups start at different sections of the trail based on how many miles volunteers are comfortable hiking each day. You should plan on hiking at least 8 miles (total) a day. I would recommend you download the Caltopo app (others work with KML files too) and upload the work map to your phone so you can use it for navigation and planning during the project. I have attached it as a KML file above. SharingMap ID:TG50Map URL:https://caltopo.com/m/TG50 I have marked all the trees and made notes about confusing social trail areas. The weather- Its monsoon season, bring rain gear! Since we will be working 4-6 miles up the trail you will want to be prepared for the weather. We will keep an eye out for lighting and safety is our number 1 priority but do plan to work in the rain if we determine it is safe to do so. The campsite- The camping at the trailhead is really nice, plenty of space and right by the river. There are no toilets or water. I will have plenty of water (250 gallon tank) and we will be using groovers for the bathrooms. I can go over this at the project site but just a heads up. Please plan to store food and trash appropriately, there are bears in the area. I ran into one about a mile from the trailhead. Successes and Challenges: Successes: I was a little nervous that hiking around 10 miles a day plus work would be too much for volunteers and it was a lot, volunteers were very tired. BUT they all crushed it and did a great job! Challenges: This project was the result of a last minute location change when I found out the weminuche trail had already been cleared by another group. It would have been better suited for an overnight (backcountry) type project becausethe work was so far up the trail, volunteers did a great job given the circumstances. It was a lotof hiking though. It didnt make sense to try and hike up to clear on day 2 so we did trail work lower down. Lessons Learned: Project work cant really be more than 4 miles out each way or there is not enough time to get much work done. Expect volunteers (w tools and such) will hike about 2 miles an hour. Using Caltopo or a similar app to make a work plan really helps line out groups and also allows volunteers to download the map to help with trail finding and to anticipate the work ahead of them Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Saguache RD was very responsive to VOC needs and provided great support for the project Description of Accidents/Incidents: n/a Description of Work Completed: