2022-Ditch Trail Construction @ Minturn

Start Date-End Date: 08/26/2022-08/28/2022 Land Manager Office: USFS - Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Katherine Bazan Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance Summary: Connect two popular trails on this three-day project to create a new loop option. Description: Project photo by Greg Lobser Where You'll Be: The Grouse Lake and Haymeadow Trails are part of a popular network of mountain biking and hiking trails just outside of the charming town of Minturn, nestled in the Vail Valley between the ski resorts of Beaver Creek and Vail. Anyone that attends a VOC volunteer opportunity in August, September, and October will be entered in a drawing for the chance to win a $300 SCHEELS Gift Card. The more opportunities you attend, the more entries you will earn. Good luck! What You'll Do: Volunteers ages 16+ are invited to join us for one, two, or all three days of this project! You'll have the opportunity to learn about new trail construction and sustainable trail design as you work with approximately 40 volunteers to break ground on a brand new route. Please note that this project requires a challenging two-mile hike from the trailhead to the work site, and will be a physically demanding project. Your hard work will be rewarded with mountain views and camping in the town of Minturn with easy access to local shops and restaurants. Our volunteer Crew Chefs will also provide breakfast and dinner at camp and there are lots of nearby mountain biking trails for those who wish to ride after the work day. Why It Matters: Outdoor recreation is an economic driver for this area and this trail system is popular with both locals and visitors alike. By creating a new loop option, you will help drive users to this trail system to hike and ease the stress on the surrounding Wilderness areas. 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 128,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $26 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: 39.58591, -106.430598 Additional Information: Camping will be in the town of Minturn and volunteers will carpool from the campsite to the trailhead. It is a strenuous (but scenic!) 2-mile hike from the trailhead to the worksite. To organize carpooling please visithttps://www.groupcarpool.com/t/jp8tcr Please determine the following amongst yourselves: 1. Pick up location 2. When you leave 3. Vaccination status 4. Mask usage VOC suggests coordinating carpooling in the safest way possible and encouraging a mask friendly policy in your cars. If you have any issues finding a rider or a ride, please feel free to reach out to myself. Happy volunteering! Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 35 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 69 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 2 Total Volunteer Days: 71 Total Unique Volunteers: 42 Total Volunteer Hours: 578 Staff Hours: 60 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: VOC joined the USFS and Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance for a new trail construction just outside of Minturn on the Ditch Trail. This connector trail spans roughly 0.35 miles along an old irrigation ditch and connects the Grouse Lake Trail to the Haymeadow Trail. Very little work had been done on the trail before VOC arrived, mostly just corridor clearing. However, there was a fairly established route since many locals since to hike the loop without the trail there. Thursday afternoon we drove the tools to the worksite, roughly 2 miles up Haymeadow Trail. We got the kitchen and camp set up early, around 3/4pm before a large rainstorm came in. Very few volunteers camped Thursday night, most of Friday's crew arrived Friday morning. Turnout was small Friday and Sunday, which was partly surprising because registration was almost at desired numbers pre-project but we had a number of late minute cancellations and no shows. Most of the last minute cancellations reached out to explain - some examples are a friend dying of cancer, a few cancelled because of work emergencies, one was moving a day sooner than expected, also Sunday had attrition from exhaustion for working the other project days. Friday we separated into 2 crews, and drove all the volunteers to the worksite instead of hiking since the group was ~10 and the group walked the trail together and began work while we drove the cars back down to the trailhead. The crews began work on the Haymeadow side of the trail (near the tool cache). Saturday and Sunday had 3 crews of 7-8 people each, and everyone hiked up Grouse Creek/Lake trail in the morning. One crew started on the large rock wall on the Grouse Creek side, another crew in the middle, and the third crew where work left off on Friday. Saturday was by far the largest turnout. Sunday was again a small group and the work mostly focused on installing a few final rock structures, installing more drains, and cleaning up/finishing the work done earlier in the week. Sunday afternoon the volunteers finally got to see the entire trail loop, and they hiked out on Haymeadow trail. Despite a pretty large rainstorm on Thursday afternoon/night, the rest of the weekend had ideal weather (70 degrees, partly cloudy) and it didn't get too cold any night. Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance also donated prizes to the raffle and a few of the USFS employees joined for Happy Hour and snacks each night. We camped at the Forest Service Minturn compound, and were instructed to have volunteers set up tents on the South end in the meadow/field near the Llama pin. This was an improvement from previous years when they made volunteers camp inside the llama pin (no llamas were present in past years). Successes and Challenges: Successes: Compliments on camping site - great views and the llamas for entertainment. It's also very easy to find and was a 5 min. drive from the trailhead, which made it easy logistically each day. Small crews allowed everyone to try their hand at all the unique skills of the project - rock work, trail construction, etc. and practice using all the tools VVMTA had a great showing/turnout despite the short notice of involving them in the project (only reached out to them 2 weeks before the project, it seems they are typically involved much sooner) Challenges: Some challenges with campsite since Forest Service are actively working out of the area. They needed to park and move a large trailer each day that was in the middle of the camping and parking area for volunteers. On Saturday after the USFS left with the trailer, volunteers parked in the space and had to move last minute before heading up on the trail. Difficult to recruit and fill this project. We ended up with a decent number of local volunteers, but the amount of late cancellations and no shows really hurt our numbers. 3 volunteers showed up in shorts - long pants are required and listed on our packing list. Quite a few volunteers (>10) arrived right at 8am or after 8am for registrations, despite the email saying arrive by 7:30am. Perhaps we need more clear language on this. Some were with VVMTA, and did not register in advance so they needed to sign waivers, which took additional time. Michael the tool manager did not like the truck we got from Enterprise, the steering wheel was extremely loose and he said it almost caused him to crash. He wants the Isuzu everytime instead, and said he'd ask for it when he confirms his truck rentals Lessons Learned: VVMTA expected to be involved a lot more on the project, they usually join for the site visit and do all the planning with VOC instead of the Forest Service staff. Next year, please reach out to them sooner. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: