2023-Los Pinos Trail Restoration

Start Date-End Date: 08/12/2023-08/13/2023 Land Manager Office: Land Manager Contact: Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: placeholder Description: placeholder Latitude/Longitude: Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 15 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: Total Youth Volunteers Attended: Total Volunteer Days: Total Unique Volunteers: Total Volunteer Hours: 0 Staff Hours: 52 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: VOC CAMP:Latitude:37.04073 Longitude:-106.45678 Elevation:10,338 Project Work Site: Los Pinos Trail # 736 Latitude:37.08524 Longitude:-106.49857 Elevation:10,800 - 11,700 We had a great dispersed camp site about 4 miles from the trailhead, it is very popular so I arrived Thursday night to post signage and claim the spot. I had the district rent a porta potty from Brian's Septic in La Jara, which was very affordable compared to others in the valley. Although the campground is nearby we could not use their water because it is contracted out to a private company to operate, so I brought a water tank with 175 gallons of water for the 40 people. The project went very well but we did have to contend with some threatening weather all weekend. Our work priorities were to install new signage and a gate restrictor, clear the trail using crosscuts and then perform general trail maintenance. We had initially planned to do a re-route but after having a TA scout the trail we ended up needing a NEPA assessment before we could move the trail that far from the original corridor. I am hoping to still re-route the trail in the coming years. The steep section of trail leading up the waterfall needs a lot of work in addition to rerouting the first 300 feet. Since we had other priorities that occupied much of our time we didn't have time to work much on the section, which is ok since I believe another project should be planned and dedicated to that .5 miles stretch of trail. Successes and Challenges: Successes: The weather held off and we were able to accomplish all the priorities we set out to that weekend. We had some 1st time volunteers, and some new local volunteers Beautiful area to camp and work in Great crew leaders! Challenges: The project team was a little challenging to work with but we were able to figure everything out, it just required more oversight on my end and I ended up feeling a little stretched thin. There was a meteor shower on Saturday night but the rainy weather blocked sight of it, but some dedicated volunteers did catch it around 3 am! Lessons Learned: Special Notes: n/a Stewardship Education: n/a Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: n/a Description of Accidents/Incidents: n/a Description of Work Completed: