Since 2012 PWV has assisted the Canyon Lakes Ranger District in restoring its trails after they were damaged first by the High Park fire and then the flood of 2013. During the flood and fire seven of the District trails were seriously damaged. Three of these trails were closed to the public for two years or more. The North Fork trail, near Glen Haven, was rebuilt by PWV and Forest Service personnel over a two-year period and is now open to the public. During the trail restoration period 1.5 miles of new trail was built and another 3/4 mile was repaired. A puncheon, a log stringer bridge and a large plank bridge were built. Over 5,000 volunteer hours were spent to restore this trail. The Lion Gulch Trail has also been extensively worked on in the past three years. It is now completed and was opened to the public this past year. This trail has one new bridge and over a mile of new trail with another mile repaired.
The current trail we are working on is the Young Gulch Trail. Much of this trail was damaged by the 2012 fire and a flood later in 2012. Then in 2013 the lower half of the trail was destroyed by the flood. The Young Gulch Trail has been a challenge to rebuild due to the terrain which is very steep and rocky. Last year PWV worked with the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers and the Overland Bike Club to build nearly one mile of new trail. This summer we hope to build another mile of new trail and a major bridge, a puncheon and one small bridge but will not finish this trail until the summer of 2019.
This year our main project will be the Young Gulch Trail project. PWV plans four public work days on the Young Gulch in August. The work on the public days will primarily be building new trail tread. This will require building a number of rock walls which are necessary to hold the trail in place since there was so much damage to the land where the trail had been.
The Schedule for public work days is below.
August 11 & 12
August 25 and 26
The general public is invited to work alongside PWV members to perform the physical labor necessary to restore the trails. Anyone of normal good health and at least 18 years old, or 15 accompanied by a parent, can take part. PWV will furnish all needed tools and provide lunch. PWV has experienced trail crew leaders who manage small groups of volunteers in the specific tasks for that work day.
At the start of each work day crew leaders provide trail training to crews of between four and ten volunteers. This training includes safety issues, the specific skills that will be used that day and proper tool use. Each crew leader directs and monitors their crew throughout the day. A lunch and snacks are provided for the volunteers. While some of the work is physically demanding most requires moderate physical activity and some tasks can be accomplished by anyone in generally good health. We assign volunteers to work crews based on their abilities and the task that needs to be done. Our crew leaders will ensure that no one is assigned a task he/she is unable to perform safely.
Car pools are organized and leave from the Forest Service in Fort Collins. We normally plan to meet at the trailhead at 9:00 am to start work. You will be back at the trailhead by 4:00 pm.
So if you would like to come out and see how a trail is built register, click on the button below and we will contact you with all the information you will need.
