I've just spent the last few days in Rocky Mountain National Park with a group of VERY dedicated student volunteers. Eight student volunteers spent four days in the park working with the National Park trail crew repairing trail near the Beaver Meadows visitor center. I was able to build trail with the group on one of the four days. It was some of the hardest work I've done in a long time!
Our students worked to put in checks (log steps) along a section of trail. This included digging trenches for the checks. Each check needed to be level and no more than 5 inches lower than the check above it. After the checks were in place, the students had to then use hammers to crush rocks for the step. The rocks were mixed with dirt to help prevent erosion of the checks.
The student volunteers worked close to 10 hour days! The group would wake around 6:30 am in order to make breakfast and pack their lunches. Then they would head out to meet the trail crew and travel to the work site by 8:00 am. The group would return to camp around 6:00 pm where they would be met by a staff member from Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (who helped to plan this volunteer project). Then everyone would pitch in to make dinner.
It wasn't all work... there was a lot of time for the group to get to know one another during the work day - and even a campfire each night - with S'mores! I was so impressed with our great group of volunteers! Many thanks to Jason, Zach, Heather, Yanessa, Raymond, Ryan, Kenton and Brad! Extra special thanks to Kara, Fletcher, Matt, and Bob from the VOC who were able to make this project possible (and who fed us so well!)! The group from the National Parks Trails Crew were really amazing too.
We plan to do more volunteering this year with the VOC -- make sure to check out some great opportunities Volunteering in Outdoor Colorado! www.voc.org
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