Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Last Few Volunteer Groups

It's September 14th and the Mount Yale Project is about to be officially finished.  The last ten days on the mountain have been crazy busy.  Jeff and I have had the pleasure of working with two separate volunteer groups.  The first group was organized by Colorado College out of Colorado Springs. CC requires all incoming students to engage in a service project before classes begin.  The crew from CC helped Jeff and I to officially open the rerouted section of trail.  I have to admit, it was really, really weird to see strangers hiking on the reroute section after so many months of enjoying exclusive access to the area.  We were, however, immediately showered with thanks from those who seem to truly appreciate our work. 
Colorado College Volunteers.

After the reroute was open we sent RMYC to focus on finishing the last bits of rock work below the saddle.  The mornings were bitter cold and windy most of the time but this group had some amazingly positive attitudes, though slightly crazy at times and gassier than any group I have ever seen.
The Crew plus Greg hanging out on the saddle.
Jake, Garreth and Whitney posing on a stellar retaining wall.

September 8th brought a few very important guests, (Loretta and Adam from the US Forest Service and Greg from the Office) who's mission was to inspect the work that had been done all season.  I have to say that the visit went exceedingly well, lifting a huge weight from Jeff and I's shoulders. 
Henry from the VOC crushing rock for a check step.

The job well done from our supervisors meant that our second volunteer group would be able to focus completely on beginning restoration on the old, eroded section of trail.  As always, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado brought in a solid group of hard-working, entertaining individuals. Even with frozen water at base camp and windy conditions at the work site we managed to finish the project goals for the weekend while enjoying each others company. 

1 comment:

  1. Well done. Thanks for the effort here. The upper trail has long needed a rework. I have worked with you elsewhere in the past through CDTA, but nice to have my local mountain done.

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