The PWV Trail Crew was hard at work in 2010 and had many accomplishments
PWV 2010 TRAIL CREW ANNUAL REPORT
Major Trail Crew Accomplishments
- Removed over 190 downed trees from trails
- Cleared 21 separate trails (some multiple times)
- Had 13 PWV members participate in Trail Crew activities
- Shared information with hikers, backpackers, and stock riders about PWV and the Trail Crew’s contributions maintaining trails for the safety of
- pedestrian and stock, and to prevent “social trails” to maintain the pristine nature of wilderness
- Provided over 445 hours of direct “on-trail” Trail Maintenance
- Worked with USFS seasonal and RMNA trail crew folks on different occasions
- Remained SAFE
- Had many fun experiences
Background
The inception of the PWV Trail Crew was in the spring of 1998 when Frank Lilley and Martha Moran started the PWV trails work. It was mostly a two-man crew of Frank and Steve Rush. From 1999 through 2000 there were other PWV Trail Crew participants, some of the people that helped with the Trail Crew during those three years: Bill Dold, Tom Lennox, Deloris Lennox, James Johnson, Tony Schock, Garin VanDeMark, Bill and Jackie Bolinger and Chuck Bell. Martha Moran and Kristy Wumkes of the USFS also did trail maintenance with some of the Trail Crew members. The PWV Trail Crew was established as a separate committee by Garin VanDeMark in 2001. Garin developed and expanded the program through 2006. In 2007 Bob Manuel assumed the leadership responsibilities and has worked with Garin the past 4 years to maintain and improve the mission of this group. In 2009 PWV established an Adopt-A-Trail mission to maintain the North Fork Trail (Forest Service Trail #929). This activity was led by Garin VanDeMark in 2009 and 2010.
Training
Kristy Wumkes from the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the USFS along with several current PWV Trail Crew members has held Trail Crew Leader workshops each spring for several years to teach Trail Crew members the required skills for Trail Maintenance. Trail Crew “tailgate” safety talks are held at the beginning of each day on the trails.
Trail Crew Activities
3-Day Car Camping in Poudre Canyon (June 11-13) - 50 Hours
4-Day Car Camping at Jacks Gulch (June 25-28) - 77 Hours
5-Day Rawah Backpacking Trip (July 8-11) - 69 Hours
4-Day Flowers/South Zimmerman/Mirror Lake Backpacking Trip (August 5-8) - 90 Hours
Individual Day Outings - 159 Hours
Total Hours - 445 Hours
Trail Crew Work Statistics
The presence of the mountain pine beetle is being felt, especially in the higher elevation trails. This year the PWV Trail Crew cleared fewer downed trees, due primarily to fewer participants. Much of the work that the Trail Crew performed this year was clearing the trails of downed trees across the trails to make them safe and prevent further “social trails” from being developed. The USFS seasonals and RMNA crews helped our trails out by clearing many more trees. Our feeling is that we will see continued large numbers of trees that are weakened, and will fall across the trails with wind and snow loads.
Trees Cleared (total) - 190
1”-7” - 107
8”-15” - 66
16”-23” - 14
24”-35” - 3
Water Bars Constructed - 16
Water Bars Repaired - 53
Grade Dips Repaired - 0
Grade Dips Built - 1
Illegal Fire Rings Removed - 11
Pounds of Garbage Removed - 36
These totals only reflect outings that were classified as Trail Crew/Maintenance reports. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of many more of our PWV volunteers who helped clear trees off trails during “normal” patrols. This would add well over 100 trees to the number removed.
Public Education and Outreach As we participated in our Trail Crew activities we came in contact with many public contacts. We explained to many contacts what our mission was, both as PWVs and specifically what our Trail Crew activities were – keeping the trails safe and minimizing damage to the wilderness from social trails.
Contacts with Public when doing Trail Crew Activities
Backpacker Contacts - 68
Day Hiker Contacts - 49
Angler Contacts - 14
Dog Contacts - 13
Stock Contacts - 14
Bicyclists - 2
Acknowledgements
The following PWVs participated in the Trail Crew activities this past year: Bob Manuel, Jim Shaklee, Robert Blakely, Lori Wiles, Mike Smilie, Jim Jeffreys, Mark Snyder, James Johnson, Frank Lilley, Fred Allen, Kristine Williams, Ken Williams. We would also like to acknowledge the participation of Kevin Cannon, Fred Tighe, and Kristy Wumkes from the USFS. We also worked with 5 seasonal rangers this year on multiple outings, and their help was greatly appreciated.
Respectfully Submitted
Bob Manuel – Trail Crew Leader