Brief by Central Staff
Outdoors – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
If a few days of hard labor for a good cause sounds like a good way to take a break this summer, the Colorado Trail Foundation wants to hear from you. The foundation is looking for volunteers to join both week-long and weekend trail crews.
Volunteers must be at least 16 years old and in good physical condition; younger people can come if accompanied by an adult. (The foundation notes that most kids “find all-day trail building boring.”) No previous experience is required, and volunteers furnish their own sleeping bags, tents, eating utensils and personal items.
The foundation, in coöperation with the U.S. Forest Service, provides food, cooking utensils, hard hats, tools, supplies, instruction, and leaders. Besides working on the 470-mile trail between Durango and Denver, the volunteers share the work of setting up camp, maintaining the camp, fixing meals, and cleaning. The foundation notes that “Trail crews are highly participatory and all volunteers are encouraged to join daily camp life from the cook tent … to the evening campfire.”
The fee is $50 per person for a week-long session, and $25 for a weekend.
Trail segments scheduled for work this summer include many in Central Colorado, among them Blank’s Cabin, Camp Hale, Foose’s Creek, Mt. Elbert, Columbine Creek, Chalk Creak, Bear Lake, Cochetopa Hills, and Brown’s Creek.
For more information, contact the Colorado Trail Foundation at 710 10th St., Golden CO 80401-5843; 303-384-3729; www.coloradotrail.org.
