I'm going to be maintaining hiking trail in Colorado! It's my favorite summer activity. Working outdoor with a large group of similarly minded and motivated volunteers to help keep trails in good...
I'm going to be maintaining hiking trail in Colorado! It's my favorite summer activity. Working outdoor with a large group of similarly minded and motivated volunteers to help keep trails in good condition or build new trail doesn't really feel like proper volunteering because it's so fun.
The organization I work with is super well organized, too. They provide all the meals and the tools required. All I have to do is show up!
There's a lot of work that goes on in planning trail maintenance before the volunteers ever show up. The organization I work with is called Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC). They work closely...
There's a lot of work that goes on in planning trail maintenance before the volunteers ever show up. The organization I work with is called Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC). They work closely with various land management agencies such as the Forest Service to identify which projects to allocate resources to in order to provide the greatest benefit to the area.
Then technical advisors go and visit the site and make plans as to what exactly needs to get done. They mark out specific areas of work and they figure out what tools and how many people they need to complete the work.
There is some other very important stuff, like meal planning and tool management that has to be done as well, and then the volunteers and crew leaders show up to actually do the work.
The kind of work that I normally do is stuff like building new water management structures to help manage erosion on trails. We also will build rock steps for steep sections of trail and try to close off unsanctioned "social trail". Then there's general environmental stuff like removing invasive plants, clearing out old barbed wire fence that can be a danger to local wildlife, and even building new trail.
Most states have programs for this kind of volunteering, but from what I've heard, VOC is one of the best organized.
Thank you for doing this! The more I hike, the more I have realized how much work is involved in maintaining trails. It's a lot more than just picking up trash. You have to do serious work like...
Thank you for doing this!
The more I hike, the more I have realized how much work is involved in maintaining trails. It's a lot more than just picking up trash. You have to do serious work like cut up fallen trees that are blocking paths, manage erosion, put down walkways in areas that turn into mud pits, and much more!
It makes it really obvious to tell the difference between a trail that has been neglected, and one that has a dedicated group of people (and money) keeping it maintained.
Going to Centralia the town that the Silent Hill games are based on. Was there a few years ago and it really isn't all that exciting since most of the houses were torn down. What is cool is the...
Going to Centralia the town that the Silent Hill games are based on. Was there a few years ago and it really isn't all that exciting since most of the houses were torn down. What is cool is the graffiti highway which i missed last time I was there so thats exciting.
Also going to be recording my bands newest EP which is always exciting. Our label surprise dropped all their artists yesterday and disbanded right before were about to go on tour next month so I've been scrambling to get in contact with the bands / venues to make sure we still have those dates and can just do it without the label.
I'm going to be maintaining hiking trail in Colorado! It's my favorite summer activity. Working outdoor with a large group of similarly minded and motivated volunteers to help keep trails in good condition or build new trail doesn't really feel like proper volunteering because it's so fun.
The organization I work with is super well organized, too. They provide all the meals and the tools required. All I have to do is show up!
There's a lot of work that goes on in planning trail maintenance before the volunteers ever show up. The organization I work with is called Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC). They work closely with various land management agencies such as the Forest Service to identify which projects to allocate resources to in order to provide the greatest benefit to the area.
Then technical advisors go and visit the site and make plans as to what exactly needs to get done. They mark out specific areas of work and they figure out what tools and how many people they need to complete the work.
There is some other very important stuff, like meal planning and tool management that has to be done as well, and then the volunteers and crew leaders show up to actually do the work.
The kind of work that I normally do is stuff like building new water management structures to help manage erosion on trails. We also will build rock steps for steep sections of trail and try to close off unsanctioned "social trail". Then there's general environmental stuff like removing invasive plants, clearing out old barbed wire fence that can be a danger to local wildlife, and even building new trail.
Most states have programs for this kind of volunteering, but from what I've heard, VOC is one of the best organized.
Here's a link to the project I'll be working on: https://www.voc.org/project/cotton-creek-trail-restoration-sangre-de-cristo-mountains
Thank you for doing this!
The more I hike, the more I have realized how much work is involved in maintaining trails. It's a lot more than just picking up trash. You have to do serious work like cut up fallen trees that are blocking paths, manage erosion, put down walkways in areas that turn into mud pits, and much more!
It makes it really obvious to tell the difference between a trail that has been neglected, and one that has a dedicated group of people (and money) keeping it maintained.
Going to Centralia the town that the Silent Hill games are based on. Was there a few years ago and it really isn't all that exciting since most of the houses were torn down. What is cool is the graffiti highway which i missed last time I was there so thats exciting.
Also going to be recording my bands newest EP which is always exciting. Our label surprise dropped all their artists yesterday and disbanded right before were about to go on tour next month so I've been scrambling to get in contact with the bands / venues to make sure we still have those dates and can just do it without the label.
I'm having a Yule feast today. Started cooking yesterday; naturally, there's more to do today. Lots of good, hearty, soul food.