Making of a Monument

A year in the field

Our 2022 field season was filled with impactful and fun work! CDTC is deeply grateful to everyone who volunteered with us this year, and to our partners and sponsors for helping make sure the trail is the best it can be. Here are the highlights from our 2022 field season.

By Kylie Yang | CDTC Field Operations Manager

2022 Field Season: Challenges and Coming Together

While 2022 was one of CDTC’s most productive and fun field seasons yet, it was not without challenges. Each year, CDTC hires two seasonal Field Instructors–if you’ve participated in any of our Volunteer Trail Maintenance projects, or attended an Adopter Training, you’ve met them, and have experienced the incredible energy, positivity and knowledge that they bring to each project–but this year we were unable to fill those positions, and we came to a crossroads. Canceling the 2022 field season seemed like a viable option, but volunteers are, and always have been, the backbone of the CDTC. With that in mind, full-time CDTC staff stepped up to the plate to fill our seasonal leadership void. Field seasons can’t exist without volunteers, partners and donors, but this season would truly not have been possible without the support of CDTC staff. I want to first and foremost thank our incredibly passionate volunteers, land managers, and funders, but also staff members Morgan Anderson, Teresa Martinez, Corey Torivio and Dan Carter for helping to lead trail projects this season. And, thank you to the rest of the CDTC staff for coming together to support the Field Programs staff and allowing us to do this valuable work in the field.

2022 Project Overview

SYCAMORE CANYON – TRAIL MAINTENANCE March 18 – 21 | Gila National Forest, NM

Visiting the Gila Wilderness in March can give a trail user a taste of winter, spring or fall — and the recent field project team experienced all three! Over the course of a couple of days, local volunteers honed and re-invigorated the popular CDT alternate route near Sycamore Canyon. Folks focused on clearing overgrown brush and removing pine needles off the trail. Trail users can now confidently traverse this area without second guessing where the trail is! We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with Backcountry Horsemen–Gila Chapter, and New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors, for a shared stewardship approach that keeps thriving. This project was funded by the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

• 1.8 miles of tread maintenance • 15 drains installed • 2.5 miles corridor cleared • 54 cairns built • 4 stepping stones installed

GRAND LAKE COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP EVENT May 17 – 18 | Grand Lake, CO

CDTC and the CDT Gateway Community of Grand Lake came together to support the efforts of Westgate Community School of Thornton, CO, while their students re-established a community garden that lies along the Continental Divide Trail in Grand Lake. Westgate Community School specializes in service-based education, with a motto of “Mind, Body, Community.” A group of junior-level students was involved in this environmentally-friendly service learning project. An Environmental Education Specialist with the school assisted the class in researching vegetation, ordering plants and planning the design of the garden—all as an educational process for the project. This group was able to breathe life back into the Grand Lake Gateway Garden!

• 200 feet of tread maintenance • 200 feet of trail rehabilitation • 3 drains installed • 1 sign installed

RAWLINS COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP EVENT June 4 | Rawlins, WY

In just one day, a small group of volunteers officially marked the CDT through downtown Rawlins, WY! In collaboration with the city, an official CDT Gateway Community, we

teamed up during the annual Rawlins clean-up event to bring education, stewardship and civic engagement to the forefront. When stopping by Rawlins, check out the brightly colored CDT markers that designate the official CDT route down sidewalks and roads. Thank you to the community for embracing the trail and continuing to educate and advocate for the CDT! This project was funded by the Round Up Riders of the Rockies.

• 1.25 miles of CDT marked • 10 CDT blazes painted

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP EVENT July 14 | Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, CO

CDTC partnered with the local non-profit Yampatika, whose mission is to inspire environmental stewardship through education. The organizations co-led an exploratory hike along the Continental Divide Trail at Dumont Lake, where participants got to hike along the wildflower-dotted Divide. Yampatika’s naturalist, Lexi Stine, helped teach participants about the flora along the Trail and about the many edible and medicinal uses of local plant life. CDTC staff discussed local projects in the area, why the CDT is so popular with locals and thru-hikers alike and how the geology of the Continental Divide relates to Steamboat Springs.

• $2,006.65 in volunteer labor as in-kind Junco Lake is a popular trailhead with access to both the CDT and Indian Peaks Wilderness. We had a wonderful group of motivated volunteers who completed drainage and corridor maintenance at both Junco Lake and Devil’s Thumb. Participants installed many stepping stones in boggy areas to help people keep their feet out of the mud. Not only do we love working in these areas because of the amazing views and frequent moose sightings, but working alongside Headwaters Trails Alliance is always a treat. This project was funded by the Laura Jane Musser Fund and Grand County Open Lands, Rivers, and Trails.

• 32 drains installed • 30 drains maintained • 115 downed trees cleared • 5.7 miles of corridor cleared • 1 cairn built • 2 waterbars installed • 31 stepping stones set

HILO/ DEVIL’S THUMB 1 – TRAIL REHABILITATION July 9 – 10 | Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, CO

In just two days, we worked diligently with volunteers

PHOTO OF STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO, COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP EVENT BY KYLIE YANG

from across Colorado to construct and install a 15.5-foot single-stringer bridge that allows people to cross a stream safely as they work their way up to Devil’s Thumb on the CDT. We were happy to work alongside our partners at Headwaters Trails Alliance to complete this project. The massive blowdown of trees in this area has greatly impacted the trail, so we also worked on building a large retaining wall to support the trail surface and cleared away tons of debris. We worked with 9 volunteers and 4 crew leaders to make this magic happen. Thank you to all the hard work from this wonderful group! This project was funded by the Laura Jane Musser Fund and Grand County Open Lands, Rivers, and Trails.

• 3 miles corridor cleared • 15.5 ft single-stringer bridge built (it’s beautiful!) • 2 large rock retaining walls

BUTTE, MT ADOPTER TRAINING June 11–12 | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, MT

A 2-day adopter training was hosted outside of one of our newest Gateway Communities of Butte, MT. We were so grateful to collaborate with the Forest Service and Annual Pete Sorini’s Trail Days event to teach trail maintenance concepts to local volunteers. Based out of Highlands Camp, the forest service worked with volunteers to clear downed trees while CDTC staff addressed basic trail maintenance

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE?

“...Hiking Mexico to Canada along the spine of the continent changed my life just as it has that of many other long and short stay visitors. When I see what the CDT Coalition and the women and men before them have done to make this amazing path accessible to lovers of wilderness travel, I want nothing more than to contribute to that effort in whatever way is possible for me. For this reason, I choose to include CDTC in my estate plan.”

– Jean Ella, the first woman to thru-hike the CDT

PHOTO OF HILO/DEVIL’S THUMB BY KYLIE YANG

needs like corridor clearance, drainage and tread work along the CDT. Check out our work on bike, foot or hoof. Insider scoop: wildflowers here are flourishing in mid-June!

• 450 ft tread maintenance • 35 drains maintained • 5 downed trees cleared • 200 ft corridor cleared • 6 new CDT Adopters

LINCOLN, MT ADOPTER TRAINING June 14–15 | Helena & Lewis and Clark National Forest, MT

We hosted a 2-day trail maintenance training with the Oboz footwear staff (and two amazing volunteers) to get their trail eyes in shape and tools in the dirt. Despite the wintery mix looming over our camp, we had a blast getting to know everyone. Upon completing their training, Oboz adopted 4 miles of CDT east of Rogers Pass. Two additional volunteers committed their time to learn trail skills and officially adopted parts of the CDT in MT and WY. This project was sponsored by Oboz Footwear.

• 489 ft in tread maintenance • 100 ft in tread rehabilitation & naturalization • 3 drains installed • 21 drains maintained • 1,200 ft corridor cleared • 15 waterbars cleaned • 10 new CDT Adopters

CO NATIVE ADOPTER TRAINING (PRIVATE TRAINING) July 7–8 | Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, CO

Thanks to a generous donation from CO Native (a subset of Coors Brewing), we hosted a trail maintenance training at the popular Herman Gulch Trailhead. We taught all the basics to a handful of volunteers and also made some time for fun too: after a fruitful lesson, we had time to hike to Herman Lake and see some stellar views.

• 44 drains maintained • 5280 ft corridor cleared • 50 ft social trails closed segment (600 feet of new single track) to tie in with existing doubletrack, and redefining overgrown tread. In addition to this, Legacy volunteers worked on general corridor clearance and some signage.

• 21,110 feet of tread maintained • 8 feet of trail rehabbed • 4 drains maintained • 2 feet of corridor cleared • 7 signs installed • 2 markers installed • 1 gate repaired

PHOTO OF ADOPTER TRAINING IN LINCOLN, MT, BY KENNY GAMBLIN

CARSON NF – TRAIL MAINTENANCE

August 4 – 6 | Carson National Forest, NM

CDTC returned to the Carson National Forest with the help of our Legacy Volunteers (volunteers who have been working on the CDT for 10+ years!) These super volunteers returned to support our land manager friends in some light maintenance on the CDT. Over the course of this 3-day project, volunteers worked south from Forest Road 559 toward Mogote Peak over a 4-mile stretch of trail. Activities this year included hand-finishing a machine-built

HILO/ DEVIL’S THUMB 2 – TRAIL REHABILITATION August 12–14 | Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, CO

CDTC and Headwaters Trails Alliance returned to this challenging project site on the Continental Divide Trail that is locally known as High Lonesome, and was accessed via the Rollins Pass Trailhead. In 2021, volunteers helped clear hundreds of trees that were jackstraw across the CDT making this area impassable after a derecho wind event. With this section of the trail finally clear of the majority of fallen trees, volunteers and HTA staff worked on installing check dams up above the blowdown area to aid in drainage and trail stabilization, and closing off social trails that had developed.

PHOTO OF RAWLINS, WY, COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP EVENT BY KYLIE YANG

HILO RAINBOW PHOTO BY MORGAN ANDERSON

• 3,640 feet of trail rehabilitated • 10 cairns built • 3 waterbars installed • 6 check steps installed • 15,840 feet of trail scouted

LONESTAR GEYSER – TRAIL REHABILITATION August 29 – September 2 | Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, CO

Alongside the National Park Service, CDTC volunteers supported the restoration of the Trail through the Lonestar Geyser Basin. CDTC Crew Leaders worked alongside our volunteers to help tear out and replace decaying bridges that had succumbed to the elements and heavy use, leaving them very dangerous to trail travelers. Nine volunteers worked to clean up these messy water and bog crossings and repair, reconstruct and restore this section of the CDT. Volunteers set up basecamp at a private backcountry group site where they frequently had bison come visit, and even got to hear wolves howl. • One 50-foot wilderness bridge constructed

GHOST LAKE 1 – TRAIL CONSTRUCTION September 10–13 | Gila National Forest, NM

Alongside the Reserve Ranger District and New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors, CDTC supported a multi-year project to complete a 9.1-mile reroute of the CDT through the northern Gila National Forest between 5 Springs and Ghost Lake. In 2021, youth corps began to make headway on 3 miles of construction, with a clear need for growing partnership support to bring more capacity to this high priority project. Despite unrelenting afternoon storms, a total of seven volunteers on one 4-day project, CDTC and NMVFO began constructing new tread and drainage that will help CDT users avoid excessively rocky areas and uphold the scenic beauty of the CDT.

• 500 feet of new tread built • 6 drains installed We also send our gratitude to the wonderful partners and funders who helped make this season a resounding success.

Partners: New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors, Gila Backcountry Horsemen, Gateway Community of Grand Lake, Headwaters Trails Alliance, Linked Adventures, Yampatika, Westgate Community School, Gateway Community of Rawlins, Gateway Community of Steamboat Springs, Town of Grand Lake, Storm Peak Brewery, United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service Units.

Funders: New Mexico Trails, National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance, New Mexico BLM, Oboz, CO Native, Partners in the Outdoors, Grand County OLRT Fund, Laura Jane Musser Fund, Roundup Riders of the Rockies and Membership Donations.

PHOTO OF GHOST LAKE TRAIL PROJECT BY NIGEL HOLMAN

NEGLECTED MINE 3 – TRAIL CONSTRUCTION October 6 - 9 | Gila National Forest, NM

CDTC returned to the Burro Mountains of New Mexico to work in partnership with New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors to address a short but challenging 1.5-mile reroute starting at Jacks Peak Trailhead. Work included building new tread, and creating rock retaining walls. This reroute will ultimately help move the CDT onto sustainable contours and soil types and increase the user experience along this nationally designated trail!

• 600 feet tread construction • 2 drains installed • 7,500 feet of trail scouted