Volunteering is an excellent way to understand VVMTA and fully experience our values of community, action, relationships, education, and stewardship. Each year, hundreds of volunteers contribute thousands of hours of maintenance, education, and stewardship, the importance of which continues to increase as demand for trails rises. Our volunteers are already working hard to take care of our trails!
Pictured above, Vail Mountain School adopts Booth Lake and they were able to get out on the trail before school ended for the year as a well needed break from studying for finals. They spent time lopping and moving brush to cover spur trails. “It’s great to able to give back right in our backyard and trail work is way better than exams!”
Vail Mountain Coffee & Tea adopts West Grouse Creek near Minturn. They got out early in the season to do a recon of what needs to be prioritized in the future and to identify any fallen trees. They also spent time cleaning out the drainage bars to help the trail dry out for the season. “I will never look at a trail the same way in the future” as they reflected upon all the work that goes into drainage bars and general trail maintenance.
Walking Mountains Science Center adopts the Overlook Trail. Their goal was to clear drainages and improve tread on the trail. The secondary goal was to get eyes on the trail and consider future projects that might be needed. Maintaining drainages from previous years is a pretty quick task but there is still a lot of work to do to prevent erosion. “My shoes are FULL of dirt” but it’s always great to get out on the trails.
The Ladies Trail Crew got 40 women out onto Creamery Ranch this week. These popular trails follow along the bottom of a gulch. As a result, many trails are braided as people walk in the highs and lows depending on the time of year and the drying out process. To restore the sustainability of the trail, the crew de-bermed the sides, repaired the tread, and then closed the braided trails. It’s amazing the amount of work they got done and truly reflects the saying “many hands make light work!”
Adopt A Trail team leader training took place in May to get the teams trained and ready to hit the trails. “We’re focused on quality work this year” say Molly DeLallo so we’re focused on training, equipping and supporting our teams better than ever. With 75 teams getting out on the trails 2-3 times this summer, expect a lot of great work to be done on our local trails.
VVMTA Volunteer Trail Crew and the Ladies Trail Crew put in over 500 hours at the Eagle Bike Park. Our volunteers played a key role in building out the skills zone area. From raking rocks, to putting a layer of really good dirt on top, all the way to landscaping and building features, we would not have been able to get this done without their help.
Hardscrabble Trails Coalition has been putting in a lot of time in East and West Eagle. In West Eagle, they have the corridor cleared for the new Reynolds Wrap route to connect into Cow Camp. They are about to start work on the reroutes to connect the World’s Greatest Trail Hub. In Eagle Eagle, they have the corridor cleared for the Boneyard Connector that will connect the parking lot in the Bluffs neighborhood to the Boneyard singletrack with a new trail.
Trail Ambassadors have been out education on the importance of seasonal wildlife closures to protect critical habitat for our local wildlife. We can always count on Ellen Miller and Michelle Wolffe to put in the time on the trails. Both of these incredible volunteers have been critical to the success of our trail ambassador program since it’s inception.
