Peak Stewards and ONE MORE TRAINING!!

Its been a busy season already for Peak Stewards on 14ers. We're making a huge presence on the Front Range and Mosquito/Ten Mile Ranges including multiple days on Quandary, Grays and Torreys, and Lincoln, Democrat, and Bross (not the summit though). Our Vail Crew and others have also made a big presence in the Holy Cross Wilderness and our western-slopers have already counted many days in areas like the Maroon Bells and Castle Peak. In the photo above you can see first time Peak Steward but long-time Nature lover Dorothy answer questions for a family about to embark on a 4-day trek through the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area. Dorothy was a part of the group that received training at the Glenwood Springs area. Jason, Joey and Cheyenne were also on the Bells with us that day and we interacted with many of the visitors informing them of CFI's future involvement in constructing a trail partway up South Maroon (work that is planned for next year).

In the photo below you can see Jim and Diana, also new recruits but experienced 14er climbers, identifying some alpine tundra species on Quandary Peak. It was a great day with quite a few hikers and many chances to educate on LNT practices on 14ers. Quandary Peak is definitely one of those that attracts folks who have never hiked a 14er before thus creating an opportunity to educate visitors on their FIRST 14er experience!!

We've got one more opportunity this year for you to be involved with the Peak Steward Program. A last minute training has been scheduled for the weekend of July 31st and August 1st. It will take place at the American Mountaineering Museum in Golden on the Saturday the 31st and on Grays and Torreys Peaks on Sunday the 1st. Contact brian@14ers.org if you are interested and would like details...Happy Trails!!

-BW

The Road Up...and Down Grays and Torreys Trailhead

DON'T WORRY...IT WASN'T ONE OF OURS!!

After a huge day on Grays and Torreys last Sunday (over 400 hikers and a miles worth of over-flow parking) I was on the way down the road to I-70 and came across what appeared to be a blow out of something fairly pressurized.

Curious, I hopped out of the CFI-baru and bent down...yep, it was..."Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea". Immediately I knew what happened but wasn't sure who it happened to or what they were driving but I had a pretty good feeling I would be seeing them fairly soon.

The road up to the Grays and Torreys Trailhead is in GREAT shape this year...the best I've seen it in over 10. Outside of a few areas, ANY 2wd vehicle could access it without even having to be careful. However, all it takes is one rock in the right place and your day can be ruined.

That one rock can be seen in the picture just to the left of this spill. It was about 4-6 inches tall if you were to balance it just right. After snapping a few shots (and debating on whether this would be a "rock WIN" or "low clearance vehicle FAIL") I followed the trail of oil about 1 1/2 miles down as it slowly dissipated to nothing, knowing that I would definitely see the driver and their car shortly.

Sure enough, a volvo was parked at the junction at I-70 and the Bakerville exit with AAA already en route. I could tell they didn't stop after the initial BUMP because there was no pooling so I went ahead and showed them the photos I took. It pretty much confirmed what they already new. I have heard this exact same story from the exact same place (except it was a VW Jetta)...watch out for the rocks that WILL jump up and bite ya!

-BW

Passes and Goats

As many of you may know, and for those of you who don't, one cannot access Guanella Pass and Mount Bierstadt from the North (Georgetown) side. So last Wednesday as I approached Guanella from highway 285, I was curious to see what the parking lot would look like. I figured this closure would have an impact but did not realize its extent. There were exactly 18 cars in the lot when I arrived at 7am. I have been here before a this time on a Wednesday and have counted over 60-70 cars in the lot, with an overflow of parallel parking running for about a quarter mile on each side of the pass. Literally over 150 cars on a WEDNESDAY!!

Well, sure enough, Guanella Pass will not be seeing the car traffic this season and Bierstadt will definitely not be seeing its typical foot traffic. This is a good thing and will create less ecological impact in the area that CFI and the Forest Service will have to deal with in the future but could also be a bad thing.

What would you do if you were planning on hiking a fourteener only to find out that to access it you would have to drive an extra 2-3 hours. Would you (A) drive the extra 2-3 hours or (B) drive an extra 30 minutes to the closest 14er you could find? I think the answer for most of us would be easy to make and that's what the masses are doing...driving to Grays and Torreys, to Quandary, or to Evans. So the fact that one access point is closed will actually push this traffic into other areas!

Some info on goats: The mountain goats that you see in Colorado are not native and were actually introduced in the late 1940's for the purpose of hunting. They have essentially become part of the cultural landscape and many hikers look forward to seeing them on 14ers. Below you can see a group on Quandary taking advantage of the goats habitualized behaviour. They will get so close up you don't need a zoom to photograph them...but remember, NEVER APPROACH THE GOATS!!

Just like all the animals in the alpine zone, goats are salt deprived and seek it out under all circumstances. LNT protocol says to urinate on a rock when you are above treeline. Because animals are salt deprived, they will lick up your urine and if you pee on vegetation, they will just eat it too. Below you can see a section of tundra that has been scuffed up by some goats. This section was about 2 feet off the trail and about 3 feet in diameter. I was at this exact point 3 days before this picture was taken and this soil was not exposed at that time. Chances are that within those three days, someone urinated directly off the trail and the goats came by to consume the salt. You can even see goat fur on some tundra on the right side of the photo.

So needless to say and as the photo depicts...if you have to relieve yourself in the alpine ecosystems...GO WATER A ROCK!

-BW