Bridge #1
The creek is currently washing over bridge #1 on the 7 Bridges trail. Please consider bypassing the first bridge by using the Buckhorn-to-Seven Bridges connector trail via the Buckhorn trailhead.
For reference, the Buckhorn trailhead is on the right side of Goldcamp Rd about 100′ before the Seven Bridges trailhead, just before the road passes over N Cheyenne Creek. See image below:
If you were at our November 9 get together at Sevens Gate Taproom, you got to hear Brian give a summary of our season, with pictures. BTW, all people who volunteered with us for at least one day were invited, as well as donors. If you believe you should have been invited but didn’t get an invitation, we’re sorry, and please let us know.
It was a good season with lots of solid workdays. We did most of our work on our usual favorite trails: Seven Bridges, Saint Mary’s Falls, and Barr Trail. In addition, we worked on some trails we don’t get to frequently: The McReynolds Reservoir Trail high on the south slope of Pikes Peak, in the South Slope Recreation Area, and the Ring the Peak Trail through Putney Gulch and south towards Horsethief Park.
We had several days where we had groups of volunteers from different corporations. Statistics aren’t very interesting, but the one I’ll mention is that we had 86 unique volunteers this season. We really appreciate this broad base of support.
Pictures? You want pictures? Well, here’s a few, but you’re not getting any locations. You’ll have to match the pictures with the location. It’s a contest. Not every location in the list has a picture.
Figure A
Figure B
Figure C
Figure D
Submit your entries to registration@friendsofthepeak.org Everyone who matches them correctly gets an extra slice of watermelon at their next volunteer workday.
______ McReynolds Reservoir in the South Slope Recreation Area
______ Seven Bridges, above Undine Falls
______ Saint Mary’s Falls, at one of the sets of log stairs
______ Saint Mary’s Falls, at the path down to the creek about 1 mile from the TH
______ Barr Trail, where the 2023 boulder came tumbling through
______ Ring the Peak Trail in Putney Gulch
In January we will have our annual retreat where the board members sketch out our plans for the 2025 season. One thing we’ve been considering is whether we should purchase some [expensive] masonry tools so we can cut and shape rocks to serve a specific purpose. This will allow us to do some precision rock construction. [Think “building a medieval cathedral” which of course we will do in the off-season for practice.]
If, If, If, you’re interested in volunteering on such a rock work project, please let us know by replying to or BrianV@friendsofthepeak.org And of course you could (but don’t have to) make a donation for masonry tools as described above.
Come out on September 7, 14 or 19 and help us remove hazards from Barr Trail before the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon! Click the volunteer button to sign up!
The first step is registration.
Pick a date and a project that interests you. Then register for that day on our website, www.friendsofthepeak.org/volunteer . Registration is required for all our workdays. It gives us a way to keep in contact with you. It also gives the project leader an of idea how much we might accomplish on the work day, and how many tools to bring to the trail head. A few days before the workday we will send you the details of the meeting place and information about what to bring to the workday.
Age Requirements
We love workers of all ages however our children 14 and 15 need to be accompanied by a responsible adult a signed parental waiver, children 16-18 can work with a signed parental waiver.
Meeting details, logistics, and practical stuff:
Most of our workdays are on the Seven Bridges Trail (7BT), Saint Mary’s Falls Trail (SMF), and Barr Trail. On 7BT and SMF days we meet at the paved parking lot at the top of Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard where it intersects Gold Camp Road. We unlock the gate and drive through to the trail heads, saving us a 1.25 mile hike to the SMF trailhead or a 0.75 mile hike to the 7BT trailhead. When we work on Barr Trail, the city of Manitou Springs allows us to park for free while we are working. We will provide you with a dated parking pass that you will need to display on your dashboard. Sometimes parking will be in one of the parking lots downtown, and you can take the free shuttle bus to the cog railroad stop, or we might arrange a carpool. Other times we may be able to park right at the trailhead. When we work at other locations there will be different procedures.
Before we start work: introductions, instructions and a safety briefing.
Once everyone has arrived, the project leader will describe the scope of the work and the goals for the day. There will be a safety briefing that includes general outdoor safety, any specific hazards known to exist, and instructions about safe usage, carrying and storing of the tools. Then you’ll hear about what to do if there is an accident, first aid, and evacuation procedures.Then it’s time to grab the tools and hike to the worksite.
What is the work like?
Sometimes it’s strenuous (digging with a pick mattock or steel rock bar, carrying rocks that require multiple people to lift, carrying lumber.) Other tasks are easier (replacing fence posts and rails, cutting back encroaching vegetation, building small rock walls, raking, shoveling, and tamping.) No volunteer is ever expected to do any task that they think will injure them. We take frequent water and rest breaks, and a lunch break.
Finishing up:
We stop work, do a tool inventory, and hike back to the trailhead. We will have cold soft drinks, light snacks, and watermelon. (Watermelon is a tradition!)
Now for some pictures. 1., some of the tools; 2., instructions and safety briefing; 3., some of the places we work. 7BT, SMF, Barr.
Well, that tumbling boulder sure gave us a lot of things to fix on Barr trail. Here are some pictures of what we were doing on our first four days of fence repair, May 20 and 25, and June 8 and 11.
May 20: Our first job was to make a good path around the boulder. Here’s me sawing through the mangled trunk of the tree that finally stopped the boulder.
We’ve talked about “the boulder” that tumbled down the hillside and crashed through the fence in multiple places. But there was more than one boulder tumbling down the hill, although we don’t really know how many. It’s clear this smaller (about 4’x2’x3’) boulder (to the left of the trail in the next picture) was a new arrival. We’re glad it stopped where it did. And we decided to leave it right where it is, and build the new fence around it.
On May 25 we were back on Barr trail, doing routine (not boulder damage) post and rail work Here’s Mike installing a new fence rail in a scenic location.
Then we needed to do some quick repairs on the tread on the trail segment above the boulder. Here Susan argues with Brian while I take pictures and Courteney does all the work
On June 8 we were back to repairing fence damaged by the boulder above SB9. Here’s Shanda getting ready to drill the holes in the post so she can attach the rails.
Finally, on June 11 we built a drain structure on the trail before we replaced the segment of fence that now goes over it. Since the big boulder followed the existing drainage channel, we decided it would be a good place to enhance and armor the drain. The drawing on the picture explains what we want it to do. And so far, it’s doing its job very well.
So that’s what we got done by June 11. But wait, there’s more!
We’ve done much more than this. Stay tuned, I’ll get another newsletter out as soon as I can. Better yet, there are still a few more workdays on the schedule this season. Join us and see for yourself!
Sign up at https://friendsofthepeak.org/sign-up/
– Steve Driska
Beginnings by Jim Strub, submitted November 2015
The concept of a trail looping around the Pikes Peak massif had been in many minds for a long time. The concept became a civic-supported formal recommendation as a result of the Pikes Peak Multi-Use Plan — a large scale, year-long planning effort jointly sponsored by Colorado Springs Utilities and the USFS Pikes Peak Ranger District. Vic Eklund (CSU) and Frank Landis (USFS) managed it, with Design Workshop doing the administration. The 44MB report is online.
A large number of citizens participated in the study. They were designated the Citizens Advisory Group. The PPMUP recommended a 60-to-70 mile loop trail around Pikes Peak. The conceptual, generalized route of the loop was projected primarily over existing trails and, if necessary, roads, except in the southwest segment where it was a generalized route through the area of the Bison Reservoirs. It included access points —“portals.” Study participants included representatives from virtually every possible stakeholder in the area.
At the conclusion of the study, CSU and USFS formally handed over execution of the plan to the CAG. In early 2000 a small number of CAG members established a working group for getting this started. Included in this group were Josh Osterhoudt of Medicine Wheel, Mary (Ryan) Burger of Friends of the Peak, and Jim Strub, who had served on the North Slope Watershed Committee and Pikes Peak Highway Advisory Commission. Josh offered to lead it and hold the meetings at his place of business (Pepsi Cola Bottling, on North Stone). Josh invited others to join the effort and prepared meeting agendas. After a few meetings it became obvious that the group would need to organize into something like a 501(3)(c). But did this require a new organization? There was already a volunteer organization with a mission focused on Pikes Peak – Friends of the Peak. So Mary agreed to approach the FOTP Board about expanding their charter to include carrying out the PPMUP recommendations. Josh and Jim went to the next FOTP Board meeting. Mary had already greased the skids. The Board readily agreed to take on the additional mission. From then on, planning and building for the loop trail was carried out by FOTP. Since the PPMUP also had a vehicular “loop” around the mountain, Jim began calling the hiking trail the “Ring.” Mary added “the Peak” — a valuable addition that pinned it down to the Pikes Peak area, since this had the potential to become a nationally known trail.
FOTP took up the identifying, begun by the working group, of specific alignments, segment by segment, using existing trails wherever possible, in accordance with the PPMUP. Mary coordinated this effort with the Forest Service and CSU, since all of the early effort was on their lands. She and Jim scouted routes for the three easiest gaps — notably a bypass (Esther/Crystal) around the Pikes Peak Highway maintenance area, between the Mount Esther Trail and Crystal Creek; a connection (Raspberry Mountain) from existing Forest roads southwest of North Catamount Reservoir over to the Crags Road; and a connection (Putney Gulch) from the Crags Road over to Horsethief Park. USFS performed a NEPA and issued a favorable decision memorandum. Frank Landis tweaked and staked the routes, and Mary mobilized FOTP volunteers to do the building – first the Esther/Crystal bypass, then Raspberry Mountain, then Putney Gulch — one segment at a time. Also, it was made known that using CSU and USFS roads as trail route in these areas was to be regarded as an expediency for completing the Ring as soon as possible, and that in later years consideration would be given to building actual trails parallel to these roads.
By 2003 it became time to start signing RTP. Carol Beckman agreed to lead the signing. Jim Strub agreed to arrange for the posts and decals, and to design an acceptable logo. Within hours of the logos coming out of his computer, they had gone viral — stationery, T-shirts, you name it. The signage used two colors: green for counterclockwise and brown for clockwise – both colors approved by the USFS as commensurate with their colored signage system. Generous donations paid for the posts and decals. The logos appear at the top of this document.
Meanwhile Mary and Jim scouted candidate RTP routes from Ruxton Avenue to Cascade, using the Ute Indian Trail as the basis. The Cascade end involved serious private property issues. After a few years CSU and El Paso County Parks began studies and proposals for re-establishing the Ute Pass Regional Trail thru this area. In October 2015 that effort finally came to a conclusion with a decision by the County Commissioners to route the Ute trail along the general route used by the Utes – basically what Mary and Jim had scouted ten years earlier. When complete, the Ute trail will fill one of the gaps in the Ring on the northeast side of the Peak. In 2014 Manitou Springs closed the other gap when they built the Iron Mountain Trail, completing a long-missing section of the Intemann Trail.
Closing these two gaps leaves only the most well-known gap of all — the 8-mile section in the southwest quadrant. In 2003 Mary and Jim began scouting the area and talking with some of the private land owners. They found a route for a sustainable trail from Pancake Rocks down into the Oil Creek drainage and then over a ridge to an existing trail along the West Fork of West Beaver Creek, from where there are several alternatives for reaching Gillette. In August of 2003 they submitted a map and written proposal for this connection to the USFS (see attachment). No USFS action was ever taken on it. The southeast end of it assumed use of an existing road in the Cripple Creek watershed, a use which at the time seemed agreeable to that City and the Timberline Camp. That area has stunning scenery.
In subsequent years many FOTP people have continued to scout various routes through this now well-known 8-mile gap between Pancakes Rocks and the “Watergate” on Forest Road 376. Besides Mary and Jim, scouting parties have included Mary’s husband Jim, Eric Swab, Steve Bremner, Paul Mead, and TOSC’s Bill Koerner. In recent years TOSC has become more involved. They are now using their considerable resources to raise this project to a stronger, more public level. TOSC’s Director, Susan Davies, is firmly behind the project.
Submitted by Jim Strub
November 2015
