FOTP trail crew volunteers, were last seen entering Bigfoot territory on the Crowe Gulch trail on the morning of August 26, 2023. The mission: clear corridor on this trail and the Mt. Esther trail in preparation for the Bigfoot Benefit hike last fall … as Denise, Carol, and Doug entered the mist they encountered bigfoot … they haven’t been seen since, or have they?
Pikes Peak
Barr Trail Post and Rail (1)
Barr Trail Tread and Drain (1)
Crowe Gulch Mystery
August 2023 News Letter – Fenceline Repairs
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
2023 Trail Work Season Recap Part 1
Our 2023 fieldwork season was scheduled to start on Thursday May 11. A group of Walmart managers were attending a meeting in the area and had volunteered to help us on Barr trail. They were registered, parking was arranged, and we looked to be off to a great start.
But there was lightning, thunder and over 3” of rain on this date. and Brian had to cancel the workday because of safety issues. It was the right call, and that was confirmed when we learned about the tumbling boulders. On our May 20 workday we assessed the damage.
In the picture above, Brian is standing next to largest of the boulders so you can get a sense of its size. It tumbled down the hillside, demolishing fences on three segments of the trail, and came to rest in the middle of the trail below switchback 9 (at 38° 51′ 18.438″ N, 104° 56′ 21.228″ W, which is about 0.9 miles up from the trailhead)
We sawed through the crushed and mangled tree trunk, removed it, and made a smooth and level path around the boulder on the uphill side. The path is narrow but passable.
Further up the trail, Susan and Brian survey the damage to the fence on the trail segment directly above the boulder
And the segment above this took a beating too. The picture above is above switchback 10 at milepost 1.0. Some of these rails (the lighter colored ones) were just replaced in 2022
The map below shows what happened. The boulder moved 243′ vertically and 390′ horizontally. The stars show where it broke through the fencing, and the yellow boxes mark the switchback numbering system we use, starting from the trailhead.
So…… in addition to the usual maintenance work on Barr trail, we’ve had a lot more to do.
Stay tuned and we’ll update you on the progress we’ve made so far. Better yet, come see it for yourself- sign up for our Barr trail post and rail workdays at https://friendsofthepeak.org/sign-up/
