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.
