Barbour Forks/Devil's Canyon Clean Up 6/27/2009

[Pathrat]

A big thanks goes out to my clean-crew:
aphillips76- Aaron and his whole family; dr350jja- Jim;
DirtClaude- Brad, Kristin and their kids; GateMonkey- Hugh and my son Hunter
:clap::clap::clap:

We spent more time in the clearings, camp-sites and parking lots this year and less time stopping on the trail. There really wasn't a whole lot of litter on the trail itself. The campsites at the first clearing looked really good! Three guys were camping in one of the spots and wandered over to ask what we were up to. When we told them, they thanked heartily. They had been coming up to that area for years and commented at how surprised they were to come up this year and see how clean the campsite was. Maybe people who come to a cleaner site keep it cleaner so our labors stayed visible for a longer period of time. Other people we ran into also stated their appreciation.

At around the midpoint between the trailhead and the first 'Y' in the road, there is a tree that came down very recently. It is being held off the tree by other trees and seems like it is none too safe. Chris, forgot to mention this when I saw you, since we were too late to tell the FS guys. I will need to tell them about a few signs that need repairing too.

For future reference to anyone directionally impaired as I am: at about 3.4 miles there is a carsonite sign with the stickers peeling off and a right hand turn. Take the right. Straight/left goes off to the dead end. These directions assume you have run the trail clockwise, not backwards. Also, the Shell station right after the first Idaho Springs exit, coming from Denver, has a great compressor. Just drop the quarter donation in the box even though it does nothing to start or operate the compressor.

[Pathrat]

Mostly downed tree:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0621.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0623.jpg

[Pathrat]

Kudos to Gatemonkey who ran the entire trail in his 2004 bone stock Ranger. He has been riding shotgun with me for two years now while I hogged the driving. He did a great job driving today :thunb:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0652.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0648.jpg

[Pathrat]

WORK

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0625.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0628.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0629.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0635.jpg

[RidgeRunner]

Thanks for all your effort today. It really shows that you care for the land we play in and aren't just there to tear it up. Wish I coulda joined you but prior commitments called.

[Pathrat]

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0689.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0691.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0692.jpg

[Pathrat]

WHEELING!

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0677.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0674.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0686.jpg

And of course, I got my back wheel in the air, and quite high in the air, from what I heard and from what I could feel by the rocking of the rig.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/IMG_0664.jpg

[Pathrat]

Brody, I have your screw gun and bottle of screws. I will bring it by tomorrow.

AND, thanks for making the sign!!!! :thunb:

here are the rest of the pictures:

http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/BF%20Clean%20Up%206272009/?start=all

[Roostercruiser]

THANK YOU FOR THIS CLEAN UP LOOKS GREAT:thunb:

[4Runninfun]

THANK YOU FOR THIS CLEAN UP LOOKS GREAT:thunb:

BIG x2

[Chris]

Thanks to the Barbour Fork crew for a great job! After doing our share on Devil's Canyon and meeting the BF crew Pete, Rob, Jim & myself ran Barbour Fork for a bit of fun to close the day. It looks great! We were talking about how nicely the old Bronco II area has healed. It's always nice to see how many years of abuse & neglect can be undone.

:cheers:

[Pathrat]

Thanks to the Barbour Fork crew for a great job! After doing our share on Devil's Canyon and meeting the BF crew Pete, Rob, Jim & myself ran Barbour Fork for a bit of fun to close the day. It looks great! We were talking about how nicely the old Bronco II area has healed. It's always nice to see how many years of abuse & neglect can be undone.

:cheers:

Chris, Broody and Rob, thanks for coming back to check on us :)

[WINKY]

i know you all had enough people but being oncall and not able to get someone to cover i couldnt make it this year. Thank you all for doing this for the two trails, i will make it next year if it falls on a good weekend. You all Rock...!!!

[Brody]

Thanks to everyone for showing up and helping out with cleaning up these trails!

Our Devils Canyon clean up went pretty smoothly, especially after Chris managed to find the right road. For future reference, it is the very first left turn onto a dirt road immediately after Ponder Point. The FS sign is visible only after you are on the road, FS 246.

We planted out signs and everything went well until we tried to put the FS printed signs on the wood. I found that, adept as I seem to be with many tools, I seem to be having problems with a simple hand stapler. I couldn't get it to work and resorted to using finish nails and bending them over. When I handed the stapler over at the end of the day, Brand casually opened it up, fixed the staple (it was full) bind that was there and shot a staple through it. Last time I picked one up, I had to use a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the 1/2 staple out of the palm of my hand...

Devils Canyon is a much easier trail than Barbour Forks, with only one optional obstacle, Devils Hill, coming close. The trails are rated the same though no one could figure out why. It has quite a few very pretty areas on top of some small knolls, all with great views.

You can actually see part of this trail from Barbour Forks. At the first meadow you come to that has the most camping areas, look straight ahead. The piece of road that you see on the ridge facing you is part of Devils Canyon and that ridge is where we ended up having lunch.

As to the trail itself, it was really pretty clean, including all of the campsites. A great deal of the trash we picked up came from the old fire pits. I know that most of the trash I picked up from the trail was not very new.

It was fun running the Barbour Forks trail afterwards, too, without having to stop for anything other than taking a break and some talking.

You folks did a great job cleaning up this trail!

So, once again, a big thanks to everyone who helped!

PS

Before anyone posts pictures of out run/clean up, I should mention that somehow we weren't as diligent as the Barbour Forks crew as far as wearing out FS hard hats. We will forever live in shame for this as we should have been setting an example...

[Chris]

I added Devil's Canyon to this thread so when anyone has some pics from yesterday we can keep it al together. I forgot my camera again so I'll leave it u to others.
Thanks again to all who contributed. :thunb:


i know you all had enough people but being oncall and not able to get someone to cover i couldnt make it this year. Thank you all for doing this for the two trails, i will make it next year if it falls on a good weekend. You all Rock...!!!

We're committed to doing a 2nd cleanup on both again this year so everyone will have another chance. We'll be able to do both at once as one group the next time. ;)

Thanks to the Devil's Canyon crew who all did a great job too. Nice finally placing faces with names as well. As Pete mentioned I'm had a bit of trouble finding the trail which is common for me being 'navigationally challenged' as I am though I did remember the right turn on BF that apparently was missed by a few others. ;)

Hey Charlie! What happened to you when we were done? I heard you turned left leaving DC never to be seen by any of us again? :confused:

[Aaron]

Here's some more Barbour Forks Pics. We all had a great time and it feels good to do some volunteer work.

[Aaron]

A couple more of me getting flexy...

[Aaron]

My wife figured out that her camera does video. Here's me going up and down barbour forks.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKAYrlrVyOs


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pcjHAzcB8E

[SCRubicon]

Great job everybody! :thunb: I was at the park enjoying cold beer under a shade tree.

[brian pleasant]

after the clean up, we went see rangers and talked about the empty bullet shells that we pick up at clean up and ask them about it...they said it is ok to shoot but must be farther than 150 feet from any dwelling area....geez wonder if hikers get caught in it???? do we have shooting range, cuz i know someone down in fl got shot by accident walking thru forest there. pretty scary for hikers there , needto wear bullet preeof vest lol

[Pathrat]

Great job everybody! :thunb: I was at the park enjoying cold beer under a shade tree.

:lol: I do appreciate the honesty!

[Brody]

after the clean up, we went see rangers and talked about the empty bullet shells that we pick up at clean up and ask them about it...they said it is ok to shoot but must be farther than 150 feet from any dwelling area....geez wonder if hikers get caught in it???? do we have shooting range, cuz i know someone down in fl got shot by accident walking thru forest there. pretty scary for hikers there , needto wear bullet preeof vest lol

In any National Forest in Colorado, you can shoot pretty much anywhere unless it is posted. All you have to be is 150-200 from a campsite or road.

This has always seemed too close to me and when LaDawn and I (or my friends and I) shoot, we always go farther away than that and shoot into a hillside...and pick up our brass...

I have known people that came close to getting shot in town. I had a buddy that was working on his rig and heard a big bang. He got out from under his truck and there was a bullet hole through the top of his hood. Someone had fired a gun (.45 or so) up in the air and his rig was where it came down.

As far as getting shot in the woods go, we were hiking back from doing some climbing somewhere in the Pike, and had rounds come zipping by us, close enough so that we ducked. When I yelled that there were people down there and the rounds kept coming, I got my 44 out and, since I knew the direction the rounds were coming from, simply started shooting back. That ended the incoming rounds fairly quickly. I don't like getting shot at...or guns pointed at me for that matter...

Another time at a National Forest shooting range, a couple of kids and their dad were there shooting. One of the kids put a 22 round inches from my head...by mistake, of course. I felt like shooting their dad or at least emptying a 30 round clip of 223 in their general direction for a learning experience, but instead we just left and went elsewhere.

All's fair in love and war...

[brian pleasant]

we are deaf!!!!! lol i am going to military surplus store to buy protections!!! just kidding other wise lord take care of us, just gotta have faith. we had fun doing the clean up and do the trails..i will hhave my tools from florida next time...i wonder about zone lift kits.. any good?? price seems reasonable other than rough country??

[DKDunn04]

Looks like a good time. I would of been there, but just got home about an hour ago from Lake Powell.

[Rob]

Devil's Canyon didn't have much challenge, but it sure had some scenery.

3924

And it has a couple of new signs now. Here's one:

3925

Here's the hill on Devil's Canyon that Brody mentioned earlier:

3926

Then it was over to Barbour Fork for some recreation:

3927

3928

And Brody doing a clearance check before hitting Barbour: :eek:

3929

[Funrover]

Great stuff everyone! Looks like a great time was had!

[white collar redneck dad]

Hey Charlie! What happened to you when we were done? I heard you turned left leaving DC never to be seen by any of us again? :confused:[/QUOTE]

Hey there!! It was nice putting the usernames with more new faces.:D

I finally had my :princess: with me on a wheelin trip!! Once we finished the trail clean up she was ready to go home. I was anxious to go wheelin many more trails...but as the saying goes if :princess: not happy nobody happy. :lol:

WE really enjoyed ourselves on the trip!! The lunch spot had incredible views :thunb:.

I look forward to our next trip!!

Charlie

[gm4x4lover]

we look forward to it as well. Always love meeting all the new people, and old people again.