Adopt-a-Trail Clean-Up Run: 10/1/2022
When: 10/1/2022 at 9am
Where: USFS Ranger station in Idaho Springs (I-70 and hwy 103; 101 Highway 103, Idaho Springs, CO)
Trails:Barbour Fork and Devils Canyon
Length: 4-5 hours
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The TLR synopsis: Closed Toed Shoes and Gloves are a must. Come dressed to work. Please arrive promptly at 9am for a safety meeting and don’t forget your lunch.
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Here's our second clean up run of 2022. These runs are a great opportunity to get to know other members of the group a bit more than you would in a normal trail run. Lots of stops and opportunities to chat while picking up trash.
We will have a safety meeting with USFS staff at 9am (including volunteer waivers etc), so please be there ready to go at 9am or earlier. We will split into two groups - one group will run DC and one group will run BF.
A couple points from clean-up runs in the past:
Because this is a volunteer activity organized with the USFS, there are some basic safety precautions we have agreed to as part of our participation in the Adopt-a-Trail Program.
1) Please make sure everyone is wearing close-toed shoes, gloves, and has some kind of eye protection handy (sunglasses are fine). For the type of work we are going to do, which is mostly picking up trash these are the really important ones. The main concern here is handling any broken glass or other sharp stuff we may find. Showing up with flipflops or barefoot would very likely raise some concerns at the safety meeting.
2) Per the agreement we should also be prepared with Long Pants and Long Sleeves. I suspect this is included because these cleanups could involve dealing with downed trees, but we should not encounter any of that on this run. I will be wearing long pants and sleeves and would encourage others to as well, but it is summer so I doubt anyone will have any issue if you want to wear a t-****.
3) Please be prepared with water and food.
4) The USFS will provide some trash bags, should have a few pairs of extra gloves and would provide hard hats if they are needed.
We generally have minimal trail maintenance to do - its mostly picking up trash and shooting debris. Gloves and closed toed shoes are a must from USFS's perspective - they have usually requested long pants and long sleeves but not necessarily enforced it for the kind of clean-up work we do, but it may be good insurance to have them with you just in case.
If we will need to haul out that camper abandoned on Barbour Fork I will post additional information when that is determined. I don’t know the details, but the USFS has to coordinate with local law enforcement in some way before that can be hauled out. It’s unclear if that will be all sorted out before our run.
A 5 gallon bucket or something similar is very useful for carrying around each site to put trash in - then it can be unloaded into larger trash bags/containers. Additionally, lunch, drinking water, and whatever you basic outdoor and 4wd trail run gear is needed. Extra jugs of water or a shovel are also helpful if any smouldering campfires need to be put-out.
Here is some trail information:
Devils Canyon (easy): https://www.trailsoffroad.com/trails/281-devils-canyon
Barbour Fork (easy to moderate): https://www.trailsoffroad.com/trails/212-barbour-fork
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