GoG workday invites trail volunteers

       A workday Saturday, Aug. 28 will close and begin the reclamation of illegal trails along the Buckskin Charley and Old Colorado City trails in the Garden of the Gods.

LEFT: A recently finished project involving new steps and other cleanup on the Garden of the Gods' Arnold Trail, led by Gayle Allen and Rich Jarvinen, with support from Friends of the Garden of the Gods. RIGHT: The way the trail looked before the improvements were made.
Westside Pioneer photo

       Volunteers are welcome. The start time is 8:30 a.m. at the Ridge Road overlook, parking lot 9.
       To register in advance, contact Gayle Allen at kittybobmama@yahoo.com.
       The work will involve cutting and placing dead brush over the disturbed areas. Gloves and tools will be provided by the Friends of Garden of the Gods (FOGG), and each group will have a trail crew leader.
       Volunteers will need to bring their own water and food.
       Allen has helped lead several projects over the past two years to improve the Garden's trail system. Work has included adding or repositioning wooden steps, fixing erosion problems, reclaiming fields used for social trails, adding water bars and building a rock wall and split-rail fence to keep horses from straying off different portions of two horse-used trails.
       Trails receiving upgrades were the Old Colorado City, Buckskin Charley, Arnold, Hamp, Ute and Niobrara.

From a press release