Breaking Ground

Unique Moments of Trail Crew Life

Story by Chris Bjork

Photos by Riley Olds

Hitch 3

Our crew received some great news leading into the third hitch with updates on another crew member joining our team, increasing our number to a crew of six. Joining the crew, Emily Miller brought some diverse outdoor conservation experience including backcountry trail work. Along with the addition of Miller, they informed us of some additional assistance with three members from the Salida Ranger District. Our crew set a good working rapport with the team from the Salida Ranger District the first three days of hitch. It was refreshing to work with some professionally like-minded individuals for a majority of the hitch who brought with them some mountain trail work experience.

Chris Bjork

Lower Shavano Crew Member 2024

We set a strong working pace from the area where we left off with the new reinforcements. On Wednesday, I had a second opportunity to build a granite mono-wall in a steeper section of tread. It became one of three mono wall features for the 100-foot section, set along the straightened flagged corridor to prevent damage from erosion and weatherization. In addition to the support we received from the ranger district, we had a second round of volunteers arrive on Friday. They organized themselves in several single file lines for dirt bags to be passed up hill and moved away from the trail. This ended up being a full group project requiring every person to participate in transferring the dirt away from the worksite.

Everyone lined up and stretched out about 20 to 30 yards from each giant dirt pile, where we transferred more than a hundred filled dirt bags away from the trail. It was satisfying to see the dirt begin to disappear as we broadcasted the material away in an efficient manner. I greatly appreciate the standards CFI has in place for restoration. Through this process, we were giving the native land a better opportunity to rejuvenate. This also proved an effective method to enhance our sections aesthetically by keeping every section consistently clean. Keeping these practices a fundamental part of the process for constructing trails make CFI’s routes look as if, “they were beamed from outer space” as described by Ben Hanus, CFI’s Field Programs Director. By the end of the eight-day hitch, we achieved about 150 linear feet of new bench and backslope and hauled away 1,500 cubic feet of dirt. The crew remarked on the impressive amount of work we were able to get done by the last days on hitch. The extra help provided us the support to construct the most bench and backslope in a hitch by hauling so much dirt away.

Hitch 4

We began our trek to Shavano an hour earlier Tuesday morning, joining the high crew on their departure from the cove. I reflected how the day marked the halfway point of the season, as the morning amber light from the first rays of sunrise pierced through the truck windows. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather for the first day of every hitch this season. It made setting up our personal tents and restocking our bear boxes at the beginning of every week a breeze. We weren’t quite as lucky, however, when it came to the average conditions on the mountain at the end of our shifts during most of the hitches.

Since the beginning of the third hitch, we had gotten rained on about every other day toward the end of the work day. With each hitch, I felt like I was gradually building a stronger tolerance for the stormy weather. By the time another system rolled in from the summit on Wednesday, I welcomed the powerful and echoing sounds of the thunder preceding another blanket of rain. After we slipped into our rain gear, we finished the rest of the shift moving dead trees and large branches over a 250-to-300-foot portion of the old trail. This was an integral part of the operation for covering and hiding the closed trail to the summit. It also helped to begin the rejuvenation and restoration process for the badly eroded and damaged trail.

As we continued cutting bench and backslope, we were greeted with more heavy swells of rain on Thursday. As the rain intensified later that afternoon, we switched to clearing rocks from below. The night ended with more team bonding as we huddled into the wall tent with James Boardman and Olivia Ryschon from the high crew for our weekly Yahtzee game night.

On day four, I finally made myself the first substantial breakfast, 2 English muffin egg sandwiches, I’ve had all season. No more oatmeal and granola bars. It truly felt like a game changer when it came to living on a fourteener.

As we continued cutting new trail, we worked through another day of rain. We all went to bed early that night. Saturday provided our crew the first relief from the rain all hitch. After we finished dinner, which I prepared and was my biggest one yet with vegetarian chorizo breakfast burritos for everyone, we saw our first sign of wildlife on the mountain. An 8-point buck strolled across the hillside facing our wall tent as Riley and Tyler silently watched while cleaning the dishes.

The last couple days on hitch were filled with sunshine. We grip hoisted low stumps and polished up the area, one of the most difficult to cut bench from the previous hitch. This was done by widening the trail where needed and cutting down areas that were in-sloped. As we kept moving at a strong, steady pace through the area, we finished off Monday with another game night and crossing new distances on our slackline. It was a smooth end to a hardworking but fun-filled halfway point of the season that ended with smiles from the whole crew as we drove back to the cove.

Hitch 5

The hike to basecamp on Tuesday morning began at a controlled stride, but I noted how every hike to basecamp was as equally grueling to the last. It simultaneously felt as if we were not only becoming more acclimated to the physical labor at such a high altitude but also finding some tasks just as difficult as before. The main objective for the week was to continue constructing as much new trail as possible as we breached past the total 7,600 feet of finished trail, including the work that was completed by the CFI Shavano crews in the last two years. The six of us shared brief but rewarding moments of praise, acknowledging the impressive progress we were making this far in the season as we inched closer to our goal.

By Thursday, we commented how confident we felt being able to get to the 8,000-foot goal by the final hitches. The seasonal patterns of early fall started to reveal themselves as I observed the delay of sunrise on Wednesday morning.

Thursday began like any other work day, pouring our focus into making new bench under light gray, thick clouded skies. It wasn’t until we started hiking back to our basecamp when we felt the first drops of falling hail. Not a word was spoken between the crew as we quickened our march to the wall tent, the distant roar of hail approaching our direction.

The eerie sound reminded me of an avalanche drawing nearer, as the growling rumble grew louder with each step to camp. By the time we hiked another few hundred feet, the skies completely opened up. Thumbtack sized hail suddenly transformed to quarter sized balls while the drizzle turned to an all-out torrential downpour. As the deafening drone of the hail hit my helmet, I began sprinting. It was then that I pondered if taking shelter underneath a large and densely branched pine tree would be the quickest method to ensure my own safety. I pivoted back toward camp and raced down the hill with my coworkers as we made our way to the wall tent. After finally finding security in the wall tent, we peered out to the carnage that was unfolding outside. The intensity of the storm began to subside after about 20 minutes. The storm may have been short lived, but it served as one of the most intense bouts of hail I ever experienced. I wasn’t alone as Tyler and Dave both mentioned how it was “one of the most powerful” they’ve witnessed in the high alpine.

The rest of the week continued like any other with more rain returning on Friday. As conditions cleared up on Saturday, I was able to advance to a new section as our crew pushed further into our longest linear corridor of trail yet. We all agreed it was one of the prettiest areas of the planned route. The hillside was surrounded by a bright, dense aspen grove with colorful patches of yellow Arnica, Columbine and Colorado Mountain Roses dotting the forest floor. The slightly sloped grade offered temporary relief from the average 35 to 40-degree hillsides we had been hauling the filled dirtbags up. Mount Shavano blessed us with sun for our last days this hitch. We delightfully indulged ourselves, reading in our hammocks and gaming at night, taking advantage of these final peaceful evenings on the mountain.