CATS Host HPE Corporation at Lory

CATS Host HPE Day at Lory State Park - 16 Aug 2018 What a great day to whack trail? Thanks to Brandon Smith our President of CATS for setting up this first time corporate volunteer day in the mountains with HPE. Brandon and Connie just happen to work there also and it was a pleasure to see eleven or more employees come out and get their hands and clothing dirty. We are sorry the hike was a little long going in but your work did make a difference in the sustainability of that trail for many years to come. Our HPE folks got to experience what CATS does every week. The high altitude work provided some magnificent views of Horsetooth Reservoir. We certainly hope the trail work provided some comfort and was a great venue for getting out of the office. The entire operation put about 20 volunteers on the trail working in three separate crews and building some awesome stone steps and mono-walls along the edge of the trail. Work like this gets attention from three seasonal crew members when they can and they surely appreciated the results today. Actually, all three Lory State Park trail crew members were there all day with us – Jerry (original CATS member, Justin and Ryan) and they were a fun bunch to work with. Many thanks go to our tough and seasoned trail CATS members – Denny, Dean, Leigh, Lynn. Look at the results below and you will see what happens with the power of many and good leadership. Thank you to all our crew leads (Dean, Denny, and Brandon) today as they did a superior job with new folks in full sun and hot conditions. Also, always check out our photos in the google cloud (link below) as the photos tell it all so well. One more note, don’t forget to enter in your volunteer state hours as it all gets annotated for your free park pass after 48 hours of work…Today was 8 hours for your records! Well done to all and the hike down was the best, followed by a good time a Pitchers!

Members:  Navy Bob, Connie, Dean, Brandon, Lynn, Leigh, Denny  Hours:   8

RESULTS:   Deans Crew 1 – 25’ Mono-wall Dean’s Crew – 10’ Mono-wall (MW) 3 stone steps       Brandon’s Crew  1- 11’ (MW) & 1 – 13’ (MW) 2 drainages cleaned out/resized   Denny’s crew –  5 drainages cleaned out/resized, 9 stone steps

ROSES: o  First time for CATS hosting corporate personnel o  Great participation from HPE and thanks! o  No injuries o  Great weather – though hot o  Three great crew leaders in charge o  Organization of event great o  Freak yeah – Jimmy Johns sandwiches o  Worked with 3 LSP personnel all day o  Many thanks to Dave and Matt from HPE that stayed all day o  Lynn found us up on the trail and was welcomed in o  Connie and Lynn built this stone step that looks like a mule deer hoof o  Great mono-walls in all sections/crews o  “LSP were real keen on mono-wall construction” o  Thanks to Brandon, Matt and Dave for going down to parking and coming back up with our lunches – that was a chore in itself o  Nice barrow pit and closing it up o  Some shade o  Rock shopping was challenging at first – but end of shopping spree – we got some great stone for steps and walls o  Cam should be real pleased with         work o  Dean came back from little hike (one week in Windy River Range) o  Great opening talks and tool talks

THORNS: ü Hot – sweaty (especially Bob) – full sun ü Somehow missed that it was all day – we left that on the sign up for the HPE folks, but used emails to convey to CATS members that we would stay and finish all work – which we did so nicely! ü Dirty shirts… Dirtiest shirt award goes to Leigh! ü Some say rock shopping was – ‘so-so’ (meaning: not the greatest) ü Hike up was a bear and hard even on some CATS members

BUDS:  Very nice indeed. It is gratifying to reach out into the community now and invite folks out on the trail. Even if it is their first time out, the experience will resonate in their inner physique and come back as either a good memory or bad. We hope it will be a good memory and encourage some to come out more often as the trails around here can use some tender loving care. As I pointed out to some folks that about 80% of the trail structures you use are built by volunteers. The park trail crews cannot get out there enough and because of budgets and such, they sometimes let trails and structures fall into disrepair (not inferring this at Lory). Volunteers out here in wild – make a difference and save money for the park and taxpayer. Free labor is good if it is used correctly. That is the beauty of CATS! We are free labor and after 11 years on trails – I think we use our skills correctly. That is why I am always bragging about our CATS people because it is a truism; fact. We are good and don’t build junk or take short cuts. We know the value of good permanent work and how it will last  - outlast us if built correctly. Yesterday, we built some great rock work and all those that participated have bragging rights. You can safely take friends and family back there someday and point out the walls or steps you put in. It is called ownership and the parks don’t mind people owning accomplishments. I hope all 20 of us that were out there shared something unique that other people have no clue or will ever partake in an event like this in their lifetime; it is bonding with nature and others to fix trail so that the next visitor’s journey is safe and enjoyable in the outdoors. It can be addicting (we know) and we are here for you. Come join our ranks and have fun!

On the trail,

Bob Johnson

Go here to sign up for events: http://trailcats.org/volunteer

E-mail:  info@trailcats.org     bob@trailcats.org  Website: www.trailcats.org     Facebook: www.facebook.com/trailcats.org    Go here to see all our latest trail events!                    Go here to see all our photos!  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RH5yoCIkmZUtBdWIxTK8yTOu0IybkxZI?ogsrc=32