Mission
A Training program will be established to maintain a cadre of Crew Leaders who will oversee CTTT activities to ensure: 1) the effective use and protection of natural resources, and 2) the safety of all volunteers.
Duration
Crew Leader training will typically involve (1) Saturday or multiple evening sessions.
Participation
Crew Leader training is open to all members as stipulated in the CTTT Leadership Policies. A fee established by the Technical Committee may be assessed to cover the cost of training materials.
Organization
Training shall be presided over by the Technical Committee and be staffed as follows.
1. Training Coordinator – schedules and coordinates all training classes. Procures training materials and facilities.
2. Instructor – conducts training sessions.
3. Participants – typically six per class per instructor.
Minimum Requirements
Minimum requirements for certification as a CTTT Crew Leader are participation in four sessions of classroom instruction.
Recommended schedule for 1-day classroom instruction is as follows:
Time Event Contents
8AM Registration Personal contact information, medical release form, coffee and doughnuts
8:30 Introduction
Instructor information and personal history
8:35 Session 1
CTTT History Foundation, pictures of past events, letters of commendation
8:45 Session 2
Trail design Techniques and review of reference materials
10:15 Break
10:30 Techniques continued
12:00 Lunch
1PM Session 3
Crew leadership
Basic techniques
2:30 Break
2:45 Session 4
Policy review Review of CTTT Policies, Procedures & Guidelines
5:00 Adjourn
Crew Leader Trainee should complete First Aid training in one of the following approved programs
1) Red Cross
2) Firefighters
3) EMT
4) SWEAT
Participation in programs deemed equivalent by the Board (e.g. VOC Crew Leader training) may also be considered sufficient if approved by the Board. Technical Committee may also nominate Crew Leaders for consideration by the Board based on their experience and knowledge. A majority vote is required to confer the certification of Crew Leader.
Instructors
Technical Committee will nominate Instructors for consideration by the Board based on their experience and knowledge. A majority vote is required to confer the certification of Instructor.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Trip Report: Glen Canyon Trail Project – Bullfrog, Utah (March 2007) By Lynda DeGroot
Saturday morning, March 24th, nine excited Trail Tamers from central Texas set off on a new adventure to Bullfrog, Utah on the upper reaches of Lake Powell within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Two members from Grand Junction, Colorado met us at the site. By mid-Sunday afternoon everyone was present and accounted for. We Texans made good time even though we stopped to see a few sights along the way.
We were invited to Utah by Justin Glasgow, Interpretive Officer for Glen Canyon NRA, who heard about us from John Heiner, Chief Interpretive Officer at Fort Davis National Historic Site in west Texas. Justin was based at Fort Davis for a while and trained by John who showed him the trail work done by Trail Tamers over the years! When Justin moved on to Bullfrog, Utah, the first thing he noticed was the lack of trails in the area and, now that Lake Powell is 103ft. below its normal level, many people have been asking about hiking opportunities. That’s when he contacted us to see if we would consider coming out there to utilize our expertise!
What a great opportunity to see a different kind of place! Working in red sandy soil was a lot different than working in a forest, or our own Texas hill country, but I think we did a darned good job. Numerous rock cairns were built to define a trail on the undulating red rock hills, and a new trail was cut into the side of a large hill leading up to the top where you could look out over Lake Powell. A large and unique cairn was built by Raylene & Mary to mark the spot. Some of us moved heavy rocks to mark the trail entrance near the parking area (thank goodness for those rock cradles!). We then fixed a social trail created by people following an old cow path. We decided it was best to leave it where it was, so we added a series of about 15-20 check dams from the bottom all the way to the top of the hill and pulled in the sides of this deeply rutted “trail” to fill in behind them. This leveled it out nicely and made it look more like a trail!
When we finished those trails, Justin asked if we would mind looking at another area several miles away, just off the famous Burr Trail...a 68 mile winding, mostly gravel road connecting Bullfrog to Boulder, Utah through the beautiful painted rock country of Capitol Reef National Park, Waterpocket Fold and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This area actually lists a 3-mile round trip trail in a park service booklet but the trail was seldom used because it was nearly impossible to find! So, we spent our last two days building a series of large rock cairns to guide people to a place at the end of the trail called Pedestal Alley where there are numerous huge pedestal rocks in various sizes & shapes.
The weather went from being a bit chilly on the first day but warmed up nicely and then the winds blew in on the second day and nearly sandblasted us. When they subsided, we managed to get more done but later in the week, it began to get colder and on our last workday, it started drizzling. At least we had a nice, warm house to go back to…compliments of the Park Service!
At the end of our time there…Justin presented each of us with numerous items to show his appreciation. In all, we contributed nearly 300 hours of volunteer labor and put in over two dozen rock cairns plus 15-20 check dams.
On our way back home to Texas, I used my National Park Pass to treat my passengers to a side trip to Arches, Canyonlands & Mesa Verde National Parks. What a wonderful trip this was! My thanks to Raylene Welch & Bob Weglarz, Debbie Galloway, Mary Zeitler, Sharon Highnote, Chris Argyros, Bo Bosarge, Ralph & Debbie Ploeger, and my dear sister, Shirley Harlow.
We were invited to Utah by Justin Glasgow, Interpretive Officer for Glen Canyon NRA, who heard about us from John Heiner, Chief Interpretive Officer at Fort Davis National Historic Site in west Texas. Justin was based at Fort Davis for a while and trained by John who showed him the trail work done by Trail Tamers over the years! When Justin moved on to Bullfrog, Utah, the first thing he noticed was the lack of trails in the area and, now that Lake Powell is 103ft. below its normal level, many people have been asking about hiking opportunities. That’s when he contacted us to see if we would consider coming out there to utilize our expertise!
What a great opportunity to see a different kind of place! Working in red sandy soil was a lot different than working in a forest, or our own Texas hill country, but I think we did a darned good job. Numerous rock cairns were built to define a trail on the undulating red rock hills, and a new trail was cut into the side of a large hill leading up to the top where you could look out over Lake Powell. A large and unique cairn was built by Raylene & Mary to mark the spot. Some of us moved heavy rocks to mark the trail entrance near the parking area (thank goodness for those rock cradles!). We then fixed a social trail created by people following an old cow path. We decided it was best to leave it where it was, so we added a series of about 15-20 check dams from the bottom all the way to the top of the hill and pulled in the sides of this deeply rutted “trail” to fill in behind them. This leveled it out nicely and made it look more like a trail!
When we finished those trails, Justin asked if we would mind looking at another area several miles away, just off the famous Burr Trail...a 68 mile winding, mostly gravel road connecting Bullfrog to Boulder, Utah through the beautiful painted rock country of Capitol Reef National Park, Waterpocket Fold and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This area actually lists a 3-mile round trip trail in a park service booklet but the trail was seldom used because it was nearly impossible to find! So, we spent our last two days building a series of large rock cairns to guide people to a place at the end of the trail called Pedestal Alley where there are numerous huge pedestal rocks in various sizes & shapes.
The weather went from being a bit chilly on the first day but warmed up nicely and then the winds blew in on the second day and nearly sandblasted us. When they subsided, we managed to get more done but later in the week, it began to get colder and on our last workday, it started drizzling. At least we had a nice, warm house to go back to…compliments of the Park Service!
At the end of our time there…Justin presented each of us with numerous items to show his appreciation. In all, we contributed nearly 300 hours of volunteer labor and put in over two dozen rock cairns plus 15-20 check dams.
On our way back home to Texas, I used my National Park Pass to treat my passengers to a side trip to Arches, Canyonlands & Mesa Verde National Parks. What a wonderful trip this was! My thanks to Raylene Welch & Bob Weglarz, Debbie Galloway, Mary Zeitler, Sharon Highnote, Chris Argyros, Bo Bosarge, Ralph & Debbie Ploeger, and my dear sister, Shirley Harlow.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, October 21-28, 2006
During the last week of October 2006, the CTTT returned eight volunteers to the highest mountains in Texas to volunteer at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. As always we had some challenging projects and great support from the National Park Service.The rebuilding of the visitor center pedestrian bridge was the major project worked on by the crew. The bridge decking had failed due to the use of faulting composite decking material The trail tamers worked with two NPS carpenters to rebuild the bridge. Significant progress was made by completing two-thirds of the bridge during the week. Over 100 hours of time was spent working on the pedestrian bridge into the visitor center. The trail tamers removed the old decking material, rebuilt the supporting joists, pre-positioned new materials, and cut and installed new recycled decking materials.
The crew also worked on several trails during the week. On Monday, four members worked on trails in McKittrick Canyon by removing a large bolder from a canyon trail and by performing maintenance on the trails around the Pratt Canyon. On Tuesday, four members cleaned water bars on the Smith Spring trail. On Wednesday and Thursday, 5 members worked on the McKittrick Canyon Nature Trail to clear the trail of overgrown cedar, cat claw, and overgrown native grasses on the trail.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
8/26-9/4/06: 13th Annual Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park
13th Annual Central Texas Trail Tamers work trip to Rocky Mountain National Park
August 26-September 4, 2006 - by Jerome Collins, Executive Director
We left the "Y" between 71 and 290 in Oak Hill about 7:20a.m. with only Jerome Collins, Chris Argyros, Travis Caffee, Terence Donovan and piles of camping equipment in the van. John Shanks and Kathy Costello left earlier in the week to take the cooking equipment. Barbara Martinez drove her car with Dave Schneider for company. Bill Warren drove up earlier and Lin Risner drove directly from Marshall to Raton, NM where we met that evening and ate. We spent the night at Travis Caffee's family place near Cuchara, CO, arriving before midnight. Sunday, we drove into the Moraine Park campground at Rocky Mountain National Park about 3pm to find Lin Risner and Bill Warren pitching the cook tent with John and Kathy.
Thirteen volunteers working in two teams worked on three different trail projects in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). One team, Lin Risner, a forester from Marshall, Bill Warren from Georgetown, Chris Argyros with Americorps in Austin and originally from Troy, NY, Kathy Costello from Austin and Debbie and Ralph Ploeger from Grand Junction, Colorado, completed 92 checks and 6 drains on new trailbed for the Twin Owls trail opening in spring, 2007. And they did it in four days. There was some excitement on the first day due to a short hailstorm and the destruction of Bill's daypack by tooth and claw. A bear was suspected but not spotted.
Jerome Collins, this year's crew leader recruited John Shanks, a retired chef, restaurateur and caterer, as camp cook for a return engagement and bringing Kathy Costello with him. Terence Donovan a veteran of four previous Central Texas Trail Tamers (CTTT) trips to RMNP, Martha Davies, rock wall expert, returned, Barbara Martinez from Austin and fresh from the trip to Leadville, Colorado earlier this summer, Travis Caffee, native Austinite, Americorp member and youngest, and Dave Schneider, a CPA from LaGrange, made up the second crew. Working under Dan Ostrowski, NPS trail crew leader, this team worked on repairs on the "Bear Nymph Dream Emerald Lakes" trail.
The first two days Terence, Travis and Dave spent creating a rock lined drain for a wetland area to dry the trail that had been continually muddy. Travis was the mud diver, Terence was the voice of experience and Dave carried buckets of dry aggregate uphill. Jerome, Martha and Barbara tore out asphalt that had been used in the 1970's to stabilize the heavily used trail (600 visitors a day average in summer). They placed 2 log checks and a drain by tying them to the granite monolith on one side and to an existing rock wall on the downside using a carbide tip chisel, rock hammers and sledges. Dan O did the custom chain saw work and supervised.
Monday, visitors reporting a bear on a carcass up the trail caused Dan O to report it, call in a couple of rangers loaded for bear, and send a crew including Dave Schneider to move the carcass farther off the trail to prevent human-bear contact. The cow elk carcass had a broken neck and was very ripe.
Tuesday we woke to ice on the windshields. There was a communication glitch and the very able Ploegers, Debbie and Ralph, spent the day in camp waiting for the NPS crew leader to arrive. Lin, Bill, Chris and Kathy put in another dozen log checks and a drain on the Twin Owls-Lumpy Ridge project. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew finished the work they started, but Jerome, Martha, Barbara, Travis and Terence came to appreciate the buckets of dirt Dave Schneider had carried all day Monday. We also received some official looking hats, "NPS Volunteer" so we would look official when we directed trail traffic at the worksite.
Wednesday, both full crews were at work, with Jerome swapping places with Kathy for the day. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew moved higher to add a couple of checks to long pads, establish a new tool cache and bring in more logs.
Thursday, work went well with all hands on board and the Lumpy Ridge-Twin Owls crew completed their assigned task by day's end. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew (working with honorary Trail Tamer, Eric the Irishman) started to create a photo opportunity bench using four very large boulders, Jerome, Dave, rock bars, skids and sledges. We tried to close off the worksite to hikers by re-routing the trail, but people found their way anyway. Martha, Barbara, Travis and Terence worked on a tricky set of checks and drains on a curve. That project called for 20 buckets of dirt and we were almost 1000 feet higher than where we had begun. The afternoon was marked by a report of Travis falling during a lunch-break rock climb and the arrival of thunder, rain and lightning as we quit and moved down the mountain.
Friday, since the Lumpy-Twin Owls project was finished, the Ploegers decided to leave instead of working at higher altitude. Bill Warren wanted to get back to meet an expected grand child. He drove with Terence Donovan so he could meet his daughter. Lin Risner left to celebrate his mother's birthday with her back in Marshall. The remainder of the Lumpy-Twin Owls crew, Kathy and Chris, joined the other team on the Bear & Bierstadt Lakes Trail to clean drains in the morning and block "social" trails, shortcuts, in the afternoon under the guidance of Dave Larsen, Chief Crew Leader for RMNP. Lunch and a nap were at the top of the slope looking out over Bierstadt Lake and a beautiful glacial valley.
Saturday was a free day. John, Kathy and Jerome broke camp, loaded the cook's van and the Shanks-Costellos left to see old friends in Colorado Springs. Travis had backpacked into the primitive camping area and arrived in time for supper Saturday. Jerome took pictures of the work the 2005 crew had done on Ypsilon Trail. Martha met her daughter at the Travel Lodge in Estes Park. Barbara went sightseeing. Dave and Chris hiked up Flattop Mountain and sent a picture to her father in NY. That evening Barbara, Chris, Dave, Travis and Jerome enjoyed a dinner in Estes Park. We did not refuel the van in Estes Park.
We left Sunday morning at 7:40 a.m. and arrived about 11:30 p.m. in Childress, Texas. About 9:30 pm, between Perryton and Childress, a deer standing on the opposite side of the highway, jumped between our headlights, breaking the grill. Eager to get back to Austin, we left about 6 a.m. Monday, Labor Day, to arrive in Austin about 3:30 p.m. Jerome and Michele Collins cleaned out the van and turned it in the next morning. Bill for the deer damage was $1056.48.
August 26-September 4, 2006 - by Jerome Collins, Executive Director
We left the "Y" between 71 and 290 in Oak Hill about 7:20a.m. with only Jerome Collins, Chris Argyros, Travis Caffee, Terence Donovan and piles of camping equipment in the van. John Shanks and Kathy Costello left earlier in the week to take the cooking equipment. Barbara Martinez drove her car with Dave Schneider for company. Bill Warren drove up earlier and Lin Risner drove directly from Marshall to Raton, NM where we met that evening and ate. We spent the night at Travis Caffee's family place near Cuchara, CO, arriving before midnight. Sunday, we drove into the Moraine Park campground at Rocky Mountain National Park about 3pm to find Lin Risner and Bill Warren pitching the cook tent with John and Kathy.
Thirteen volunteers working in two teams worked on three different trail projects in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). One team, Lin Risner, a forester from Marshall, Bill Warren from Georgetown, Chris Argyros with Americorps in Austin and originally from Troy, NY, Kathy Costello from Austin and Debbie and Ralph Ploeger from Grand Junction, Colorado, completed 92 checks and 6 drains on new trailbed for the Twin Owls trail opening in spring, 2007. And they did it in four days. There was some excitement on the first day due to a short hailstorm and the destruction of Bill's daypack by tooth and claw. A bear was suspected but not spotted.
Jerome Collins, this year's crew leader recruited John Shanks, a retired chef, restaurateur and caterer, as camp cook for a return engagement and bringing Kathy Costello with him. Terence Donovan a veteran of four previous Central Texas Trail Tamers (CTTT) trips to RMNP, Martha Davies, rock wall expert, returned, Barbara Martinez from Austin and fresh from the trip to Leadville, Colorado earlier this summer, Travis Caffee, native Austinite, Americorp member and youngest, and Dave Schneider, a CPA from LaGrange, made up the second crew. Working under Dan Ostrowski, NPS trail crew leader, this team worked on repairs on the "Bear Nymph Dream Emerald Lakes" trail.
The first two days Terence, Travis and Dave spent creating a rock lined drain for a wetland area to dry the trail that had been continually muddy. Travis was the mud diver, Terence was the voice of experience and Dave carried buckets of dry aggregate uphill. Jerome, Martha and Barbara tore out asphalt that had been used in the 1970's to stabilize the heavily used trail (600 visitors a day average in summer). They placed 2 log checks and a drain by tying them to the granite monolith on one side and to an existing rock wall on the downside using a carbide tip chisel, rock hammers and sledges. Dan O did the custom chain saw work and supervised.
Monday, visitors reporting a bear on a carcass up the trail caused Dan O to report it, call in a couple of rangers loaded for bear, and send a crew including Dave Schneider to move the carcass farther off the trail to prevent human-bear contact. The cow elk carcass had a broken neck and was very ripe.
Tuesday we woke to ice on the windshields. There was a communication glitch and the very able Ploegers, Debbie and Ralph, spent the day in camp waiting for the NPS crew leader to arrive. Lin, Bill, Chris and Kathy put in another dozen log checks and a drain on the Twin Owls-Lumpy Ridge project. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew finished the work they started, but Jerome, Martha, Barbara, Travis and Terence came to appreciate the buckets of dirt Dave Schneider had carried all day Monday. We also received some official looking hats, "NPS Volunteer" so we would look official when we directed trail traffic at the worksite.
Wednesday, both full crews were at work, with Jerome swapping places with Kathy for the day. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew moved higher to add a couple of checks to long pads, establish a new tool cache and bring in more logs.
Thursday, work went well with all hands on board and the Lumpy Ridge-Twin Owls crew completed their assigned task by day's end. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew (working with honorary Trail Tamer, Eric the Irishman) started to create a photo opportunity bench using four very large boulders, Jerome, Dave, rock bars, skids and sledges. We tried to close off the worksite to hikers by re-routing the trail, but people found their way anyway. Martha, Barbara, Travis and Terence worked on a tricky set of checks and drains on a curve. That project called for 20 buckets of dirt and we were almost 1000 feet higher than where we had begun. The afternoon was marked by a report of Travis falling during a lunch-break rock climb and the arrival of thunder, rain and lightning as we quit and moved down the mountain.
Friday, since the Lumpy-Twin Owls project was finished, the Ploegers decided to leave instead of working at higher altitude. Bill Warren wanted to get back to meet an expected grand child. He drove with Terence Donovan so he could meet his daughter. Lin Risner left to celebrate his mother's birthday with her back in Marshall. The remainder of the Lumpy-Twin Owls crew, Kathy and Chris, joined the other team on the Bear & Bierstadt Lakes Trail to clean drains in the morning and block "social" trails, shortcuts, in the afternoon under the guidance of Dave Larsen, Chief Crew Leader for RMNP. Lunch and a nap were at the top of the slope looking out over Bierstadt Lake and a beautiful glacial valley.
Saturday was a free day. John, Kathy and Jerome broke camp, loaded the cook's van and the Shanks-Costellos left to see old friends in Colorado Springs. Travis had backpacked into the primitive camping area and arrived in time for supper Saturday. Jerome took pictures of the work the 2005 crew had done on Ypsilon Trail. Martha met her daughter at the Travel Lodge in Estes Park. Barbara went sightseeing. Dave and Chris hiked up Flattop Mountain and sent a picture to her father in NY. That evening Barbara, Chris, Dave, Travis and Jerome enjoyed a dinner in Estes Park. We did not refuel the van in Estes Park.
We left Sunday morning at 7:40 a.m. and arrived about 11:30 p.m. in Childress, Texas. About 9:30 pm, between Perryton and Childress, a deer standing on the opposite side of the highway, jumped between our headlights, breaking the grill. Eager to get back to Austin, we left about 6 a.m. Monday, Labor Day, to arrive in Austin about 3:30 p.m. Jerome and Michele Collins cleaned out the van and turned it in the next morning. Bill for the deer damage was $1056.48.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
4/22/06: Convict Hill Quarry Park
April 22, 2006
Convict Hill Quarry Park, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot
On April 22, 2006 (It's My Park Day) numerous local residents, a couple of Scout troops and 3 enthusiastic Trail Tamers (Mary Zeitler, Stan Pascua and me) showed up at this great little park located near Oak Hill, on the southwest edge of Austin, TX.
The agenda for the day was to remove as much cut cedar and other brush as possible from the interior of the park where it was stacked in huge piles and left to rot for almost a decade. Members of the E-Corp division of AmeriCorp removed massive amounts of cedar during earlier workdays. All of this effort was being made to clear the park sufficiently so that a few trails could be put in for everyone to enjoy.
From 9am until 1pm, we dragged and stacked as much dead cedar as we could possibly move and, when finished, the stacks were nearly 50 yards long and about 6-8 feet high! When we finished for the day, all volunteers received a free t-shirt and other goodies.
The park has historic significance in that it was the original quarry for the stone that was used in part of the Texas capitol! There was once a railroad line running from the quarry that delivered cut stone to the capitol construction site. There are still some old stones in the park with bore holes from that time long ago. Throughout the park are numerous high mounds of rock and low-lying areas that tend to accumulate water after a rain. There's a high rock ledge running along one side and a thicket in the northwest corner. Near the center are several huge, OLD cedar trees and a variety of native plants throughout. It's really a pretty & peaceful setting!
A couple of short meandering trails had been put in place by the informal Friends of Convict Hill Quarry Park, but they asked for Trail Tamer help to determine the best placement of future trails. We suggested that they wait until all the brush is removed before attempting to put in more trails, and then CTTT will be glad to come back and help. Their next workday is June 10 so that would be a great opportunity to see this fine park!
Convict Hill Quarry Park, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot
On April 22, 2006 (It's My Park Day) numerous local residents, a couple of Scout troops and 3 enthusiastic Trail Tamers (Mary Zeitler, Stan Pascua and me) showed up at this great little park located near Oak Hill, on the southwest edge of Austin, TX.
The agenda for the day was to remove as much cut cedar and other brush as possible from the interior of the park where it was stacked in huge piles and left to rot for almost a decade. Members of the E-Corp division of AmeriCorp removed massive amounts of cedar during earlier workdays. All of this effort was being made to clear the park sufficiently so that a few trails could be put in for everyone to enjoy.
From 9am until 1pm, we dragged and stacked as much dead cedar as we could possibly move and, when finished, the stacks were nearly 50 yards long and about 6-8 feet high! When we finished for the day, all volunteers received a free t-shirt and other goodies.
The park has historic significance in that it was the original quarry for the stone that was used in part of the Texas capitol! There was once a railroad line running from the quarry that delivered cut stone to the capitol construction site. There are still some old stones in the park with bore holes from that time long ago. Throughout the park are numerous high mounds of rock and low-lying areas that tend to accumulate water after a rain. There's a high rock ledge running along one side and a thicket in the northwest corner. Near the center are several huge, OLD cedar trees and a variety of native plants throughout. It's really a pretty & peaceful setting!
A couple of short meandering trails had been put in place by the informal Friends of Convict Hill Quarry Park, but they asked for Trail Tamer help to determine the best placement of future trails. We suggested that they wait until all the brush is removed before attempting to put in more trails, and then CTTT will be glad to come back and help. Their next workday is June 10 so that would be a great opportunity to see this fine park!
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