Salida CitizenEric Tauer

Thursday, May 10, 9:00am, Pin Flagging the Little Rainbow Extension

Eric Tauer — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:50:44 +0000

9:00AM Thursday, May 10, SMT will be pinflagging the Little Rainbow Extension trail corridor to define the exact trail location. This event gives you a chance to see the trail design features that you will be building at 9:00AM Saturday, May 12 (two days later). Meet at the County Road 110 parking area at the west trailhead of the Little Rainbow Trail, 2.3 miles south on CR110 from Highway 50. Drive just south toward the power lines to the larger parking area where Power Line Road comes in.. Bring gloves, water, and anything else you need for walking around the hills and sticking flags in the ground for several hours. Flags will be provided.

Shindig Saturday, May 12, 9:00am, Trail Work on Little Rainbow Extension

Eric Tauer — Fri, 04 May 2012 05:19:37 +0000

We have BLM approval to start building the Little Rainbow extension. The trail corridor was cleared last week, and we’re ready to put tools to the ground. Saturday, May 12, 9:00am meet at the County Road 110 parking area at the west trailhead of the Little Rainbow Trail, 2.3 miles south on CR110 from Highway 50. Drive just south toward the power lines to the larger parking area where Power Line Road comes in. We will probably split into groups and work on several accessible areas of the trail. Wear work clothes, sturdy boots, and bring water and whatever else you need for several hours of trail work. Lunch will be provided after the trail work at about 1:00pm at a location to be announced later.

Saturday, March 10, 2012: ShinDig Volunteer Day

Eric Tauer — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:09:43 +0000

The March 10 ShinDig has been refocused:

In order to support the Chaffee County Running Club, the SMTShinDig Volunteer Trail Day on March 10 has been changed from trail work to a request for volunteers to help with the Run Through Time Marathon and Half-Marathon. We sent you an email a few weeks ago giving details about the event, but at that time we had not decided to refocus the trail work day.

Please consider volunteering to help with the Run Through Time event. Details are available at http://www.salidarec.com/ccrc/Run-Through-Time-Marathon.htm, or by contacting Rickie Redland, 303-877-2449,redlandr@gmail.com.

The running club partners with SMT on many trail activities, and so it is appropriate that we support them in one of their signature events of the year. The Run Through Time is a fundraiser for SMT, with 50% of the proceeds going to help us build new trails. Therefore, donating your time to this event will benefit SMT as well as the Chaffee County Running Club.

At this time there is still a need for volunteers. Do yourself a favor; this is going to be a good time.

SMT February Shindig

Eric Tauer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:06:31 +0000

Saturday, February 11, 2012, 9:00AM: We’re scheduling a February ShinDig volunteer trail day in case the weather happens to cooperate. You will know if the conditions are favorable or not for you’re own tolerance level. We are going to perform maintenance on the Frontside Trail, our most widely used trail in the Salida locality. The trail needs to be swept of rocks, the backslope needs to be cleared in places where it rolls onto the tread and narrows it, and the critical edge needs to be debermed in a few areas. We might do a little rock work where the tread has worn away from some armored sections, leaving the rocks too high. The meeting place is the F Street Cul de Sac, 9:00AM, Saturday morning. Someone from SMT will be there no matter what the weather to advise you of the status of the event. Come prepared to stay warm, and also bring your water, work gloves, and sturdy boots. Tools will be provided. At 1:00pm, after the trail work, SMT will host a volunteer lunch behind the Salida Cafe.

January SMT ShinDig – Cancelled

Eric Tauer — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:00:25 +0000

The SMT volunteer trail work day (ShinDig) for January is cancelled due to the amount of mud and snow on our trails.

We will resume our monthly trail work days as soon as conditions and weather permit.

You can also check the SMT website http://salidamountaintrails.org/ for updates.

Salida Mountain Trails needs you! ShinDig Volunteer Day

Eric Tauer — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:54:50 +0000

Saturday, November 12, 9:00am: SMT Trail Work Day.

Some rerouting and possible kiosk relocation need to be performed at the North Backbone Trailhead area on County Road 175. This is a winter weather-permitting work day; if the temperature is too low or there is snow on the ground, the work will be rescheduled. To get to the meeting place go up Ute Trail, CR 175, until the pavement ends and then go 0.3 miles further. Pull off on the right and park in the area where the kiosk currently resides. We will be rerouting the current trail to a new end point further up the road to the north. We will also move the kiosk to the new trailhead if it hasn’t already been moved. Come prepared to stay warm, and also bring your water, work gloves, and sturdy boots. Tools will be provided. At 1:00pm, after the trail work, SMT will host a volunteer lunch behind the Salida Cafe.

SMT October ShinDig

Eric Tauer — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:03:27 +0000

Saturday, October 8, 2011, 9:00am: ShinDig Volunteer Day.
The ShinDig for October will be another collaborative effort with the US Forest Service. We will be working on problem areas of the Silver Creek trail, one of the connectors that descends from the Rainbow Trail.

We will be meeting Forest Service personnel at the Shirley Site, a parking area on the dirt road that goes to O’Haver Lake. Drive south on Hwy 285 out of Poncha Springs, going up Poncha Pass, and take the right turn to O’Haver Lake. The Shirley Site is approximately 1.5 miles down the road, on the left where you would turn right to go to the lake. We can park in the Shirley Site lot, and Forest Service personnel will ferry us up to the work site on Silver Creek. Since more travel than usual is involved, the volunteer lunch after work will be moved back to 2:00pm behind the Salida Cafe and Roastery.

As usual, come prepared with water, gloves, long pants and sturdy boots. You might want to bring a snack if you get hungry before 2. Tools will be provided.

Saturday, September 10, 2011, 9:00am: ShinDig Volunteer Day.

Eric Tauer — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:09:06 +0000

The ShinDig for September will tackle the many rocks that have magically risen to the surface of the Little Rainbow trail on the east side of CR108. This section of trail between the Castle Gardens area and CR108 has received little attention since it was built last year. Drive south from Hwy 50 on CR108 (McDonalds Road) for approximately 1.5 miles and park along the road where the trail crosses. After the trail work, at approximately 1:00pm, a free BBQ lunch will be provided to the volunteers behind the Salida Cafe and Roastery. As usual, come prepared with water, gloves, long pants and sturdy boots. Tools will be provided.

Saturday, August 13, 2011, 9:00am: ShinDig Volunteer Day.

Eric Tauer — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 23:24:00 +0000

ShinDig is back after a month-long hiatus. For August we are going to finish working on the new beginner trail system on the Arkansas Hills Open Space (AHOS). This is a plot of land newly acquired by the City of Salida, with help from SMT, and a short network of beginner trails has been built. Finishing work needs to be completed on a few sandy sections, plus some areas of the trail need to be widened. Meet at the Burn Pile parking lot on CR176 on the way up to Spiral Drive at 9:00am. We will split into teams if possible and hike up to known affected areas. After the trail work, at approximately 1:00pm, a free BBQ lunch will be provided to the volunteers behind the Salida Cafe and Roastery. As usual, come prepared with water, gloves, long pants and sturdy boots (there are no trees, hence no shade, in this area). Tools will be provided.

Saturday, April 9, 2011, 9:00am: ShinDig Volunteer Day

Eric Tauer — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:58:17 +0000

Weather permitting, SMT is scheduling the April Volunteer ShinDig to do trail maintenance on the Little Rainbow Trail. Meet at the parking lot at the west end of the trail, 2.2 miles south on CR 110 from Hwy 50. We will work on berms, slash dispersal, limbing, rock removal, and whatever general maintenance we find. . After the trail work, at approximately 1:00pm, lunch will be provided to the volunteers behind or inside the Salida Cafe and Roastery. As usual, come prepared with water, gloves, long pants and sturdy boots. Be sure to dress warmly for the possible low April morning temperature. Tools will be provided.

Women’s Mountain Bike Clinic, Salida, April 16 & 17, 2011

Eric Tauer — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:27:44 +0000

From the instructor, Holly Annala…

On April 16 & 17 I am teaming up with Absolute Bikes to present an all women’s mountain biking clinic. On Friday night we will host a free ride for participants of the clinic and Eric and Shawn will present a discussion on bike fit. On Saturday and Sunday we will break into groups according to ability and learn and a lot of skills, and then head out on Salida’s great new trails The Little Rainbow and Arkansas Hills (S Mountain.) It is going to be a lot of fun and your confidence will grow with your new skills. Contact Holly at hollyannala@yahoo.com for questions or call Absolute Bikes and ask for Shawn to sign up, 719-539-9295. Be sure and let him know your ability level as well.

SMT Shindig: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 9:00am

Eric Tauer — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:17:19 +0000

February ShinDig: Trail Maintenance

Saturday, February 12, 2011, 9:00am: ShinDig to Open Little Rainbow.

Weather permitting, SMT is scheduling the February Volunteer ShinDig to coincide with the Grand Opening of the Little Rainbow Trail and to do some re-routing of the trail as it reaches the CR110 parking lot. Meet at the CR110 trailhead parking lot, which is 2.2 miles south on CR110 from Hwy 50. Turn left at the 2.2 mile point and go up a short incline to the parking lot. We will work on the trail until 12 noon, at which time the trail opening ceremony will take place. After the ceremony, lunch will be provided to the volunteers behind or inside the Salida Cafe and Roastery. As usual, come prepared with water, gloves, long pants and sturdy boots. Be sure to dress warmly for the low February morning temperatures. Tools will be provided