Category Archives: Trails

Postponed: April BOD

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Meeting Time:
Tuesday April 16, 2013 at 7:00PM  

 
BOD Meetings are held in the Fire Center Classroom. For those of you unfamiliar with the classroom building make your first left into the Fire Center after Mt. Herman Rd. turns to dirt, follow the road all the way into the administrative area and the classroom building is the first building on your right.
 
Agenda:
 

Thanks and we hope to see you there!

FOMP

Last Chance for 2012 – FOMP needs you!

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Tuesday September 11 at 6:00 PM – Trail work.

FOMP is pleased to be holding a our final volunteer trail work and tree trimming work session of the 2012 season!

 

FOMP and USFS provide all necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should bring leather gloves, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area. In the event that you are joining us late we always leave a note at the trail head parking lot or you can call Jon Nordby (719.640.1347) or Chris Tirpak (719.439.8865) to find out where in the Preserve we are working that evening.

 

We make every effort to accommodate volunteer preferences and abilities at each event. Generally we perform activities such as water bar building or renovation, trail renovation, maintenance, and trimming, etc. So, pretty much everything from trimming back scrub oak or digging lots of dirt to moving boulders. We assign duties based on interest and capabilities. Kids are welcome to join their parents; however, we do ask that you evaluate whether this is an appropriate activity for your child or not.

 

Meet at the main trailhead parking lot at 6:00PM! (map: http://bit.ly/FOMPMeetingSpot)

Thanks and we hope to see you out there soon!

FOMP

Mt. Herman Rd is Now Open!

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Good news! Mt. Herman Rd is Now Open!

Mt. Herman Road and some of the surrounding areas are now re-opened! Please see the zoomed in map below fo rthe Northern area of the closure and then visit www.fomp.org for the full map. We will also post an updated list of know open/closed as soon as we have a chance.Please note that fines for crossing into the closed area begin at $125 and go up from there.Enjoy!
full map – waldo canyon fire order 12-15 (full size requires Adobe PDF reader)
Mt Herman Rd Re-open Map Click to Zoom

Mt Herman Rd Re-open Map Click to Zoom

 

Monthly Trail Work, Fires, Openings, Closings

Monthly Trail Work, Fires, Openings, Closings

It has been a chaotic couple of weeks in the area and we have up to date information on what is open, what is closed, maps, orders, and volunteer opportunities!1. Open or Closed?

At the top of everyone’s mind … what is open and what is closed?

The good news, the Preserve is OPEN! Despite some signage to the contrary it is open. We’ve worked witht the USFS to correct the signage and post maps. You do need to steer clear of Mt. Herman Rd – the machinery working on the road can throw rocks and debris 200+ feet – so stay away from the road. USFS 715 “Stoopid Trail” is closed where it turns SW in the SQ corner of the preserve. We have placed a sign there – that leads you into the closure – stay out or risk a ticket.

The bad news, Mt. Herman Rd and everthing West of Red Rocks Rd to Palmer Lake and then West on 322 to Rampart Range Rd is CLOSED. There was a new order in place as of Friday closing this section.

Why: So that the Forest Service can finish cleaning up the fire line on Mt. Herman Road – they are using masticulating machines and feller bunchers and they are also removing all the logs from the Mt. Herman Rd fire line. This will continue for several more days at the very least, maybe a couple of weeks. We hope that it will re-open after that but we have no firm date or commitment from the USFS yet. If we get one we will let you know.

Please have a look at this zoomed in map of our area from the latest USFS closure order.

 

Full map and closure order (Adobe PDF Reder required), these are somewhat large, be patient:

Waldo Canyon Fire Area Closure Order 12-08

Waldo North Closure REVISED map

A list of other regional openings and closings is at the end of this email/post.

2. Fire

We still have high fire danger so be aware. The recent rains have not changed the fire danger.

3. Shooting Range Update

After FOMP volunteers cleaned up over 60 (yes 60!) bags of trash and debris from illegal shooting on Mt. Herman Rd the FS then cleaned up just as much 2 days later and closed parking and roped off these areas. There was approximately 2 acres total sutdown to shooting in areas that are not safe to shoot in the first place. Social ranges that were on the top of ridgelines with not backstop were closed down. Much, muc more remains to be done to make Mt. Herman Rd a safe place for other recreational users as some of the remaining social ranges have been utterly destroyed and shooters are shooting uphill with stray and ricochet bullets landing in Limbaugh Canyon still as well as on the Mt. Herman hiking trail. We continue to work with the USFS to try and make the Mt. Herman corrider a safe place again. The illegal shooting is just that – illegal and unsafe. It is in areas where shooting is allowed unfortunately many (and it appears a majority) of the recreational shooters on Mt. Herman Rd choose not to follow the rules of the USFS and are destroying trees and other resources as well as creating very dangerous situations for themselves and others. FOMP’s BOD continues to work with the USFS for good solutions for all parties including recreational shooters.

4. Monthly Trail Work Session Information

Tuesday July 10 at 6:00 PM

FOMP is pleased to be holding a volunteer trail work and tree trimming work session!

FOMP and USFS provide all necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should bring leather gloves, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area. In the event that you are joining us late we try to leave a note at the trail head parking lot or you can call Jon Nordby (719.640.1347) or Chris Tirpak (719.439.8865) to find out where in the Preserve we are working that evening.
We make every effort to accommodate volunteer preferences and abilities at each event. Generally we perform activities such as water bar building or renovation, trail renovation, maintenance, and trimming, etc. So, pretty much everything from trimming back scrub oak or digging lots of dirt to moving boulders. We assign duties based on interest and capabilities. Kids are welcome to join their parents; however, we do ask that you evaluate whether this is an appropriate activity for your child or not.
Meet at the main trailhead parking lot at 6:00PM! (map: http://bit.ly/FOMPMeetingSpot)
Thanks and we hope to see you out there!

FOMP==== List of Known Open / Closed Regional Trails ====

Thanks to David Wagner for putting this list together – we will try and update it as he provides updates and eventually make it a seperate post on www.fomp.org

Open:

Colorado Spring Parks and Open Spaces
Douglas County Parks and Open Spaces
Barr Trail
Pikes Peak Highways Trails
State Parks
El Paso County Parks
Castle Rock Parks
updated: Old Stage Road and Gold Camp Road are now open

Falcon Trail (Air Force Academy) with military ID update: The Falcon Trail (Air Force Academy) is only under FPCON ALPHA, so only drivers license is required — update #2: Falcon Trail may be only partially open unless you have a military ID – please verify before you go!

Trail Closures due to the Waldo Canyon Fire:

Order 12-10 and Municipality Rulings
High Arson and Fire Risk & Limited Resources Available
48,000 acres (75 square miles) of forest service land in the closure area
14,270 acres of forest service land burned (30% of closure area)
NOTE: USFS system trails listed below have there number after them
Some private and social trails are listed
USAFA : Eagle Peak, Stanley Canyon 707, West Monument Creek 713
Blodgett Peak Open Space & Blodgett Peak
Oak Valley trails off Coldwater Dr, Colo Spgs (?)
Palmer Lakes via Balanced Rock Rd 322 from Old Carriage Rd (per PL Water Dept.)
Monument Preserve, partial closure, Monument 715, I-A Fitness 718
Mt. Herman 716
Farish (4 trails)
Various Forest Service Roads (including portion of Rampart Range Rd 300)
Williams Canyon (Williams Canyon Project)
Waldo Canyon 640
Pyramid Mountain Estates (Cascade)
Green Mountain Falls trail system (per Lorrie Worthey, mayor)
Kings Crown Road area trails (Woodland Park)
Rainbow Gulch Rd, Nichols 709, Reservoir 700
Ormes Peak

Shooting Range Cleanup and Reclamation work session!

Update: Cafevelo Bikes is so excited to hear about the progress FOMP has made getting the shooting areas on Mt. Herman cleaned up that they would like to buy a coffee for any volunteer who shows up and helps tomorrow!  FOMP will be collecting names and giving it to the owner on Wed. If you can not make it please be sure to show your support and drop by Cafevelo Bikes and show them some love in return for encouraging everyone to get out and participate and ride!

http://www.cafevelobikes.com/

FOMP urgently needs you for this special work session!

Tuesday June 12 at 5:00PM or 6:00 PM – Trail work to clean up and reclaim shooting ranges in conjunction with USFS.

FOMP is pleased to be holding a volunteer work session with USFS!

informal shooting ranges that have resulted in massive resource destruction, trash, and very dangerous conditions on Mt. Herman Road will be cleaned up and closed down.
Two groups will go up Mt. Herman Road to the shooting sites to perform clean up in advance of USFS work later this week. Meet at the main trailhead and form carpool groups to go up to the cleanup sites. If you miss a group at 5PM or 6PM then please proceed up the road to catch up with the group.Meet at the main trailhead parking lot at 5:00PM or 6:00PM! (map: http://bit.ly/FOMPMeetingSpot)

Please bring heavy duty black trash baghs if you have them, work gloves, bug spray and a personal water supply.

Primary work location will be up Mt. Herman Rd. about 4.5 miles, at the upper Limbaugh entrance. About 1 mile past where 715 crosses Mt Herman Road. Look for the vehicles, hard to miss.
Thanks and we hope to see you out there soon!

FOMP

Monument Scout Troop 17 & USFS Trail 715

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Zach Newton working on Trail 715 By Jon Nordby

Despite the abundance of trails we enjoy and maintain in the Monument Preserve, only USFS Trail 715 is officially recognized on official Pike National Forest maps. The official trailhead is just a few hundred yards inside the gate at Schilling and Lindbergh , where TR 715 begins a meandering path that heads generally West towards Mount Herman before heading South out of the 1000 acres that comprise the Preserve. It’s journey continues South, staying below Mt Herman Road, before climbing steeply West up the North Beaver creek drainage under the power lines. Finally crossing Mt Herman Road (MHR), the trail heads back toward Palmer Lake through Limbaugh Canyon, looping around the Front of Mount Herman back to preserve.

Trail 715 is rugged, and purposely unimproved to retain that feel. Equestrians are common on the ride “Around the Mountain”, and are largely responsible for the early route.  Runners and hikers have always been frequent users, and mountain bikers are now enjoying the challenge. This is a challenging trail, with many rock and root obstacles known to pull a shoe off a horse and scrape up hocks, turn an ankle on a distance runner, and rip a derailleur off a mountain bike while flipping the rider over the bars. The challenge is the purpose of this trail, but as waist-deep erosion ruts formed over the years, it became clear we had to step in.

FOMP has worked on 715 extensively to prevent deterioration of the trail while preserving the “unimproved” and remote experience this trail provides. We strive to leave natural obstacles in the trail bed, plan reroutes that are maintainable while still challenging, and trim oak back in a way to where trail-use won’t widen the bed.  I think we’ve mostly met that goal, for there are 1000’s of hours invested in that trail over the past decade from volunteers comprised of school groups, church groups, USFS personnel and firefighters, corporate employees, and local businesses.

One group in particular, Troop 17 of the Boy Scouts of America, has made an enormous impact on this trail over the past 10 years, implementing 9 Eagle Scout projects extending from the trail head, over into the Limbaugh section of trail.

Upcoming newsletters will provide a brief history on various Eagle Scout projects devoted to maintaining this special trail.

 

Cancelled: Bonus Trail Work Night

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CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER!
We will probably try and re-schedule this next Tuesday – stay tuned.

FOMP would like to let you know that we will be hosting an unscheduled Trail Work session Tuesday night May 24!

Tuesday May 24 at 6:00 PM – Trail work!

Sometimes we get the bug to really get rolling and that is the case this year. So, tomorrow evening we will be holding an unscheduled Trail Work session.

Since it is unscheduled we will also change our meeting place. We will be working on the upper portion of the trail that descends from Mt. Herman Rd. to Monument Rock / the pond. Please park at or near Mt. Herman Rd. and Red Rocks Dr (map:  http://bit.ly/mvaP43) and walk up to the trail entrance off of Mt. herman Rd.  then down onto the trail and join us. Please grab tools from the green Toyota Tundra that will be parked at the top of the trail and come on down and meet us – since this is an impromptu session we won’t be waiting around for the group. We will be just down the trail about 20 yards to the North from the road.

FOMP and USFS provide all necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should bring leather gloves, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area. In the event that you are joining us late we always leave a note at the trail head parking lot or you can call Chris Tirpak (719.439.8865) if you have questions.

Thanks and we hope to see you out there soon!
FOMP

 

Trail Work Tuesday!

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FOMP would like to remind you that we will be hosting a Trail Work session Tuesday night May 10!

Tuesday May 10 at 6:00 PM – Trail work!

FOMP is pleased to be holding our first volunteer trail work and tree trimming work session for the 2011 season! It has been a long dry winter and we have lots of work ahead of us this summer so please join us!

FOMP and USFS provide all necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should bring leather gloves, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area. In the event that you are joining us late we always leave a note at the trail head parking lot or you can call Jon Nordby (719.640.1347) or Chris Tirpak (719.439.8865) to find out where in the Preserve we are working that evening.
We make every effort to accommodate volunteer preferences and abilities at each event. Generally we perform activities such as water bar building or renovation, trail renovation, maintenance, and trimming, etc. So, pretty much everything from trimming back scrub oak or digging lots of dirt to moving boulders. We assign duties based on interest and capabilities. Kids are welcome to join their parents; however, we do ask that you evaluate whether this is an appropriate activity for your child or not.

Meet at the main trailhead parking lot at 6:00PM! (map: http://bit.ly/FOMPMeetingSpot)

Thanks and we hope to see you out there soon!
FOMP

April Board of Directors Meeting

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April 13 – Tuesday 7:00PM – Tomorrow!

Quarterly Board of Directors Meeting. This will be FOMP’s first quarterly BOD meeting after our recent elections and our change to a quarterly format. BOD Meetings are held in the Fire Center Classroom. For those of you unfamiliar with the classroom building make your first left into the Fire Center after Mt. Herman Rd. turns to dirt, follow the road all the way into the administrative area and the classroom building is the first building on your right.

Our agenda will at a minimum include the following:

  • Summer 2010 events planning
  • Tree Planting Post Mortem
  • Push by USFS for Systemizing Trails
  • Memorial Grove Day
  • Potluck Dinner
  • Seedling Release Plans
  • Trail Maintenance Plans
  • Motor Vehicle Travel Plan for Pike (FOMP Response).

Thanks and we hope to see you there!
FOMP

Upcoming Events

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FOMP would like to remind you of several upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

April 10 – This Saturday – Our second Eagle Scout project will be this Saturday. Zach Anderson will lead this, which includes planting 200 seedlings and releasing as many existing seedlings as time allows. Estimated project time is from 9:00 AM to 3:00PM.

If you would like to participate, please meet us at 9:00 at the Red Rocks Ranch parking lot (intersection of Red Rocks
and Mount Herman Roads).  We plan to shuttle folks just over a mile up the Mt Herman Road, from where we will hike east
into the project area. This spot on the Mt Herman Road will be marked with orange cones, in case you join in late.
Please see attached maps at the end of the message for location details.

Bring gloves and water, and lunch if needed.  Tools will be supplied.

If you want to join in but arrive late, please contact Jon Nordby (640-1347) or Diane Strohm (232-7724), and we’ll
provide directions as to our specific whereabouts.

April 13 – Tuesday 7:00PM – Quarterly Board of Directors Meeting. This will be FOMP’s first quarterly BOD meeting after our recent elections and our change to a quarterly format. BOD Meetings are held in the Fire Center Classroom. For those of you unfamiliar with the classroom building make your first left into the Fire Center after Mt. Herman Rd. turns to dirt, follow the road all the way into the administrative area and the classroom building is the first building on your right.
Our agenda will at a minimum include the following:

* Summer 2010 events planning
* Open Agenda for members

May 6 – Thursday 5:30PM – Hot Shots and Helitic Crew Dinner – every year FOMP hosts a pot luck dinner for the Hot Shot and Helitac crew based in the Preserve. We will have dinner ready for the crews at 5:30 that day. We are asking for donations of prepared food such as the following:

* Casseroles, crock pot dishes,etc.. for the main course.
* Salads, breads,fruit and desserts to accompany the meal.

The FOMP coordinator for the event is Diane Bandle and she can be reached at dmbandle@hotmail.com. Please let Diane know what you might be able to provide or bring to the work center that day between five and five thirty. If you can not attend but would like to cook some food please let Diane know and she can accomodaye a drop off at her house prior to the event.

Thanks and we hope to see you out there soon!

Parking Area and Dropoff Point
Parking Area and Dropoff Point
Project Area Map

Project Area Map