Early in the morning of Sept. 13, a small crowd gathered at the Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent headquarters on Manitou Avenue, preparing for a long day of work on the trails.
Skin streaked with the opaque tint of zinc sunscreen and thermoses of hot coffee in hand, Friends of the Peak volunteers conversed energetically by their cars as pickup trucks rolled into the lot, ready to chariot the group and its tools roughly three miles up Barr Trail for a day of maintenance ahead of the upcoming races.
According to Brian VanValkenburg, a longtime volunteer, vice president of the board and project coordinator for Friends of the Peak, Saturday’s scheduled workday was one of three Barr Trail “trip and slip” days – workdays dedicated to trail maintenance specifically planned to mitigate hazardous conditions for racers of the Sept. 20 Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent.
“The goal is to make the trail safer. We don’t do the entire 14 miles of trail. We do what we can access,” VanValkenburg said.
The work includes plugging roots, leveling the trail, trimming brush infiltrating the trek’s path and removing rocks (or “ankle breakers”) that pose a danger for runners.
“We’ll go in via Long Range Road. We get a ride, and we’ll go uphill, work our way down, get as far as we can in the time allotted,” VanValkenburg added ahead of the roughly seven-hour workday to come.
Since 1995, Friends of the Peak has maintained trails throughout the Pikes Peak region entirely through fundraising and volunteer efforts. Working in partnership with organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Field Institute, the group typically devotes its roughly two dozen annual workdays to some of the area’s most popular trails – St. Mary’s Falls, Seven Bridges, Barr Trail and the Crags.
Of the six volunteers on Saturday (including this reporter), three were members of the locally famous AdAmAn Club, best known for staging the New Year’s fireworks show atop Pikes Peak.
AdAmAn Club member Mike Boggs told the Bulletin that he and the club typically join Friends of the Peak for volunteer work after Labor Day weekend, calling it “a great way to give back to the trails” and “a fun day outside on the Peak.”
Although the workday was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m., VanValkenburg’s voice rose above the small crowd just before 9 as he called the group together for a brief safety meeting. With contagious enthusiasm, he outlined the day’s goals, the tools volunteers would use, how to assist and navigate around hikers on the trail, and what to do in case of an emergency.
“I don’t want to burn too much extra time,” VanValkenburg said in closing. “Does anyone feel unsafe at this point? No? Have I caused any jeopardy yet? Anyone ready to quit?” he added, joking with the group.
Split into two teams of three, the volunteers reached Barr Trail around 10:30 a.m. just above the three-mile mark. One team stopped to make repairs while the other continued up the trail. Pickaxes swung and dirt flew through the air to the rhythm of shovels scraping against rock – a strange but efficient dance of coordinated labor.
Hours later, the group paused for lunch at the four-mile mark before turning back and working their way down the trail.
Sporting a PB&J in one hand and a bag of chips in the other, longtime volunteer and Friends of the Peak board member Steven Driska smiled and chatted with the group from his perch on a tree stump. Asking what others had brought to eat, he followed nearly every answer with the cheerful remark “Good trail food.”
After starting working with the organization in 2014, Driska became trained as a crew lead in 2016 and joined the board in 2022.
“When I started trail work, I enjoyed it and called myself a ‘selfish volunteer.’ I would look at schedules to see which project sounded like the most fun,” Driska said, adding that he enjoyed working with Friends of the Peak the most because of their well-planned projects, experienced project coordinators and scenic work locations.
He went on to explain that the volunteer network struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic. That’s when Driska felt compelled to increase his involvement.
“Once vaccines became available, we restarted operations in the middle of summer 2021, and it was a challenge. Some board members had stepped down, our technology systems were outdated and I feared that Friends of the Peak might collapse. That’s when I decided to get involved, join the board and help rebuild,” Driska said.
Although a few familiar faces remain active in the organization, declining volunteer participation continues to be a major challenge for Friends of the Peak. While numbers had already been decreasing over the past decade, VanValkenburg said the pandemic caused them to drop “off of a cliff.”
“From what I hear around town, a lot of groups are struggling to recruit volunteers,” VanValkenburg said.
Having volunteered since 2009, VanValkenburg remains hopeful that fellow outdoor enthusiasts will discover a joy and sense of purpose similar to what he feels.
“I love the outdoors, I love our trails and I feel good helping others. I recognize and appreciate that others share this passion and find joy in giving back to the places they love. Friends of the Peak sees it as part of our mission to provide opportunities for people to express that passion and to help inspire even more volunteer engagement,” he said.
Interested in learning more or getting involved? Go to friendsofthepeak.org.
