Introduction
A contingent of volunteers from the Gay and Lesbian section of the Sierra Club, Rocky Mountain chapter(GLS), converged on the Capitol Peak Wilderness (near Snowmass, Colorado) for a 5-day, 4-night trail maintenance service project 16-20 July 2008. This is a joint project GLS does with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, represented by staff member John Copeland, and is our 6th year of involvement in the program called Adopt-A-Peak (Capitol Peak is one of Colorado's 554 mountains with an elevation of greater than 14,000 feet, and trails to its summit go through pristine alpine terrain and suffer a lot of wear and tear). Although the snow was so deep on one switchback that our pack horses couldn't quite make it to the base camp at 11, 200 feet (necessitating some human-powered transport of the picks, shovels, food, and other heavy equipment) the weather was beautiful and the work was invigorating. We got a lot done restoring and rebuilding sections of trail that needed the work, and had time in the evenings for socializing over gourmet meals served up by a team of culinary wizards (ourselves) including french press coffee and wine (thank you David Richter!). It was a nice chance for old friends who have done this project in the past to meet and work with people new to the program. And as usual, our CFI representative was a pleasure to work with. Hopefully we'll be able to be back there next year.
