Volunteer work will involve trail construction, rockwork, and restoring and revegatating trampled and eroded areas. Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle were the last Fourteeners in Colorado to be climbed. The high quality mountaineering and rock climbing available from South Colony Basin draw thousands of visitors annually. The Colorado Wilderness Bill of 1993 authorized the designation of the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, but the rough, four-wheel drive road to South Colony Basin was not included as wilderness. This relative ease of access has led to widespread, substantial resource impacts.
Eroded trails circle the South Colony Lakes, and impacted campsites dot the Basin.
CFI's 2001 efforts will focus on delineating a sustainable route along the South Colony approach to the Crestones via Eye of the Needle Pass. Work will entail shaping a route through talus and boulder fields through cairn building and rockwork. Volunteers will meet on the east side of the Sangre de Cristos at the end of two-wheel drive access along the South Colony road. Packs will be shuttled in by four-wheel drive vehicle and volunteers will walk the 6 miles to CFI's basecamp near the South Colony trailhead. Worksites will be 1 to 1.5 miles from the trailhead.