Happy Summer!
The days are long and warm with busy trails, towns, and outdoor areas. Please enjoy these updates from the world of the Ute Mountaineer and our surrounding outdoors.
Wag Bags on the Pass
Managing waste and keeping climbing areas beautiful on Independence Pass.
The Independence Pass Foundation recently installed containers of wag bags in the high-use climbing areas of Grottos Wall and Upper Boulder Field / Turkey Rock.
These popular areas have a high concentration of users and limited space leading to human waste challenges. The wag bags are an excellent option for responsibly removing and disposing of your waste. If you are recreating in one of these areas, we encourage you to take one to keep in your pack!
The Independence Pass Foundation is also looking for feedback about the wag bags from those who frequent the Grotto Wall and Upper Boulder Field climbing areas.
Specifically:
Are the wag bags being used?
Are more wag bags needed?
Any suggestions regarding wag bags and waste management at these areas?
Lime Creek Canyon Temporary Closures
White River Forest is enacting a temporary closure for peregrine falcons nesting.
Peregrine falcons have returned in 2022 to nest in the Jellystone climbing area of Lime Creek Canyon. As a result, the White River Forest is enacting a temporary closure of the area depicted in the attached Forest Order, effective June 9 until August 1, 2022.
A pair of Peregrine Falcons successfully nested in this area in 2020 during a similar temporary climbing closure. In 2021, falcons did not nest in this area and a closure was not necessary.
The temporary closed area includes the cliff faces, top of the cliffs, climbing routes, and access routes to the Magic Forest and Endless Wall at Jellystone Park (Names are from the Mountain Project website). The top of the cliffs are included in the closure because we have seen the peregrines perched there. Closure information is posted at the beginning of the access route from Forest Road 400. The closure ends August 1.
Below is a media release, a map of an alternative climbing area elsewhere in Lime Creek Canyon, and a picture of the active nest with a bird incubating one or more eggs.
Defiende Nuestra Tierra
(Defend Our Land)
The Ute recently hosted Defiende Nuestra Tierra (Defend Our Land) for some coffee, pastries, and gear before heading up into the Elk Mountains. Defiende and the Aspen Art Museum provided a lovely bilingual event on Aspen Mountain filled with hiking, art, and public lands!
For those unfamiliar, Defiende Nuestra Tierra is a program within Wilderness Workshop that aims to tap into the influential voice of the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Latinx communities and partner with those communities to steward and protect our public lands. A key component of the program is providing opportunities for members of the Latinx Community to access and enjoy public lands through hikes and restoration projects.
For more information or opportunities to get involved click here.
Photos courtesy of Joel Nunez-Smith.
The Robbie Wade Scholarship
We would like to congratulate this year’s recipient of the Robbie Wade / Ute Mountaineer Scholarship Grace Petersen!
This $2,500 scholarship is awarded to a graduating senior of Aspen Highschool who shows an awareness and respect for our natural world, including an awareness of current environmental issues and concerns.
Grace lives out an environmental ethic—working to improve, sustain, or otherwise be a steward of the natural setting and its appreciation. As well, she has shown potential for applying her environmental sensitivities in the future.
We are proud of Grace and happy to support her hard work!