Life as a CMC Stewardship Crew Member

Hi! My name is Eli Mears, and I am a technician on the Colorado Mountain Club’s Brainard Lake Stewardship Trail Crew. If you’re interested in volunteering for CMC, you may have seen my crew in the recent Rucksack newsletter—we are currently building new trails across the southern end of Brainard Lake, and we’re excited to have volunteers take part in our work. I love working on the trail crews, and I wanted to talk about why I joined CMC, what each day is like out there, and what I’ve learned about trail work and conservation. 

I applied to CMC’s trail crew because I wanted to complete meaningful work in the wilderness and give back to our public lands that have given me so much. I grew up with parents who were deeply invested in our wild spaces: they owned national park passes, took me on weekly hikes, and encouraged me to get outside whenever I got the chance. When I got to college, I threw myself into the outdoors, going backpacking trips in addition to running cross country, and after a year, I knew I wanted to work on a conservation crew. This past spring, with graduation and “the real world” looming, CMC was just what I was looking for in my job search. Not only was it a chance to give back to public lands, but it was also located in one of the most beautiful parts of the country—Colorado’s Front Range. 

Although my hopes were high for working in the mountains, working at Brainard has been better than I anticipated. Every Monday morning, I pack my bags for four days of camping, drive two thousand feet up, and leave Nederland until Thursday night. Once our Brainard base camp is ready, we hike our tools into the trails and get to work, tearing duff, breaking rocks, or digging dirt until it’s time to head home. Our work is hard, and most days I arrive back at camp happy, but tired—my crewmates are some of the funniest people I’ve met in Colorado, and their commitment to the public lands is truly exceptional. I’m lucky to have the crew and some moose for coworkers, and no matter how troublesome the trail construction might be, I’m always stunned by the beauty of Brainard Lake and Colorado’s old-growth forests. 

After joining CMC as a technician, I’ve found a renewed appreciation for every trail I’ve ever hiked, ran, or biked. I now realize the human effort required to build a sustainable trail: On our crew’s best days, we can produce 0.10 miles of quality trail—usually less—and if we need to build a bridge and or another features, we’re slower still. There’s no magic to our public lands: America’s trails are created by consistent efforts by committed people to conserve wild places. I’ve also learned how our conservation of public lands has an immediate impact on recreators, and when tourists to Brainard Lake stop on our trails, they’re deeply grateful for our work in preservation. These interactions with the public have taught me that trail work is integral to protecting America’s wild spaces and crucial to conservation itself. 

It’s a privilege to work for CMC and to conserve our public lands this year. I’ll sign off for now, but I hope to see you soon at Brainard Lake!