In August, a remote 12-mile portion of the Continental Divide Trail —the Parting of the Waters over the Two Ocean Plateau to Fox Park in Yellowstone  — will receive a facelift with the help of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition and local Powell doctor Mike Tracy.

Tracy and a small group will be hiking in with cross cut saws to clear the trail Aug. 6-11, in order to remove downed trees and undergrowth and restore the trail to its original path.

The backcountry area adopted by Tracy last year is a difficult stretch, requiring an 18-mile approach just to get there.

The Continental Divide Trail is 3,100 miles long between Mexico and Canada. It runs through five states and “connects countless communities along the spine of the Rocky Mountains,” the coalition’s webpage said.

Tracy and the Continental Divide Trail Coalition have been working to fundraise $7,500 for the project in order to take a team of roughly four people on the six day trip (two days of travel and roughly four days of work). The funds will go toward food and assistance packing in tools and supplies, according to the coalition. Any extra funds will stay in the project’s account for future use, Tracy said.

Tracy is planning three trips this summer, one slightly off his assigned area to put up signage and clear a section of trail connecting a section along the North Fork of the Buffalo River to the Soda Fork Trail in the Teton Wildreness. His second trip is a recon of his trail to get a tree count and the third trip is when Tracy and his team will return his adopted trail to its original path. Over the years, fallen trees have caused hikers to go around, effectively changing the paths. 

“I think it’s probably better for a lot of reasons, to just see if you can restore it to the original trail,” Tracy said.

The original path is what is marked on the map, and makes things more simple and safer for those hiking the trail.

For tired hikers going over dead trees can lead to minor injuries from crawling over the trees, Tracy said.

Sections of the trail that will not require cross cutting but still have some fallen trees and undergrowth can also become hard to see due to tall grass that can hide the path or cause difficulty for horses.

Tracy first inquired about adopting a section of trail at Brooks Lake, but Haley Gamertsfelder, the field operations program manager of the Continental Trail Divide Coalition, told him that stretch receives traffic from outfitters and Forest Service personnel. What was really needed was someone to do the more remote section of the Continental Divide Trail.

“Then what you agree to do is go out there at least once a year. But you can go more than that if it’s accessible, to kind of take inventory of what needs to happen on the trail,” Tracy said.

This doesn’t mean adopters are a one-man army clearing the trail, substantial work like a small bridge that’s drifted and been incorporated into a beaver dam, is reported to the coalition and federal agency managing that section of trail. For Tracy this is Black Rock Ranger district.

Tracy has hiked parts of the Yellowstone stretch while also tending his remote chunk of trail.

He’s no stranger to the backcountry, as he grew up around the divide and has a lot of experience backpacking in Colorado, but he was not aware of the trail until about a decade ago, he said.

After asking around about the entire 3,028 mile trail, Tracy decided, roughly seven years ago, that he and his daughter Amanda would do the Yellowstone stretch.

“Which isn’t super easy to do because you have to start in Idaho. So if you’re going to go catch the trail in Idaho, then you have to figure out which old logging roads in Idaho can get you close,” Tracy said. “And then you’ve got to bush whack, probably about a mile or so, just bush whacking. And to get into the park right at the end, and find the trail.”

They hiked from the Idaho border, just outside of Island Park to Old Faithful. It was a 22 mile day hike.

“I just enjoy being out there. I’ve always enjoyed clearing trail as well, because I just think that if you find a section of trail that you like you can wait for the Forest Service to clear it if you want to, but I feel like if it’s a trail that I use and I enjoy I might as well help them out,” Tracy said.

The project wil be accepting donations through the end of May. Those who want to donate to the project or learn more can visit: continentaldividetrail.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/continentaldividetrail/campaign.jsp?campaign=119&fundraiser=22890

With a note on the check specifying it is for the Two Ocean Pass Project, donations can also be made to:

CDTC

619 12th Street, PO Box 428

Golden, CO 80402