The mountain area’s newspaper since 1958
WEEK OF APRIL 10, 2025
VOLUME 66 | ISSUE 21
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Elk Creek Fire board again clashes with fellow director BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The latest Elk Creek Fire board meeting took another unique turn recently, when Chuck Newby voted against approving district contracts with the fire chief and firefighters union, saying neither had received proper legal review. He also said Vice President Dominique Devaney had put “the district in jeopardy” by not taking timely action on Chief Jacob Ware’s contract. The contract was reviewed in executive session in June . The board voted after the closed session to approve a pay increase for Ware to $150,000 a year, but it did not move forward with the contract then. “We just overlooked it,” Pixley Jeffco trail team lead Eric Fields, with trails specialist Nathan McCarty points to the ridge over which a proposed stone staircase will be built at the base of PHOTO BY JANE REUTER Mt. Morrison’s South Ridge Trail.
County slowly improving popular Mt. Morrison trail Changes aimed at slowing erosion while maintaining rugged user experience BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
One of the Denver area’s most popular and challenging trails is getting some love from Jefferson County Open Space. Mt. Morrison’s South Ridge Trail, a victim of popularity and steep grades prime for erosion, is undergoing a years-long series of changes. Jeffco’s plans call for adding
about 1,500 feet of steps to the trail’s steep initial ascent in the next few years. The county has already invested $67,000 to add 80 steps — or gabion baskets — further up the trail. Another 60, built with rocks harvested from the trail, will be added this year. The baskets and future stairs are all designed to slow erosion on the increasingly busy route, while retaining most of the unrefined, arduous quality its us-
ers love. “With the amount of people coming here, we have to address it,” said Eric Fields, Jeffco trail team lead for the north region. Mt. Morrison ascends more than 2,000 feet in less than two miles with a Class 2 rock scramble at the end, making it a favorite among those seeking a challenge or training for longer peak climbs. “It’s like a mini 14-er in three miles,” said Aaron Hurt, who hiked it March 31 with a weighted backpack as training for summer mountain climbing.
Mt. Morrison is an undesignated county trail likely created as a utility easement, with parts of it on Denver Mountain Parks, Jefferson County and private land. But its unofficial status doesn’t keep people away. “There’s a pretty clear-cut user group,” said Nathan McCarty, Jeffco trails specialist. “It’s people who are ready to get their sweat on. It’s not casual, sightseeing hikers. “It spikes your heart right off the bat, and it never lets up,” Fields agreed.
HAPPENINGS: 8 | VOICES: 10 | LIFESTYLES: 13 | PUZZLES: 26
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