Aspen-area counties that pay for Forest Service backcountry rangers consider the partnerships essential to managing federal public lands in their backyards.
David Lesh had the day in court that he so desperately wanted but it didn’t work out as he hoped. Lesh was found guilty by a federal judge Oct. 22 of two petty offenses, but…
Relief is on the way for visitors at the Upper Lost Man Trailhead on Independence Pass.
A permanent toilet will be installed Tuesday. It was supposed to be completed this week for the busy Fourth of July weekend, but a truck hauling the toilet from Texas broke down, according to Karin Teague, executive director of the Independence Pass Foundation.
The nonprofit foundation teamed with the U.S. Forest Service and Aspen Skiing Co. employees’ Environment Foundation to fund the $36,000 needed to fabricate and install the single-seat toilet.
While typically a new toilet might not be newsworthy, the loo at that location is indicative of the greater pressure that the Independence Pass corridor is facing. That was exacerbated last summer when people flocked to mountain resorts and the outdoors while the COVID-19 pandemic restricted gatherings and indoor activities.
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Scott Condon/The Aspen Times
The unprecedented use and occasional abuse of the Independence Pass corridor last summer will produce a highly visible result this summer.
The U.S. Forest Service and partners decided after flushing out all the issues to install a permanent bathroom at the Upper Lost Man Trailhead.
The Lost Man Loop hike has always been popular but visits soared in the COVID-19 summer as people from Colorado’s Front Range and other urban areas fled to the mountains to find relief from the pandemic.
“Last year saw more use on the Pass than any year in history, is the bottom line,” Karin Teague, executive director of the nonprofit Independence Pass Foundation, said Tuesday. “The Pass felt the impacts.”