ESTES PARK, Colo. — This weekend, you have a chance to help keep our national parks clean during the federal government shutdown.
The YMCA of the Rockies' Estes Park Center is hosting a community clean-up hike. This will be in the Glacier Basin Campground.
In an e-mail, Jason Nelson, communication director for the YMCA of the Rockies, wrote:
"The YMCA of the Rockies has been around since 1907, a few years before RMNP was founded. While this effort is inspired by the federal government shutdown, which has limited some of the regular maintenance services in national parks, we see this as an opportunity to be good neighbors when, many times throughout our history, RMNP has been good neighbors to us. We saw this as an opportunity to step up in a respectful and helpful way, offering guests a way to give back to the park during their visit."
Nelson said everyone is invited to the hike. It will be guided by YMCA staff. They will provide trash bags to collect litter found along the trail and campground.
You don't have to formally sign up. But if you are interested, you can meet at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday morning, Oct. 18 and 19, at the Boone Family Mountain Center. This is on the YMCA property.
The group of hikers will leave at 9 a.m. It is four miles roundtrip. You should bring water, snacks, sun protection and good shoes.
Last weekend, around 17 volunteers did the same thing on a hike to Moraine Park.
