Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A number wild fires continue to burn throughout the state,
with the South Rim Fire at Black Canning of the
Gunnison National Park expanding to nearly four thousand acres no
containment at this time.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
But at a time where many love to enjoy hiking, camping,
and everything outdoors, how do you stay safe and alerts
on the ever changing fire conditions. Joining us now on
the Kawa Commons Spirit Health Hotline is State Trails Program
director and your coworker called you the.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Co tres Guru. It's Joe O'Brien. Joe, thank you so
much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Thank you so much for having you give us.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Your elevator pitch. Start by explaining what the co Trecks
app does and how it works.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Sure, yeah, thank you so. Co Trex is the state's
official trails app. So it's managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife,
but it's truly a collaboration between over two hundred and
thirty different management entities from the Forest Service to the
Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, our state parks,
as well as local cities and counties who have contributed
their trail information straight to the apps. We have over
(00:58):
forty five thousand miles of trail that have been vetted
by official sources. And that's what makes cochecks really really
unique is that we only take that official information directly
from our partners and make sure that everything we have
on the app is official. We include things like alerts
and advisories that agencies might provide for a closed trail
for really any reason they might need to close the trail,
(01:20):
and wildfire boundaries, train I will talk about avalanche forecasts,
all of that coming from official sources in real time.
And one of the really great things about cochecks for
the public is that it's entirely free. There are no
ads or no subscriptions or premium versions, and you can
download maps with you wherever you go. So it's a
really great resource to the public. I always tell people,
(01:41):
you know, if there are plenty of places you can
go and be inspired to find your next hike or
bike ride, but bring cochecks along with you as well,
because it provides that official, vetted resource. You can really rely.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
On, Joe when you talk about those vetted resources. Since
you're connecting these things tech, the app works still through
human use. What they observe, what cameras, maybe these trails
and these forces and the like have and that's how
you see it on the app.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, we work directly with those agencies. So in the
case of the wildfires and fires that are going on
right now, we pull from a couple of primary sources
into web and the National Interagency Buyer Center. Those are
two official resources where agencies contribute their data when it
comes to the boundary of a fire. The description details
(02:30):
where people can find more information. They're really detailed resources
that we basically integrate and partner with them to pull
that information directly in the app, so you don't need
to go to a bunch of different sources. Same with
avalanche conditions, for example, we work with the Colorado Avalanche
Information Center to pull their information in daily. Same with
our alerts and advisories, So all the information you see
(02:51):
in there is coming from an official or an official
source within a city, county, state, or federal agency.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And I love how you said you can use other
apps for inspiration, but then go to cotracks to confirm,
because there's been times where I've used those other apps
assuming that a trail will be opened, showing up and
then realizing for some way, shape or form it's not,
and they're just way more up to date when you
have the co Trex information. But Joe, when we look
at this currently the app, I mean, we're dealing with
a lot of wildfires in our area currently and one
(03:21):
at a big national park that people love to go
to closed right now. But if they pulled up code
tracks right now, what would it look like? What information
would it provide to them to know what trails are
and aren't open?
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Absolutely, so you would see if you were to pull
up cochecks right now, either on the app on iOS
or Android or on the website, you'd see the same thing,
which is the boundary that insueb has specifically reported to us.
That's an active boundary that they last updated eight hours ago.
But if you go on co tracks, we'll see when
we last checked it, which was about about fifteen to
(03:53):
twenty minutes ago that we last linked with their system,
So you'll see the most up to date boundary of
that active fire going on, as well as a description
that includes information that Intuweb has included and sent to us,
like that the park is closed right now and that
areas are being evacuated in that general area. So you'd
be able to go in and see as of twenty
(04:15):
minutes ago, what the boundary of that fire is and
what insuweb is reporting to the public about that fire.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
I know the fires are top of mind show, but
something leaps to mind for me for other uses and protocols.
We have stories all the time in the news about
missing people, whether they're on hikes or out in the
wilderness and hinterland. If you will, I'm assuming cochecks can
help with those search efforts.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Yeah. Absolutely. We do partner with some search and rescue organizations.
They use us as a way to kind of navigate
on the trail. We also have functionality within the app
that can allow you to share your exact GPS coordinates.
So in a lot of cases with search and rescue
in particular, people can get lost and still be in
(04:58):
cell coverage and call and say, you know, hey, I'm lost,
I'm not exactly sure where I am. I think I
took a wrong turn, and those search and rescue agencies
are able to use codechecks as one of the resources.
There a number of ways to do this, but cochexs
is one way where you can go in and say, okay,
here my exact GPS coordinates of exactly where I am.
(05:19):
I can text that to that agency, that search and
rescue organization and make that process a lot easier and
safer for people.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Joe, at the minute we have left as the state
Trails program coordinator, obviously, best fire safety practices are crucial
right now during the active summer season. What would you
recommend to listeners if they're going out camping, hiking, just
enjoying our outdoor season, but concerned about anything that could
spark when we deal with our wildfires.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, I think you know, the most important thing to
recognize is that, I mean, as we see with these
big buyers, things can change very very rapidly, and so
it's really important to stay on top of not leaving
your fire unattended, using those designated camp fire areas where
it's allowed. You know, there's a reason behind why agencies
let you build fires in the places they let you
(06:06):
build them, keeping that fire small, and then really really importantly,
I think most importantly is making sure you burn everything
completely to ash, and make sure that you saturate that
ash with water and make sure it's cool to the touch.
You should be able to hover the back of your
hand an inch above the ashes that you have there
and really feel no warmth coming off of them. It's
(06:27):
shocking how much heat can remain in ash that just
looks like nothing. It's not on fire, there's not really
any smoke coming out, and there's still a significant amount
of heat that if you leave that behind and a
wind picks up, can blow some of that ash or
colds and create a fire. So those are just a
few practices I always make sure that I practice when
(06:48):
I'm out there.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Joe. Where can people find your app?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
They can find it on the App Store either on
iOS or on Android for Apple and Android devices, and
they can also find it on trail dot Colorado dot gov.
That's the website where you can go and find all
this information.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's called co Trecks and he's the state Trails program coordinator.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
It's Joe O'Brien.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Joe, thank you so much for your time this morning.
A number wild fires continue to burn throughout the state,
with the South Rim Fire at Black Canning of the
Gunnison National Park expanding to nearly four thousand acres no
containment at this time.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
But at a time where many love to enjoy hiking, camping,
and everything outdoors, how do you stay safe and alerts
on the ever changing fire conditions. Joining us now on
the Kawa Commons Spirit Health Hotline is State Trails Program
director and your coworker called you the.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Co tres Guru. It's Joe O'Brien. Joe, thank you so
much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Thank you so much for having you give us.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Your elevator pitch. Start by explaining what the co Trecks
app does and how it works.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Sure, yeah, thank you so. Co Trex is the state's
official trails app. So it's managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife,
but it's truly a collaboration between over two hundred and
thirty different management entities from the Forest Service to the
Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, our state parks,
as well as local cities and counties who have contributed
their trail information straight to the apps. We have over
(00:58):
forty five thousand miles of trail that have been vetted
by official sources. And that's what makes cochecks really really
unique is that we only take that official information directly
from our partners and make sure that everything we have
on the app is official. We include things like alerts
and advisories that agencies might provide for a closed trail
for really any reason they might need to close the trail,
(01:20):
and wildfire boundaries, train I will talk about avalanche forecasts,
all of that coming from official sources in real time.
And one of the really great things about cochecks for
the public is that it's entirely free. There are no
ads or no subscriptions or premium versions, and you can
download maps with you wherever you go. So it's a
really great resource to the public. I always tell people,
(01:41):
you know, if there are plenty of places you can
go and be inspired to find your next hike or
bike ride, but bring cochecks along with you as well,
because it provides that official, vetted resource. You can really rely.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
On, Joe when you talk about those vetted resources. Since
you're connecting these things tech, the app works still through
human use. What they observe, what cameras, maybe these trails
and these forces and the like have and that's how
you see it on the app.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, we work directly with those agencies. So in the
case of the wildfires and fires that are going on
right now, we pull from a couple of primary sources
into web and the National Interagency Buyer Center. Those are
two official resources where agencies contribute their data when it
comes to the boundary of a fire. The description details
(02:30):
where people can find more information. They're really detailed resources
that we basically integrate and partner with them to pull
that information directly in the app, so you don't need
to go to a bunch of different sources. Same with
avalanche conditions, for example, we work with the Colorado Avalanche
Information Center to pull their information in daily. Same with
our alerts and advisories, So all the information you see
(02:51):
in there is coming from an official or an official
source within a city, county, state, or federal agency.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And I love how you said you can use other
apps for inspiration, but then go to cotracks to confirm,
because there's been times where I've used those other apps
assuming that a trail will be opened, showing up and
then realizing for some way, shape or form it's not,
and they're just way more up to date when you
have the co Trex information. But Joe, when we look
at this currently the app, I mean, we're dealing with
a lot of wildfires in our area currently and one
(03:21):
at a big national park that people love to go
to closed right now. But if they pulled up code
tracks right now, what would it look like? What information
would it provide to them to know what trails are
and aren't open?
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Absolutely, so you would see if you were to pull
up cochecks right now, either on the app on iOS
or Android or on the website, you'd see the same thing,
which is the boundary that insueb has specifically reported to us.
That's an active boundary that they last updated eight hours ago.
But if you go on co tracks, we'll see when
we last checked it, which was about about fifteen to
(03:53):
twenty minutes ago that we last linked with their system,
So you'll see the most up to date boundary of
that active fire going on, as well as a description
that includes information that Intuweb has included and sent to us,
like that the park is closed right now and that
areas are being evacuated in that general area. So you'd
be able to go in and see as of twenty
(04:15):
minutes ago, what the boundary of that fire is and
what insuweb is reporting to the public about that fire.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
I know the fires are top of mind show, but
something leaps to mind for me for other uses and protocols.
We have stories all the time in the news about
missing people, whether they're on hikes or out in the
wilderness and hinterland. If you will, I'm assuming cochecks can
help with those search efforts.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Yeah. Absolutely. We do partner with some search and rescue organizations.
They use us as a way to kind of navigate
on the trail. We also have functionality within the app
that can allow you to share your exact GPS coordinates.
So in a lot of cases with search and rescue
in particular, people can get lost and still be in
(04:58):
cell coverage and call and say, you know, hey, I'm lost,
I'm not exactly sure where I am. I think I
took a wrong turn, and those search and rescue agencies
are able to use codechecks as one of the resources.
There a number of ways to do this, but cochexs
is one way where you can go in and say, okay,
here my exact GPS coordinates of exactly where I am.
(05:19):
I can text that to that agency, that search and
rescue organization and make that process a lot easier and
safer for people.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Joe, at the minute we have left as the state
Trails program coordinator, obviously, best fire safety practices are crucial
right now during the active summer season. What would you
recommend to listeners if they're going out camping, hiking, just
enjoying our outdoor season, but concerned about anything that could
spark when we deal with our wildfires.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, I think you know, the most important thing to
recognize is that, I mean, as we see with these
big buyers, things can change very very rapidly, and so
it's really important to stay on top of not leaving
your fire unattended, using those designated camp fire areas where
it's allowed. You know, there's a reason behind why agencies
let you build fires in the places they let you
(06:06):
build them, keeping that fire small, and then really really importantly,
I think most importantly is making sure you burn everything
completely to ash, and make sure that you saturate that
ash with water and make sure it's cool to the touch.
You should be able to hover the back of your
hand an inch above the ashes that you have there
and really feel no warmth coming off of them. It's
(06:27):
shocking how much heat can remain in ash that just
looks like nothing. It's not on fire, there's not really
any smoke coming out, and there's still a significant amount
of heat that if you leave that behind and a
wind picks up, can blow some of that ash or
colds and create a fire. So those are just a
few practices I always make sure that I practice when
(06:48):
I'm out there.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Joe. Where can people find your app?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
They can find it on the App Store either on
iOS or on Android for Apple and Android devices, and
they can also find it on trail dot Colorado dot gov.
That's the website where you can go and find all
this information.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's called co Trecks and he's the state Trails program coordinator.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
It's Joe O'Brien.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Joe, thank you so much for your time this morning.
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