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Conservation youth spruce up Palisades

Work included lifting 165-pound rocks for trail steps

Jun. 7, 2023 7:40 pm, Updated: Jun. 28, 2023 9:32 am

Kayla Workman of Norwalk cuts out a tree root Wednesday as she prepares a place for a 165-pound limestone step at Palisades-Kepler State Park in rural Mount Vernon. A team from the Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa leveled the ground and set about 40 limestone steps leading to Cedar Cliff. The crews also put down 60 tons of gravel along Cool Hollow Trail. A smaller crew will be back in late summer/early fall to complete work on the steps. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Clockwise from right: Ben Garcia of Los Angeles, Aaron Demory of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Sydney Heutonof Ankeny, Iowa, Jack Groepper of Des Moines, Iowa, and Aleyda Ramirez also of Des Moines carry a 165-pound limestone step up a tail as the team from Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa rebuilds a stairway to Cedar Cliff at Palisades-Kepler State Park in rural Mount Vernon, Iowa, on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. The seven-member crew leveled and set about 40 limestone steps, each weighing about 165 pounds. Crews with the conservation service group put down 60 tons of gravel along Cool Hollow Trail. A smaller crew will be back in late summer/early fall to complete the stone step-laying job. There will be about 60 steps total. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette) — Five members of the Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa — Ben Garcia of Los Angeles, Aaron Demory of Cedar Falls, Sydney Heutonof Ankeny, Jack Groepper and Aleyda Ramirez, both of Des Moines — carry a 165-pound limestone step up a trail Wednesday at Palisades-Kepler State Park in rural Mount Vernon. The seven-member crew leveled and set about 40 of the limestone steps to repair the Cedar Cliff Trail. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

A gloved hand presses first between two limestone step pavers as a team from Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa rebuilds a stairway to Cedar Cliff at Palisades-Kepler State Park in rural Mount Vernon, Iowa, on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. The seven-member crew leveled and set about 40 limestone steps, each weighing about 165 pounds. Crews with the conservation service group put down 60 tons of gravel along Cool Hollow Trail. A smaller crew will be back in late summer/early fall to complete the stone step-laying job. There will be about 60 steps total. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette) — A worker’s gloved hand presses a large limestone step into place Wednesday during repairs to the Cedar Cliff steps at Palisades-Kepler State Park in rural Mount Vernon. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Aleyda Ramirez (left) of Des Moines, Iowa, guides Jack Groepper also of Des Moines as he carries a 165-pound limestone step with Aaron Demory of Cedar Falls, Iowa, as a team from Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa rebuilds a stairway to Cedar Cliff at Palisades-Kepler State Park in rural Mount Vernon, Iowa, on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. The seven-member crew leveled and set about 40 limestone steps, each weighing about 165 pounds. Crews with the conservation service group put down 60 tons of gravel along Cool Hollow Trail. A smaller crew will be back in late summer/early fall to complete the stone step-laying job. There will be about 60 steps total. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette) — Aleyda Ramirez (left) guides Jack Groepper as he and Aaron Demory carry a 165-pound limestone step along a trail Wednesday at Palisades-Kepler State Park. Ramirez and Groepper, both of Des Moines, and Demory of Cedar Rapids were part of the seven-member crew from Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa in rebuilding the steps leading to Cedar Cliff in the park. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

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