Field Notes

• National Public Lands Day schedule confirmed! Mark your calendars for September 29. We'll be hosting a variety of volunteer projects from 9am to 3pm, followed by a grand end-of-season celebration at Columbia Crest Elementary School at 4pm. There will be food, presentations, awards... A formal announcement and invitation will go out in the next day or two. Meanwhile, you can already sign up on the Mount Rainier Recovery calendar.
• Doing the Puyallup: Jim Ross reports that you've answered the call to represent Mount Rainier at the Puyallup Fair! "The response has been great. 13 volunteers, two administrative assistants, and one ranger from Olympic have filled 30 shifts. Thanks for helping me make this a success. See you at The Fair."
• From my e-mail in-box: "I recently spent a week helping repair and create trails on Mt. Rainier. I had a great time. I was with the Sierra Club group and we enjoyed the relative luxury of car-camping at Cougar Rock campground. We worked under the auspices of the SCA. I am writing to let you know that I was impressed by the enthusiasm of all the volunteers I met. I was also impressed by the park staff with whom we worked. Their dedication, perseverance, and focus was a terrific example to all volunteers. I hope to have the honor of working alongside them again in the future. Yours truly, A.S., Port Orchard, Washington." It's great to get such positive feedback!
• Cool Summer Job: Finally, I was browsing YouTube last week and came across another volunteer-related video! This is an amazing clip of rangers working to clear an immense boulder from the Wonderland Trail above Cougar Rock Campground. As I recall, they were assisted with this by volunteers from the Washington Conservation Corps (WCC). The video, unfortunately, labels us as the "Rainier Forest Service" (wince), but the effort and energy of the rangers and volunteers in the video speaks for itself.
• Your Stories: I'd love to see your own photos and videos, and hear your stories. Send them to me, or send me a link, and I'll post them here!