In today's (e-)mail bag, a note from Justin Wood at REI Adventures:
Dear Jill,
Thank you for all your work helping REI Adventures to complete our recent service project and camping weekend at Mt. Rainier. Our team is still talking about how much fun they had, and more interestingly, how significant they felt the impact of their work was. Many of our staff commented that they were surprised at how much they felt they were able to contribute and that they accomplished things they'd not have imagined they could do without the leadership and supervision of the outstanding SCA volunteers that led our efforts at the work site.
The campsite was wonderful as well and on Sunday, we hiked together to Panorama Point and it was really a magical day. Thank you, Jill. You were truly a pleasure to work with, as were all the SCA volunteers. We truly appreciate you welcoming REI Adventures into the park and helping us to bond and give a bit back to Mt. Rainier.
Our first day of meadow roving, Sat. 7/19 - very official looking with our shirts, hats, and radio. We hiked around and over Alta Vista above Paradise and helped 44 people in 3 hours on a perfect day at the mountain. We can hardly wait to do more, and we're coming up again today.
Most people just don't realize how fragile the growth is or that they are even required to stay on the trails, especially foreigners whose English is not good. The most flagrant case we dealt with however were three American guys, who were sliding down a steep hillside of heather on the back side of Alta Vista to the trail on which we were standing, waiting for them. They were headed for Camp Muir, but didn't know where it was and only one of them had a pack. They had no map and didn't know where they were on the Paradise trails network. And it was 2:30 in the afternoon as they began a strenuous, 4.5 mile climb of about 4800 feet. We politely helped them get their bearings and explained the need to stay on the trails, but I wonder where they slept that night.
The most rewarding case was when I probably saved a woman's life in the first 10 minutes of my meadow roving! She was behind the JVC about to try to walk down a slippery snow slope in tennis shoes carrying a 2-foot long shard of broken tree as a "walking stick" that was tapered to a sharp point, the tip of which she was holding in her hand so it was pointed upward toward her! I told her that if she fell on it, she would have a life-threatening puncture wound. When she realized the danger she tossed it away. I probably saved her life as most people were slipping and falling
on that slope.What a great program!
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