Thank you, Japanese volunteers!

It's hard to believe that our Japan Volunteers in Parks Association volunteers are already leaving to return to Tokyo! They arrive barely three weeks ago, and my, how the time has flown. During their time here, the students built trails, helped with restoration projects, collected seeds for future revegetation efforts, patroled trails, and helped in the Jackson Visitor Center. I'm still gathering pictures of the hard work they did... most of my own pictures are from the times between projects, at the welcome picnic, the park tour, and the annual weekend pilgrimage to Seattle to see the Mariners (who beat the Yankees 5-2 this year!).

Now tomorrow the group will gather one final time with their host families to celebrate three weeks of hard work, good fun, and new friendships. I'll add more photos to our JVIPA 2008 photo album after that event, and hopefully will gather more pictures of actual work in progress from the park supervisors and SCA Recovery Corps members who spent time with them every day in the field. Meanwhile, here's a retrospective on the deeply appreciated members of the 15th Japan Volunteers in Parks Association visit to Mount Rainier.