Phil Hertzog: Adventurer of the Week

Tacoma News Tribune writer Craig Hill features our own Nordic Patrol's Phil Hertzog as the "Adventurer of the Week." Read the full article here.

Phil in action - Photo by Barry Shepherd

Snowy Weekend on the Mountain!

If you are planning on volunteering this weekend, please be careful and safe.  If the weather is too bad or you just feel unsafe being out in these conditions, let your supervisor know and stay home!

 

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.SYNOPSIS...AN OCCLUDED FRONT WILL SPREAD RAIN AND SNOW TO MOUNT
RAINIER THIS MORNING. EXPECT HEAVY SNOW SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON WITH STRONG ONSHORE FLOW. AN UPPER
LEVEL TROUGH WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
FOR SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS.

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 3 PM
PST SATURDAY...

.FRIDAY...VERY WINDY. RAIN AND SNOW LIKELY IN THE MORNING...THEN
RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 7 TO
12 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4000 FEET DECREASING TO 3000 FEET IN
THE AFTERNOON.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...VERY WINDY. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE
EVENING...THEN SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF
5 TO 10 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2000 FEET.
.SATURDAY...SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 6 INCHES.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...SNOW SHOWERS. MODERATE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.
.SUNDAY...SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY.

.EXTENDED FORECAST...

.SUNDAY NIGHT...SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY.
.MONDAY...BREEZY. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.
.MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.
.TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.
.WEDNESDAY...PARTLY SUNNY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR
2500 FEET.
.THURSDAY...RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR
2500 FEET.

NPS Photo / VIP Ed Hunds

One Day Closer to the Centennial

August 25th is Founder's Day, which is when the National Park Service was born in 1916.  We are just seven months away.  Are you getting excited yet?

 

It's Like Money, but SO MUCH BETTER.

We have finally entered the National Park Service's Centennial Year!  I'm sure you may have heard a word or two about the Centennial this year, and one of the nationwide goals is to engage communities through volunteerism.  Well, I know that I am preaching to the choir here, but volunteers are really what make the NPS work, especially here at Mount Rainier.  So, we have a new incentive just for 2016 that may be of interest to you!

Registered volunteers who contribute 201.6 hours of service between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016 can earn a Centennial Volunteer Challenge Coin!

Here's how it all works:

• Recipients must be registered national park volunteers.
• Centennial Volunteer Challenge Coins are issued for hours served between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016.
• Awards are issued for volunteer service only.
• Court-ordered community service does NOT qualify.
• Volunteers must track their own hours and provide dates, hours served, and a brief description of the service provided.
• Service must be approved and verified by the program manager.
• Only hours served during the 12 month period of the centennial year will count towards the award.

And that's it!  The coins are just beginning to enter production, but once they are made and have entered the park, keep an eye out for more information!

A Personal Challenge to All Coming to the Mountain...Do You Accept?

I am looking to finish a project that has been talked about for a few years at Mount Rainier, but I need YOUR help to complete it!  Over the next month or so, I am hoping to collect pictures of some of the winter routes around Longmire and Paradise to create an information sheet for Rovers, Nordic Patrol, General Rangers, and Interpretive Staff to use. 



NPS Photo / VIP Ed Hunds

Although I would absolutely love to hike each and every trail in perfect weather conditions and do no other work whatsoever, I can only manage to pull that off a handful of times before I am questioned.  So, with your help, I am hoping to have pictures of:

• Trailheads
• Markers
• Identifying features of a route
• Areas that may be a little tricky to navigate around
• Dangerous sections of trail
• Avalanche zones
• Places people get lost
• Amazing view points and features of that route
• Any other information you can give me

Please keep in mind that the winter routes at Mount Rainier are very dynamic, in that they are always changing and shifting.  When you are taking your pictures, please focus on the solid surroundings, not just the path in the snow, as that will more than likely be gone with the next snowfall.

Also, while you are out snapping your pictures, make sure that you are being 100% safe.  Don't try to get a good picture of an avalanche chute...while standing in an avalanche chute. 

Some points of focus would be:

• Nisqually Vista Loop
• Narada Falls to Paradise
• Inspiration Saddle to Reflection Lakes
• Rampart Ridge Trail
• Route to Glacier Vista
• Myrtle Falls Trail
• Safe travel in Edith Creek Basin

After we finish up these seven points of interest, we can absolutely branch out to other areas, but I am targeting these as the most traveled and with the highest need.

These photos can be taken while you are out here for a Rove, on patrol with the Washington Ski Touring Club, or while you are out hiking on your own.  If you are out hiking on your own and you take a series of pictures, let me know how much time you were spending actually volunteering, and your hours will still count!

NPS Photo / Harvey

This information packet will be entirely volunteer created and you can consider it a part of your ever growing legacy at Mount Rainier.

Send all pictures to Ian at ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov as soon as you can, and he will start to piece the publication together!  Questions?  Comments?  Political outbursts?  Send them all to Ian as well!

Thank you for your help in this project! 

MRNPA Announces 2016 Work Parties

It's time to start thinking ahead to summer! Mount Rainier National Park Associates has released the dates for their summer Saturday work parties.

During 2016, MRNPA will be conducting six volunteer work parties at Mount Rainier, consisting of four Saturdays of trail maintenance and two Saturdays "gardening in the Park." Please mark your calendars to join us on any or all of the following dates. The locations will be determined by park staff about two weeks before each volunteer work party.

April 30 - trail maintenance (a great day to get that first spring outing at Mount Rainier)
May 21 - trail maintenance
June 18 - trail maintenance
July 16 - "deveg" (exotic plant removal)
August 13 - trail maintenance during the day, followed by a pot luck dinner and an overnight camp for the volunteers who have worked that day
September 10 - "reveg"  (planting wildflower seedlings to re-establish alpine meadows)

I hope to see you on one, or more, of these MRNPA volunteer work parties.
John Titland
Volunteer Coordinator
Mount Rainier National Park Associates

For more information, contact John at volunteer@mrnpa.org

The Life You Want to Live is the Life of a Nordic Patrol Volunteer

 

Entering their 23rd year of volunteering on the snow-covered meadows of Paradise, the Washington Ski Touring Club has been out in full force over the past few weeks marking routes by placing new bamboo poles along the paths, digging out the previously placed poles after they had been buried by 5+ feet of snow, marking off hazards in the backcountry, and making numerous visitor contacts along the way.

 

This is just a quick glimpse of some of the work the Nordic Patrollers do on a daily basis.  Just keep in mind the rest of their time in the backcountry is full of blue bird skies and deep fresh powder under their skis and snowshoes.

 

 

If you are interested in learning more about Nordic Patrol and the Washington Ski Touring Club, visit their website at http://wstc.clubexpress.com/ today!  Are you a member?  Send your pictures and stories to ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov

A Wild Snow Rover Appears

NPS / VIP Kelly Teale

 

 

Rambling around the Mountain in the winter, you may see many different sights.  Maybe a pika out for a quick stretch before heading back deep into the snowdrifts.  Maybe a raven singing its angelic tune overhead.  Possible even a very cold and confused black bear, but more likely is a warm and alert snowshoe hare.  But, if you are ever around Paradise on a holiday weekend, you will see many visitors in search of any or all of these things, usually to no avail.  What you are more likely to see out there are more and more of our volunteers, out in full force.

 

Many times our Snow Roving volunteers will be dressed to the nines in their warmest gear, trekking poles in hand, with a pack that appears to be almost too heavy to sling onto a back, full of the Winter Ten Essentials as well as a few other odds and ends (maybe a Meadow Stomper button or two from the summer?).  Sometimes you will encounter one of these wild creatures in their natural habitat: high up the mountain, surrounded by untrampled snow, blazing a path of visitors to find their way around.

 

NPS / VIP Teale

NPS / VIP Teale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were on the Mountain over New Years weekend, you know it was very busy (see: my last post), but even with hundreds upon hundreds of visitors flocking to the snowy subalpine meadows of Paradise, there was still a bit of peace and serenity to be found.  And VIP Kelly Teale was able to capture some of it, with a camera in tow.

 

This was Kelly's first time serving as a Snow Rover, but you may recognize her from the Education Center.  She is an Education Technician, developing and leading programs for students ages both in the park and all over the world through the Park's ever-growing Distance Learning Program.  Over the winter, in addition to having this new found love of Snow Roving, Kelly is also hard at work volunteering for the Park's Archives and Museum Collections, spending countless hours each day handling artifacts that helped to shape the park into what it is today.

NPS Photo / VIP Kelly Teale

 

I still want to hear about your story!  Have you taken any amazing photos while volunteering at Mount Rainier?  Want to share them with the world?  If so, send them to Ian at ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov and you too can be featured on our Volunteer Blog and Facebook Page, visited by millions of people every day! (Okay, that may be only slightly made up)

Just in Case You Hadn't Heard...

...sometimes it snows at Paradise.

NPS Photo / Harvey

VIP Sarah Pigeon shadowed by Eagle Peak
NPS Photo / Harvey

And then sometimes, we get over sixty inches of snow in just a few days span.  This is what happened to Mount Rainier National Park at the beginning of the holiday break for many people.  On December 23rd and 24th, the entire park was closed due to the sheer amount of snow we had received.  In the lower elevations, the snow was so wet and heavy that it was weighing down seemingly healthy trees left and right, many of which fell upon the roadway.  The roads crew was hard at work on both of those days, trying to clear the road as best as possible. 
When the Nisqually gate finally opened at noon on December 25th, the line of cars stretched well past the park boundary and continued over a mile down the road.  Luckily in that line of cars were a few of our hardy Snow Rovers, who spent their afternoon strolling along the Trail of the Shadows and trekking up the Wonderland Trail, making hundreds of contacts on a beautifully sunny day. 

With the abundance of snow, the plows were working extra hard to carve their way to Paradise.  In doing so, our ancient snow moving machines suffered a few losses, and at one point, we were left with only one plow to move all of that snow.  With thanks to the park's auto shop, the plows were on the road in no time, and Paradise was finally open to the public once more.

NPS Photo / Harvey

In the days following the re-opening of Paradise, you could not ask for more perfect weather.  The alabaster snow was glistening under the warmth of the midday sun hanging high in the electric blue sky.  Of course, the Mountain, donning a new jacket reminiscent of mother-of-pearl, drew in all of the attention of park visitors and volunteers, stealing the show, as usual.  Just to the south, shadows were dancing across the ridges and valleys on the serrated Tatoosh Range, leaving the spectators in awe as the sun began to fade below the horizon.  Not to be outdone, every color of the rainbow was visible for only a few seconds on the flanks of the mighty Tacobet, as the sun was starting its race around the Earth, only to come up the following morning and do it all over again.

NPS Photo / Harvey

While the sights were inspiring to say the least, every single volunteer that took in the spectacular wonders of nature also assisted thousands of visitors, either directly or indirectly, during what could have been a chaotic time.  To put it in perspective, the Upper Lot, the Paradise Inn Lot, the Lower Lot, Narada Falls Lot, Christine Falls Lot, and Comet Falls Lot were all full of eager visitor's by 11:30am on Saturday, January 2nd.   

The introduction of over five new feet of snow, sunny skies, and the official opening of the Snow Play area at Paradise were all contributing factors to the influx of excited people to the Park, and with thanks to help from our Nordic Patrol, the visitors were able to find their way around on many miles of marked routes around the Paradise area. 

A big thank you goes out to all of our volunteers, and especially those who spent part of their holiday breaks giving back on the Mountain!  Without your help and dedication, this break would not have been as wonderful as it was!

NPS Photo / VIP Kelly Teale

How 'Bout those Fishers?

photo Kevin Bacher, NPS

On Thursday, 3 December 2015, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Park Service and Conservation Northwest took the first step in restoring fishers to the Cascade Ecosystem of Washington. These organizations and their partners are working together to reintroduce fishers to the Cascade Mountain Range. They released the first group of fishers at the Cispus Learning Center in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, approximately 10 miles south of the town of Randle, Washington. A total of 7 fishers (4 females and 3 males) were released in front of a large group of wildlife enthusiasts interested in seeing the first fishers return to the Cascades.

The second fisher release event occurred Wednesday 23 December and was also at the Cispus Learning Center. Wintery and wet conditions, prior commitments, and the busy nature of the holiday season made it difficult for many folks to attend the release but about 25 hardy souls made the trek out to the Center. These folks helped release 4 fishers (3 males and 1 female) into the snowy forest landscape.

More releases are slated to occur soon. Mount Rainier National Park will be releasing fishers at Ohanapecosh and Longmire, possibly this month.

For the full story and photos from the first releases, please visit WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisher/updates_cascade.html.